#TENDER_BEAUTY_2 (Life after the wedding)
EPISODE 14
Ronke made it throu-gh the flight of stairs that was threatening to be her undoing. The elevator in the damned h0tel decided to fail the very day she had a reason to use it. She cursed the stupid intuition that had made her put on this 6 inches high-heeled shoes. The long weavon she had on her head ca-ressed her back as she ascended the stairs. She had on a tube go-wn which naturally should be a t©p. The wine coloured tube go-wn started just from the t©p of her br£@st to a few inches away from her bu-ms. She had drawn lots of stares as she entered the h0tel and she hadn’t paid them any heed, except of course, those who seemed to have their pockets full.
She reached Room 207 and opened without knocking.
“Hello S-xy” Chief Rammon breathed, taking in every line in her b©dy. Ronke did not give any response; instead, she sat f0rç£fully on the be-d, pu-lling out the shoes before they did any real damage.
“Chief, I have told you times without number that I don’t like meeting you in a h0tel. Don’t you like my house?” she spre-ad her arms, disgusted, adjusting her hair and mas-saging her feet. She had to endure pigs like the pot-bellied fat ugly fool standing in front of her salivating, just because she wanted to keep her finances in the balance. She had become a S-x add!çt and now, it has become her business but she would rather restrict it to young men of her age but finding loaded young men these days seem to be a tedious task. Old men however were all over the place, looking for people to spend their money on only for a couple of minutes’ plea-sure.
“I am sorry my goddess. Let’s leave that for now, yeah?” he said ru-bbing Ronke’s l@ps. Ronke felt the urge to throw up as she stared at the despicable man. She considered standing up and just walking away but she re-evaluated the money she would be receiving: two hundred thousand Naira. She nodded internally. She couldn’t just throw away such amount of money. It would fill a space, help her fill up her sitting room bar and also get some of the tempting clothes she had seen two days ago. She promised herself that this would be the last time she did this. The five million naira on the way should be able to help her set up a supermarket and make her live a perfect life.
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I felt nervous. Very nervous. I stood in front of the mirror adjusting every adjustable. It had been wonderful ever since I found out I was pregnant. I spent each pas-sing day happy, knowing that a life is growing in me. Richa-rd made my days fun and exciting with his numerous pampering. After I had s£nt that message over a week ago, he had replied albeit an hour later, explaining how he had been thinking the same thing. He said he might have forgotten to wash some p@rts of my b©dy and that he was on his way. He c@m£ almost immediately he s£nt it and the rest is history. I leave you to your imaginations…
Every day had been spent at home – something that bec@m£ increasingly frustrating but the joy of being an expectant mother held me back. I spent everyday day-dreaming about the child I would have in less than nine months; watching movies and slee-ping. I did not do much of slee-ping though. Richa-rd ‘s plan to stay at home with me for as long as I was ill was thwarted when the hospital received emergency patients. An entire family had been involved in an accident and had been rushed to the hospital. Richa-rd had had to spend days in the hospital, personally monitoring the patients, even though it was not his job to heal; God does the healing. Knowing this, it is permanently a custom in BRH to have a general prayer of staff members, 7 am every morning. They pray for all the patients in the hospital and also those that might be brou-ght in. Richa-rd had spent more than a week, ensuring that the patients are stable and recovering and now wants to make up for his abs£nce.
I was standing in front of the mirror in a chiffon purple mini dress, a silver shoe and purse. I looked exceedingly dashing but I was still looking for question marks. I was as nervous as a teenager going on her first d@t£. I heard him drive in and my heart skipped. Am I the only married woman who still feels very nervous when expecting her husband after close to three years of marriage?
I stepped out of the room and stood a few steps from the door. He opened and entered. Even after working for hours, he still looked gorgeous. I let out a slow breath as he turned. He froze immediately he saw me. My heart was racing.
“Welcome” I managed to whisper.
“Urh… ehm…” he stuttered, slowly tracing every bit of me with his eyes. I bec@m£ more nervous and started pla-ying with my f!ngers. He coughed. “You look… erm… you look ravishing” he finally breathed. He looked at me again. “That is an un-derstatement” he muttered un-der his breath. Seeing his speechless state, I finally summoned courage. I walked gingerly towards him and his arms circled my w@!st, unconsciously. I placed a k!sson his cheeks.
“Do we still have our d@t£?” I whispered into his ear, ma-king him more nervous with my clos£ness, even though he was not really showing it.
“You bet we do” he responded. He stepped back. “Shall we?” he asked, bowing slightly and pres£nting his arm like a knight in shining Armor.
