There were dark marks all over his back and arms. I came to sit next to him on the couch to have a better look, but he began fixing his sweater. He pulled his hoody back on and sat with his arms on his thighs and his head in his hands.“Who did this to you?” I asked him.“They would have killed me if the officers didn’t walk in on time. They told me that that was going to be my last day on earth.” Yoké said. “But I’m fine.”“Do you remember their faces?”He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter-”“Yes, it does, Yoké.” I told him. “I’ll report each one of them for doing this to you and make sure they never set foot outside those walls ever again. You could have died.”“Living… dead, why do you care now?” He shrugged.“Yoké-”“Genesis, I tried getting to you so many times.” He said, his voice low now. “It was impossible. At work I couldn’t even get to you because we were not allowed upstairs at HR. I couldn’t even wait for you outside because our exits are different. You managers have your
“Yoké how did you get here?” I asked him suddenly feeling a bunch of emotions rushing in. “Why did you let me go Yoké? Do you know how it felt living without you?”I began crying.He reached out and wiped my tears but didn’t say anything.“The only reason I decided to move on was because I had her. I was gonna have a little you around me, that’s the only hope I was hanging on to but-”“Shh…” Yoké interrupted. “Come here…”I laid on his chest, he covered me with the blanket and put his arms around me. He was still warmer than normal. I wiped my tears and closed my eyes for a while. Tranquillity, that’s what I felt. How did I survive more than a year away from him? How did I survive it? I hugged him tighter and tighter as I realized how much I’ve been missing him.“Are you okay?” He asked me.“I’ve missed you so much.”“It’s okay.” He said patting my back slowly.I sat up and looked at him. “Haven’t you been missing me too?”I was desperate to hear him say those words. He looked at me fo
“That’s my father coming in!” I lied. “He can’t see you here.”He sighed heavily and shook his head. “And why not?”“Come on.”“So it’s fine for him to see you and Nathan kissing but simply seeing me here is a problem?”“I’m really sorry. Come, you’ll leave through the back door.”“Why? Because you don’t want your fiancée to see me?”“What do you mean?” I asked impatiently, aware that Nathan would be on my front steps any minute now.“You are lying to me.” He said. “I know that’s not your father.”I gulped.“Look how easy it has become for you to just lie to me.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen enough of you all on TV, newspapers and magazines to know that that car is Nathan’s.”“Yoké please, you have to go.” I begged him.“I have to go… for him to come…” He was saying it as if the sentence wasn’t making sense to him.“I’m so sorry Yoké-”“Lead the way.”I couldn’t spare a second more standing here or else there would be trouble if Nathan walks in on us. My father would find out and then every
On the whole drive to the mansion, I could not stop thinking about Yoké. Was he okay? Did he manage to get home? Where was his ‘home’? Would I ever see him again? I still couldn’t get over the fact that I let him walk out of my life once more. I’ve always told myself that if God had to give me one more chance to go back and do things differently, I would have made sure we never got caught. Been more careful. Just so that I would never have to live a day without Yoké. God gave me that chance, but I threw it away again. How could I let him walk out of my life again? But then I remembered, Yoké knew where I lived now. I was certain that he would realize that he had made a huge mistake and come knocking again at my front door. Well, the securities would never allow him inside the premises, so he’d be at the gate, ringing the bell. Either way, he’d be back. That gave me closure.“Why are you smiling by yourself?” Nathan asked me, eyeing me suspiciously.I didn’t even realize that I was smil
