The b©dyguard Reloaded –
Episode 9
© Tisa Phiri
Ackim…….
I was busy pla-ying with the twins in the house .
I just loved being around them . Paul the younger one by 4 hours was always fetching much attention than Kim . Him was so much of action , throwing and gr-abbing things everywhere .
Hey guys time for your afternoon nap l shouted leading them to their room after the nanny fed them . We had decided to train them to sleep at defined times and they were getting used to the system , every afternoon they would sleep at exactly at 16 hours , in the night at exactly 20 hours, mid morning at 10 hours . Sometimes Paula complained that l treat them like they are in the military. I would tell her, they were to grow up with discipline .
They fall asleep and l heard my phone beep , l had received a whatsapp text . l ignored my phone and went to watch some soccer putting it besides me . l knew Paula was with Serah . She told me she had to take her somewhere but l cared less to ask her where to . Her friend was getting on my nerves but l had to bear with her since l knew she was going back in a few days .
At half time l opened my phone to check the text and my hands felt numb as l scrolled down seeing the ph0tos of Paula with Jay her ex b©yfri£nd. l knew the guy was a nut but l didn’t anticipate her falling back in his arms . The first one, he was hvgging her, the second he leaned forward and k!$$£d her and the last one he l@yon t©p of her on the be-d . My heart pounded fast l felt it would bur-st inside me . My hands shook and l dropped the phone , l was powerless . Oh God what is happening l whispered standing up . I picked the phone and looked at them again , they c@m£ from a strange number and l couldn’t recognise it .
I paced around the room not really knowing what to do my heart pounding . l folded my fist and ru-bbe-d in on my other hand , anger building up . l felt desperate .
I nee-ded to hit something so ha-rd to feel relieved , gr-abbing the keys l walked outside to the car and speed off to the gym .
Hey Ackim, the owner called me out, Hey man l responded . l nee-d to work out really ha-rd , l told him removing my p@n-ts and putting on shorts .
I spent the rest of the afternoon hitting and lifting weights not even keeping track of time . by the time l was done it was past 18 hours .
I went to the wash room and stood un-der the shower letting water fall on me as my mind thought of paula . l loved her with everything l had . l ha-rd done my best to love her and show her all the care ,what have l done wrong ? I asked myself my heart bleeding .
Wasn`t l man enough for her to fall back into the hands of of her ex ?
I recalled the time l went out to have some time out with my friends the previous year , one of the boys warned me to be careful . She`s h0t man and has money, and you are not so much close to what she has . Pray she loves you much man he added .
I know my woman loves me guys , l trust her she’s not like that . l know how she is . She accepts me and would do things for me than anyone else would not .
I felt so disappointed as l drove home from the gym . l thought of going to the bar to have a drink up and get wasted but then l changed my mind . l nee-ded to stay calm and focused so l went straight home and worked on my facial expression .
Hey babe , Paula called me out from the kitchen where the maid was preparing supper . Hey love l faked a smile . She walked to me and k!$$£d me on thel-ips .
So how did it go with your friend ? I asked her as l inhaled her strange scent . l could tell there was some man perfume on her which made me mad but l still stayed calm .
It was okey she answered walking back to the kitchen avoiding my eyes .
I see , l told her so were is she ? I asked gr-abbing an apple from the fruit rack .
Um she’s coming later babe , she had to do something in town . She told me wiping some plate and placing on the table to serve the table .
After supper l went straight to see the twins and saw them to be-d . l sat on the couch lost in thoughts . lt felt bad to look at Paula and stay calm , my mind was screaming that l act but l convinced myself to stay calm .
She c@m£ to the room and found me leaning back on the couch my eyes closed . She c@m£ on t©p of me and whispered ,hey soldier the kids are asleep now lets go to be-d . l looked at her and sighed , babe do you love me ? I asked seriously .
What kind of question is that Ackim ? she snapped .
Oh , am sorry love , l just want to hear it , l told her in a low tone ru-bbing my head on her che-st as she sat on me .
Yes babe , l love you so much and you know that . Why did you ask it in that way ? She asked lifting her head to look at me .
How ? I asked seriously.
Like that , she said pointing at my face , look here Ackim l know you . Something is not okey , can you tell me what is eating you up ? she asked me .
Am okey babe l gues l over worked at the gym l lied and l wanted my wife to tell me she loved me and you are answering like you don’t like me asking you that . l told her holding her f!ngers.
