CHAPTER FOUR:

Chad

He could hear himself breathe weakly and gently, his senses were coming back to him.

He didn't know where he was though, all he could see was a bright white light shinning into his eyes.

He could perceive that mild antiseptic smell that was peculiar to hospitals, he hated it.

Soon everything became clearer, the sounds became sharper. He felt so weak and tired and didn't even know why.

He couldn't move for a while but although all he saw and heard was not clear yet, at least he remembered.

He remembered the last thing that happened - he fell! And didn't know what Happened next.

But here he was, lying on something soft in a place smelling like a hospital.

"Where am I?" he heard himself weakly speak.

"Husshhh..." he heard some feminine voice say.

He felt some soft tender palm touch his hard hand.

******** ******* ****** ****

Roma

Here he was, finally - The guy she'd been wanting to meet.

Uche had said a lot about him. So much that her mind had fallen in love with him.

She never believed she would one day get to see him in person, but here he was.

He looked worse than she had imagined anyway but, it was too late now. She had fallen for him without even knowing him or making any effort. Hard to believe but true.

The whole idea of his existence, the stories Uche had told her and all had just won her over without a struggle.

In two and half years of working for Uche, not a week had passed without hearing about some guy named Chad.

She had graduated from the University for over two years without a job and her mum bothering her about getting married like it was the next thing on the time table of life.

Her mum would always say annoying things to her, things like;

"Romanus Mbong Eket, every woman has her own time! If you don't maximize your opportunity now it would never come back again. Go out there and find yourself a man, get married! Before you get old and wrinkled and suitors would stop coming. You're like a milk product with an expiration date!.. soon you will expire!..." and all that and all that.

It was tiring living with her mum then as this was her fate everyday.

Her father had passed away many years ago while she was still in high school. It was so painful. He was the one who taught her to dream big.

He always believed that irrespective of the fact that he never had a male child, God had blessed him with a lioness - "which is of course better than a 'hundred buffalos" he would say.

He died in a plane crash - in a day she'll never forget.

After the morning assembly, her principal had summoned her to his office. It was scary, he was scary -with his max sized nose and round gigantic spectacles dancing around it.

It scared her because he only summoned students to hand them their suspension letters or punish them for some misconduct.

Although she was one of the brightest, she always did the wrong things!

She always fought and beat up the boys in her class!

That was why they started calling her 'Roma' in the first place - which signified ' the Roman empire'.

She was a 'one-man squad'.

And although she was not the fat girl, or the ugly girl, or the rough girl, or the dirty one, she was just a 'no go area' for the pranks the boys used to play.

She seldom smiled at anyone then, didn't have a best friend. All the hot girls avoided her because she was never into the mundane things.

She literally just existed through high school.

The only thing that interested her was the wrestling club she was in.

That was the only reason she even came to school every day In the first place.

She'd always beat up all the boys in the wrestling club and win the school several titles. She even won the Nationals! Just before the news came.

She was never interested in her academics but would nearly always top the class.

This made her a favorite character case among the teachers.

So, there she was walking through the doors of her principal's office.

"Please, sit..." he ordered in a surprisingly comfortable voice tone which eliminated her fears of punishment.

"Good morning sir" she greeted as she took her seat just across the table of her short, stout, skinned principal with those long white beards and a ridiculous gap teeth.

He literally looked like a mouse with a beard!

" Yes, Romanus Mbong Eket... there is some news from home for you..." he paused and looked at her, crossing his fingers which were placed on his clean brown wooden table and adjusting his lenses with his nose; something he was fond of.

In her boarding school, his nickname was 'imi fourty nnama'- meaning 'the nose of forty cows'

"What I'm about to tell you now, I'll need you to behave and take it in with the strength of a woman that you are and..." he ranted on and on for about thirty minutes, before he broke the news.

"... I'm sure you listened to the radio this morning.. um... your dad was in the plane crash that happened this morning..."

She had felt some kind of cold chill on her body and then something painful and hot burn within her chest.

It was so sudden and overwhelming that she had collapsed that day. She could not explain that feeling. It was so painful.

He was the only one who believed in her, and supported her wrestling career so to say, or ever loved her for who and what she was then, a tomboy.

The only one who was not only interested in selling her off to some man!

It lingered for many years though -the pain.

Born in a family of three kids - all girls, her mother had managed to put them through the University, through some petty trading of clothing materials with the hope that soon, they'd get married and she'd retire so they would take care of her.

It never happened for her. She never believed in 'just' getting married!

Like that is all there is to life!

Her two younger sisters were both happily married to some rich men from somewhere and living their mother's dream because they were stunning beautiful and fair.

she was ' the dark one'.

She was the one who believed in following her dreams.

But what was her dream anyway? She was twenty four and hadn't figured that out yet. But she knew she didn't want to be the 'regular girl child'.

She'd been loathing herself in a local bar some random day, depressed and all, when some guy walked up to her.

She'd been with many guys to know that non of them were worth her time. They had always disappointed her. One of them had said:

"you are not ladylike enough!"

She had tried to live her mother's dream but it never really worked out. But was she going to give up?

'what the hell is wrong with dreaming and being your own person?'  she'd sometimes scream in her head.

He looked so calm, relaxed and cool with some sort of charm that was unrivaled, not because he was too handsome but because he was just... him.

"Hey, I mean no harm, but I've been standing over there and I couldn't help but notice how sad you look... I'm sad myself, so I thought I would come over so we could loath ourselves together" he paused and beckoned on the bar tender.

" what better person to make your loathing partner than a total stranger huh?"

