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 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... 

Zaky 8

I stared at Kafui trying to guess what she was about to say. My best guess was that she had a history with Zaky. One that obviously didn't end well. Dede mentioned that she sounded jealous the day they spoke and I sort of got what she meant. "You can believe what I'm about to say or not. I honestly don't care anymore." She started and I sat up.

She started her story by telling me she used to date Zaky. My guess was right after all but what she said after that was completely off my guess . "He joined the company last year and we got close and started dating. He became a bit distracted after a while and always went to meet friends from his old job. I got slightly paranoid. Any woman would right? So I hacked into the company folders for his personal records. I just wanted to know who this so called friend was" She said. I raised an eye brow.

Hacking? Kafui was not as innocent as she looked. "He used to work for Ziltec with a managerial position too. That sort of calmed me down because most of the staff there are men but hey they have female secretaries and stuff right?" She asked and I nodded. Ziltec made most of the banking software in the country. "I called a friend who worked there and guess what?" She asked and paused. It took me a few seconds to realise she was waiting for me. "What?" I said and she continued, "He said there was never an employee there called Zaky. I wasn't sure what to do so I told him what my friend said and he claimed to work with them on a contract basis. He played the trust card and told me that if I wanted our relationship to go on I should trust him."

Kafui was beginning to sound emotional. "A week later he broke up with me. It didn't make sense because I decided to trust him then. I threatened to tell everyone he was a fraud but he reminded me about my hacking and that if I wanted to keep my job I should be quiet. He had a point." She explained. I stopped and thought for a moment. "So why are you telling me? Aren't you afraid I will report you?" I asked. She laughed and told me she had gotten a new job ready for her the next month. "That's why I didn't call you. Wanted to secure my new place first. Report him. He is a fraud. If you need any more information you can call me." She handed me her card, opened the door and got out of my car. "All the best." She said and walked off.

I attempted to call her back but didn't. Honestly, I didn't believe her. She was just jealous. I looked down at the card and noticed something strange. She worked at the surveillance department too.

The next week Zaky came to my office during lunch time as usual. After work when I was driving him home he asked me to drop him off somewhere else. When he said he needed to see someone from his former office I remembered Kafui. I thought about it and realised he never spoke about his personal life at all. The only part of his family I had heard of was his cousin who owned the apartment he was living in. "

How come you never talk about your family?" I asked randomly. Zaky paused and turned to me. "My parents and brother are dead and I don't have any uncles or aunties." He said sharply. "I thought the apartment you are in is for your cousin. You must have an auntie or uncle." I shot back. "He's, he's not like, he's not blood. I just call him that." He stuttered. He asked me to pull over and he got out of the car. "I need to go, is there a problem?" He asked staring at me. I shook my head so he nodded and left. I knew it sounded silly but Kafui' s story kept playing in my head.

To be continued... 

Just like Adel 8

The next week Henry and I planned to meet after work. He sounded like he had a plan of how to get the promotion he honestly deserved. I wanted to find enough information to help him so I questioned Dean about Adel. "Why are you asking so many questions?" He asked after the third question. "I see you and Henry are cozy now. Is that why you are asking about Adel?" He added. I really didn't get his point but I nodded. I leaned over and said, "You see its a bit weird for him that I look like Adel so I want to know about her and do things differently you know?" Strangely enough he bought it. He smiled and winked at me.

On Monday I met Henry at his office. If it was really true that he liked me this could in all technicalities have been our first date. I dressed up nicely that day, wore contact lenses and left my hair out. I could tell he noticed the difference when he saw me. "You look nice." He said shyly. His shyness was so adorable. "I was going for a less Adelish look." I said posing dramatically by a wall. Henry laughed. "I told you I really don't mind. Your sense of humour is something else." He said. I sat down across him.

