When Love is not enough

Andre returned from the night shift, his teeth shattering. It's the height of the cold season, the snow was dropping and he felt like he was going to freeze. His heavily insulated snow pants kept him warm but not enough to spare him from the cold.

His hood shielded his face by protecting his head and neck. He needed to do this third job to meet up with the demands of his fiancée. Christmas was in a couple of days and finally, he'd done with the job for the month.

He adjusts the water heater before turning the shower on. He heard his phone ringing in the bedroom but was not in a hurry to answer it. He took his time before stepping out of the bathroom.

His mom had prepared a hot coffee for him, he saw it placed by his bedside, the aroma of black coffee filled the entire room, the steam of it writhing away. He chose another outfit with a zipper pocket and head warmer as he took a sip from his coffee and stepped out of the room.

He had hardly sat down to have breakfast when his friend dashed in, his eyes red and desperation written all over it. He glanced at Andre and his eyes went moist. Alice glanced at Felix and then at her son Andre and doesn't understand why they both stared at each other without a word.

"Where's your phone,Andre?" Felix asked, hastiness in his tone. If he could have just answered his phone a while ago, perhaps he could have been able to stop them.

"My phone..." he repeated and realised it's still in the bedroom. "In my room" he said, standing up to come closer.

"I called you earlier Andre..." Felix trailed off and helplessly threw his hands to his side in a dejected manner. Oh gosh, how could he not have known or heard about it.

"Yeah..my phone rang but I was bathing" Andre replied and Felix pulled him saying "Come along, it's urgent..." he said and dragged him out, he sat on his bike and ordered Andre to sit down quickly.

Andre sighed softly. On this cold morning, Felix was going to get him frozen by riding at such a speed.

Obediently, Andre sat down and Felix swerved the bike and started going at a high speed. He got to the garden plaza and saw different varieties of cars all lined up like a convoy and dignitaries all stormed out, shaking hands with a couple.

Felix parked and said "I brought you to see for yourself. They're married now. You can't stop them, they're a couple now but I want you to see them" he said, gesturing for Andre to look in the direction the couple were.

Andre was lost, what is Felix saying, Married, couple. What is his business with that? Weddings were common around the December period, just before Xmas. Bringing him to see a married couple was not worth it on a cold morning like this.

Anyways he glanced at the couple and he sighted Regina Logan and her husband James. They were dressed exquisitely and he wondered if the couple were...

He hadn't concluded his thoughts when he saw her, the bride turned her head and their eyes locked. Andre stood rooted. His eyes wide opened in shock and his body shivered uncontrollably.

"What is going on, Felix" he thought but didn't realise that the words slipped out of his lips and his friend glanced at him, his eyes clouded with tears "a wedding just took place Andre"

Andre's complexion had turned pale. He couldn't believe his eyes, Jasmine is the bride, his own fiancée of three years? He was breathing hard now, laboured breathing as his chest rises and falls rapidly, visibly seen through his clothing.

The couple sighted him and they both walked towards him. Jasmine intertwined her hands around her husband's elbow and walked queenly like a bride truly. Her long expensive wedding dress was flowing behind her, being held by the chief bridesmaid.

Felix gently stretched his hand and took Andre's hand. He saw how he was breathing and he held his hand perhaps he could share in his heartbreak.

Jasmine's gaze was cold and indifferent as if he was a stranger. For a moment, her gaze faltered but as quickly as it did, it resolved back to being indifferent. Some of the guests saw him. They laughed and sneered in mockery.

"Yeah, the ambitious fiance who doesn't go for a slum like himself" someone mocked, sizing him from head to toes. No one can compete with Patrick West for anything that catches his fancy.

Andre was breathing with difficulty, he couldn't talk back. He was feeling drained already. "Jasmine, what's going on here? Why are you in a wedding dress?" Andre asked. He doesn't understand just yet what is going on.

Jasmine chuckled and asked "I don't expect you to understand what it means to see a woman in a wedding dress, you've always been blind to reality all your life" she sneered but there's something fleeting in her eyes, a hesitation but she can't help it.

Jasmine's parents came and said "listen Andre, we want a happy life for our daughter. We had to support her in her choice of a husband. Kindly go away, don't create a scene here" James Logan pleaded.

"Today is Jasmine's happiest day, don't ruin it for her. If you truly love her like you claimed, just go away. We will compensate you for all you've spent. Don't just do something silly" Regina Logan added, staring hard at Andre.

Andre gently turned his face to glance at Regina Logan. Did she say if he loves her like he claimed? Has his confession and feelings been a claim all along? He'd never claimed anything, just a pure expression of what he felt for his woman.

"Does he think any woman will leave a successful man like Patrick and choose him instead? How could he be living in a fool's paradise?" Another person from the sidelines mocked.

"Why are you trying to coax him? I can handle losers like him. Just stay away from us if you want to live a happy life henceforth. Otherwise, if you try to do anything silly, we'll put you behind bars and forget about you" Patrick threatened.

Jasmine glared at him in pure disgust. A weight of humiliation crushed Andre but he stood still with his gaze on Jasmine alone.

