Jina felt at peace after clearing her doubts. She straightened up her shoulders and stood in front of the full-length mirror that stood near the dressing table. With a gleaming face, she admired her reflection in full capacity. There was a vivacity of beauty and gracefulness in her appearance. In a moment, she strides across the room and pokes around for a hankie that was slightly covered by her pink duvet and struts back. She wiped her face and suddenly her eyes were drawn to the picture flame that stood on the dresser. This, she and Richard had taken on their wedding day. She gazes at it for a couple of minutes in adoration.
"I would never be able to smile again if I lost you, Richard." She said, dabbing it with her hand. She was still admiring its details when she heard a knock at the door. Jina briskly placed it back in its position and composed herself on her bed.
"Yes, come in." She said, drawing her gaze to the door in anticipation. Mellisa turned on the latch and the door slowly opened. At the sight of her daughter, Jina smiled sweetly.
"Oh, it's you, my dear!"She had a noticeable unusual amazing expression on her face. There was a soft light in her eyes. The beam of light that spread in her room seemed to flow and flourish through her heart. Melissa was bewildered. She trotted towards her and wrinkled her pretty face.
"Mum, you look happy. This way your face is beaming is a clear verification that you are delighted."
said Mellisa with verve.
"I am, my dear." She said with vitality and smiled. Melissa approached her excitedly and sat beside her. The expression on her face proclaims her curiosity to know the cause of her mother's pleasure.
"Tell me, mom," she insists," what's the secret?" Jina fixes her stare with a smiling face.
"How can I tell you, my dear, that your dad is the reason for my joy? Will you be able to understand me? No, you won't. You are too young and narrow-minded. Only when you are old enough to fall in love will you be able to comprehend such matters of the heart." She scratched her head and thought. After meditation, she turned to her daughter and darted a smile of dry amusement and pursued,
"What secret? Is there any reason why I should be sad?" She asked with her eyebrows knitted and smirked. There was an easement in her heart. With her flabby arm, she pulled her closer and cuddled her hair and smiled tenderly.
Seeing that her goading wasn't leading anywhere, Mellisa shrugged her shoulders and veered to a different conversation.
"Don't you want to watch the next series of your soap? It will commence in two minutes. If you will excuse me, I will take my leave. I don't want to miss a pinch of it." "Alright, I will join you in a minute, baby." She spoke with much passion and vitality. Her daughter leapt off and walked out of the door hopping down the stairs. Jina turned and gazed at the image again and licked her lips.
"I hope you come home soon, honey," she muttered and then headed downstairs delightfully.
Mercy hears the sound of her mom's footsteps and shifts her position while Mellisa strides to the kitchen to alert Esther, who is preparing dinner.
"Are you almost done," Mellisa, asked? Esther was chopping vegetables. She went across and checked on the rice that was steaming. With a spoon, she shovels a little rice and tastes.
"Yeah, in a few minutes, this will be ready. " she nodded in affirmation.
"Ok, and the tea, have you put some in the flask? Dad always takes tea before going to bed." Esther fumbles around nervously for a small pan. Her cousin, gauging that she still had many irons in the fire, decided to lend a hand.
"Wait," she interrupted, taking the percolator from her," I'll do it. Feel free to ask me about anything, Ok?" Esther nodded and smiled.
"Just make sure the vegetables are well prepared. They are mom's favourite." Mellisa's simplicity and friendliness amazed her. The traits in her are greatly opposed to her mother's. She stared at her adorably and nodded agreeably,
"Ok." It was obvious she was tense. Everything was still strange to her. It would take her time to orient in this whole new environment. She however was grateful that her cousin was able to help.
Jina enters the living room and finds Mercy watching a cartoon movie.
"Baby, I'll have to interrupt your pleasure," she said with a broad smile.
"It's ok, mom. I was feeling bored anyway." She reckoned to embrace her new toy. Jina walks over and turns on her channel. She lies down on a couch and pillows herself with one of the scattered cushions.
