FOUR

 Diane sat on the couch, her legs crossed, her hands wrapped around a glass of wine and her eyes staring into nothingness. Tired of looking at nothing in particular, she reached out and took the magazine lying on the dining. She began to skim through it.

It was around eleven in the midnight. Everyone had gone to sleep. Everyone meant Malvika, Natasha, Jenny and the maids. Nicholas and Ashley were not back from their date yet.

Diane had slept around eight in the night, after dinner. She woke up two hours later, around ten p.m. She had rolled around on her bed, browsed on her phone, went through her social media pages- F******k, I*******m, twitter- every single thing and she was still bored. She had left her phone on the bed and came downstairs, dressed in only her robe, to get a glass of wine.

Then, she sat on the couch, currently going through a magazine. 

The door suddenly opened and Nicholas staggered in. Diane looked up and studied his appearance with a blank look on her face. His hair was dishevelled and the black jacket he wore on top of his white shirt while leaving the house was no where to be found. His shirt was unbuttoned and not tucked in properly. Lipstick marks were all over his face. Diane shook her head. She could not ignore the fact that seeing him had left a bitter taste in her mouth and a pang of sadness and jealousy in her.

Nicholas stopped short and looked at her. “Why are you downstairs at this time? Why aren’t you sleeping? Waiting for me?” he asked.

At first, she thought he was serious and wanted to tell him off. Then, she saw the teasing smile playing on his lips. Diane’s lips cracked in a smile. “You wish.”

He slumped into the nearest couch and began to pull of his shoes. “But seriously, why are you awake? It’s like what? Ten?”

“Eleven,” Diane corrected.

“Yeah, whatever. You aren’t answering my question,” he said impatiently.

“I already slept. I slept around eight and woke up at ten,” Diane informed him. “Then, I couldn’t sleep again. So, I came downstairs for a drink.”

Nicholas' gaze landed on the glass in her hand. “I see.”

Diane closed the magazine, dumped it back on the table and uncrossed her legs.  “I take it that your date went well.”

Nicholas shrugged. “Kinda. Not exactly.”

Diane’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to reply her. She expected him to yell at her or ignore her and walk away. “Nicholas,” she called cautiously. “Are you okay?”

Nicholas frowned. “Kinda. Not exactly."

Diane's lips twisted. She stared at him in surprise. Well, if he was talking to her, she might just take the chance. “So, how did the date go?”

He shrugged. He slipped further into the couch, hanging his arm over the arm-rest. “It was okay, I guess. We went to a restaurant. One of those expensive restaurants. Ashley really loves expensive food.”

“She loves expensive food? Isn’t that just interesting?” Diane mused.

“I don’t know,” Nicholas replies, shrugging his shoulders. “She loves anything expensive.”

“Wow.” She was silent for a while. Then in a small, slow voice, she asked, “Why do you love her?"

Nicholas turned his head to look directly at her for the first time. He sat up suddenly, his eyes glaring at Diane with anger and hatred. “It’s none of your business,” he replied harshly, standing up.

Diane flinched from the suddenly hostility in his voice. She frowned in confusion  “But…..what’s wrong? We were just talking peacefully….”

“Shut up!” he spat at her angrily. His chest was heaving as he breathed heavily.

“What?” Diane’s frown deepened.

“You better know your place in this house and don’t you dare try to make any foolish conversation with me again!” he screamed, the veins in his head bulging.

‘What the hell?’ Diane thought. “Nicholas….”

“Don’t call my name,” he yelled.

Tears pooled in Diane’s eyes. She sniffed and dabbed on the tears with the back of her palm. “Sorry,” she whispered.

Nicholas stop short as soon as he saw her cleaning the tears in her eyes. He felt a pang of guilt hit his conscience and his face softened. He shook his head thoroughly, managed to give her a very stern look, then, stormed up the stairs.

As soon as he left, the tears in Diane’s eyes rolled down her cheeks. She buried her head in her palm and cried into it. She had never felt so hurt before. 

                              --------

Nicholas strolled down the stairs in his pyjamas. It was an early morning and he wanted to make it to the set as early as possible. He suddenly halted as his gaze stopped at Diane sleeping on the sofa. He stood for a while wondering what to do. He frowned when he realized that she was in a sitting position and her head was dropping. Wasn’t she uncomfortable? He thought.

He studied her sleepy expression, noticing how her mouth curved in a pout; her eyelashes fluttering intermittently and her long wavy hair covering a part of her face. He had to admit that she was beautiful. Just as he was about to move closer to her, he heard a voice behind him. “Staring at my sister while she sleeps? So creepy.”

