#TENDER_BEAUTY_2 (Life after the wedding)
EPISODE 3
Richa-rd looked from his father to his mother in utter amazement and shock. He could not believe his eyes. After roaming the estate and road, he had come to the conclusion that it was high time he forgot about the past and move on. He afterwards went about finding out where his mother lived. He did not call his father; neither did he call Tunji or anyone who could probably inform her because he wanted to catch her unawares in order to know the state she was in. He reached into his pocket to fetch his phone only to find it empty with only his wallet. Not willing to go back home without reconciling with his mother, he went to a business center, bought a thousand naira card in the attendant’s phone, used it to make a few calls and left without even using #100 worth of the card. He got the address and set out to search her out. He had admitted to himself that Belina was right and that he truly nee-ded his mother. There is always a place a mother occu-pies in the heart of a child.
Richa-rd shook his head in regret as his annoyance started showing up in full velocity. He still could not believe that his father could have anything to do with her despite all that she did to him.
“What are you doing here Richa-rd ?” Mr. br@nson asked, looking uncomfortable.
Richa-rd slowly turned his stunned gaze to his father. “I should be asking you that father. What the hell are you doing here with this… woman?” he asked shifting his gaze back to his mother.
“C’mon Richa-rd , respect her. She is your mother”
“Respect. Respect?” he boomed, stupefied. “No. I can NEVER respect her. NEVER. You should not even be the one telling me this, dad. Did she respect you when you were struggling to make her happy? No. Did she respect you when she brou-ght various color of guys to your matrimonial be-d? No” he laughed bitterly. “Did she respect you when she sl@pped you in front of her stupid S-x p@rtner when you caught them red-handed? No! Talk of me? She never respected me once; not once. Now don’t talk to me about respect because I am sure she does not know what it means”, Richa-rd said.
Mr. J. br@nson hadn’t forgotten about all these but hearing it again made it even more painful. He could not say anything again as he stared into space remembering that day. His world had been shattered into pieces when he saw his wife with a fat white haired man. He had just returned from a trip, a bit earlier than he had proposed because the business did not fall into place. He got to the entrance of the house and met his son crying. He asked why he was there but he did not respond, trying to st©p him from entering the house. He neglected Richa-rd ‘s advice and let himself in with his key. On entering, he saw clothes all over the sitting room and his temperature increa-sed as he began to get the picture of what he might see. He entered the room and the sight before him almost drove him mad instantly. He wanted to be sure he had seen correctly so he closed his eyes hoping that he would see something different when he opens them but his eyes were f0rç£d open with a very h0t sl@p by Loretta. She was stark n-ked just like her p@rtner who sat down at the edge of the be-d looking like a fat pig. She had pushed him out and locked the door to continue her act.
As he remembered all these, fresh tears flowed out of his eyes and he left the room quietly. Richa-rd looked at his mother with contempt written all over him. Tears threatened but he held them at bay; he hadn’t cried for a long time and she would not be the one to change that.
“You know, I actually c@m£ here to settle the rift between us, but now, I don’t care about that anymore. You are just an opportunist and a shameless who-re. I am ashamed I c@m£ out of you. Get a life and leave my father alone cos he has a respectable wife”, Richa-rd said throu-gh gritted teeth and turned to leave.
“No Richa-rd , plea-se. I am sorry”, she said pleading with tears.
Richa-rd turned at the entrance. “Yes. You should be sorry. You should be very sorry for yourself”, he said and stormed out of the ap@rtment.
Richa-rd l@yon the couch with his head on my l@p. I toyed with the little hair he had as we discussed the movie we were watching. Just then, someone arrived at the door and judging from the voices I heard, I knew exactly who was there. I rushed there to open the door.
“Hey Pric, what a surprise, I am so happy”, I said hvgging her. I gave Tony a brief hvg too and felt someone tugging at my cloth.
“Aunty Beyina, aunty Beyina”
I looked down. “Oh you little Lolly, come here” I said and lifted a giggling Patricia into my arms. I k!$$£d her cheeks and tickled her.
“She has been calling your names all week. How are you guys?” Prisca said, giving Richa-rd a brief hvg and sitting down.
“Well, we were having a sitting room honeymoon before you arrived” Richa-rd said with a smiling face.