"Jasmine, I love you. You can't just forget about me, about us together. You know I can't live without you. You know that you are the only one that compliments my life and gives me hope and happiness. What are you doing? Please stop this nonsense, Jasmine" Andre pleaded.

He didn't seem to hear what other people were saying. He only wants to hear her words. She's the only one who has captured his life in love and he wants to remain that way with her for the rest of his life. No one else matters to him, just Jasmine.

"I loved you, but in the past. I love Patrick and we're married. I advise you to find someone without an identity like yourself and fall in love with her. What we shared and our feelings, dreams are long thrown into the thrash bin. You should have known that three months ago.

I can't settle with someone like you who was picked up from the orphanage. Mrs Alice was kind enough to give you a roof over your head and your stupid mind thinks you can make me yours? I can't settle for poverty and ruin my future with a hustling bastard like you.

And yes, I'm not missing words, you're a bastard otherwise, how can you be so grown up and not know your identity or where you came from. We're not meant for each other, We're not compatible and we cannot paddle life together.

Patrick is rich and can take care of me and my parents. Our future is settled and secure and I don't have to worry about anything. Just leave from here already. And yes, one more good news for you, Patrick and I are expecting a baby, I'm two months gone, you're so good-for-nothing" Jasmine sneered.

Pregnant? How can Jasmine be pregnant with Patrick's child when they were still together two days ago and made love? Oh yes, that's possible, he'd never made love to her without protection. Was she getting involved with Patrick while she was still with him?

"You're an ingrate Jasmine. You're a wicked woman. Only now you remember your future needs to be secured? Andre works hard to pay your tuition fee through the university, he could have saved those large amounts of money, securing his own future.

Andre now lives with a single kidney, he gave you one and he wasn't thinking about his future when he donated his kidney to you. Twice, he'd given your mother his blood in transfusion and paid all your hospital bills, leaving him without savings.

He takes two jobs, sometimes three to meet your needs and that of your life along with his own. His future was left unattended because he was ensuring you are fine. Now you think he doesn't have an identity?

He doesn't have a family and he's a bastard. What about the sacrifices he'd made for you and your family? Being from the orphanage doesn't make him less human than anyone else. Can you pay for the kidney and blood he gave to save your life and that of the members of your family..." Felix reprimanded.

"Shut the fuck! What has he done that someone hasn't done before? Is he the first person who is stupid for love? He is simply being an idiot who is in love with my woman. I don't blame him, an orphan like him, is not expected to be wise but become a captive of love" Patrick squeaked.

Turning to Andre he said "Tell me how much you have spent and I will double it back in refund. But don't trouble my pregnant wife anymore. Guards, throw this imbeciles out of my sight"

Felix pulled Andre along to go. He initially was leaving but suddenly pulled his hand away and ran back to Jasmine. He knelt before her and held her hand "Don't leave me Jasmine. I can't survive without you. I promise to work harder..." he was pleading.

Two hefty men pulled him up by his collar and hit him heavily in his belly and the other hit him hard on his face. His lips got wounded and he spat out blood. Felix ran over and said "Will you take away his fiancée and also kill him?"

The onlookers started murmuring. But the men kept on hitting Andre and he kept stretching his hands to Jasmine. His face was now bruised that eventually Jasmine said "Please stop them Patrick" she can't take it that these men kept hitting and kicking his belly like this.

"Let him go. If you think you can compete with me over anything, you'll be dead. And when next you laid those filthy hands of yours on my wife again, I won't leave you with an intact corpse" Patrick warned and pulled Jasmine with him into the car.

Just as she was going to get into the car, Jasmine glanced back at the man she used to love and cared about, his face was battered and he was bleeding from his lips. She left him because he is not financially stable like Patrick otherwise, Andre was perfect for any woman.

She shrugged and got into the car.

Alice waited all day and there was no sign of Andre. She's worried especially when she remembers that he didn't go with his phone. She called Felix and he told her that he would call her back.

Alice is a retired matron from the orphanage. She'd lost her husband a few years earlier and when she was retiring, she adopted Andre. She liked young Andre, intelligent and good looking. Despite being in the orphanage, he still outshines all the kids in looks and he is good academically.

That's how she became a mother and raised Andre. That was twenty years ago. Andre is twenty six years old now. She was going to call Felix again when her phone chirped. It was Regina, her friend.

"Regina..." Alice started talking when she was interrupted sharply by her friend "Listen to me, Alice. You should call your adoptive son to order. If he tries to interfere with my daughter and son-in-law's marriage again, he won't be spared..."

Alice was not hearing anything else. She glanced at her phone, isn't this Regina, Jasmine's mother? Besides being friends all their lives, her son was engaged to her daughter and they were hoping to get married in February the following year.

Seeing she was sure of the caller ID, she said "Regina, it's me Alice, Andre's mother" she said, letting her know that she was saying the wrong words to her. She probably was going to call someone else and ended up calling her.

