Anne’s povI stepped out of the reading hall with my fading lantern. The sky was cloudy and starless, creating ominous darkness. I found it very creepy. I continued down the few flights of stairs, gripping tightly to my lantern, and straining my eyes to see clearly. It tugged on my mind to go back and wait for my fellow hypers (nerds) whom I could walk with, but my brain and body were exhausted from too much reading and little sleep that I ignored the thought. Night class was a part of me. It was a thing we did around here. You know, studying at night away from our hostels and comfy beds. I’ve been doing it since my 100level, and now in my 300level in the university studying medical laboratory science, I couldn't stay a day without going. It's like my body had programmed itself because all the time I tried reading in the hostel, I ended up sleeping. I might as well blame the cozy bed that kept attracting me to lie on it. Well, the thing is, I go to ‘night class’ with my friends and
AndrewI banged the door, heading down the stairs and toward my bike. My dad was at it again. Making me feel like the most useless human being that walked the earth. "You don't have anything to offer to the world. Music! What is that? Rubbish! Complete balderdash? You're just hotheaded. Don't you think it's time to grow up and face your responsibilities?"....blah blah blah. My dad had told me amongst other things. It hurts so bad but I wouldn't admit it to anyone. My only solution was to rebel, pretendI won't do it when in reality, I can't. Trust me, I've tried, but it's simply not my calling to be an engineer or anything book-related. I'm simply not like my elder brother, who loves education. My father's pride. He's everything I was not. Asides from good looks, we are extremities. He's quite reserved while I'm all over the place. Even our skin color is different. I'm dark skin, his is lighter. I love dressing stylishly, while he's the cooperate type. Well, that is partly because
VincentThe emergency unit was packed with people. An accident has just occurred involving the collision of two commercial buses. People with different degrees of injury were moved all around me. I was scared out of my wit. I received a call informing me that my brother was involved in an accident and that I should come down to the emergency unit. Like I needed to be told that. I was left to imagine the state Andrew was in as I rushed down to the unit because the caller didn't specify. I work as a surgical resident at the Federal Medical Center in my state Alba, which is close to the school Andrew attends and where he was currently admitted. Like our dad, I specified in surgery and I was almost rounding up my residency. Drew, as I called him, had always hated medicine and opted for engineering because that was the substitute dad had chosen. Drew loathed the fact that he would be in the same line as Dad. That was why he chose the other option. Dad had always wanted me to work with h
AndrewSharp pains shot through my body as I slowly opened my eyes. My head was pounding real hard and my body felt like a huge person was sitting on top of me. This wasn’t the effect of alcohol. A simple hangover should have been it, but what I was feeling was way beyond it. I tried sitting up slowly so as not to upset the big man sitting on me, but immediately I attempted that, an excruciating pain pierced through the muscles of my neck, sending me right back on the bed with a grunt escaping my lips. “Did I jump down from a cliff or something?” I asked myself, perplexed. “No, you didn’t,” a voice answered me calmly. I followed the direction of the voice and caught sight of a set of beautiful eyes staring back at me. 'Did I die and go to heaven?' I thought to myself. That might have been true because the eyes in front of me didn’t look human. They were too beautiful to be real. On second thoughts though, I shouldn’t be feeling pain, right? “The drugs are messing with your head,
VincentShe stared at me as I held her arm, stopping her in her track. When I made to move closer to her, she hid her face to conceal her tears and then began wiping her eyes. I stopped moving but still held onto her arm. I needed to make sure she was comfortable enough to talk to me. Slowly she raised her head but was avoiding eye contact with me. “I’m sorry,” I found myself blurting out. This made her look up, confusion written all over her stunning face. Her eyes were puffy from crying and I very much knew the reason behind it. When she arrived earlier, the nurse at the front desk had alerted me immediately. I was so ready to raise down hell on her. I had told the security to be on guard and had followed her to catch her in whatever act she was going to pull. I did catch her but in a whole different scenario. When I was following her, I kept looking at how simple she looked. All of Andrew’s women always dressed sophisticating, with makeup and all, and they had a thing in common
Anne “An impromptu test! Are you serious right now?” I yelled at Pamela over the phone as Jane and I hurried to class. “You guys should hurry, I saved spots for you. Anny! There are people I can’t fight, once they overpower me, your spots are gone.” Pamela warned. We quickened our pace to the lecture hall for a test we weren’t prepared for. Pamela and other early risers had gone earlier than us to either study a bit before class, or to secure seats closer to the front row. That was when the general student representative climbed the podium and announced the test. Like other lecturers, the reason for impromptu tests was to fish out people that hardly attended classes. We call them the ‘non-acadas’. It is funny how they keep trying because as soon as words get out about a test, even the dead would hear about it. Someone can contact 10 people simultaneously, and the 10 would contact another 10 each, and so on. Some students who are not on the school premises would call on people who
