Strings Attached III
YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR first love, until you find another that is stronger. Kimberly had searched for love, but it has become a scarce commodity in the market. She had almost given up when she met Dennis, the man who made her his queen.
After the Passing Out Parade, marking the end of James’ compulsory one-year National Service, he was informed by his parents that they have secured a spot for him to undergo a training abroad. At first, James rejected the offer saying that it was too impromptu and he had already planned his life. But his parents insisted he go and convinced him that it was only going to be for a year and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for him. His father had to pull some strings to get him enlisted.
A day after James was told of the supposed training abroad, he received a new backpack with everything he needed inside it. When he asked about the rush, he was told that it is classified. He was speechless, he wasn’t given a chance to say goodbye to anyone else apart from his parents. His phone and smart watch was taken away from him. He was told they would be kept safe. The plane he was flown in was a cargo plane, he was strapped to the plane with a strong heavy belt while he sat on a box. His new backpack was strapped beside him too. He was instructed not to open it under any circumstances until they get to their destination.
For a moment, James felt like he was being kidnapped or sold out by his parents. A lot of thoughts were passing through his mind with the speed of light. Was his parents or family in trouble? Has his father done something to someone powerful and they have demanded his only son as ransom? Is this the modern slavery stuffs he has been reading about and why would his parents be involved in it with their only son? Why was all his personal belongings taken away from him and why wasn’t…? He abruptly stopped with the many questions in his mind. He asked a new one; if he is going to another country, where are his passports and visa! One can’t just enter into another country without these required documents. As though awakened from a deep sleep, James dashed for his bag and attempted to open it ignoring all warnings. Then he realised that the bag was locked with a padlock and the padlock uses a code. Exhausted from all that was going on in his mind, James dozed off, hanging on the belt as the aircraft cut through the sky.
It was unusual for James not to call after a whole week let alone a whole month. Even during his three-week camping period, he made video calls, what could have kept him this long!Kimberly wondered. None of his numbers were reachable and his social media handles were inactive. She reached out to his parents to inquire about him. They told her that something came up and he had to travel to sort things out. She wasn’t satisfied with the answer they gave her. What could be so urgent that James would leave without telling her anything about it, even a goodbye. Besides, she had spent the whole week with him since he was done with his service, there was no discussions on travels or some special secret training abroad. She felt betrayed and wondered what games his parents were playing. But they assured her that all is well, he is fine when he is and what he went for was for his own good. She was told not to worry that he’d be back in a year.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years, yet there was no sign of James nor a call or a simple text message from him. Kimberly had cried out her eyes during the first few months. She started and finished her compulsory service and secured a job, yet the burden on her continued to linger and over time it was affecting her job. She loved James with all of her being, but as the days passes by, she realised that though KimJames was a thing then in school, what is present and available is Kimberly, and Kimberly is a complete person with emotions and intellect capable of making her own decisions. She felt bad that all the plans they have made together just evaporated like a mist on the onset of bright sunlight. She was broken, lovelorn and lonely, she had built her life around this one man and it has never been easy navigating this life without him. Her productivity at work dropped; she received queries several times. She decided to take a break and lied to her office claiming she had lost a loved one. Besides, James was as good as dead to her. She was given some time to grieve.
Kimberly found out that she needed more than just a week to pull herself together. She didn’t resume after the time allotted to her expired, she resigned eventually and went over to live with her mum for a while. Her mum told her that she had to move on; there was no need to flog a dead horse. If they were meant to be together, he would come back for her. Her mum advised her not to put all her eggs in one basket, telling her that she has her own life to live, and that it is possible that the young man is married wherever he is.
Kimberly picked up courage, after dropping all her burdens — including Jasper, on her mum’s feet. She decided to live her life, after all she was her own person, she deserves happiness too. And so she did. She started to live her life again, got another job and gave her best to it, made new friends and went out on dates. She would no longer be held down by a promise she cannot keep — a promise the other party didn’t honour. She became happy, KimJames became a thing of the past and James became someone that she used to know… or so she thought.