He handed me a couple of print-outs. "So these are..." He started but before he could finish his sentence Gilly walked into the office. He said hi to me and whispered to Henry. They spoke in a low tone for a while and Gilly left. Henry took off his glasses and looked at me. "I'm so sorry. My dad wants to have a talk with me right now. It's probably another invitation to a family vacation. Could you give me a minute?" He asked. I nodded and he left. I looked down at the handouts he gave me. They were about a study on Orgosis. I had never heard about it before but from what I read there was no cure for it. The best was to have full organ changes at stage 1. Was he looking to for a cure to impress his father? Wasn't that a bit far fetched? I read more about it and realised how rare but deadly it was.

"Gradual organ failure." I read when Gilly walked into the office. He nodded and leaned on Henry's desk. "It's a rare and extremely messed up disease." He replied. I looked up at him. "Are you really trying to find a cure?" I asked. Gilly told me it would be super if they could find a cure and extremely lucky but they were looking at drugs that can prolong life. I nodded. That made more sense to me.

Then it happened. Gilly got up to leave, turned to me and said, "I'm glad you are helping Henry. He's already in stage 4 and he is cutting his family out. It's a bit..." He didn't finish his sentence when I cut in. I knew what he was saying, understood what he was saying but it was just a problem with believing it. "Stage 4?" I asked. Gilly looked down. "He didn't tell you the stage he was in eh? He has just 3 months to live." Gilly replied and left. His words left me with mixed feelings. I felt sad, angry, stupid and confused at the same time. The pieces started fitting together perfectly in my head. Everything made sense. I was on the wrong path from the get go. Adel, Dean, his father, the coldness everything made sense but I didn't want to believe it.

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... 

Just like Adel 2

"Henry?" I asked. He looked up at me, clearly surprised. "Hi, what are you doing here?" He asked, taking off his glasses. He signalled for me to have a seat and I told him my mission. I realised now why Dean conveniently wanted me to come instead of him. He must have known. Henry answered all my questions sharply. It almost felt like he was in a hurry for me to leave. I told myself he was doing that because I told him my time was limited. I left immediately I got what I needed ignoring the temptation to take his number, for work purposes of cause.

After we presented our documented ideas to the boss Dean and I came back to our desks. We were so late we hadn't talked about Henry yet. Dean brought him up the minute I sat down. I told him in all honesty that if there was any proof that he wasn't interested in me it was our meeting. Dean shrugged and ended his probing by saying I was exaggerating. When he grabbed his phone I knew he was going to give his girlfriend the report. I couldn't wait till the next day when she finally arrived so I could tell her how annoying her boyfriend was.

I noticed as my taxi pulled over in front of a really big restaurant that I was probably under dressed. Looking at the type of cars around my black trousers and blue sleeveless top may not have been very appropriate. I remembered I had a necklace in my bag and put it on to add some style to my plain look. I got out carefully in order not to damage the cake I was holding. Dean tasked me with delivering the cake he had ordered for Adel at her welcome dinner. She had finally come back!

I rushed into the restaurant after paying the taxi driver. Dean had called me a thousand times because I was late. He said Adel was a bit jet lagged so he didn't want her staying up so late. I smiled when I saw Dean waving at me. He and about 5 other people where sitting at one table. I walked to them and put the cake on the table with a smile. "Everybody this is Doris, my coworker who loves being late." Dean teased and I heard some giggles. "Finally I get to meet Doris." I heard a familiar female voice say. I knew it was Adel. I turned to look at her and froze. I thought I was looking in a mirror. She looked just like me!


To be continued... 

Just like Adel

Dean walked to my desk and when I saw the look on his face I knew he wanted me to do something. "What do you want this time?" I asked turning away from my table. He led me to his desk and asked me to fix an issue on his computer. Dean was so bad with computers it wasn't funny. "So did Henry call you?" He asked. I shook my head. "Chale I don't think he's interested oh." I replied getting up from his desk. Dean frowned. He was just about to talk when our boss walked into the office. I turned around immediately and went back to my desk.

