Heir and CEO of Avalon Group, Nathan Adakole is faced with the choice of leaving the love of his life, Enitan Alaide to marry Annabelle-his ex, in a bid to save his father from prison and his family's business from being shut down by the Nigerian An...
"There is no remedy for love but to love more."Henry David Thoreau
ENITAN
My eyes opened slightly to paramedics in red or orange jumpsuits hovering above my head. The memory of the past minutes a blur, I could only remember the fight with Nathan, getting into an elevator and pressing the panic button. I laid confused and in pains as I watched two people reach for different tools in the cramped space.
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One in particular flipped my eyelids and pointed a flashlight to my eyes, the one looked young and female. She reached for my wrist to check my pulse then her hands moved to my shoulders and lifted a blanket that now replaced the grey Lacoste T-shirt I wore earlier -a Christmas present from Nathan. It was difficult to find a dress in my closet that wasn't a present from him.
She attached some wires to my chest and checked the reading on a machine next to her. Then she asked something and made a few hand gestures that my mind could not process because I had just one thing in mind.
Him. Was he here, did he come for me?
Weak and disoriented, I struggled to look for him past the huge oxygen mask and neck brace that covered my face. Maybe if I saw his face I would gain the strength to survive.
Instead I caught the flinty face of his trusted guard and side kick few feet away, the one with the name of a mountain. His gaze was fixated on me like one coerced into an impossible task.
Disappointment and hurt rocked my broken heart all over again. I was mad at Nathan and harboured the urge to rip off his head, but a part of me still wanted -needed him by my side.
One week we lazied around in 'Tinapa resorts' and the next, he didn't give two hoots if I died or survived an accident that happened because of him. The week we spent together felt like a decade ago, so many things had changed in a short time.
Strapped to a stretcher in an ambulance, my life flashed before my eyes and I began to reflect on the series of events that led up to that point. I remember how my life changed from a single phone call.
*****
"Nita what the hell! You scared me to death! I've been calling you all day! Where in God's name are you?" I flinched at my best friend's tone while I took the phone away to save my ear from her screeching voice.
I heard her ramble on the other end and wondered what triggered her, until I tapped the missed call tab and saw the 47 calls she left. I looked at the time on my phone and realized I had slept for 8 hours.
I brought the phone to my ear and tried to calm her nerves. "Hello to you too firecracker" The fond name I called Tanya whenever her flames burned. "Why so vexed bunny, what's the matter with you?" I gave a soft chuckle.
"I should be asking you that."
"Uuuh it's three in the morning and you're blowing up my phone. Why aren't you even asleep?"
"Because I was worried about you, you retarded dimwit!"
'Retarded dimwit' sounded like Tanya, she didn't mind redundancies so long as she made her point. Truly she sounded worried and it broke my resolve to drop the call in ten seconds.
"Bunny, I'm sorry I did not pick up ok. The mill was a madhouse today, there was an accident involving Marcel so I covered for him. I came back gassed out, and had to leave my phone on vibe to avoid people interrupting my sleep."
"Will he be alright?"
"Well no body parts lost, he'll live."
"Ok. When I couldn't reach you I came to your house and knocked for a while. I thought you did something to yourself"
"Why? what do you mean by 'do something to myself' bunny".
She paused for a while then continued "Oh baby, you really have no clue?"
"What clue?” I kissed my teeth. “Bunny! Are you drunk right now?" Tanya had a bad habit of calling to say random things whenever she had an extra glass of wine.
"No." Her serious reply made me uneasy.
"Just listen to me Nita, after this call, put your phone away, do not touch it. Just trust me, I'll be on my way to you."
Gripped by fear I asked her, "Did something happen to my family?"
"It's not them, it's Nathan. Look don't panic, he's fine alright, it's just something else trust me."
"Ok". My answer a little too calm for the dreadful feeling that engulfed me.
An hour later she came and I cried my eyes out after she showed me the pictures. Social media buzzed with the news and I had no idea because I had been asleep. CEO and son to Avalon's Group Chairman, Nathan Adakole engaged to Annabelle Sima Martins, daughter of the Chairman of the National Anti-graft Agency . They headlines read 'chair wedding' and all sorts of names.
****
The next few days became horrible, I tried to reach him without luck. I wanted to believe it was some kind of joke, but deep in my heart I knew. I was the joke. I knew people like him didn't end up with people like me.
He a billionaire and the future of his family's multi-national empire and I, a common college graduate who worked in a small tech firm as a web developer and took extra shifts in his father's flourmill factory just to support my down-and-out family. Our worlds were light years apart and I was just too stupid to have been carried away by the attention he showered me. Too carried away to remember luck didn't strike twice.
Confronting him after I'd learnt of his return to the country turned out to be a huge mistake. He gave no explanation, not even a mediocre apology. I ran, and he didn't chase after me. It felt like the old Nathan I knew was back. Cold and arrogant.
*****
Surrounded by strangers in an ambulance that sped across the streets of Lagos, I became unsure which part of me hurt more and needed urgent care, my half-alive body that had survived a crash or my shattered heart.
"We're almost there. Stay with me. Stay with me ok?" The last words I heard from the paramedic before I drifted into emptiness again.
