The Breakup Nobody Talks About

I felt her tap me on the shoulder in a bid to buttress her point.
Apparently she wasn't satisfied with raising her voice and so she had to touch me to make her point.
Then I turned to study her as she spoke.

She was wearing a t-shirt, a pair of denim pants with slippers and her hair was covered in her hair net.
She looked like she didn't get enough sleep the night before and as she spoke I thought I heard a hint of sadness in her voice, like she would cry if she wasn't given assurance.

Another voice jolted me out of my thoughts "wetin happen, any problem"? The voiced asked.

It was one of the women who had come to help out, apparently Ann's half talk half scream had caught her attention.

'No problem Ma, sorry' I responded and turned to Ann again as she continued talking, this time in low tones.

"I have told you o, tell your friend that if after her wedding she abandons me it's her Mum and Dad that will settle us because no be today I dey work for friends o. I go work for dem finish and after dem marry dem go forget me. I will not take it this time" she said.

I had to comfort her somehow, I wasn't the bride but I had to give her assurance... 'Babe haba na calm down, she will not forget you' I said but you know what they say, no one calms down from being told to calm down so I shook her shoulder to get her to stop talking.

We went back to our work but as everyone moved on, I thought about everything.

I didn't blame Ann, she anticipated but hoped not to experience the kind of breakup no one talks about.

It was the morning of one my happiest days. My darling girl was getting married.

We have been friends for about 4 years and through this time we have laughed and cried together.
We have gone to war together and been at war with each other.
We had prayed and talked about this day and finally it had come.

She was getting married and would be sharing her life with someone else other than us. She would prioritize him over everyone else because she would be one with him.

As beautiful as this is - something most people desire or at least are told to desire - it sometimes marks the end of great friendships, painfully so.

So you see why I do not blame Ann?
It is because I understand how she feels. She loved this friend and hoped she wouldn't lose her.

As I continued gleefully with my work and my thoughts however, there were things I never envisaged.

I didn't envisage me crying as my friend got in the car after the ceremony to go home with the love of her life.

I didn't envisage the days I would sit with my phone thinking of who to call about certain issues knowing she was the one who would understand but not calling her because it was late and I wouldn't want to intrude in her time with her husband.

I also never envisaged the day I would write about it.

You have heard, read or talked about and maybe even experienced heartbreak.
The kind that results from a breakup in a romantic relationship - the one between a boy and a girl.

But have you heard, read or talked about and experienced the breakup with your friend of the same sex?

It may have been caused by an action that made you feel betrayed or events beyond your control.

As painful as it is, sometimes more than that with a member of the opposite sex, it is the kind of breakup nobody talks about.