"Jason." Liz shouted and shot up from where she sat on the red couch in the hallway of Jason's office waiting for him to show up.

A plea.

A prayer.

A promise.

The name meant all of this as it rolled out of her lips. Then he stopped in his track, raising his head from his phone which he was pressing furiously probably why he didn't notice her in the first place and passed by her but Jason knew that raspy voice anywhere he heard it.

He knew that voice as much as he  would his name, it was the same one that called to him at night with blood flowing from her wrists.

It was the same voice that screamed, "you did this to me" every single night. Till he woke up screaming with panic attacks.

But maybe it was all in his messed up head. Post traumatic stress disorder, the therapist he was seeing now called what was going on with him.

He couldn't be hearing her call out to him here. Liz was in Nigeria, she was with Iya Agba.

Do you ever wish for something so bad it comes to you? Some say you manifest it into existence. Because this had to be a dream, another attempt by his mind to trap him in the pain of loosing her by making him hallucinate things. It wasn't fair to him, especially now that he was finally accepting it.

But then Liz called out to him again, "Jason." And Jason had to believe that it was true. That she was here, where he was, within feet of him not a mere picture his mind cooked up.

She was here but Jason couldn't bare to look at her. So instead he looked at the receptionist at the far end of the room. He stared at the grey painted walls, at the elevator which just dinged and the people milling out of the elevator, at their shoes, at every detail as they whipped past him. He just stood there still, as still as he could be, staring at everywhere with his hands fisted in his pocket and his jaw clenched so tight.

Liz kept standing there after he refused to acknowledge her with  even a simple glance. She watched her husband turned robot until she couldn't take it any longer and started walking towards him.

This was operation; get my husband back, and she wasn't going to just run away.

He still didn't look at her till she was standing right in front of him clouding his vision and he had no other choice than to look but even though he could he turned his head away not staring directly at her.

Jason's heart was thumping in his chest and it felt like it would tear out of the confines of his ribcage with how hard he was breathing.

"Jason." Liz called out for the third time and swallowed a lump that formed in her throat cause she was so close to crying now, her brown eyes shiny with sheen of tears.

She had been waiting in that hallway for three hours. Finding him had been harder than she thought it will be. From going to the San Francisco office, to LA and finally to Chicago.

It has been a whole week of travelling  from place to place and it needed to at least matter to him because she was bone tired.

"Are you not going to look at me, Mismatched eyes?" She asked this time, her lips stretching to a smile at how good it felt calling him that again.

Like a magnet drawn to metal, or bee to honey,Jason turned to look at her.

One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Liz wasn't keeping track of time but they just stared at each other for a while, looking to each others fill.

He was wearing blue. A navy blue suit that matched the light shade of the blue of his eyes. A full three piece suit that hanged off majestically over his shoulder. With a gold wrist watch on his wrist and brown shoes.

He looked good. He looked better than good.

His eyes were the same shade she remembered,  but those blue-grey orbs that used to be full of north and hint naughtiness looked empty and sad now. If you looked closely you'll see worry lines at the side of his eyes and a ring around his mouth too.

The more she stared at him the more she wanted to cry,because her wish had been fulfilled; that he would be sad and miserable just as she was.

When they were apart, she had wished that he will be unhappy. That he will miss her as much as she did, that his heart will fill with longing so that he could understand the nights she cried when he didn't call.

Liz would fold up on the bed with her hands over her mouth, sometimes making a fist and biting down on it, so that she wouldn't wake up anyone with the sound of her tears and no one will pity her. Her heart will break with missing him and blaming herself for the million ways things could have gone differently. She would place her other hand over her  heart or stomach because both will be hurting and there was nothing she could do about it.

The more she looked she knew that he was almost as sad as her, almost as broken. Call that the soulmate bond or whatever, or perhaps it was because she was standing here, looking into her lovers eyes. She knew now that it hurt more that he was hurt.

She wished he was happy, that he had been happy. Free from the emotional turmoil she caused and  more like the proud, confident man she fell in love with. 

"Say something, say anything?" Liz spoke again, suddenly beginning to be so self conscious under his continued scrutiny.

Did he notice how fat she had become? Liz blamed it on all the pregnancy and depression junk food, or the fact that she was trying so hard to meet him here when she wasn't looking her best?

She looked tired, grumpy and nothing like the all put together woman she wanted to present to him.

"Are you here to finalize the divorce?" Jason asked with empty blue-grey eyes that you are not supposed to greet your pregnant lover with.

Liz felt her heart sink down to the bottom of her stomach. She was expecting him to say something like 'hi' or 'hello' or even 'you look like shit' not asking for the final end to their failed marriage.

"No." Liz answered, "No I'm not here to finalize the divorce."

Jason nodded his head at her, not knowing what else to say. He needed to leave, to go far away. The last three months apart all he wanted more than anything was to be somewhere she was, but now that she was here he couldn't bear to be in the same place as her.

"Is that all you're going to say to me?" Liz was near tears now.

"It's nice to see you again, Elizabeth. I..I...I have to go." Jason finally stammered out.

Liz stood there in a trance watching the love of her life walk away from her.

****
"Stupid stupid Jason" Liz swore and stabbed the green beans with the fork hard, imagining she was stabbing out his eyes.

She was eating green beans from the can cold and Pamela bored eyes stared at her through the screen of her Macbook.