"Sorry, I don't talk to strangers" she had replied. She was almost not in the mood but the alcohol had worn off some edges.

"...uhh.. too bad you just did... and I've not kidnapped you yet.

..Well I'm not saying I won't"

She laughed.

He looked quite harmless and friendly and soon he started talking about his problems without even asking for her permission, and his 'problems' were just funny.

She couldn't help it because soon she was talking about hers too and before they knew it they were 'catching vibes' - as he called it

"...Don't get me wrong, I have a name. It's Uche..." He had said amidst their conversation as he stretched forth his right  hand for a handshake.

Ever since she took that hand in a friendly handshake, he'd never let her go.

He literally employed her in his 'invisible' company because he'd always brag about being a 'CEO!'

Soon, Uche had discovered her love for action and adventure and sponsored her training in military grade combat, close combat and self defense program for sixteen months at the National Naval Academy - the best in the country.

After the completion of her program, he officially introduced her to his 'business' just six months ago.

She had earned his trust, and if there's someone she'd forever be loyal to it'd be Uche.

He had saved her life, given her a reason to live without even asking for anything in return.

He literally pays her like she was working in an oil company while she literally does nothing much!

In many years of knowing Uche, they had become very good friends with no strings attached.

She was the closest he had to family now.

He probably just needed a companion when all his friends and family 'deserted him' so to say.

'how imperfect life could be, How could someone with so much money be unhappy and messed up'? She wondered every time.

But she'd seen it, she'd seen why, or at least a bit.

Chad was finally back from wherever he was, lying there. She could feel her heart beating fast without rhythm.

When was the last time she felt that way about a complete stranger?

Fully grown into a woman now, Roma was the explanation of the African beautiful, although she didn't know she was.

She was totally the 5ft 6inches tall woman. Dark, with a sleek and slender body that anyone would call 'porsche' , and such an hour glass shape that would always attract those rich married men, always!

The prettiest part of her was probably her eyes. So grey! Something uncommon in that part of the world.

Uche would tease her about it sometimes.

"you are an alien, go find your own planet!" he would say.

Uche was so fond of her that he would always make her his showoff 'girlfriend' on big occasions to fight off the attraction of the ladies (It comes naturally in this part of the world just by being rich and single).

He would always call her.

" ..my black Ferrari".

She liked it, she liked Uche and would do anything for him - she owed him!

But this is Chad for goodness sake! The Chad.

Was this just a crush? Or was she loosing her mind for real? She wondered.

Her hair was long and her dressing , always masculine.

She was the kind of girl that would wear some blue baggy shorts and a white canvass with a jean jacket on top of a white polo, and a long gold necklace around her neck.

She'd always pack her hair in a ponytail. She didn't Know she was beautiful, never did! She didn't even care.

Her mom had always complained about the dressing saying;

"...no man would ever marry you with the way you dress! You need to be looking presentable! Don't you ever see those skimpy and sexy clothes in the market? ...

"...I have said this severally, no man wants to marry a woman that dresses like a potato! You need to be looking like some fresh tomatoes ..." And blah blah blah, until she started bringing home large bundles of money and driving a white Range Rover Sport Evogue!

Now her mum doesn't even care if she wants to marry or not anymore. She's just in love with the retirement money she's getting.

Now living with her mother in her oldish apartment is even more comfortable for her than living the life of class with all her huge monthly salary.

Although she wouldn't always be home with her mother because of the nature of her job with Uche, she clearly knew how to silence her mother whenever she was home.

"who... are ... you..? She heard Chad ask in his cranky, weak voice.

"I am someone who is going to make sure you're okay..." she replied, trying to sound as calm and as nice as possible.

"No... no .. no.." Chad seemed to be saying under his breath, shaking his head from side to side.

"Its okay, it's okay..." she said, tightening her grip on his palms.

"No! It's not!" he nearly screamed and jerked! Getting some rush of strange energy.

He sat up so quickly that it nearly scared Roma.

"Where is Uche? Where is he? I gotta get out of here..."

"...listen Sir, you have to calm down"

"You don't fucking tell me what to do... I don't know you! Stay away from me!" he yelled at her wrinkling his face with some despicable urgency.

Roma stood up from the chair right beside Chad's bedside with arms akimbo.

He's stupidly stubborn!' She thought, and 'as scared as a chicken! What happened to the brave guy Uche always talked about'? She wondered and watched with her head tilted to the left as he removed his drips.

"What is the matter with you?"

"Scared that I'm gonna kill ya?" she asked with a smirk on her face .

He didn't seem to care, he was too busy trying to get up.

"fine! Fine! You can go. I won't stop you" she concluded waving her arms in the air in surrender.

Chad finally managed to get himself off the bed and stand on his feet and then he noticed...

"where are my fucking clothes..?" he was naked.

"Hahahaha.." she laughed as Chad quickly covered himself with the blankets.

"It not funny" he said with his eyebrows up

"stop ....laughing"

She didn't seem to be stopping as he even looked funnier saying that. He was clearly looking embarrassed as he made his way to the door.

"This is not a hospital" he concluded looking around, his voice sounding deep and masculine.

"yeah ..." she replied rather casually.

"What is this place?" he asked as he touched the door knob and the door wouldn't open.

"See for yourself..." she replied as she walked over and swiped her card at the door knob and the door opened.

Author's note:

Here is Roma, the slightly tomboy, the black beauty.

She had always had this thing for Chad, a stranger.

What effect would this have in her life? Her character? Her decisions?

Are there not people who have totally fallen for someone just by hearing about them? Tell us.

Don't forget to comment and up vote!