__••__

Luke walked through the hallway of Mrs. Harriet Okafor's apartment, hands in his pockets, dark eyebrows furrowed and lips in a thin line. He kept his head downwards as he walked on until he stopped at the entrance of the woman's room that was open. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with a blank look on her face that lacked make up, while her hair looked like she had not taken care of it in days since the death of her daughter.

The cop ran his fingers through his dark hair and knocked on the door, causing the woman to flinch slightly before she nodded in response. The man walked in, and stood a few feet away from her with his hands still in his pockets.

"How are you, ma'am?" He asked, and cleared his throat.

She shrugged. "I don't even know. I just feel empty, like the point where I am right now, is meaningless. I lost my husband and now I have lost my only child. What's the point in me still been alive, and having to go back into realizing that the people who you really cared about are dead."

"You don't have to say that, Ma'am. Fate has a very strange way of getting what it wants. The only reason you're alive is to be strong. I'm sure, they won't be happy to know that you are hung up on them," he said, and hesitantly sat down beside the woman who rolled her eyes at his statement with a humorless chuckle.

"It's easy for you to say, Luke. Have you lost someone so close to your heart before?" She asked, and watched him think for a moment, his eyes harboring several emotions. "I think not."

Luke nodded. "Yes. I have actually lost someone so close to my heart. I lost my wife and unborn child in an accident, so yes."

She gasped. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry for saying that. I didn't-"

"Yeah, you didn't know. I'm not offended, and what I was trying to say is that, you should be strong with the whole news. Making yourself remember how hard everything is right now won't bring them back but moving on stage by stage goes a long way, that all you ever do is look back at what you did with them and you end up laughing."

Harriet stared at Luke who looked like he was remembering all the times with his wife, but his body was relaxed while his eyes held a lot. She smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered, and Luke nodded.

"You're welcome," he replied with a soft smile.

Someone knocked on the door, which had them simultaneously look up to see Gloria in a black dress, and lace head piece. She smiled ruefully at them and they knowingly nodded in unison.

"Time to go," Luke said, and helped the older woman up. He picked up her black shawl off the bed, and handed it to her before they walked out of the room.

__••__

Friends, family, and a few work mates, stood in black outfits as the preacher preached on while they stood quietly. They kept their saddened eyes on the closed coffins in the center of the two opened grounds.

Harriet was teary eyed, Gloria kept a stoic expression and Luke's expression stayed blank as the man preached on. After a few minutes, each and everyone of them, starting from Harriet, stepped forward and dropped white rose flowers on the coffins that laid in the dug up grounds. They stood aside as a singer sang a heart wrenching fair well song which made Harriet cry out once again.

After the procession, they began to leave the cemetery to where their cars were packed. Harriet was held by a few of her friends as they took her to her car, dropped her in it, and all while, Gloria stood by the woman.

"Where are you going after now?" Gloria asked in a dull tone.

"I honestly don't know at this moment but I need to fly back home for a family meeting concerning all these. It's been long since I last went to Nigeria but it's important that I do," she replied, and relaxed on the car seat then glanced over at Luke who was talking to someone in a distance. "What about you?"

Gloria shrugged. "Nothing really. I have to get used to the idea of knowing that I don't get to see my best friend anymore, and I also have no choice but to start work."

"I understand and please be strong," she said. "Despite the fact that Jenna had to be a bad person, she wouldn't want us to dwell on this too much. I just pray that she is a happy woman wherever she may be."

Gloria smiled. "I know she is but sometimes, I wonder the things she saw that drove her into all of these."

"Whatever it was, is over. Right now, we just have to protect the few friends we have. Look out for them because we can never know the battles within them. We have to learn from another man's pain to help others. And the fact that I was part of the reason my daughter killed her future, will forever haunt me, no matter what."

Gloria placed her tan hand on the woman's shoulder and smiled.

"Don't say that, Ma'am. We all have flaws and the only thing we have to do is learn from it. I'm sorry once again for your loss," Gloria said, leaned over the woman for a hug and left.

"If there's one thing I want, it's for my daughter to be happy with the choices she made," she muttered, shut the door of her car and drove off.

__••__

One Month Later

Gloria walked in her high heels, leaving behind loud clacks on the ground of the cemetery while she sported a blank look on her face with two red roses flowers in her hand. She walked on until she got to the two identical headstones that were close to each other. She stood, stared down at the headstones that bared the names of the deceased couple, and their dates of birth and death.

She exhaled and crossed her arms over her chest, and looked around the area before looking back at the headstones.

"It's been a month since you both died but each day, it feels like you both died yesterday. It's hard knowing that I won't get to hear you talk or laugh or even see you happy. It was too soon for death to take you away. I just-" she paused to exhale hard before shrugging. "Maybe I should have cared more. Fought harder and gave support but fate just had other plans, didn't it? It just had to do what no one wanted," she said, looked around the area again and then down at Jenna's headstone.

"Hello, Jenna," she said in a low tone then squatted down with narrowed eyes. "This may be a shock to you or anyone else, but I think you already know by now since you're dead and all that. It's such a shame that someone like you had to die because of a man. A man who loved you and you chose to-Wait what am I even saying?" Gloria asked and laughed momentarily before frowning.

