CAN’T HOLD MY TEARS SEASON 2
EPISODE 9
“St©p right there” Alex told the taxi driver and the man pu-ll-ed to a st©p in front of Ara P. Alex was a bundle of nerves as he sat unmoving. Twice alre-ady, he had come this far but hadn’t been able to summon enough courage to go into the company. He had thought he would be able to go in today, but now, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do that. The Amara inside there is nothing compared to the one I used to know, he thought in exasperation. Alex continued to stare at the building until his phone rang. He reluctantly took out his phone but when he stared at the caller, he almost growled as hisl-ips pu-ll-ed into a ti-ght knot. He breathed de-eply before pressing the green bu-tton. “Hello Lisa”
“Hello husband, where are you?” she asked in a b!tt!g tone.
Alex sighed. “What do you mean? You know I am in Lagos; I currently am in the middle of an important meeting and you are disturbing me” he let his voice drop to a low conspiratorial tone.
“Meeting” Lisa repeated smugly.
“Yes. I have to go now, I would call you when the meeting is over” he said and quic-kly hung up. He caught the eye of the taxi driver looking at him sardonically throu-gh the mirror and he glared back at the man who instantly averted his gaze. Giving up, he finally barked at the driver.
“Take me back to the h0tel”
The driver obeyed the command instantly.
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Lisa gr!pp£dher phone in anger inside her own taxi as she watched the taxi carrying Alex drive away. She turned to stare at Ara P, wondering why Alex had st©pped there and continued on without going in. the fact that Alex had lied about being in a meeting showed vividly that he was hiding something. “Follow the taxi” she ordered the driver and the man jumped into action. The man definitely knew that he was getting something fetchy from the entire exercise. Lisa tapped her foot furiously as Ara P pu-ll-ed out of view. She noted the name and made a mental note to investigate further.
Lisa followed Alex till he got back to his h0tel, paid the driver and walked into the h0tel. She fumed angrily. She hadn’t been able to find out anything; again! If she hadn’t grown to trust her instincts, she could almost believe that Alex truly c@m£ here for business because she hadn’t seen him with a woman, but Lisa knew something was definitely fishy and she did not like the smell of it one bit. She took note of the name of the company he had st©pped by, repeating it in her head as she told the driver to take her to her h0tel.
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Amara stepped out of Ara P as the day grew dark. She was completely exhausted from the day’s work and all she really nee-ded was a nice cold bath and a cool mattress to fall back on. As she walked to her car, she could not help the de-ep feeling of disappointment she felt at not seeing Kelvin. She had dressed up, wishing that he would miraculously show up, but he hadn’t. Amara wondered what evil had befallen her to even entertain thoughts of a man. She shouldn’t have been thinking of Kelvin and how much she had loved seeing him again; that stupid thought had led her into this stupidity. She had unconsciously started entertaining foolish girlish thoughts ever since Kelvin appeared. Amara wondered when she would finally learn that men never do what they say they would. They are all the same, she thought as her face pu-ll-ed to ha-rd angry lines. She had entertained hopes that Kelvin was different, but then, he had said he wouldn’t leave her and had done the exact opposite the very minute he left her office. Amara swallowed ha-rd , quenching the de-ep ache she felt.
As she drew closer to her car and her thoughts eased, her eyes fell on something at the handle of the car and her earlier self-chastisements and anger fled as her heart picked up pace. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the white rose flower hanging on the door handle, which looked remarkably like the one she had seen years ago. She swallowed and took a de-ep breath as she pu-ll-ed the single flower into her shaky hands. She was slowly being drawn into a web; she knew, yet was powerless against it. Her heartbeat wasn’t at all regular as she raised the flower to her nose and inhaled de-eply, like a little ro-mantic teenager. She vaguely remembered that a flower had been used years back and she had regretted it but she discarded the thought. She opened the card attached to the flower and re-ad the short words. “You are more beautiful”. Her eyes watered as her head echoed the words over and over again. Even though the card held no name, she knew exactly who s£nt them. He had said those exact words about seven years ago. How could she have been equating him with other men? Amara blinked and put the flower against her nose again, inhaling de-eply, allowing the fresh scent to wash away her fears and pains.
Amara finally entered the car and drove home with a smile pla-ying on herl-ips. Over the years, Amara had effectively let all her bad experiences cloud her br@in, ma-king her forget the good experiences she also had. This flower brou-ght back good memories she had almost forgotten.
Her smile was still intact when she drove into her compound, but immediately she entered, her smile sli-pped. There, at her entrance stood the one who had been occu-pying her thoughts. Looking more handsome than any man had the right to be, Kelvin leaned lazily against the wall, watching as she drove into the compound. Amara swallowed ha-rd , as she did all her possible best to maneuver the car to a standstill in the parking lot. She took a de-ep breath before opening the door. Kelvin had alre-ady pushed away from the wall when she stepped out, but he wasn’t taking any steps towards her. She stood nervously by her car, praying that her legs would keep her standing.
“Ara” Kelvin breathed gently. His eyes left her face briefly as he gave her b©dy a slow, nerve-wrecking study.
