Days turned into weeks, and the distance between Adanna and Damilola grew more pronounced. He had asked for space, and though it pained her, she respected his wishes. But as the days stretched on, the ache in her chest deepened.
She hadn't spoken to Ebuka since the confrontation with Damilola, but his presence lingered in her thoughts like a shadow she couldn't shake. She hadn't wanted to admit it before, but now, in the stillness of her solitude, she knew the truth: she had fallen for him. Deeply. Irrevocably.
One evening, after a particularly grueling day at work, she found herself standing outside Ebuka's apartment. She hadn't meant to come here, but her feet had carried her to his door before she could talk herself out of it.
When he opened the door and saw her standing there, his expression shifted from surprise to something softer, something warmer.
"Adanna," he said, stepping aside to let her in.
She walked inside, her heart pounding in her chest. "I shouldn't be here."
"But you are," Ebuka replied, closing the door behind her. "Why?"
Adanna turned to face him, her emotions swirling inside her like a storm. "Because I don't know what to do anymore. Everything is falling apart, and I don't know how to fix it."
Ebuka stepped closer, his gaze intense. "I know I complicated things for you. But I can't apologize for how I feel about you."
Adanna's breath hitched. "Ebuka…"
He reached out, gently cupping her face in his hands. "I love you, Adanna."
The words hung in the air between them, heavy and undeniable. Adanna's heart raced as she stared into his eyes, torn between the love she still had for Damilola and the undeniable pull she felt toward Ebuka.
"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered, her voice shaky.
Ebuka's thumb brushed lightly against her cheek. "You don't have to decide everything tonight. Just… stay. Be here with me."
For a moment, Adanna hesitated, but then she leaned into his touch, letting herself be drawn into his warmth. The world outside fell away, and for the first time in weeks, she allowed herself to stop thinking, to stop worrying about the consequences.
She stayed.
The days that followed were a blur of stolen moments with Ebuka and the growing realization that her relationship with Damilola was slipping further out of reach. She hadn't heard from him since their last conversation, and though she missed him terribly, she knew that she had crossed a line she couldn't uncross.
At work, things became increasingly tense. The rumors about her and Ebuka had spread like wildfire, and though no one had confronted her directly, the whispers followed her everywhere she went. Even Chinwe had grown distant, her once supportive attitude replaced by a cold professionalism that stung more than Adanna wanted to admit.
And then, one morning, as she was sitting at her desk, her phone buzzed with a message that made her blood run cold.
We need to talk. It's urgent.
It was from Damilola.
Adanna knew that this conversation with Damilola would be different. The tone of his message was enough to make her heart race with fear, and as she made her way to their agreed meeting spot, she could feel the weight of what was coming.
When she arrived, Damilola was already there, sitting at a table in the quiet café they had once frequented as a couple. His face was unreadable, but there was a hardness in his eyes that made her stomach turn.
"Damilola," she began, sitting down across from him. "I'm so sorry."
He looked at her for a long moment, his expression cold. "It's too late for apologies, Adanna."
Her breath caught in her throat, and she realized that this wasn't just a conversation. This was the end.
Adanna's heart pounded as she sat across from Damilola, the weight of his words sinking in. It's too late for apologies. She felt the sting of those words like a slap to the face. She knew what was coming, but hearing it, seeing the coldness in his eyes, made it all the more real.
Damilola didn't look away. His face was set, his jaw tight, as if he had rehearsed this moment in his mind a thousand times. "I gave you everything, Adanna. My trust, my love, my future… And you threw it away."
Adanna blinked back the tears threatening to spill. "I didn't mean for things to get this far, Damilola. I swear, I didn't."
"Meaning to or not, you did." His voice was low but sharp. "You let someone else into what was supposed to be ours. How am I supposed to move past that?"
Her throat felt dry, and she struggled to find the right words. "I was confused. Things between us… they weren't the same anymore. I didn't know how to fix it, and I—"
"And you turned to him," Damilola finished, bitterness lacing his tone. "Instead of coming to me, instead of trying to fix what we had, you let Ebuka into your life. Into your heart."
The mention of Ebuka made Adanna flinch. It wasn't just that she had let him in—it was that she hadn't fully let him go. And now, she was paying the price.
"I don't want to lose you," Adanna said, her voice breaking. "I still love you, Damilola. Please, give me a chance to make things right."
Damilola looked at her for a long time, his eyes searching hers as if he was trying to find the woman he had once loved in the face of the woman sitting across from him. "Love?" he repeated softly. "If you loved me, you wouldn't have done this."
The truth in his words hit her like a knife to the chest. She knew he was right. She had let her emotions spiral out of control, and now everything she had built with Damilola was crumbling before her eyes.
"I thought we had forever," Damilola continued, his voice thick with emotion. "But I can't keep pretending that we're okay. We're not."
Adanna's vision blurred as tears welled up in her eyes. She reached across the table, desperate to hold on to him, to salvage something from the wreckage of their relationship. But Damilola pulled his hand back, a pained expression crossing his face.
"I can't do this anymore, Adanna," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't be the man who waits for you to choose him."
Her heart shattered at his words. The finality in his tone told her everything she needed to know. There was no going back.
"What does this mean?" Adanna asked, though she already knew the answer.
Damilola looked at her, his eyes filled with sorrow and regret. "It means we're done. I'm done."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The silence between them was suffocating, thick with everything that had gone unsaid, all the dreams that would never come to pass. And as Damilola stood up and walked away, Adanna knew that this was the bitter end.