#TENDER_BEAUTY_2 (Life after the wedding)
EPISODE 9
Loretta drove her car at a high speed. The frustration she felt was enormous and she had no one but herself to blame. All efforts at reaching Richa-rd had been futile and she was growing desperate. She had called once but immediately he knew that she was the one, he had hung up and since then, his number had been unreachable. She nee-ded his forgiveness. She nee-ded someone to love her. She isn’t used to being unloved. She had loved James br@nson but when he bec@m£ poor and wretched, she had to throw away what she felt for him and find greener pastures – something she regretted now beyond words. She knew she still felt the same way about him and that the feeling is mutual and reciprocated but she knew that James would not leave his wife who stood by him throu-gh thick and thin for her. She knew that and therefore was not after him but after her son. She does not expect James to ever forgive her. But Richa-rd ? My son hates me, she thought painfully. It to-re at her heart and tears clouded her sight. No. ‘I would fight for him’, she told herself stubbornly. She was heading towards BRP Hospital to talk to Richa-rd ‘s wife. She had found out that there was almost nothing she asked for which she wasn’t given. She is the key to Richa-rd ‘s heart; she might be able to beg Richa-rd on my behalf, she thought vaguely.
She turned right into McDonalds driveway on t©p speed, not seeing the pedestrian crossing the road.
“Jesus…” she screamed, rather too late for the car to st©p miraculously throu-gh divine intervention. She ran into the pedestrian, knocking him down instantly.
============
The door opened and in c@m£ Richa-rd and Prisca. I hadn’t been able to compose myself ever since Oyin left. My heart was shattered and seeing Prisca after about a month did not even bring a smile to my face.
“Leave”, I said bluntly and audibly even before they made it to my side.
They both paused by my be-d. The fact that I had been crying was not lost on them. “You don’t want me here? What’s wrong?” Prisca asked bewildered.
I raised my eyes to glare at Richa-rd . “plea-se tell him to leave Pric” I said with tears forming in my eyes.
Prisca was even more shocked than before as she looked at me as if I had suddenly grown horns. I saw it in the way she looked from me to Richa-rd , not un-derstanding what was going on. She had never seen us have a disagreement before; no one had. Richa-rd just stared at me blankly, not portraying any emotions but he seemed angry. Why should he be? I wondered. I am the only one permitted to feel anger.
He left the room without uttering a word to me but he whispered something to Prisca which sounded like, ‘plea-se, take care of her’. The tears I held at bay tumbled down as I held on to Prisca. I secretly wondered why my emotion was all over the place. I used to have control over my emotions, not crying or showing any signs of weakness but recently, little things moved me to tears. The confusion was evident on Prisca’s face as she held me in her arms but she kept quiet, allowing the tears to flow ceaselessly.
“You were wrong to do that girl” she began after I had gathered some form of composure. “Whatever the matter might be, you shouldn’t have done that, especially with someone around” she said.
I kept quiet knowing that there was an element of truth in what she said even though I was not looking for rebukes but approval; trust Prisca to give you the undiluted truth always. I struck Richa-rd ‘s male ego with my actions; that I saw very evidently written on his face.
“Are you going to tell me what the matter is?” Prisca asked.
I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by an intruder. Doctor Felix entered the room with a smile on his face. Despite my inner turmoil, I found his smile contagious. I smiled for the first time that evening even though it did not reach my eyes. He would have noticed I had been crying a while ago if he was as observant as Richa-rd but thank God he isn’t.
“It is good you are awake ma’am, how are you feeling?” he asked with that funny smile still pla-ying on his face.
“I am fine, thank you doctor” I lied and I could imagine Prisca rolling her eyes. I maintained my smile though, not letting out any pain.
“You nee-d to rest, especially now. You would have to rest a lot, eat lots of fruits and avoid stress. You would also come for Antenatal clas-ses regularly, so that you can be monito-red. Congrats ma” I would have pursued the ‘ma’ issue but I was alre-ady too confused and dumbfounded to do that. Prisca also seemed dumbstruck as she stared at Doctor Felix with open mouth.
“What are you saying?” I managed.
“Oh… I see your husband hasn’t told you. You are pregnant; one month, two weeks gone”. His grin was blinding.
