Chapter 27: Chapter 27

TWENTY SEVEN- THE END OF WHAT NEVER EVEN STARTED

About four months had passed since the musical concert, and Naa Larley was almost due.

Everyone was excited but scared at the same time given her age, but Louisa had been with her every step of the way, and so had her amazing husband, Mike. Louisa found it amusing and cute how the couple didn't want to know the gender, wanting the thrill of the element of surprise and all.

Now, back to Louisa.

Her daughter's relationship with William was going super strong. He was the ever loving, doting father, and it almost seemed like he had never left. In fact, the two had gotten so close, Louisa was beginning to doubt her once unflinching belief that she was the favorite parent.

The young teen spent some weekends over at his, and when she couldn't, he was always by at their house,

Visiting, and of course trying every means possible to win Louisa back.

It amazed Louisa how he had bonded so fast with her mother and always amused her whenever she got back from work, to see the three of them, huddled on the couch, watching a telenovela, or some other silly program her mum had gotten them hooked to.

In all honesty, there was nothing holding Louisa back from pursuing a relationship with William...

Nothing but her own stupid boundaries and paranoia of course.

Chris had come by to see her at her office, to apologise and to officially tell her he was backing off so she could be happy with her family... after almost a month of ignoring her, and to be honest it had hurt, but she was grateful for his behaviour as that had led to her making a choice.

A choice that she wasn't a hundred percent sure about yet, seeing as she had herself to consider as well,

At least that was how her mind was justifying it.

Her heart basically wanted to take the plunge, to go all the way with the man of her dreams, her one true love, the father of her child, but her mind, God, her mind kept painting and drawing up doubts.

The middle aged woman turned off the ignition and got out of her car, closing the box of memories and strutting towards her house. It was a Saturday, meaning she didn't have to be at the office. She was just coming back from Naa Larley's place.

Louisa smiled faintly when she noticed William's car parked a few yards away from her house, it was funny how she hadn't noticed it before, why was he still here?

She glanced at her wrist watch just as she opened the front door.

Five forty-three p.m.

God, didn't the man have anywhere else to be? He had turned up at her door as early as seven a.m.,

Well, it wasn't that early but for someone who rested only on Saturdays, it bloody was.

Thankfully, she had been her usual nicely dressed self. (Even during weekends, she got up to bath early and then dress casually, and go back to bed.)

Like imagine how self-conscious she would feel.

He had thrown her a panty-dropping smile, and then claimed he was here to visit his princess...

The girl wasn't even up yet!

In order to not be a bad host, she had made him breakfast, and then they had started a movie, but they couldn't even concentrate.

The atmosphere was too charged with sexual tension to focus on anything else and so they had pounced on one another,

Kissing like it had been their last day on earth, tongues fighting for dominance, hands groping and feeling, pleasure and senses heightening. Louisa would have literally had sex on the couch if it hadn't been for the timely intervention of their daughter.

"Ahhh! My eyes, my eyes!!" Isabel had let out with a blood curdling scream that had them pulling apart, William rushing to meet the young girl up on the stairs where she stood, hands covering her face. "Where does it hurt?" He had asked frantically trying to figure out what was wrong with her eyes but the teen had burst into laughter. "There's nothing wrong with my eyes, dad. You guys need to find a room though, that's R-rated stuff."

Louisa couldn't handle the amusement on her daughter's face and the smug look on William's. The embarrassment she was feeling was astronomical, so she had grabbed her car keys and had thrown over her shoulder, "I'm going to visit Naa Larley."

And now here she was, back home only to find out that he was still there.

"Good evening guys." She greeted.

"Evening." Everyone chorused.

They were watching another telenovela, well she was just going to go upstairs and work on some files.

"Have you eaten mum?" She heard Isabel ask. She shook her head.

"We made chicken stew and rice, would you eat yours now or later?"

Louisa's eyes met with her mum's and the old woman smiled cheesily. Well why wouldn't she? To her, William was the perfect son in-law... he had helped them with cooking and he was fun to be with... hell he was even watching telenovelas with her,

He was so perfect.

Louisa pulled her gaze away from her mum's back to her daughter, who was waiting for an answer. "Uh, I'll eat later Isa. I've got some things to take care of first." She managed to say looking anywhere else but at William.

She dashed up the stairs right after and didn't let out a breath till she had closed the door to her room.

William's heart sank as with each step Louisa took away from him. He didn't understand, they'd be making so much progress, then she'd push him away all over again.

But perhaps he was a little to blame for all that was happening.

A month after the concert, he had "assumed" that Louisa was ready to move on to the next stage with him,

Yes, marriage.

And so he had proposed, but the beautiful woman had gently refused him, begging for more time to think about it, and then, she had become completely distant, avoiding him and his touch and his many kisses.