I tucked my arm in his elbow. “Definitely”
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Oyinade moved from one end of the sitting room to the other, de-ep in thought. It is just two days to the deadline she was given by Ronke and she hadn’t even come up with two million naira, not to mention Five. She had sle-pt with highly influential people but they hadn’t been able to give her much. She res£nted Belina for being a stumbling block but she would deal with her later; she nee-ded to solve this problem first. She had thought Ronke was bluffing until she s£nt her some proof which could definitely incriminate her. The pressure was ma-king her go lean. She sat down with a thud, finally accepting to do the only thing that c@m£ to her mind as the solution to this crisis.
She picked her phone and dialed a number. It was answered after the second ring.
“Hello Tikes… it is Oyin… you don’t know Oyin again?… Ok, there is something I nee-d you to do for me…”
********** **********
Kelvin opened his eyes weakly. All the images before him danced gaily as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The first thing that finally c@m£ into full view was the sparkling white wall overhead. His throat felt thick, like he hadn’t used it for days and he felt boneless and weak. He painfully turned his stiff n£¢k and what he saw made him know that he was actually in a hospital. What the hell was he doing in a hospital? He lifted one of his arms and saw the nee-dle inser-ted which supplied drip.
The door opened and a nurse entered. Immediately she saw his movement, her strides quic-kened. “Oh… you are awake, thank God” she sighed. “How are you feeling sir?”
Kelvin stared at the face of the nurse, deciding that she is too pretty to resign herself to cleaning blood and in-serting injections into various colour of bu-ttocks. Her light-complexioned skin glowed un-der the white uniform go-wn she had on. The br@id she made was packed neatly behind, leaving her stunning; more stunning that the regular mean-looking witch nurses he was used to seeing. The sigh of relief took his gaze to herl-ips and he continued to stare at them, not really knowing what to think.
“Sir” Nurse Catherine called, j£rking him out of his reverie. “I said; how are you feeling?”
He breathed, remembering that he was actually in a hospital and that he had no idea how he landed here. He closed his eyes painfully. For a sick man, he should not be fantasizing about a nurse; he cursed his stupidity. “I feel weak” he croaked out. Is that my voice? He wondered. “How did I get here?” he asked.
“You were hit by a car. Relax, let me get the doctor” she said and was out of the room in a flash. Kelvin found himself staring at her dep@rting figure, hoping that her back was as good as her front. He cursed himself for the second time. He could not remember anything about being hit by a car or anything related to it. The only thing in his br@in was white room, electronic gadgets beeping and a stunning nurse.
Kelvin mentally shook his head. His life is alre-ady in ruins. He wanted to stand up and leave this be-d that made him feel like it was p@rt of his b©dy but the drip in his hand would be interrupted; he didn’t even think that he would be able to stand without falling.
A doctor and the pretty nurse c@m£ into the room and the doctor towered over him with a faint smile. “I am happy you have finally come around sir” he said immediately, checking his hand, eyes and the drip. He said a few things to the nurse who jotted down, displa-ying her slim f!ngers.
‘Get a hold of yourself idiot’ Kelvin rebuked himself, taking his eyes away from the nurse. The first thing that his eyes saw was the tag on the doctor’s white suit. ‘Doctor Felix’. That must be the name of the doctor, he thought. For some strange reason, he continued to stare at the tag, thinking he had seen it somewhere. Just then, his eyes caught the inscription on the tag beneath the name – ‘BRH’. Best Results… “What” he yelled, causing the doctor and the nurse to jump in fright.
“What is wrong sir?” the doctor was checking Kelvin’s temperature, trying to fathom the reason for the exclamation.
“What am I doing here” he yelled, a bit lower than before. He did not have as much strength as he had expected.
The nurse stared at Kelvin, thinking that something was definitely wrong with him because he had asked that question before and she had answered.
‘You were involved in an-” the doctor was saying.
“No. I mean, what am I doing in Best Results Hospital?” he stared at the go-wn of the nurse. If he hadn’t been too preoccu-pied with nons-en-se, he would have noticed the tag on the t©p of her brea-st. ‘Nurse Catherine’. Perfect name, he thought briefly.
The doctor looked at him, not really knowing how to answer. “You were rushed here” he finally said.
Kelvin hoped it was not totally bad, so he decided to ask the determinant question. “Does Richa-rd know that I am here?” It is possible he does not, the hospital is very big, he thought.
“You mean Mr. br@nson” he asked smiling softly.
“Of course he knows. He was the one that treated you, in fact, he is…”
Kelvin blanched. “He what?” he yelled.
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 15