Henry was the older brother of Dean's girlfriend. I thought he was cute the day I met him and Dean gave him my number. That was a month ago. I hoped he would call judging by his wide smile when we met but after a week I just gave up. "Doris I have a new job for you."  my boss said and signalled for me to come to his office. I walked briskly behind him. He handed me a file and said it was a pharmacy advert I was to work on it with Dean. He made it clear that they were a big shot client and so I had to bring my sharpest ideas. I smiled and rushed to Dean's desk. I'm a copywriter who loves her job and challenges excite me. My thoughts of Henry disappeared just like that.

Even though we were nowhere on our project Dean suggested we go to a coworkers wedding. I tried to play the workaholic card but he would have none of it. I finally agreed and we went. It was a beautiful wedding I must say and it really refreshed me. We sat on the same table with Sedem another lady from work. Half the time Dean was on his phone most likely chatting with his long distance girlfriend Adel. He always kept in touch with her and talked about her all the time. My buddy was smitten. It made hanging out with him so much easier because I knew there were definitely no strings attached. "Guess what?" Dean asked as I stuffed my face with a huge slice of wedding cake. "Henry said he lost your number. Adel just told me." He added. I wiped my lips with a tissue. "That again? I thought I told you I was over him. Crushes don't last remember?" I said. Dean just ignored me and kept on typing. Sedem was interested in the topic all of a sudden. Dean told her a very badly fabricated story of the day Henry and I met. I rolled my eyes and looked out for another person serving cake.

Just then a guy came out of no where and shook Dean's hand. They laughed and joked for a while and he turned to me and shook mine too smiling so widely. "I didn't know you were around." He said to me. I stared at him not sure what to say. Then he continued. "You two are not matching colours this time?"  then it hit me. He thought I was Adel. This wasn't the first time. Before I could correct him Dean jumped in and did me the honours. The guy stared at me again and apologised. "Wow, this is.." He started but the phone in my pocket vibrated and I jumped to answer the call.

After talking to my boss over the phone I realised we had less time than we thought to finish the project. We had until Monday afternoon to come up with 10 scripts and Dean hadn't even taken a look at the file. Even though I insisted we leave to do our work Dean still managed to let me stay. "We haven't met with a representative from the company yet even." I nagged. "Don't worry. I'll do that on Monday morning. Have I ever failed you before?" He asked. I shook my head. He was right. I looked around and took in the beautiful environment with my glass of champagne.

Monday morning Dean and I got to work very early. I gave him the file to read while I finished up on a script I had written the night before. "Heh for real?!" He shouted. I turned and looked at him confused. I rushed to him and asked if there was a problem. He shook his head. "You know what? Let me stay and finish up the scripts while you go speak with them." He said and quickly turned over to his computer without even bothering to listen to what I had to say. I complained a little and just left when he didn't badge.

When I got to the client's office I was asked to wait. It was one of the biggest pharmacies in Ghana. "Hello, Mr. Brock will see you now." The Secretary said. I smiled and walked into his office. It was a very big office with very beautiful decor. I wondered if I was going to meet Lestor Brock himself, the CEO. I noticed the man sitting at the desk didn't have grey hair. As I got closer I noticed he looked familiar. "Henry?" I asked. He looked up at me, clearly surprised. "Hi, what are you doing here?" He asked, taking off his glasses.


To be continued... 

My very own movie!

So for some time now I have been thinking of other ways to tell my stories. Some of these options were a radio drama, a book, animation and short film. Of these three a short film sounded the most exciting to me so I decided to work on that. I went through my short stories and found one that would be perfect for my very first video appearance. I wanted something unique, short and of minimal cost because I was ideally funding everything myself. After 10 was perfect!

 If you haven't read it yet here's the link http://azedi.blogspot.com/2011/05/after-10.html . In less than a week I will upload this comical 3 minute film online. It's not the most amazing short film but I believe it's definitely one worth watching. I have special thanks I have to give for the people that helped in shooting the video. Hilda, James brown, Duke, Ruth, Cyig, Roselynn and the biggest one to Tim :-)

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  ...

