Diary of a college girl episode 8 -finale

DIARY OF A COLLEGE GIRL:
A TOUCH OF LOVE
 
FINAL EPISODE
 
© GRACE KLUBI
 
Nothing could ruin my mood all weekend.
 
Everyone at home noticed that I was a tad more hyper and excited, but I blamed it on the sugar from that huge chocolate bar I had finally finished up.
 
The weekend flew. Despite talking every night and texting through the day, I missed Kwasi dearly. I wanted to be with him every second of the day.
 
“Ah… so this is what love is…” I kept repeating to myself in that dreamy, ethereal, and blissful state I found myself in.
 
On Monday, I put in extra effort to make my official outfit prettier.
 
Sister Yaa smiled when I walked into the living room in my blue-black dress suit, my braids held up in a bun, and my black kitten toe-heeled shoes glistening from all the polish I had used on it.
 
“Wow,” she said. “You look very beautiful Cherie. Ei, and you’re wearing l¡pstick. Who are we trying to impress?”
 
I scowled at her.
 
“Keep your voice down,” I said.
 
Mummy hadn’t woken up yet. She smiled again.
 
“Kwasi is doing wonders in this family,” she said as she walked away.
 
I smacked her bum and chuckled.
 
“I’m leaving now,” I said. “Give ma a k-ss for me.”
 
Kwasi was out there waiting when I stepped out. He was leaning on the bonnet and the sound of the gate made him look up at me. I smiled and walked towards him.
 
“Wow,” he said, took me in his arms, and gave me a warm hug. “My girl is the most beautiful in the world. I’m so glad you’re mine.”
 
I giggled and gave him a peck.
 
“Shall we?” I asked.
 
“Yes, we shall.”
 
He went around and opened the door for me, and shortly afterwards we set off for work.
 
Our first day of work, as a couple in love, was both strange and exciting. Suddenly, he wasn’t my colleague; he was my man.
 
Later in the afternoon, I wanted to have lunch with him alone, but Juan tagged along. We were sneaking smiles at each other, and he would text me from time to time about how beautiful I looked and how much he loved me.
 
I’d read the text and smile.
 
We were trying to keep it low key with our third wheel. On Wednesday during that week, we were asked to replace Fala and Stan at Construction while they came to the administration to enter records and write reports.
 
We were both excited.
 
Working together was fun. He was so protective, making sure I didn’t get hurt with any of the working tools whilst patiently teaching me about how to use everything.
 
It was his third attachment at Agtu, and he knew the flow of everything and how it was supposed to work. We had lunch together and closed together to go home.
 
Juan didn’t come with us.
 
En route, we discussed how it’d be with him being CEO and me being a madam. I disclosed to him that I was the heiress of Nana K and he was so excited. We talked about plans to combine our companies and make it the biggest furniture company in Ghana, Africa and we’d even try to be recognized worldwide. We were perfect for each other.
 
***
 
On Friday, I noticed that Juan was colder towards me than usual.
 
She seemed angry at Kwasi too, and my suspicions were heightened but when I asked Kwasi and he told me to ignore it.
 
“She’s probably throwing tantrums as usual,” he said.
 
Juan stopped hitching rides and having lunches with us. I tried to reach out to her, to ask her if either of us had erred but she wouldn’t give me an audience.
 
“I just need some space,” she would say, so I gave her exactly that.
 
***
 
Our internsh¡p was almost over and Kwasi and I were still going steady.
 
We would smile at each other in the office as usual and work normally, but talk a lot on the way home and all through the night.
 
We spent a lot of time getting to know each other. I told him about my parents, and their love and commitment to each other, about my miraculous birth and how they both showered me with all the love I could get.
 
I told him about my father’s passing, and how we struggled to recover from the loss. He told me about his mother who ran off with a wealthier guy when he was just six years.
 
She had taken him to a neighbour’s house and promised to come to get him. She never came back. He had been broken and vowed never to get married. He had been a playboy, trying to hurt girls by dating multiples at a go to revenge on them for his mother’s abandonment…an action he regretted now and wished he had not indulged in.
 
Our families were contradictory. His father loved him but was very bent on proving his worth to a wife who abandoned him so he was focused on work and never had time to stay home with his son.
 
Akwasi was raised by househelps and nannies and had so much wealth at his disposal. My parents had restricted my access to everything but made sure I had all the love and support I needed.
 
Yes, we spoke about everything.
 
***
 
In the last week of my attachment at Agtu, I was a bit scared.
 
Seeing Kwasi every day had helped us keep the relationsh¡p, but I didn’t know how life would be like after service.
 
We were in the same school but completely different years and departments. I wondered if things would be the same. I expressed my concerns to him and he kept assuring me that things would remain the same.
 
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life next to you Cher,” he would say. “I love you. I can’t be with anyone else.”
 
On Thursday, before the very last day of the internsh¡p, I was at my station working when I suddenly felt an urge to use the washroom.
 
I quickly walked towards the washroom and then I saw Kwasi and Juan in a corner.
 
Her arms were around his neck and they were k-ssing, apparently!
 
I turned around quickly as my heart scre-med in anguish!
 
As I was walking away, I heard a loud thud on the floor. I turned around and looked.
 
He had pushed Juan away from him, and she had landed rather awkwardly on the floor.
 
Our eyes met.
 
“Cher. It’s not what you think. Please wait.”
 
I walked towards them and helped Juan to her feet.
 
“How can you push a lady you like so hærd Kay?” I asked. “Kay, I saw you two k-ssing. I concur you love her too?”
 
