Fulfilling Wishes - Episode 22

 

LET'S HEAR FROM MICHAEL HIMSELF

**

Michael opened his eyes after his long evening nap, he looked at the time, it was already some minutes to eight in the night. He knew that Ruthie was still angry with him, else she would have come bearing his tea. He always took his medication with tea.

He turned to the other side of the bed where he could reach the telephone. He pressed a digit and then spoke to the receiver.

“Adams, can you get me Ruthie?”

“I’m afraid sir, she is not here.”

“What do you mean? Did she go to the grocery?”

“No sir, she left.”

Michael sat uprightly . “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean she left sir, she quitted.”

Michael thought he had heard wrongly, “come to my room right away.” He ordered and returned the telephone back to where it was. Then he stood up, he could feel himself panting all of a sudden, what was wrong with him? He needed to calm down.

Few seconds later, the door opened and Adams walked in.

“Adams, now, what were you saying earlier?”

“I mean Ruthie left; she took her bags and everything in her room with her.”

“But why?”

Adams shrugged, “I guess, after your last misunderstanding, she felt like she has wasted too much time here and she needed to focus on new things.”

“New things?” He demanded, “what new things and where did she go?”

“She didn’t say.”

Michael felt so weak all of a sudden and he moved back to his bed to sit.

“When is she coming back?”

“I don’t know but with the way she cleared her room, I don’t think she is willing to come back.”

Michael sighed and nodded, “okay, thank you, you may go.”

After Adams shut the door behind me, Michael groaned. He couldn’t believe that Ruthie could do that

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. It has been so many years and she just decided to just leave like that? He took his phone and dialed her number but the number was switched off.

For the first time in so many years, he felt really vulnerable, it was like Ruthie had been his cover for a long time and now that the cover has been blown away, it was like being in the open for the first time.

He felt sad, sadder than he had even expected himself to be, he climbed back on to the bed, shutting his eyes. The memories of when he had discovered that his wife had cheated rushed back to his memory, it had always been Ruthie who had had his back. Months of no payment and she stood with him, taking care of his kid and now....Talking of kid, he just remembered he had spoken to his son especially since he broke up. He took his phone and dialed Andy’s number.

** *

Andy lay on his couch, there were several pictures of he and Reeva lying on his chest along with his phone. There was also an empty bowl of popcorn beside him and there were several all over the couch. The TV was making a loud noise so he wasn’t aware that his phone rang except for when it vibrated. He opened his sleepy eyes and picked his call.

“Hello dad.” He said in a husky voice.

“Hi son.” The father replied in a similar voice.

For a while, neither spoke as they were both drowning in their sorrow, all of a sudden they both asked, “are you okay?” Then they both grew silent.

“Reeva and I broke up dad.” Andy blurted, “she gave me the ring and I went along with it.”

“Ruthie told me about it. “

“It hurts so badly dad. I feel really alone and sad, like a wall I have always rested on is gone. Do you know how that feels?”

Michael, wiped his face with an handkerchief, “surprisingly, I do.” He replied.

“What of Ruthie? How is she?”

“Oh, she is okay.” He replied, without thinking.

“Is she home?”

“Yes.” He lied, “she just brought me my evening tea to take for my medication.”

“Wow! Ruthie is just everything dad. Why can’t you just marry her? I mean, don’t you trust her still?  How long exactly do someone spend with someone before you can learn to trust them?”

With this question, Michael grumble, “I gotta go son, will call you later, try to be strong.” With this he ended the call.

Michael sighed, he definitely had no response to that question that he just asked. What was he going to say? Two years, three years or all your life? He had no clue. Fiona, who had been his wife for just few years had been his childhood crush, he had been eyeing her for a long time. they grew up together in the same neighborhood and she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Maybe he had made a huge mistake in thinking that loving and trusting would need to go hand in hand but that should be how it works right?

When you love someone, is that not synonymous to trusting them? This he had done with Fiona without any reservation. He had loved her with everything. He eventually made her his power of attorney to show the length that he was willing to go with her but this must have probably enticed her or maybe she was never actually faithful to begin with. After all, Andy had only clocked few years when she ran away with his money. To make it worse, she was the mother of his child, his wife! Who else would he have trusted?

Now coming to Ruthie, they have been together for more than twenty years, she had practically brought Andy up single handedly, especially during the times he was always going on business trips. She was the best mum that anyone could have, the best friend, the best help mate and she was just his maid.

How the feelings had started was still a mystery to him but that should be a normal thing especially for people who were always spending every time together. She knew about his worries and everything that bothered him, she was his bestfriend, even though she was just his maid. Fiona had hired her shortly after her husband’s demise and that was shortly before she stole all his money, leaving her, Andy and Michael to lift up the pieces. All these years, he had learned to trust her, to confide in her...did he really trust her? What was trust anyway?

