The trampled rose episode 6

The Trampled Rose (episode 6)
You have never truly known heartbreak and pain till you experience betrayal from someone you thought could never hurt you. Someone you can go to the extent of vouching for their loyalty to you. That kind of pain hits differently because you almost never see it coming in order to prepare your heart for it. Just pause for a second and imagine the kind of pain Tochi was going through on seeing his beloved wife pregnant for someone that clearly wasn’t him? Now think of how he would feel when he eventually realize that the baby his wife was carrying belonged to his best friend of ten years. Such pain can never be fully explained with mere words because it cripples the soul of the victim. The confrontation of a lifetime was about to go down that moment but it’s clear Brandy and her baby daddy ‘Mavin’ weren’t prepared for it.
Immediately Mavin alighted from his car and saw his best friend ‘Tochi’ standing with pregnant ‘Brandy’, his heart dropped. At that moment, it felt as though he got hit by a trailer becaus the shock was intense. By mere looking at Mavin’s body language and the shock on his face, Tochi needed no seer to tell him that something fishy was going down. There was fire on the mountain!
“Hey bro, I didn’t know you were back. I thought the project would be done in like 4 months time, when did you fly into the country?” Mavin shockingly inquired as he walked closer to the couple. Brandy tried to codedly communicate with Mavin so as to inform him on what was up but he was too confused to pick up the coded signals from her.
While all this was happening, Tochi was still in shock with over a thousand thoughts on his mind as he tried to figure out what was going on. After few seconds of silence, he finally spoke for the first time since Mavin arrived. “What in God’s name is going on here? I never knew you came to my house to visit Brandy while I was away and it’s surprising to see you walk in here casually while I am still in shock that my wife is pregnant for someone that isn’t me. Are you trying to tell me that you knew all these while that Brandy was pregnant and you never saw the need to tell me? Wait a minute! This can’t be what I am thinking; this has to be a joke. Bro don’t tell me my wife is carrying your child. Please tell me I am lying because that’s what I sincerely want to hear right now” Tochi shockingly said with tears almost dropping from his eyes.
When Tochi was done talking, there was total silence in the atmosphere. Neither Brandy nor Mavin could answer the question he asked and out of rage, he called the gateman’s attention to the scene. “Fred, tell me right now what has been happening in my house while I was away. Is this the first time Mavin is visiting my wife since I left?” Tochi asked and the gateman began to spill everything his eyes had seen the last couple of months. As the gateman narrated everything, it was then that Brandy began to shed tears. Immediately Tochi saw the tears on her eyes, his heart shattered into irreparable pieces. The heartbroken man almost died because the pain was too unbearable for him to take in all at once. The fact that Brandy was crying, confirmed that everything the gateman narrated was the simple truth. Too bad!
It was when the gateman was gone talking that Mavin broke his silence. “Bro I am sorry, it is a long story and I wish I could take back the hands of time to change everything I did but I sadly can’t. Brandy isn’t entirely to be blamed for all this because I also played a part in it as well. We didn’t intend to hurt you this way but life happened and took a different course than what we planned. Asking you for forgiveness will be me being selfish so I will totally understand whatever decision you take as regards our friendsh¡p but as for the baby, I am willing to take fully responsibility because that innocent child had nothing to do with all this. Please find a place in your heart to forgive me; I am truly ashamed of myself” he soberly said.
Immediately Mavin was done talking, Brandy knelt down on the floor to beg her husband but it was already too late for all that because the devastated man was too numb to reason any single word they were spilling nor feel any emotion they were showing. Standing there looking emotionally drained, Tochi looked at Brandy with tears in his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. He removed her hands from his leg and stepped backwards away from where she knelt. “I trusted you both, I loved you both with all my heart and would have never done a thing like this to the two of you but I guess we are all different” Tochi said and looked at Brandy direction afterwards; “Just take a look at how you ruined what we had. You didn’t even think twice before throwing our marriage into the drains. You never loved me because if you genuinely did, even five years apart wouldn’t move you because you would have waited for me regardless but here you are, jumping in and out of bed with my best friend in just less than two years apart. What did I not do for you to make you a happy woman? I gave you every bit of love in me and also gave you everything you ever wanted but this is how you choose to pay me back? By sleeping with my own best friend? I am highly disappointed in you the most Brandy because you were my better-half. I can’t look at both of you the same ever again and I don’t want to have anything to do with this house you both defiled. You can stay in the house all you want because I would not throw you out to the streets. However, just bear in mind that we are Done!! This is no longer a home for me and I am glad I haven’t stepped my foot into it since I got back today. I am leaving you right now and I beg you not to come looking for me because I don’t ever want to see the two of you again. As for you Mavin, I have no words but just bear in mind that our friendsh¡p of 10 years ended today. I wish you both the best life. Goodbye!” Tochi said with a heavy heart.
The atmosphere was highly intense at that moment as Brandy and Mavin kept pleading for forgiveness. Without hesitating, Tochi instructed the gateman to go into the house and bring our most of his clothes; especially suits. In no time, his clothes were packed into boxes and were outside the building. On seeing the intensity of things, Brandy increased the tempo of her cry for forgiveness. She tried to beg her husband to at least come in,side the house so she could explain better but it was going to take the world to come to an end before Tochi would step his feet into that house. At that moment, the only thought in his head was to get his belongings and zoom out from there. He was choked from their lies, deceit and betrayal; all he wanted to go was disappear from their midst because he couldn’t stand them anymore.
