The Wall Between Us

Chapter 27- Before I go

"Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on.."
Bill Withers

ENITAN

I looked around the room to make sure I'd packed every of my stuff into the last luggage, which was the smallest among all the three and the only one I was to travel with. Tanya was going to send the rest later through courier service. I'd been so busy packing I didn't notice the day was far spent. Closing the suitcase and lifting it off the bed, I dragged it to the corner of the room , then headed downstairs to grab a late dinner.

Not that I was hungry-the thoughts of Nathan tying the knot with his fiancée by morning was enough to kill my appetite- but my babies needed the nutrition. Putting on a pot of noodles on the stove to simmer, I brought out bananas and a carton of yoghurt from the fridge and unenthusiastically dumped them into the electric blender and turned it on.

In no time I was sitting at the dining table, eating noodles and scooping banana flavoured yogurt while scrolling through my social media feed. My father would have snatched the gadget out of my reach if he was here, he hated it when people were glued to their phones especially at a meal. Luckily he wasn't and wasn't going to see me until an hour before my morning flight.

The intercom at the front door buzzed and I glanced at my phone to check the time.

Ten P.M

I dropped the phone and spoon on the table, dashed to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, just in case I needed it-like an intruder would use the doorbell or even get past Everest who was busy being invisible somewhere around the building. But even though I wanted to believe Everest would never hurt me or let anyone, I couldn't trust my life in the hands of a man who took part in hiding an important secret from me. I sashayed to the front door, snuggling the oversized cotton robe tighter.

I stood on my toes and peered through the peephole, but the heel of my foot came back down immediately. My heart must've skipped ten beats seeing Nathan standing outside. I opened the door slowly and got into attack mode, rehearsing all the hurtful words I was going to send him back home with. But I paused, everything seemed off about his disposition, he looked broken and crushed, something I'd never witnessed. His hands hung loosely to his sides as he raised his head to reveal a sullen look. My eyes travelled down to his body, his shirt was dripping wet and it clung to his body, making the unrhythmic heave of his chest and slight shiver of his body even more pronounced.

Was he robbed? Did he get into a fight? I slowly dropped the knife behind the door and stepped aside so he could come in. He walked into the large living room area with slow shaky steps and stopped in the middle. I leaned in to shut the door, pausing shortly to put my mind together. My first instinct was to be hostile, but when I turned and stare into those eyes under the light, I didn't recognise the eyes that stared back at me. His eyes had always carried power, excitement, anger even. Now they held nothing but brokenness and emptiness.

***
He sat in silence in the lounge upstairs, wrapped in a duvet I took from one of the spare rooms. I put on the room heater and joined him on the couch, examining his now shirtless body for injuries but finding none. We sat in silence for what felt like eternity.

"What happened?" I asked, turning towards him with one leg on the couch and the other on the ground. Instead of an answer, he put his head down and avoided making eye contact.

"Just hold me," he said. Though he'd always loved been held, tonight his plea wasn't of a man needing pleasure. It sounded like that of a man drowning on the inside and looking for an anchor to hold.