He sighed.

Ruthie shouldn’t have left, she should have waited. Why would she leave when she knew how much he needed her. How could she be so selfish?

A light knock sounded on the door.

“It’s Adams sir.”

“Come in.”

Adam came in with the exact tray and exact cup that Ruthie would always put his coffee in.

“She told me how you always liked your coffee and she made me promise her that you would never miss your medication.”

“How nice.” Michael commended without the slightest hint of impression. He watched as Adams placed the table on his stool.

“I know that you must be having mixed feelings of either anger or sadness.” Adams said as he was about to go.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I know that you and Ruthie were really close and I know how much angry you will be to know that she left without saying goodbye and you may also be feeling sorry because she left angrily.”

On a normal day, Michael would never had allowed this sort of chitchat with his butler, this was one thing he had with Ruthie but he actually needed someone to talk to.

“Go on.”

 He said, shifting for Adams to have a seat on the bed.

“I overheard everything that transpired between you two and I happened to have spoken to her before she left.”

“So what did she say? What reason did she give for leaving so harshly? Hmm?” Michael demanded, “the worse part is that she switched off her phone, so that I would not be able to reach her. How could she do that? She is supposed to be here to take care of me, yet she just decided to leave after a little argument? Why do women do that?  They just either leave with your money or leave without a goodbye. Each way always ends with someone feeling hurt and it is never them. Why is that?”

Adams smiled.

Read " When A Woman Wants.. " by the same author ( Tobi Loba )

. “Do you know I have been married for forty years?”

“I wonder how you did that.” Michael said, reaching for his pills which were on the stool beside the tray.

“Vivi is the love of my life, the only one I trust and that I know I could always depend on.”

“So how did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Trust her for that long.”

Adams chuckled. “Love and trust are both two beautiful things that can make your life, or mare it forever.”

Michael chuckled, “you don’t say.”

“They are both two risky things which go along together, like Bonnie and Clyde. When one is out, the other suffers.  Loving someone ad trusting them completely is like giving someone your poison and trusting them not to use it to kill you.”

“Hmmm.” This actually made a lot of sense to Michael, he quickly swallowed his pills and drank little out of the tea.

“I know how close you and Rosa are. I know that you trust her and that you love her but you are afraid because if you declare this to her, she might use it against you so you are afraid and you chose to waver in the confidence you have in her.”

“So you knew I love her?” Michael asked, feeling a little bit embarrassed.

“Of course, who wouldn’t love Ruthie? She takes care of everyone except herself. I have seen the way she took care of Andy and you as well. As far as I am concerned, she is the pillar of this house, she is the one holding everything in place, you are the head of the house but she is like your shoulder, she has been your shoulder for a very long time. This is how Vivi is to me. I know that even if I die today, I am confident that she will take care of everything I will be leaving behind, that is the joy of a marriage built on trust and love.”

“So she knows all this? So why did she decide to leave?”

“The reason why she left is so that you can become the man that she wants you to become.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You are afraid of a commitment. You are afraid of letting her know how much she means to you, even though you must have told her so many times, you have only meant it as you would say it to a faithful help, not someone you are in love with.”

“Yes, I am afraid of commitment Adams!”Michael shouted indignantly “It scares the hell out of me. Look at me, I am miserable and I just heard that she is gone! How am I going to cope if she just ups and leaves one day, then I find out that she has gone with all my money as well.”

Adams stood up, picking the empty cup and tray, “one thing you should ask yourself is, if she is going to do that, if she is capable of doing  that, why would she wait all this while? And deep down, you should ask yourself, someone that has brought up your child singlehandedly, someone who has taken care of you and your son, do you honestly think that she is capable of doing something like that?” With this, Adam left the room.

Michael sighed. This was more than he had expected, obviously, Ruthie had a deep root in him and her departure was beginning to make him realize how deep he was actually attached to her.

HMM..THIS GOT ME WONDERING...YOU AS A PERSON, WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS THAT WOULD MAKE YOU TRUST SOMEONE...?AND WITH WHAT MICHAEL HAS EXPERIENCED, DO YOU THINK IT'S ENOUGH FOR HIM TO DECIDE HIS SON'S FUTURE? AS FOR ME EHN, I BELIEVE EVERYONE HAS THEIR LIFE TO LEAVE, THEIR MISTAKES TO LEARN AS WELL, SOMEONE'S PAST CAN TEACH YOU A LESSON, BUT IT DOESN'T GUARRANTEE YOU WON'T MAKE ANOTHER MISTAKE....I DUNNO SHA...WHAT DO YOU THINK?