Broken 12 (finale)

When I was on my way home Kevin called me and asked me to come over. I smiled and went to his place. He said he had a really good movie he wanted us to watch when I got there. It sounded like a good movie. He put it on in his room and we watched it on his bed. "It's really nice having you around." Kevin said and kissed me. I smiled. It was like old times. We would either go out with friends, basically Kevin's friends or hang out at his place. "I am sure we will make it work this time." I said pulling my phone out to take a selfie of us. Kevin didn't exactly say anything. It was his shrug and reluctance that made me uncomfortable. "Kevin, am I getting this wrong?" I asked. He tried to kiss me again but I held him back.

I slid off the bed and picked up my bag. "Mag don't be like that. I really like you. I just don't want to rush things." He said. I shook my head. "What? So what are you taking me to a resort for? I'm confused." I replied. He rubbed his eyes and shrugged again. "Daisy told you? There goes the surprise. I wanted us to spend time together." Kevin said. I couldn't believe it. I felt like a fool. I turned around and walked out. "Where are you going? Come back." He said. It was clear he didn't want a relationship with me. At least not a serious one. I left his place and went straight home.

"You were right. He really is trash." I said, on the phone with Daisy when I got home. She was always my shoulder to cry on when I was upset. I should have taken her advice. Now here I was heart broken again by the same man. "Don't beat yourself up. Kevin is a cool guy. It's normal for any girl to like him. What's important now is that you've realized he's not good enough for you. I'm proud of you for questioning him." She said. I nodded. "You know what? I think I like Pablo. I'm just scared. I can't take another break up. What if he leaves the country?" I said. Daisy adviced me to talk to him. "Every break up makes you better. You now now what you should avoid. Remember how many guys I dated before Lawrence?" She went on. She was right. I decided to talk to Pablo after work the next day. "Go girl, go for what you want. If it doesn't work out learn from it and keep going!" Daisy cheered and I giggled. She was my best friend for a reason!

When I went to work the next day Pablo wasn't at his office. I went to check on him during lunch time but he was still not there so I called him."Hey Maggie, what's going on?" He said over the phone. I asked why he wasn't at work and he said he was going to explain everything later because he was busy. My heart skipped a beat when he hung up. He had left? But why? I sad down, completely feeling defeated. I had my chance and I blew it. One moment these guys were all over me and now I was alone again.

After work Daisy came to my department. She walked right to my desk. "Where is Pablo? I didn't see you guys go out for lunch today." She asked. I looked up at her and told her what was going on. "What? That's bad news. Did you tell him how you felt?" She asked. I just shrugged and Daisy shook her head. She said something that was so true. "You need to tell him. Even if he's leaving he needs to know. What do you have to lose?" Daisy said. I took a deep breath and picked up my phone. Daisy nodded and left to the airport to pick up Lawrence.

I looked around and saw some of my coworkers. I picked up my bag and walked out. This conversation was not something I wanted anyone to hear. I noticed I was alone in the corridor so I called Pablo. "Hey Maggie sorry I was just about to call you." He said. I hesitated a bit then gathered courage. "It's fine. Pablo I wanted to tell you something..." I started. He tried cut in but I stopped him. "Let me do this please. I think I have feelings for you. I know I haven't really showed it and all I do is talk about my ex but I realise the only reason why I want to be with him is because I'm afraid of starting over again. But sometimes starting all over again is a good idea. I already know you are leaving the country but I just thought I'd tell you." I said.

My heart was pounding when I finish talking and he was quiet. "Do you have anything to say?" I asked. "What I was trying to say is that I'm at the parking lot. I can actually see you. Turn around." He said. I turned around and there he was. He was in a t-shirt and jeans. I almost dropped my phone when he walked up to me. Without saying another word he kissed me. I felt all types of butterflies."I'm not leaving. I just had an issue with the taps at my apartment. The place got flooded that's why I couldn't come to work. It's fixed now." He said. We both giggled but I felt really silly. "I'm glad you told me this." Pablo said. I couldn't help but smile. It was a good feeling. He took my hand and suggested we go and have dinner. As we walked to his car I couldn't help staring at him. I wondered why I was so afraid to start a relationship with him. He was perfect!

The End

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Broken 8

After a few more hours of drinking and chatting Kevin decided it was time to leave. He took me to my place. He told me there was a really good movie he wanted us to watch. I smiled and politely turned the idea down. "I have work in about 3 hours so I need to sleep for just an hour and go. A system maintenance procedure. Maybe over the weekend." I lied. He wanted to come in for a while but I told him it wasn't a good idea. I kissed him and said goodnight.

When I got inside my head was racing. A part of me wanted to call Daisy or Kevin and ask what was going on but I wasn't sure they would tell me the truth. I called Pablo instead. I told him what I heard and he calmed me down. "Don't over think it. It's probably something irrelevant. We can talk about it tomorrow, just go to bed it's late." He said. He was right. It was very late and I was probably worried about nothing. I took a shower and went straight to bed.

The next day when I got to work I walked straight to Pablo's office. I followed his advice and tried not to ask Daisy or Kevin what was going on. Pablo was having a cup of coffee when I got in. "So I'm here, let's talk." I said when he saw me. He shook his head and asked me to come and look at something on his computer. I walked to him reluctantly and looked at it. It was code. He had found the glitch in a programme the whole team had been working on. He had fixed it too. It was very impressive. "Wow how did you do this?" I asked, inspecting it even closer. He smiled and promised to show me how he did it. I gave him a high five.

Our boss then walked in and asked what was going on. "Maggie and I have fixed the glitch." Pablo said. I looked at Pablo and he smiled. Our boss was very glad. She gave me a smile, congratulated us and walked out. This was the first smile I had got from her in the past 3 months! Just like magic I had completely forgotten about Daisy and Kevin. "Hey sit down and let me teach you how I did it before you blow our cover." Pablo said and we both laughed. "Not so loud, jeez." I teased.

After work Pablo suggested we stay late so he can teach me some more coding and I gladly agreed. When I was packing my stuff to go to his office a coworker Maxine smiled at me. "Is it official yet?" She asked. I. Wasn't sure what she meant until I saw her glance at Pablo on the other side of the hall. "No no we are not going out. Just friends." I said. "Oh ok, he asked me to have a drink with him on Saturday night but I thought you guys were dating so I told him I'll think about it." She said. "Oh. Really? Well errm so well you can go then if you like, I guess." I stuttered. "That's good news." She said with a big smile on her face. I nodded and grabbed my bag.

For some reason I wasn't interested in taking Pablo's' tutorial class' anymore. Just then Pablo walked to my desk. "Are you ready?". He said. I had almost no choice now. I nodded and grabbed my bag. Pablo spoke to Maxine for a few seconds and followed me to his office.

When I got to Pablo's office I set up my laptop next to his and sat down. He sat next to me and got right to it. We were less than 5 minutes in when Daisy walked in. She said hi to Pablo and smiled at me. I knew exactly what the smile meant. I shook my head and walked out to talk to her.


To be continued... 

Broken 5

As I packed my things into my wardrobe I saw a call from Pablo. I smiled as answered his call. My smile faded immediately I realized the voice wasn't his. "Hello madam please do you know a Pablo Ortiz? He is currently on admission at St. Patrick hospital." A lady said. My heart skipped a beat. I grabbed something to wear and sped to the hospital as fast as I could.

When I got to the hospital I spoke to the receptionist who was the one called. She directed me to his doctor's office. I was asked to fill some forms by the doctor. I told him our workplace had insurance but unfortunately Pablo didn't have his card on him so I paid the bill. "We have discharged him so you can help him get home. He's fine but it's just a precaution we are taking." The doctor said showing me to his ward.
When I entered Pablo's room he gave me a half smile.

"Somehow I knew you would be the one to come." He said putting on his shoes. I sat down on the chair in front of him. "How are you doing? I had a serious scare when they called. What happened?" I said. He looked quite fine but just a bit not himself. "It's nothing, I passed out because I haven't had a meal since yesterday." He said. I stared at him. "What? Are you serious? Why haven't you eaten in that long?" I asked. He giggled and said I sounded just like his mother. Then he changed the subject. I realized he wasn't comfortable talking about the topic and really wanted to leave the hospital so we left.

