I work in the entertainment industry which is a highly demanding job. At times, I work from Sunday to Sunday for months without taking a break. Though I get to meet all sorts of people, I barely have time to socialize and the only friends I have are my workmates. However, every year, my colleagues and I organize a vacation when we’re on leave. This year, we headed to the beautiful island of Zanzibar.
We also had a new colleague who joined us on vacation which made the trip more exciting. Chris had been working with us for less than three months but he had already made a huge impression on us. He was the life of the party and it was hard not to like him. The more time I spent with him, the more I felt attracted to him.
We started flirting while at work but things never went beyond the talking stage. However, I thought that the vacation was a good opportunity to take things to the next level. I had also been single for so long and I was looking to have a little fun.
“Are you excited about the vacation?” I asked him.
“Of course, I’ve never been outside the country.
“You’ll love it. We’ll have so much fun.”
“I never thought that working here would be this good.”
“Yeah, we work hard and play harder.”
After a long month at work, we finally went on leave and started preparing for our vacation. We met the following week and started our trip to Zanzibar. Everyone was in a good mood as we walked through the airport and headed to the plane. However, we encountered our first hurdle just before boarding the plane.
As we checked in, Chris was pulled to the side and his bags were searched. We looked on as the officers tossed his belongings out and then returned them in such a rough manner. We wanted to complain but the plane was just about to leave and we weren’t going to miss it. Chris gathered his bags and we dashed to the plane.
Luckily, we made it just in the nick of time.
“What was that all about?” I asked Chris after we got on the plane.
“I don’t know. Maybe they thought I looked suspicious. Thanks for waiting for me, by the way.”
“No problem. We weren’t going to leave you.”
The flight was a bit quiet but as soon as we saw the island from above, we all perked up.
“We made it!” I alerted the others.
“Finally!!” One of my colleagues responded.
We landed and then headed to the hotel. I decided to share a room with Chris since we were getting along well and wanted to take things to the next level. As soon as we got in the room, Chris suggested that we go swimming.
We changed into our swimming costumes and went to the swimming pool area. Shortly after, some of our colleagues joined us and our vacation officially began. We stayed at the swimming pool till late in the evening, drinking cocktails and enjoying the music.
“Do we have dinner?” I asked and everyone agreed.
Chris and I went to our room and the rest went to theirs. Since his bags were a mess, I offered to unpack it for him and put his clothes in the closet.
“Sure, thanks.” He said then went to take a shower.
As I unpacked, I noticed a small bag full of medicine and removed it. None of the medicines looked familiar. So, I wrote down the names on my phone so I could Google them later. However, I already had a bad feeling about them.
I finished unpacking our suitcases and then went to take a shower. When I came out, we went to have dinner and came back to the room.
Chris went to the poolside to have a drink which gave me a chance to look at the medicine closely and Google them. Just as I suspected, they were ARVs. My heart almost stopped when I saw what they were. However, I stayed calm and came up with a plan for how I would handle it.
Chris came back an hour later and was a bit tipsy which I thought wasn’t the right time to ask him. Luckily, he was exhausted from the trip and went straight to sleep.
I could barely sleep that night. The following morning, I confronted him as soon as I woke.
“By the way, Chris, I saw some medicines in your suitcase while I was unpacking. What are they for?”
“Medicine? I don’t know.”
I went to his suitcase and removed the bag.
“Here they are.”
“Oh, I don’t know what they are.”
“They’re in your suitcase.”
“Maybe they got mixed in when the officers were searching my bag.”
Yeah, maybe.”
“Do you know what they are for?” He asked.
“No, but we can Google.”
I pretended to Google then broke the news to him.
“They are ARVs.”
“ARVs? You mean the medicine for HIV?”
“Yes. Do they belong to you?”
“No, I don’t even know what they are.”
He kept denying that the medicine didn’t belong to him and at some point, he suggested that they belonged to me. That was when I knew without a doubt that they belonged to him since I knew that they weren’t mine.
“You know, we can take an HIV test to confirm who they belong to,” I suggested.
“This isn’t the time or place to do that. We’re on a vacation.”
“It won’t take long. I’ll ask the receptionist where we can find a chemist,” I said.
Before he could refuse, I went to the receptionist who gave me the phone number of a chemist who could deliver what I needed. I called them and asked for an HIV test kit which was delivered shortly after.
Chris hesitantly took the test and then suggested that we go for a walk while we waited. I agreed just to keep him calm. We went for a short walk then came back. I checked my test and he checked his.
“Oh my God, I’m HIV positive!” He said then burst into tears.
I comforted him until he calmed down but I knew that he was just playing with me. He knew that he was HIV-positive long before taking that test.
“My ex infected me. She was very promiscuous and one day, I started feeling strange.” He explained.
“It’s okay,” I said.
“Thanks for being so understanding.” He said.
“Yeah, but you need to get another room.”
He didn’t want to leave my room which was a bit scary but I was able to convince him. I didn’t tell anyone about the situation but I couldn’t enjoy my vacation anymore.
We all went back home and after two weeks, we went back to work. Chris was nowhere to be seen. My boss asked me if I had talked to him but I hadn’t. He never came back to work and we have never heard from him after the vacation. Still, I never told anyone that he was HIV positive.
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