Chapter 006: Daily Realities

The morning of the following day, Dante pulled the blanket off his body slowly before rising lazily to sit on his double, 75-inch bed.

He wiped his face and looked up to check the wall clock. It's was 7:30 am.

With a sudden agility, he brushed one of the pillows aside and rolled down from the bed as he headed straight into the bathroom.

After taking a cold shower and returning from the bathroom to dress up for work, his nostrils immediately caught the whiff of a really good scent seeping through his bedroom door.

He stopped to sniff the air more thoroughly and rolled his eyes pleasantly, his mouth watered with saliva.

It was just what he had suspected it to be; the smell of something delicious cooking.

He tilted his head to one side in mild perplexity, wondering where the source of the smell could be.

The last time he checked, he had no maid. But that thought did not persist for long, because in about two seconds after that, it suddenly came to his remembrance, the fact that he had just gotten married a day before.

"Lyra?" He muttered inquiringly to himself.

He smoothened his tie and bent down quickly to slip on his shoes before proceeding out of his room in a hurry, heading for the kitchen.

Dante gently pushed the door to the kitchen open, and the moment he entered, a thicker version of the scent he perceived earlier in his room slapped his nostrils. He swallowed hungrily.

In front of him, Lyra was crouched devotedly, wearing his personal apron and setting the dishes on a tray. She seemed so engrossed in what she was doing to the extent that she barely even noticed that she was no longer alone in the kitchen.

He shook his head indulgently and moved forward slowly. Then, when he was close enough, he tapped on her shoulder gently, which made her react sharply, rising at once, looking quite shocked to see him.

"I'm sorry I scared you." He waved to calm her down.

"That was fast," she said, now looking a bit relieved.

"How was your night." He asked with his voice sounding a bit cracked.

"Not bad." She said, stooping and going back to the plates she was setting.

She casually looked up to say.

"I was just about to serve breakfast when you came in. Why don't you hang around in the dining room? I will be right with you."

"Nah." Dante waved meekly even though his intestines were already rumbling within.

"I am almost late for work, maybe next time." He added.

Lyra glanced at him again, realizing for the first time since he entered that he was in his full office dress.

Then, in silence, she returned to her initial posture, grabbed one food flask from a corner, and turned the meal inside one of the ovenproof dishes into it. Then she stood up to hand Dante the flask.

I guess you'll just eat it when you get to work then, " She said, her eyes fixed on the floor

"Thanks." He muttered with a plain face collecting the flask from her.

"Thank you for the money yesterday." She appreciated wearing an expression that was equally just as plain.

"An agreement is an agreement." Dante blurted stiffly in response.

