Not that she would have accepted anyway. She went back in the car, and when the driver took off she sent another short, direct note to Larry. ‘Hi, maybe I was a little harsh in the note. But I believe it was bad for you to have been so deceitful throughout the relationship. And you do not show any sign of remorse. I think it’s best we stay apart. I wish you the best’. He got a reply in five minutes. ‘You pour baseless insults at me without any evidence, and you want remorse from me? Please go to hell, and never contact me again’. Gertrude shook her head in disbelief. Larry was being so confrontational because he didn’t know that she had full information about him. She would simply forget him. From all indications, Paapa was a much more honest person, who knew how to treat her right.

Paapa got up from the sofa when the doorbell sounded at six pm. It was the delivery guy bringing the fresh fruit juices. He took the tray, paid him and placed the attractive tray on the dining table. He sat down to wait for Gertrude. She said she would be there at six thirty. But the bell sounded, and he opened it to find her standing there.                                                                                      . ‘Wow! Hello, so good to see you. Please come in. You are most welcome. Do sit down’.            ‘Thank you’, she replied with a big smile. Good to see you too. This is a very nice place’.             ‘Thank you very much. I’m glad you like it. As I said, the bank offered it, and I took it. Well, Gertie, I can offer you fresh fruit, three or four different combinations, or I can offer you…..’  ‘Fresh fruit, of course. Please give me what you have’. He brought the tray and served her, and for well over twenty minutes they chatted about the day at the office, and their career prospects. Paapa said he was planning on taking postgraduate and professional courses online whilst working, whilst Gertrude wanted to go back to school as soon as possible. As a woman, she said, it was best to get education issues sorted out as soon as possible, before marriage and childbirth made it impossible. Whilst they were chatting, his phone rang. It was the food delivery guy. He had arrived at the main entrance and wanted to know which turn to take into the house. Paapa asked him to wait. He would come over and collect it. He placed the phone on the centre table and went out.  

Just then, the phone vibrated, and Gertrude took a look at it. The name LARRY flashed, and she almost jumped. What could Larry possibly want to tell Paapa? Had he now discovered that they were seeing each other? And was he going to make trouble? She was not going to get back into the relationship again. She had absolutely no respect for him, after what she had heard. But curiosity got the better of her, and she picked up the phone and flipped to the short message.                                                                                                                                 ‘Paapa, I got a sizeable check today from the office. And as promised, I can give you another six thousand cedis to complete the payment for the rent advance. I can wire it to your account tomorrow morning’. Shocked, she scrolled to the other messages, and found one from Paapa thanking Larry for the generous gift of six thousand, and praying that he would be able to fulfil the promise of another six thousand soon. She also found exchanged messages showing that Larry had been giving him money on several occasions. She put the phone back on the table, her hands shaking. Paapa had given her the impression that his employers had paid for his flat because he had been given a higher position which went with good accommodation. He had repeated it only about five minutes earlier. Yet she had just read, with her own eyes, messages which proved that he had been collecting monies from Larry, not only for the rent but for other purposes as well. So, if Paapa could lie about such a thing, would he not lie about all the stuff she had fed her about Larry? She had trusted him absolutely, because he was very close to Larry, and almost everything he said about him sounded credible. So what was she to do now? She decided to go through the evening as if nothing had happened, then she would stop seeing him.

Ekow De-Heer