I took him to his house. He kept saying it wasn't necessary but I joked about the doctor telling me tuck him in bed before I left. His apartment was really nice. It was small but very cozy. I went straight to the fridge and saw opened it. To my surprise it was fully stocked. "Goodness, you have all this good food and you are not eating?" I said out loud. Pablo shrugged. "Don't worry it won't happen again. I was working on some crazy project and got carried away." He said. I shook my head and sat down next to him on the couch. "I don't want to sound like your mother so I won't say anything about this anymore." I said. Pablo nodded and smiled. He picked up his remote and turned on the TV. He flipped through a number channels and landed on a movie channel. "You have make up on. Did you have to leave some fancy place to come get me?" He asked. I shook my head.

I told Pablo I had a date but he rescheduled. "A date? Ouch." He said. I asked him what he meant by that. "The other night you said you weren't ready to date anyone. I guess what you meant was I wasn't good enough for you huh?" He said. My jaw dropped. "No, it's not like that at all. Oh the guy..." I started but Pablo giggled and told me he was just messing with me. I calmed down a little and told him Kevin was my ex and how I thought we were going to get back together. There was something about Pablo that made chatting with him so easy. He was a perfect listener and unlike most people I knew he didn't judge me.

I told Pablo about Kevin, how we broke up and how I thought he wanted us to work things out when I met him at his place. When I was done I felt I had said too much. I didn't know how Pablo would react, after all he did try to kiss me once. But then again that day we both had a lot of drink. "He definitely likes you. He wouldn't reach out to you if he didn't. He's probably scared he'll get you caught up in more drama that's why he's moving away from you." Pablo said, sipping on a glass of water. I smiled, he was probably right. It made the most sense. We kept talking for about 2 hours.

Just when I  Kevin sent me a text."He wanted to know if I was upset about rescheduling. When I smiled Pablo guessed it was him. He leaned over and read the text. He snatched my phone and started typing a reply."Hey Pablo what are you doing?" I asked trying to get my phone back. He giggled and gave me back the phone when he was done. "I sent the coolest reply." He said. I shook my head and read what he typed. It read, "No it's fine. I'm just leaving one of my coworkers place to go home." I looked up Pablo. He was still giggling. "It's not like it's a lie. He'll ask you who it is soon." Pablo said as we walked to my car. He was right. Kevin asked if it was 'the white boy'. I asked Pablo what to say and he said to say yes so I did. I shook my head again and put my phone in my bag. We said our goodbyes and I drove off.

When I got home I noticed I had missed some calls. They were all from Kevin. I was just about to call him back when I heard a knock at my door. I looked at the time. It was 9:18pm. I wondered who it was. I opened the door and to my total surprise it was Kevin!


To be continued....
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Broken 4

Kevin sat down next to me. He had with him a bunch of papers. I was wondering what they were. "I haven't been straight with you. I haven't been fair to you and it kills me.You deserve better." He said. The girl you saw here the night we split is my ex girlfriend. She told me she was pregnant and the baby was mine. I didn't believe her so I took her to a hospital to be checked. It was true. She was pregnant." He said and passed me an ultrasound photo, then he went on. "I wanted to have a DNA test to be sure it was mine. I don't trust that girl. Why was she now telling me? She said she didn't want to have the baby in Ghana so we arranged for her to go to outside the country. The day you were here with Daisy she was coming for the ticket. The flight was later that day. I was a fool. I should have told you everything. I just thought she was lying and if I had proof she would go away." He said rubbing his eyes. I was shocked. The information I was receiving was too much. "Children are a gift from God no matter when they come." I said.

"I paid someone to have a paternity test and I was right it was not my baby." He said handing over a paper to me. It was the results from the paternity test. Kevin was not the father of the baby. "I didn't tell you about this because I don't ever want to drag you into my past life. But when I saw you last night I felt you needed to at least know the truth." He said finally looking into my eyes. His eyes were a little teary. I moved closer and hugged him. The familiar perfume on his neck made me smile. "When I agreed to go out with you I knew what I was signing up for. You should have told me." I said tearing up as well. "You are too good for me Mag." He said. Then he leaned in and kissed me. I felt the butterflies like I used to. Nothing had changed.

The next day during lunch time at work Daisy didn't come to get me for lunch as she used to. I guessed she was still mad at me from the phone call. I still had a lunch partner though. It was Pablo. He asked me to show him a good Ghanaian food spot. I took him to a chop bar not far from the office. He enjoyed the fufu and his face turned pink as he drank the spicy soup. It was like we had both forgotten about the kiss from the other night.

After work I planned to have dinner with Kevin. It wasn't really a date even though it felt like we had patched up nothing was really official. I saw Daisy busy looking for her car keys and decided to talk to her. Maybe even apologize for the other day. "It's in your cup." I said, walking to her desk. She looked up at me and said nothing. Then she peeped into her cup on her desk and found her car keys. "Thanks." She muttered. I immediately dropped my apology. Daisy sighed and asked if I wanted a ride. That was her way of saying I was forgiven.

As Daisy drove me home I told her about my visit to Kevin's place. She was mute the whole time and then the unapproving comments started. "Why is he NOW telling you this? Doesn't it sound suspicious that when he sees you having a good time with another man now he feels he needs to tell you the truth?" she said. I shook my head. "Well, I remember the day we broke up I didn't give him the chance to explain." I replied. Daisy shook her head. I could tell she was holding herself from saying something. Surely it would have been something negative. I wasn't saying Daisy didn't have a point but she was married to the love of her life. I thought Kevin was the love of my life too. I deserved a chance to be happy with him too.

 When I got home I walked to my wardrobe to pick something to wear for my dinner date with Kevin. I found the perfect dress and put it on my bed. When I was done taking a shower I texted Kevin to ask if he would pick me up or he wanted me to meet him there.

A few minutes after my text Kevin called me. "Hey Mag, I'm so sorry I didn't call you earlier. Something came up. Can we have dinner on Friday instead?" Be said. I told him it was fine and made an excuse about having work to do anyway which was a lie. I was upset. When I ended the call I looked at the blue dress on my bed and asked myself what I was doing. I remembered Daisy's comments. She did have a point. If it was as simple as that why didn't he tell me. Even after that night he could have said something. Here I was again wondering how important I was in his life.

To be continued...
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Broken 3

I woke up very late the next morning. It was a Saturday so I wasn't worried at all. I rushed for my phone immediately after my morning devotion. Just like I suspected I had two messages. One was from Kevin but the second wasn't from Pablo but Daisy. Daisy wanted to know how the night went. Kevin's text was the surprising one. He invited me to come over to his place that afternoon to talk. That was all he said. He didn't even say what about. I told him I would be there. There was only one thing he was likely to say, that he wanted us to get back together. So all it took was a night out with a Spanish guy? I smiled and went to look for breakfast to eat.

Daisy called me that morning. She wanted to hear all the juicy details. I told her the story excluding Pablo's kiss. "Kevin almost caused a scene." She said. I shook my head. She wasn't getting the point. "He sent me a text today. He wants us to talk. I will be going there around 3."  I said. Daisy didn't like the idea at all. "What does he want to talk about? You shouldn't go. I mean now that you are moving on he wants you back? This guy is so annoying." She said. I wasn't happy with the way she was talking. "Daisy is there anything wrong with him wanting me back? We can make it work." I said. "Maggie, I'm just trying to remind you that he hurt you. He cheated on you..." She explained but I wasn't amused. "People work out their issues and go on. If Lawrence cheats on you will you leave him?" I said. There was a brief pause. "Wow, you know what? Do whatever you want." Daisy finally said. I could tell she was upset. She made an excuse and got off the line.

That afternoon when I got to Kevin's place I couldn't help reminiscing. His car was parked at his usual spot and dirty as hell. I was the one who always insisted he wash it. So much so that we had a car wash party every other Sunday afternoon. We would play loud music, wash the car and eat a heavy meal afterwards. It was fun. I called him when I got to his gate and he opened the door instead of picking my call. It startled me a bit. "Hey." I said. He signalled for me to come in.

His place had changed a little since I last visited. It was obviously a mess but not that bad a mess. I sat on the couch and looked at Kevin. He seemed a bit disoriented like he had just woken up from sleep. "If this is a bad time I can come another time." I said. He shook his head and told me it was fine, that he just dozed off a bit.

