#MY_INSTANT_MIRACLE_2
Sir Zach.
EPISODE 14
As the time got closer to closing hours, Kathleen contemplated giving Kimberly a call. She had only invited her to go to church with her because she hadn’t known Pete was back. Now that Pete was back and they were in a relationship now, she didn’t know if Kimberly would be comfortable with going to church with her and Pete, and she didn’t know if Pete would be okay if she asked him to leave without her so she could go to church with Kimberly. Pete seemed like a very clingy man.
Also, Kimberly had said she would get back to her concerning the church thing, but she was yet to chat her up or give her a call, and she didn’t want to bother her. The question on her mind now, was whether or not she should give Kimberly a call to find out how she was doing, and maybe know if Kimberly was still interested in the church thing. It only made sense that she should do a follow-up after inviting her to church, right? After thinking about it for some time she finally summoned courage and dialed Kimberly’s number and waited patiently while it rang.
Kimberly who had just parked her car in her compound and was struggling not to cry or feel sad, picked up her phone when it started ringing and sighed when she noticed the call was from Kathleen. She remembered she was supposed to give Kathleen a call but had been too distracted as a result of all that had happened to her between that time and now. She sighed again as she received the call, “Good afternoon. I’m sorry I didn’t return your call as promised, I’ve been pretty busy,” Kimberly said apologetically.
“Hey! Good afternoon. It’s fine. I was just calling to be sure you were okay, that’s all,” Kathleen said casually making Kimberly smile. At least this was one friend she had made that had nothing to do with Eric, unlike Wumi.
“I’m okay. About the church meeting, can we reschedule? I don’t think I’ll be able to make it today,” Kimberly said apologetically, making Kathleen feel kind of relieved.
“Sure. It’s a weekly thing, so you can always attend the service whenever you want. And it doesn’t have to be with me either, it could be at any redeem parish closest to you,” Kathleen explained.
“Alright then, I will let you know when I can do that. Thank you very much. Once I’m settled I will reach out to you, and maybe we can talk over lunch sometime?” Kimberly asked hopefully.
“Sure. You just let me know whenever you’re ready and I will make it work,” Kathleen said making Kimberly smile.
“Thanks. I’m grateful.”
“There is nothing to thank me for. Just keep reading, and never forget that you’re not your past mistakes. Your past doesn’t define you. And your past isn’t what determines your destiny, but rather what you make of it now,” Kathleen added.
Kimberly smiled, wondering why Kathleen was sounding like a teacher, “I will keep that in mind. Thank you.”
With that Kathleen hung up the call and started clearing her desk as she got ready to close for the day. Once the clock struck 5 PM, she walked out of the office quickly, eager to see Pete. By the time she got to Pete’s office, he was closing his office door, ready to leave too.
“I hope you were able to finish everything you planned to do today?” He asked with a smile as he joined her and they both headed outside.
“Yes. We are going to church before heading home, right?” She asked hopefully, trying to remind him that it was Thursday.
“I almost forgot about that. Let’s just hope the prayer points will be the same as last week’s,” he said with a chuckle which elicited a giggle from her.
“You’re never going to forget that, are you?” Kathleen asked in amusement as they both got into the car.
“Of course not. Why should I?” He asked as he turned on the car’s ignition, “Have you noticed something?” He asked as he turned to spare her a glance.
“What?”
“The staff no longer stare at us when we are leaving. I guess they’re tired of talking already,” Pete said making her look out of the car to see the others who were going home.
“Who cares?” She asked indifferently.
“You used to,” he reminded her.
“Well, not anymore. They can say whatever,” she said with a shrug making him grin.
“See how I’ve given you liver? You that used to hide by the car before going inside your office,” He teased making her laugh at the memory.
Kathleen’s phone started ringing before she could respond, and she was surprised to see that her mother was calling, “Mummy good evening,” she greeted.
“Good evening. You have closed from work, abi? Hope you’re coming straight to the house? Or are you going somewhere first?” Her mother asked curiously.
“Why are you asking? Is there a problem?” She asked in a concerned tone.
“I’m thinking of traveling back tomorrow, so I want us to talk when you get back.”
“Tomorrow? Why all of a sudden?” Kathleen asked in confusion.