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 2

"There you are. I was wondering where my bride had run away to." Eli said. He was standing with his sister. "The limo is waiting. I'm sure you are tired." Sena's sister said walking to them. Sena told Eli and Afi to take the lead. She wanted to have a word with her older sister. They nodded and left. "Baby First Lady. That's what dad calls you now." Enyonam, Sena's sister said. Sena rolled her eyes. "Enyonam, I don't love him." she said, almost in tears. "Oh my goodness! Calm down. He's the president's son, what is there not to love?" Enyonam replied. Sena shook her head. Her dad and her sister had always thought alike. Sena frowned and turned to leave but Enyonam held her hand. "Give him a chance. He can make you happy." she said. Sena just shook her head and walked off. Trying hard to walk fast in her full gown.

"Do you want me to carry you inside?" Eli asked when they got to their hotel suite. Sena remained silent and walked inside. The room was beautiful. The lights had been dimmed and there were candles all over. The whole room smelled sweet like vanilla. There were rose petals at the foot of the bed. There was also a gold bowl of chocolates on the center table as well as a bottle of champagne with two glasses. 'Wow', Sena said in her head. For a few seconds she loved where she was then she snapped back into reality. 

"I'm so tired." She said. "Now that's a downer." Eli teased. Sena dropped her bag and turned to look at him. "This whole marriage is fun to you isn't it? Let me guess I should be lucky to be married to you because you are the president's son huh? Well I don't know about you but forcing two people to get married is just stupid!" Sena let out. Her fists were clenched. Sena didn't mean to raise her voice but she was tired of bottling it inside her. Eli looked at her and shook his head. "You think I like this?" he asked in a more serious tone. "Well you seem to be having a ball." Sena shot back. "What do you want me to do? Be bitter like you?! Let's face it, Sena, we are married and, no offence, but I am not excited to be with you either!" Eli said raising his voice. Sena was quiet. "A week ago I had to tell my girlfriend that I was getting married. You think that was fun for me? We are in too deep and the sooner we find a way to get over this the better." he said, sat down and poured himself some wine. "How are we going to do that?" Sena asked still standing. Eli did not have the answer to that question and Sena knew it.

That night, their wedding night, Eli slept on the couch while Sena used the bed. Just before she went to sleep she took out her phone. There was someone she had been meaning to talk to. Charles. She called him to say goodnight. After the call she slept like a baby. Eli kept waking up not because he wasn't used to sleeping on a couch but because he kept thinking about her, Tina. He had called her 15 times that day and she returned none. He missed her. 

To be continued...

Just my luck 3

“My boss came around and saw that I was the only one left. So when I was done he gave me a ride home.” I wanted to ask her why he would do that since she had a car but I really wanted this story to be over so we could get busy. “He said he had some files to show me so he took me to his house. Then from nowhere he started touching me. I didn't like it.” She went on. I almost choked on the popcorn I was eating. “I told him I had to leave but he grabbed me and started kissing me. That kind of felt nice. Then he took off his clothes.” She had all my attention now! She went on. “He is so violent eh? Well I mean he was.” She giggled. I didn’t catch the joke but she went on anyway. “Ok, so he almost rips my dress off and turns me around. Can you imagine?!” Her tone was rising now. I was so shocked I couldn't even speak. To make matters worse she was smiling. Why was she smiling? 