Am sorry babe come on let’s go to our room now , she whispered k!ss!ngmy ears . l nee-d us to continue celebr@ting our new home .
Yeah let’s go , l said lifting her and putting her down .
I let her do her thing on me even when l wasn’t feeling like being inti-mate with her. My b©dy obeyed her and we made love , it wasn`t as exciting though .
I woke up in the middle of the night , she was fast asleep her hair covered her face . l carefully pushed it aside leaving her sleepy face open and k!$$£d her . l felt tears run down my face . l loved the woman before me with everything l had and it hurt so much .
Why did you do this to me love? I imagined her in the arms of another man and it hurt so much . l whispered c@r£ss!ngher hair . l trusted you so much Paula . You have taken away my pride as a man .
I had never anticipated feeling what l was feeling for a woman before . l spent the whole night pacing around the house untill l finally fall asleep on the couch in the twins be-droom .
The b©dyguard Reloaded – Episode 10
© Tisa Phiri
Paula…..
Waking up, l extended my hand to t©uçh Ackim, but my hand fall on a blank space. I opened my eyes to look at my side he wasnt there . l turned to look at the watch on the table besides the be-d , it was 05 am. I sat up and peeped throu-gh the bathroom door which was slightly open , he wasn`t there.
“where is this man ?” l whispered wra-pping the go-wn on myself as l went out of the be-droom .
” In the kids be-droom.” l thought to myself when l found the sitting room empty.
He was de-eply asleep, his phone in his hands , l shook my head . Something was really up with him . l had noticed how sad he looked the previous night though he pretended to be calm ,
“maybe he knows l went to see Jay ” l thought but then how could he have known ?
I took his phone which was almost sliding down and as l thought of putting it aside the screen opened , showing some picture file . with shock l slid throu-gh the ph0tos and l was shocked , my heart skipped ..
“what ? who s£nt this?” l spoke up , waking Ackim who was asleep . He woke up and looked at me opening his eyes slightly. without a word he watched me for a couple of seconds and stood up.
“Ackim what is this ?” I asked him,
“whats what ?” He asked seriously looking at me.
“I was hoping you would tell me Paula” he answered. I could see the pain in his eyes , he was hurting and now l un-derstood his behavior the previous night .
“Oh babe am…. am sorry but this is not what you think l just um… ” I stammered , l had no words to tell him . How would l tell him l went to console my ex b©yfri£ndwho was so drun!kand he pushed me around trying to convince me to get back to him? How would l tell him l fought him when he tried to k!ssme and make me remember what we had ? I felt hopeless , my heart broken too . l knew l should have not trusted Serah and Jay. I definitely knew it was Serah , otherwise no one except the two of us and Jay knew about our meeting the previous day.
“Don’t take me for a fool Paula” l heard Ackim tell me his voice with so much firmness and sad that l felt shivers on my b©dy.
“Someone s£nt me that yesterday and it so happens at the same time you were supposed to be with Serah God knows where. Am not man enough for you Paula?” He asked his eyes we-t .
“How could you do this to me? we are not even a month old in marriage and you fall back in the hands of that man. Is that why you called him here so that you dump me weeks after our wedding ?” He snapped angrily.
“Ackim , plea-se don’t say that, plea-se you have to trust me l didn’t do anything plea-se un-derstand.” l cried holding his face .
” l love you so much and l swear l can never cheat on you. I don’t love Jay and l have no reason whatsoever to get back with him , we have kids together Ackim and have been throu-gh a lot together. How could you accuse me of cheating ? ” I asked tears running down my face.
“Accuse you ?” He asked looking away,
“am now accusing uh? tell me one thing Paula, did you or did you not go to that man`s h0tel room ?” He asked sternly . The look in his eyes was killing me . He dropped my hands and stepped back, he didn’t look like my Ackim. Clearly he didn’t trust me and was so angry .
“Babe, plea-se calm down” l said instead of answering his question , and he walked out leaving me standing . l followed him but he ban-ged the door behind him in my face , l startled .
“Babe come back here plea-se!” l ran after him as he gr@bb£d the keys to the range rover and went out .
I sat down the couch powerless.
“Oh God what have l done now ?” I cried so much. I had hurt the man who l didn’t just love but he was everything to me. I wished l had not listened to Serah and my life would have been different .
Flash back…..
I had no idea the h0tel room Jay was in and Serah told me the room number. We went there at Protea h0tel were Jay was booked in and Serah insisted l went in alone . “Come on Serah, how will people look at me if i go into the h0tel room alone ?” I asked her shaking my head.
