5 Chapter 5

Thus it is very important to be utterly transparent and candid about your emotional weaknesses or discomfort to your partner, No matter how difficult and uncomfortable it is to come clean about that which is barging you; you must open up so that the weight around any kind of encountered challenge can be evenly distributed to both parties before it can create a crack to that solid wall of your love.

For example, he/she suffers from halitosis; at times it becomes difficult to communicate about what you find repulsive or turning off during your intimate time. Because maybe you are afraid if you speak your mind out and reveal your dislike he/she might take offense from your concern, whereas keeping it, is way much dangerous than exposing your distress. Howbeit when you express it, you both stand a great chance to overcome and improve on whatever that wanted harm your union, on the contrary when you don't vent it out, it will breathe out negative energy from inside that will cause you to drift apart.

We can easily draw a point of reference to this fact from a bible story when a great leader of the Israelites by the name of Moses acknowledged his weaknesses before God in the book of Numbers 11:17 when he was overwhelmed by the burden of people. Distributing the weight between him and some appointed elders was God's solution to the problem when he says "I will take a portion of the spirit who is upon you, and put him upon them for they shall bear with you the burden of the people, so that you will not bear it alone".

If only Loyiso had realised the power of exposing his weakness and fears to Nwabisa could make him wise and strong to save the situation. He could have spared himself a lot of unnecessary pain and misery. The role of an impeccable spouse he assumed in his relationship had just reflected the disappointing nature of human being and demonstrated how imperfect the perfection of a man without the perfect Christ is.

At times to be a strong man means to have the courage to acknowledge your limitations and to be open about your weaknesses; even the great Apostle Paul he was almost flawless thus he overcame and endured many trials but he admits that he had his weaknesses, in fact he says he would delight in boasting about them, in the book of second Corinthians 12; 5. The reason why he speaks in this manner it is because he knew that the strength of God is revealed in our infirmities. Hence he says "So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work in me", 2 Corinthians 12:9. However, it was so unfortunate for Loyiso because he was an unbeliever for him to take advantage of this divine privilege, where Christ will complement his weaknesses.

The same Apostle Paul pleads to the saints to never forget to intercede for him, denoting his acknowledgment of his frailty, and this also indicates the importance of sharing the load with the people you trust and love. The Bible says in Galatians 6:2 "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfil the law of Christ". Therefore Loyiso was consumed by his failure to share his burden and loneliness with his girlfriend because of fear.

On the contrary, Nwabisa was just thankful for having a man who was so immensely supportive in her religious journey and a strong enough man who was not repulsive about her academic trip to America. She was clueless about what Loyiso was going through because he pretended to be just fine with their new arrangement and the recent news of a scholarship. Therefore Nwabisa was unaware that an enemy that seeks to destroy has visited their wonderful island of love.

One writer A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami once said" the maybe sometimes arguments about whether "truth" and "beauty" are compatible terms. One would willingly agree to express the truth, and one might say, but since the truth is not always beautiful-indeed it is frequently rather startling and unpleasant. So how does one express truth and beauty at the same time"? Loyiso wanted to maintain the beauty of their relationship but he could not express the truth about his feelings and discomfort, he was caught in the dilemma of expressing or maintaining the truth and beauty at the same time.

As time was closing in, his misery was getting intense he could not bear his thoughts. His work performance and attitude were immensely and directly affected, he was always distant from people and constantly demoralised at work; when his colleagues noticed this about him, they were worried and concerned.

Then there was this one Friday at work, which he noticed that people are acting weird towards him; though there was this one lady by the name of Zowie whom he always got along with. So this weirdness was bothering Loyiso because everyone was acting strange, so he went to talk to Zowie about this attitude he sees "My friend you are the only one person today in here who is acting normal and kind as usual, everyone else is acting strange, have you noticed that?" he solicited.

"No my friend I haven't noticed anything yet, from where I am standing they all look and act as normal" Zowie replied. He expected her to affirm his suspicions or find some clues of what is happening with people today, but unfortunately, Zowie could not be much of assistance to him this time around. So he went back to his office after this brief chat he had with Zowie.

One hour before the knock-off time is the time in which usually they are just packing their stuff and getting ready to go home. He receives an email from his superior asking him to prepare for her a report for an urgent emergency meeting that she has to attend Saturday, meaning he was asked to work overtime and he was mad because of this. Few minutes after receiving the mail, came Zowie in his office, "can you believe I have been asked to prepare a report at this time of the day, on a Friday of all days?" said Loyiso because he was furious with the boss. "Eish! I am sorry friend, I also came to say my goodbye because I am leaving early today, I have some important things that I have to take care of, so enjoy your weekend hey" said Zowie and they chart for a short while and thus she left. After an hour Loyiso is still at the office and everybody else is gone already. Zowie calls, he picked up "hello"; "hey friend" she greeted on the other end, "look I am not taking advantage of your kindness, can I ask for your favour please?"; "Anything for you my friend, I don't doubt you will do the same for me had I been in your position, so shoot". She has forgotten her phone at Loyiso's desk and she asks him to bring it to the place where she was and she sent him a location.

When he was done with the report he drove straight to Zowie bringing her the phone. He parked his car outside the yard, immediately when he stepped out of the car his attention was caught by this brilliant gigantic work of the builders, Loyiso had always aspired to be an Architect. As he approaches the building he was getting more fascinated by this beautiful engineering ingenuity of architectural work that was encompassed by an appealing garden and green grass with colourful flowers "Wow this place is heaven on earth" he exclaimed. He noticed a few cars that he knew as he was walking around, yet he paid no attention to what his eyes were telling him. As he went inside, the grandeur of this place was so magnificent, as he looked at the combination of the gold and silver inner layout of this building and expensive decorations of royalty purple and scarlet and the table decoration was just on point, he was in total awe.

To his shock, the place was packed with familiar faces, "What the hell is going on in here, why I wasn't told about this important function?" he soliloquised as he was shock stricken because these people with familiar faces were his colleagues. "Surprise" everyone shouted cheerfully and when he looked close amid these people where his two brothers. He dropped a tear to come to this pleasant surprise and this realisation that he is the king of this palace. And that his colleagues would go this far to prepare a dinner party for him only to cheer him up when they have noticed that he is in distress.

He was so elated because he loved everything about the place; he appreciated these efforts of the concerned hearts of his loving and caring colleagues. At this moment in his mind, he conceded to grab this opportunity to cool his mind off and disrobe the tension of his heart by enjoying the party. For the first time in his life, he took alcoholic drinks that night as he wanted to make this day special and experience adventurous moments just for once in his life. The unprecedented experience of drinking and the sound of revelries that night were massaging the pain in his heart. In his entire life, he never felt free and happy as this night, the party vibes were exciting and full of entertainment, as a result, he saw a brand new side of life that he never thought could be that amusing. For the rest of those hours, he felt extricated from his world of misery.