When I first met Kevin I was instantly attracted to him. It wasn't just his good looks that had me sprung, it was his way of life. He was very relaxed, took things a day at a time and really liked to have fun. That was the exact opposite of me but somehow I felt we could create the perfect balance together. He felt the exact same way, well at least that's what he told me. He said all his previous relationships with bad, free spirited women never lasted long. He wanted to commit to me because I was different and that was it for me. I fell for him. Surely it sounds foolish of me but when a person who doesn't care much for a lot of people shows that he cares about you there's something you feel inside. Daisy warned me not to date him and that guys like him came with lots of baggage but I didn't listen. I had found Romeo and that was all that mattered. It's hard to explain how special Kevin made me feel. I was smitten.

After our first few months of dating I could have sworn we would get married! The problems came after the 5th month. Kevin started going out more without me. He called me less. He was doing a course at the same time so I felt studying and working at the same time was taking a toll on him. Daisy one day suggested we pay him a surprise visit. Just to prove to her that Kevin was faithful I decided to do it. To be honest I also wanted answers myself. So we went to his place. He was surprised to see us.

That day he was awfully weird. He kept texting. Then there was a knock at the door. Kevin  quickly went to the door. All I could hear was whispering. Daisy turned to look at me. "Go and see who is there." She said. That my friend is such a spy. I nodded and walked towards the door. When I got close I heard a lady say "So who should take me? That wasn't what we planned Kev".

Kevin noticed me too late. "Hi!" I said to her. She looked like a student and was holding what looked like a weekend bag. It angered me that she was younger than me. She looked exactly like the type of girl Kevin said he didn't want anymore. "What's going on? Is this your girlfriend? Should I tell her everything?!" She asked Kevin angrily. He tried to close the door but I just shook my head. Kevin yelled at the girl and told her to leave. This made her even more angry. She wouldn't allow him to close the door. At this moment I had seen enough. I went for Daisy and told her we should leave. There were already tears in my eyes. As we left Kevin came to me asking me to stay and that it wasn't what I thought. He said if the other lady meant anything to him he wouldn't be begging me to stay. We left and I never came back until this day.


To be continued... 
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Broken 2

I had had so many drinks at this point I needed to use the washroom. "Hey, I'll be right back." I said to Pablo and walked off. I wondered what time Daisy and Lawrence would want to go home. I was having so much fun. On my way back from the washroom I was thinking about an excuse to give to make Daisy stay longer and then everything went cold. I saw Kevin walking with a friend of his. He saw me and smiled. I wasn't sure what to do or say when he walked to me.

"Maggie, looking good." He said. I could tell he was drunk. "Thanks. How are you doing?" I asked. Kevin shook his head and turned to his friend. "PY and I are chilling small. Dawg your white boy and join us. We are going to Firefly from here." He offered. I wasn't sure what to say. I turned to look at Pablo. I decided to be like him. Kevin was being rude. If he really wanted to hang out with me he would have called me earlier. "No thanks I'll pass. See you later." I said and walked back to Pablo. Kevin just stood there surprised.

Somehow I was glad I stepped out that night. I noticed Kevin was watching a football match at the bar but would regularly turn to look at us. I decided to give him a show. I sat closer to Pablo, put my palm on his thigh every now and then and laughed a lot. The laughing part was easy because he was full of jokes. After a while Kevin walked up to us. "Maggie, could you come here?" He asked politely. I walked closer to him. "We are leaving in 5 minutes. Are you coming?" He asked. PY came and joined us. I greeted him and told them I wasn't going with them. Kevin shook his head and walked off. "This is low Maggie. I didn't expect this from you. " PY said and followed Kevin. I stood there confused. Low? Just then Daisy and Lawrence showed up. "My goodness I should have known Kevin would come here. What trash did he say?" She asked.

At this point I wanted to go home. I told Daisy what PY and Kevin said and she told me not to take them seriously. I knew she was right but if Kevin was jealous didn't it mean he still liked me and wanted me back? I nodded to everything Daisy said but I wanted to go home. Pablo offered to take me as he said he was also leaving. I snapped back into my normal self with plans to call Kevin the next day to talk and clear everything out. It was annoying that I missed him.

When we got to my house Pablo walked me to my door. He told me he hadn't had this much fun in a while and obviously that was mutual. After a brief silence he leaned in and kissed me. I wasn't expecting this at all so I moved back. "I'm sorry I thought... the way we were at the pub... I figured..." He stuttered. Oh no! I had sent him wrong signals when I was trying to make Kevin jealous. I couldn't tell him the truth. "I'm sorry I just broke up with my ex boyfriend and I'm not sure I'm ready for anything right now." I said. He stared at me for a second and nodded. "Yea sure, I understand. I'm sorry I took this the wrong way." He said. "No it's my fault. I hope we are still cool?" I asked trying to make eye contact. "Yea of course." He replied. We said our goodnights and Pablo left.

When I got into bed I took out my phone and there was a text from Kevin. "Firefly was really fun. It would have been better if you had come. Are you still at the pub?" It read. I smiled and just before I could reply I got another text. It was Pablo. "Hey, just wanted to say goodnight. I'm about to crash now. See you on Monday." His text read. How did I go from having no one ever text me to having two at the same time? I giggled. I replied Kevin's message first. "Maybe next time when you invite me properly I'll come. I'm off to bed goodnight." I then went ahead to reply Pablo. "Goodnight Pablo, tonight was fun." In no time at all I fell asleep

To be continued... 

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Closure 9

"Vanessa hi, what are you doing here?" He asked but before I could reply the lady walked to him with a bottle of wine in her hand. She turned to look at me. I was honestly not sure what to do. "I just came to get some nuts but they don't have my favourite so I'm just buying a bottle of wine." I said in the most convincing tone I could master. I picked the closest bottle of wine to me then I turned around and left.

When I got back into the car I told him to drive me to the beach. Maybe if I was lucky a mad man would show up and stone my problems away. When I got to the beach and sat down on the sand, I opened the bottle of wine and drunk straight from the bottle. After a few gulps I felt my phone vibrating. I looked at it and saw it was the same number Eddie used to text me. I answered it even though I had tears in my eyes. "Nessy are you OK? You don't sound good. Where are you?" Eddie asked. He sounded just like old times. I told him I was fine but he insisted to come to me.

Eddie wasn't far away because in less than 10 minutes he was at the beach. He walked to me and  hugged me. "Leave me. Leave me alone." I said, pushing Eddie away. "You chose money, you chose fame over me. I sold my car to pay for your album. After everything I did for you!" I said. The tears were rolling down my cheeks. "I know. I did all of these things but I'm sorry. I'm choosing you now. I don't care about anything else anymore." Eddie said. He took a step closer to me. "I realised my mistake and that was breaking up with you. I do all these shows and video, make so much money but honestly I'm not happy. I miss you." He said.

Eddie leaned in and kissed me. The wind blew through my hair and we stood on the beach, lip locked. His kiss put me into a state of realisation. For so long I wanted Eddie to miss me. I wanted him to come back begging. I guess I was angry with him because he didn't come back for me. That was probably why I never dated anyone after him. Finally my wish had been answered but somehow I didn't feel anything for him. All I did was compare his kiss to Frank's. I pulled away from Eddie. "I'm sorry, I don't feel the same about you anymore. I guess this is the closure I always wanted to finally close the curtains." I said. Eddie looked confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I think it's time for both of us to move on. Goodnight Eddie." I said. I kissed him on the cheek and walked away.

The next morning my phone woke me up. I picked it up and saw it was Frank calling. I muted the phone and dropped it immediately. I turned over and tried to go back to sleep. I opened my eyes again and this time I could hear the doorbell. I got up growling in anger. I didn't want to wake up before noon. Unfortunately the whole world wouldn't allow me to sleep my problems away. I picked up my phone to check my notifications as I walked to the door and froze. Frank had sent me tons of messages asking if he could come over. "Shit!" I said. I turned around and went to Wendy's room. "Hey, Frank is looking for me tell him I'm not around." I said. Wendy tried to ask why but I just pushed her out.

