39. Rachel's vow

 I was honestly still amazed by the things Khalida told me, The first thing I did when I got to my room was to get into something comfortable, then tossed myself on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, Khalinda's voice kept ringing in my head, for a while I laid there thinking of nothing else. I then went to the balcony for some fresh air hoping the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves would quiet down the voice I kept hearing in my head. The gloomy evening weather summed up my day perfectly, I woke up sunny and bright, but at the end of the day, I was sad and confused. I now had the leverage I needed against Rachel, but I knew using it was not going to bring me any joy. Unlike Rachel, I took no pleasure in inflicting pain on others, I could still recall Khalinda's words:

"Rachel vowed to make Walter suffer until the day he takes his last breath. Losing the baby really tore her apart, she was never the same after that. Ofcourse, initially my parents also wanted the Sekulu's to pay and so they supported Rachel's vow. I guess they thought it was the grief talking, eventually, she would recover. Rachel didn't finish college, instead, she went abroad, all expenses paid for by the Sekulus, I am not sure if she kept in touch with Walter, but she was recovering and she also started going out, made friends, and her social media updates showed a sign of life. We were all glad to see her finally living again, that's why we didn't think it was a big deal when Walter started dating again, besides, it had been two years and Rachel was happy, but I guess not. Because the moment Walter shared a picture of his date with Cindy Thwala, Rachel was on the first flight home, what followed after that is indescribable. Cindy lost her job and, thereafter, her house. Her image was damaged beyond repair because the nudes she sent to Walter were leaked. Walter did everything he could to clear the misunderstanding and clear her image. On top of that, images of Rachel and Walter surfaced and Rachel shared a post that reminded him of his vow: 'I am not happy so where did you get the permission to be happy?'"

Rachel's vow sent chills down my spine, even thinking about it later I still got goosebumps. On my way home, I went through the internet looking for anything Cindy Thwala-related, but I could not find a single thing, not even a social media account, it's like she disappeared from the face of the earth. Khalinda said the last time she saw her, she was leaving the country. I initially understood where Rachel was coming from, she found out that the person she loved betrayed her and lost her baby because of that, so I get why she might have wanted to hurt Walter. But based on what Khalinda told me, she was not grieving anymore, I couldn't figure out her new reasons for tormenting Walter. The scariest thing was that Walter was aware of this but he just decided to let her punish him. 'Did he really feel like he did not deserve any happiness?'.

All this thinking about Walter-Rachel-Khalinda was starting to make my head pound, or it was probably the white wine. I have never been a fan of white wine anyway, it always gave me a headache and the air was starting to get too cold, so I went inside. Just then I heard a knock on the door which surprised me because I was not expecting anyone and I did not order any room service,

"Who is it?", 

"Room service ma'am, I have a package for Ms. Thandie Lohan,", a soft female voice replied

Upon hearing my name, it was clear that they had the correct room, I put on the hotel gown and hurried to the door, 

"Sorry to disturb your evening ma'am, but this was delivered for you in the afternoon", she gave me a bouquet of Sunflowers, a bottle of red wine, and a tub of blueberry ice cream, 'my favorites', I thought. 

I smiled politely at the young lady in a red tunic with a name tag that read 'Lindiwe', "Thank you Lindiwe", the flowers were accompanied by a note that read:

"I know today has been an extremely stressful day, I promise tomorrow will be better. I wish I was there to comfort you. I hope these flowers will brighten your day and the ice cream will soothe you.

From Walter :)"

It was a surprise I needed at that moment, a man who takes such good care of those around him, I felt even more sorry for him, he was still living in torment and paying for the mistakes he made when he was just a boy. As much as I had questions for Walter, I didn't know the best way to bring it up, so I decided to text him instead. My phone has been off since the afternoon, so upon turning it on, I was flooded with texts and missed call notifications. There were more than a dozen missed calls from Walter, I also had missed calls from Shirley, my parents, and Sandra. I felt emotional just seeing the pop-ups on my screen, I had so many people who were worried about me and I chose to focus on people who did not even matter in my life. I sat on the bed with a tub of ice cream which had now slightly melted and started returning messages and calls. I called my parents first, I could hear the sigh of relief from my mother on the other line.

"Thandie, don't ever do that again and you don't have to deal with everything on your own". A tear rolled down my cheek upon hearing her say that. I assured her that I was fine one more time before letting her go. 

Shirley was next on my call list but my call went to voicemail, so I left her a text. I then returned Sandra's call.

"Thandie! Are you okay??", that was the first thing Sandra said upon answering my call, I could hear the anxiousness in her voice.

"Yess, I am sorry I switched off my phone and forgot to turn it on", I explained with a calm voice

"Understandable, so what are you going to do about Rachel? What she did was despicable". She was right, but knowing what I know now, I was conflicted about my comeback. "I don't know Sandra, so this is what happened..." I detailed to Sandra most of what Khalinda told me, and her reaction was exactly as I expected, a mixture of frustration, anger, sympathy, and sadness.

"Oh my God! I now understand why you are conflicted, I honestly don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes. It honestly sounds like Rachel needs therapy more than anything, it doesn't sound like she healed...at all! She still harbors too much resentment towards Walter. Actually, don't retaliate, sounds like she has nothing to lose, and you cannot go to war with a person like that. Have you spoken with Walter yet?"

"No, not yet. I honestly want to talk to him but I don't know what to say. I will call him tomorrow", with that, I said my goodbye to Sandra and proceeded to text Walter thanking him for the gifts, assuring him of my safety, and letting him know that I was sleeping. 

He replied,"Okay, I am glad you like the gifts. Good night, let's talk tomorrow :)". 

I somehow spent the next few days avoiding Walter's calls, texting was the only mode of communication between us. I still had not figured out what to say to him, and besides that, after Rachel's bomb, the workshop had become unbearable, I started being ridiculed, and as part of the mockery, I was given a 300-page manuscript to review in two days and put together a report, but the bright side to it was that, if I get it right, it will prove my capabilities to everyone but if I don't, it will confirm Rachel's accusations. So I was putting all my efforts on that 'little' task, as they have put it.