Esau listened and was attentive as she came into the lounge. He was a bitter and disappointed man. All he now wanted was to go away from the house and out of her life forever.
He knew he could no longer continue loving her. A feeling of hate now replaced the love he had felt for her. And it was eating right into his soul and taking roots.
He studied her as she came into the bed and switched on the lights. Gloria saw him almost immediately and smiled.
She approached him and sat on the bed. "Hallo darling!" She drew herself closer in an attempt to kiss him.
"Don't come near me! Don't even touch or kiss me. Why, I've just seen you kiss the other man!" He growled.
She was beyond caring now. She had seen his motorbike downstairs and knew he was in the house. And she was quite sure he had heard, if not seen, Jacob's car stopped outside her house.
"But that guy is only your brother Jacob. Don't you even love your own brother?" She was now rebuking him.
"What are you talking about? You call that cab driver who brought you back the other night, my brother? You must be kidding! I saw him kissing you in the shadows." His voice was both furious and sarcastic.
"He's not a cab driver! That's your brother. In fact, he is your twin brother, and he is called Jacob Karahani."
"What brother are you talking about? You invited him to the cocktail and pretended that you forgot to tell me, huh?" Esau was now almost becoming hysterical and started to shout at her.
She knew his temper had flared, and she tried to calm him down. "Cool down," she began. "Look, I also never imagined you had a twin brother until I met him at the party and thought it was you. Don't be too suspicious. It's quite puzzling but also understandable."
"And so you took him to bed thinking it was me, eh? No wonder I noticed the difference. You were neither sweet nor exciting when we made love the other night. You are a whore!"
"So what if I took him to bed? Okay I did. But it's you who is to blame because you never told me you had a twin brother. And even if I took him to bed, it was only once or twice. It's you that I've always loved." She tried to be practical and added, "For God's sake, don't call me a whore. You know I've never had any other man apart from you and I'm not a whore."
She paused abruptly. Then she gathered confidence and rambled on: "If you're jealous because you saw me kissing your own brother, then I don't deserve to be loved by you. Put yourself in my shoes and think of what you would have done."
"I don't have any brother. So I'll never listen to flimsy excuses coming from you." His eyes had now widened as he glared at her.
Then he gave his verdict, "Enough is enough. We're through with each other."
He said those words when he felt he could not put up with her sharp tongue. She seemed to have an answer to everything he said.
His words sounded like a grenade in her ears. And he spoke quite harshly without caring about the effects on her. She realized he had reached his point of no return.
She decided she had to backpedal and gain control. "Look darling, I tried to..." She was now pleading.
"I'm no longer your darling. Jacob is your new guy." He spoke as he got to his feet and walked across the room to the door.
She followed him to the door and tried to stop him. "Look darling, I'm really sorry for what I said. I'm apologizing and won't ever repeat it again." Her eyes were pleading.
But he only looked at her contemptuously. Then his lips moved slightly as he started to talk. "So long, Gloria," he said. "It's all over. I never knew you were so cheap and a slut. Forget about me because I'll look for someone who'll suit me. I'll also try to get you out of my mind."
He rushed out of the room and went down the stairs two at a time. She listened to the descending footsteps and knew he meant every word he said. It was clear he was upset when he saw Jacob kissing her.
Seeing is believing. Men were offended that way when they saw their loved ones in other men's arms. She was sure she would have felt the same if she saw him kissing another woman, and that was why she had tried to apologize.
But it was also clear Esau was too jealous to let reason prevail. In the circumstances she had found herself, she started reassuring herself; one had to be quite understanding and even sympathetic.
She was still engrossed in thoughts when she heard the motorbike start up. She moved to the window and watched him riding away. Would he ever come back?
He appeared quite a resolute and an unforgiving man. And he had sounded, Gloria thought, as if he had crossed the Rubicon. She started sobbing as she stood in the darkness watching him ride away.
Perhaps, she thought bitterly, that was the last time she would ever see him. Everything had started going wrong ever since that night when she met Jacob at the Whispering Palms. Then she remembered that she still had Jacob, who appeared genuinely in love with her.
If Esau chose to call it quits the way he had done, then there was still Jacob to love. After all, it was Jacob who had caused the split. Why not continue with Jacob? She reasoned.
When life closes one door, she tells herself, fate opens another. There was really no great difference between the two. In as much as she had loved Esau, she would also equally love Jacob.
But this time, she would insist that they get married as soon as possible so as not to fall victim to another split. She was determined.
Truly, Esau had jilted her, but fate had given her yet another aggressive and assertive lover: Jacob. With that at the back of her mind, Gloria fell fast asleep on her bed.
When she woke up the next day and reported to work, she tried calling Esau at his office. She was eager to talk to him and hoped to make him understand.
As Esau's voice came from the other end, it seemed quite a troubled one. "This is Esau Karahani; shipping manager. Who is it?"
She listened to his voice and then said, "Sweetheart, how are you?"
"Who's that?" The voice was harsh.
"It's me, darling. Gloria!"
"What is it?" It was the voice of a bitter man.
"I just wanted to greet you."
"So what if you want to greet me?" He seemed quite unenthusiastic."
"I'd also like to apologize for last night. Darling, I mean it. I'll never..."
Esau interrupted her. "Are you not deaf? I told you it was all over! You take a man to bed thinking it's me and expect me to understand? How can you be so dumb? You couldn't even analyze or scrutinize the difference between us."
"Esau, you can't be serious, my love. You promised to...remember the wedding is in three months' time. What would people say and..."
"Fuck the wedding!" He yelled over the phone and hung up.
Gloria started blankly at the receiver, scarcely believing what had happened.
But there it was. She had tried pleading once again to no avail. He had proved he was no longer interested in her or the wedding.
It was too hurting to be treated in that manner, she imagined and would get even with him as she showed she also had her own suitors or admirers. He would now be just a passing cloud. She decided to forget him at that moment and became busy with her files for the next three hours.