"Mom, I'll bring you some tea," said Mercy, placing the soft toy she held in her hand on the couch. Jina loved taking tea while watching. It was obvious that she would sooner or later ask for it.
"No need," Jina curtailed her and called Esther instead.
"Esther..." she yelled. Mercy pouts slightly and moves an ounce forward. Jina noticed that her daughter insisted on proceeding to the kitchen. There was a glint of anger in her eyes.
"Sit down and watch with me." She said, gesturing to her former seat."But…"
"Don't insist, dear. You can't be doing the work of a servant when I pay her to do her job," she said and wrinkled her nose.
Mercy sat down with hesitancy. Her mother's attitude puzzled her. Esther was Jina's niece but why was she treating her like a stranger? She couldn't approve of Jina's obnoxious behaviour towards her close blood relation. With her luminous eyes, she gazed at her mom contemptuously, her heart filled with discontent.
"Esther hearing her auntie's voice unnerved her. Her heart thumped fast. The hair on her head stood on end.
"Hurry up! She's impatient." Mellisa implored. Soon she notices that Esther's hands were dripping with water and stops her," Wait," she proffered her a wiper to clean her hands." Esther's hands tremble as she lunges for it. Mellisa strokes her shoulder and encourages her, "don't worry, soon you will get used to her." I know mom isn't easy to get along with. She's sometimes impossible!" She told herself.
"Don't worry, I know she's difficult to deal with, but I am here for you, hmh!" Said Melissa smiling but inward she knew that it wouldn't be so easy for her.
"Esther nods nervously and walks out of the kitchen and struts to the living room.
As soon as Jina notices her, she turns her face away in distaste as though she had seen excrement. The poor girl advances and kneels in front of her.
"Auntie, you called me." Jina turns and glares at her resentfully. Esther cowers and keeps rubbing her hands jittery. Jina sniffs and wrinkles her nose.
"What's that vile smell, ugh? Did you take a shower, God! You stink…" With a grimace she blokes her nose with a cushion.
"Mom!" Mercy stares at her mother disdainfully.
"What? Isn't it true that she's smelling like rotten meat right now?"
Esther hangs her head in humiliation and her eyes glisten with tears.
"Mom, why are you like this? Why treat people as if they are some piece of trash?" Mercy's eyes became wet as she spoke. Jina heaved in anger. Her daughter's reproach provoked her. With gross hatred in her eyes, she chases Esther out of the room to go and scrub her body. The poor creature storms out and moves back to the kitchen. Tears streamed down her face. There was only despair in her heart. She ran into Mellisa at the entrance and quickly swivelled past her in terror.
"What did mom do this time?" Mellisa grumbled walking vigorously to the living room.
Mercy seethed with anger and constantly pressed the soft toy she held in her hands as if she would strangle it any moment. Her mother's character was cruel and left her puzzled and irritated. Despite her disparaging action, Jina uttered a whooping delight in her excitement broadly and with much vitality as she watched the breathtaking humorous episode.
"What happened here? I heard some noise and Esther, why is she sobbing?" asked Mellisa, her voice imbued with seriousness. Mercy sneers at her mom who appears to be immersed in the airings on the television set. Mellisa flickered with anger and walked up to her mom to distract her attention.
"Mom, what happened to Esther? she's bathed in tears?" She asked, raising the tempo of her voice. Jina flares up and changes to a sitting posture her face creased in anger.
"Are you all questioning my character now? Are you now taking sides with that filthy stinking wretched animal…"
"Mom, stop!" Mellisa roared. Jina springs up in outrage and silences her daughter with a slap. For the first time, she laid a hand on her. Jina immediately cupped her hand to her mouth in self-reproach and regret. Trying to calm the situation she leaned towards Melissa to soothe her but the latter repels and breaks off incoherent with anger.
"What have I done? Oh, God!" Jina goes after Mellisa. The latter storms into her room and locks herself inside.
Esther walked inside the kitchen and wailed. Leaning forward and propping her elbows on the worktop, she cried her eyes out. Her suffering had just begun. One wonders how long she would be able to withstand the cruelty of her kindred. Conceivably only time will unveil this.