She smiled at me softly, and I smiled back.“Oh Delilah!” Mom came to break the spell. “You didn’t even come say hi to me.”“Oh Leticia!” Delilah exclaimed back.Mom took Delilah’s hand away and they walked away. I looked over at the refreshment table where I had spotted dad and Alice, but they were no longer there. With my eyes, I followed mom and Delilah up the stairs and watched them enter mom’s office.“Couzie!” Francis suddenly hugged his arms around me from behind.He turned me towards him and gave me a big hug, almost leaving me breathless.“We thought you wouldn’t come!” He beamed, showing off his perfect white teeth which cost him more than 2000 dollars per tooth.“Why wouldn’t I?”“Nathan said you were not answering his calls.”“He only called me once.” I said rolling my eyes.“Anyway, I’m glad that you are here because tonight is the night I finally introduce to you future Mrs. Brown.”“Oh!” I shrieked with excitement. Jumping up and down. “Is she already here?”Lately Franc
After dinner, the guests started leaving. As they left one by one I was trying to spot Delilah, but she was nowhere to be seen. She had a red dress on, so it should’ve been easy for me to spot her. I still don’t understand what could have gone wrong between mom and her. The smiles on their faces when mom came to take her from me… now all this anger?I felt an arm around me, it was Nathan. He squeezed me tight and kissed my cheek.“Who are you looking for?” He smiled at me.“No one in particular. Just watching the guests leave.”“Oh, they had a great time, Leticia is such a great host.”“Yeah, they really did.”Nathan turned me towards him and put his arms around my waist.“What’s going on in your pretty little mind?” He asked me, staring deep into my eyes as if he would get his answer.I smiled. “Nothing.”“You never talk to me. Whenever I ask it is always ‘nothing’. If you do not confide in me, then who else will you confide in?”I chuckled. “There’s nothing, really.”“You two.” Franc
“What’s the answer?” Nathan asked me, getting impatient.“Chill bro,” Alice told him. “Don’t you have any sense of humour left in your life?”“You’re the last person to talk about humour here, you laugh once in a week.” Nathan told her.We all broke out laughing. I wasn’t laughing at Alice; I was laughing at Nathan. He was being so serious, all for what? Did he think I was going to mention Yoké?“I fell out of a plane and survived!” I announced before Alice could think of a come-back. “Crazy, right?”We laughed.“Real crazy.” Francis said.“I can’t believe I’m sitting next to someone who survived a plane crash.” Karla beamed. “It’s so unreal!”“To Francis, of cause, do you believe in love?” Nathan asked after everyone settled down.“Haaa!” Alice and I chorused.“Of course he does.” Karla said, she was beaming. “He loves me…”“Can I answer the question?” Francis asked her, he looked annoyed. “It’s my question.”“But you gonna say the same thing anyway-”“How do you know that?”“But won’
Monday. Such a gloomy day. It’s been raining since morning. I only managed 5 hours of sleep last night. I could have used an extra hour, but it passed by while arguing with Nathan. But still, being here in the office was better than staying back at the mansion alone with Nathan. He asked me last night to take a day off, but I refused. I didn’t want to keep saying no to him all day, just like last night. A whole hour. I just couldn’t do it. Not after seeing Yoké again. I felt like I still owed Yoké my loyalty. Like I would be disappointing him all over again if I slept with Nathan again.“What is up with you?” Nathan had asked me last night. “What is it with you?” He looked so frustrated. Like he just could not take any more of me.“Nothing!” I had shouted back, sick and tired of his constant begging too. Begging for me to act a certain type of way just because I had his ring around my finger. I was sick of that too.“So, you want me to keep begging each time I want my own girl?” He ask
"We have nothing left because of him." Dad said, staring at the ground. "I can't believe I trusted him that much.""Who is it, dad?" I asked."None other than your very own half brother, slash cousin, slash no relation at all, Francis.""What?" I asked. "What is he looking for? He wants to make money out of Toko Village meanwhile he is stealing from us and still gets a basic salary on top of that. How can someone love money this much? So much that you'd steal from your own..."Alice and Yoké joined us, they had heard the news too."I knew that that sneaky guy was dodgy." Alice said as she stopped behind the couch Delilah was sitting on and leaned on it.
