#TENDER_BEAUTY_2 (Life after the wedding)
EPISODE 8
Richa-rd got to his office to pick up his phone and call his dad, Tony, Prisca, everyone his mind could think of; but reason took over him. His wife had to know about her pregnancy before any other person. Besides, she is the pregnant person. He terribly wanted to explode, so, he exploded to God by thanking him and thanking him until he was sure God had acknowledged his appreciations.
He made for BRP Hospital to take everything Belina had brou-ght to the office. He would surely not allow her lift a f!nger. As soon as she awakens, his work for the day would be over because he would take her home to take care of her properly even if she wrestled with him due to their earlier fight, he vowed.
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Kelvin had been sitting in the mini reception room preceding Belina’s office in BRP Hospital for over thirty minutes. He had been waiting for Belina but luck was definitely against him today. Even though he hadn’t planned with Oyin and her accomplice to meet with Belina today, he felt he had to rekindle the fire of the love they had once shared hastily before it was too late. Seeing Belina had erupted emotions he had tried ha-rd to bury and he vowed to claim her back. He had used his own hands to destroy the wonderful love they had and he intended on creating it back.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Richa-rd said throu-gh gritted teeth as he stared at the last person he wanted to see.
Kelvin rose up and faced his adversary.
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Oyinade got back to her office groggily. She had developed a splitting headache immediately she got that shocking message from Doctor Felix. Pregnant? How can that stupid witch be pregnant? She wondered. She paced her office wondering what spirit was at work. She could not un-derstand why everything always gets complicated whenever she arrived at a little level of victory. She had expected many things to happen; the most expected was an open fight featuring Richa-rd and Belina. She had expected everything to get scattered and messy between them while she pla-yed innocent, lamenting her guilt to Richa-rd with a sober face; none of these were to happen though.
She sat down and stood again. She seriously wanted to strangle the n£¢k of that woman. She can’t be pregnant, she hummed in her head. Not when things were working in her favour. Not when she had alre-ady gone this far. She left her office, asked a few questions from a nurse and within seconds, she was on her way to the room Belina was admitted. It might be good to pl@yon her emotions.
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Prisca inspected the stock, with one of her sales girls giving account. She had quit her stressful banking job when she was expecting Patricia. The job was too much to handle and Tony, who had been on her tail as to leaving the job, had f0rç£d her to resign when she was heavy. She however hadn’t regretted her actions because Tony made it up to her and ensured that she did not sit idle at home doing nothing; something she hated with pas-sion. He had opened a boutique for her where she sold all kinds of clothes. She had a section for native materials and another for normal day to day clothes, majorly office wears. The boutique was practically the biggest and most patronized of all the boutiques around. Her profit was so breathtaking and she soon started regretting the years she had spent in the bank with practically nothing to show for it. After going throu-gh all the stock, she noted the goods they nee-ded to order and asked the girl to place the order. They couldn’t afford to be out of stock.
She trusts her sales girls to be truthful because she had learnt that you have to treat your workers well if you want your business to move on smoothly. She paid them well, better than you would expect a sales girl to be paid. She paid them weekly because she knew that she stands the danger of theft and bad accountability from her girls if they had to wait till the end of the month for their salary. Her girls’ dressing has always been impeccable and they never lacked anything clothing because she always gave pairs of clothes each to her sales girls whenever they placed a major order for clothes to their suppliers. The girls always pu-ll-ed customers, inviting everyone they could in order that they may have a cause to place order. Even people with more descent and high ranking jobs were jealous of her girls because they were working with such ease, looking so good every time, being well paid and doing things even they couldn’t do with money.
Prisca went into her office happy that her business was booming and also that her staff were happy. They loved her dearly and she always had pri-vate discussions with them from time to time, finding out what was going on with them and offering words of advice. Her mind had been on Belina since yesterday though. She didn’t know why but she felt something was going on with her. She had always had that bond with her ever since they were best friends, knowing nothing about their relativity. She called her phone and pinged her severally but she was not responding. She decided to go over to BRP Hospital. She knew from experience that she shouldn’t ignore her inner promptings.
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Kelvin glared at Richa-rd with measured hatred. His hatred for this man had grown over a period of time and he could feel his de-sire for a physical combat increasing as he stared at the arrogant idiot. Richa-rd stood tall with confidence and strength. His face was a veiled expression of what he was feeling on the inside. He had the ability to look calm at the battle front, with his face revea-ling no emotional feeling at all; this single trait made him look more dangerous no matter the opponent her faced. His build also always gave him the upper hand considering his athletic build.
His de-sire to deal with Kelvin had never left him but now that he had the opportunity to satisfy that de-sire, he realized that he could not bring down his reputation by stooping to his level. He deliberately blinked his eyes slowly as he re-emphasized his question.
“I said, what in Hades are you doing here?” his voice increasing with steel.
“I am here to see Belina. Is there any crime in that? Or does her marriage to you restrict her from having visitors?” Kelvin replied, spoiling for a fight. Richa-rd did not move a muscle and his face still possessed no emotion, giving Belina’s secretary a slight shiver.
“Is there any problem sir?” she asked her oga at the t©p.
“Yes. It seems our young man here has lost his way” he replied not facing her. Then to Kelvin, “I would give you the grace of moving your filthy self out of here before I have men bundle you out”.
Kelvin shifted as if to ascertain that his two feet were firmly rooted, then glared. “I would like to see you dare”
Richa-rd smiled. “I was actually hoping you would say that”. Before Kelvin could blink, he was surrounded by three hefty men. He was oblivious of the time Richa-rd pressed the secret bu-tton of his phone.
