A Marriage of Convenience

Part 11

The ringing of my phone brought me back to the present. I looked at the ID caller, it was Riedwaan. I answered but didn't speak

Riedwaan: Nadia, are you okay doll? I just switched on the T.V now, I had no idea. I don't know why he had to announce it in that way.

Riedwaan was referring to my ex-fiance, Thee famous Danyaal Mayet, a lawyer turned politician and now the newly elected mayor of Johannesburg. He just announced his marriage to Natasha Daya, a judges daughter, on National T.V

I kept quiet, i was frozen, i couldn't think nor could I talk, all I wanted to was curl up in a ball and disappear.

Riedwaan: Nadia answer me please, I'm coming over right now.

Nadia: Sorry Riedu, I was lost in thought. No you don't have to come over, I'll be just fine, besides I want to be alone. (We have always been honest with each other)

Riedwaan: Are you sure doll, coz I don't mind, really.

Nadia: I'll be fine Riedwaan, thank you so much, I'll see you tomorrow ne...Salaams.

Riedwaan: Okay doll, sweet dreams Nadz and don't about it too much, it's his loss. Wasalaam

I cut the call and switched my phone off so that I don' t get disturbed, I just needed to be alone right now.

Danyaal and I met when I was working at Zara, I remember that day like it was yesterday. He was shopping with his sister who was a paraplegic and I was doing a store visit, as a junior designer it was my job. I helped them the whole time they were there, getting sizes and giving my opinions when I was asked, I think they spent over R 2000. That was what attracted me to him in the first place, his kindness, compassion and caring, but i don't know where that all went to.

The next time he came, about 2 months after, I wasn't there and the store manager explained to him that I wasn't a sales person that I was a junior designer. I met him again on another store visit and this time we struck up conversation, he told me that he was doing his last year of articles at a Law firm in Sandton, and that he studied at The Witwatersrand University, he then got straight to the point and said that ever since he met me, he couldn't get me out of his mind and asked if he could get to know me better. I was flattered but a bit hesitant at first , after much persuasion I agreed and we went out for coffee to Mug and Bean, it was the closest and the most convenient.

We talked and talked until about 5:00, we exchanged numbers and parted ways, i didn't expect him to call me though but to my surprise, a week later he called me and asked me out to lunch, i agreed and we went to Jimmy's at Rosebank. we ended up playing Ten-Pin bowling and going on the bumper cars.

We started going out on a regular basis, it was horse riding the once, bungee jumping the next, then it was the colour festival, we even went to the Pretioria Zoo. My parents were starting to ask questions, i didn't even tell Riedwaan about my weekly outings. One Sunday, Danyaal and I drove to Lenasia, we were going to meet his parents, this was after 6 months of dating, boy was i nervous but it went well, they ended up liking me a lot.

My parents demanded to know what was going on and so i told them about Danyaal, they were happy that i found someone but frowned on the fact that i was dating. Everybody was ecstatic. Riedwaan wanted to meet him straight away. Danyaal and i got engaged later that year, i was 23 and he 25, we planned to get married in two years time but two years passed and we still weren't married, until it got to six years, we were just too busy with our careers but once i turned 29 he gave me an ultimatum, either we get married now or we go our separate ways, i guess was putting off getting married because i was climbing the fashion ladder and also my parents were going through a tough time with their marriage and it just put me off i guess but not a week later after Danyaal's ultimatum, i found him in bed with one of our closest friends at the time, the one that he's getting married to now, Natasha Daya.

I was shocked and devastated, on one hand he was pushing to get married and then on the other he was cheating on me. I cried myself to sleep every night, i questioned my looks, my personality and even my character. I began to hate Danyaal, i detested him, i broke everything that he gave me, tore up every letter that he sent, i broke a R 10 000 diamond necklace that he bought me for my 26th birthday.

I started eating less and working more, i lost weight, i became sick more often, i didn't go out, i was starting to disappear. My parents although they tried couldn't do much, i refused to listen to any one, i just carried on working and working until i had a nervous breakdown from exhaustion, that was when Riedwaan found me, unconscious, he came to check on me and when i didn't open he broke the door down and called an ambulance.

I was diagnosed with severed depression and exhaustion, i went to a rehab where they treat people suffering from depression and exhaustion.