CHAPTER SEVEN

Dan and I were flawed. We didn't overlook the flaws, we just managed them.

The only thing he consistently complained about was that I didn't allow him spend money on me.

I'm wired like that. I don't like taking when I can't give back. I couldn't give back then cause I didn't have an allowance like him so I just didn't take from him at all. He caught the drill and adapted.

He complained once that I wasn't romantic. That was no news. I always knew I was like that but it wasn't intentional. I wasn't raised in a romantic home. That's why I always insist on a romantic partner, we can't both be unromantic in the relationship.

He also complained once that I wasn't reassuring. In his words, I didn't make him feel like I was there to ride or die. He felt like I would leave him the instant I could. I didn't understand the gravity of that statement until we broke up.

He complained a couple of times that I liked blaming him for our fights.

One day, I did a body fold and he said "who would have thought you are that flexible?"

"You're calling me fat?"

"Never. I'm just saying you don't appear that flexible"

"Uh huh".

Dan never refused to scold me when it was necessary. He just didn't ever blame me for being me.

I didn't really find Dan flawed either.

He never interacted on my social media platforms. It didn't matter what I posted, if I wasn't discussing it with him directly, then he was ignoring it. I never complained about that because I didn't think it was necessary.

Dan really loved money. I loved money too but I believed there was time for everything. We were students and we shouldn't be all worked up about how to make money, that's what school afterlife is about so there was no point rushing. Dan never agreed to that. He didn't think it was reasonable being relaxed without an actual source of income, regardless of our ages or school life.

His rigid flaw was : every month, he pulled away from me for three days. In the space of those three days, he would talk to me but formally and inattentively. He didn't have a particular time of the month for being like this but he did it every month.

Initially, I used to cry because I would think we were falling apart. That was what caused most of our fights. He wasn't changing and I wasn't overlooking. The third or fourth time it happened, I didn't cry. I left him alone. He came out of his withdrawal phase and wanted to talk to me but I returned his energy and was cold to him for three days too.

I called him after three days and he started crying over the phone about how he didn't like making me cry. He said he didn't do it on purpose and he was sorry he hurt me so much that I snapped.

I forgave him and that was the last time I ever worried about his withdrawal. I just accepted it as his own flaw and I didn't mind dealing with that.

We continued our happy relationship.

When I stopped complaining about his withdrawal, he said "so you are just going to tag me as a psycho?"

"As long as that keeps us tight".

We both laughed.

He suddenly started his withdrawal phase again, or so I thought. I didn't stress because I expected he'd come around after three days. This time around, it was different. It extended into the fourth day and then the fifth day. I went to the store that week and just when it was time to take our walk, I saw him leaving the dormitory. I called his phone and it wasn't reachable. It was so obvious that he avoided walking with me that night because he had his bath, right before leaving the dorm.

I fumed the next day and he pieced some lies together to stop my overreacting. He had never lied to me in the relationship but this time, I was very sure he was lying. It couldn't be more apparent that he left the dorm at that time on purpose. He was in his room the whole day but decided to go out when it was time for our regular walk? Make it make sense. I kept it cool.

His withdrawal phase extended into a week. I was starting to think it might be better to break up with him when he got out of his withdrawal phase because I couldn't take it anymore. My dumbass didn't know I was the one getting evicted from the relationship. I went to bed with a conflicted mind. I didn't sleep happy that whole week because I was genuinely worried about what was happening to us. I kept on asking him what's up but he claimed we were fine.

I woke up the next morning and I got a text from him that said he was going to his state for the break. I asked him if he was out of his mind because why would he be going home when we had serious issues like that?

He dropped the bombshell and told me he was breaking up. He said he needed time to work on himself.

I didn't believe I was reading right. I called him and he repeated what he texted in the messages. I couldn't hold my pain. I started crying on the call. I was weeping.

"Why are you doing this?", I managed to say amidst my tears.

It sounded like he couldn't get his words out either. He put his phone far away from him and it was like his throat was burning as he was talking or he was being forced to break up.

"Please don't cry, Annie. I just think that's what's best for us for now".

"How is this the best? I didn't even get a reason for the breakup".

