A bitter-sweet nightmare – Episode 5

A BITTER-SWEET NIGHTMARE

Episode 5

IN AN ATTEMPT to ki*ll time, Markus decided to get something to eat at Pie City. For some reason, they were still open despite all the crazy that was happening.

“Can I have a meat pie and coke, please?” He told the saleslady.
“Sure…” She responded zealously.
“It’s a crazy day huh?” Markus hinted at a conversation.
“Oh! Indeed, it is. At least now _ people have even reduced. In the early morning, it was hectic. We had to delay opening up the shop.” She told him as she got his order ready.

It was at that moment that Max also walked up to the counter, “Hello!”
The young lady turned around, looked at him with a pleasant smile, and spoke, “Just a minute, I will be there.”
“Crazy day. I wasn’t expecting Chingola to be like this today.” Max said.
“Indeed. Indeed.” Markus responded affirmatively.
“You not from around here, are you?” Markus asked him.
“Not at all. Am from Ndola.” He answered. He didn’t see it as appropriate to start dishing out his reason for visiting to a total stranger. For that reason, he kept his response short.
“Here is your order.” The young lady said as she handed it over to him. Markus kept eye contact with her as she spoke. Max, on the other hand, was just observing.
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.
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“Mind if I join you?” Max asked as he walked up to where Markus was seated.
“Not at all. Feel free.”

There was a moment of silence as they ate and then a cat just had to pass by among dogs.

“These ladies can ki*ll you. Who wears something like that?” Max commented.
“Some of us ain’t dead. They cause us to be walking around with frozen tools.” Markus added.
“That lady needs to be arrested for murder because she’s killing us,” Max added. Both of them began to laugh.

It took a silly joke like that to break the walls down between the two gentlemen. And this is what followed next;

“The lady at the counter keeps eyeing you…” Max pointed out.
“Yeah, am planning on getting her line when settling the bill.” He responded.
“That’s sharp. I noticed how you two were giving each other that telepathic communication when she was giving you your order.” Max added.
“What! You saw that? I really didn’t think it was noticeable.” He laughed out loud.
“It’s true what they say, the one who goes early to the river fetches the cleanest water. If I was just 10 minutes earlier than you, I would have landed her.” He said.
“Are you here for business…?” Markus inquired.
“Not at all. I’ve come to visit my ex” “You know these things.” He added.
“Oh! That’s interesting, am guessing you plan on working things out?” Markus asked him.
“That’s the plan bro. But with ladies, you can never tell.” He cleared his throat.
“You okay?”
“Sure…” Max responded, taking a sip of water afterward.

Markus knew it was only right to also give out a portion of his cake, “Am also here to meet up with a girl. It’s an Instagram thing.”
“Woow! You guys even meet girls via Insta. You on another level eh.” Max exclaimed.
“It’s nothing like that. I and this girl have been friends for years, now _ every time I want to link up with her, she gives me a story. Until yesterday when she agreed that I can see her.” Markus told Max.
“That’s wild. These ladies want to act all high and mighty when they also want need some loving. It’s been the same thing with my ex, for me, she even started dating bro…” Max said.
“That’s tricky, so what’s the plan? Are you going to replace her dude? Otherwise, you might end up being the other guy.” Markus highlighted.
“Bro, at this point I don’t care even if am the tenth in her life. So long I can eat the cake. If I tell you that I’ve been in more than two relationships since I broke up with her; it might sound like a lie. It’s more like this girl has put me in a bottle; come to think about it.” He said thoughtfully.
–
“Tell me, what’s your story? I mean, if you truly are as successful as you look then landing a girl wouldn’t be a problem.” Max asked his newly made friend.
“What makes you think I have a story to tell?” He asked.
“Well, you the type that seems to be surrounded by ladies all day. So, why fall in love with someone you’ve never seen before?” Max cleared the air, giving his approach a soft touch.
“I see what you mean. It beats me as well.” Markus giggled. He raised his bottle of Coke, instead of taking that sip he placed it down on the table.

The question that Max had posed got him thinking; ‘Why does it have to be Janine and not any other?’ As Markus gave it a thought, the young lady was focused enough to keep her gave on him.

“To answer your question…” He began, “I think I connect with this lady at a level that’s not easily attained with these other ladies that I come across.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know how best to put it in words. I just feel it in my bones.” Markus said nervously.
“Well, I wish you nothing but the best. This whole relationship thing is kind of underrated if you ask me. It messes up our way of life and extends to how we leave. I read something, ‘If love was in a bottle that was labeled poison _ people would still drink it.’ and I think that’s true. Look at me, Markus! I would be better off moving on but here I am trying to shag my ex-girlfriend for what I hope to be the last time.” From the way Max spoke, one could tell that he had dived into his inner thoughts and realized that the type of relationship he was searching for was something that he was not going to attain even if he got back with his ex-girlfriend.

Tbc…

KENNEDY C KATONGO