"Of course I know who I am talking to, Alice Torello. You should tell your son Andre Torello that thing you picked from the orphanage to leave my daughter alone. Next time, Patrick might kill him" and hung up.

Alice gently brought her phone down from her ears. What the heck is going on? Andre, Jasmine, marriage. What is happening? Did Jasmine...wait who is Patrick? Remembering Felix looks earlier and how he suddenly pulled Andre along with him, a certain reality dawned on Alice.

She gently sank into the sofa, supporting herself by holding her head between her palms. What is happening? A few hours had passed and her son hadn't returned. Did Jasmine get married to someone else and jilted him?

Andre would die if Jasmine leaves him. He loves her too much. Tears cascaded down her cheeks uncontrollably. Regina reminded her that Andre was her adoptive son. Does she need to remind her that?

Where is she going to go now, to find Andre. Why isn't Felix picking his calls? She was still thinking when she heard the noise of Felix's bike. She stepped out quickly and saw Andre stepping down from Felix's bike with a bandaged face.

His body was wounded and his clothes were as if he was beaten up by goons.

"Andre! Son?" Alice called but he just hugged her and sniffled before walking past her into his room. Alice turned herself and watched his retreating back view, how will he take it?

She only glanced back at Felix when Andre disappeared from sight. Her tears ran down her cheeks. She already knew something was wrong, Regina had made her guess; her daughter had been married off to another man.

"I'm sorry Aunt, that I couldn't stop the wedding" Felix said with a reddened eyes. Andre had sacrificed everything for love and relationship. He could slit his throat if that would make Jasmine satisfied and what did she think? She said he was blind to reality all his life.

Alice nodded and sniffled before saying "Thank you for bringing him home to me" he doesn't need to tell her, she knows he must have pulled Andre from that venue with difficulty.

For the rest of that day, Andre didn't step out of his room. He was broken. Why would she do this to him? He was working hard to meet both his immediate family needs and that of Jasmine and her parents. It appeared his hard work was not good enough.

She's his childhood friend. Since he was adopted, Jasmine had been his friend. Her parents were friends to his mother and that automatically made them friends too. But they started dating five years ago and three years ago he promised to marry her.

She knows him as much as his mother. He'd only loved her and they were going to get married early the next year. Patrick is rich, no doubt. She'd told him once that Patrick was asking her out but she loves him alone and that was it, he needed thought she would betray him.

Are women these evil or was it because he was poor, from the orphanage and doesn't have identity? Perhaps all these reasons are summed up to result in her betrayal. He heard his mom banging on his door pleading with him to open the door but he refused.

Alice, sad and unhappy, decided to go to see her friend Regina. She should have told her son to stay away from her daughter instead of using him to meet their needs and keep them alive and dumped him.

She got there and met a group of people partying. The Logan's are so poor that Andre had to sponsor Jasmine's university education. But how could they have gotten so much money to host people like this?

"Celebrating right, Regina?"Alice seethed. Her eyes were spitting fire. Her son was sad and they are happy. What a life. To be happy, someone else's life must be ruined?

"You came at the nick of time, Alice. We're celebrating the happiness of our daughter and how she was lucky enough not to end up in the hands of a nobody like your son. Join us in the joyous occasion..." Regina declared and released the glass of wine in her hands, letting it crash on the floor and sending a splashing stain on Alice.

Ignoring her drama, Alice sniffled and asked "You and I have been friends in the past. We raised our kids together and today, you throw a celebration to my son's loss and ruin? Betrayal and heartbreak? His sadness and abuse meant nothing to you? If he were your son, would you be happy?

If this had happened to Jasmine, how would you feel? I thought Andre is like a son to you and you would consider him for all he'd done for you? He saved your daughter's life, she now lives with his kidney and not once did he give his blood..." Alice was saying when Regina interrupted her.

"Enough! Watch your words when you talk to me henceforth. I am no longer in your class anymore. You should respect me. First, you can't compare yourself with me. I am a mother and I was pregnant with my belly.

You don't know what being a mother is. You're a barren woman all your life and Andre is just a lost good for nothing you picked up to run errands for you. So don't consider me on the same grade level as you.

Secondly, don't you ever compare my high class daughter with your lowlife slum you called a son! How dare you compare the East to the West? Only a senseless woman like you can raise a stupid son like Andre. My daughter can never be in Andre's shoes, don't ever compare them!

If you think your so-called son has done something little for my daughter and my family, name your price. My son in-law is capable. He'll pay back with interest. From this moment, consider our friendship over, I can't condescend so low after a glimpse of this better life to keep company with you.." Regina declared.

Turning to the waiting guests, Regina said "Let's make a toast to a life of wealth and prosperity" she raised her glass and others clicked theirs together

"To health, prosperity and happiness" Alice heard as she gently turned around and left. There's nothing left for Andre in Logan's family. She would return to console her son. Wealth and riches have smiled on Regina and her family and those who were dearest to her in the past have become her enemies.

She left and just before stepping out of sight, she turned back and wished them every single pain they've caused her son. Every tear that Andre drops because of their daughter, will be forever remembered.