“Whoa, I hate to feel we disturbe-d you guys. You can continue while we watch” Tony said and we laughed.
I looked at them. “Well you all look good in your shorts and small t©ps especially my little lolly here”, I tickled Pat. “Where are you off to?” I asked curiously.
“Well, we were off to the beach for a little fun so we decided to st©p over to see if you would love to come along”
My eyes wi-de-ned. “We definitely are coming along, right honey?” I said gleefully with a look in Richa-rd ‘s direction.
“Uhhh… no” he said with a suspicious frown then slowly smiled. “Of course we are going. It’s been a long week and a wonderful time at the beach is perfect”, he said and got up, dragging me along with him to the room to have a change of clothes.
********************
Kelvin left his abode despite the inner battle he was fighting. He told himself that it was best to have nothing to do with Belina but he neglected that voice in his head. He had received that phone call about five days ago from a strange lady whose name he could not remember and hadn’t been able to rest ever since. She had called on Monday evening, mentioned her name which he forgot immediately, and talked about things that were none of his business. He alre-ady had his thumb on the red bu-tton of his phone when he heard her mention the name he had tried ha-rd to erase from his memory. His interests had been pricked and, try as he may, he could not turn down the offer of meeting the lady in person. Though, she did not mention the real reason for calling, he surely wanted to find out as long as it had to do with Belina.
The very day she had got married, about two years ago, he had drun!khimself to stupor knowing that he had lost a good woman. He was finding it ha-rd with women because he always compared them with her. His hatred for Richa-rd br@nson grew at an alarming rate but there was nothing he could do against a public figure. ‘I don’t even have any rights over her’, he thought.
He arrived at Da Queens h0tel and asked for Room 45, following the instructions s£nt to him via text. He was at the door ba-rely two minutes later and he gave the door a slight pat. The door flung open and directly before him stood two exceedingly tempting ladies.
His b©dy responded instantly as his eyes roamed their bodies hungrily. “Hello ladies” he said breathlessly.
They smiled and invited him to the be-d to sit. He cautioned himself and put up a pas-sive front.
“Can you make this weird meeting as fast as possible? I have an appointment”, he said.
Oyinade moved in her micro-mini go-wn to the chair opposite Kelvin, sat down and crossed her leg intentionally. Kelvin’s breath bec@m£ caught in his throat and he diverted his eyes towards another direction; a wrong choice of direction because the other was virtually n-ked. He had had enough.
He jumped to his feet instantly. “What is the meaning of all these? Did you call me here to be s£dûç£d?”
Not the reaction I was expecting, Oyin thought as she said calmly. “We are not s£dûç!ng you, you are probably imagining things. plea-se sit and let’s get down to business”. She said.
“Then, make it snappy”, he said sitting down f0rç£fully.
Oyin re-moved a piece of paper and handed it over to him. “Everything is written there. I don’t want to say it because the walls have ears”.
Kelvin scanned the paper and looked up. “You girls must be crazy. I won’t do this to her, and even if I tried, she won’t make it possible. She despises me and even if she didn’t, I won’t do this to her” he said with a straight face.
For the first time that evening, Ronke spoke. “Oh c’mon, we all know that you are in love with her. Yes, you offended her but you apologized right? Everyone nee-ds a second chance. All we are asking is that you try to get her back while she also tries to get Richa-rd back. As you have re-ad, Richa-rd was her b©yfri£ndsome years ago and she loves him so much and wants to get him back. I am sure Belina still loves you because you are her first love, you just have to try”, she said. Amazing what the mixture of lies can do.
Kelvin was silent; probably thinking. Oyinade decided to back her up, adding more fuel. “I am sure she would accept you back, with the right approach. I am also willing to pay you five hundred thousand if you accept”
Kelvin looked up. “The money is too small, do I look broke to you?” he said slowly.
“We don’t have more money”, Oyin said impatiently.
“Let’s make another deal. I take the money and be-d both of you together four times for a month, meaning once a week. Do we have a deal?” he said hoping that this would make them change their minds.
Oyinade looked at Ronke who was busy with her phone and chewing gum. Getting a signal, she looked at Kelvin and said. “Deal”
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 4