CHAPTER 3: BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

“I beg your pardon?” Ella asked in surprise.

“I think you heard me well. Move in with me,” Blake said.

“Why would I move in with you? I don’t understand,” Ella said.

“You are a beautiful woman and I do not want to see you suffering,” Blake said as he pushed back a strand of hair from her face. The look in his eyes also said much more than any words could say.

“You have no shame. Your wife and son are barely 10 meters away and you are making advances at me? And how exactly do you expect me to move in with a perfect stranger? You must be out of your mind,” Ella said standing up. Blake blocked her path so that she wouldn’t leave. She tried to push past him but he was too strong. She couldn’t help but notice his huge chest, handsome face and his intoxicating cologne. She had to admit that the man had very good taste in clothes as well. Ella took back her seat as she forced her attention back to the matter at hand. She couldn’t believe her mind was straying at a time like this.

“Please let me go. I’m in a bigger mess than I thought and I need to deal with it before I lose everything. I don’t have time to deal with your sexual desires as well,” Ella said. She hoped that the man would be put off by her rudeness but instead, he laughed.

“I can pay any number of women to satisfy my sexual desires,” he said looking at her body suggestively. “I need you for something much more important.”

“I think I made it clear that I’m not interested,” Ella said. For some reason, she was blushing even as the man continued smiling at her.

“You have my number. Call me by the end of business today and I will explain everything to you,” he said as he walked back to his desk.

Ella watched him take his seat and then she walked out. She was convinced that Blake was one of those men who had weird sexual fetishes. He probably wanted to sneak out of his wife’s bed and sleep with Ella under the same roof. Ella walked past Jason and Amanda without another word. Amanda was typing something on her phone while Jason was playing with a Rubik’s cube. The receptionist was the only one who noticed Ella sneak away. Ella was not ready to deal with the little boy’s tantrums. Besides, he looked fine as he sat with his mother. Ella felt sorry for this woman who must be in a toxic marriage. Her husband had a wandering eye and was not even ashamed to bring the women right into his home. Ella was also sympathetic towards the little boy who looked like he adored his father. He would be disappointed when he grew up to discover that his hero was a promiscuous man who did not respect women. No wonder his wife was so indifferent.

Ella’s first stop was at her townhouses. She talked to the manager making various enquiries about her properties and if anyone suspicious had come to lay ownership on the properties. She then drove to the land registry offices so as to conduct an ownership search. She filled in the relevant forms and was asked to wait for the results after six hours. Ella thought of waiting for the feedback, but then she decided to go and check on her other property. About seven years ago, Ella had left the country. Two years before this, she had received a call from her father. He wanted all his children to meet him at their grandmother’s ranch. Ella had not been too happy about this meeting because the ranch was almost two hours drive out of town. She had intended to go on a road trip with her friends and this would interfere with her plans. However, she still drove to the ranch because she rarely disobeyed her father. When she arrived at the ranch, she found her parents and step brothers were there already. After a short while, her parents revealed the agenda for the meeting. They asked the siblings to follow them to an undisclosed location just past the ranch. The siblings were surprised when their father allocated them a piece of land each.  Each sibling had about 12000 square meters to use as they pleased.

Ella had been thrilled by this development because she had always had a passion for real estate.  She had just begun to work, so she took out a loan and fenced her property. She also constructed a simple three-bedroom bungalow under the supervision of her father. She had then rented the property to one of her cousins named Matthew against the advice of her parents. Ella had left her younger brother to care for the property after the demise of their parents in a road accident a few months later. She had then moved overseas to seek greener pastures but also to recover from the loss of her parents. All these memories were going through Ella’s mind as she was driven out of town by the taxi driver. Just like the day before, Ella had not been in the mood to talk and the driver was left to fill in the blanks for himself. Besides, he was going to get paid even if he did not know the full story. Ella almost got lost on the way to her house. The region had changed a lot and there were many new constructions and infrastructural developments. They finally got to the destination and Ella was even more surprised.

The house she remembered as a shiny new construction looked like a little hovel. The plants she had left as short shrubs were now huge towering trees. They overshadowed the house and gave it too much shade. Two small children were playing on the grass outside and they called out for their mother when they saw the car approaching. A pregnant woman emerged from the house carrying another child on her back. She looked at Ella closely and then burst into a smile.

“Sister-in-law, is it really you?” she asked.

“Jessica?” Ella asked in surprise. She recognized this woman as Kevin’s girlfriend from many years ago. She always addressed Ella as sister-in-law instead of Ella.

Ella was shocked because this woman who stood in front of her was a shadow of her former self. She looked like an old woman and not the beautiful young woman Ella remembered. She let Ella in and told her how she had been abandoned in this house by her husband Kevin. Kevin had evicted Matthew under unclear circumstances and then brought his family here about one year ago. He would visit them after 2 or 3 months and he barely sent them any money. Their utility bills were in arrears and they were even unable to feed themselves. Ella felt an increasing feeling of despair as she listened to this tale of doom. What was Kevin doing with all his ill-gotten wealth if his children looked like vagrants. Ella realized that although she hoped to secure this property, doing so would ruin more lives than just hers. She gave Jessica as much money as she could spare and then she drove back to the city. At the registry, more shock awaited her. She was informed that the transfer of the two-storey house was almost complete, while the transfer of the townhouses had been initiated two days ago.

For a good five minutes, Ella sat in the registry feeling like she was going to collapse. She felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs and she could literally see everything spinning around. The taxi driver whom she had contracted was walking around aimlessly when he saw his client looking disoriented.

“Madam, are you ok?” he asked when he approached her.

“Take me to the house we were at yesterday,” Ella said with sudden clarity in her mind. She was not about to lose everything she had worked for.

“The one in the suburbs?” he asked and Ella nodded. He drove her to the suburbs in silence and watched her wiping tears from her eyes. She was really distressed and he wished he could do something to help her. He knew she would never see him as his equal because he did not have much money, so he didn’t bother making any advances. When they got to the house, Ella paid him in full.

“Do you want me to wait for you?” he asked after he counted the money.

“No. I will call you if I need your services,” Ella said.

Ella would always remember this moment as the longest one in her life. She stood at the gate of what should have been her house for the longest time. Several thoughts ran through her mind and she wondered what she was going to go through in this man’s hands. Rape, humiliation or even worse? But when she turned back to walk away, she thought of the alternative. Her savings could barely last her one year if she had to pay rent. The prospects of finding a job were not that promising either. Going back overseas was not an option either because she had not applied to renew her work permit. This was the only way to get the life she had desperately worked for. She rang the bell and crossed her fingers. ‘Hope for the best and expect the worst’, she said to herself as she heard footsteps approaching. It was time to enter the lion’s den.