章節 13: Chapter 13: She would have complained to him.

Days Turned Into weeks; without communication. Both parties kept their distance. Pride contributed its bit. Clint focused on himself. For him, reconnecting with Tina wasn't a good idea. Tina wouldn't do so either. Although it was hard, her best option remained to move on. For her, it was best to let the sleeping dog lie. Like graffiti, the event painted a big image in her memory, and like the floor, left droplets of paint on her pride.

She went all emotional. Not like she was forbidden of such; it just wasn't supposed of her, but she wasn't out to blame herself now. Clint was an ass, he had a bigger share of the blame. He swallowed his emotions because of her disability and cowardly hid under his zero commitment gimmicks. If things continued this way, she would completely heal from him in no time.

A part of her wished against that; it wished he came back. It wished they could be together. This part of her didn't want to let go. It wasn't happy with the way things turned out. She tried hard to suppress this part of her. Perhaps, she should have swallowed whatever she had for him, even if she had to grow a bulging belly and a larger oesophagus. She should have kept her calm and maintained their friendship and perhaps, one day, he would change his mind. But that was all gone now. She had to move on. She felt guilty for ruining the friendship they had. They had built a good one over a few months.

"Lessons learnt. It's time to move on," she would always tell herself whenever she got engulfed by these thoughts.

"Tina!" Clint Trotted after them. "Tina! Please stop," he added more energy into his words.

Tina wouldn't bat an eyelid on him. She ignored his presence at the party. Chidi was there to help her course too. On the sight of him, Chidi went out of her way to make sure Tina didn't feel his presence.

Clint got the whole memo. He tried as much as he could to stay away from them. That proved to be a very hard job for him as he couldn't. He glanced at her every now and then, watching her play and converse with other people. She was everywhere at the party. It looked like everyone chose to converse with her. The male folks, thanks to them, it all got better. She cracked up on their lame jokes.

She interacted with them using signs and gestures, occasionally using her phone. Everyone was out to get revenge on him. He felt guilty and jealous — guilty for being a jerk, giving up his feelings on the altar of a flaw. He felt bad for letting her go. Notwithstanding, he resisted all urge to approach her, which proved to be a very tiring job for him.

Since Clint wouldn't vibe on, his date left him to mix with the crowd, leaving his bored self to himself. He had never been happy losing a female date in his life before.

Tina and Chidi stopped at his last words. They didn't want to, but at the same time they didn't want to be rude. Chidi turned to face him, while Tina remained fixed in her position.

He walked closer. "Hey, Chidi," he wasn't sure whether to shake or embrace her. Chidi didn't seem to be in the mood for handshakes or hugs either, so he passed.

"Tina, are you going to continue to ignore me?"

Tina neither responded nor reacted.

"I know you are hurt, but we can't continue that way. We were friends before now."

"Hey, that's you, Tina!" Someone spoke and a guy staggered into the scene.

One of the guys from the party earlier, Clint identified. He looked at him with disdain, an action that surprised but satisfied him same time. "We are having a discussion here," he told the guy.

Tina watched them without interest. She stood fixed in her half-drunken state.

Ugo, the drunken young man struggled to maintain his balance on the ground. "Who is he?" He asked. He made to get over to Tina but Clint placed his leg across his path, causing him to trip and fall over into the flower bed.

Chidi gasped, "You are such a bully." She rushed over to help Ugo.

Tina walked out in anger. He went after her and grabbed her by the arm.

"Clint!" Chidi, who was done helping the Ugo get back on his feet, called him, "isn't it time you left with your partner?"

His date watched them from a distance. She stomped out almost immediately.

"You, what's your problem? How dare you pull that act on me?" Ugo confronted him.

Clint kept a straight face; he was neither fazed by his girl's reaction or Ugo's threats. "I would do more than that next time if you don't mind your manners." Clint replied with clenched fists.

"Leave now, Clint." Chidi stepped in between them "Calm down, Ugo. Clint, get yourself moving!" Chidi said with finality in her voice.