"Mellisa dear, open the door, please I beg of you. Will you now turn your back on your mother." Jina begged her daughter but it was useless. Anger clutched at her heart. In her opinion, Esther was the route cause of all the troubles and misunderstandings. "It has not been a day since she came to my house and the whole mansion is full of hullabaloo! I can't stand her. She won't ruin my life. I won't give her the pleasure…" she grumbles in fury. Her eyes were filled with hate.
"Esther!" She wriggles her bottom and stomps heavily as she walks towards the kitchen.
It is very early in the morning. As soon as Esther heard the early birds sing outside, she hauled herself out of bed and walked to the window to draw the curtain. The pinks and yellows of the sunrise shimmered splendidly bright in the sky. "How beautiful!" She muttered as her pretty round face crinkled up in a light smile. She inhaled and sighed deeply. It seemed to drain all her negativity from the previous day. What happened wouldn't be a deterrent to her purpose. As such, yesterday's ugly experiences were negligible to the bright future she envisaged. Even though the unpleasant occurrences had left her emotionally drained all through the night, she was glad that the same night had ushered in a whole new bright morning. She stretched herself and changed into a cheap blue dress with a criss-cross pattern and frayed bottom and put on her blue old flip-f
Gina shifts her position, draws closer and tries to pass her hand around her husband in an embrace but can't feel his presence. Slowly, she opened her eyes and all she saw was a vacant space. "Darling," she calls out and she is responded to by quietness. "Where's he? Of late he's acting weird." She mutters and gets out of bed to check in the shower cubicle. It was so quiet that she would have heard a pin drop. Her face frayed into a temper. "I hope he hasn't left for work already." She puts on her slippers and struts across to the closet. "I won't listen to his excuses this time." She grumbles and fumbles to put on her bathrobe
"Honey, I am all set." She announced her presence displaying an exact blend of sophistication and elegance; a stunning beauty clad in a blue tight-fitting dress that showed all her bulges, which she combined with studs and an expensive golden bracelet, matching them with golden bangles, a pair of nice wedges and a white handbag with a golden clip. She, after living a life of wretchedness with the worst social background as a young girl was favoured by the heavens when she and Richard bumped into each other at a bus stop sixteen years ago. She, by coincidence, slips into a goldfield in the hands of a rich, influential and successful man who falls in love with her at the first sight and bestowed her an opportunity to enjoy the sophisticated pleasures of the city which she's put to fully utilisation relinquishing all the sorrows of her childhood. Rising from gra
Despite her cousin's vitality and coercive endeavours to bring her around, her heart was gripped with turmoil and uneasiness. "I'll deal with you, Esther. I surely will…"Jina muttered quietly and was pissed out of her mind. She stomped out and waited in the yard with an evil mind. "Working for Auntie seems quite an onerous task, but I won't give up, mom, I won't." She thought. Her strong will was still unshaken despite Jina's behaviour of inducing her to a nonentity. "Yes!" The girls screamed and engaged in a whooping delight that awakened Esther from her delirium. She raised her head and looked at her with a bemused expression. "Esther, did you see that?" Mercy asked with vitality. "What?" she asked surprised and flashe
Mrs Wabua, the most loved and meritorious lady whose family dwells amongst the residents of the flats on the third floor seems to have lost the brimful kind of energy she'd always had every morning. As she stretches out her legs on her huge four-poster bed whose comfort she had felt for many years appears to have lost every pleasure around her. With her hands on her laps, she turned her cold face to her loving husband who was still harnessing his sleep with a good measure of snores loud enough to chase away the demons. The expression on her face is out of the ordinary. She stares in space for a relatively long time in contemplation and looks perturbed. The clock chimed. Slowly she lifted her face and gazed at the wall clock. Realising that it was 7:00 am, she imprints a morning kiss on her compa
