The Halo Effect: A Two Faced Lover
Written by Sonia Okehie
Episode 7
To err is human but to forgive is divine; forgiveness will never be old fashion or outdated because it benefits both the offender and victim. Being angry is part of life and not a bad thing either, but the problem starts when you let the pain and grudge linger for too long because it might develop into something more drastic than the initial reason you ever got angry in the first place. As long as we still breathe the air we have never for once been charged for, then you should never hold back forgiveness to people that wronged you; talk more of when they realise their mistakes and ask for your forgiveness. Most times, we have to go through a rough path in life just so we can appreciate life more. Saint had to hit rock bottom before realising how messed up and selfish he had been in the past. It took the world to be against him before he could retrace his steps and make amends with his past. In that sober moment of Saint’s life, it dawned on him how empty and void his life had been and also how much he wanted to commit to someone for the first time ever. The fact that Rose occupied a significant space in his heart, made her very special from the rest. He knew deep down that he was willing to try with her if she gave him a chance. Well, too bad because Rose wasn’t even willing to render forgiveness to him, talk more of being in any form of relationship with him.
The reply Rose gave to Saint sent chilled reactions all over his body. To be fair, he knew the forgiveness process wasn’t going to be an easy one, as he wasn’t expecting her to forgive him so easily; not after all the horrible things he did to her in the past. The fact that Rose was tearing up as she spoke to Saint made his heart melt like candle wax. He wanted to wipe the tears off her eyes but she shifted her face and moved it towards another direction to avoid any physical contact with him.
“Rose please I’m so sorry, I’m saying this from the depths of my heart. Tell me anything you want me to do to make you forgive me and I promise to do it in a twinkle of an eye. It’s been a rough couple of months but I assure you that I’m a changed man now, I am deliberately working on myself each day just to see to it that I have nothing to do with my past again. To be honest, I think I owe you a big ‘thank you’ because you are the one that brought out the best in me. You deserve everything good and I promise to make it up to you. Please give me one last chance to make things right with you” Saint soberly said. By the time he was done talking, Rose’s face was covered with tears. She couldn’t hold back her emotions for some strange reasons. It was hard for her to forgive a man that was responsible for so many sad incidents in her life.
To make matters worst, Rose didn’t trust Saint anymore and even felt he was lying all through. The fact that he lied about so many things in the past had succeeded in killing any chances he had for her to ever trust him again. Despite the fact that Rose could tell that Saint was truly sorry for all the bad deeds he had done in the past, a part of her still felt like he had an ulterior motive behind everything. Forgiving him was far from the content in her bucket list, so it wasn’t going to be an easy task at all.
After being mute for a while, Rose finally spoke. “To be honest, I don’t have anything else to say to you other than what I said before. I’ll leave now, bye!” she managed to say and sadly walked away. As she went inside the building, Saint still stood there looking at her. His heart was crushed and his eyes were teary. It felt as though a huge part of him was taken away and thrown into the river.
Feeling devastated, Saint sadly walked back to his car. For over an hour, he sat inside his car thinking and couldn’t move. Rose was aware that he still hadn’t left because she could see his car from her balcony. “Why is he still here? Oh Lord, what exactly does this man want from me? I still have a soft spot for him but will never make the mistake I made the other time by falling for him. What does he want? I feel bad” she soberly said to herself.
In as much as a big part of Rose wanted to go back downstairs and talk to Saint, she just had to control herself by putting her emotions on check. When a person goes through a rough path in life, it makes them stronger and tougher than they used to. Rose had learnt not to be controlled by her emotions so easily; so due to that, she wasn’t too moved.
After about an hour later, Saint finally drove off and headed home. On his way home, he kept thinking of nothing else than Rose. He thought of how to get her to genuinely forgive him and he began to look for ways to back his words with actions. “How can I get her to see that I have truly changed and that my intentions are genuine?” he wondered as he drove home. Saint knew it wasn’t going to be easy to find his way back into Rose’s heart and win her trust again, but he also wasn’t willing to back down either.
On the other hand, Rose was sober all night and couldn’t stop thinking about all that happened earlier. Everything just felt weird because she wasn’t expecting such at all. To be truly honest, Rose still felt something for Saint in her heart. She hadn’t succeeded to completely erasing him from her mind and also, the day they made love was still very fresh in her memory. No man had ever handled her the way Saint did, so it was a bit difficult for her to move on completely. Also, the fact that he came apologising made matters a little worse because he had somehow found his way back into her mind and thoughts.