“Come home let’s talk. Don’t use my small airtime to be asking me many questions. I’m waiting for you,” her mother said before hanging up, making Kathleen’s brows pull together in a frown.
“Is everything okay?” Pete asked when he noticed her frown.
“Let’s forget church and just go home instead,” she suggested.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“My mother wants to travel back tomorrow. It’s so sudden and I don’t understand why. I just want to go home and hear from her. I’ll be too distracted in church wondering what she wants to tell me,” Kathleen explained, making him nod as he changed the direction of the car now.
“What about Isioma’s appointment with the doctor? What did they say?” He asked when he remembered he had forgotten to ask her that before.
“We were initially waiting for her test results. I suppose it is out now and that is what this is about,” Kathleen said thoughtfully. She could only hope for the best.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure everything is okay,” Pete assured her when he noticed her creased brow.
“Yeah, I hope so too,” she said, and decided to change the subject, “So, you told Ken already?”
“Told Ken what?” Pete asked innocently, pretending not to understand what she was talking about.
“About us?”
“What about us?” Pete asked making her turn to look at him. She noticed the slight curve of his lips and could tell he just wanted to make her talk, so she decided to play along.
“About you asking me to be your girlfriend and about me still thinking about it?” She asked, making him turn to glare at her.
“What do you mean by that?” He asked, making her stifle the urge to smile.
“By what?” She asked, blinking at him innocently.
“By what you just said!”
“Did you tell him about us or not?” She asked, refusing to take back her words.
“I told him I’m in love with you, and that you’re MY woman,” Pete said grudgingly, making her lips curve with a smile. Without saying another word she reached for the car stereo and turned on the radio.
___________
Kimberly struggled with tears of her own as she got into her car, “No. I’m not going to cry again. I’ve cried enough,” she murmured to herself as she shut the car door. What was she going to do now? Go to the office or maybe go home to be by herself? She wondered before taking out her phone to give Prisca a call.
“You didn’t send me the details of the meeting again?” She asked, immediately Prisca received her call.
“Oh! Sure, I will send it soon. How did it go at the station?” Prisca asked curiously as she raised her head from the documents in front of her.
Kimberly sighed, “I had to let them go,”
“What? Why? Why would you just let them walk away scot-free?” Prisca asked in disappointment.
“Amaka is involved. I don’t want any problems for my father,” Kimberly explained with a sigh.
“Why does everything have to be about your father? These people hurt you. They should be punished!” Prisca hissed angrily.
“It doesn’t matter. I will meet you at the office later, need to go now,” Kimberly said as she hung up and then turned on the car’s ignition. But before she could reverse the car the maid from earlier opened the door and hurried to where Kimberly was, “Aunty, oga said you should come back,” she announced.
“What now?” Kimberly wondered as she got out of the car, and just as she got to the door, the gate opened and Eric drove in. She was surprised to see him there, so she stood there waiting for him to get there and tell her why he was at her father’s house.
Eric on the other hand wasn’t surprised to see Kimberly there, although he wished she had left before his arrival. He noticed she was standing there like she was waiting for him, so he tried to come up with something he could say to her as he got out of the car.
“What are you doing here?” Kimberly asked the moment he got to where she was standing.
Although this wasn’t the kind of conversation he wanted them to have, but this was better than being given the silent treatment, “I’m here to have a word with your father,”
“About what?”
“About you.” He had to admit that it came out more direct than he had intended for it to sound.
“Me?”
“Kim, I understand that you’re upset with me and you don’t want me to be in the same space with you, so you really don’t have to. I promised to take care of you and I’m going to keep trying to do what I can to make sure you’re fine,” Eric said before walking past her into the house.
Why was he the one walking out on her when she was the one who was upset with him? Kimberly wondered angrily as she walked into the house following him.
“Eric, you’re here,” the senator said while ignoring Amaka who was kneeling in front of him weeping profusely and asking for his forgiveness.
“Yes sir. I’m sorry I called you at such short notice, but I needed to see you urgently. Could we speak in private?” Eric asked without sparing Amaka a glance.
“Since your husband is here I’m sure you don’t mind waiting while I speak with him,” senator Abamba said to Kimberly before walking away with Eric, and leading him in the direction of his meeting room.