He was going to give her as much time as she needed though, if that was what it took to still be in her life and be assured of a possible life with her as her husband. He felt his daughter reach for his hand in a show of support and solidarity, and he smiled slightly. "Go and talk to her dad." She urged. He was going to refuse but Mrs. Mensah added her voice. "William, son... listen to your child and go talk to your wife, Louisa is my daughter, and I know how she is... when you give her space, her heart will harden, and you're never going to progress in your relationship."

She stretched to reach out for his hand. "Go and talk to her, please don't give up on my poor baby."

William stood up, a determined look on his face, he was going to make the most stubborn woman he had ever come across see reason.

*****

"Can I come in?" Louisa heard the deep voice utter behind her door. She sighed heavily, contemplating whether to tell him to come in or not. She glanced at the pile of files before her... the very same she had been at for all most thirty minutes now but couldn't concentrate on for some reason.

Of course she knew the reason, but she wasn't even going to think about it.

"Come in." She called out, getting up from her study chair to stand awkwardly in front of her bed, hands in her sweatpants pockets.

William entered the room and then marched straight to the bed, collapsing on it in a heap.

Louisa turned to look at him, arms folded in an attempt to look tough. "What do you want, Will?" He patted the space on the bed, trying to get her to join him and Louisa begrudgingly did.

"Why are you doing this to us, Louisa?" He asked all of a sudden when she was comfortable.

His question took her by surprise, so much so, that she didn't know what reply to give, but William was relentless. "We make so much progress Louisa... so much, then we're back to square one because you push me away. Help me understand. Why are you doing that?"

Why?

Why?

Why?

The question had been ringing on her head for a very long time now, but even she had no answer to it. The fact of the matter was, there was this fear that had been implanted deep in her heart concerning relationships and commitment, but it also wasn't fair to be stringing the poor man along when she could set him free so he could meet someone who'd give him her all.

Yet that was the problem.

She didn't want anyone to have him.

Call it the proverbial if-I-can't-have-him-no-one-will situation.

Her heart hurt just by thinking about it.

"I've tried all I possibly can Louisa," she heard the handsome man say snapping her back to her senses.

"And I have to move on, you know try to get over you if we have no future... for the sake of our daughter, Isabel, so I promise..." he turned to his side so he could look her in the eyes,

"I promise that I won't bother you anymore, but I need to be away for some time if that's going to work."

Louisa looked up at him in alarm. "What are you talking about?"

"There's this investment opportunity offer from London that I'd initially agreed to let Chris handle, but I'm going to take it... so I can be away from you to at least mend my heart." He finished quietly sitting up on the bed when Louisa pushed him away and stood up all of a sudden at his statement. She began to pace, and then with a scoff, she threw at him. "Oh, so you're leaving. Taking the easy way out as usual... well you know what? I'm not holding you back. You can do whatever you want."

William stood up angrily. For God's sake, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had come in to talk and try to convince her, but she wasn't even making an effort to try or at least talk about what was holding her back and he was honestly fed up.

Perhaps, they weren't meant to be after all. "You think I'm running away?! You think?! Well, let me tell you, I may be the one about to board a flight, but heaven knows I'm still in this... that if you change your mind at any moment, I'll come running back to you because that's how much I love you! You're the one who can't make up your mind and then you accuse me of running away? You're unbelievable, Louisa!"

Louisa stood there silently heaving. He was going to leave, after all those promises. She knew her indecision was the issue over here, but he had told her... no assured her that she could take all the time she needed, and now he was going back on his word? He was the unbelievable one! Definitely not she.

She managed to harden her heart and rid her voice, her body of any emotions, then she pointed to the door, face blank. "Well if you're going to leave, you might as well do it now. I believe we're done here."

William rubbed a hand over his face all the while nodding in understanding. So this was how it was going to be no?

Well it was fine by him. "Have a nice life, Louisa. We'll talk about how to share custody of Isa when I get back." He threw over his shoulder as he stepped out of her room.

Louisa rushed to lock the door and then she collapsed on her bed in a heap.

And that was when she let the tears out.

****

William climbed down the stairs somberly, pausing at the eager looks on Mrs. Mensah and Isabel's face. Mrs. Mensah seemed to sense immediately that things hadn't gone as planned. She rushed over to embrace the man when he completed his final set of stairs, as Isabel looked on in confusion.

"What happened, dad? What did she say?"

William bent to look his daughter in the eye, his heart hurting for the little girl. "Isa, honey... we didn't get to talk much, uh you see... I got a phone call and I need to leave for London immediately."

Isabel still didn't understand, "B-b-but it wouldn't have taken long to convin-"

William placed his hands on her shoulders. "Honey... this is very urgent, it honestly can't wait." He explained quietly.

"Uh... okay. So, when are you coming back?" The young teen asked. She was going to humor her dad... even though she wasn't buying his explanation.

At all.

"I don't know when I'm coming back Is. Could be a couple of week... or a few months, but I assure you, I'll call everyday to check up on you." William promised, smiling slightly when his daughter gave him a weak smile of her own.

He rose to his full height, and then with a brief nod at Louisa's mum and another hug for Isabel, he stormed out of the house.