Just two days ago, this would have been the happiest day of my life

I wasn’t going to do or say anything. I was going to pretend like I had no idea he’d had sex with his neighbor right in his bedroom. I wasn’t going to continue the relationship either.

I was determined to call it quits and move on. I had promised myself long ago that infidelity was something I’d never deal with.

And then he called me.

‘Hey babe,’ he started in his usual almost-infectious excitement, ‘So remember how you were gushing about Wonder Woman the last time you came around? Well, I got us tickets to go see it.’

I smiled at the thoughtful gesture. He could be quite the sweetheart. I sulked for a few minutes and somehow he managed to get me out for my bad mood. Next thing, I was driving down to his place so we could go see my current favourite movie.

I let myself in and saw him dancing to Davido’s ‘If’ and singing at the top of his most unattractive singing voice. I laughed so hard he turned and saw me watching him. A genuinely happy smile brightened his handsome face.

‘Hey beautiful. Come to daddy!’ he said, stretching out his big arms and striking a most ridiculous pose. I really couldn’t stay mad at this man for that long, I thought as I dove into the comfort of his strong arms and cradled him for a minute.

‘I love you so much, princess,’ he whispered in my ear, kissing my forehead the exact way I liked it.

I looked away from his gaze, an act he quickly caught and interpreted correctly. ‘What’s wrong babe?’ he asked, genuine concern written all over his voice and expression.

I contemplated telling him that I could no longer continue with him, that I’d walked in on him fucking the brains out of his hot neighbor.

Then I thought of how much he’d been there for me, how much he’d supported and loved me when no one was there for me, how much he had helped me grow into the confident woman I now was after years of being a wallflower.

I remembered how he’d never made me cry, he’d always put my happiness first. Thanks to him and his connections, I had one of the best jobs out there.

He was everything I’d always wanted; thoughtful, kind, caring, handsome and intelligent. He was also stinking rich and could have had any woman he wanted, but he’d chosen me.

The two years we’d been together had been the best years of my life. Did I really want to change that? I had no doubt that he loved me and wanted the best for me. I’d never had reason to be suspicious of him. He had given me every reason to trust him. Could this have been just a one-off?

Did I even need to mention it? He’d always spoken about this neighbour of his with some sort of indifference, he mostly ignored her and seemed oblivious to her physical endowments. He’d always made me feel like the only girl in the world so I was used to it.

‘It’s nothing, babe,’ I smiled at him, caressing his cheek, all the love I had for him shining in my eyes. ‘Go throw on a shirt so we can head out. I can’t afford to miss a minute of this movie.’

He grinned and shook his head, muttering something about my obsession with superheroes as he sauntered in.

‘I gotta quickly take a shower too,’ he called out. ‘I’ll be quick, I promise, besides we still have over an hour before it starts.’

I rolled my eyes at the door and sat down. Just then, his phone beeped. I could have ignored it as usual, but this time I decided to look.

It was a message from her.

‘Do we still have a date for later tonight?’ it read.

I almost dropped the phone, shock ran through me.

I decided to look further. I had never known his password, had never cared to. But I knew his ATM pin. I decided to try it. It worked.

I quickly scrolled to his messages. My heart shattered. I did not care that I was opening a chat he hadn’t yet read. By the time I was done, I was completely devastated.

This thing had been going on between them for years. It wasn’t just her, there were several other women, some his workers. I was shaking badly. I had been completely clueless, blind.

I heard him coming out and quickly dropped his phone.

I did not say a word on our journey to the cinemas, despite his doing his best to cheer me up. I claimed it was just a headache.

We still had some time before the movie was due to start so we decided to go get some food at the quiet, cozy restaurant just a few feet away from the cinema hall.

Just as I was about to start my food, my best friend, Dunsi, walked in. I was still asking her what she was doing around when Tade, my boyfriend went down on one knee. He brought out a small box from his inner pocket and popped the question, his ‘love’ for me written all over his face.

I looked at him in surprise. I certainly hadn’t seen that coming.

Dunsi was screaming excitedly, recording the whole thing. I looked around and saw some grinning faces, fellow diners, the waiters, everyone seemed to be more excited than I was.

I looked at him still kneeling there, his excitement slowly dimming as I seemed to be taking forever, I looked at Dunsi, she’d obviously been in on it the entire time.

I knew I couldn’t do this. Uncontrollable tears were streaming down my face. To think that just two days ago, this would have been the happiest day of my life.

‘I’m sorry, I just can’t do this,’ I whispered and ran out.