“So I said to him, Sir this is not right. I have a boyfriend.” She narrated. What?! “You have a boyfriend?” I asked, confused. She giggled and shook her head. “No, silly.” She replied. “Oh you just said that so he would stop right?” I added and sat a bit further up. “That’s right, but he said he didn’t mind so I pushed him away.” She said.  “You did the right thing.” I said, calming down now. She smiled. "I know. I should have gone to the police but I was scared." She said, looking away. "Oh don't be worried. It's ok. You can do that later." I added with a smile. I looked at the wound again. "Did you get hurt when he got all over you?" I asked. I turned to get a tissue from my bedside table. She took the tissue and wiped some blood off the wound without saying a word. "Don't you think I am sexy?" She finally said out of the blue. "Of course, you are. You are one of the hottest girls I have ever seen." I confessed. I wasn't sure I should have said all that but I was just being honest. She smiled mischievously  My heart was beating so fast. I took the tissue from her and put it in the dustbin. "You didn't tell me how you got hurt though." I said. She giggled again. "I'm thirsty." She said, touching her throat. I nodded and we walked to the kitchen. As we left I heard my phone ring. I knew it was the boys. I intentionally allowed it to ring so they would think 'wide', if you know what I mean.

I poured Agnes a glass of water and watched her drink it. I looked away when I started getting ideas. She put the empty glass down. "Ahah, so I pushed him away ok?" She said dramatically. I leaned on the wall and listened as she went on." He almost fell. Then he got angry and called me a childish brat. Can you imagine?! So I walked over to him and told him he was an old fool. The insults went on for a while and then he did it." She said with her eyes fearfully wide open. "Did what?" I asked immediately. "He slapped me." She replied. I covered my mouth with my palm. "Oh no." I added. "Exactly! I was so furious I picked up a flower vase and knocked his head with it. No one slaps me and gets away with it!" She thundered slamming her hand on the table. Which made me jump. "Eish!" I yelled in my head.

 "So what happened?" I asked unconsciously filling her glass with water again. "I grabbed a flower vase and smashed it on his head. Some of the glass cut me. She said, pointing to her wound. At this moment the water was pouring out of the glass. I noticed it and grabbed a napkin to clean it up. "So he fell down. Stupid man. So I kicked him a few times and left. Since he had wasted my time I took his car." She went on. I just stood there staring at her. To make matters worse she was smiling. "God please let her be joking." I prayed silently. She walked over to me and leaned over. "Have you ever done it in the kitchen before?" she whispered. I felt a shiver. 

To be continued...

No stress no drama

• ·         Problems are like tunnels. They are dark, long and scary but they will eventually end. If u stop fighting it will just take a longer time. Just keep going.

• ·         Can you love everybody you know equally? No, so understand that some people will love you less. No hard feelings.

• ·         God loves you. Honestly if he didn’t you wouldn’t be reading this. It’s kind of hard to absorb sometimes because he is the maker of everything? Yea well if you made something as complex and cool as you, you would love it too wouldn’t you?

• ·         Anger is like a parasite. You know, like the annoying malaria parasite that goes into your system and makes your white blood cells weak? In this case white blood cells= happiness. Don’t let anger steal your joy.

• ·         Things will not always go your way so make back up plans all the time if you can’t take disappointments. One time all 3 back up plans failed but the 4^th didn’t. It was to buy myself a drink if all 3 failed and I did J

• ·         Hard times are sometimes good for you. They make you strong. I mean think about it, if you have been chased by a hungry lion before, that local dog is nothing! Bingo clearly didn’t know you could run that fast.

• ·         The more you give the more you get. You may be rolling your eyes but chale it’s true. Just don’t expect it to come the way you gave it. I’m sorry it doesn’t work like that. When you put a seed in the ground what do you get? It starts as a plant, a tree and in no time you have a 100 fruits.

• ·         No matter what you do (I hope it’s nothing bad) believe in yourself. A lot of people do not think they are worth much but if they could see the big picture they would be blown away. You don’t have to be on TV or in magazines to be the best. It’s all about you.