He turned and saw Malvika staring at him. “I wasn’t staring at her.”

“Really? You were admiring her beauty then?” Malvika asked, walking towards him. 

He scoffed. “Beauty? sister is as ugly as a monkey.” He moved away from her and headed to the table. He picked a cup and a jug.

Malvika watched as he began to pour the content of the jug into the cup. “Of course you would choose the most common, lamest and dumbest comparison."

Nicholas shrugged, raising the cup to his mouth. 

“Why didn’t you wake her up? You want her to break her neck?” Malvika asked.

“Did I ask her to sleep that way? Whatever happens to her is none of my business.”

“Asshole,” Malvika muttered. She tapped Diane’s arm and whispered softly. “Di?”

Diane’s eyes fluttered open. Her eyes widened as they met that of Malvika. She stared at Malvika. “Malvi? What’s wrong?”

“Did you sleep in the living room last night?” 

Her gaze met Nicholas’ and she quickly averted it. “Yes. I didn’t realize when I slept off. I must have been so tired.”

“Won’t you go prepare for work?” Malvika asked calmly.

“Of course,” Diane said, standing up from the chair. “Thanks, Malvi. Where is Natasha?"

“Still sleeping. You know how she is.”

Diane smiled and all Nicholas could think of was how beautiful her round small lips were. “Of course, I know.” She turned to Nicholas and greeted in a small voice, “Good morning.” Without waiting for an answer, she walked upstairs.

Nicholas stared at her retreating figure, surprised that she even noticed him and greeted him. 

“Don’t be surprised,” Malvika said calmly. “That’s just how my sister is.”

“What?” Nicholas asked. 

“I know something happened last night. You yelled at her.  And you are surprised that she actually noticed your existence or that she greeted you. Get used to it.”

“I don’t care if she greets me or not,” Nicholas said in a hard voice.

“Of course you don’t.” Malvika folded her arms. “You know, Diane has this thought that as the elder sibling, she has to protect us always. And she does, in her own best way. But the fact is that we are more protective of her than she is of us.”

Nicholas dropped the cup on the table. “And, pray, tell me why I’m so lucky to know this little secret?” he asked in the most sarcastic manner.

Malvika smiled. “Because, I heard you yelling at her last night. The next time you do something like that, I’ll castrate you. And I mean it."

Nicholas flinched at her hard voice and the steel look in her eyes. He scoffed. “Psst. You are just bluffing. There is nothing you can do.”

“Really? You try me,” she said with the creepiest smile and walked away. 

Nicholas released the breath he didn’t even realize he had been holding. Gosh, Diane’s younger sisters were so scary and annoying.

                          ---------

Diane sat in her office going through some files. She relaxed into her seat and raised the file open scanning through it with her eyes. There was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Diane said.

The door opened and Jayden stepped in. “Hi.”

Diane looked up and smiled. “Oh Hi, Jayden.” Jayden had been frequenting her office after the first time they met and they were actually becoming good friends. 

He closed the door behind him and walked towards the table. He plopped into a seat. “What’s up?”

“I’m good,” Diane replied, dropping the file on the table. 

“What are you doing?” Jayden asked, stretching his neck a little to peer into the files on the table.

“Working,” Diane said in a 'duh' tone. 

“Yeah, obviously,” he replied, relaxing into the seat. “We had a short break at work, so, I thought I should come and say hi,” he replied.

“Why, thanks. That’s very thoughtful of you,” Diane said. 

He nodded, rubbing his chin. “Will you like to step out for a while?”

“I would love to,” Diane said with a beam. “But I’m not sure I should leave this whole ass of work and step out.”

“Ouch. And I was really looking forward to it,” Jayden said. “I guess some other time, then.”

“Yeah. Or how about you go get something for both of us to eat and we can both eat lunch here.”

“That’s an awesome idea. Of course.” Jayden stood up. “So what should I get?”

“I would just love tacos please,” Diane said. “You could also…..” she was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She held up a finger. “Sorry, I need to take this,” she said, picking up her phone. “Hello?”

Jayden watched as her eyes widened. “What?!” she yelled. Her hands grew weak and her phone dropped on the table with a clatter.

Slowly, she placed her arm on the table and dropped her face into her palms, massaging her temple.

Jayden put forth his hand and touched her shoulder. “Diane, what’s wrong?” 

She looked up, her eyes already brimming with tears and slowly broke the news to him.

©️INIOLUWA