“You don’t have to be sorry. I’m sorry about the scandal. You all had to face all of this because of me,” Benne said apologetically, knowing that she must have told them about Anita now.
“It’s not your fault. That girl and her family are crazy. Besides, Lucas would have married that psychopath if all of this hadn’t happened. I’m not happy that this happened or that my babies are hurt, but I’m just…” Janet broke into a sob again and stopped as abruptly as she had started, and used his handkerchief to dry her tears.
“Just promise me I’ll get a chance to hit her before you are done dealing with her and her family. I just want to hit her really hard,” Janet said, and Benne gave her a nod.
“If you promise to stop crying, I can even promise to hold her in place for you to hit her,” Benne said, and Janet smiled.
“I’m so glad that Celsie has a man like you in her life. I’m glad that of all the men she could have had, it is someone like you she settled to be with. It is because you are here for her that we can go and be with Lucas. I feel terrible leaving her alone. I still can’t believe I said those awful things to her,” Janet confessed, tearing up again.
“Then you should talk to her. The sooner you clear the air with her, the faster you can leave here and go be with Lucas. And you don’t have to worry. I’ll make sure she’s fine while you focus on Lucas,” Benne promised.
“I wish it was so easy not to worry. But I’m a mother. Worrying about our kids is what we do for a living. Please take me to Celsie,” Janet pleaded, and Benne led her down the hallway.
Once Benne opened the balcony door and Celsie saw that her mother was with him, she turned away from them. Janet’s eyes teared up, knowing that she had hurt her daughter.
Benne moved over to where she sat and kissed her forehead, “How are you, sunshine?” He asked as he crouched down in front of her and took both her hands in his.
“I’m fine.”
“Your parents will be leaving soon. You should hear her out. Please,” Benne added as he kissed the back of her hands.
Although Celsie still didn’t want to talk to her mother or look at her, she nodded. She would listen to her without saying a word to her. She had nothing to say to her.
“I’ll be outside with the others,” Benne said as he leaned in to kiss her lips before moving away.
Taking that as her cue, Sonia stood up too and walked away with Benne, leaving the mother and daughter alone.
“I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t mean anything I said,” Janet apologized as she went to stand in front of Celsie.
Celsie cleared her throat, “I’m okay. You should leave now so you can get there in time,” Celsie said as she stood up.
Janet held Celsie’s hand, “I can’t leave without resolving this with you. I know I hurt you, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. I was just very worried about Lucas…”
“It’s fine. I understand. You can go be with Lucas. I’m fine,” Celsie said, struggling with the tears pooling in her eyes.
“No, you’re not.”
“I said I’m fine, mom! Can you please leave me alone?” Celsie snapped at her mother as she snatched her hand away, “What else do you want me to say to you? Lucas needs you more than I do. So go to him and let me be! I’m trying to be more sensitive…”
“Sweetie, I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean that,” Janet pleaded as tears dropped from her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter whether you meant it or not. You said it, and that is all that matters. I don’t hold it against you,” Celsie took a deep breath as she tried to keep her emotions in check. She hadn’t planned to say anything, so why was she speaking so much? It wasn’t necessary.
“I’m okay, mom. I’m fine. You don’t have to feel sorry anymore,” Celsie said and walked away before her tears could fall.
As Sonia walked down the hallway with Benne, she cast a glance at him, contemplating if she should talk to him or not about Celsie’s marital decision.
She knew that it wasn’t really her business and she should stay out of the couple’s relationship, but she thought he might be in need of someone else to talk to about it.
He needed to talk to someone who knew Celsie, at least, and had both their best interest at heart. She wanted to assure him that Celsie loved him, regardless of her decision not to get married. And she wanted to know his thoughts on Celsie’s decision before talking to Celsie again since Celsie was yet to tell her how they resolved it in the car or if they had resolved it.
“I’m sorry…” Sonia started, and Benne who had been walking beside her silently as he thought of Celsie’s sad eyes, turned to look at her in confusion.
“Are you talking to me?” He asks, wondering who the apology was meant for.
“Yes.”
“What are you sorry about?”
“Celsie told me about your misunderstanding earlier. I caused it,” Sonia said, and Benne looked at her with a puzzled expression, wondering how she could have caused it when she hadn’t even been at the mall with them.
“How? What did you say to her?” Benne asked calmly as he led her into the Den instead of returning outside to join the others. Neither of them sat down. Instead, they stood, facing each other as they talked.
“Well, the thing is, the issue of marriage came up while we were talking at her office earlier this morning. And when she insisted on not wanting to get married as she had always said in the past, I kind of reacted wrongly since I thought dating you meant she had changed her mind about marriage. I think she felt pressured by me, and that was why she had to bring it up the way she did. I’m sorry,” Sonia explained, and Benne nodded in understanding.
“It’s fine. I will appreciate it if you don’t talk to her about it anymore or pressure her about it next time either. Just let her do things at her own pace. It’s better for us that way,” Benne said, and Sonia looked at him curiously.
“What about you? What do you plan to do about it?”
“Nothing. As I said, I’m going to let her do things at her pace. I’m sure none of this is easy on her. Celsie is someone I deceived just to have her in my life. It’s a miracle that she still loves me and wants to be with me despite all of that.”
“Does that mean you are willing to let her have her way? You will just date her without getting married to her? For how long before you decide to move on?” She asked cautiously, and Benne shrugged.
“I’m hoping she will change her mind. But even if she doesn’t, it won’t change the way I feel about her. If she could give up wanting to be single to be with me despite my screwups, then maybe giving up the idea of having a family with her shouldn’t be too much of a sacrifice.”
Seeing the confusion on Sonia’s face, he went on, “I’m not saying I have given up on the idea of marriage. I’m just trying to keep my mind open to the possibility of not ever getting married. If that’s the only way I can have Celsie in my life, then I will find a way to adjust to it. She has given up something for me, so I should be able to do the same for her. It’s compromise,” Benne said with a rueful smile.
“You do realize that she doesn’t want to have kids either, right?” Sonia pointed out, wondering how Benne would be able to live with something like that. She knew that there were men who didn’t mind, but she didn’t see Benne as one of such men.
She loved Celsie very much, and she cared for Benne too, even if Celsie would always be her priority. He wasn’t just Celsie’s boyfriend to her. He was also Bryan’s brother, so she had to look out for them both, and to do that, she wanted to make sure Benne understood what he was getting involved in so that things wouldn’t be hard for either him or Celsie. Not forgetting that she was also writing about them, so she couldn’t just sit by and do nothing or know nothing.
“What if we were married and she couldn’t have kids? Would I leave her? Listen, Sonia. I know you don’t understand how I feel about your friend. Even I do not understand my feelings for her most times,” Benne said as he went to sit on the couch, and Sonia did the same, sensing that he had more to say.
“I don’t think I can explain this, but for me, it was love at first sight. It was like I knew she was mine the moment I watched her walk through the door into the club,” Benne said, and Sonia looked at him with keen interest.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.