"Hmm." Lyra nodded silently, grabbed a separate lunch box, and finally proceeded to leave.

~~~

Lyra visited the hospital later that morning. When she entered the hospital ward, she met Aria standing beside Felix's bed. Lyra glanced from her to Felix worried and surprised that he was still in this ward instead of at the surgical ward.

"Aria, what happened? Did it still go through? Is he okay, is he...."

"Yes, Lyra." Aria cut in with a calm, gentle smile.

"We did it, They did the surgery. He is fine."

Lyra gasped and sighed in relief, with her eyes now resting on Felix's body, who was still asleep on the bed.

"So fast?" She asked, turning back to Aria with lines crisscrossing her forehead.

"The doctor immediately carried it out last night as soon as we got the money. Felix survived Lyra... we did it." She whispered triumphantly.

Lyra rushed towards her, and they both merged tightly in an embrace.

"Oh my God, I can't believe this." Lyra kept muttering.

The door to the ward opened again, and one of the nurses came in with a tray.

Lyra detached from Aria, turning to the nurse to thank her as well.

"I'm so grateful. Send my words of thanks to the doctor and everyone." She said with her hands clasped.

The nurse smiled indulgently and replied;

"It's our job madam, you're welcome.”

After their exit from the hospital, Aria dropped Lyra at her place of work; the pattern-making company.

She had been absent from duty for some days now and was inwardly hoping her boss's outburst would not be so grave. Even though she was expecting it to be quite caustic, particularly after their last encounter at the gala party.

And so it was that when she finally entered into the large hall occupied at different corners with several other uniformly dressed colleagues segmented into separate groups. Each of them working on one project to the other.

Lyra had barely taken another step inside when the stout figure of Kennedy her boss suddenly emerged from one of the offices, and she stiffened at once.

"What are you doing back here? Hunh? I said what? I was thinking maybe you must have switched from a waitress to a brothel worker. I mean, is there anything you don't do these days?" He mocked.

A low murmur rose in the background, and the other workers looked up from their various working points.

Lyra held her breath, bracing herself for the incoming embarrassment as Kennedy's voice rose louder and louder.

"Tell me, how many men did you hook up with last night?! Did they also pay better than we do? Well, I guess not. Else, you wouldn't be back here."

"I'm sorry," Lyra whispered, swallowing her shame, unable to defend herself.

Someone had even cackled at the rare end just behind Kennedy. Yet there was nothing she could say or do to counter his false accusations. She didn't want to annoy him further. She was ready to take in all the humiliation and more, if possible, just to get her job back. That was all that mattered now.

"What's that?" Kennedy's voice suddenly drew her back to the present again. When she looked up, she noticed he was staring doubtfully at the silver ring on her finger.

"Where did you get that? Who gave you? Oh, from one of your customers, I guess."

The cackling in the background increased.

Lyra shook her head silently to say, "No."

"Did you steal it then?" He asked again.

"I didn't steal it. It was a gift." Lyra answered sharply, turning back to him and struggling to remain polite.

"A gift?" He repeated with a smirk

" Don't tell me your dying husband bought it?"

"My husband is not dying. His surgery was a success." Lyra corrected in a rush, taking the ring off her finger and pushing it into her jean’s pocket.

"So how did you get the money for that?" Kennedy continued, not yet ready to relent.

"Let me guess, you sold your kidney? Do you really think that man is worth all that stress?"

"I didn't sell my organ, sir. His family helped us out." She mumbled

"Oh,"

Kennedy exclaimed, watching with a superior smile, enjoying the responses to the attacks he had made so far on her self-esteem. When he felt like he had satisfied himself enough.

He shrugged and said;

"By the way, have it at the back of your mind that if I'm letting you back here, then you have to be prepared to make up for all the days you missed. Now run along to room 25. All outstanding projects have been piled up for you."

Then, he gestured at the small room that terminated the hall.

Lyra bowed and left going over to perch on one of the stools in the said room, deftly pulling out a chain of interlocking beads from one of the drawers while she worked on it. Lyra tried to maintain focus on her work, particularly because she needed to finish up before the end of the day in order not to arm Kennedy with enough armor for extra complaints.

Meanwhile, Dante arrived at his company headquarters moments before, clutching the lunch bag that was used to wrap up the food flask he brought to work.

The minute he marched through the sliding doors of the first floor, all the staff members on that floor gestured their various greetings courteously and almost fearfully. He waved placidly at the barrage of "Good morning sir" and "Welcome, sir." He was hearing from left and right before walking straight into his private elevator at the rear.

The elevator ascended, stopped, and opened into the hallway that led to his office and immediately Dante came out, the first person he saw waiting right outside the door was the curvy, suited-up figure of Mandy his secretary.

"Good morning, sir." She greeted loyally, collecting his briefcase and lunchbag from him.

Once they were inside his office, Mandy turned back to him, holding out the polythene bag that had the food flask.

"Sir, where should I keep this?"

Dante waved casually.

"Don't worry, you can have it." He said immediately, bowing to focus on the files on his desk.

"Thank you, sir." Maddy curtsied.

Then she gestured at the document Dante had just picked up from his desk.

"Those documents are from the marketing department, sir. Also, Mr Lucas called earlier, asking me to tell you to approve his document."

Dante looked up from the file and smirked.

"Of course, I already commented on his document, stating categorically that it can't be approved. The amount he mentioned here is outrageous."

While he was still speaking to her, his phone suddenly vibrated on the desk.

He paused and picked it up to check. And just as expected, it was his grandmother. Calling at this time had become a ritual for her, but thank God, all that was certainly coming to an end today.

"Yes, grandma, good morning." He greeted with a knowing expression on his face.

"Dante, so I was watching this couples show yesterday. Do you know that Elvis, your playmate is already mar..."

"I'm married, grandma. we will visit you this weekend." Dante blurted out. at once, interrupting her and feeling so good about it.

There was silence at the other end of the line for a moment. Then suddenly, his grandma's echoed back again.

"Married? You got married without telling your family?" She asked with a shuddering incredulous tone.

"Which family?" Dante queried without hesitation.

"My dad? Or my mum?" Look, I don't want to stress you, grandmother," He said.

His grandmother became quiet for a moment, and a heavy suspense hung between them.

“Dante.” She spoke again finally, addressing him by his first name, which was something she rarely did.

“This girl, this…erm…mysterious wife of yours. Who is she? What family does she come from? Do you know her background well enough?” His grandma asked all at once.

“I..I eh..” Dante stammered, allowing his voice trail off so he could think properly.

For the first time since he got married, it suddenly occurred to him that he had done little or no checks on Lyra's background before their wedding. He had taken everything she told him merely by word of mouth.

“Dante? Are you still there?” His Grandma’s voice brought him back to the present.

“Oh no, I mean, yes..yes,” He responded incoherently, blinking multiple times

while he was still racking his brain for the next to say. Grandmother's voice came again, but this time around, it was laced with a tone that bore nothing but calm finality.

“We are going to run a thorough check on this wife of yours. Only after then will the family recognize you both as a couple until then you're still single to us. Ensure to stop by at the house first thing after you close from work.” She declared finally.