~Sunday Afternoon~ Stella was in her room studying the scripture when she heard a knock on the door."Come in.""Mommy, I think someone is at the door," Felix announced as he walked inside."Okay, I will go check who is there," Stella replied as she closed the Bible and got up on her feet. "Reduce the volume of the TV it's too loud" She instructed the kids as she passed through the living room. As she got to the door, turned the doorknob, and opened the door revealing Mr. Tochuckwu smiling face."Oh! It's you Mr. Tochukwu.""Yeah, Good evening.""Please, come in." She ushered as she opened the door widely for him to enter."Good afternoon, sir." The kids greeted."Afternoon, lovelies.""I'm sorry I didn't inform you I will be coming over.""Oh! it's nothing. I mean, you're here already. What should I offer you? Food? drinks? juice? water?""I think water should be fine.""You think so?""Yeah," he nodded in reply. "Let me go get it then," she said as she walked to the
"Hello, Mr. Tochuckwu. Good morning." Stella said over the phone as she walked into her office."Mrs. Jacob, good morning. Trust you had a goodnight rest?""Yeah, I did. I don't know if you will be free this evening, we need to talk.""Oh! Hope it is nothing serious.""Not really, it's just a random discussion about what we're working on.""Oh okay! I will be free then.""Where should we meet?" She inquired."I guess we should meet in a restaurant then. I think McDonald's is okay," he suggested."No problem, it's okay. What time did you close at work?"6 O'clock.""Okay, let's meet by 6:30 then.""Yeah, see you later.""Okay, bye." She said and hung up the call. ~ a few hours later~ Stella drove into the premises of McDonald's as she head to the parking lot and parked her car alongside the other cars there. She stepped out of the car, picked up her bag, and locked the car."Whoa! I said we should meet by 6:30 and here I am, fifteen minutes late. I just hope he's still waitin
A few days later, Richard and his staff arrived from the business trip. The staff organized a small welcome-back party in Golden Ville just to lighten up the atmosphere. It was indeed a joyful moment as everyone was laughing and gisting. Apparently, it was a rare free day for them. "Cheers to more wins, successful contracts, and more joyous celebrations like this," Richard said with a wide smile as everyone made a toast. "Cheers! Welcome back to Golden Ville." Bella was super excited that she was going to start seeing Richard often, he won't have to ignore my phone calls or messages again because I will be here to do whatever it takes for him to notice me. "Welcome back, sir. We missed your presence here," she said beaming with delight as she walked up to him. "Thank you, I missed almost everything about Golden Ville here in Nigeria; the weather is not friendly over there. It's good to be back, there is no place like home." He replied as he sipped from his wine. "Yeah, that
Richard pulled his necktie in other to loosen its grip on his neck as it seems to make him uncomfortable. He was beginning to lose interest in the project he was working on; he was exhausted, bored, and famished. Yet, he has to finish up with his work before he head to the cafeteria to get something inside his stomach. A Knock on the door drifted his attention. "Come in," he ushered. "Good afternoon, sir." Bella greeted immediately she stepped into his office with her heels making a sharp sound as they hit the tiled floor. "Hey, Bella. What's up?" "Hmm! I knew you will be busy, so I brought this for you," she said lifting the portable food flask in her hand."Oh! Thank you. Just drop it on the table." "What! Are you not planning to eat it? I cooked this food with my hands, I'm sure you won't waste my effort by not eating it. By the way, I prepared your best food, check it out. Boiled yam and egg sauce." She said smiling widely. "I appreciate your kind gesture but I'm pretty
"Hey, babe." Richard's voice came through as she picked up the call."Hi, boo. How is your day going?""It's going smoothly. Yours? Hope it's not stressful?""Huh! It's tiring, my eyes are glued to the laptop all day." She chaffed."huh, sorry about that.""Yeah, thank you. I signed up for it anyway, I don't need to complain." "Thank God you know, stay at home and chop my money, you said No. I want to work, I don't want to stay at home all day, see what you're now facing," he jibed at her. Stella laughed "huh! It's way better than staying at home.""Whatever! It's your choice."" I don't know if you'd be free this evening.""Free?" You want me to run an errand for you?""No! not at all. I was thinking of going on a date with you this evening.""Huh! This is unexpected. You did not make mention of it this morning," she furrowed."Yeah, yeah, that's because I haven't come up with the idea in the morning. You know, it's been a while since we go out to catch fun and have time for our
As Richard got to the office that morning, he requested Bella's presence with immediate alacrity. He tried his best to keep calm over the night, he couldn't wait for the day to break so that he can finally let out what has been boggling his mind. He wasn't gonna tolerate that nonsense from her. No, never! The knock on the door disrupted the flow of his thoughts. "Come in," he ordered as he leaned back in the swivel chair with his eyes fixed at the entrance as he watched Bella plod inside. It was obvious that she sensed something was off because she was not in her normal blithesome mood. "Good morning, sir," she greeted with a slight bow."Yeah, it's indeed a good morning. I guess you know the reason why I sent for your presence this morning.""Oh my...! Sir is it about what happened last night?" She questioned with a surprised look on her face."If not that, then what?" he asked in a trenchant manner. "I am very sorry about it, sir, it was a terrible and stupid mistake." S
