Marital Dance - Part 6
Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 12:48AM 
2 months later
London, England
Grace got off the train slightly disoriented. She had dozed off on the journey from Heathrow to King’s Cross. Lucky for her she had opened her eyes just as her stop came up…God knows how she would have found her way if she had gotten lost in London.
After her breakup with Alex, she had taken one week sick leave to recover enough to be around people. She had spent the entire week holed up in her room. Food and sleep were forgotten as she obsessed over her broken relationship…wondering what she could have done to save it.
Every day, she thought about calling Alex. Maybe it was just a test…maybe he was trying to see if she loved him enough to fight for him. She did and she would…maybe if they just talked it through, they could work things out. But her bruised pride and broken heart couldn’t stand another rejection. She would give him some time to cool off before calling.
That was before she found out he was getting married. Fortunately or not, they had a lot of mutual friends and when she found out through one of them that Alex was getting married, she knew it was really over.
She found it hard to believe because somewhere in the back of her mind, she had held onto the hope that they weren’t really over. But, he had never called to say he was wrong, or apologize for breaking her heart. No, it was really true. He had married someone else. If he had gotten married so soon after breaking up with her, that probably meant that he and his soul mate were already dating while he carried on his relationship with her. The Alex she knew did not seem capable of that…but, that was the only thing that made sense.
Her world had crashed and she just seemed incapable of functioning. She had lost so much weight that her clothes started to hang off her bony shoulders. She had bags under her eyes every day…each day rolled into the other and she just went through the motions.
Her mother had done her part to try to cheer her up and get her to focus on other things. On the day of Alex’s wedding, she had attended a funeral with Mom. She knew it was her mother’s way of helping her to keep things in perspective. There are more important things in life than a broken heart. Her mind flashed back to the funeral and she remembered the widow and her son, and the looks on their faces as their husband and father was laid to rest. Yes, there are more important things in life than a relationship gone wrong.
Still, she felt the need to get away for a while and decided to visit London for a couple of weeks. Some time away from Lagos will help me finally clear my mind. Her sister, Sonia was supposed to come and pick her up from King’s Cross. Grace wove her way through the throng of people at the station and pulled her trolley suitcase behind her. She checked the exits to make sure she had the right one and climbed the stairs from the underground station up to the street. Impatiently, she ran up the stairs and stumbled slightly as she got to the top.
A warm sensation raced through her as a strong hand reached out to steady her. A deep male voice asked “Are you alright?”
**
Azuka walked slowly down Euston Road towards Kings Cross train station. It was a crisp spring day and he pulled his sport coat a little closer. The station and the surrounding streets had been undergoing steady renovations and everywhere looked smart and urban with a smattering of sleek and trendy hotels and restaurants mixed with the more traditional buildings like the British Library and St. Pancras Church. He had a meeting with a potential client in Manchester and he was at least an hour early for his train.
His father’s funeral had been a month ago and he had just come back from Nigeria a couple of weeks ago. After the funeral Azuka had remained at his mother’s side for two weeks. He would have stayed longer, but his business was suffering and he had to come back and get to work. He had started making arrangements to gradually relocate his business to Lagos over the next year. He was his parents’ only child and he did not want to leave his mother all alone. While he worked on permanently relocating, he would visit his mother regularly to make sure she was alright. Azuka grieved, not just because of his loss, but because his father would never have the chance to see his grandchildren…to see the man Azuka would become. He grieved because his mother would be all alone. His parents were married for almost forty years, and he could not imagine one without the other.
As memories clouded his mind, an image of the girl he had seen that night at the restaurant filled his mind. He had never forgotten her. Instead of her memory growing dimmer, it grew stronger – her features were etched in his mind. He wondered who she was. He knew nothing about her, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He shook his head in a vain effort to get her out of his mind. He didn’t even know her name. he thought he had seen her at his house a couple of days before his father’s funeral, but his mind was probably just playing tricks on him because he hadn’t seen her – or anyone that looked like her – at the wake keeping or the funeral itself. Not that he was actively looking for her anyway. There were so many little details that needed his attention and he was constantly being dragged from one place to another. Besides, so many people had shown up for his father’s funeral that he hadn’t even seen some of his friends that came from Lagos.
He had planned to stop at Snazz Sichaun for lunch before catching his train, but decided against it at the last minute. I have no appetite anyway. I’ll just wait for my train…maybe call Mom to check on her. As he approached the stairs, he was almost overrun by the sea of commuters pouring out onto the street. In their midst, he was struck by a young woman making her way up. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but he couldn’t see her face. She was looking back at her suitcase, trying to pull it up towards her. She stumbled in the process and he unconsciously reached out a hand to steady her.
“Are you alright?” Azuka asked.
The woman slowly turned towards him and, he felt like someone had knocked the breath out of his body….it was her. She smiled at him softly…and sweetly.
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Thank you”.
Azuka’s breath caught and he could only nod mutely. Say something, idiot! Don’t just stand there staring! Thoughts flew through Azuka’s mind. He couldn’t believe that he had finally seen her again…he had pretty much given up any hope of ever finding her. And to think I should have been having lunch right now…
Azuka smiled back at her “You’re welcome. Here, let me help you.”
She smiled gratefully and relinquished her hold on the heavy suitcase. He grabbed it and pulled it up onto the street where they both stood and stuck out his hand. “Hi. I’m Azuka.”
Grace looked up the man standing beside her. He looks kind of familiar. Haven’t I seen him somewhere recently? There was something about him…something warm and inviting. Something promising...though he was smiling, his eyes looked like they had seen a world of pain. She wondered what those eyes would look like without the weariness she saw in them.
She shook his hand and smiled at him again…gently, softly… “My name is Grace.”
**
The End
Onyih Odunze
Stay tuned for ‘Finding Grace’ as we continue with Azuka and Grace on the next part of their journey!!
Reader Comments (4)
Nnem, this story is captivating...please keep it coming. Well done and more grace!!!
Thanks boo!
Why does it have to end ! I have enjoyed it so much. I was hoping for a wedding or something like that. So what happens next? Pls keep writing dear and start thinking about publishing....seriously!
Lol!! It hasn't ended yet!! Azuka and Grace still have a long way to go and you'll see them this weekend in 'Finding Grace'. Stay tuned!!
Ps: Thanks dear, a book is in the works. I'll let you know when it's ready to go. Thanks for reading...your support has been awesome!