The Deep Space Mission(DSP) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States of America was taking longer than expected. This was a highly classified mission for NASA, and only a handful of individuals with exceptional abilities and intellect from across the world were involved in it. Bringing onboard the James Webb Space Telescope(JWST) gave the mission a new insight into what they were working on, providing a wealth information and changing the trajectory of the mission. They were going to make a discovery, and a single year wasn’t enough to do so.
At first James thought that he had been conscripted into the US army to secretly fight off aliens and wondered what an engineer like him would offer to the team. It turned out to be a research, not on aliens but still secret — they were building something with unheard-of technology.
The first few months was exciting for him, he learnt a lot during the course of the program, things he wouldn’t have learnt in a lifetime. James felt and saw true power, influence and wealth.
He sincerely missed Kimberly and wished he had the time and chance to at least say goodbye. He reminisced about their last week together, the fun they had and how they talked excitedly about their future plans as he had just finished his service. All those plans dissipated gradually as they months and years went by. He felt he had betrayed her, he tried to reach out to her via his parents and wrote letters, as that was the only way they were allowed to send messages to their loved ones. Four years had gone by, he never received a reply to the letters he wrote monthly. He continued writing nonetheless.
Kimberly’s beauty and brains could not be ignored by any sensible man with taste. She was a spec and carried herself with elegance and self-worth. By her dedication and tenacity, she rose to the rank at the office. She attained a Boss-lady status and flaunted it well enough. But every queen deserves a king and Kimberly thought herself an exception until she met Dennis, a contractor whose talents in comedy were wasting away in the field and in the office.
At first, Kimberly wasn’t willing to give him a chance, she was unwilling to mix business and pleasure and besides she’s been hurt over the last few years not just by the absence of James but in the relationships she tried to build afterwards. Some of those men made her happy at first, but as things went deeper, she found out that they were without scruples. But the charming young man with a deep voice that sends pleasant sensation down her auditory canal made her renege, she fell head over heels for him. He brought a feeling into her life, a feeling she never knew she was lacking. His sense of humour made her legs spread like rumour. Dennis was a responsible smart guy and treated her like a queen that she was. He was her king and she became the most important thing in his life. They got married after two months of dating.
Two years after her marriage to Dennis, Kimberly thought herself to have settled down but there was a void in her heart that even Dennis in his majesty couldn’t fill. She is great, she is lovely, beautiful, charming and everything a man would desire in a woman. He loved her and gave her whatever she needed. But she continued to feel an emptiness inside. She confided in her close friend Jessica who has been married for more than five years. Jessica told her that it was one of those things about marriage and she was going to get over it.
When James returned back home after 5 years abroad, he discovered that a lot has changed. His parents now looking older, were very happy to see him. They were happy that their son is one of the contributors to a groundbreaking project work even though they know not the details. James was happy to finally be back home. The next day he went to ask for Kimberly only to discover that they have moved out years ago. There was no way he could reach her or her parents, they seemed to have changed their numbers. He inquired from his parents and their response wasn’t helpful either so he tried looking her online. Coming back online felt like starting secondary school all over again. He had made a lot of sacrifices for that training and research. He had also made a lot of money from it too, and connections. He stumbled upon a flier and found out that Kimberly would be speaking in the annual Engineers Conference. He decided to fly over to the capital city to surprise her. When he got to the city, he lodged in a hotel and hired a car to move about.
While Kimberly was trying to get over her relationship anxiety, she got the shock of her life; the dead came calling. She bumped into a ghost at the annual engineer’s conference. She was heading to her car, when someone following her from behind said “I knew I was going to find you here, you’ve always wanted to attend this conference. Nice speech you gave at the podium by the way.”
She recognised the voice, it was hard to miss except it now sounded even more matured, she turned her head so that her eyes would confirm what her ears were telling her. Their eyes met, his piercing into hers, he had a broad smile on his face. For a few seconds her blood froze within her veins, “Excuse you?” she managed to utter.
Still smiling, he responded, “it is me, James.” “in flesh and blood” he added chuckling.
She rushed forward and gave him a hug. She pressed him so tight to herself that James feared his bones may crack. The hug lasted for so long that James had to quietly pull her off from him as they were in public. Having detached from him, she gave him a punch on the chest, her eyes teary, saying “you left, even without a goodbye.”
“I’m so sorry it turned out that way. I tried explaining all of that to you in my letters, you never gave me a reply.” He said to her.