Bella hesitated at the doorstep for a while, doubting if she should proceed with what she was about to do. She breathed in a mouth full of air before hitting her knuckles against the door. "Come in." Richard's voice emanated from the other side. "Good morning, sir." She greeted him immediately as she stepped inside. "Bella. What's up?" He asked as he shifted his gaze away from the files in his hand staring at her directly in the face. "Hmm! it's nothing really and it seems you're kinda busy for now, maybe I should come back later," she said with nervousness entwined In her voice. "Yeah, I'm busy but you can go ahead with whatever reason brought you here." "Oh, okay... I don't even know how to put it," she mumbled playing with her fingers nervously. "Spill," he compelled. "Well, it is about my recent behavior. I admit that I have allowed my silly emotions to get the best of me. I have no excuse to make, I am sorry sir, and about the recent incident too, I'm deeply sorry ab
~Sunday morning~ "Babe, the kids are in the car already, we are waiting for you," Richard uttered as he walked Inside. "Ehiy! I'm ready too. Please, help me with the zipper." She said as she turned her back. "Done." "Thank you. We can go ahead now," Stella said as she picked up her bag and glanced through it to be sure that her writing materials were still intact. . . . . . As they got to church, Stella accompanied the kids to their class before she head to the main auditorium. She was surprised when she saw Bella among the congregation sitting at the front. It was easy to identify her because the church was not filled up yet, people were just trooping in. Stella resisted the urge to go seat beside her. "I will do that once the service is over." She assured as she head to where she would be sitting, but she made sure it was at a close range to where Bella was sitting. As the service was going on, Stella glanced in Bella's direction occasionally but their eyes never meet
Truly, the past few months have been hard on Richard and his family but their tenacious zeal to save their union was enough to keep them out of the arduous phase. Although his wife was battling with an incurable malady, Richard never changed his attitude, he stuck to his vow, giving her affection, care, and compassion. It was the only thing he could do to save his dear wife from the hands of the lethal disease. Getting this kind of tenderness from Richard was more than enough for Stella to encompass this phase and get on her feet. He makes sure she visits the hospital whenever she has an appointment, goes for antiretroviral therapy, and takes the prescribed drugs. Their marriage was getting back to life, full of bliss and happiness just like it, was before the mishap launched.The vicious ally that infiltrated their life, whirled it through anguish, turmoils, and travail. Bella Jonathan was finally out of their life. If everything has gone according to the way Stella planned, th
~Recap" My God! What did we do to deserve all these from you? What was our offense?" Richard questioned in disbelief."I'm sorry I don't know, I was just following the instructions given to me.""Who instructed you?""Bella. Bella Jonathan did.""What!""Yes, Bella. Everything was Bella's plan, I only helped her to carry out the plan.""What!" They exclaimed in unison."No, this is not true. Impossible! I don't believe any of this. Why will Bella even do this to me?" Stella questioned, refusing to believe what Tochukwu just divulged. Richard did not find it hard to speculate, he has a gut feeling against Tochukwu right from time and he was aware of the obsessed love Bella has for him, but he never think Bella could take it to this extent.No! This is outrageous.""I see no reason why I should lie, the last thing I can do right now is to uncover the truth. And yes, this is true, you deserve to know the truth. I don't know Bella personally, not until she contacted me about this busi
The news hit them like a huge bomb, it was too complex to take in. Of course, they had their doubt and were strongly against such news that it was far from being possible. They went to another standard Hospital just to confirm the uncanny revelation but unfortunately, the result was the same.Richard and the kids were compelled to conduct the test just to clear all their doubts but strangely, they tested Negative which means Stella is the only one with the deadly disease. How she contracted the virus was baffling at first, but after different investigations were made, it was traced back to the one-night stand she had with Tochukwu, which revealed that she got the deadly transmitted disease from him. "Ha! All this misfortune for ten minutes pleasure? I'm doomed!" Stella lamented biting her fingers in regret, wishing she could change back the hand of time to amend things. It was hard for her to accept the fact that she was truly an HIV patient, never in her wildest dreams has she e