“Do you want to drink something?” The senator asked Eric, but he quickly shook his head.
“Thank you. I just want to talk to you. I don’t know what you must have heard, but I’m here concerning Kimberly. You are aware your wife tried to set her up with some men?” Eric asked, making senator Abamba’s face harden in disapproval.
“Your ex-girlfriend you mean?”
“We both know I don’t owe you an apology or any explanation for my relationship with her in the past. That is not why I’m here,” Eric said, giving the senator a pointed look.
“Go on, why are you here?”
“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think it is fair for Kimberly to let those men go simply because she is trying to save your face or your political ambition. She has always been in the news for all the wrong reasons, and I see no reason why she shouldn’t be given the chance to punish people who tried to ridicule her and soil her image,” Eric said making the senator sigh.
“She seems to be so scared of you and is always putting you first, yet you don’t do that for her as her father. All you have done is find faults and condemn her, and as I said before, she is my wife and I won’t accept any of that anymore. It’s good enough that your wife hid her identity from the man she connived with, so I will go ahead to charge them to court and make sure your wife’s identity isn’t revealed,” Eric said making senator Abamba nod.
“Maybe I don’t deserve to be a governor when I can’t even govern my own home properly,” he said wearily. Finding out what his wife had done, had knocked the air out of him. He had called Kimberly back to ask her what she wanted him to do about the situation, but it was obvious that Eric had the situation under control already, so that was fine.
“I don’t know about that. I’m also here to introduce myself officially to you…”
“I know who you are. You are the son of Chief Obasan,” senator Abamba said with a sigh, “You looked familiar when we met the first time, and you sounded too bold to be an average young man, so I had someone look into you.”
“Oh! Why didn’t you say anything?” Eric asked in confusion.
“Maybe I just wanted to see what you were up to. I know you care about my daughter, so I’m going to let you do whatever you think is best for her. She shouldn’t let them go scot-free just so that I can maintain a good face in public,” he said making Eric sigh in relief.
“Thank you very much for agreeing to this,” Eric said with a bow.
“I should thank you. I haven’t been a really good father to my daughter. I love her but I’m always ashamed and embarrassed to be called her father because of her lifestyle. Seeing how good you have been to her despite her lifestyle makes me feel ashamed,” he confessed.
“I can’t give you fatherhood lessons, but I can categorically tell you that you have a wonderful daughter. If you had listened to her when she was younger and had gotten her the professional help she needed, she wouldn’t have become that daughter you were so ashamed of. Thanks for your time, I need to run now. I have to be somewhere,” Eric said as he stood up to leave.
“But don’t you think it would be hypocritical to punish those men and not my wife who is the mastermind?” Senator Abamba asked before Eric could take his leave.
“I left that up to you to decide. If you think she should be arrested too, you can take her to the station yourself,” Eric said with a polite bow before walking out of the study. He was late already and needed to stop at his house and change out of his clothes before going for the award. Without sparing either Kimberly who was standing in the living room or Amaka who was still on her knees sobbing and begging, a glance, he headed directly for his car and drove out of the compound.
Kimberly didn’t know how to feel about being ignored by Eric, but she was also more curious to know what Eric had said to her father. So she waited for her father to join them in the living room and hear what he had to say to her. When he finally arrived he looked at Amaka with disapproval before turning to look at Kimberly, “What do you want me to do to her?”
“Me?” Kimberly asked in confusion, wondering why her father was asking her that.
“Yes. I could have forgiven her for cheating on yme, but I can’t forgive her for planning something like that against my daughter. So tell me what you want me to do,” Senator Abamba said with a frown, while Amaka started sobbing loudly as she crawled over to where Kimberly was standing and held her legs, begging her to have mercy on her.
Kimberly thought about it for a moment, and wanted to ask her father to forgive Amaka, but shook her head on second thought. Eric had said he wanted her to stop being so scared of her father, and this was it, “You know what? I actually don’t care what you do to her. She never would have dared to do something like that to me had you not showed her how little I mean to you. So deal with it whichever way you want to.” Having said that she walked out of the house. She had given them her last respect by dropping the case, even though she would have wanted nothing more than to see those bastards pay for their actions. Her life was going to stop revolving around her father now.
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 15