MY JOURNEY IN LIFE.
EPISODE 28
I walked away speedily but Cynthia got up and ran after me. Ogechi and her manager were confused but however joined her in pursuit of me. Cynthia started screaming “St©p right there!” The attention of the people got directed to us, especially me since I was the one on the run. No guests tried to st©p me; instead they gave way when I got close to any of them as none knew how dangerous I could be. I ran so fast and located a dark secluded area just by the beautifully trimmed flowers outside the building and got rid of everything I disguised myself with. I then mixed up with the crowd but was so careful not to let Cynthia or Ogechi see me. They found the items I disguised myself with and concluded there was an impostor in the midst of them. The cops were called immediately as panic spre-ad among the guests. That was the end of the p@rty, and the guests were advised not to leave the premises, as it was safer than the lone street outside which harbored renowned thvgs and outlaws, one of which was believed to be pres£nt in the p@rty.
Cynthia got worried sick about me. She thought something bad had happened to me which warranted a strange fellow to be in possession of my cell phone. She tried calling me again, but I had switched off the phone. The cops showed up soon enough and started searching the premises for any possible suspects. I didn’t have to hide from the cops; I only had to hide from Cynthia and Ogechi. If the guests had not been advised to stay back at the premises, it would have been easy to vacate the building along with the multitude of them. But if I tried to do so alone, I would be giving myself away to the last people in the planet I wanted to be seen by.
I made sure to be in the center of the crowd, where no p@rt of me could be seen by any of the two. The cop’s search didn’t yield any positive results, so they stuck around to secure the place till the light of a new day approached. From where I hid myself, I saw Cynthia crying and refusing to be consoled by all who tried to do so to her. Ogechi didn’t st©p consoling her despite her refusal to be consoled. It was then that reality dawned on me. I had complicated issues in my life by holding unto my feelings for Ogechi while having a r0m@nç£with Cynthia. I regretted everything I had done. I said to myself; Ogechi had moved on with her life without me all these years. It’s true she still loves me, but she would certainly move on with her life without me. I had thought I could easily get around what I and Cynthia shared, not until I saw her lamenting and blaming herself for letting me embark on the trip to Oklahoma. “If I had objected, this wouldn’t have happened” she kept saying. There and then, I made up my mind for the last time that I was going stick to Cynthia and let Ogechi go.” After all, if Mariana hadn’t come up with the video thing, Ogechi may have yielded completely to Ck’s advances. Who knows?
My only prayer was to leave Ogechi’s house to my h0tel room and call Cynthia as though I was just checking on her, and then act surprised at whatever she told me concerning what just happened. I also planned to get rid of my cell phone and tell her I lost it somewhere I couldn’t remember, but the problem was leaving Ogechi’s residence. The cops were everywhere, and any unusual move will be questioned. That would certainly draw attention to me. So I just kept my calm but my heartbeat ran so fast like I was guilty of a deadly crime. Some guests felt uncomfortable outside and demanded to go inside. I joined them and went inside in order to make sure I was truly hidden from the eyes of those girls.
As we marched inside, I turned away from the rest of the guests and made for a very secluded p@rt of the building where I could actually monitor the movements outside. My plan was to monitor to know when Ogechi and Cynthia left so that I could seize that opportunity and leave that premises for good. I didn’t find exactly the kind of place I was looking for, but where I found could serve that purpose to some extent. I didn’t know what section of the house it was but I opened the door and went in, for people ba-rely c@m£ around there. There was also a window from where I could monitor some activities going on outside the building. The section I entered was two times the size of a standard be-droom and was filled with jewelries, designer dresses and shoes, and the likes. I concluded it was Ogechi’s wardrobe. I went to the window of the room and fixed my eyes on all that was going on outside in order to know when the time for me to make my move c@m£.
I eventually sle-pt and snapped out of sleep at about after 4am. Everywhere was very calm. There was no noise and movements again. I could only see the police from the window moving and speaking to each other while constantly looking at their wrist watches to confirm what the time was. I noticed that guests were freely moving out of the premises without being st©pped or questioned by the police. I knew they were doing their un-derground investigation anyway, but nothing about me suggested any ill impression, so I could also join the guests and leave. Perhaps it was time for me to leave and end everything without anyone getting hurt except me by my conscience. I was determined to tie the nuts with Cynthia the moment I left that place because I didn’t think I could bear to see her heart broken. Ogechi wouldn’t have any problem moving on without me. She even said something like; IF FATE BRINGS US BACK TOGETHER when she was telling her story that night. So I guess FATE DIDN’T BRING US BACK TOGETHER.