When Wendy came back the expression on her face said it all. "It wasn't Frank was it?" I asked. She crawled into her bed. "No it's Mawuli. He's in the hall." She muttered. I giggled and went into her bathroom to freshen up. When I went to the hall I saw Mawuli sitting in the hall with the remote watching TV. "Wow did I wake you up?" He asked. I shook my head and sat on the sofa. I told him about the party and how I saw Frank with another woman.

"I always fall for the wrong guys. Frank boldly told me he didn't trust anyone enough to be in a relationship with them. Why did I do this to myself?" I said. "That's nonsense. You don't fall for the wrong guys. It's just life. Sometimes things are good other times they are not. From all the things you've told me I'm sure Frank likes you but you need to forget about Eddie and open up to him." Mawuli said. That paved the way for my next story. I told Mawuli what happened with Eddie and I. "That's excellent news!" He said with a big smile.

Mawuli wasn't exactly at my place for a visit he just came to pick up his external hard drive from me. His cousins were visiting him and he wanted to have a movie night. I gave it to him and just before he left he smiled and said, "Right now that you've let Eddie go, tell Frank how you feel about him and let's see how it goes." I nodded. It sounded like a good plan!



To be continued... 

Closure 8

The next couple of weeks were very interesting. I saw Frank after work. We sometimes met at his office, other times at a restaurant for dinner and other times at my place. I continued planning my company's event and spoke to Eddie a couple of times but Frank gave me tips on how to deal with him. Frank was very smart and funny making being with him extremely enjoyable. One Friday night he couldn't come over as planned. I waited for him all dressed up and he sent me a message to let me know he couldn't make it. I was a bit disappointed because I looked forward to our Friday nights together.

On her way out my sister saw me taking off my earrings and walked into my room. "Why, aren't you going out anymore?" She asked. "Naa, Frank called to cancel." I replied. "Ah that's annoying. The way you are slaying the dress eh you can't waste it like that?" Wendy said and I giggled. The dress was actually one of my favourites that I hadn't worn in a long time. Luckily for me it still fit like a glove. "Look, Kokui is having a party at her place. Her big sister has invited some of her friends too so don't tell me you don't want to go because my crowd is young." Wendy offered. I smiled. It's like she ready me mind. I finally agreed and we went together.

When we got to the party I went straight to sit on the couch while Wendy rushed to look for her friends. I pulled out my phone to see if Frank had replied my text but there was nothing. I sent him a text to suggest we meet up later since I was already out. "Hello" , I heard a guy say. I raised my head and saw a guy about or younger than Wendy smiling at me. "Hi." I replied and looked back down at my phone. "Is the party boring?" He asked. I nodded and faked a smile. Unfortunately my neutral responses didn't deter him.

I felt my phone vibrate and I quickly picked it up. It was a text but I didn't recognise the number. I read the first two words, hi Nessy and knew who it was immediately. Only one person called me Nessy, it was Eddie. He said he wanted to meet me and talk so I should let him know when I was free. "You've been on your phone since you came." The guy next to me said. I almost forgot about him. "Yea, I think I'm at the wrong place. That is the exit right?" I said getting up to leave. He just nodded and watched me walk off. He probably thought I was the biggest snob in the world. I stopped and turned around.

Halfway to the door I stopped and walked back to the guy. "Hi I'm Vanessa. I'm really sorry about how our conversation turned out I'm just a bit distracted." I confessed. He seemed surprised, pleasantly surprised. "No, it's fine. I'm Opoku." He said. "Nice to meet you. I'll be off now." I said shaking his hand. He smiled at me and I turned around to leave, this time with a clear conscience.

As I stood outside the house of the party trying to catch a taxi I got another text from Eddie. He said he was sorry again and wanted to meet me the next day. A taxi came by and I quickly hopped into it. The driver stopped at a fuel station not too far from the place I was. I took out my phone to see if Frank had replied and what I saw next surprised me. I saw a guy like Frank in a suit with a lady in a black dress coming out of a car, laughing and walking into the fuel station supermarket. I got out of the car immediately. I told the driver I'd be back and went to inside too. It was when he turned around and saw me that I realised it was Frank.

To be continued... 

Closure 7

Mawuli was right. Eddie was sitting next to his manager and the branch manager had some documents in front of them which I realised was a contract. "Oh Vanessa you are here. I guess I will leave you to handle the contract signing now." He said. He excused himself and walked out. My heart was pounding with anger but I couldn't let it show. When Eddie and my eyes met I instantly looked away.

"Vanessa long time no see. How are you doing?" Stanley, Eddie's manager said. I faked a smile and told him I was fine. I picked up a copy of the contract and marked the important areas with my pen. The contract wasn't very long so I was done in no time. My heart was pounding so hard my vision was a bit impaired. "So how are you, how is everything?" Eddie finally said. I stopped what I doing and was going to answer him when my phone rung. It was Frank. "One minute." I said picking up my phone and walked out.

"Hello, you called me at the right time." I said when I answered Frank's call. He giggled and asked why I said that. I explained the 'situation' in the office to him. "I really don't want to talk to him. I don't even want to see him." I complained. "This is what I tell my employees. If you don't like a situation at work tell yourself, this is purely business and the day will eventually end." Frank said. I must admit it was very good advice. I told him I was only in the meeting because my boss dropped it on me. Before I could fully explain everything I saw my boss staring at me. I rushed off the phone with Frank and walked back into the room.

"Sorry about that. Do you have any questions?" I said and sat down. Eddie smiled and nodded. He turned to Stanley and asked if he could excuse us. He claimed he wanted to discuss a few things with me in private. I wanted to object but remembered what Frank said and nodded. When Stanley was gone Eddie took off his shades. He hadn't changed much. He took a deep breath. "These past few months have made me believe in karma. I was a fool. You didn't deserve anything I did to you. You may never forgive me and I understand that but I just want you to know that no day goes by without me thinking about you." He said. I wasn't ready for what he was saying because I could feel tears about to form in my eyes.

"Eddie that's all in the past. I really don't want to talk about it." I managed to say. He nodded. "I know. I just want to let you know. I knew you wouldn't agree to see me that's why I set up this job. I told Stanley to propose to perform at this banks event just to talk to you. Nessy I'm sorry." He said. My heart started to race. If he had told me these words some months ago maybe just maybe I could have forgiven him. I put the files together and stood up. "I have heard you. Please sign the documents then. I think we are done here." I said. My eyes were teary as I walked out.

That evening Frank came to pick me up from work. He heard how gloomy I sounded over the phone and refused to let me go home alone. He took me to the beach. The same beach we went to the other time. When we sat down on the sand I told him very bluntly that I wasn't interested in playing his pebble game. He smiled and agreed we wouldn't play it. He put his arm around me and whispered. "We'll just sit here and watch the waves. If there's anything you want to say you can tell me or else we'll both just sit here and relax."

The sound of the waves was very calming. The breeze was chilly but Frank was nice and warm. After a brief moment a tear drop fell out of my eye and another followed. I could feel Frank hold me closer. I felt safe with him.

Just then I felt a sea shell hit my foot. I looked in the direction it came from and saw a man dressed in tattered clothes throwing shells at us. "Eii maame water! Papa water!" He screamed when he saw us looking at him. He looked mad. Without any warning he started throwing more than shells at us. He threw empty plastic bottles and and whole of of junk at us. "This guy is mad, let's get out of here." Frank said and  grabbed my hand to leave. As we were walking away the man noticed and started running towards us still yelling and screaming. Frank and I instantly broke into a run towards the car.

We entered Frank's car and locked the doors. Then the mad man turned around and walked away. When he was gone we looked at each other and instantly started laughing. We laughed for so long my sides hurt. When we were done laughing Frank leaned in and kissed me. His lips were a bit salty from the sea but the kiss was still amazing. "I'm sorry I just wanted to kiss you again before a mad man comes to stone me to death at the beach." Frank said and triggered our laughter again. Just like that I had forgotten all about Eddie.


To be continued... 

Closure 6

Frank's sister's house wasn't very far from mine so in less than 10 minutes my taxi arrived at the house. I puffed my hair up a little and rang the door bell. A little girl of able 8 years opened the door. Before I could say anything she let me in. "You are auntie Vanessa right?" She asked. I smiled and nodded. She grabbed my hand and led me into the kitchen. "Oh Vanessa thank God you are here." Frank said. He had flour all over his shirt. He rushed to give me a hug and transfered some of his flour to me.

