Love, Lost and Found

Cheryl kept refreshing her messages in wait for Peters response. It was past 5pm and he still had not responded to her message. A situationship that was one sided, was it? Or maybe Peters was just bad at communication.

Cheryl and Peters met at school in a vehicle conveying them to another part of the campus. He was a final year Engineering student evidenced by his conversation with his friend in the vehicle as they discussed their final year project while Cheryl was a second year medical student.
Cheryl sat pretty beside Peters, focused on her phone while he kept stealing glances at her. She noticed but shrugged it off as she was used to guys staring at her.
Just before she alighted, Peters asked for her contact information. She turned to look at him and he was just her preferred type of guy.
I won't call it love, I'll say admiration at first sight. He was dark skinned and had a beautiful smile that made his eyes squint.
Cheryl wasn't seeing anyone, of course she gave him her contact info. He gave a beep call about immediately and she saved his contact too.

Four weeks passed and Peters had not texted Cheryl. She didn't bother as she had already forgotten about their meeting at this time. One evening, he texted, she replied and they got along like they knew each long before that time. She asked why he didn't text her before all the while and his excuse was “It was an examination session", he wanted to be focused as he had a target to meet. Maybe that was the truth because he later graduated a first class student.

Cheryl and Peters clicked quite well but Cheryl always told Peters to get a girlfriend as she was not ready for a commitment in a relationship. She liked him enough to commit but didn't want to hold him back or put him in a fix as she somehow found herself in a church that didn't allow marriage outside their members, courtesy of her parents newly found faith, funny enough she didn't have eyes for any of them(her church boys). She hoped to leave the church when she was older and had gained more stable grounds to face her parents but wasn't sure of how things would pan out so she kept Peters at length. Although she never revealed her reason for asking him to get a girlfriend even when they were together.

Cheryl and Peters carried on vibing for a while though inconsistent.
As time passed, she began to develop intense feelings for Peters. She struggled with what she felt and what she knew.
Was she ready to give in even when she knew what was before her?
She wanted to tell him but maybe to her there never was a right time.
They communicated but would stay for days, weeks before reaching out to each other. Still, Cheryl's feelings progressed in a rapid pace uncontrollably. She just portrayed a self control she didn't know she possessed, no matter how much she missed him, she wouldn't reach out to him to avoid looking desperate. They continued their inconsistent situationship, a year went by and things were still the same.

Cheryl then confessed her feelings to Peters and he admitted he felt same about her. They decided to migrate from situationship to a situationship pro. Cheryl put in efforts to make them work but Peters put in little effort claiming he was busy. He was her first love, she was naive and kept putting efforts failing to see he was not into her because he kept reassuring he was in love with her and didn't allow her move on with her life.
As Cheryl grew, advanced and became more self aware, she knew her worth. She was an intelligent beautiful young lady who was admired by many other men that were willing to move mountains for her.
Peters was her first love and the thought of leaving him was unbearable, she just couldn't bring herself to experience that severe heart break that she read of in novels. One that pierces directly through the heart and makes you feel an ongoing apocalypse .

(Back to present day)
As she held her phone in wait for his text, in her self awareness, she decided it was better to be heartbroken than stay where she wasn't seen and valued.
Without courage, she called him and told him they were done and she was breaking up with him. In his usual manner, he shrugged and reassured her again.
But this time she moved on with her life. Surprisingly, she wasn't as hurt as she thought she would be, maybe because her subconscious had broken up with him long before she actualized the breakup. The consistent unavailability and lack of communication pushed her away slowly till she was detached without her knowledge.

All images are mine