After scanning throu-gh every p@rt of the outside of the building which my eyes could see without seeing Ogechi or Cynthia, I made my move. I exited the room I was in and shut the door behind me gently, then made way at once for the front door without any hesitation. Coming from a corridor, I found that some doors to the rooms by the side of it were open, and had people inside it either slee-ping or discussing. Amazingly some were even ma-king out as though there was no situation to worry about. I continued moving till I got to the sitting room, where there were quite a number of people talking about various things. It appeared I was the only on disturbe-d among all who were pres£nt in that building. Well, I didn’t have such luxury then. All I wanted was to leave there in the most unnoticeable manner ever. As I was peeping to see if Ogechi or Cynthia were amongst those in the sitting room, a door to one of the rooms behind me popped open and I dodged into an empty room that was just beside me and shut the door. I didn’t know who opened that door, but I just feared any such movements to be Ogechi or Cynthia. So it was better for me to prevent myself from being seen before checking to see who it was than checking first only to discover it was one of them.
My heartbeat had alre-ady accelerated again, so I remained in that room for a little bit to calm myself down before continuing. After I pu-ll-ed myself together, I left the room to continue on my way out but there just so many people in that siting room that I couldn’t tell if any of the two girls were there or not. I decided to use another exit that was less revea-ling than the front door. The second exit was somewhere around the VIP section. I made my way there to locate it and leave. It was difficult to find the door. I increa-sed my pace towards it the moment I found it, but almost gave up the ghost when the door popped open and I saw Cynthia wearily walking in with some people with her trying to console her. Until that moment, she was still worrying about me. I gave way to all the bre-adth I had taken in and concluded that this was it. My doom had come upon me, I thought. But then, it occurred to me that Cynthia’s eyes were so we-t that she probably couldn’t decipher the still figure about 20 feet away from her, if at all she was even interested in knowing who anyone she saw was.
Immediately, I rushed into the VIP section and hid myself somewhere, waiting for her and her consolers to pas-s before I finally left. Luckily for me, the light in the VIP had been turned off. Maybe because it was night or there was no one there. What a long night it had been. My cover was almost b!own, but I managed to keep things together. And now, as soon as Cynthia was away from there, I would leave and say goodbye to Ogechi and my feelings for her. I said in my heart; “don’t worry dear Cynthia; this will be the last time you’ll ever have to shed tears. I’ll make sure of that.” The first thing I was planning to hit Cynthia with the moment we saw each other again was a proposal. I concluded that Ogechi wasn’t for me. And I also reasoned that she would find it easier living without me than Cynthia would. Cynthia had done almost everything for me and was also in love with me. It would be a serious heart break for her if I ever left her. “Why did I even come to Oklahoma in the first place” I asked myself.
After those thoughts and much more, I returned my focus to the issue on ground. Cynthia and those with her walked pas-s the VIP section, probably heading for the siting room. The coast was clear. I rose from where I squ-atted and made way for the exit ti-ptoeing. I got to the door of the VIP section and peeped out to confirm for the last time if there was still anyone hanging around somewhere. I found there wasn’t anyone and I br@ced myself up to make the last move. Just when I was about take the first step of my last move, the lights in the VIP section suddenly c@m£ on and the darkness therein was revealed. I froze! Then I heard a voice from behind me say; “Who are you? And why are you snooping around?” I didn’t say anything in response, neither did I look back to see who was talking. The voice from behind said again; “I’m talking to you. Who are you and why are you snooping around? You better say something before I call the cops on you.” When I heard cops, I turned slowly to see who was talking. OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS MARY! It was Ogechi’s voice. Ogechi had been in the VIP all the while, and she was observing all my moves from the moment I rushed in there. The moment we saw ourselves, we both exclaimed simultaneously; WHAT???
MY JOURNEY IN LIFE.
EPISODE 29
I had never been in that position before. A position where all hell broke loose and I couldn’t seem to device a means of escape. She saw me. She couldn’t believe it was me. I stood still like a stature with a blank mind, while she was still trying to come to terms with the fact that it was really me she was seeing in her ap@rtment. We stood silently in utter amazement on seeing each other for nearly 60 seconds before she finally broke the silence.