"The girls want something to eat and my sister's fridge is so dry it's not even funny." He said. I giggled and turned to the three girls including the one who opened the door for me. "My name is Kafui, and these are my sisters Ajo and Keli." The 8 year old said. Ajo looked about 5 and Keli was definitely 3 years old. I smiled at them and they confessed that they were very hungry.

I made some pancakes for the girls. Luckily there was honey in the fridge so we enjoyed it with the pancakes and milk. The kids loved it and told me it was the best they had ever had. I smiled like a sheep. Frank who did the frying under my careful guidance wanted some of the credit but the girls teased him. After everyone was stuffed we went to the kids bedroom and all took turns telling stories. The girls were all dressed up and ready for bed. After the third story Keli was fast asleep. Surprisingly Kafui followed next and Ajo was the last to sleep.

Frank was really good with the kids. I couldn't help staring at when he told his story and tickled all of us for effects. The children showed me all the toys he had bought for them. Somehow I wondered how much competition he was giving their father with all the gifts he gave them. When the girls were all sound asleep we went back to the kitchen to tidy up the place. Frank just told me to put the leftovers in the fridge while he did all the cleaning. "Thanks for coming. These girls are so hard to take care of alone." He said. I smiled and told him I had a great time.

Frank's sister arrived just after we finished the cleaning. It was about 11:20pm at the time. She was a very nice person like Frank. "You have amazing daughters." I said as Frank and I left we could tell she was very tired and wanted to sleep. She thanked me and asked me to drop by and visit anytime I was in the area. I hopped into Frank's car and he took me home. He looked just as tired as his sister.

When we got to my place just before I got out of the car I leaned over and kissed him. The kiss lasted longer than the last one and when it was done Frank was instantly wide awake. "That was to make sure you get home safely." I said. Frank giggled. "I think I'll start coming to see you everytime I'm tired." He teased. We both laughed and I left. That night all I thought about was Frank.

When I got to work the next day I had the shock of my life. Just as I was entering the conference room the branch manager asked me to meet him at Mawuli rushed to me. I could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong. "Bad news is in your office?" He whispered when he got to me. I was almost at the door now. "Which bad news?" I asked, also whispering. "Eddie and his manager." Mawuli said.


To be continued... 

Closure 5

"So how long till you start dating? From the sound of that kiss we are looking at minutes right?" Mawuli said. He was leaning over my desk at work. I told him about Frank and he had been smiling ever since. "I'm not sure that will happen. He said he doesn't trust women remember? Plus I'm not sure I'm ready for a relationship again." I confessed. His smile faded. "Vanessa you are too young and good looking to be saying such foolish things. You are very ready." He said. He tried to convince me to forget about Eddie and move on. I knew he was right but it didn't sound as easy as he was saying it. Just then the phone on my desk rang and our little chat was over.

Frank and I chat and talked for a couple of days after the kiss. None of us brought it up though. We just acted like nothing happened. I honestly didn't have a problem with it at all. The calls got more frequent and so was the texting. They say when you start climbing the hill of happiness a rock or two fall your way and try to destroy it. That's what happened to me one day at a meeting at work.

The bank was going to have its annual awards ceremony and as usual the planning committee meet to discuss the details. When I was called to this meeting I wondered why. I was never part of that group. "Vanessa we have a task for you. Can you speak to the singer Eddie to perform at the awards night?" The manager of the bank asked. I wasn't in anyway prepared for that question.

"Sir, I'm sorry I don't understand." I managed to say. He put his pen down, sat back in his chair and looked at me. "You know him personally right? Find out what his quote is and his availability but more importantly ask him for a discount. I think we are done" He said. Then he smiled and walked out. I wondered whether I was day dreaming or it was real. "He wants it by tomorrow oh." One of my workmates said as she left the meeting room and my heart skipped a beat.

"Did you call him? What did he say?" Mawuli whispered leading me to the kitchen, the next day. I just submitted Eddie's quotes the boss requested. I shook my head and Mawuli almost went crazy. "Nessa I hope you didn't send some fake exorbitant quotes you conjured." He said. "No!" I scolded. I explained to Mawuli that the quotes were real. I called his manager instead. "Smart move." Mawuli said smiling. I smiled back.

Mawuli knew I decided not to talk to Eddie and since he knew our history he understood. "What are you going to do at the awards night when he's there? You really need to get over him." Mawuli said. I knew he was right but I had decided to avoid him and so far it had sort of helped.

That night I wanted company. Wendy was out with her friends doing her usual Friday ritual. Mawuli was also out of town. I thought hard about Frank. I could almost be certain we would kiss again if we were alone together. Not that it was a bad thing but I wasn't sure it was healthy either. I shrugged and grabbed my phone to call him but just then my phone rung and it was none other than Frank calling. I giggled and answered the call.

To be continued... 

Closure 3

When I got to the bar I saw Frank and his cute friend sitting in corner. I realised Mawuli was so right. If Frank wanted it to be a date he wouldn't have brought his buddy along. They waved at me and I walked to them. I sat down and ordered a drink. Frank introduced his friend, Kofi to me.

We all chat about a lot of random things. Kofi seemed younger than Frank and I but he was very funny. He was also very charming. I enjoyed their company so much I didn't notice how fast the time flew. "Eish it's late! I need to be heading home now." I exclaimed when I saw the time. Frank gave me a ride home but Kofi stayed.

"Thanks for coming out tonight. At least we got some time to catch up." Frank said when we got to my house. I nodded." It was fun. I rarely do this anymore." I confessed. Frank laughed. He didn't believe me. The Vanessa he knew back in the day was a party girl. Things had obviously changed. We agreed to hang out again in the near future. I smiled as I entered my house.

The next time I met Frank was at a party at the beach organised by the bank I worked at. It was extremely random. He was with a lady when we met. I recognised her from another branch. I waved when I saw him and he smiled as he walked to me. "What are you doing here?" We both said at the same time. I rolled my eyes and told him I worked at the bank. He told me he was invited by one of my coworkers. Apparently he banked with us as well. This world is just too small. When the event was nearing it's completion Frank suggested we take a walk. He thought the music was too loud for me when I frowned a lot but it was rather the fact that the dj was playing a lot of Eddie's songs that I didn't like. I agreed to the walk. I took off my shoes and walked barefooted with the water passing over my feet everytime the waves got to us.

"Now you know what I do. Tell me what you do." I said as we walked. "Do you want to know what I really do or what I tell people?" He said. "Do you sell drugs?" I asked and Frank laughed. He shook his head. "Tell me what you really do." I demanded. He stopped walking and sat on a rock. I stood in front of him. "I run an agency." He finally said. "Your own business. Nice, what kind of agency is it?" I asked. He stared at me. As if he was wondering whether to tell me the truth or lie. "It's an image boosting agency." He finally said. "Right, so you run a salon with a gym in it." I teased and we both laughed. "We do have a gym and a salon but it's a little more complex that that." He added. I stared at him and wondered if he was hiding something.

I asked Frank to break down his agency to me. "People come to us for various reasons and we sort them out especially with how they look from physical, online information to escort services. Most of the times it's to impress people, personal fulfilment and so many other weird reasons." Frank explained. I realised he was serious. "Wow really? As in you can glam me up and get me an escort for an event?" I asked. He laughed and gave me a rough idea of the amount he charges. My jaw dropped.

He told me Kofi was one of his employees and everything made sense. "Where do you find these good looking guys from kwraa?" I asked. Frank took me through his selection process and I was extremely impressed. The night ended with me planning a visit to his office. A bit of me still believed he was messing with me.



To be continued... 

Zaky 11

I opened my eyes slowly. I had a splitting headache. It took me about a minute to figure out where I was. I was in in some kind of truck and it was moving. Those types they use for deliveries. I tried to sit up but unfortunately I was all tied up. We passed under a street light and I noticed I wasn’t alone in the back of the truck. Zaky was there dressed in a black pair of jeans and a hoody. He had a gun on a strap around his waist.  My heart started racing. I wanted to beg him to let me go but my mouth was taped. When he noticed I was awake he moved closer to me and whispered into my ears. “I’m so sorry, this wasn’t supposed to happen. It will all be over soon.” There were a million questions I wanted to ask him but I couldn’t.  Just then the car came to a stop and my heart started pounding. A man in a hoodie and black shades and a gun opened the door to the truck and Zaky grabbed me to get out.