Mrs Wabua was still dressing up when someone knocked on the door. Quickly she slipped in her silk dress with muted shades of red and her slippers and went to get the door. She turned on the handle and the door opened with a creak and saw Clare standing at the entrance. "Yes, dear, it's you." She said and smiled, drawing her closer. She stroked her hair and greeted her with love and affection. "How are you, my sweetheart." "Fine aunt." She responded and blushed and then pursued, "I came to inform you that breakfast is served." "Ok," she said and called her husband who was still having a bath, "Sweetheart, you better hurry up for breakfast." Ta
Suddenly there was a vibrating beep on Richard's phone. His countenance altered in suspicion. Shadowing its screen by cupping his hand he held it close and flicked on it. It was Julie's message. "Richard, where are you? I am waiting outside." Richard instantly shook with fear. The knowledge that Julie was capable of rummaging everywhere to get close to him agitated him. His knees shook. He peeked at his company and then lifted his neck and peered through the window but it was impossible to trace her unless he moved outside. "Honey, let's get going," Jina said after waving to her hosts dismissively. In her opinion, she had overstayed her welcome. Richard felt a flutter of panic in his stomach. She flicked her eyebrows in a gesture and smiled, put her hand around his waist and they went out. "What was that?" Mrs Wabua reckoned a
Jina swells with anger and sits in silent contemplation. She was so ticked off that she no longer had the guts to proceed to the boutique. "This day is fatally flawed." She thought and fear crept up on her. As she reflected on the odd scene minutes earlier, she shrunk and was wrenched by fear. Then she twisted to look at Richard who seemed to be lost in thought. "We can't go ahead, honey. I sense danger in the nook. She said, squeezing his arm."Give me the car keys, I will drive. " Richard is quiet and miserable that his plans had flopped. He too was scared of what might have happened to him. Jina clasped the keys and occupied the driver's seat. "What a loss!" He muttered and peeked at Jina. He was speechless and gutless and decided to be led as a dumb sheep. Jina 'started the car and made a turn and drove slowly along the lane.
Their flight was at noon. Esther's crew sat charting in the departure lounge as they waited. Five minutes towards the flight, they had an alert. They had to leave the terminal. It was time to bid goodbyes, which is never an easy thing to do. Simon and Esther broke off and headed on to board the plane. Suddenly a middle-aged lady came running after them shouting and flagging down Esther, "Hey, Esther, wait! I have something important to tell you." She was looking desperate and weak with sunken eyes and a thin body, her hair rumpled. Esther looked behind and saw her and stopped, poking at Simon, " That lady…" "Love, do you recognise her?" Simon asked. Anyone would have thought she was mad gauging her appearance, but Esther decided to talk to her because, how did she get to know her name? There must be some co
Simon was now a desperate man. His luck presided in the hands of destiny. He was glad that at last Queen had regained her memory but on his part, it could have a negative impact, that is; if Queen failed to recollect ever having been part of his life. Richard would certainly accuse him and the mayor's family of keeping her away from her family. Do you know what would happen? He wouldn't spare them but send them to jail and they would rot there. So much the worse is that Simon ought to die of desperation for we all are acutely aware of his terrific love for Esther. He leaned against the wall and observed her sweet tender face incapable of accepting her rejection.Dr Ben stared at his desolate face and was touched. On mature consideration, he walks to him and tries to console him,"Take heart, Simon. Who knows, maybe when she wakes up agai
"Reverand, I need your help…" Simon spoke on the phone for quite a long time and in forty minutes, a light-skinned man dressed in a long white cassock came in and found him alone sitting on the chair conversing with Queen as if he was crazy. He didn't see him come in. The reverend stood behind him and listened to his monologue and was baffled, "What kind of faith is his! Surely the good Lord will not abandon him!" He meditated and tapped on him, "Son!" Simon jolted,"Eh, Reverand Antonio, welcome. Are you ready?" His face frowned."Son, are you sure that you want to do this?""Yes, Queen will love this. She was so happy before her wedding day. I am sure she will be much happier if she wakes up and finds out that she's already married to me. Nothing will ever separate us then."