Uma was awake, and as soon as we entered his ward and he saw us, he smiled, looked away and began sobbing. He covered his hand over his eyes and sobbed. "Aww." We chorused in unison, as if we had planned to. "Don't cry babe." He's girlfriend, Esther said, quickly walk-runned to him. She sat on the side of his bed and hugged him. She hugged him for a while as he continued crying. "We are here..." She told him, she looked sad too. "We love you and we'll always be here for you." Yoké stood behind next to his bed, the opposit side to where Esther was and placed his hands on the cotside. I came over to her side and she stood up to let
I stopped at the door way before entering the living room. He was in a navy blue suit, standing next to the couch, instead of sitting. Rosalie had just brought him his drink. He briefly pointed towards the table where she was supposed to place his drink. I went to sit on the couch opposite the one dad was standing next to. Yoké stayed at the room door post and leaned against it.Dad paced to and fro and stopped where he had started."So we've lost more than half of our clients..." Dad said, voice still powerful although the sad message.I kept quiet and watched him."We've lost most of our projects we were busy with, the clients asked to cancel their contracts or else they'd take us to court. Most of our employees, has resigned because they see the downfall. They know that we won't be able to pay them. Only the loyal ones remain."He then shrugged. "Maybe they're not even loyal. Maybe they are just
We stopped a block away from the motel just incase there were people put in place by Nathan to watch Yoké. But we could see the motel from here. It was a cheap old building. So cheap that the light of the ‘M’ in ‘Motel was flickering so bad that you’d think it would just die any moment. “So what will happen is you’ll give me Nathan’s phone so that when I get in, I can ask him which room number he is at.” The woman half turned to talk to me.“But I’m going in with you.” I told her.She shook her head. “I may not have been entirely loyal to your father but I’m not bad enough of a worker to put your life in potential danger.”“What do you mean danger? I’m—”“I have a gun. Although I’m going in there alone, I know how to defend myself up to a certain point. We don’t know whether Nathan’s men are in there, or around here, in some building, possibly watching us right now. What happens if they fire at us?”“They’ll never fire at me—”“You d
"Yoké...""Gen— Genesis is that— oh my, are you okay?”“I’m fine Yoké. I’m fine.”“What— how did you— Did Nathan put you on the phone with me?”“No Yoké. You don’t ever have to worry about Nathan ever again. He’s in custody…”“Nathan is in custody?”“He’s gone. He’ll never stand between us again. It’s all good now.”“No, no, no Geny. You don’t know Nathan, he’ll never be ‘gone’. You have to hang up right now and never call this number again.”“I’m telling you, my love. It’s over for him. The police have him and my dad knows about him—”“Look Nathan can’t be in custody. We have a— Look, I’m sorry Geny but you and I can’t ever be together. It will never work. Just p
I slammed the car door and fell back on the back seat. The woman, who was supposed to shut the already shut door for me gave me an unbelievable look and then got into the driver's seat."So what happened to your twin? Isn't he going to come with us?" I asked, bitterly."I understand you're upset that your father won't help you with your boyfriend but you don't have to take it out on me, or the car door." She told me looking back at me.We maintained eye contact for a while until she turned back and fastened her seat belt. She started the car and we were on the road again after a few minutes.I was too angry to care about how much this woman was looking at me in the rear view mirror."What?" I suddenly asked after a while of more rear view eye contact.She suddenly stopped the car causing me to fall forward and hit against her seat."Hey!" I shouted as I sat back in my seat. "Are you crazy?""Look, I'm not sure whether or not Mr
“Come here, my love.” Nathan told me. “Come take a seat next to me.”“I don’t want to sit next to you.” I told him. “I want you to tell me which plane Yoké is planning to take and when.”“Gen, your dad will always choose me over Dan. Look, all this is a misunderstanding. Once I speak to him things can go back to the way they were. We could still get married and what happens today would never come to light. We’d still be the world’s favorite couple.”I didn’t even know what to say to him. “Are you crazy?” Those were the only words that could leave my mouth.“I’m crazy about you, yes. My fiancée.”“Nathan, tell me which plane Yoké is planning to take. Please.”“Why do you need him when I’m here?” He asked me.Just then, two cops walked in."Is he ready for us now?" One asked."Yes, sir." One of the nurses answered."Okay." The policeman said and began unlocking the cuff on Nathan's arm to the bed.
When they got out of the car and came to open the door for me, I didn’t even try to fight them off, what was the use? No matter how much I would try, they’d still have the upper hand. And besides even if I manage to get away, how do I get home without a cellphone or money? There hasn’t been a building in sight since we’ve hit the road.“I’ll walk myself.” I told them as they opened the door for me.They exchanged looks. What was it with these two and looking at each other as if they could pass little messages with just one glance?“Look, if you try to run, we won’t go after you,” The male officer told me. “The distance back is not walkable, you’ll starve out there and die and then your family will never hear of you again. So don’t try anything stupid, okay?”I didn’t respond.“You have a better chance of surviving this than running away.” The lady
When I got back to my senses, my first instinct was to unlock the doors and get as far away as I could from this car and Nathan. Nathan was still crying out in agony, trying to ease his pain by clutching onto his wrist with the unharmed hand. I reached out and pressed the unlock button on the stirring wheel. He didn’t try to stop me, just continuing yelling in pain. I opened the door on my side. As I was about to step out, I remembered, Nathan was our only way to getting Rissa back. I reached into his suit pocket where I had seen him put his phone back after the call with one of his men.“What are you doing, Genesis?” He asked me but did not try to fight me off. “Help me.”I began searching the pockets of his jacket for the phone.“Help me, Genesis.” He said again, looking at me helplessly as I searched his pockets. “I love you.”“Freeze!” I looked up to see a policemen on Nathan’s si