“I know you probably hate me right now but please trust me.”Zaky said as he dragged me. It was when I saw where we were that I knew for sure what was going on. It was a robbery. Zaky and I were behind two other men. As they skillfully entered our work building so many scenarios played out in my head. If they were successful they would probably kill me so that their secret will be safe. If they got caught I would probably go to jail for aiding and abetting or for all you know I would be considered as one of them. I was wearing a black dress after all and I foolishly gave Zaky the blueprints. In all the scenarios I was definitely fired.

   

When we were safely inside the building Zaky dragged me to the emergency exit at the back of the building. It was a very smart move. That door had not been used in so long no one would even notice them slip out from there. I was impressed by their skill and intelligence. “How long will she take to open the door?” One of the men asked.  Zaky looked at me and said 2 minutes. The man nodded and rushed off. I was a bit confused by what he said. When he was out of sight Zaky rushed to me. “I know you have a lot of questions. I can’t answer them but I will get you out of this if you only comply. I’m so sorry.” He whispered.  For some reason I believed him. Maybe I had to because it was my only choice so I took it. I nodded and he told me his plan.

When the other man came back with sacks of money the emergency exit was already open. Zaky was standing over me with his gun pointed out. I was on the floor like I had been shot. I tried to be as still as possible and it was dark enough to fool anyone. “Good, I see you have covered up the second loose end.” The man in the shades said walking towards Zaky. “What’s the first and second?” Zaky asked.  The man pointed his gun at Zaky. “I’ve sorted out Sena so the third is you. Your face is a little too out there. No hard feelings chale.” He said. I don’t know what came over me but I grabbed his leg and pulled it. He shouted as he tried to catch his balance and pointed the gun at me. It was then that I realized how bad my impulsive action was. I closed my eyes and heard a silent gun shot. The man fell and I turned to Zaky. He had shot the man in time. Zaky rushed to grab the sacks of money so eagerly that he didn’t notice me pick up the other man’s gun. “Drop the money, Zaky or whatever your name is.” I said pointing the gun at him. He looked at me in shock. “This is really messed up. How could you use me like that?” I said with tears in my eyes. I could hear the security men from the main entrance. I shot his leg once and missed. I shot again and got him in the foot. Then I dropped the gun and run out. I run as fast as I could and grabbed the very first cab I saw and went straight home!

The next day I knew I had to show up at work to avoid every form of suspicion. Everyone would think I had something to do with it when Zaky got arrested. The police would probably have a lot of questions for me. Just as I expected the building was chaotic. “There’s no work today oh. Guess what happened?” Dede asked walking up to me. “I have no idea.” I lied looking around. “Some armed robbers raided the building!” Dede replied. I looked at her in my best surprised look. “You know the coolest thing? The security men shot and killed all of them. ” Dede added pointing to our boss was shaking the hand of a smiling security man. What?! I wanted to scream and tell her that was so not what happened then I remembered Zaky and my heart fell. I killed him. Maybe not directly but I made the security men kill him. I started tearing up a little and my heart started pounding.

“Everybody look at these men. They bravely saved our establishment from thieves! They won a gun battle and killed the two armed robber who came here yesterday…”Our boss started his speech but I was stuck on one of his words. TWO? Was it possible? Just then my phone vibrated. I picked it up to check the message. I couldn’t believe it, it was from Zaky. My hands trembled. “I was a jerk. I’m sorry. I deserved what you did to me. Just so you know I dropped everything and left. Maybe someday I will explain everything to you.” The message said. I looked around to see if he was anywhere around but I knew he was too smart to show up so I just smiled. He had a bleeding foot to take care of J

The End

Zaky 10

Zaky turned and picked the ID card. "Wait, I gave you classified information. When they read the report I'll be fired won't I?" I asked, getting worried again. "I'm going to figure out a way to keep you out of the report. The information will be there but I will find another source." He said. "You never told her. You never told Kafui the truth." I said. Zaky turned to look at me sharply. "How do you know her? Did she tell you anything?" He asked. I narrated to him all she said to me. He told me that they never dated and that he just worked with her for the report. He added that she threw herself on him and that created a lot of friction.

Immediately Zaky or Derrick or whatever heard his phone ring be looked at me and muted it. Usually he would take the call and excuse himself to talk. He just waited it out. There was an awkward silence for a moment and the phone rung again. "Can I have your phone?" He asked. I hesitated a little because of the look on his face. It's like he was deep in thought. "It's someone from work. I need to give him some quotes and need a calculator." He said. I gave him the phone but somehow I felt what he said was a lie. He went out of the room to answer the call. When he came back I asked if he was able to calculate the quotes. He nodded. That was when I knew something was really up. My phone was locked and he didn't know my password. There was no way he used it!

"So what do I call you now? Derrick?" I asked getting up. He shook his head. "If anyone hears you call me that it could blow my cover. Let's stick with Zaky." He said. He still looked far in thought. "Yea true. Anyways I think I will be going home now. Can I have my phone?" I asked. Zaky stood up. He said nothing. He just looked at me. That was when my heart started racing. I turned around and walked briskly to the bedroom door but when I tried to open it I noticed it was locked. "What are you doing?" I turned around to ask him. He walked to me and before I could do anything he forcefully covered my mouth and nose with a handkerchief. "I'm sorry." I heard him say and I blacked out.

I opened my eyes slowly. I had a splitting headache. It took me about a minute to figure out where I was. I was in Zaky's bedroom, on his bed. This time around the door was wide open. Unfortunately I was tied to the bed so it was useless. I closed my eyes and prayed that it was all a dream. I could hear voices from the living room. I looked out the window and saw that it was dark outside. Very slowly the voices got clearer. The voices were three Zaky's and two others. "Everything is under control. We need her alive. Tell Rex to get ready to go with the same plan tonight." Zaky said and the second person left. This was not good.

To be continued...

Just like Adel 10

Henry flew to Denmark for his treatment the next week. We skyped every night and he told me all about his experience. Everything was going as he planned it. We communicated so much I felt like I was Dean. I was glad he was getting another chance. I seemed to be the only one he really kept in the loop because Adel called me regularly to ask about him. I encouraged Henry to talk to his family more but I sort of understood them.

One Sunday afternoon, I heard a knock at my door and walked to it. When I opened it I saw Henry standing there with the most attractive smile in the world. "Henry! I thought you were arriving on Tuesday!" I screamed and hugged him. I couldn't control my excitement. He told me he just wanted to surprise me. We went inside and he showed all the cute Danish souvenirs he bought me. They were really pretty and I was really glad he was back. "There's one more thing." Henry said. I looked at all the presents on the table and looked back at him. "Really, after all these?" I asked. He nodded and leaned in closer. Before my heart started racing he kissed me. I always wondered how it would be to kiss him and I was right. His soft lips were amazing. "I've always wanted to do that." He said and we both giggled. I wanted to scream 'me too' but I played it cool. "I know my treatment isn't permanent and I'm in a weird condition and all but will you go out with me? If you don't want to I completely understand. So what do you say Miss Doris who looks just like Adel?" He asked smiling. How on this big beautiful earth could I say no?

Henry felt like a totally different person when we started dating. He wasn't cold and rude like he used to be. He was more positive and cheerful. His treatment had brought him new hope. One afternoon at work my boss asked me to go for a meeting at Brock Pharmaceuticals. I smiled when my boss told me and did some quick makeup before I left. Dean teased me when he noticed. The meeting was with Lestor Brock himself. I smiled when I saw him. He smiled back and signalled for me to sit down. I took out my note book and pen but he signalled for me to put them away. "No, you won't need those. This isn't that kind of meeting." He said. I sat up more attentively. He asked how I was doing and I instantly knew the meeting was about his son.