“What letters?” She asked, confused.
“I wrote you letters every month” he responded looking a little confused.
“I never got any letters, not from James or King James” she sounded angry.
Now confused, James said “I wrote you letters every month through my parents. They were my only contacts, they never gave you these letters?”
“I never received anything from anyone, James. When I asked your parents for your whereabouts they gave me an answer that didn’t sit well with me. They said you went for some training outside the country and wouldn’t state where or what training. I got tired of making inquiries because anytime I do, what I get was assurance that you’d soon be back. You became like Jesus, coming soon.” She poured out her heart holding herself from an outburst.
“I see where the problem lies now.” Said James, nodding his head like an agama lizard. “Let us get out from here, there’s a cool spot close by.” He said to her.
Their cars were packed side by side at the parking lot while they sat inside the restaurant and talked over meals and drinks. He narrated to her all that has happened and she told him about how things have turned out for her. She observed the sad look on his face whenever his eyes came in contact with her wedding ring. She felt bad for him and told him that she was sorry that things have turned out that way. He shrugged it off saying that he himself had taken too long and she didn’t hear from him. He told her that it was fine and that they could remain friends. She knew that he was lying about being fine with her being married. She also knew that them remaining as friends was just a façade. But she kept mum.
They exchanged contacts and addresses. She told him that she and her husband now lives in the capital city. And he said to her that he was going to fly back home.
That day, Kimberly returned home smiling. She hasn’t felt this way in a long time. It was a different kind of happiness, the type she felt when she first met Dennis, except that this one was stronger. Her husband thought that she had been given an award, of which she replied in the negative. She prepared his best meal that night and the smile on her face could not be hidden.
Dennis thought that something was cooking. So he inquired of her “Tell me, my love. What is the occasion? Your smile is contagious as your beauty is charming.”
She replied him, still smiling “ nothing really, my king. I just felt I haven’t prepared your favourite in a while and I’m in a very good mood.”
“I see somebody would be collecting a National award soon and maybe a portfolio” he added, now smiling.
“I pray o.” She said laughing.
A lot was going on in Kimberly’s mind, the feelings though unstable as water, was very pleasant. She thought herself blessed to have a man like Dennis in her life.
She slept peacefully and with calmness. That feeling of anxiety just seemed to have magically disappeared. She felt free and undisturbed. She felt a kind of calmness within.
When James returned back home after his stay at the capital city, he couldn’t really understand all that was going on within him. This was the lady he had fallen in love with and they both had gone through the toughest moments together. She had literally helped him to rise from the ashes like a phoenix. But now she is in another man’s arms. A man who knew nothing about how things had been between them. He became angry, he felt like he had lost all even though he’d been exposed to some of the greatest sights in human history. He decided to do something in the house to take his mind off his feelings, that was when he found them; almost 5 dozens of them. The letters he had written to Kimberly. They remained sealed but were never delivered.
When he asked his parents why they refused to deliver the letters, his father called him aside, sat him down and had a tête-à-tête with him.
“look son, “ he began “I knew you were in love with that lady and you wanted to be with her. We too liked her and she’d have made a good daughter in-law. But you see son, love turns you into a lot of stuffs and makes you do a lot of stuffs. We understand that you were going to be there for a period of time, not really knowing when you would come back, but it was selfish of you to want to keep that lovely lady on hold when even you, yourself was uncertain about the time of your return.”
When his father said this words, he responded.
“Dad, you ruined my relationship. You ruined my life. How could you keep this away from her? It was her right to know what was going on with me. You should have given them to her, if she was going to be able to wait she could have waited. All my plans in life were shattered because of this dream of yours. I didn’t want to go for any ‘classified’ program. You found a way to ensure that I joined. I can’t believe you would do this to me, your only son, I can’t be…” he was interrupted by his father who said calmly.
“Listen son, sometimes in life, you make sacrifices. Indeed, it was a dream of mine but I’m too old to pursue such a dream. And besides you shared the same dreams when you were little, remember? You wanted this too. You are just angry that your love life didn’t fit in. That was a sacrifice you had to make.”
