Love Over Everything — Chapter 14

As soon as those words left Luis’s mouth, Naomi went pale. She didn’t want to believe what her brother just said about Ryan.

With a shocked expression, she looked at her brother who was standing opposite her, his eyes were red and she could see his chest rising and falling, showing how angry he was.

Reluctantly She turned to Ryan and Pleaded with a teary voice. “Please tell me it’s not true.”

Ryan had tears in his eyes, he swallowed painfully before answering. “Please let me explain, Naomi.”

“Noooooooooooo.” She screamed as more tears rolled down her cheeks. “You bastard, I hate you. I fucking hate you.” She cried and began to hit his chest.

She said as more tears rolled down her cheeks. “I trusted you. But everything was just a lie. You lied to me. You were just using me for sex, you traitor.”

A tear finally rolled down Ryan’s cheek. He didn’t stop Naomi from hitting him because he knew he deserved it all. “I may have lied to you about every other thing Naomi but what I feel for you is real.”

“Just shut the fuck up.” She said with gritted teeth. Naomi felt betrayed, she felt used, manipulated and she blamed herself for being so foolish.

“When did you find out?” She asked her brother.

“Yesterday. Vivian sent me an invitation to the wedding. Even though I was happy for her I was kind of mad at Christopher for not telling me he was getting married. We are all business partners but I’m closer to Vivian than this bastard here.” (He pointed to Ryan who was seated on the floor. He had removed his T-shirt, using it to stop the flow of blood from his nose)

“I called Vivian to congratulate her and that was when she told me she was pregnant.”

“Fortunately, before I went to bed yesterday I was going through my twitter account and someone tagged me in a photo. A photo of you and Christopher getting cosy at the airport, you guys were looking like lovers when his pregnant fiancee is clearly waiting for him to come back so they will get married.”

“I had wanted to come yesterday night but Linda persuaded me not to. I ended up agreeing with her because it was late and that is why I’m here early this morning. Sorry if I acted like an idiot banging and pressing the doorbell.”

Luis turned to Ryan and said, “You’re such a disgrace. Our business deal is over, I refuse to work with you anymore. How can you even do this to my sister and Vivian? I honestly feel like killing you right now.”

Ryan ignored Luis. He believed he owed no one any explanation except Naomi. The way she was crying made him uncomfortable, he felt really bad for making her feel this way.

Ryan turned to Naomi who already made her way to the couch. Her face was buried in her hands, obviously crying her eyes out. He crouched before her, removed the T-shirt from his nose and spoke to her. The fact that he was receiving evil glares from Luis did not stop him from saying what he wanted to say.

“I’m so sorry Naomi, it was never my intention to hurt you. I didn’t lie to you about my name. Ryan is my middle name but people know me by my first name, Christopher. It’s just that when we met, I was surprised that you didn’t know me and I liked the fact that you treated me like a regular guy. When you asked for my name, I was tempted to tell you my name was Christopher but then I thought you would figure out who I really was. Besides, I love it when you call me Ryan, it was only my Grandma who called me that and it’s true that I’m the only son of Sarah and Julius Smith.”

Ryan took a deep breath before he continued, a headache was already building up at the right side of his head.

“I never liked Vivian and I still don’t. My parents have been forcing me to settle down and they want Vivian for me. I was forced to attend her Father’s birthday party over a month ago. She succeeded in drugging me and I found myself naked beside her the next morning. She never denied the fact that she put something in my drink which landed us in that situation but I let her know that what happened was a mistake that never should have happened.”

“Two days after I met you, Vivian came to my office with a Doctor’s report revealing she was pregnant. I was mad at her and most importantly mad at myself for not seeing it coming. Vivian is obsessed with me and she’s doing everything possible to make sure I get married to her.”

“Something happened between Vivian and me so there’s a probability that I’m the father of the child she’s carrying. I told Vivian I will never get married to her because I don’t love her. I promised to give her the necessary child support If the baby turns out to be mine. I never proposed to her, I don’t know what she and my parents have been planning.”

Naomi finally spoke as she wiped her already red and puffy face with a tissue. “You knew she was pregnant with your child and you still called me; you had the nerve to come to spend the weekend with me, why are you this cruel?” She shouted at him. Ryan could see nothing but hate and disgust in her eyes which made him hate himself even more.

“It’s you I love Naomi. It’s you I want to be....”

“Just shut your mouth Ryan or whatever the hell your name is. I don’t blame you, I blame myself for trusting you so easily. I told you about Connor, I begged you not to break my heart but you did. You men are all the same. You couldn’t even bring yourself to tell me the truth which shows how much of a hypocrite you are.”

“I wanted to tell you the truth. That was one of the reasons I came all the way here. I swear I planned on telling you before I leave today. I couldn’t do it sooner because I was scared, scared that this will happen and you wouldn’t want anything to do with me again.”

“I guess your predictions are right because I want nothing to do with you. You’re just a liar and all I feel for you is hate. Do you think I was going to agree to be your mistress? or do you think I would deprive an innocent child of having his mother and father together? I’m not that cruel.”

“Please just go take your things and leave my apartment. I no longer want to see you.” She said, leaving no room for argument after which she turned her face away from him.

Christopher wanted to say something, perhaps he wanted to beg her to forgive him. Even though his mouth was moving, nothing came out of it. He didn’t want to give up on Naomi just like that but he knew she needed time, things would have been better if he told her the truth earlier.

Christopher came back in five minutes with his luggage. He had changed into a clean outfit. His hair was messy and his face was clear evidence that he was just beaten. There was a bump on his forehead and he had a swollen lip and nose.

He was almost seeing himself out when he stopped in his tracks, he let go of his luggage and approached Naomi. He crouched towards her and spoke. “I’m sorry I hurt you Naomi and I’m sorry for not telling you the truth sooner. I just want you to know that I never lied about my feelings for you. I know we just met but I’m not ashamed to say I’ve fallen in love with you. I fell in love with you the night I set my eyes on you. It’s you I love which is why I’m refusing to marry Vivian. I really don’t know what I will do with my life when I leave here. But I want you to know that I will never forget you. I really hope you forgive me and please take care of yourself.” Reluctantly, he rose to his feet, took a glance at Luis who had his back against him with his hands in his pocket. He also looked at Linda who had tears in her eyes, she managed to give him a sad smile. He nodded in return before walking out of Naomi’s apartment, gently closing the door behind him.

Christopher had nowhere to go. He wasn’t used to this city and he knew nobody other than Naomi. He took one more look at Naomi’s apartment, heaved a sigh and started walking down the street.

It was a Sunday and barely 7 am. The street was pretty empty except for a few cars parked in front of certain houses.

Christopher walked absentmindedly until he approached a park. It was the same park he and Naomi visited the previous day. It was a twenty minutes walk away from her apartment. It was when he found himself close to the park that he realized how far he had walked.

Chris made his way to a bench, buried his face in his hands and sobbed. He cried like a baby, he cried and cried till he had no more tears to shed. This was the first time he ever felt anything for anyone and no doubt Naomi hates him more than anything in the world.

He hated how unfair life has treated him and most of all he hated himself. He hated himself for getting involved with Vivian even though it wasn’t intentional, he hated himself for making Naomi sad. He vividly remembered the hurt and disappointment in her eyes when her brother told her everything, He felt guilty as hell for breaking Naomi’s trust in him. There was no way she was going to believe the explanation he gave. He felt his world was over when she accused him of using her for sex. But he couldn’t blame her for coming up with such a conclusion. Naomi was just recovering from a breakup and she never deserved all that he brought upon her.