Lester Brock stared at me for a while and said "has anybody told you that you look very much like my daughter Adelaide?" I smiled and nodded. He leaned back into his chair and smiled. "She has told me a lot about you actually. You two have similar strengths too if you ask me and the only ones that can get through to my son." He added and giggled. I smiled at him even though I was getting a little tired of being compared to Adel. He leaned back in his chair. "How is Henry's Danish treatment going?" He asked. I could see the concern in his eyes. "Doctor Olsen is actually doing a good job according to Henry. He said heart burns are less intensive these days." I said. Mr. Brock nodded, staring straight at me.

Before he could open his mouth someone opened his office door. It was Henry. He looked straight at me and then to his father. "What's going on here?" He asked. "We are just talking." Lester Brock replied. "Henry." Adel called. She also walked into the office. She tried to escort him out but he wouldn't listen. He walked to me and tapped me on the shoulder. "Your boss has sent for you. Dad Doris has to leave." He said sharply. I turned to look at his father who was busy writing something. "Very well. It was nice meeting you Doris." He said. I nodded and got up to leave. "Doris you left your note book." Mr. Brock said. "My notebook is in my..." I started but then I saw him raise the book he was writing in to me and I immediately got it. "Ah yes, thanks." I said and quickly collected it. "Let's go." Henry whispered in my ear. I had no idea what was going on.

When we got to the parking lot I felt it was safe to talk about why Henry was acting funny. "Hey what's up? You are acting funny." I asked. Henry turned to me. "I don't want my father interfering in my personal life." He replied. I noticed from much earlier that Henry didn't like his father very much but I strongly felt it was because he unfairly made Adel, his much younger sister the next ceo of his company but now I knew it was his only choice. "Your father loves you. He's just concerned." I said. Henry laughing sarcastically. "He gave up on me. Do you give up on someone you love? I have been diagnosed with Orgosis for 4 years now and what did he do? Nothing. I don't need that kind of love Trust me you won't understand." Henry explained. I put my hand on his shoulder and it happened. He held his side and slowly fell to the ground. I could see him losing consciousness as he went down. I screamed as hard as I could to get help. "Help!"



To be continued... 

Just like Adel 6

That weekend I stayed indoors. I wanted to have some me time. I would admit that I missed having a boyfriend to share things with but because Dean was always available I never felt it until Adel came. My phone rung and I couldn't believe who it was. It was Henry. I stared at the phone and contemplated answering it. I shook my heard and decided that if he called the second time I would answer. I watched the phone quietly to see if it would ring again but it didn't. Instead there was a knock at my door that startled me. I walked to it and saw Gilly standing there with a rubber bag.

"I hope this isn't a bad time." He said with a smile. I shook my head and stared waiting to hear his agenda. He handed me the rubber bag which contained a bunch of goodies. Gilly said they were from Henry. He was a bit busy at the office so he asked him to bring it over as a thank you gesture for the other day. I was surprised. To be honest I had a deep feeling Adel was behind this.

I asked Gilly why they were working on a Sunday and he said he had to work on something with Henry urgently. He said a workaholic joke and we both laughed. Before Gilly rushed off he turned to me and said "This is the first time I've seen Henry buy something for someone." I smiled and laughed to my head. I dumped my sympathy gifts in a corner and walked to my room.

After lots of convincing during the week Dean managed to get me to go to Adel's birthday party. I really didn't want to go but I realised I had to get over Henry and maybe this was my chance to have some fun and meet some new guys. I went shopping the day before so my outfit was spanking new. Just so I wouldn't look lonely I went with my coworker, Sedem. She felt so under dressed when she saw me. We got to the party just in time for the fun parts.

"Isn't that the Henry guy Dean is setting you up with?" Sedem asked. I turned around and saw him. He was in a black long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. Black really suited him. I turned around immediately he turned our way and Sedem laughed. I think her laughter attracted him because he walked to us. "Hi." Henry said. Sedem conveniently excused herself to get another drink. He was looking a bit pale. Probably from over working. He looked straight at me. "Hi." He said and I nodded. He went ahead and complimented me. I smiled briefly and excused myself.

I saw Sedem eating a slice of cake. It looked so good. I asked her where she got it and she pointed to the kitchen. "I got lost and saw a huge tray of cake so I picked one." She said. I scolded her for not getting a piece for me as well and made my way to the place she was pointing to. Adel's house was so big. I saw an opened door and walked into it. Unfortunately it wasn't the kitchen. It was a little office.

Just before I turned around to leave something caught my eye. On the desk there were a bunch of old pictures of what looked like Henry and Adel. Some had their parents in them. I smiled when I went through them. Henry looked very happy and normal. Time had really changed him. I heard a sound and instinctively turned to look at who it was. I saw Adel and her father. He handed a big brown envelope over to her. "That's the expenditure list for the new branch." He said. What kind of father brings work to his daughter's birthday party? That's right, Henry's Father.

I hid behind some bookshelves where I could hear more. "Dad this could have waited till Monday." Adel said shaking her head. "You need to learn to give the company importance. When you take over the company next year you will have to make sacrifices. " Her father said. My jaw dropped. It was true Lestor Brock was old but Adel? "Is Henry here?" Lestor asked and his daughter nodded. "He still won't talk to you?" She asked. He turned away. "Dad, I'm sure he will come around. You need to understand how he feels." She added. Her father nodded and walked away. Adel walked into the office and my heart missed a beat. I sat very still behind the bookshelves. She dropped the envelope on the table and walked out.



To be continued... 

Grace of Fear 3

Baaba froze. Her heart started pounding like the night before. Then a few pieces came together. The bikers must have been the robbers and they may have accidentally dropped the money.  She grabbed her phone and with her shaky hands and called Ralph but he didn't answer. He was the only one she could talk to. She rushed out of the room with the money in her bag and headed for his workshop.

   When she got to Ralph's workshop she was directed to go into the store room. "Ralph, something bad has happened. Some man got robbed and..." she blurt out as she entered but stopped when she realized he was not alone. There was a tall guy standing in front of Ralph. He turned to look at her. "A man got robbed? Where?" the tall guy asked. Baaba looked at Ralph and back to him. "Somewhere around Kaneshi School Junction, in my area." Baaba replied. "What's his name? I know some people who live there." The tall guy added. "I don't know his name but he has a daughter called Nasara. They say the robbers used a special key to open all his doors." Baaba added. The tall guy said wow and smiled. "Bikers are just strange." Baaba said grabbing Ralph's hand and sending him outside. "You heard they were bikers?" the tall guy asked. Baaba froze. She realized she had said too much. It happened a lot when she got nervous. "Ei, did I say bikers? I meant robbers." She said and faked a laugh. Ralph excused himself and went outside with Baaba.

   "Baaba what is this all about?" Ralph asked when they were alone. She hesitated for a while and finally said "it's about the armed robbery I was talking about." Ralph looked scared all of a sudden. She told him the whole story of how she picked the money. Ralph looked a little excited and scared at the same time. Just then the tall guy walked passed them. Baaba turned and watched him. He kept stealing glances at her too. It was when another guy on a bike came to him that things became clearer to her. 

 Then she saw it, the snake tattoo on the other biker's leg. Her heart missed a beat then she heard Relph's voice. "Baaba, stop looking at them. Look here." he said. She managed to do as he said. "Yo, ma guy. We dey go come." The tall biker yelled and hopped onto the back of his friend's bike. Ralph nodded and waved as they left. "Were you part of them? Ralph what is going on?" Baaba asked almost in tears. "I needed the money so we could leave this place. I had nothing to do with the shooting. The man brought his car here and his key holder had his house keys so I just made a copy. That was all. They said they'll give me 500 cedis if they got the money. The man is very rich so it's not so bad. I swear I didn't know they would shoot him." Ralph explained. He had to get her to trust him.

Baaba listened in shock with her mouth slightly open. "I think we should send the money back. I can give it to the Police." she said. "Are you mad?!" Ralph yelled. He looked around to see if anyone heard him. If the Police find out, I'll go to jail or the biker boys will kill me. Those guys are hard. Let's just take the money and go." He suggested. Baaba felt guilty. "What if the man dies? What will happen to the girl? If we tell the Police about the bikers we won't go to jail. Just say they forced you." She said. Ralph considered it for a moment and shook his head. "Look, these guys are untouchable. Even the Police are afraid. Where's the money?" He asked, looking around. When he saw that Baaba wasn't convinced he held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "If you go to the Police both of us will die." He said.



 To be continued  ...