“Look son,” he continued “the biological clock of that girl is very different from yours. You are a male and she’s a female. You both aren’t running on the same time. You wanting to make her pause her life and wait for you was selfish in the sense that, every day she waits for you, her clock ticks. Look at you, you can get married today if you want, you can get married in 5 years, 10 years or even 20 years from now and you’re going to have offsprings. But a woman isn’t like that. It was very necessary for you to let her go, even though it was very painful.”
“Look son, “ his father went on “we kept all that letters so that you’d deliver them to her yourself whenever you returned. We never compromised any of them in anyway, we just intercepted and kept them safe. It was for your own good and for hers too. If she had kept on waiting for you without knowing when you’d eventually show up, she’d one day get tired. But at that time she’d have become a shadow of herself, miserable and depressed. You don’t want that for her, son.”
Then he added with finality, “You said you loved her, son. What we did was one of the things you do for the things you do things for.”
James sat down and thought about his life all over again. He still felt pained but his father’s arguments were valid. He put himself together, he had some letters to deliver.
Kimberly had received a message from James asking her to meet him in the hotel room he had lodged. Her body palpitated with emotions. She joined him in the room, he showed her the letters and handed them over to her. She collected them holding them closely to her heart. He stood up, looking into her eyes and telling her that he was sorry and didn’t know that the letters were hoarded.
She tried to avoid his gaze but his eyes were fixed on her. The atmosphere in the room became tensed, their hormones bubbling. She summoned courage and looked into that piercing eyes of his and said “I still love you.”
“What?” Said he “wha wha what do you mean?” He stuttered.
“I still love you, James. I never stopped.”
She dropped the letters on the table in the room and moved closer to him, she placed her hand on his chest and rubbed her nose on his chin and kissed his neck. This was his turn-on button. He couldn’t hold it anymore, here and now he believed that they couldn’t be just friends. He knew that they were still strings attached but he has been denying it since he saw the rings on her fingers.
He leaned forward to kiss her lips…
There was a knock at the door. The duo disengaged and he went to check who was on the other side of the door. It turned out to be room service, they brought in the drinks he ordered.
James collected them and closed the door behind him, putting it under lock.
He turned and saw that she had removed her gown, she was now in her undies. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt, removed his trousers and joined her in bed.
It felt as though KimJames was back, except this time it was Mrs. Kim and Mr. James, and neither of them was married to the other. The affair between this former couple went on for weeks. Dennis knew his wife has been behaving strangely lately but he couldn’t fathom what was really going on. She was now having regular interstate ‘business travels’ and it wasn’t because of a new portfolio she got with the government. She told him that she was riding on something big and that for now it was a secret. Dennis was a smart guy, but somehow it eluded him what big thing his wife was secretly riding on. Kimberly had become hardened, she no longer felt remorse for a thing, she had also perfected her lying games. She was telling her husband what she was doing, but in a very cryptic way. He may be witty, but was too slow to see through his wife.
James was enjoying the full package without even paying for it. Somehow he felt that he was in the right. He felt entitled to her love. To him, Dennis was just a placeholder. These two former lovers, now entangled in an affair, had become reprobate. They felt nothing bad about what they were doing. It just felt normal.
James literally now lives in a hotel in the capital city. The city was treating him well and he had the capital. One day he went to the city’s shopping mall to get some items for his mum. Who he bumped into sent shockwaves down his spine. He hadn’t seen her in 5 years. It was Kimberly’s mum.
He stood transfixed as if he had seen a ghost.
“Hello, handsome,” she said to him with a cunning smile and added “so, ghosts are real.”
“Good day ma” he stammered.
“What is good about the day? “ she snapped at him. “What is good about a man who left the woman he loves without a word?” She asked rhetorically.
“It is not what you thin…” he was trying to say when she cut him off.
“Shhhh, keep your explanations to yourself, young man,” She added.
While they were talking, a little boy came running to her, holding a toy rocket. She turned and said to him, “Jasper say hi to uncle.”
“Hello uncle, my name is Jasper,” The five-year old boy said with a smile.
“Hi, I’m James,” James said, looking at the boy intently.
“If you would excuse me, Mr James or KimJames? I have things to do.” The elderly woman said while she grabbed the hands of the little boy who waved him farewell.
James was dumbfounded, he could swear on the grave of his forefathers this little boy looked exactly like him.
