Rosa James smiled excitedly as she walked towards us.
She waved excitedly. "Hi!!!".
She shrugged. "You know Regina Donald right? She hates it the most when she is deceived. You deceived her. You know what that means right? You are automatically sacked from Bower bound".
My heart was beating so fast. I didn't want to leave Bower bound yet. I still had to save for more investment. I didn't allow my fear to reveal itself in my expression.
I forced a smile. "What do you want from me?".
"Go back to Nelson. That is the only way I will keep our little secret".
"How will my going to Nelson solve anything?"
"It will solve a lot. Raymond will be discouraged and forget about his crush on you".
"I will let go of Raymond but I will never go back to Nelson".
Rosa shrugged. "Alright then. We will see you at Regina Donald's office tomorrow".
"She will go to Nelson". Grace said firmly and held my hand. "Victory will go back to Nelson. Just keep this a secret first".
"Alright then". Rosa James gave us a mock bow and walked back into the hospital.
I glared at her. "Why did you do that?".
"You need the wisdom to deal with a tiger. Make friends with Nelson until you are prepared to leave Bower bound and you have nothing to fear".
I nodded thoughtfully. "Alright then".
"...at least to keep Rosa's mouth shut for now until you accomplish everything".She nudged me. "Let us go to Jickson's bar".
"I don't want anything to do with him again".
"You have to be smart with tigers so that they won't hurt you with their claws. You have a desire. You need to make tough decisions to get what you want".
We were allowed into the VIP room and we requested for malt.
I heard Nelson coming from behind and my heart began to beat so fast.
He sat by us and smiled sheepishly at us. "You know Raymond comes here every night right?"
I shrugged and continued drinking.
Grace Craig made eyes at him. "Good evening to you too, Nelson".
He chuckled. "Good evening, dearies". He faced me. "You blocked me on my three lines, on Facebook and WhatsApp" He observed me closely. "Are you alright, Victory?".
"I already unblocked you".
There was hope in his eyes. "Am I looking at something great coming?"
"She just unblocked you, that's all". Grace Craig said with a shrug.
"I have a keg of milk I just got from abroad yesterday. You will love it". He beckoned to one of his attendants and whispered something into his ear.
In something that looked like five minutes, the attendant was back with the keg of milk.
"How is your dad?". He asked as he dropped the keg of milk beside me.
"He is cool".
"How is the epilepsy? Is he getting better now???".
"He is better. Very much better".
"I am sorry I left you during your hard time. How did you cope while I was away?".
I shrugged. "Hard work and God's favor".
"Can I call you from now on?". He asked hopefully.
I was tired. Really tired.
"You can call me, Nelson". I was stressed out.
I needed sleep. "Thanks for the milk, Nelson"
"In just five years, you are already a classy girl". He said excitedly.
I remained silent and continued drinking my malt.
He looked observantly at me. "Do you still love me, Victory?".
I met his eyes. "What do you think?".
He swallowed bitterly. "There is no twinkle in your eyes anymore. Do you now love someone else?".
He stopped short and looked behind me.
I turned. It was Raymond Donald.
My heart began to beat so fast.
I continued sipping my drink when my whole body was on fire.
He blinked cluelessly. "Victory? Grace? What are you guys doing here?".
"We came to visit Nelson Fred". I said without looking up at him.
"Visit Nelson? Is there a problem?". He asked impatiently.
"Must there be a problem before my first love comes to visit me?". Nelson snarled.
Raymond's eyes were on me. "Victory, can we talk outside?"
"No. Anything you want to say, you can say it here". I still didn't look at him.
"Why are you not looking at me?". He asked suspiciously.
To prove him wrong, I looked up at him.
He swallowed as he stared at me. "Did I do something wrong?".
"You didn't do anything wrong, but I want to stick with Nelson for now. I love Nelson". I heard myself convincing myself.
There were tears in his eyes as he looked at me.
Nelson's eyes lit and he smiled excitedly.
Raymond cleared his throat. "Can I say something?".
We all looked at him.
"I am never going to give up on Victory Charles. Never". He held my hand. "Go home, Victory. You are obviously very tired. Did you even have time to sleep at all?".
I pulled off his grip. "I am fine".
"You will never be fine with Nelson. He doesn't love you the way you need to be loved".
Nelson laughed hysterically. "I heard about your pathetic relationship and how your almighty fiancee had disgraced you. Is that why Victory is now an option?".
Raymond scoffed. "Man, say something more meaningful".
I rose to my feet and grabbed my bag.
Grace helped me with the keg of milk.
Raymond's eyes didn't leave mine. "I will find out, Victory".
"Find out what?".
"I will find out everything". He turned to Grace. "Is she still staying with you?"
"Yes". Grace answered.
"Please take care of her". He walked out.
Now that it looked as if I was close to being with Raymond and suddenly, it felt so impossible, it hurt.
For the first time in a long while, I wished I could laugh and hold hands with Raymond without hiding.
When we got to Grace's car, she kept trying to read my expression. "Do you still love Nelson?".
"Yes". I avoided her eyes.
She chuckled. "If you really loved Nelson, you wouldn't have said it outrightly. I know you, best friend".
"It is impossible between me and Raymond".
"Is that the reason you can't love him?".
"I am not prepared to love someone and get hurt again".
"Love doesn't wait for you to get prepared".
I was calculating the sale s for the furniture with Regina Donald in the big hall when Raymond walked in.
I had avoided him since morning and here he was, coming and making everything so frustrating.
"Two hundred thousand naira" I stuttered out the sales to Regina Donald.
He didn't look at me. He focused on his mother. "Mother, you guys have been recording sales since morning. It is already twelve o'clock, you might break down".
She was surprised at him. "Are you really worried about me? Wow. It has been a while since you worried about me".
My hands slipped off the files I was trying to arrange and he caught it and stared into my eyes.
I awkwardly released it into his hands.
Regina blinked suspiciously at us.
He folded a handkerchief into my hand. "The sweat on your forehead".
I folded it back into his hand.
"Let me help you then". He wiped the sweat off my forehead with the handkerchief.
I awkwardly slapped his hand off and caught Regina Donald making eyes at us. "What do you think you are doing?". I cautioned him.
He shrugged. "What? There was sweat on your forehead and I cleaned it. Anything wrong with that?".
My phone rang. It was Nelson Fred.
He had called all through while I was calculating the furniture sales with Regina Donald but now that Raymond was right there, I wanted to pick up the call so that he would lose hope where I was.
I connected it. "Hello Nelson".
"Come out right away. I brought you some food".
"Okay". I disconnected the line and looked up at Regina Donald. "Can I step out for a minute, ma'am?".
"Where are you going?". Raymond asked impatiently.
I met his eyes daringly. "Nelson brought food for me".
"Tell him to drop it with the security".
"No, I have to see him".
"No, you don't have to see him".
"You have no right to dictate who I see or not!".
"I have every right to tell you when something is not good for you. That young man hurt you and he will hurt you again!".
"I don't care!!!".
"...but I care because I care so much about you and I can't watch you suffer for the second time!!!".
Regina Donald was confused. "What are you talking about, Raymond?".
He looked daringly at his mother. "I love Victory Charles, mother. I completely want to love this woman and wipe away her tears".
0 Comments