Most people have a hard time moving on completely from a relationship they were once in, because they still haven’t met anyone that rock their world more than their Ex’s did. Pray never to find yourself in that unsatisfactory and comparism bottomless pit because it usually leads to incompleteness and unhappiness in any new relationship you enter.
Apparently, Rose was still not over Saint but held back her feelings because he really hurt her in the past and that was quite a lot to forget and move on from. She was afraid of being vulnerable again so as not to regret it afterwards.
Days and weeks passed by but Saint never stopped apologising and trying to make things right with Rose. He sent her a text message everyday, expressing how much he was sorry and wanted to make things up to her. She never replied any of his messages but that didn’t stop him from trying over and over again.
Everyday at work, Rose received flowers from a flower company with a note that read; “I’m sorry!”. The flowers never stopped coming and it made her low-key happy even though she pretended otherwise. Her whole office was filled with flowers that she even started giving some away to her colleagues.
Due to Saint consistency in seeking for Rose’s forgiveness, her hard shell began to crack gently and her heart suddenly melted. Whenever the flowers came each day, she would smile till her cheeks hurt and it usually made her day bright. She wanted to call him so bad but held herself not to do so. It was hard for Rose to keep concealing her feelings but who could blame her for holding back? not after all the terrible things Saint did in the past.
Asides trying to get Rose’s forgiveness, Saint had his new business to nurture and take care of. It wasn’t too long before it started generating good profits and his life started taking great shape again.
In as much as Saint’s business was now generating money, he knew that there was still something missing in his life. Whenever he was alone, he realised that he needed a companion; someone that would be his own and one that he could love totally. At that point, he began to realise that he was ready for commitment and no one was befitting enough to take that spot in his life than the very woman that made him the changed man he now was; which was Rose. Saint figured that if there was anyone that deserved the new version of him, then it might as well be Rose because she really did love him in the past.
All this contributed to the more reason why Saint wanted to win Rose back by first seeking her forgiveness no matter what it took. Despite the fact that she wasn’t even giving him any signal that the forgiveness was forth coming, he still wasn’t discouraged. Everything remained the same till one fateful day.
It happened that it was Rose’s birthday and Saint got to find out through her social media account. He didn’t want to call or text because he knew she wouldn’t respond the text nor pick up the call. After work that day, he hurried down to a cake store and bought a nice cake with the inscription “Happy Birthday, I am sorry”.
While at work, Rose had an awesome time with her colleagues and celebrated her birthday with them. She retired home at close of work and wasn’t aware that Saint had something up his sleeves.
Few hours after Rose returned home, she heard a knock on the door and reluctantly went to see who was knocking. Immediately she opened the door, her heart raced when she set her eyes on Saint standing there with a box of cake.
At that moment, Rose’s heart was on a marathon race and Saint could hear her breathe in and out. “Happy Birthday” he calmly said and handed the cake over the her, “Thank you” she replied as she collected the cake.
After handing the cake over, Saint didn’t know what else to do so he figured it was best he left. “I just came to give you that, happy birthday once more” he said and was about to walk away when Rose stopped him. “Do you want to stay so we can eat the cake together and maybe celebrate well?” she asked in a low tone. Saint looked into her shiny eyes and nodded ‘Yes’ afterwards.
They entered inside and Rose placed the cake on the centre table and opened the carton. When she saw the “I am sorry” inscription, her heart melted the more and she didn’t know when tears fell off her eyes.
Immediately Saint saw the tears on her eyes, he gently got up from where he sat and walked closer to her. “Please stop right there, don’t come too close because you’ll just use and dump me again. Saint why are you doing all this? Please stop if you know you are going to play with my heart again. I beg you stop, please! I don’t have the strength for lies and heartbreak” Rose said as she burst into uncontrollable tears. Saint became sober and knelt down before her. He held her legs and sobbed bitterly too. “I promise this time is different, I swear! It took me a long time to realise that you were made for me. Please give me one more shot, I promise you wouldn’t regret it. I need your forgiveness but also want you back. Please Rose, I beg you!” he soberly said.
The atmosphere became filled with emotions and Rose didn’t know when she cried and knelt down with Saint too. She held his head and looked into his eyes and uttered those golden words “I forgive you”.
Immediately Rose said those words, Saint’s heart dropped and it felt like his life began all over again. They looked into each other’s eyes as they cried like little babies.
Unable to hold back the burning sensation that filled the air, Saint said “Oh Gosh, I love you so much” and planted a hot k!ss on Rose’s lips.
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