Ann and Eric had been dating since their first year on campus. She met him through a mutual friend and that’s how the three of us ended up being best buddies. Occasionally, they would joke about how I would be a bridesmaid at their wedding. Even after campus, they were still dating. To be honest, I never expected their relationship to last that long. Sooner or later one thing led to another and they graduated from dating to being engaged.
Their engagement party had been one to remember, Eric had landed a job at an embassy and he was earning a decent salary. He wanted to give Ann the best of both worlds so he ensured their engagement party was nothing short of extravagant. Eric invited his friends from work while Ann invited some of our previous classmates from campus.
Everyone could be seen dressed in luxurious suits and dresses to flaunt their impeccable taste in fashion. Saying it was one of the best events would come across as an understatement. We all had fun, drank wine, and danced to Burna boy’s latest album. The new couple in town gave speeches and as a mutual friend, I had a few words to say as well. The party eventually ended in style and we resumed our normal day-to-day lives.
Despite the exquisite engagement party, things were not going on well between the two. Ann wanted to move in with her fiancé but Eric was reluctant. He kept saying that she should wait until he gets a bigger apartment as the one he was staying in was small. Most of the time they would go a whole day without communication and Eric always seemed to be too busy for her. When asked why they no longer went for dates he would come up with several lame excuses.
Ann and I had a norm of clubbing every Friday. This particular Friday she demanded we stay in because she was a bit under the weather but I was in a mood to party.
“Come on girl, just a couple of drinks. I promise we’ll be back before you know it, ” I said convincing her to go out.
“Alright but only because you make it impossible to say no,” she replied slyly.
I suggested a nearby club that was one of the places that we had frequented when we were on campus. It was in this club that I met my first boyfriend. We drove and throughout the journey, Ann kept complaining about Eric. My immediate thought was that she was being clingy and wanted to spend more time with him. Had I known I was wrong….
30 minutes later we were at the location. The club was packed and loud music could be heard playing from outside. The club was on the fifth floor of the complex building. As we were about to get in, we noticed a group of people gathered outside the building and were all shouting. We moved to take a closer look. A young lady probably in her mid-twenties was threatening to commit suicide.
“I swear I will jump!” she screamed barely hanging from the club’s balcony rails.
We dismissed the scenario because we assumed the lady was drunk. After all, people are weird after getting drunk. One guard was ready to call the police. Somehow the crowd outside managed to convince the young lady not to jump. She was back inside being held by two of her friends who were dragging her out of the club.
We had a few drinks as we danced to the amapiano music playing in the background. Just then there was a scream that disturbed the peace had been restored, and another drama unfolded. The same lady who was trying to commit suicide was back and this time she was yelling at the top of her voice. She was throwing herself on the ground and rolling.
She kept saying “men are liars, what am I going to do?”
This was without a doubt relationship drama. I could see her little bump. My immediate assumption was that she was pregnant and the baby daddy had denied responsibility, because what else would make a pregnant lady shout in the club? The Dj kept pausing the music out of irritation because it was getting chaotic. He signalled the bouncer at the door to escort the lady out. This lady was uncontrollable not even her friends managed to get her out of the club. Whenever they tried to hold her she would forcefully break free. At one point I was scared that she would hurt the baby.
“Told you it was a bad idea to go out tonight, ” Ann reminded me for the third time that night.
The lady was unmanageable, she sat on the floor and tried to fight the bouncer who was trying to escort her out and the bouncer had to lift her up. Still, the bouncer did not manage to take her out because she kept throwing her arms and legs in an attempt to hit him. She was pregnant so the bouncer could not keep fighting her, he put her down and threatened to call the police. She did not seem to care, indeed she must have been drunk to behave like that.
It was just then that the police siren could be heard in a distance, someone had called the police on them because of the loud noise and disturbance. The club was close to an apartment, the residents must have been bothered by the mayhem and decided to call the police. Everyone started running towards the exit. The problematic lady took to her heels as well. I was wrong about her not caring. No one wants to get arrested on a Friday evening and spend the rest of their weekend in a prison cell, especially a pregnant lady. Ann and I got up and tried to make our way out squeezing through the crowd.
It was amidst the chaos that I noticed a man with the same body frame as Eric, beside him was a lady, and they were holding hands.
“Ann, I think that’s Eric,” I said concerned since he was holding hands with some other lady.
She insisted that Eric was at work and I tried to convince myself that it could not be him. Unfortunately, the man got outside before I could get a closer look. I tried to follow the direction he was headed with my eyes but I lost him. As soon as we were outside we headed towards the parking lot and that is when we recognized the man I had seen earlier as Eric. He stood there beside his car shielding a lady he was with from the lady who was causing drama in the club earlier on.
The two ladies could be heard shouting and hurling insults at each other. The “drama lady” was throwing punches and slaps at the other lady who kept ducking and hiding behind Eric. A small crowd had started forming again. Some were jeering, and others were begging them to stop fighting but the ladies would not listen. We were both too stunned to say anything.
“Why are two women fighting over Eric?” Ann questioned.
She moved closer and shouted “babe.”
Both women turned to see who was calling. The pregnant lady who had been throwing punches was ready to jump at my friend after she realized it was her who had shouted babe but Eric held her back. The pregnant lady started hurling insults at Eric asking him how many women he had. She called him a cheater. She was so outraged. She sounded hurt. Finally, she gave up fighting and started crying. Her friends tried to console her. For a minute I had forgotten about Ann. I turned only to meet her teary eyes staring at me. I have never seen her so hurt before. It is like her entire world came crumbling down in a minute. The friends of the pregnant lady had a confrontational moment with Eric and the lady behind Eric. The lady said she was Eric’s baby mama and they had been seeing each other.
This was so heartbreaking and unbelievable for Ann because he had just proposed and they had been together for a long time it did not make sense that he had a baby all along. Eric was quiet, he did not say anything nor did he try to defend himself. His secret was out, he had three women and he had been cheating on all of them. Ann was too hurt to say anything, she stood up and left I had to run behind her to catch up with her. The pregnant lady got up and left with her friends. An evening that had been full of joy had suddenly turned gloomy. That night I stayed with Ann.
A week later she broke off the engagement and returned the ring to Eric.
Here are more singlehood Series
The Singlehood Series: I Found Out He Was Still Sleeping With His Baby mama
He Dumped Her Claiming She Was Lazy Because She Suggested Using Easier Ways To Do Household Chores
She Agreed To Her Boyfriend Having A Side Chick To Avoid Losing Him
My Best Friend Found Out She Was The Other Woman Plus There Were 2 Baby Mamas After 2 Years