"You know that green beans isn't Jason right?" Pamela asked, tired of trying to calm down the murderous wish of her pregnant best friend.

"He said it's nice to meet you Elizabeth. The idiot said,  'it's nice to meet you' can you believe that?" Liz screamed and shoved a batch full of cold green beans into her mouth.

"Is that thing you're eating even healthy?" Pamela asked instead rolling her eyes.

"Hello. Don't judge me," rolling her eyes back, "that is what baby pumpkin wants right now. Cold green beans."

"And baby pumpkin said you should not turn the green beans into a plate at least?" Pamela continued trying to get her mind off the Jason meeting.

"I want my baby." Liz burst into hysterical tears now, "I want my Mismatched eyes and all he said is, 'it's nice to see you again Elizabeth' and it hurts in here," She thumped her chest letting Pamela know where she meant.

"I know Lizzy. But you know you guys have been apart for a while, and you don't expect everything to just magically go back to how it was."

"Yes, but he didn't even ask of the baby. I'm pregnant and all by myself and he didn't even ask of the baby."Liz answered more tears streaming down her cheeks.

"So what now?" Pamela asked scratching her head not knowing how to comfort Liz.

"I'm going to go back to that office and make sure he talks to me. I'm going to shower and wear a dress and set an appointment, so he has no choice but to talk to me." Liz answered.

"Okay. Have you tried calling him?"

"Yes. I don't have his new contact and the old contact is not going through." Liz dragged her bottom lip in between her lips to stop it from quivering and sniffed hard. She looked puffy with her red eyes and blotchy nose.

"Did you ask his sisters or the gang?" Pamela asked again, hoping Liz knew that she would have to deal with all of their friends and family members at last.

Liz cast down her brows and hooded her gaze. Her fingers playing with the edge of the pajamas top she had on.

"You'll have to deal with all of then at last you know." Pamela said softly.

"I know but not now. I need to talk to him first. I'll deal with all of that, but I need to let him know that I want to fix this. To fix us in all the ways I can, in all the ways he will let me."

"What if he doesn't want to fix it. What if this is the end of you and your mismatched eyes?" Pamela asked seriously with a frown marring her face.

On pure instinct, Liz stroked her belly for comfort and the other hand gripped her chest. She hadn't prepared for that when she jumped on the plane to see him.

She had been prepared to fight but not to let go.

"You know you're supposed to say, fight for what you want right? And if it true love you shouldn't let go. Cause love is rare and when you find it you shouldn't let go." Liz tried consoling herself.

"My love.." Pamela began but was cut off by Elizabeth.

"I understand what you're saying and what you're scared of. You're asking if, this will trigger another suicide attempt. You're not sure I'm ready to handle his rejection yet right?"

Pamela nodded gently.

"I don't want to think of a life time of never being loved by him. But I want to take my baby to see the stars at night. I want to eat hot suya from Mallam musa on Iya Agba's street and drink date tea the next morning as I tell myself it will detoxify all the germs I'm sure comes with eating that greasy meat," Liz made a dirty face and Pamela burst into happy laughter.

"I..I.. I love giving Iya Agba feet massages and did you know my mothers new husband actually loves her and I have three half sisters? Have you ever eaten roasted corn and coconut?" Liz asked and Pamela was the one crying now at all the silly happy reasons Liz wanted to live for.

"I swear that shit feel like war but it tastes divine and I miss eating it so much. Nobody to bring me maize and coconut in this stupid five star hotel I lodged in. I want to open a shelter in Abeokuta for children who have been abused and to spread the awareness. I want to learn how to be your very best friend and sister in the whole wide world and spend all my money on your children" Liz burst into laughter and tears and Pamela joined her.

"And I'm not promising that there won't be bad days with me. But I'm just telling you I have other reasons outside him and the baby to live. I'm also finding out that I like God. I don't know if it is full love yet, but in a steady quiet way I'm getting answers and I enjoy worship meetings and I can't believe the emptiness I must have carried. I think that is all on my list right now." Liz ended.

"You're doing well. I love you Orangutan, I love you so much. I'm so proud of you, your growth and your strength. I'll be here on your journey, doing life with you still." Pamela promised pushing her nose into the screen of her laptop.

"I know. I know that now, and I won't forget, on my bad days, I'll remember. But right now I need you to help me get my man, after seeing how fine he looked today, I need him to break my back while doing the deed" Liz answered and winked.

Pamela burst into her loud laughter, "I know you're not thinking of your separated husband breaking your back with sex while pregnant Elizabeth?"

"As if your husband doesn't break yours." Liz answered giving Pamela the dirty look. 

"Yes he does." Pamela answered happily.

"You fish! Did you need to tell me that?"

"Well you asked," Shrugging her shoulders.

Liz was about to reply when she heard her phone ringing and she reached for it.

Her face turned ashen like she had seen a ghost and she picked the call ending the Facetime abruptly.

"Xavier." Liz called out gently.

Well there was no hiding away anymore, if Xav knew she was back it meant either her mother in-law knew or she was on the verge of knowing.

All her pans to fix things quietly with Jason first, without involving family and friends was disappearing into air like thin smoke.

*****

My guys!!!!!!

Wait, you guys didn't think she will return and a love story will bloom abi?

Me that I've been feeling like killing someone in this book nowadays.
Pray ladies and gentle men🤣🤣🤣🤣pray no one dies.

If you have that friend always in your corner, like Pamela, treat them right!

Love Always,
Orex.

********