“Jesusboy?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t move. I didn’t shake. I just kept looking at her like a lunatic. I wasn’t supposed to respond that way in that situation, but I guess the feeling of guilt had consumed me so much that I couldn’t help but act like a culprit. If Ogechi didn’t know me, I bet she would have called in the cops the moment she saw my face. Or maybe she could have called the cops if I still maintained that weird displ@yof mine. But she called on me again;
“Jesusboy?”
“Ogechi” I replied.
Hearing my voice, she opened wi-de her mouth and covered it with her both palms, her eyes wi-de open in further amazement. She was confused. She didn’t know whether to ask how I got there or what I was doing there, or why I was snooping around and all that. She may even have thought it was my spirit she saw and not me. I made some steps towards her and she motioned me with her hand to st©p right there. My problem from that moment was not Ogechi anymore. After all, she had seen me alre-ady. My greatest and only problem was Cynthia. I feared Ogechi was going to create a scene that would draw the attention of others to us, so I was very careful in dealing with her to avoid that.
“Ogechi it’s me.”
“You? How..how…how?”……
“I can explain plea-se. I have a lot to tell you”
“Explain? I found you snooping around like a bugler. Do I take it that it was me you were looking for so you can explain? Who the hell are you? Are you sure you are the Jesusboy I know? I better call in the cops before I get hurt by whoever you are”
Immediately I interrupted her and said; “I’m the one the cops are looking for?”
Ogechi didn’t un-derstand that too. “The cops are looking for you?” she asked.
“Yes” I replied. I’m the guy who c@m£ to earlier and demanded to talk to you in pri-vate.”
“Wait a minute,” Ogechi said, motioning me with her hand to keep standing still. Oh my goodness! It was you?”
“Yes it was.”
“Why did you disguise yourself?”
“It’s a long story. Right now we nee-d to make sure the cops don’t know about this. This should remain between you and me. None else should know about this”
“Why are you so frightened? Have you done something wrong? I do not really un-derstand all these. What are you doing in Oklahoma? In my house?! plea-se start explaining before I lose my mind”
I had hoped that our reunion was going to be initiated with a ro-mantic hvg and a long pas-sionate k!ss, but the reverse was the case. She didn’t get too close to me because she was still afraid, though she managed to keep her calm. It’s a good thing she didn’t scream from the start. Now she wanted to know what exactly was going on, and I started talking. I explained everything to her, starting from my arrival at Cynthia’s house till that very hour. Then she un-derstood all I went throu-gh because of her. She didn’t nee-d to tell me anything anymore, for I had alre-ady heard all she had to say about her life during her little story session in the VIP. We both knew all there was to know about each other again and it was clear that true love still burned in our hearts for each other. After I got her to un-derstand the circu-mtances that surrounded my pres£nce in her house, she gave up every fear and embr@ced me dearly. It was so warm that it felt like she just unleashed the warm she had been saving up all those years just to give to me the moment we saw each other again. And indeed, she k!$$£d me pas-sionately like I expected on a day we met again.
Tears started raining down our eyes as we held ti-ghtly to each other. We didn’t want to let go of each other again. We then sat down and began tingling our ears with ro-mantic words for about ten minutes, after which she took a firm look at me and said; “I missed you,” to which I replied “I missed you too.” Ogechi held me by the hand and lead me from the VIP section to her room. We entered and she shut the door. You know that feeling when you find your long lost love and want to show him or her how much you missed them?” Well, that feeling registered its pres£nce in that room and we welcomed it dearly. hvgs graduated to k!sses, k!sses graduated to cuddles, and the heat intensified. We lost stamina and fell right on the be-d that was there to catch us lest we fall. We l@ysideways on the be-d facing each other and continued with the activities that pushed us down. Our heart beat increa-sed, and we could hear the sound of breath loudly. Our clothes developed sudden hatred for each other and couldn’t stand each other’s t©uçh anymore. We had to separate them to avoid a fight, as that was the last thing we wanted at such a time. So I initiated the process by quic-kly unZi-pping her dress from behind without a warning. I was so fast that she got tickled by the speed at which I drew the Zi-p from her collarbone level to her w@!st level. It happened in less than half a second. She shifted closer to me in effort to prevent the Zi-p from cutting her skin in the process, and then she gave me the “bad girl” smile, which I reciprocated with the “bad boy” look.