Grace of fear 2

 The bikers rode around yelling at each other for about 10 minutes and left. When all was clear Baaba looked for her keys and made a run for it. Luckily for her they didn't return. She breathed a sigh of relief when she entered her Auntie's house. Her hands were still trembling with fear when she laid down to sleep. After another 30 minutes she managed to fall asleep.

 Baaba went about her morning chores very quickly the next day. It was Saturday and she wanted to tell Ralph the good news. As she did her usual trip to the market for her auntie, she was so tempted to buy herself a thing or two with the money. She knew her Auntie would suspect her if she did so she left praying that where she hid the money was still safe. She called Ralph and asked him to meet her at the market. When she saw him she smiled and told him to guess the good news she had for him. He didn't seem amused at all. In fact he was quiet unhappy. This was strange.

   Ralph liked meeting up with her and was usually happy when she initiated it. "Ah, what's wrong? Did Bra Yaw ask you to pay for something again?" Baaba asked concerned. Ralph shook his head and shrugged. Bra Yaw owned the fitting shop where Ralph worked. He was very stern and would make his workers pay for every tiny mistake they made. Bra Yaw was another reason why Ralph wanted to leave for Kumasi. "What is the surprise? I have a lot of work to do." Ralph snapped. Baaba felt offended. Why was he taking all her fun away? Just then, Ralph's phone rang. He signaled at Baaba and walked away to answer the call. He was speaking very low so she wouldn't hear what he was saying. When he walked further away and turned his back to her she left. "I'll keep everything to myself then." she muttered as she walked away, a little heart-broken. B

 Baaba took the long route on her way home. She wanted to think. It was hard to think with her auntie yelling and screaming in the house over trivial things. As she walked home she couldn't help thinking about Ralph. He was the first friend she made when she moved to her auntie's house. She enjoyed his company because he was always full of smiles. He would always listen to her complain about her auntie and reassured her. Baaba didn't understand why he was acting strange. Maybe there was another girl. One who entertained his leaving town plan more than she did.

As she walked, she saw a large number of people in front of a house. She recognized one of the people, Agnes. Agnes used to work at the bar with her. Baaba walked to her and asked what was going on. "Some people robbed the man who lived here yesterday oh. They said the robbers used a special key to open all the doors. We are not safe anymore oh. The man and his daughter were asleep kwraa. They stole some plenty money the man had and shot him too." Agnes narrated. Baaba listened. "Ei, is he dead?" Baaba asked. "No he's been sent to the hospital. I feel sad for Nasara, his daughter. Her mother left the father last year. They said she preferred the father. Now she'll be forced to live with the mother. That woman is terror." Agnes continued. Baaba's heart sunk. She knew what living with a terror woman felt like. She noticed the time and rushed home.

 When she got home she was scolded for leaving a single plate unwashed. Baaba could not take it anymore. She was leaving, with or without Ralph. She went to her room after cooking the evening meal. She noticed Ralph had called her a number of times. She rolled her eyes and put the phone aside. She took out a pen and paper to write a list of what she needed to run away with. Then she locked her door and took out the money. She hadn't even counted it. The piece of paper around the money had something written on it. Baaba noticed it was a list. It read, "tomatoes, fresh fish, cabbage, light bulb, story books for Nasara..." Baaba froze.


 To be continued ...

Eli's wife 11

Eli hadn't said a single word to Sena since they met Charles. Guilt was eating her up but she just didn't know what to say. "Sena you are such a fool!" she said to herself. She gathered some courage and went to Eli's room. She wrote all she wanted to say on a piece of paper. She was going to give it to him. It was funny how she never cared about what he would think if he found out about Charles until the night before. Maybe it wasn't a rebound after all. Maybe it was, but it felt so right she wanted more. Her mind was racing and so was her heart when she knocked on his door. There was no response so she slipped her note under his door.  

 Sena called her detectives over to her office and assigned duties for all of them. She offerred them twice as much as she usually paid them to give her results quickly. She cancelled her schedule for the day and did a lot of digging. She read all material she could get on Charles. He used Dean Thompson as his alias for his articles. He had written other stories of the President in the past. Sena wasn't surprised. She was determined to find a way to clear Eli's name. For the first time in a long time she would be a good wife. Sena imagined how furious her father would be when Enyonam told him about her relationship with Charles. She muted her phone. She had to find a solution to all of this. 

Sena opened her eyes slowly when she heard her name. It was Eli. She sat up properly and looked at her clock on the wall. It was 10pm. She had fallen asleep while reading. Eli sat in front of her. He told her his father had pulled some strings and had the talk show Charles was going to be on postponed. He added that his father seemed rather calm about the matter. Sena picked up an envelope that was on her desk and read the contents. It was from one of her detectives. "Ei this is odd. It looks like Tina knew Charles." Sena said. She looked up at Eli. He didn't look surprised. "Yea it's a long story." He replied. Sena packed up her things and Eli told her what his father told him when they got home.

 When the couple got home they went to the kitchen and Eli told Sena what his father said. His father felt suspicious of Tina for a while. He suspected she was contacted by Charles to get dirt on him. He suspects she decided to bail out when she got pregnant. "I guess when Tina stopped cooperating, his next target was you." Eli said. Sena looked away. She was still hurt. "I'm sorry for what he did to you. There's going to be a guest speaker who has all the info on Charles' dark deeds. He'll make him look like a fool for messing with us, with you." Eli said. He leaned in and kissed her.

 To be continued...

Eli's wife 10

Eli opened his eyes. When he turned around and saw Sena sleeping he knew it wasn't a dream. He stared at her for a while. Just then his phone rang he quickly muted it but it was too late. Sena's eyes opened slowly. She smiled when she saw him. "Good morning." Eli said, smiling back at her. They went downstairs and had breakfast together and left for work.

Eli walked into his father's office with Sena behind him. Sena looked around and saw her father passing with his hands folded at his back. She knew something was wrong. "Eli, I hope you are proud of yourself now." Her father said. Eli looked at his father-in-law and at Enyonam, Sena's sister, confused. She picked up a newspaper and gave it to him to read. "What is this? What's the matter?" He asked reading the article. Enyonam shook her head. "Since you haven't heard I'll tell you. He has been invited to be interviewed on Political Truths tomorrow night." She explained staring straight at Sena.

"You two caused this. Your fishing for the truth has created a perfect way to launch someone's career. People are interested in this guy and he says he has evidence." Enyonam shot at him. Sena took the paper and read it as well. Her sister was not overreacting as she thought. The person had information on Tina, Doctor Richard and was going on air to shed more light on the matter. This journalist shared her exact suspicions. Finally, she wasn't the only one who thought the President had something to do with Tina's death. Sena looked at her father, not sure of what to say. "How could he have found this information? Could the doctor who examined Tina be behind this?" She asked. "I was going to speak to the stupid journalist but Dad said no." Enyonam said. Sena explained to her father that it was best they spoke to the journalist. At least if they knew why he was doing this they could figure out a way to solve this. Her father told her he wanted to discuss the matter with President Tamakloe first but listening to Sena he finally agreed.

  Enyonam parked her car and looked around. Eli stepped out of the car first. "A parking lot? This is the most cliché meeting place I've ever heard of." Eli said. Enyonam was going to comment when Sena gave her the 'calm down he's not serious' look. They waited for a while and heard footsteps. Then Sena's heart missed a beat when she saw Charles walk to them.

"Hello, sorry I'm late. I just had to wear a bulletproof vest and let my work mates call the Police if I don't return in 5 minutes. Yes that's all you have got, 5 minutes." he said with a wide smile. Sena was frozen. Eli just stared at him. "We just have a few things to ask you." She said and turned to Sena. She didn't budge. She just stood there. Enyonam rolled her eyes but before she could ask anything Charles spoke again. "Sena, my baby are you alright?" He asked mockingly. Eli took a step forward and said, "What is wrong with you? Leave my wife out of this." Sena's head was down now. She could feel the tears forming. "Oh so your wife didn't tell you about... us? Such a shame." Charles said smiling. Enyonam looked at Sena and saw a tear drop. "Sena, what's he talking about?" Enyonam and Eli said at the same time. "All those nights she came home late, she was spending good quality time with me."  Charles said and walked away.


To be continued ...