My breath caught in my throat as I g@sped at the revelation.
********************
Richa-rd sat down f0rç£fully and his chair squealed from his harsh approach. He could not fathom what was actually going on. He had been in perfect harmony with Belina, ba-rely four days ago and now, they were not even seeing eye-to-eye. The side of Belina he saw today is a p@rt he had never seen before. He almost could not recognize her. He hadn’t had a cause to question her faithfulness until he got that weird message. He had been able to dismiss it, only for that son of a bit-ch to show up in her office today, looking so calm and sure that he would be given audience. It would have been manageable if the doubt was on his side only but hearing Belina’s words made it obvious that she also had doubts. A pile developed in his throat as he remembered the words she spoke out of anger and spite. He opened the weird message again, re-sisting the urge to delete it.
He ran his palm throu-gh his hair in de-ep worry. His study of women, long before he got married to Belina had paid off. He would have done so many things out of anger if he hadn’t studied the behaviors of women and why they act the way they do at times. He had also taken his time to study Belina. Her earlier action hurt terribly but he knew she must be hurting terribly. He couldn’t see her behaving that way just because of a mere hvg. She had seen him hvg so many people without acting up. Now, there’s the girl she had mentioned. Who the hell could that be? He pondered.
The door opened. He didn’t know if the person had forgotten the courtesy of a knock or if he simply did not hear it.
“Is everything alright sir?” he recognized the voice as Oyinade’s. What does she want now? He wondered.
“Yes. Leave” he said as gently as possible, raising his head; his face blank.
“But sir, you look-” she was saying when Richa-rd ‘s glare made her memory go blank.
“I said, leave” he said loud enough to be heard by a deaf man and Oyin vanished from sight within seconds. He did not feel sorry for yelling at her. She is p@rt of the reasons why he is having problems.
********************
Prisca left Belina at the entrance of Richa-rd ‘s office after much persuasion. She hadn’t heard the cause of their discord because they had been too busy jubilating. The jubilation of being an expectant mother had taken over the dull moment. Belina’s face had transformed from the sad angry one to a joyous one within the space of seconds. She had jumped out of the be-d instantly, jumping up and down like a little kid at the sight of a wra-pped gift. Doctor Felix had to calm her down, reminding her of her condition. Prisca had held on to Belina, very happy that God had finally answered their prayers at last.
After a while she had carefully explained how wrong Belina was to have talked to Richa-rd the way she did earlier in their happiest moment. The fact that Richa-rd alre-ady knew she was pregnant was Prisca’s basis for argument. She refused to hear any of Belina’s attempts at justifying her actions. She told her that she would hear of it after she had made peace with Richa-rd .
Prisca’s excitement knew no bounds as she bounced expectantly, waiting for Tony to pick up her call. He finally picked.
“Hello honey” she said and turned on motion suddenly due to over-excitement, bu-mping into someone. Her phone left her grasp, falling into ruins on the floor.
The lady she bu-mped into was busy ranting her nee-d for a glas-ses; she was obviously very angry even though it was not her phone that was smashed. She busied herself with picking up her phone but looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of the person she bu-mped into before she left. The face she saw looked familiar but she couldn’t place it. She looked like a doctor with the way she was dressed but something was odd about it. She tried desperately to recollect exactly where she had seen that face and after a few seconds, she opened her mouth slightly in remembr@nce, wondering what that lady could be doing in BRH.
*****
THREE WEEKS AGO
Prisca had left the boutique to meet a long lost college friend in Da Queens h0tel. Patience, her friend, had traveled out of the country immediately after their time in college and had called unexpectedly, announcing her arrival in Nigeria. Prisca had left to meet her excitedly in the h0tel she was lodged, in order to get re-acquainted with her. They were called the P2 by everyone because they went everywhere together.
She arrived at Da Queens h0tel, had a long chit chat with her friend and they were both on their way out when they saw two ladies. Patience had seen them first and whistled silently. Prisca was also taken aback when she saw the ladies. They were almost n-ked. One of them wore a bu-m short knicker which stood the risk of tearing due to her large bu-ms with a tube t©p. The other, which was the most bizarre of them, wore a micro-mini Sk-irt which almost could not do justice to covering her extra-large bu-ms; she had on a see-me-throu-gh t©p which expo-sed the largest p@rt of her double sized bo-ob s. They looked financially comfortable and Prisca could only imagine them in one profession – prostitution.