A wife, a mother, a woman

"Mum look. Is it ok?" Kofi asked his mother, holding up a clay mould. "Wow, Kofi your father will love this!" She responded. Kofi smiled and run off to his cousins. "What was that?" Her sister asked taking a pot of soup off the fire. "I have no idea oh. So far as it keeps him happy, he can make as many as he wants." She answered and they both burst out laughing. The two women were cooking a meal for their parents. It was their fathers birthday and they decided to take the burden off their mother to prepare dinner. "Wow, it should be my birthday everyday." Mr. Obeng said walking into the kitchen. "Adjoa, when is Henry coming again? It's been how long 2 years?" He asked. "Yes ohh, two years. They arrive in two weeks." Adjoa replied. "Daa you should see the present Kofi made for him. It's priceless." Akua teased.

After the huge meal, the family sat in the backyard enjoying the breeze. The children where in the room watching cartoons with the nanny. "Since your mother is here I can't keep talking about how nice the meal was or else she will starve me when you leave." Mr. Obeng teased. "Oh Daa." Akua said and they all giggled. "It's good you know your wife well." Mrs. Obeng responded and they all laughed. The stars were bright and the full moon lit up the sky. "Henry and I will be moving to Accra when he comes back."  Adjoa said. "Oh that's good. What's the reason though?" Mrs. Obeng asked. "He wanted to tell you himself but it looks like my passion for kokonsa has caught up with me. He is getting promoted." She blurt out with a smile. Akua and Mrs. Obeng clapped in joy. "That is amazing. After just two years on the field? Congratulations." Mr. Obeng said with a smile. "Yes oh. His superiors were so impressed with him. He is moving to ... position just next month. I'm so excited!" Adjoa went on. "Aww I'm happy for you. Now Kofi can see his father more." Akua said.

"Mrs. Dodoo, I'm sorry but I would be a little late for our meeting. Yes, ok, thank you for understanding." Adjoa said and hang up the phone. She was dropping Kofi off at school. Her neighbours who usually took him to school along with their daughter couldn't do it. Apparently their daughter was a little under the weather. "I will come for you at 5 o'clock ok? Don't go home with anyone else. Just wait for me alright?" She ordered and Kofi got out of the car. As he rushed off she turned and saw his lunch money on the backseat. "Kofi, you left your money!" She yelled. He turned around and started running back to the car. Then her phone rang. "Hello, is this Mrs. Henry Dartey?" a male voice asked. "Yes it is." She replied. Kofi was infront of the car now. She stretched for the money. "I'm calling from the Ghana Armed Forces. I am calling to inform you that you husband...passed away yesterday. He was indeed a great man and his death is deeply felt by all of us..." He went on. Adjoa dropped the money immediately. Kofi picked it up and looked at her. She looked at him fighting the tears. "Mum are you ok?" Her son asked her. She managed and smile and nodded so he turned around and left. She waited till he entered the school and put the phone on the passenger seat. The officer was still talking. Then she put her head down on the steering wheel and started crying.

"Thanks for the ice cream mum." Kofi said smiling from ear to ear. "Anything for my darling. Come here." She said. He rushed and sat right next to her. "Do you remember the really cool place I told you about?" She asked. "Which cool ...oh yes Heaven?" Kofi responded. "Yes Heaven. It's a big beautiful place with lots of nice people and plenty ice cream and chocolate. Remember the Angels too?" She added. Kofi nodded and smiled wider. "Daddy is gone there. He is having so much fun with Jesus and the angels." She explained. "Wow, that's so cool but they say if some one goes to Heaven you will never see them again." He said looking at his mother. "You won't see him here but you will see him when you go there." She added. Kofi turned to look at the clay molds he made for his father. "Then I can give him his presents when I get there." He said and smiled to himself. "Let's go tomorrow mum!" He screamed. "No my darling we can't go ourselves. God has to invite us or else we will get lost. So when God wants us to go I'll tell you ok?" She replied, a bit startled. "But for now, your father can see you so you have to be a good boy so that he will be happy with you." She added. He looked up into the sky and waved. "Bye bye daddy." He said and Adjoa smiled.

This story is dedicated to all wives, mothers and women :) Happy mothers day and to all kids who have lost a parent.