Marriage eve "Simon!!" The noise was too loud to awaken a lying ghost. He had almost pushed it through his flesh until he saw her desperate face. "Kill me instead." She said coming closer. His hands shook with the knife. "Don't come close, Queen. I don't want to see your tears anymore. At Least save them for the future. Promise you will not lay a wreath on my tomb." Tears spilt down his face like rain. Miguel's legs were numb and he knelt on the floor begging for forgiveness. Emilia followed suit but their pleading voices were like thorns pricking deep in his heart. "Love, give me that!" Esther beseeched and he became weaker and weaker as if her timid voice was controlling him. To Emilia, this was a sign of what his son's life would be like if they got married; a putty in her
Simon sped off jauntily, jingling the car keys in his hands and came to the living room, his eyes scouring for his love. Esther sat sulking on the chair in the corner, her mind immersed in deep thought and her heart intense in sadness. Simon spotted her and shouted with verve, "Love!" Her head jerked up and she noticed that his face was swathed in a smile. It was symbolic of some good news but she seemed disinterested and merely returned a phoney smile. He moved nimbly towards her and enfolded her in his arms with vitality, "Love, finally mom and dad have accepted our relationship! We are getting married in two weeks!" He was extremely ecstatic."Really?""Yes, love! Very soon you'll be my legal wife- my better half!" He gave hearty laughter, kissed her and swung her around with a feeling of triumph.She had mixed f
There was a mien of fear in Maxwell's eyes because Sylvia dawdled to decide. "Three failed marriages!" She contemplated this and had niggling doubts about this sudden relationship; It was best to nip it in the bud before a heartbreak."Won't you mend my broken heart?" He asked in a shaky voice. Her silence seemed to deplete all his boldness and he was nervous."What a joker!" Emilia said and gave a mocking smile. She was having fun just like Miguel who was killing himself laughing.Suddenly, Simon, Nisha and Nathan started cheering, encouraging and coaxing Sylvia, "Say yes, say yes…" And the applause went on and on. She hoisted her face and gazed at them. They were happy for her, so why wouldn't she be happy for herself? Then she shifted her gaze to the man trembling in front of her and saw the tr
Esther saw Emilia first and quaked with fear trying to recoil from Simon's embrace and muttered,"Love, stop- it's your mother!"He twisted his neck and looked at Emilia and then ravished Esther with a kiss."It's high time she got used to this, love. I don't see any reason why I should feel guilty to show affection to the woman I love, otherwise, she might mistake me for a loveless man. Have you heard about this? He chuckled heartily and was ludic for a moment which made Emilia almost choke with a lump in her throat. Her lips quivered and she was speechless with rage. However, they knew that her silence was just a lull. She flew downstairs and went to look for Sylvia in her room because she had a lot to answer."How could she let this happen?. She will not l
WARNING!!!Contains explicit scenes. Read at your peril.Esther didn't have any idea what to do or how to start, but when she saw the docility of Simon lying stiff on the bed near the oxygen machine, she flurried and run to him,"Simon, please don't leave." She lamented, her voice trembling with anxiety. She gave him a firm grip on his hand and fiddled his cold face. "It's me, love, wake up, don't do this to me... Okay, I accept I fouled up, but...I don't know how or when it happened. Maybe it was my frailty- the frailty of human nature. You hate me, don't you? I promise I will go far away from you, but you must wake up."Her eyes fraught with tears and she drew much closer and with fervour, she kissed him. Suddenly, his chest heaved and she stopped conscious of what she might have perceived as friv
Simon's health degenerated day by day which dealt a blow in Esther's heart and compelled her to contrive to stay around for the time being until the conundrum had been solved. Then one night- one cold night, he broke into continuous hiccups and had complications with breathing. Dr Maxwell came out of the room vexed and spoke to Miguel, "This is fatal!" Said Dr Maxwell. He was one of the most reputable doctors in the city. He too was frightened. Miguel jerked, debilitated by the doctor's statement. "What are you implying?" " He's not doing well, not at all!" How could he tell him bluntly that his son was on death's door? "I'll put him on the life-giving machine immediately. May God have mercy!" He turned to go, and