Three in three days

Submitted into Contest #34 in response to: Write a story told entirely through text messages or emails.... view prompt

0 comments

General

As Jason starred at his monitor, he lacked words to create the perfect subject for the longest email he was about to send in his life. A broken heart? Deception? The story of an insane man? As hard as he tried to settle on one of these subjects, it just wouldn’t work out for he felt all these did not fit the message he wanted to convey. Sampson, the recipient of the mail was no stranger to him but he was confident that this mail was no ordinary one and that it was supposed to be as different as possible, owing to the fact that the events he was about narrating were just unbelievable. Sampson had flown outside the country to offer a masters degree in Psychology but Jason was not writing for a therapy but just to recount events and also give a progress report on his love life to his good friend. 

After a while he settled on Falling in love with three ladies in three days as the subject for the message. “This is perfect”, he said to himself and he now could spell out how an eventful three days had made him mad and virtually crazy. 

*****

This is no fiction, Sampson. This is a real story that happened to a human being with all his organs, including his brain, in perfect working condition. This is a real story that happened to no one else but your best pal. This is a real story that happened between 20th and 22nd December 2018.

 On the 22nd of December 2018, at around 7:00GMT, I received one of the weirdest emails in my life from a girl named Shirley, the first of three ladies I had fallen in love with between 20th December and 22nd December 2018. In a short and frank message, she said, “Jason, I find you to be such an attractive person, genuine in all your actions, hardworking and a visionary human who could achieve so much in life and who would pass as every lady’s dream, but it’s quite unfortunate that I cannot stay in town to continue what we have already started. I had an encounter with my boyfriend, who you do not know, last night and I got him injured. The police are now on my heels and I thus cannot stay in town. I wish our paths will cross one day but until then stay safe”. I reckon that at this point, you might be as confused as the composer of this message and it will thus be prudent that I make things clearer and better for you. But I can only do that by bringing you to the doorsteps of 20th December 2018 and I would like to warn you to be very careful and be extremely prepared before we enter this room, which leads to other rooms, for it could make you judgmental and doubt my very existence as a sane human. 

*   *

After being friends for over two weeks, myself and HER had become close friends and it naturally had to follow that we went on a date. I just had no idea of how to suggest the idea of a date to her, where to pick for the date, what to do during the date etc. I would accept any criticism from you for my lack of development in my social life but I would be glad if you could save that for another date. In fact, there was also the fear of rejection that prevented me from proposing the idea of a date to her. Fortunately for me, I did not have to do any of these as HER had a better plan. She proposed, and I without hesitation agreed, that we have our first date to celebrate the progress of our friendship. The first date was to be at her residence on 20th December 2018 at exactly 8: 00 GMT. 

I was shocked when I got to her home. Well decorated, neat, perfumed and unbelievably clean. What a room she had. Everything was just in order and as a person of orderliness I couldn’t help but to be impressed. And as we sat to dine, I just couldn’t help again but fall in love with her and everything about her. I have to confess that it was the first time I had really felt such strong feelings for a lady. She was just beautiful, charming, conscious of the things around her, orderly, uniquely witty, strong in character and so confident. This was the genius I had fallen in love with and the first I fell in love with between the 20th and 22nd of December 2018. We really did have a good time and I gladly went back smiling. The smiles that came surfacing like a sun in its ripest state was just not due to the good time I had had, but also because of the gentle kiss that had been planted on my right cheek. This indeed felt like a planted seed that will blossom into a happily ever after after some good watering. So, I went to bed and woke up on the 21st of December 2018 so much optimistic and hopeful of having found love but that feeling had to be suspended for a while…

Between 7am and 6pm, the next day I could not reach HER through her phone and she also wouldn’t reply my text and I got increasingly worried such that I had to drive to her place immediately after work that very day. Surprisingly, she was not around but I found another person. This new person who looked familiar but unknown to me appeared terrified, devastated scared and lost. The bruises on her face and on her skin made her look as wretched as any human could possibly be and the traces of blood on the floor couldn’t be ignored. The first move I made was to help her do a warm compressing on her swollen eyes. I tried getting details on what had happened but she wouldn’t say and going to the police station just wasn’t an option she would consider. The best I could do therefore was to allow her to place her head om my lap and sleep. And as she did so, I fell in love with her too. Was I insane? Was I cheating? No to the above. The truth of the whole issue is that, I had fallen in love on 20th December 2018 in this very same room to a beautiful young lady living in an orderly and arranged room and that love felt even stronger today as I fell in love with a lady who looked fragile and weak and in need of help in a disorderly room.

 I just wanted to be there for her throughout the night, comforting her and telling her everything would be okay but that wasn’t something I could offer as I would have to turn up for work the following morning.

 My unlucky pre-Christmas journey wouldn’t stop and it continued right up until the 22nd December 2018. This girl, Shirley was one I had taken interest in and had fallen in love twice with but now I fell in love with for the third time and a third lady. The email she sent was apparently the last message I would receive from her as she fled to avoid her arrest by the police. But I still managed to fall in love with such a lady. Not all women can stand up to their guys, right? And the fact that the owners of the law had failed to arrest his guy on several occasions for beating her up made me feel not a soft spot but a hard one for her. So, within three days I had fallen in love with three different ladies in one lady. This lady was Shirley. Yes, the same Shirley who sent me the email. The same Shirley who I initially called SHE. The same Shirley who invited me for dinner. The same Shirley whom I fell in love with after she had been abused. Yes, this Shirley had a single body, mind and soul but deep within, I knew she was a triune human portraying the qualities of a wife, abused woman and a wild woman.  

March 26, 2020 17:30

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

0 comments

RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. 100% free.