Tick-Tock. Time went by.

We were in matric so we didn’t get time for late night calls but when a window of opportunity presented itself I would call her using all my airtime because I bought it just for her. I had the option of communicating via social media but I was protecting her, as she was my golden jewel, a priceless artefact and the princess of my dreams, my world.

Time waits for no man. It was April and I got a wonderful message which said, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH U ALL THE BEST IN LIFE AND MAY YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE I LOVE YOU A LOT.”

Before I knew it, it was June and the exams had us both busy with our studies. Given that we attended school during school holidays, communication was slim. A call a week would do given our tight schedule but we made the best out of it and texted each other as much as possible.

Time passed at a snail’s pace.

Then we started preparing for the matric dance. I didn’t have a partner but she was going with one to her dance. The dance came and it passed.

But after that I felt a storm brewing on the horizon. A dark cloud approached with winds blowing to all cardinal points. My heart and feelings were playing tricks on me. They were all over and only bad thoughts flooded my mind.

I called her but there was no answer. I was heartbroken and bad thoughts came to mind. I tried to not think much of it. But, guess what? She did get back to me, so I called her back and those bad thoughts disappeared.

However, dark storm arrived as I had originally anticipated. It came for me and there I was, backed up in a corner with no one to help me swim through the sea of love, coated with broken glass. I was bleeding – my calls weren’t being answered anymore.

It was as if I was drowning in my own love, “Lontuh no longer a perfect combination?”

I found her on Messenger. I greeted her. She responded unconvincingly and went on to say, “I have to tell you something.”

All of a sudden my light went out. It was night fall and my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest. My heart is never wrong.

But I thought to myself, please can it be wrong this time. I thought that she would say, I have a boyfriend. But I was wrong. It was worse.

She said, “I am pregnant. I am sorry”.

I was shocked, I couldn’t believe it. The person I loved so much had cheated on me. How could this be? What did I do wrong? It seemed like my father’s death was determining my future. How could I be so unlucky in love? I had offered my love to someone who spat it out like gum.

After I heard that she was pregnant. I thought about it. I was willing to love her, and even raise the child with her and be the father that I never known.

The walls I had spent time to build, with love, all came crashing down in a second. Was it a mistake that happened on that matric dance night, or was it a love she never spoke about? Could I love a child that wasn’t mine? Do I know such love? And, now Londeka comes with terms and conditions, it is as if she has put on a price tag on her heart….

Your love needs to be unconditional, unless you don’t mean it. I dug the knife that had gone through my heart out and opened the gates of love I never thought I had. She accepted my love for her and the unborn child.

I came bearing gifts of all kinds that you can think of, even the most priceless one. The human sacrifice, willing to die for the one you love with all your heart. I never called her by her name because in my mouth she was always sweet, even though I was still hurting deep inside.

I didn’t display it for her to see because I didn’t want to scare her off. It turned out to be more of a bird hunt, where you have to be careful where you step and put your feet. All of a sudden the winds changed direction, blowing all over and threatening to take me under.

Is there life without her, I thought. Could my dreams still be without love? Was I born without love but, how so, when my mother loves me dearly?

I loved her despite the mistake she had made, but even after that the stakes weren’t high enough. She still left me for the father of her unborn child and there I was, stranded in a pool of love, which still haunts me to this day…

Tell us: Have you ever loved anyone that much that you were willing to look past their mistakes?