Patience said she thought that was only done in America and other white countries and Prisca had agreed with her.
*****
Prisca opened her mouth, not really un-derstanding what that harlot was doing in BRP. And in a doctor’s uniform? Belina should be able to explain something.
********************
I stood outside Richa-rd ‘s office seconds after Prisca left, not really sure I should go in. Richa-rd ‘s secretary looked at me curiously but I engaged my thoughts. I pressed the door knob and went in. Richa-rd ‘s head was on the table, I had no idea if he was slee-ping or thinking. Seeing him still made my heart beat quic-ken. I coughed slightly and his head sh0t up.
“I should not have behaved the way I did; I am sorry”. I blurted looking directly at him. He just looked at me, not believing a word I said. He stood up slowly and c@m£ over to stand in front of me. I could see what other women saw in him: he has a pres£nce which beats others. His gaze can make a woman’s knees turn to jelly and make you feel like the most beautiful woman on earth.
He took my hand without a word and led me to the long couch in his office. He gently pushed me to a sitting position, looking into my eyes intermittently.
“You should not have left the hospital be-d; how are you feeling now?” his gentle question made me feel small due to the way I had behaved. The reason for my anger faded out of my memory as I looked into his blue eyes.
“Why did you not tell me we were expecting a baby?” I asked instead of answering him, with tears gathering in my eyes.
He smiled genuinely. “You did not allow me to, baby” he said with his eyes unusually bright. I noticed a tear drop almost escaping his eyes and I was instantly overtaken by emotions. This is not what I want. We nee-d to settle our issues.
“How can I allow you when-”
“Shhhh…”he said, silencing me with his f!nger against myl-ips. “Let me just hold you now, sweet. C’mon” he said, pu-lling me into his arm. All I wanted to say fled as his hands enclosed around me. His fast and steady heartbeat pounded in my ear as I placed my head on his che-st. We remained in this position for a very long time.
“You remember the first time I k!$$£d you? The very first time I held you in my arms as I feasted on your sweet honeyedl-ips?” he asked as he ca-ressed myl-ips with his thumb, ma-king me go crazy with de-sire. How could I not remember such an unforgettable experience? “It was then I vowed not to ever have anything to do with another woman S-xually till death do us p@rt. You repres£nt everything I have ever wanted in a woman. You should trust me honey. Better than you are doing now”. He pu-ll-ed back to gaze into my eyes. The disappointment that was evident in his voice and face to-re at my heart and being. I was confused; totally confused. I did not know what to do or say so I did what I had been wishing he would do.
I k!$$£d him ha-rd on hisl-ips, trying to erase the pain I saw. He held me gently but closely and k!$$£d me hungrily, taking full control. I held on to him as we basked in each other’s hands. The k!ss!nggrew fierce and urgent as his mouth strayed from mine and his hands brou-ght goose bu-mps to my b©dy. Something else would have happened right there, if we hadn’t been interrupted by an insistent knock on the office door.
Richa-rd ignored it and continued k!ss!ngme, I was too distracted to even protest. The knock c@m£ again and he dis£ngaged from me slowly and reluctantly, irritated that we were being disturbe-d. I smiled. The evidence of what we had started was evident on him; on us both.
I stood up and pu-ll-ed Richa-rd out of the couch, I sat on the office chair, adjusting my tussled hair while Richa-rd crossed over to his seat asking his secretary to come in.
Richa-rd ‘s secretary c@m£ in and gave a report of a patient who was rushed into the hospital. Two doctors were alre-ady with the patient but they were requesting Richa-rd ‘s pres£nce because the patient has internal bleeding and might require Richa-rd ‘s skills if he stood a chance of survival. This made Richa-rd jump out of his seat. He k!$$£d me, asked me to take care of myself, ordering me not to move an inch and was out in a flash.
I smiled, feeling a bit better even though we still had a lot of things to settle. I picked up Richa-rd ‘s phone and took it out of standby. The first image that propped up nearly made my eyes pop out of their sockets. It was a picture of Kelvin and I in what seemed like… a hvg?
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 10