CHAPTER ONE :The Stranger

The Stranger

Anne’s POV

My jaw dropped as I stood by the doorway watching the scene that was in full display before my very eyes. I had just returned for work feeling pretty exhausted only to find my fiancé in bed with a red-haired woman. I was speechless and couldn’t believe my eyes. This was a man I suffered greatly for and here he was paying me back in this manner. My heart was shattered in several broken pieces and I doubt it can ever be fixed. They kept on with their sinful deeds, not noticing that I was watching them.

I couldn’t watch them any longer so I turned to leave but as I did, my feet made slight noises which got the attention of the sinners and they heard ruffling before the man I used to love spoke up.

“Ann baby, it’s not what you think, I promise,” Nathan said, covering himself up with the bedcover.

The woman he was with tried to cover her face and naked body too with the bed cover. I turned to smile at him, trying my hardest to keep the tears in before speaking.

“I’m going out to the club with my friends and when I get back, I don’t want to see you or anything that belongs to you in my house else I’ll set them ablaze.”

With that said, I turned around and began to walk away, still holding my tears. I walked out of the house and got into my car and sat still. Pulling out my phone, I dialed my best friend’s number. Within seconds, she picked the call.

“What’s up Ann-Ann?” Kiama asked, jovially.

Hearing her voice, I couldn’t help but let the tears flow. Kiama had been my best friend since day one and had always been there for me. She was one person aside from my parents that I could call whenever something was wrong with me.

“Hey Anne, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” she asked; a hint of concern in her voice.

“Can you call the girls and let’s meet up at D’Angelo’s?” I said.

D’Angelo was our go-to club since college, where we had our girly fun times.

“Sure, but what’s wrong?” she said.

“It’s Nathan; the jerk had the guts to bring a red-haired bitch into my home and unto my bed,” I said.

“WHAT? THAT SON-OF-A-BITCH DID WHAT?” Kiama asked, yelling over the phone.

I couldn’t say anything else because I was busy crying out my lungs.

“Just calm down Anne and drive to the club; the girls and I would meet you there,” Kiama said and ended the call.

I cleaned my tears and started the engine. I drove myself to the club which was a 20 minutes’ drive from where I lived. I kept crying on my way to the club and nearly hit a pedestrian who was crossing the road. Finally I got to the club and the bouncer at the door, Bruno, let me cut through the line and allowed me in without even checking my ID, which was unpleasing to other people who were standing in line but I didn’t care.

I got in and went straight to the clubhouse. The place was half empty and the music wasn’t loud. I guess I came very early; no wonder there was a long queue outside. I made my way towards the bar and there I saw De André, my favourite bartender. He saw me and a smile appeared on his face but when he noticed the sad look on my face, his smile immediately changed into a frown.

“What’s wrong with my favorite customer?” he asked, looking worried.

“I got home today and caught Nathan in bed with another woman,” I said, forcing my tears back down.

“What?” De Andre said.

“I can’t wait to get off work so I can go over there and beat the hell out of that dumbass jerk,” he added.

“Don’t worry about that Andre; we already took care of that thing,” I heard Kiama’s voice from behind me say.

I turned around and saw her with the girls: Tiffany, Daisy and Gemma. They walked towards me and soon I was engulfed into a big warm hug. It lasted more than a minute and I couldn’t help but be grateful for the kind of friends I had. Finally after what seemed like hours, we broke out of the hug.

Suddenly I remembered Kiama’s entry statement. Out of curiosity I asked,

“What did you mean ‘we already took care of that thing’?”

Nobody answered me. Instead, Kiama and the girls looked at each other, exchanging wicked looks with a wicked smile on their faces. I looked at them suspiciously and asked,

“What did you do?”

“Let’s just say little mister cheater would be indisposed for a while,” Gemma replied.

I already knew what that meant ad I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Nathan as I imagined what state he would be in currently. Gemma was a professional boxer, Daisy was a regular body builder and Kiama was what I would call a tom-boy who grew up with lots of older brothers. We got our drinks from De Andre and made it to our regular spot.

Finally the club was in full swing; music blasting from the speakers and bodies swaying to the good music on the dance floor. Kiama and the girls pulled me to the dance floor and by now we were all drunk. We danced and danced and danced. By now, I had forgotten about the awful thing that happened. While I was dancing away my sorrow, Daisy tapped me on the shoulder and said,

“Ann, don’t look back but there’s a strikingly hot man looking at you right now and he’s been watching you for the past 30 minutes.”

Despite her warning, my drunk-self turned around and looked. Indeed there was a dangerously handsome man staring at me. To my surprise, he beckoned at me and looked at my friends who muttered to me to go and I found myself walking towards the handsome stranger.

Little did I know that approaching this stranger would change the course of my life forever?