I just kept on weeping. I dropped the call because it wasn't helping me.

My sister had walked into my room when she heard my wails.

"Dan just broke up with me", I managed to tell her.

"The almighty Annie is crying because of a man? That's shocking. You never let men get to you, this is strange".

"Dan was different", I kept on weeping.

I was happy my parents weren't home, I could cry my heart's content out without having to be silent about it.

I wept for a quarter hour before I calmed down. I refused to believe something didn't go wrong. The best person to help me with that was Neil. Neil and I still didn't get along but at that point of my sadness, I couldn't maintain pride. I made some calls to get Neil's number and I did.

I dialled Neil's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Neil. This is Annie, Dan's girlfriend".

"Oh... Hey", his low tone signified he was puzzled as to why I called.

"Please when last did you talk to Dan?"

"Dan? Dan went home today. He didn't tell you?"

"He told me. That's not why I called you. I called you to ask if Dan complained about me to you recently?"

"Complained to me about you?", Neil asked back.

"He tells you everything".

"He didn't complain to you about me. Is everything okay?"

"Nothing is okay. He just broke up with me without a valid reason".

"Dan broke up with you?!", Neil sounded really surprised.

So Dan really didn't tell Neil anything going on with him?

"Yes. I just finished weeping", I said amidst sobbing.

"That's crazy. I'll talk to him", Neil was being helpful.

"I don't think there's much you can say because his mind seems made up but if you get any vital information out of him, please relay the information to me".

"I definitely will. This is your number, right?", he asked.

"Yes".

"Stop crying though. I'll get back to you. Bye".

Neil didn't seem that bad.

I called Jane too to inform her. She was more shocked than I was. Dramatic Jane. She promised to talk to Dan too.

Days later, I still couldn't believe Dan had broken up with me. It felt more like a break. Neil and Jane had reached out after talking to him but there was no vital information from him. I fell sick before the week ran out. No doubt I was sick because of that breakup.

"Y'all, leave him. He'll come back to beg me. We've not broken up, it's just a break. I'm sure he'll come around", I started telling that to everyone I told about the breakup.

They didn't stop checking on me because they believed I was being delusional.

Neil really impressed me. He really checked on me frequently. He was compassionate. No wonder Dan always hyped him.

"You didn't like me when I was dating Dan though, why?", I confronted him one day when he was checking on me.

"You noticed that?"

"It was evident. I told Dan but he didn't believe me so I just never brought it up again. You always gave me judgmental eyes like I was wayward or something".

"Actually, I felt you related too easily with all the dorm boys and that's not appealing in my view. You appeared too cheap to me, no offense".

"Most dorm boys your set schooled with or around me and the older ones have just known me because I've been coming to dorm for years. Regardless of how many I'm friendly with, only Dan can boast about touching me in that dorm. I've never even allowed any of them buy me a snack".

"I misjudged you, my bad. I didn't even like when Dan said he was into you, I just let him satisfy himself because I didn't want to discourage him".

"I guess if the breakup didn't happen, we might not have been chanced to settle our differences like this?"

"Certified. I was so uninterested in knowing you", Neil said.

"By the way, you're just as cool as Dan always described you. He always talked about you and I agree that you are worth the hype".

"Thank you".

Neil and I got closer after that conversation.

True to my words, Dan came to beg me two months after the breakup. I was still devastated from how sudden the breakup was. I didn't know whether to take him back or to refuse his request. I told him I would think about it. After weeks, I still didn't know what to do yet. I noticed Dan had stopped trying so I called him to know if he was still looking to deal, he said he wasn't interested anymore. I couldn't believe my ears.

"What do you mean you're not interested in getting back anymore?"

"I probably rushed to ask you to get back with me without thinking things through. I'm not ready to get back. I'm sorry for raising your hopes high".

Even though I didn't expect Dan and I to get married, I didn't expect us to be over so soon too.

I wasn't even back to square one, I was back to square zero. It was bad enough that he broke up abruptly without a reason but asking to get back and then cancelling the request? Who does that?! That's a lot of nerves! I just moved on with my life, or I thought so.