“It’s not what you think, Cher. Juan was telling me about her boyfriend who was messing up. She began crying and I brought her out here to avoid the attention. She got caught up in the spur of the moment and k-ssed me.”
 
I turned to Juan, my eyes asking the unspoken question.
 
“We spent nights texting and getting to know each other. I developed feelings for Kwasi despite having a boyfriend, and I eventually broke up with my man. When I confessed my feelings to Kwasi, he rejected me. How was I to know he didn’t like me? I kept hinting that I’d leave my boyfriend for him and he said nothing. He even k-ssed me once.”
 
My pain was almost physical as I turned to Kwasi.
 
“So, you just go around and give signals to girls to deceive them? So everything was a lie?” I asked in a voice suffused with raw pain.
 
He placed his hands on my shoulders.
 
“Cher. I didn’t lie to you. Maybe I tried to play with her at some point, but that was before I fell for you. Please, Cher. Don’t go,” he pleaded with tears in his eyes.
 
Tears welled up in mine too.
 
“I’m really sorry,” I said and turned away from him, my tears threatening to pour out.
 
I called an Uber and went home the second I finished my assignments. I didn’t want to be in the same space with them.
 
The following day was supposed to be my last day. All through the night, I kept reliving my hurt in the first year, and how Juan must be feeling the same way. I remembered how I asked Kwasi about his relationsh¡p with Juan when she acted up, and how he denied knowledge.
 
As the tears fell down my cheeks, I kept repeating to myself.
 
“It’ll be over by tomorrow. I won’t see him again after tomorrow. I’ll heal after tomorrow.”
 
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the day broke.
 
I dressed up grudgingly and feigned a light mood for my family. I didn’t want them to get worried. With a heart filled with pain, I got on the compound and pleaded with Mr. Alloy to give me a ride to work without Mum’s knowledge.
 
He obliged.
 
I got to my workstation and there he was, waiting for me.
 
“Good morning,” I said politely and sat down.
 
“Cher,” he began.
 
“Please don’t call me Cher. Just call me by my first name,” I interjected.
 
He looked at me with an annoyed look.
 
“Or else what?” he asked.
 
“I’ll ignore you,” I said looking down on my phone.
 
He sighed and scratched his head.
 
“Princess, please. Hear me out.”
 
“I heard all that I had to yesterday,” I said.
 
He sighed again, came to my desk and grabbed my hand.
 
“Come with me,” he said.
 
I tried to pull my hand from his, but he held on.
 
“I’m not letting go, Cher,” he said. “Just come.”
 
I got up and followed him to the elevator. He selected the topmost floor which had the offices of the managers and we were not allowed to go there.
 
“Where are we going? I asked.
 
He simply ignored me till the elevator pinged open and we got out.
 
Continuing to drag me along, he led me along the hall and to an office. We got to a door with the CEO label. He walked up to it, dialled a code and the door opened.
 
He walked into the office and pulled me along. The outer office had a lady sitting at her desk. She looked up.
 
“Welcome young master. Your father isn’t around today…”
 
“I know,” he simply said, walked up to his father’s office and entered another code. The door clicked open.
 
He held my hand as he entered and I followed. The door closed shut. The office was beautiful and well-spaced. He led me to the couch made for waiting guests, and we sat down.
 
“It’s soundproof here, Cher… Please, talk to me. I’m begging you.”
 
All my pent-up pain, anger, and sense of being betrayed came up.
 
The tears welled up in my eyes and I angrily spoke.
 
“Why didn’t you tell me about her? Why did I have to find out in such a manner? How am I expected to trust you henceforth?”
 
He held my hands and looked at me earnestly.
 
“I messed up, my love. I lied to you and then I was afraid of your reaction,” he said in a tortured voice. “Here’s the truth. She’s been throwing herself at me since we met, and she kept forcing words out of my mouth. She’s tried several times to come to my place after work. She’d call me and ask for my address, but I always turned her down. One evening, she called and said she had left her keys in my car. It was 9 pm Cher, I wondered why she didn’t call earlier. I offered to take the keys to her but she insisted that she had already called a cab and just needed my address.
 
I gave it to her and she showed up at my place wearing a very exposing dress. She wanted to come in, but I refused, pretending like I had parents at home. She insisted, saying she wanted to use the washroom and once we were in the living room, she pulled me close and k-ssed me. And she tried to sed-ce me and I k-ssed back before I could stop myself. I finally stopped it and took her home although she wanted to spend the night. I didn’t sleep with her….”
 
He concluded, a look of shame crossing his face.
 
“I can’t lose you, Princess. Please. Forgive me.”
 
He made to get down on his knees and I held him up.
 
“Don’t bother. It’s fine. I forgive you, Kay,” I said as the pain slowly ebbed out of my heart.
 
He scre-med excitedly and made to hug me.
 
I stepped back.
 
“But it’s over,” I said.
 
“No, Cher. No! It can’t be. I love you. Please Cher…” he said in a voice that was filled with pain.
 
“Love?” I yelled. “You have no right to use that word when you… you…”
 
I stared at him and raised my hand to hit him. He caught my hand mid-air and looked into my eyes. Our l-ips met again in a passionate k-ss and he embraced me tightly.
 
“I’ll never let go. No matter what. I’m so sorry.”
 
I let go and looked up at the tears glistening in the eyes of the man I loved.
 
“I love you, Cher,” he said.
 
And I could finally admit it.
 
“I love you too,” I said.
 
He smiled and brought his head down to mine again.
 
***
 
Finally, my internsh¡p ended and so did my first long vacation.
 
I was returning to school in a different year, different place of residence and most importantly, with a boyfriend.
 
It was going to be an interesting year.
 
The End
 
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