Departure
” I Know by the time you get this letter I will be away, far away from you and my daughter but will be thinking about you.
I am sorry my love, I know sorry will not fix anything and you must be cursing me for being a scumbag, which I am .
I love you Lucia but I will not become a burden in your Life just because I love you. I set you free, live your Life and take care of our daughter. I already sent an engagement cancellation request to your parents and explained myself. I hope you can forgive me. All arrangements for her future have been made, you don’t have to worry about her finances, ofcourse I know that’s the least of your worries.
I left a video, let her watch it when she turns twelve, tell her that Daddy loves her the most and most importantly, don’t come looking for me.”
Ezekiel.
By the time she finished reading the letter, streams of tears were flowing down, wetting her clothes. So that’s it? Was that the end of it all? Why didn’t he wait for her and tell her those words instead of leaving a lousy paper with little explanation about his actions?
She could tell from the letter something was wrong with him but why did he choose to go alone and face it instead of letting her accompany him? Was her Love so little that she could be shaken by a small obstacle? But was it really a small obstacle??
Lucia did not know for how Long she had wept. Just the thought of not seeing Ezekiel again for whatever reason pained her. It felt like someone was stabbing a poison coated knife to her heart repeatedly. The pain was unbearable.
Taking out her phone, she called the only people who could advise her on what to do. She placed a conference call to her three friends.
The call was immediately accepted by Ava, the last to receive was Miranda ofcourse.
” Hello girl, What’s up?” Ava greeted.
” He left.” Lucia blurted out sniffing, trying as much as possible to hold her tears and not burst any moment.
” Huh! What do you mean he Left? Who left?” Stacy asked, puzzled, representing the others’ questions.
” Ezekiel, he Left. A letter was all he left behind for me.”Lucia said bursting out in tears. She sobbed uncontrollably.
In the background, she could hear shuffling sounds and nobody needed to tell her that her friends were making their way to her.
The call wasn’t disconnected and Lucia continued crying out all her pain.
” Don’t cry too hard, it’s not good for the baby. Try to relax, we will figure this out together.” Stacy tried consoling her. She was pregnant and although she was in her second trimester, stress and overexerting oneself could harm the baby.
When Lucia heard about the baby, she forced herself to calm down. The baby was the only connection she had with Ezekiel, the only proof that she once had a man who Loved her but brutally abandoned her. She couldn’t let anything happen to her.
Minutes later, three cars stopped at the entrance one after the other. Although the three came from different locations, their arrival difference didn’t exceed five minutes.
The three girls went straight to the bedroom. It was already dark but the house had no single light switched on. They found Lucia seated at the edge of the bed, eyes red and swollen from crying but the Most heartbreaking scene was her Faraway look she had on her face.
They pulled her, hugging her to show their support. After they separated, Miranda was the first to spot the letter that was lying on the floor carelessly. Moving to pick it, she skimmed through it and clearly understood what was happening. It seemed like Ezekiel left to face something on his own fearing to become a burden to Lucia.. but what?
Passing the letter to the others, they all read the contents.
” The letter doesn’t explain anything but I can tell Ezekiel is going through something and wants to keep it away from Lucia.” Ava commented
” Yeah, but what could it be? Have you realised something abnormal from him lately?” Stacy directed her question to Lucia who just nodded.
” What is it? Maybe we could figure out what’s the matter here.”Miranda urged.
” It could be something serious if he’s talking about not being able to see his daughter ever. Did you see any problem with him health wise?” Stacy inquired.Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
” Yes, recently he has lost a lot of weight and he would sleep for longer hours than normal.” Lucia explained. ” Yes, I remember I severally found his handies covered with blood.” Lucia added. ” But that was before we went to our vacation.” Lucia said.
” Am starting to think it’s no longer a vacation but a goodbye.” Ava said. “Wait a minute…. I should have known something was off when he asked me that question!” Ava said as realisation hit her.
” What question?” Stacy and Miranda asked simultaneously while Lucia just looked at Ava waiting to hear more.
” I remember Ezekiel called me one night. I was already asleep by then, he was asking something like what Lucia wanted to do most so I told him about her dream of visiting Kenya. He was talking about fulfilling a last wish for her.” Ava explained.
” It seems like he had it all planned out.” Stacy commented.
” Okay, that narrows things for us. He must have encountered the setback before they Left for the vacation. Maybe he just wanted to spend some happy days with you before leaving. That leaves us investigating him before the trip.” Stacy reasoned out.
” We have to look for someone he had a good relationship with or someone who we spend a lot of time with.” Ava added.
” Do you Know of such a person?” Miranda asked.
” What about Justin or Ronald? They’re best friends after all.” Stacy suggested.
” I don’t think so. I haven’t heard about Justin talking about meeting him.” Miranda informed me.
” Me too. Ronald was complaining about the two cutting him off so definitely not him.” Ava added.
” Then who else?” Stacy wondered out loud.
” His secretary.” Lucia mumbled softly but the girls were able to catch her words.
” Exactly, we should start from there. The company and also his parents. He might have informed them about his departure.” Stacy reasoned.