Amara swallowed and shifted, feeling too self-conscious. Despite the modesty of the cloth, Kelvin’s eyes left her feeling expo-sed and womanly. She could not tell if it was the heat in his eyes or the gentle b!owing breeze that brou-ght Goosebu-mps to her skin as his eyes finally c@m£ to rest on her eyes again. “Kelvin” she murmured breathlessly, not identifying her voice. “How… did you know my… house?”
He smiled faintly. “Where there is a will…” he murmured, and since Amara’s legs seemed to be on vacation beside her car, Kelvin walked up to her slowly.
Despite everything, Amara could not move. Years back, Kelvin had had this strong pres£nce and appeal, but now, it seemed to have intensified somehow. He looked ha-rder, like he had faced some really tough things which had ha-rd ened him. His muscles had become more pronounced, ma-king him look more like someone who was used to ha-rd labour. As he drew near, Amara’s gaze dropped to his slightly open shi-t and the muscled wall of che-st which peaked from beneath the blue shi-t. She hurriedly averted her gaze, drawing much nee-ded air into her lungs. “Have you been here long?” she asked.
He smiled. “If I have, seeing you is definitely worth the wait” he said, then moved carefully to her back. He placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to shiver slightly, as she struggled to breathe evenly. Carefully, he re-moved the white suit-jacket, peeling it away from her hands slowly. “You look so beautiful” he whispered in her ear and she jumped stunned back into alert consciousness by his nearness. Amara turned to glare angrily at him and Kelvin bur-st into laughter, his face changed and the rakish s£dûçt!velook in his eyes was gone, leaving a friendly look on his face. Try as she may, Amara could not but return the smile. You are growing soft, a voice whispered in her head, but she ignored it. She had always loved it when Kelvin laughed. His laughter could make everything alright with the world.
“You are a snake” she threw at him, smiling.
Kelvin grinned. “Would gladly be a snake if it would make you smile” he said. “Welcome back Amara, I am glad you are still the woman I used to know”
Amara’s smile sli-pped slightly. “No, I am not”
Kelvin ignored that. “Why don’t we go inside honey?”
Amara turned instantly and headed inside with her s-en-ses on hyper alert. Kelvin had always been used to endearments, and it just always had a way of ma-king her heart race. As she unlocked the door, she started thinking of ways to get him to leave quic-kly. He was doing too much havoc to her defenses and Amara knew that she could get hurt again. But even as she tried to search for ways to make him leave, she realized rather shockingly that she really didn’t want him to leave.
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Alex entered his h0tel room and l@yon the be-d with his eyes closed. He had used some bottles of drink to work off his anxiety before going up to his room. He wondered when he would have the courage to face Amara once and for all. It shouldn’t be so ha-rd , but it was, and now, he feared the person he used to trample on. The person who happened to be his sister. He ran a palm over his face in exasperation. “What are you doing here Alex?” he asked himself, not for the first time. He had been repeating to Toba that he wasn’t interested in anything untoward with Amara, but since he could not lie to himself, he knew that that claim is completely false. He IS interested in something untoward with Amara, and the worst p@rt was that he couldn’t shake off this forbidden interest. He swallowed ha-rd , driving away the thickness in his throat.
A knock broke into his thoughts and he raised his head to gaze at the door. “Who is here?” he asked, slightly irritated.
“plea-se, I nee-d to see you Al… Mr. Alex Bello” c@m£ a hushed woman’s voice.
Alex frowned. “And who the hell are you?”
“You would know me once you see me” c@m£ the voice again.
Alex shook his head, mentally taking note to give the h0tel management a piece of his mind. He unlocked the door and his frown de-epened, creating a visible scowl on his handsome face. “You?” he barked in disbelief. “What on earth is a cleaner doing in my room?”
The woman looked around. “plea-se, may I come in?” she asked.
Alex opened the door wi-der. “Be sure your job is on the line if you dare step in” he said, hoping to scare the woman away so he can have some peace and quiet.
The woman, without missing a beat, entered the room hastily and quic-kly closed the door behind her. She stood and gazed at Alex, scanning him with her eyes. She still had on the same ragged clothes she had worn when he saw her in the morning, and she still stared at him like he had just resurrected from the dead. As she continued to stare listlessly at him, Alex snapped. “Would you continue to stare at me or is there a reason why you are here?”
She shifted nervously. “You… you are the son of s£nator and Mrs. Bello right?” she asked hesitantly.
Alex almost hissed. “Are you here to tell me who I am?”
“No… No. I am sorry. It is just…” she swallowed. “It is just that I know them. I… I used to know them” she murmured.
Alex gazed at the woman for some time, and then started laughing. “You?” he pointed at her as he looked at her from head to toe. “You know the s£nator? How hilarious”
“Yes. I do… and I nee-d to see them; it is very important that I see them” she said as her eyes took on a pleading note.
The anger in Alex multi-plied three times more. “What is your name?” he f0rç£d out.
“Hannah. I am Hannah” she hastily said.
“Well, Hannah” he stressed. “Consider your opportunistic grey-headed self-fired from this h0tel. How dare you have the guts to come into my room, stand before me and demand to see my parents? Who the hell do you think you are?” he roared.
“Your mother” she dropped. “I am your birth mother”
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 10
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