FALLING FOR MY ENEMY

It was raining heavily that morning. The kind of rain that floods the road and makes it impossible to find a bus. I was trekking. My umbrella had broken the week before, so I was holding my bag over my head. I had just stepped out of a small cafe where I hid from the rain for a few minutes. My mind was already at the office. Dorset & Co. had a big client presentation that day and I could not afford to be late. I was trying to adjust my scarf and cross the road when a black Benz drove past at high speed. It hit a big pothole filled with dirty brown water. The water splashed everywhere, directly on me. My white shirt turned brown. My skirt was soaked. Water was dripping from my hair down to my eyes. I stood there for almost five seconds, completely shocked. The car did not stop. It did not even slow down. It just continued as if nothing happened. Anger took over me. I did not think. I held my bag tight and started running after the car. My slippers were entering the water, my legs were hurting, but I did not care. Traffic held the car. I ran and stood in front of the car and blocked it with my body. The car honked loudly. Then the driver's door opened. A man came out. He was tall, about six feet. He wore a black suit, white shirt, and his tie was slightly loose. His hair was well cut and he had a neat beard. He was handsome, but his face was full of anger. "What the f**k are you doing in front of my car? Do you want to die? If you want to die, you should go to another place, not here!" he shouted in the rain. I shouted back. "You must be sick for what you just said! Are you blind? Can't you see you just splashed water on my body?" He looked at me from head to toe, as if I was crazy. Then he looked back inside his car, as if he was searching for something, as if my problem was not important. "Oh that, is that why you are shouting like a mad dog?" he said. That statement hurt me more than the water. "You are the mad dog! You are even stupid to be sincere. You wet all my clothes and you are still saying nonsense!" My voice was shaking. Not because of the cold, but because of shame. People are already standing, some grouped in three or more looking at us. He sighed. He brought out his wallet and removed about five thousand naira notes. He sprayed the money on my face and let it fall on the muddy ground. "Collect this and use it for your cloth," he said. That was when I lost my temper. "Are you stupid? Do I look like a beggar? I just need an apology from you and you are boasting that you are rich. Is that not it? And moreover we know many people like you are lazy. They usually depend on their father's wealth and at last they end up being a wretched being." I said it and turned and walked away. I did not pick the money. I left it in the mud. Even though I needed money, I can't pick it. My chest was beating fast as I walked away. I did not know why I said that last part about father's wealth, but it just came out. Meanwhile, Nelson stood there in the rain, water touching his suit. He did not move. His driver in the front seat was looking at him strangely. Nobody had ever spoken to Nelson Dorset like that in his twenty eight years of life. And that line about father's wealth was his weakness. Because everyone thought he was just a rich man's son who knew nothing. Only he knew how hard he was working to come out of that shadow. He stood there, hurt deeply by her words. But he also remembered her face clearly. And he didn't know that the girl that hurt him is one of person he wont forget on his life.