In no time, the gateman was done packing Tochi’s clothes in three boxes and they were all outside. The couple had two cars parked in the compound and one belonged to Tochi so he requested for the keys and it was given to him. The gateman packed all his belongings into the car; even the goodies he brought from Canada. After everything was properly packed, he entered into the car and zoomed off. When he was out of sight, Mavin sat on the balcony of the house and bent his head downwards in shame, while Brandy kept sobbing bitterly. It was such a sad and hurtful day for all parties involved but Tochi was the one who felt the most pain. Too sad!
Night fall was fast approaching so Tochi drove to a hotel in town to lodge till he could figure himself out. His belongings were left in the car because he was too drained to do anything other than be alone in an enclosed space. He paid for a week accommodation and immediately he entered into his room, he burst into bitter tears. Tochi cried non-stop because the pain was just unfathomable. “How could they do this to me? Where did I go wrong?” He occasionally asked himself as he wailed. A day he thought would be a happy one turned out to be a disaster. After spending close to two years in Canada working extremely hærd for his family, only to be welcomed back with such betrayal from the person he was working hærd for. It was such a pity because Tochi honestly didn’t deserve such fate. He sadly couldn’t sleep all night due to the pains he was feeling.
Apparently, Tochi wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep all night because things weren’t looking too good for Brandy and Mavin too. They genuinely regretted their actions this time around and wallowed in shame. Brandy tried to call her husband all night but his old number wasn’t going through. She tried every means to reach him but all to no avail. It was such a terrible day for everyone!
Days passed and no one has heard from Tochi yet. It felt as though he had completely disappeared into thin air with no trace of him. As the situation began to get heated, Brandy had to call her parents and confess what she had done to them. Everyone was extremely disappointed in her because they all felt she was a woman with good moral values. The pregnancy was a slap on their faces and they instantly began to feel bad for Tochi.
Without hesitating, Brandy’s mum informed Tochi’s mother of what had happened and they were all shocked. The issue began to escalate and the major question in everyone’s mouth was “Where is Tochi?” Because they couldn’t seem to reach him however way they tried. Brandy was the center of every backlash and heat from family members. Mavin received a good share of backlash mostly from Tochi’s parents because they all knew him as their son’s best friend. There was chaos from every angle and it was then that Brandy realized that she had a very slim chance of ever getting her marriage back in one piece.
While everything was falling apart, Tochi was still locked up in his hotel room. He was losing his mind and needed to heal first before anything else. He knew his family were searching for him but he needed to be alone. Since the project’s deadline still had about 4 months left before officially dissolving, he knew he had enough time to heal before resuming his normal life activities. After staying in the hotel for a week, he booked a flight to a far away resort that was surrounded by nature with less humans and technology. He parked his car at the airport and paid for parking space. His belongings and every other thing he brought from Canada was still in the car boot, but he was still emotionally drained to care about anything else.
The journey to the resort was a quiet one because Tochi barely said a word to the resort esc-rt that picked him up from the airport and drove him to his destination. Few tears dropped from his eyes as he sat on the back seat looking out through the window. You never know how painful a breakup can be till you were the one that loved the most. This explains why Tochi was truly hurt because it’s clear he gave his everything to his marriage. When they arrived the resort, he was taken to one of their best suits made with sticks and mostly wooden furnitures. He laid on the bed and took a deep breath in and out before closing his eyes to have a brief nap.
Day in day out, Tochi took a stroll around the resort to cleanse his mind from every pain he was feeling. He intEr×¢ted with birds and sat by the riverbank most evenings. He thought of how soon to file for a divorce and usually ended up crying whenever it dawned on him that he was truly thinking of divorcing his wife; something he never thought would happen in their marriage. “I could have forgiven and taken her back if she wasn’t pregnant for him, but I don’t think I can ever take her back again with the current situation of things. The truth is that things can never be the same again if we ever got back together and I don’t want to live the rest of my life as an unhappy insecure man. No, I can’t” he sadly said to himself one of those nights her sat by the riverbank.
Those times were really tough on Tochi but God always have a way of picking every pieces of our broken heart and mend them. God knew Tochi needed someone to talk to and pour his heart out to. Talking about your problems with someone that cares about you might not get them solved but it would at least lift the intensity of the burden from your shoulders. It’s safe to say that Tochi needed at least one person in his camp to help him get through those trying times and it was just a matter of time before an angel in human form showed up.
It happened one fateful evening while Tochi was taking a stroll around the riverside of the resort. He was too distracted and forgot that he ordered a drink earlier. As usual, he found a good s₱0t close to the riverbank to sit and wallow in his thoughts. While he looked over the sky completely lost in thoughts, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder from behind. When he turned to see who had touched him, the first thing he saw was an angelic smile that instantly made his wh0le world feel alright.
For a split second, Tochi forgot about the pain and heartbreak he was feeling because that smile was soothing to his soul. Before he could figure out who the lady was, she spoke with the calmest voice he had ever heard; “Hello sir, my name is Ashley and this is the drink you ordered. I searched around the bar but couldn’t find you so I had to look for you all over the resort and I am glad I finally found you here. I hope you enjoy the flavor of the c*cktail. Have a good evening sir” she said with a beaming smile and walked away after handing the drink over to him.
As the mysterious elegant lady took each step further away from Tochi, it felt as though the antidote to his pain was gone. When she was completely out of sight, he took a sip of the c*cktail, smiled faintly and gently muttered the name “Ashley”.
End of episode 6 😉
Stay tuned tomorrow for the next episode to see what happened next.
✍🏼 Written by Sonia Okehie