AnneI entered my room and sat down on my bed, holding onto my abdomen as pain shot through me. I was a bit glad my two roommates Jane and Pamela weren't around to bombard me with questions. They are sweet and caring alright, but they can also be quite annoying. I love them but right now, I wasn't ready to answer questions. I was exhausted from everything that happened. My body needed rest from all the assault. After I ran into Andrew or should I say the door he hit in my face, he took me to a restaurant and true to his words, it was an open space with lots of people. There, he poured out his heart and the pain he has been going through since he was little. He apologized severally for his action and I actually felt deep pity for him. I was touched by the way he expressed himself. it was like he had been holding it all in waiting to explode. He told me how his dad has been treating him, making him feel inferior because he failed most times in school and had to repeat two classes, how
Vincent I got an offer to continue working as a medical doctor in the same hospital I completed my residency. I accepted and was given my office today. Mum had wanted to throw a huge party but I refused. I didn’t need all the attention. This made her pout all day. So, I decided that I’d take her out to dinner during the weekend to make it up to her. The new office I was given was quite spacious with good interior design and quality pieces of furniture. I, however, didn’t have time to settle down because my schedule was full. I only had to admire the spacious office for a bit, then grabbed my stethoscope and some papers, and was out the door. I was told earlier that a group of med lab students would be helping out today as part of their project, and we were to assist them however we could. This brought back memories of my school days. My father with his influence had made me do all my projects in his hospital. That was where he drilled me like a soldier day in, day out. Once he was u
Anne I felt a hand slip into my PJs and began walking its magic there. A moan escaped my lips as sensual pressure built in my core. I was lying on our king-sized bed with white sheets and a duvet, in our large bedroom. I’m too sleepy or maybe lazy to describe it. Just take this though, the walls are white. The side tables holding up the bedside lamps are also white but with golden designs along the edges, matching that of the bed frame, which has extra huge golden spirals on the tall headrest just above my pillow. By the corner, a long wooden cabinet that holds several drawers is attached to the wall. On top of the cabinet are different figurines and sculptures, then close to it is a magnificent white dressing table that houses my very few beauty products, and an equally magnificent mirror with the same golden design on its edges. There are two walk-in closets on opposite sides of the room. One is for Vincent and the other, mine. A second door closer to my closet lead to the bathroo
Vincent The heavens grumbled like an old giant before I began feeling splatters of droplets on me. I glanced up at the skies and smiled. It was as if it knew how I felt inside. It was a thunderous feeling. I sped past cars on Andrew’s bike, squinting to see clearly as the rain had begun pouring with reckless abandon. How didn’t I see it? How could one be so close, yet so far away?! I felt what I felt, but I just couldn’t see what I was supposed to see, simply because of amnesia. Now it’s all coming back to me! Like a waterfall crashing against the oceans, my memories came flooding in. “I’m coming, Anne. Just wait, okay? I’m coming,” I breathed, maneuvering through the impending hold-up that the rain caused. ‘Slow down you dumb-a**’ my mind warned. I listened to it and went slower till I was off the traffic and onto the small road leading to Anny’s. My heart pounded against my chest as I neared her apartment. The gate that’d had been there when I rented the place for her was un
Vincent Arya made it sound like I had the best of times with her. She may be right because the feelings I had for her couldn’t have been created by mere moments. We must have gone through thick and thin for me to have realized what I had and cherish it. Arya made me to almost desire to stay back and savage the little I could from all we had left. I couldn’t. Because I was hurt. I lost my memory. I couldn’t remember any of my time with her, or even her face, yet I couldn’t get myself to make love to any other woman. She had all the knowledge. She knew all the bits and pieces of our trials and tribulations, but the moment I step out of the picture, she finds solace in the arms of my brother. Now, she has a baby for him. I couldn’t live with that. Her love for me didn’t nearly match the way I felt for her. I couldn’t fight when she’d already given up a year ago. Why didn’t she come after me? Why didn’t she make plans to make me remember slowly? She only comfortably devised plans