” Hey don’t tell me married people cannot walk into h0tels , come on , Paula st©p acting like a child . Go in and do what we c@m£ for here. Sti-p that man from killing himself” she pushed me out of the car . l gave her a look and walked away to the entrance .
I found Jay`s room slightly open and from the entrance l saw bottles of beer on the floor. I pushed the door and found him laying back on the be-d a bottle of wine in his hands .
“Jay what is happening here ?” I asked him standing next to him .
“Paula” he sighed looking at me and smiling wi-dely .
“Wow ! Heavens are real for sure , it has brou-ght back my woman” he added sitting up .
“Excuse me dear am not here to entertain you , don`t be silly Jay you have to un-derstand l am not coming back to you . Not today, not tomorrow and not ever.” l told him firmly.
” Am married and l love my man with everything that l am. So whatever you plan of doing here is all in vain. Instead of thinking of killing yourself start thinking of going back to Australia, go back home Jay.”
“mmmmmmmmh l see ” he said smiling,
” if you did love him that much you wouldn’t be here right now, come on baby, you and me are meant to be, remember we were together for 5 years ,there is no way you can just throw away what we had.” he added standing up and facing me.
“We were happy Paula. You and me..”
“Hmm , l see you are lost Jay am not lying when l tell you l love Ackim, and you are right l shouldn`t be here, and for your own information those 5 years were not happy for me , you were always cheating with other women remember?” I told him and brushed off his hand .
“That idiot has spoiled you Paula” he doesn’t deserve you.
“Just dump him and leave the babies with him, then you and me can fly back to Austrilia.” he said moving close to me .
“I can’t believe this, here l am thinking something serious was going on, and that you wanted to kill yourself or something. Now l know you and Serah are idiots who are here to make my life difficult , am out of here Jay and plea-se don’t you dare come back to my home and text me in the night like you have been doing , go back to your country alre-ady!” l added as l turned away to leave.
He pu-ll-ed me back and f0rç£d a k!sson me .
“What the hell Jay !” l snapped sl@pping him ha-rd . He staggered and stepped back and gr@bb£d me back pushing me to the be-d, he c@m£ on t©p of me whispering ,
“plea-se Paula don’t do this to me” he pleaded trying to place hisl-ips on me .
“Leave me now Jay or l will scream” l said kicking him ha-rd on his groins. He winced in pain and sat up and l took off after hitting him twice in the face leaving him wearing a stupid smile as l left for the door .
” Don’t you dare come near me again you j£rk! ” l shouted angrily.
I found Serah seated calmly scrolling something on her phone. “You b***h! you set me up with that fool of a man!” l shouted at her. “What now ?” She responded innocently .
“So this was your plan uh? you lied Jay was about to do something stupid and l fall for the lie meanwhile you had something else in mind ? Get out of my car!” l screamed opening the pas-s£nger seat
” and let me tell you Serah, as of today you are out of my house!” l added as l got into the driver`s seat.
” Just come for your things tomorrow and go to the airport first thing in the morning, your business here is over!” l added and took off.
I was so upset l parked in town for some few minutes to calm down. I thought of telling Ackim what happened but knowing his temper l knew he would react bad and he would kill him . l composed myself wiped my face and walked to the house.
Ackim wasn’t around and checking his closet l noticed his gym clothes werent in there , l as-sumed he had gone to the gym like he did most of the afternoons. l felt relieved cause facing him right that moment could have given me away. I watched a do¢v-mentary on TV with the twins for an hour and decided to help the maid prepare supper..
He walked in an hour later and his look was sad , l didn`t want to push it that night asking him things when l had something burning up as well , all l wanted was being in his arms and l sle-pt happy knowing l had him close enough .
………….
I sighed coming back to the pres£nt,
“so Serah set me up. l thought she ended on wasting my time . Little did l know the whole thing was a scam to capture ph0tos and s£nd to Ackim , my God what have l done?” l cried.
The maid c@m£ to ask me if she could help me with anything and l asked her to sit down.
“Come here , take care of the babies I might del@ycoming back. make sure they are okey” l added walking to the be-droom .
l changed into a dress and flat sleepers. I had to find Ackim l thought to myself. He was hurting and he could end up doing something crazy. I had to explain everything as it was and save my marriage,
“l swear you will get to hear me Serah!” l whispered as l joined the road from the yard.
To be continued