“You would pay for this” he growled as he was picked up by one of the men, struggling, kicking and screaming like a little child, disgracing himself by behaving like a tout. It was Richa-rd ‘s turn to say, not aloud but to himself. “I would like to see you dare”.
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Prisca arrived at Best Results the exact time Kelvin was being bundled out. She parked her car just in time to see the hefty guy drop him like a bag of beans. Her surprise and bewilderment did not st©p her from going over, in fact, it made her move fas-ter. Kelvin was busy raining curses on the men who just turned back and left him there, foaming. She covered the distance separating them with quic-k strides; her concern not on his welfare though.
“Kelvin” she breathed, thinking her eyes might be betraying her.
He spun like an automatic machine with a glare stamped on his face. On sighting Prisca, his frown and anger seemed to de-epen.
“What un-der heaven do you think you are doing here?” she asked alarmed.
Kelvin hissed. “Have I not had enough of that ridiculous question? What else do you think I am doing here?” he growled.
The ever bold Prisca can never be bullied by anyone, no matter the size. She folded her arms. “If you think you can create havoc in a peaceful home by pres£nting your infuriating self, you have me to deal with. Do you un-derstand?”
Kelvin laughed. “Yeah, right; the tigress. No wonder you and Belina are siblings; birds of a feather. You are just opportunists. Tell me: how were you able to plant yourselves in the houses of rich men? You are bloody gold diggers.”
Prisca’s hand hit his face ha-rd , ma-king him unbalanced for a few seconds. He had never hit a woman before but he couldn’t take this. He started lifting up his hand to retaliate.
“You try it, it would be the last thing you do” Richa-rd said, approaching from behind. “I would personally pummel your filthy self with my hands until your face becomes a living mess.”
The anger was fully displa-yed on Richa-rd ‘s face now and with one glance, Kelvin knew that what he just said would come to pas-s if he as much as tried to prove stubborn. He gave both of them equal rounds of glare, and then he bounced off, leaving Prisca and Richa-rd staring at his wake.
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I opened my eyes feeling slight discomfort. I had become used to the hospital environment and having patients on sick be-ds since my husband is a first-clas-s doctor but being the one on the be-d is not something I am fond of. I tried to sit up and succeeded with slight discomfort. I felt it was awkward and a little surprising that Richa-rd was not with me. My memory was not lost, I was intact, so I could remember vividly, what happened before I pas-sed out. It hurt de-eply remembering but a p@rt of me still wanted Richa-rd around now. Does it mean I have actually lost him? It can’t happen. I would fight for him with the whole of my might. All these went throu-gh my mind as I tried in vain to lift myself off the be-d. I felt too weak and knew that if I could even muster strength to stand, I would fall.
I suddenly felt a pres£nce in the room even before the door closed. I knew it was not Richa-rd though, I would know his approach any day anytime. I turned, thinking it would be one of the doctors but it wasn’t. My gaze collided with Oyinade’s and in place of a doctor, I saw a harlot. I deliberately kept my cool, not giving her the hint of victory by getting all worked up; something I learnt from Richa-rd . She hasn’t won. In fact, she is far from winning; I said to myself. He is my husband and if I am still Belina, she has no place in his heart, I vowed.
I smiled coyly, hiding my de-sire to jump out of the be-d and tear off the filthy-looking wig she had on. “What do you want?” I asked with veiled nonchalance.
She seemed surprised and confused but she composed herself.
“Ma’am, I just want to apologize for what you saw the other time. It would never happen again.” She breathed looking guilty.
I smiled. “I am sure it wouldn’t dear; very sure”.
Again, that confused look flashed throu-gh her face. “Madam” she continued with a struggle. “I know you must hate me now. You have every right to. I did not want to agree to it when he proposed it. I wanted to refuse but I could not control my heart” she said with tears brimming in her eyes.
My interest was pricked. “Agree to what?” I asked attentively.
She sniffed. “He said you couldn’t give him a child. He truly loves you and he did not want to pressurize you so he c@m£ to meet me. He wanted a child in order to plea-se his father who was becoming concerned. I did not agree at first because I love him.” She paused as if to see my reaction. I gave none as I stared at her not betraying any emotion. “Yes ma’am. I have loved him even before I actually met him. I have seen him times without number on TV and I have developed undying feelings for him, and though I tried to kill it, I only ended up increasing my de-sires for him. I did not want to destroy your family but in the end, working with him seemed more than I bargained for, and the heart goes where the heart goes.
“I wanted to be with him even if it is just for a moment and also bear his child. I had refused ever since he told me and had been pestering me, but today, I was just confessing my love for him when you saw us.” She paused, trying to st©p her tears. She hurriedly held my hand, kneeling down. “plea-se don’t tell him. He made me promise not to tell you but I could not bear the hatred with which you looked at me. He loves you and I respect that even though it hurts me. You are a woman like me and I know how you feel now but plea-se, don’t take him away from me. My heart won’t take that. What he wants to do would help you too. In our place we have an adage that says, ‘ori omo ni n pe omo waye’, meaning, ‘a child’s head can call another child to life’. Maybe when I bear him a child, you would too. Don’t take him away from me. I love him and can’t bear to lose him” she pleaded and left the room in a hurry as if escaping.
I had heard more than enough, too much in one day. My head was spinning and the room was going round in circles. I pushed myself back to a lying position. I stilled my eyes, sternly preventing the emergence of tears but I could not hold them back as they c@m£ tumbling down.
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 9