Anne The knock on the door made me jerk and involuntarily drop the scissors outside the bathtub. Andrew couldn’t have been back so early, and definitely won’t be knocking gently. Pamela wouldn’t too. Who could be knocking? My dead heart arose and, like a diver, dipped into the pit of my stomach as the thought of Vincent being the one at the door entered my head. It couldn’t be, could it? He should be in the airport now if he wasn’t on the plane already. I didn’t really care to check the time since Andrew left. Is It possible that Andrew had talked Vincent out of leaving? That’ll be if he saw him on time. I didn’t want to ignite my hope only to watch it explode in my face yet again. I’d wanted to wait a bit to see if the caller would go away, but then the knocking would wake Lucia, who’d begin crying and wake my mother. That thought made me hurriedly step out of the bathtub. My legs were wobbly from all the fear and trepidation of what I’d decided to do. I gingerly put one foot i
Anne I carefully carried sleeping Lucia and placed her on the duplicate cot in my mum’s room. I slowly and noiselessly stepped back and out of a room, throwing a glance at my mum, who was snoring lightly on her bed. I then switched off the light and shut the door behind me. Finally, the time has come. I made sure I locked all the doors for the night before heading to my room. Pamela had come earlier and suggested staying with me till Andrew comes or calls. Andrew must have called her to come. Well, I refused all her persistence and almost got angry at her stubbornness. She’d grudgingly accepted to leave. In my room, I took out a pen and scribbled down a few thoughts of mine. I hadn’t time to write a full epistle because I was hurting badly. If I did have the time, I would have written long notes to every one of the people I know who would be hurt by my actions. I’d wanted to live for Lucia, but seeing her face, eyes and long hair reminded me so much of him. One would think that wo
Vincent “We need to talk, Arya,” I said, watching her enter the parlor. She stretched her mouth into a thin line, nodding her head in agreement. “We’re finally having the talk,” she said, removing her jacket and dropping it on the couch alongside her bag. “Alright, I’m ready,” she said, after sitting down on the couch opposite mine. Silence engulfed us for minutes. It was as if we both knew where all this was headed. “Arya, I’m sorry,” I began. “I thought I could do it, but I can’t. It would be a total mess marrying me in this state. You guys were right, I’ve not healed entirely, and I shouldn’t have come back here…” I had my eyes on her the entire time, gauging her reaction. She simply looked back at me without a flinch. “Arya, let’s call off the wedding,” I conferred. She didn’t respond or divulge any emotion that showed how she felt about what I said. After what felt like ages, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, then cleared her throat. “It’s sad. Honestly, I prayed it w
Andrew My brother has been ignoring me ever since I took him to see Anne a day ago. I don’t know what he was thinking, but for him to be acting this way, his thoughts weren’t in our favor. Anne had gone there to meet with him that same day while I’d gone straight to the studio. I was going to call Anne and ask how it transpired, but we finished so late at night and I was so exhausted that I passed out immediately my head touched my pillow back at our family house. The next day, I called Anne, but she didn’t answer. I called Vincent, but he, too, ignored my calls. So, after my recording session, I’d gone to Vincent’s but when I saw my mum’s car parked in front of the house, I made a U-turn and headed for Anne’s apartment instead. It was a sunny afternoon. I got there and met her coiled up on her bed, crying her eyes out once again. Racheal and Pam were there trying to make her eat her food. “You’ll make Rachael miss her doctor’s appointment, Anne,” Pam had warned. That was the only
Vincent Mum had threatened to take Anne’s baby away from her. She’d told me how she'd contacted her lawyers and had every paperwork done so that once Arya and I leave, the real work starts. “No, mum,” I’d refused. “Son, that our grandchild there. She cannot live in the slums,” she’d argued. “I’ve been there, mum. It’s not a slum, and Andrew is more than capable of caring for that child,” I countered. I was hurting real bad. I felt like I was drowning… it was overwhelming. Having these massive conflicting emotions, then having to stick up for what I believed was right, was slowly killing me. “Son, she has to pay for what she’d done to us! She cannot go scot-free. My husband and I, for over a year, have had no meaningful conversation because of her. He’d gone rigid around me,” she said in tears. “He’d not touched me for over a year because of that witch, Vincent,” she divulged bitterly. “She created a rift between your brother and yourself in the past, now, a much bigger one by hav
Vincent ‘Anne.’ I guess that’s her real name. It actually rang a bell. I remember pronouncing that name, and it must have meant so much to me because whenever I called it out, which I was doing often since that time with Arya in the kitchen, I felt a cacophony of emotions attack me. There was peace, followed by fear, then agitation, trepidation, fury, and what have you? It was strange. Her name held so much power, yet I couldn’t still remember. It was frustrating! “Have you booked the tickets, Vin?” mum asked from where she sat on the couch. She’d come around right after Arya left the house. Arya has been giving me the silent treatment ever since I mistakenly called her the name that tormented my subconscious, the day before. “Yes, mum,” I replied grudgingly from the dining table where I was getting some reading done. “Have you heard from dad?” I asked. “No, hun, but don’t you worry, he would be available for the wedding. I just received his clothes from his tailor. We’ll be tr