CHEATING FIANCE
Thirty three year old Lauren, a marketing executive in one of the top firms in Durban, South Africa, had an amazing life. She was hardworking, very intelligent and successful in her career. She was loved by many, especially her family and close friends. She loved going to brunches on the weekends with friends, the merry girls, she had been friends with them since elementary school.
Lauren was strikingly beautiful and heavy on the fashion sense. She glowed so radiantly. She was every man’s dream, but she decided to settle for one man. The love of her life, who swept her off her feet at a Christmas party.
Damina Williams was everything Lauren wanted in her husband. He was about six feet tall, handsome and wealthy. She landed a hot catch. He was the CEO of a tech company.
They hit it off at the Christmas party and followed up with a romantic date on Christmas eve. Lauren knew Damina was the one. He spoiled her, they went on spontaneous weekend getaways to Johannesburg, Paris, Dubai, The Amalfi Coast, The Hamptons, Ghana, Lagos and other beautiful places. They spent beautiful moments together and took photos for social media, at the envy of their over one hundred thousand followers.
They were in Greece when Damina decided to pop the question. She knew a proposal was coming, but she didn’t know how or when. She was expecting one when they were in Maui, Hawaii. Her friend Jennifer had advised her to get her nails done, but she came back ringless. The next trip was to Venice in Italy. She even took one of her favorite red dresses on the trip, so she could wear it to a dinner outing, but nothing.
Lauren had never been to Santorini. It was what made the proposal different and beautiful. The iconic white buildings and beautiful views were worth it. Dinner was at Ambrosia Restaurant in Oia. The restaurant had a beautiful view and romance inspired setting. A table was set for two with a bottle of champagne. Lauren ordered a Shrimp Risotto, while Damina ordered a Shrimp Tagatelle. Damina waited until they finished dessert, he went on one knee and proposed. Lauren looked at the beautiful ring while he gave a short speech that made her cry. She said yes!
Lauren looked forward to planning her wedding all her life. She was very detailed and threw herself dedicatedly to the task of planning her wedding. The venue, flowers, the catering, photography. Her friends were excited and helped out as much as they could.
The vineyard in Durban was the location for the wedding ceremony and reception. She wanted the venue because of the view, perfect for pictures, and a lot of room for the guests to move around and dance. She paid a popular Nigerian DJ to spin Afrobeats and Amapiano. Her dress was made in Italy, it was custom made with perfect details. She was excited to spend the rest of her life with Damina.
Lauren began to notice changes in Damina’s behavior during the wedding planning. He started canceling dinner dates, claiming to be busy on a work project. These became frequent, he had canceled three dinner dates in a row. Lauren found it absurd. She was scared of bringing up the issue, she thought she was nervous about the wedding and everything was making her sensitive, but Damina was always looking forward to going on dates with her, even if it was to grab coffee.
She also noticed he appeared distant and distracted. She remembered sitting in the living room sorting through the invitations and planning the seating chart. They were supposed to do it together, but he appeared to be working on his laptop. He seemed to be typing on the keyboard, but his focus was lacking. He seemed deep in thought. Lauren noticed.
“Hey Dee, do you think we need gold envelopes for the invitations to give them a regal look? I am not feeling these white ones,” she asked.
Damina looked up. “Whatever is best babe,” he replied.
Lauren frowned and put the invitations on the coffee table. She walked over to where he was seated on the couch.
“When did you start leaving me to make decisions on my own, are you okay?” She asked, sitting beside him.
“I am fine Lauren, I just have so much on my mind with the wedding coming up and the demands from the company. I have to keep my head up, but I am good.” Damina replied.
Lauren nodded, but she was not convinced.
“I understand.” Lauren replied. There was silence. They both knew they were not being sincere with each other. Lauren was not convinced, and Damina was not telling the truth.
“Listen Lauren, it’s a lot going on, but we can do this right,” Damina said, looking into her eyes. Before she could say anything, he leaned over and kissed her on her forehead.
“Sure,” Lauren replied. “Let’s take a break this weekend.”
Damina nodded. “Sure,”
Lauren was not convinced about the break either, she had the nagging feeling that something was wrong. She went to bed with that feeling on her mind.
As Damina got ready for bed, he watched her in bed fast asleep. His mind was racing. He wanted to tell her what was on his mind, but he was scared. He was scared of hurting her. The happiness they had built over time would come to a heartbreaking end. How long was he going to allow what was on his mind to eat him up? He was going to walk into the marriage carrying the secret to his grave. Could he do that? It was only a matter of time until things came out into the open.
Lauren decided to do brunch at The Breakfast Room with her childhood friend Vanessa. She was the maid of honor. Vanessa sat in front of Lauren, wondering what was going on. She got the message from Lauren before going to bed that they needed to talk, and it was urgent. If Lauren trusted anyone with inside stories, it was Vanessa. Vanessa’s integrity was solid.
“What’s up?” Vanessa asked, staring at her best friend intently.