She then responded by ripping off the bu-ttons of my shi-t and almost doing same to my singlet if not for its commendable quality which prevented an easy tear. It was becoming more like a wild-wild west. We shared the same naughtiness, and our hearts could no longer contain the de-sires it had bottled up for the past years. We were on the verge of committing the sweetest taboo, and whatever was going to be the aftermath of that act was not put into consideration by either of us. Half way to the blonder, our whole being was overly re-ady for the merge that would fuel the transfer of all we had to exchange; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I guess we had pla-yed “the heroes” long enough and it was time to take a trip down to the valley. (Not Advisable)
A knock on the door was what continued the validity of our salvation, as it definitely would have gone down the drain if Cynthia lacked the courtesy of informing Ogechi before taking her leave. Though we had ignored it initially, Cynthia’s persistence certainly stalled our little forepla-y, and we hoped to continue after attending to her.
“Hold on Cynthia, I’m coming.” Ogechi answered.
“She must not know about us. Say nothing to her” “okay?” “I’ll find a way to take care of things, trust me”
I had told Ogechi about Cynthia after she found me in the VIP section when I narrated the circu-mtances that surrounded my pres£nce in her house to her. So she also un-derstood the complications of the whole matter, and did just as I told her. I got into the bathroom to hide myself until she was done with Cynthia. She opened the door and Cynthia c@m£ in.
“I just want to tell you that I’ll be leaving now. I’m going to the police station to report my man missing.” Cynthia said wearily.
“What? You don’t have to do that. I mean, we don’t even know if he’s missing or not. He could just have lost his cell phone somewhere or got robbe-d or something. But not missing. He doesn’t appeal to me like someone who can’t take care of himself. He could alre-ady be in Regina as we speak.” Ogechi responded.
“You have a point there. But why hasn’t he called yet?” Cynthia asked.
“Have you forgotten that he lost his phone?”
“Yeah, you’re right. In that case I’ll hold on a little. If I don’t see or hear from him in three days, I’m going to the cops.”
“That’s better. I’m sure you’ll see him before then.” Ogechi said positively.
“About the models, they are re-ady for you anytime you nee-d them.” Cynthia said.
“Alright. I’ll let you know when I’m re-ady.”
“Thank you. I’ll take my leave now.” She made to leave the room and suddenly remembered something. “Our deal still stands. You’ll pay 60% of the original price for the models and do a song with my man when he’s found. I know he’ll surely be found”
“Yeah. Surely! Deal still stands.” Ogechi replied.
They thanked each other and Ogechi esc-rted her to a cab, which drove her to the airport where she boarded a flight back to Regina. Ogechi c@m£ back to the room and I c@m£ out of the bathroom. The spirit we were in before Cynthia c@m£ was no more. The issue now was Cynthia. Ogechi wasn’t comfortable with her referring to me as her man. At the same time, she felt so bad for Cynthia. It was indubitable that Cynthia had to be out of the picture for our lives to be perfect and complete again, but I owed Cynthia a whole lot and she and Ogechi had become more like sisters on discovering themselves to be indigenes of Eastern Nigeria. There was no way for a happy ending to be without hurt feelings. Ogechi trusted me to come up with means that would save the situation to our favor. It was fully morning, and she had to go ahead with her superstar activities. We couldn’t have time to ourselves anymore because her manager was unto her to get re-ady for a performance somewhere. I got her number from her but didn’t give her mine because I was going to get rid of my phone in order to leave no traces to the whole night’s incident. We k!$$£d again and I made to leave. She offered to drop me off at the h0tel I lodged but I objected and she insisted on esc-rting me to a cab. Some people who saw us walk out of the building had confused looks on their faces, probably wondering who I was that made her give me such attention. We got to the road and I boarded a cab. We bade each other goodbye and off I went.
As the cab was moving on high speed, I winded down the glas-s and dropped my cell phone outside which got smashed by following vehicles. I st©pped on the way to buy a new cell phone and SIM card before proceeding to my h0tel room. On reaching my room I called Cynthia but the call didn’t go throu-gh. I called Ogechi and her manager picked it up. I dropped the call without saying a word. I then fell on the be-d and began thinking about all that had happened. It was indeed an adventure. Finally, I reunited with Ogechi. We k!$$£d, hvgged, cu-mddled and nearly bleeped, if not for Cynthia who hindered the process. Talking about Cynthia, what was I going to do with her?
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 30