Prologue -It's over

Sandra was in the lab around 8 pm, in the evening still busy with her projects when her phone buzzed indicating an incoming message. She looked up from the scope and took her phone. She checked it and there was a message from her boyfriend of three years, Chris.

“Hey babe, can you come over tonight? I miss you” her lips curved into a small smile, she and Chris have not been spending time together because of her being busy with school and her research projects.

With a smile on her face, she started typing a reply. “I miss you too, I don’t know if I can make it tonight, I have a project to finish and it’s due in two days. But I can make a plan for lunch tomorrow.” She sent the reply and continued with her work but now and then she would look at her phone expecting a reply from Chris.

After twenty minutes of waiting and looking at her phone. She gave up on the reply and focused on what she was doing. She was sad though; Chris was a good guy, or so she thought, but he never understood when she was busy and has no time for him. Another thing is that lately he has been distant, and that bothered Sandra.

Thinking about her relationship and not spending time with her boyfriend. She decided to go to his place after all. It was around 11 pm when she left the lab; it was already dark outside, but the moon was out, fortunately, Chris’s dome was just on the other side of the building about fifteen minutes walk. She clutched her bag under her arm and started her short walk to his dome.

She thought of the time when they first met, Chris was very attentive to her and supported her career dreams. They were the couple others envied, and they were happy. She could not pinpoint the time when things changed between them. Was it when she started getting more work at school or was it before that? She couldn’t tell.

When she got to his dome the security guy smiled at her as she walked in, she greeted and returned the smile. She has always been the shy and friendly type. Lecturers loved her for her dedication to her work, Sandra was hardworking and desperately wanted to be a scientist, doing medical research, and finding cures for diseases.

She wanted to help people and being a scientist was how she planned on doing it. Whereas Chris wanted to be a pediatrician. When they first met, she thought he would make a good father to their kids one day. But forgetting that being a good kid’s doctor doesn’t mean he was going to be a good father. Pediatrics was going to be a job to Chris, and that is different from having your own kids.

But at the time that is what she thought, she might have been naïve and blinded by love but that is what she felt.

When she got closer to Chris’s room she heard noises, she might be a virgin, but she knew what sex noises sounded like, suddenly her feet got heavy, she was not sure if she wanted to see what was going on behind the door she was standing in front of.

But we are human, and curiosity is part of who we are. Sandra was no different, she twisted the doorknob and realized the door was not locked. She pushed the door open, and she froze. In front of her, Chris was busy having sex with a girl she did not recognize as she had her back on her riding Chris. He was the first to notice her and pushed the girl off him.

Tears pulled around Sandra’s eyes, she did not know that things have gotten this bad that Chris would cheat on her, what happened to him hating cheaters? She wondered as she stared at him frozen at the door. “Baby, it’s not what you think” she blinked, and the tears fell on her delicate cheeks rolling down until they dropped on her chest.

“What am I thinking Chris?” he opened his mouth and closed it like a fish out of the water, but no words came out. Sandra shook her head then turned to leave. Chris jumped out of bed and put on his boxers then ran after her. “Sandra wait!” she slowly turned to look at him, looking at him now she did not recognize the man coming towards her and wondered what happened to him, to their loving relationship?

When he got to her, he reached out to take her hand, but she took a step back. He sighed running his hand through his hair. “Look Sandra, things have not been the same between us, you are always busy and never have time for me. You don’t want to sleep with me, we have been together for three years, yet you still don’t want to sleep with me, and it makes me think you don’t want to be with me at all.” She chuckled shaking her head.

“So, now it’s my fault that you cheated?” she asked still chuckling, she could not believe what he was saying. “What did you expect, huh? I am a man and I have needs. It seemed like you don’t care about that at all, tell me, what man would wait three years to have sex with someone who doesn’t even want to talk about it?” he threw his hands in the air and paced.

Sandra was looking at him not believing he was saying all this, this man said he understood she wanted to wait, and he said he will wait until she is ready and now this? “No need to explain Chris, I get it.” He stopped pacing and looked at her. “Of course, understand, you did this to us, you pushed me to do this, if we were sleeping together like couples do, I would have never cheated.” Sandra chuckled with tears falling.

She wondered how she missed the signs, was he always like this, if so, why didn’t she notice it before? She has been with this man for three years and yet she did not notice how much of a jerk he is. “I understand Chris but you and I are over. I can’t do this anymore.” She turned and walked away. Leaving Chris calling after her.

“Sandra! Sandra come back here, we are not done talking, Sandra!” Sandra ignored him and continued walking. Tears were falling and she could not stop them. She regretted coming here, she should have stayed at the lab or gone to her dome. But the could-haves and should-haves would not help her now.

The security guy noticed she was crying when she passed, he felt sorry for her, Sandra was one of the few students who greeted him when she passed and treated him with respect. It was not nice seeing her that way; he looked up to Chris’s room and wondered what happened.

When she got to her dome, she fired up her laptop and sent the application for transfer. She always wanted to go to this small town that was close to the mountains, she wanted to go there for herbs and continue with her research. But she never sent the application because she didn’t want to leave Chris, but now there was nothing stopping her from leaving.

After sending the application, she went to shower; she cried some more in the shower, angry at herself for being stupid, for wasting three years of her life with someone who didn’t care about her. She thought of Chris’s words to her; he didn’t even explain, all he did was blame her for what he did. She chuckled feeling even more pathetic.

After what felt like hours she got out of the shower, her eyes were puffy and red from all the crying she did. She wore her PJs then took her teddy bear her mother gave her and cuddled it then got to bed and closed her eyes trying to get some sleep.

But even sleep doesn’t come when you are hurting, the mind works overtime making you think and causing you more pain. She didn’t know how long she laid there before she fell asleep, but she had made up her mind. To move away from here and start over where no one knows her. She also decided to stay away from men and focus on her research projects.

All she had in mind now was her career and getting her degree. Men will only waste her time and end up hurting her, anyway. But if she focuses all her time and energy on her career. She can finish on time and get a job. That was the most important thing to her now.