“I want to talk about Damina,” Lauren said.
Vanessa sighed.
“I am listening,” she replied.
“I don’t know what is up with him, but after the proposal, he became a different man, and I am scared.” Lauren said.
“What do you mean by he became a different man? In a good way or a bad way?” Vanessa asked.
“I don’t know if it is bad, but his habits have changed,” he cancels dates. He is distracted, there is something that doesn’t feel right, but I can’t place a finger on it,” Lauren said.
The waiter came and set their plates on the table.
Vanessa looked at Lauren.
“Do you think we are moving too fast?” Lauren asked. “I mean, the whole wedding preparations are stressful. Should we call off the wedding, I don’t like walking into a new chapter of my life feeling so unsure.”
Vanessa hesitated. She picked up her glass of orange juice and then locked eyes with Lauren.
“I have to be honest with you Lauren, there is something I need to tell you about Damina.” Vanessa said. She had to let this out. She had been holding this back for so long. She felt so much guilt helping her friend plan a wedding she knew may not happen or the marriage won’t last.
Lauren looked at Vanessa, wondering what it was. To her knowledge, Vanessa liked Damina, so what could be the problem?
“Really?” was all Lauren could say.
“Yes, I need to tell you before you make your decision.” Vanessa replied.
Vanessa glanced around the cafe with an uncomfortable look on her face.
“I should have told you this a long time ago,” Vanessa began. Lauren stared at her childhood friend confused. She didn’t want to believe that there was really a problem. She wanted the problem to be from her end, a one-sided problem that didn’t exist, a problem that was all in her head. From the look of things, the problem was beginning to sound like something much bigger than she would be able to cope with.
“I have heard certain things about Damina.” Vanessa began.
“You listen to rumors and gossip?” Lauren said. She was in denial. She made up her mind that whatever Vanessa was going to tell her won’t be the truth.
“Not exactly, can you hear me out please?” Vanessa said calmly. She could tell her friend was beginning to get anxious. This was the scenario she was trying so hard to avoid, because she didn’t know what she would do when Lauren heard the news and lost it.
“I saw something the other day that bothered me.” Vanessa continued.
Lauren rolled her eyes.
“What did you see Nessa?” Lauren asked.
Vanessa looked at Lauren. She heaved a sigh and continued.
“I saw Damina at Arthur Kaplan,” Vanessa began.
Lauren shrugged. Arthur Kaplan was the jewelry store. It was the most expensive store in Durban for high end diamond jewelry. Her ring was from Arthur Kaplan, so what was the big deal?
“And?” Lauren asked, giving Vanessa the side eye. She felt her stomach forming anxiety knots, but she decided to be calm.
“He was with a woman,” Vanessa replied. Her voice trembled slightly. Lauren could not believe what she heard. Was Vanessa thinking this little piece of information would move her to tears? Was this low-key jealousy?
“I mean, there is more than one woman in the world,” Lauren replied.
Vanessa knew she was being defensive and sarcastic because she was in denial. She hated situations like this, but she didn’t want her friend to walk down the aisle.
“Stop being silly, I am serious. The woman I saw him with was not an ordinary friend, there was PDA, and they held hands a little more intimately.” Vanessa said.
Lauren was in disbelief. Vanessa could be telling the truth, but she didn’t want to accept it. She shook her head in disbelief.
“Are you sure?” Lauren asked.
Vanessa nodded slowly. She knew the impact on Lauren’s emotions was a hard blow, but she was glad she had offloaded the guilt.
“You are sure he was the one you saw?” Lauren asked.
Vanessa looked into her friend’s eyes, “Yes Lauren, I wish I could say I made a mistake, but I stalked them for a while at the jewelry store.”
“When was this?” Lauren asked.
“A month ago,” Vanessa replied.
He had proposed a few months ago, so the excuse of trying to surprise her by having another female validate his ring choice for her was out of the question.
“If you saw the lady, would you identify her?” Lauren asked.
“Yes,” Vanessa replied.
Lauren nodded thoughtfully. Her mind began to race back to the strange occurrence. His absent-mindedness, the dates he canceled, a lot of things she noticed. Her gut feeling was correct. Something was amiss.
“Why did it take you so long to tell me?” Lauren asked.
Vanessa didn’t know what to say. Lauren, for the first time in a while, was happy and void of toxic men. She was madly in love with Damina, and she didn’t want to come in the way of her happiness.
“You were happy with Damina, I didn’t want to start anything, and then I started hearing more about him.” Vanessa said, avoiding eye contact.
“Heard? From who?” Lauren asked.
“People talk Lauren,” Vanessa replied, not knowing what else to say.
“Yes, but who are the people, are they our friends?” Lauren asked.
“Yes,” Vanessa replied. “They have seen Damina and the woman together. I am sorry Lauren, I know this is not what you wanted to hear.”
Lauren flinched. “We are supposed to be getting married, how do I navigate this?”
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