New flame

Chapter 47

The sun is so shining brightly this afternoon as I am heading back to Scott's after patiently waiting for my father, who hasn't been home since yesterday.

The moment I walk onto the porch, I run into Maria and Ren, who have just returned from church. Olivia encouraged me to attend with her, but I'm not religious and I can't even remember the last time I stepped foot in a church.

My mother constantly criticizes me for my lack of religion, obviously hoping that one day God will touch my heart. You know how a normal African woman can be when it comes to religious matters! Having those thoughtful conversations with her always wears me out.

As I emerge off the porch to greet them, I yell out, "Hey guys," in an effort to halt them.

Ren is wearing a blue fit-and-flare dress with heeled shoes, while Maria is dressed in a dark blue flowery V-neck jumpsuit with short sleeves and wide-leg slacks.

"You ladies are gorgeous..." I'm saying this while noticing that only Maria has waited for me to catch up.

"Is everything all right?" I mumble to Maria while keeping an eye on Ren as she walks into the quarters.

"No, you need to talk with her," Maria responds, and I look at her in surprise as she nods yes in agreement.

I start running to catch up with Ren.

"Hey, babe, can we talk?" I ask as I grab hold of her arm and pull her to a stop.

"No," I was unable to let go of her hand after her quick response.

"Please," I implored. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Really? Do you mean to ask me that?" She asks, frowning at me, and I begin to imagine what I would have done to her.

Probably her father informed her that I had come to visit him, or was it yesterday? But I believed she loved it, so why would she be furious with me, or was it because I asked for a serious relationship for us?

Maria is going in at this moment and passes us by.

"Does it have anything to do with yesterday?" I ask that first, to which she scoffs. She then pulls out her phone and plays a voice tape for me, which I carefully listen to.

So what are you gonna do? Fire her?

Scott's voice is heard first, and then mine follows.

I want to play her. I will make her fall in love with me and dump her after.

The voice recording then ceased, leaving me speechless and mortified.

"You are doing all of that for me to win my love so you can play with my emotions and mess with my heart? Thus it makes sense why you are asking for such a serious thing." She responds as I remain silent. "Why? Oh, because I refused to be your prey at your birthday celebration?"

"I swear it..." I say, and she interrupts me.

"I blamed myself for not paying attention to Tobi. She warned me countless times, but I prefer to keep defending you, letting her know that you are far superior to both her and Nicholas." She expresses regrettably from the heart.

She continues, "It's true that it better the devil you know than the devil you don't," and then she turns around and leaves.

"Gosh! I messed up" I sigh furiously to myself as I can't bring myself to stop her.

Where and how did she even get that? Tracy must be responsible for this. I wonder why she recorded us that day at the gym with the intention of using it against me. It isn't even blackmailing because she would have shown it to me first in order to get money from me.