"F**k you, bro! You will hear from me," Ugo backed away furiously.

"I suggest you watch your face next time." Clint threatened. "You are drunk, how do you intend to get home?" Clint asked, concerned.

Tina stayed away from the drama between Clint and Ugo. She sat on a concrete pavement across the other side of the walkway, close to one of the bright florescent light pole that lined the well lit walkway of the event center. There, she watched Clint's dramatic displays. He irritated her. His confidence irritated her. She hated her heart for skipping when she saw him and herself for sneaking out of the party to avoid him.

"Cab. You should be worried about your date," Chidi replied him with a tone that although was sincere, was laced with sarcasm.

Clint turned to Tina. He wanted to talk to her, to say so many things to her but not that night again. He wanted and wished she could yell at him. That way he might be satisfied but not again that night, a lot had happened already. He doesn't want further complications. "Good night." he said gently to no one in particular, but looking at Tina, "Take care of yourselves." he said to Chidi but obviously meant 'take care of Tina' and walked away to the direction of his angry date.

Clint Turned And tossed on his bed, until he could no longer. His actions the last night disturbed him. He tried to wrap his mind around what happen at the party and after. He clearly crossed the boundary. Not only Tina's but his too. For the Ugo guy, he was satisfied. It was a sweet revenge for him. He was happy that he got back at him. He deserved it.

He needed to clear his head. He had never acted this way before; He was ashamed. And he knew he complicated things the more. He would have to face Tina on new count charges. As if turning her down wasn't enough, he abandoned her, only to behave like an unchained dog on seeing her at the party. How many are his offences now? He would need a legal counsel for that. As for the gravity, he'd better not imagine it.

After raking his brain for a while, he concluded that hitting the gym would be the best thing for him this morning. He called Iyke to know if he was out to join him.

"Gym ke! For like how long now?" Iyke sounded surprised and reluctant over the phone.

"You're coming?"

"Sorry, bro. Next time."

He stood from his bed and entered the bathroom. Out from the bathroom, he changed into a body fitted gym shorts, black cotton T-shirt and slid into his Puma sneakers.

Clint Called In to announce his absence from work and left some instructions. His exercise therapy worked but he was in no shape for work afterwards. Bad liar by Imagine Dragons blasted from his home theatre. He came out from the kitchen in a sleeveless top and sweatpants, with a cup of tea in his hand, a half-eaten loaf of sliced bread on the other. He dropped them on the mini dining table, settled for his breakfast, before his phone buzzed with text messages.

Tina: I need an explanation to what you did yesterday

What was that all about?

Fighting my friend, unprovoked

Holy crap, you are such an arrogant jerk

The drama came earlier than he expected. He dropped his phone and went back to his meal. He needed to boost his energy; he would really need it for the explanations.

Clint highlighted the second to last message on the chat, "I don't like him." he responded after his meal.

His response was rude, he knew.

Tina: What do you mean by that?

She replied him, almost immediately,

He stared at the message, unwilling to reply. He knew she would have seen a blue double tick, but he wasn't going to reply.

Tina: What is this supposed to mean, Clint?

She repeated her question.

Tina: How did I even put up with your arrogance in the first place?

You know what? Have a nice day.

And the situation got a lot better. It dawned on him that he wasn't ready to settle with her, yet he doesn't want to let go. He just aggravated the issue with his response, what a good way to calm the storm. He really deserved a round of applause.

Clint proceeded to clear the table. He wrapped the unfinished loaf of bread and picked the mug from the table, still thinking about his way forward with Tina. He returned to the table with intents to apologize, but he was a bit late. He had been blocked. He noticed. It got more interesting, when he discovered she did so across other platforms too. She seemed determined to cut him off. He decided to let her be, not because he couldn't reach her again, but because he thought she needed space, likewise himself. He needs to get a hold of himself too, to avoid blowing off another land mine.

He left for his room, prepped and left for Iyke's warehouse, determined not to bring to his notice his little drama with Tina.