Stella's entire body was in the blaze as several thoughts ran through her head. To say she was confused would be an understatement; one voice was supporting the idea, the other was defying, and another one was taking both sides. Her heart kept thumping with great ounce as if she was having a heart seizure. Yet, a rain of hot tears gushed down heavily from her eyes. Without giving it a second thought, she darted back and scampered to where her father was sitting. Went down on her knees, hugged his legs, and placed her head on his knees."Father, I'm sorry.""I'm so..rry.""I'm sorry." This was the only sentence that escaped Stella's lip."No, Stella. Please forgive me, I have wronged you, wreak havoc on your life, and caused you pain. I don't know if there is still space in your heart for you to set me free?" Mr. Busari voiced, with tears trickling down his cheeks.They remained in that position, pouring out their encaged emotions. The only sound that could be heard was Stella's huf
As Stella stepped out of the car, she stood transfixed on a point contemplating whether she was making the right decision. Coming to the house that haunted her does not seem like a good idea but then, Richard stood his ground reiterating that if she was not ready to come there then definitely he was not going to discuss anything with her again even though he was fully aware of the pains this vicinage caused her. "Well, I'm ready to do anything to save my marriage and if it means coming to this place then I am ready.""I have got to try this, without further ado," she muttered and with that, she walked towards the gate. After pressing the doorbell, a few seconds later the door creaked open revealing a young lady probably In her early thirties."Hi, good morning.""Oh! Miss Stella, Good evening, ma." the lady greeted with a smile plastered on her face. "Yes, ma'am, please, is Richard in? I mean Mr. Jacob?""No, ma'am, he's not back from work but you can wait for him.""Ugh! Is this
They waited eagerly at the reception for the doctor to step out of the ward where Janice was been treated. Stella sat down at the far edge of the chair, her head dropped down in sorrow. Richard was pacing around, while Bella just froze to a point not knowing what to do. They were all on tenterhooks.After several minutes of waiting restively, the doctor walked out making all of them jolt out of their worry land. "Doctor, how is my baby?" Stella was the first to throw the question at him."Hmm, we thank God, she's stable for now," he replied simply."Oh! Thank you, Jesus." Stella exclaimed jumping up in relief."For now?" Richard questioned as he reasoned on the doctor's reply."Yeah, thank God she was brought here quickly before the matter got worse, she lost a lot of blood as a result of the shock she went through. Right now, we need to donate blood to her.""Doctor, I'm available."Stella volunteered, stepping forward."But, you're pregnant, ma'am. You're not eligible." The d
"I am sorry about the news, sir." Bella blurted, breaking the deafening silence between them as they were riding back home in Richard's car. "What news?" He befuddled."About the scandal that surfaced last night, I mean about your family..." "Oh!" He murmured in a low voice. "Yeah, it's sad and those mendacious bloggers have made a compulsive, heart-rending story out of it. They're the sole reason why this is trending.""That's not even the problem, I wonder who has been prying into our family matter and then taking it over to social media. This is not the kind of life I want for myself, I cannot even walk freely; you'd see them pointing at me and saying all sorts of filthy things. Honestly, I'm tired, confused, and..." He complained with a frustrating hiss."I am so sorry about this, sir, It's sad that your family is going through this tough phase." "To be honest, I still find this hard to believe because I never expect Stella to engage in such an immoral act considering her stat
The following day, Richard was in his office busy sorting out his work that afternoon when a knock came through on his door."Come in," he ushered."Good afternoon, sir," Bella greeted immediately as she stepped in. "Oh, Bella! I never knew you came to work today, I thought your manager gave you leave?" He asked quite surprised because she just lost her father."Yes, she did sir, but I don't want to stay at home. I am not used to that kind of lifestyle and staying alone will make me start thinking of uncanny things.""Yeah, I think you're right. Hope you're doing well.""Yes, sir, I'm fine.""Hmm, it's lunchtime already, I guess you're busy, sir?" she asked with a slight grin. "Erhm, not really, I'm just trying to round up with this." "So, would you like to have lunch with me?" "Sure, this work can wait." He said getting up on his feet as they both walked out to his office and headed to the cafeteria. And that was how their friendship sprang up again, Bella goes to his office mos
Everyone who came to the burial rite was dressed in black outfits as they came to mourn with Bella over the death of her father.Just a few of her colleagues at work and Maria's long distant family were there. Bella looked awful and miserable, her eyes were puffy and swollen as a result of too many tears running out of her eyes. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing, as she watched them place him six feet below. She strode forward, clutched the shovel, and pour little sand on it. "Accept my heartfelt condolences," Richard muttered as he walked towards her occupying the sit beside her. Maria stood up and excused them. "Thank you, sir." She muttered sniffing."Please that's enough, cry no more. Life is a bale of tears and losing our loved ones is part of life right?" "Yeah, it's," she replied simply with a nod."Well, life has been like that to me right from time; life keeps snatching things so dear to me. Now my only hope is gone, I don't know how I will scale through this..."