There was a change in her brown eyes as her lips curved into a snarl.

"A man you stole away from me," she stated in a deep tone. "Yes, you took Jonathan away from me and you had to pay for it because karma doesn't let bad people go free. Oh, wait. I am karma," she said, and stood up then paced around the area with a smile on her face.

"You must be wondering what I am saying, well, here goes; Jonathan and I had something so special, something so beautiful for years. He was my dream man, he was the complete package and we were so happy until one fateful and unfortunate day," she stomped her foot at the last syllable of her sentence.

Flashback

Gloria hugged the blanket to her body and watched as Jonathan started putting on his shoes, ready to leave. She furrowed her brows as he picked up his shirt, and put it on then looked over his shoulder at her.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, and he sighed. "For the past few months now you've been acting quite distant. Have I done something wrong?"

Jonathan sighed. "Gloria, listen. I don't have the strength to talk about this. You keep asking me this question all the time. Can you shut it?"

Gloria frowned. "Excuse me? You are my boyfriend and-"

"I am not your boyfriend for God's sake. How many times do I have to tell you that?" He interjected. "All we do is sleep with each other. This thing we have is just for pleasure and nothing more."

"Where is this coming from?" She demanded and swept her braided hair out of her face. "I cannot waste five months of this and only for me to hear you call it a sexual affair. How dare you?!"

Gloria began to breath heavily as she watched Jonathan scroll through his phone like she had not said anything. She looked around the room, stood up from the bed with the blanket wrapped around her body, search for some clothes which she found and put them on then walked over to him.

"Jon, did you even hear what I just said?" She asked while her eyes were narrowed.

Jonathan groaned. "Gloria, I never one day asked you to dinner, did I? Have I ever introduced you to my parents? No! Did I ever ask for a relationship? An absolute no! So stop being delusional because I can't end up with someone like you!"

Gloria gasped and slapped him across the cheek, with tears in her eyes. She watched as shock and anger filled his eyes before he nodded and stood up. Just as he was about to leave, Gloria raced to the door, locked it and held the key.

"Let me out," he demanded in a calm tone.

"No! Not until you explain to me what you meant by all of those things. Jonathan, why do you have to hurt me like this?" Gloria asked in a cracked voice. "Why me? I love you and you do this to me."

Jonathan scoffed. "When we first met was at a club. We had a one night stand, and after that night, I told you clearly that I didn't want any relationship, and you used this same mouth of yours to state that it doesn't matter as long as we keep having sex. Gloria, do you remember when you said that? And I guess from the look on your face, you do. And I told you not to fall in love with me."

Gloria sobbed. "I couldn't help it, okay? I really do love you and we can start something together, please. The sex we have is enough to prove it."

Jonathan chuckled. "Gloria, you aren't my type of woman to go into a relationship with. You pretend a lot. You're two faced and I can't trust you fully. And what makes you think that the sex is good, hmm? It has gotten so boring that I only come to you when I'm either frustrated or angry."

Gloria kept quiet as she took in his expression, his eyes held the truth which she refused to accept. She sniffed and wiped her cheeks.

"Who is she?" She asked as she sensed that there was someone behind his sudden behavior.

"Who's what?" Jonathan asked in confusion.

"Who is the hell is she?! You've found someone that suits your taste, right? Someone who's so perfect, right? Oh, my God, you did," Gloria said as disbelief washed over her senses.

"Look-"

"No! I don't want to hear it! After everything we've done, you have the right to tell me that we had nothing because some girl appeared in your life! You know what? Get out! Just get out of my house!" She yelled in hot anger, unlocked the door and opened it up. "Get out."

She stood aside as she waited for Jonathan, who looked like he was saddened to walk out, which he did with a huff. She began to cry the moment he left and gripped her long braided hair in anger.

__••__

Gloria walked towards her apartment, work bag held and face in a mask of tiredness. She reached the door and was about to open it up when her phone vibrated in her hand. She raised it up to see it was a text message from Jonathan.

"I am sorry for everything I have ever done to you. You deserve better and I wronged you. I shouldn't have led you on with our affair and I apologise because I've thought about it and I was wrong. Gloria, I urge you to forget about me cause, we are too different and I have moved on. I am in a relationship at the moment and I would want nothing more than for you to accept this with a good heart. I care about you and I hope that you end up with someone who will love you just as much as you love me," she read the text aloud and bit her quivering lip. She clenched the phone, and shut her eyes tight when it began to water.

"No, Jonathan. You won't get away with this. You cannot break me and think that only you deserve extreme happiness and love. You dare not hurt me and I let you slip. You're going to regret ever hurting me," she said, and typed back a reply, lying that she was okay with the decision, and that she would like to see who stole his heart, which he did by sending some pictures of them together.

"What?!" She screeched as she stared at the woman in the picture. "Jenna Okafor? My coworker? Jonathan is dating my coworker? The one person I dislike?!"

Gloria shook her head aggressively and clenched the phone again. Her brown eyes were hard in anger, and breathing was heavy as well.

"I can't accept this," she said. "There's something I have to do."

__••__