Hope was a myriad of emotions but she was most especially angry at herself. How could she have been so careless to have gotten herself caught despite knowing all that was at stake? The worse part was that she had cried. Cried! Nobody cried just because they got caught secretly working in order to get a Christmas present for their mum. At least she didn't. Even if there had been an inkling of hope he would have believed her, it was all dashed now. She might as well have drawn up a sign with, 'I'm lying' plastered all over.
Hope groaned as another series of bangs landed on her bedroom door. Val had been trying to get her out of the room for close to two hours.
"Go away!" Hope yelled at her.
"Open this door right this minute or I promise I'll break it down," Val threatened, banging on the door again.
Hope rolled her eyes and scoffed. Where was she going to get the strength from? "Go ahead then!" she shot back.
There was a pause and when Val spoke again, her voice was soft and pleading, "Open the door, Hope. Please."
Hope ignored her. Maybe if she did that long enough, Val would finally get the message.
"Kemisola Hope! You better open up right now or I promise you, I WILL BREAK THIS DOOR DOWN!"
Hope frowned. Was that Tayo's voice she just heard or was she now hearing things?
"I hope you're not standing by the door oo because I'm here with a hammer and this door is going down!" Tayo persisted and Hope could hear the clang of a body against the door.
Hope let out a defeated sigh. She knew her friend well enough to know there was no way she was leaving if she didn't get inside the room. Hope forcefully removed herself from her bed and wobbled over to the door, grumbling as she unlocked it to face her best friend who was unknowingly leaning against the door, resulting in her almost falling in. Hope had a moment of regret that she hadn't.
"Thank God," Val said as soon as the door opened. Her gaze immediately took in Hope's puffy eyes. "Are you okay?"
"What do you think?" Hope snapped.
"You're right, dumb question." Val chuckled nervously, unsure of how to approach the girl who looked like she'd go off at the slightest provocation.
"If you say so," Hope retorted, not caring that she was coming off as bitchy. She turned around and curled back into bed, ready to shut them both out of her world.
"Okay, what happened to you?" Tayo demanded, following her into the room. She shut the door and locked it before Val could follow them in. "You're a sight for sore eyes. I'd have expected you to be happier since it's your first day. I came to hear all the juicy details and I'm not pleased at all with the turn of events."
"FYI, I got assaulted and fired on my first day so I'm allowed to be in a sour mood. Shocker, I know," Hope supplied mechanically.
Like a switch, her friend flipped from confused to concerned and she was beside Hope in a flash, forcing the girl up and inspecting her body.
"It's not that serious," Hope said with a tired sigh, prying her friend's invading hands off. "Whatever you're thinking is not it."
"Then tell me what it is," Tayo retorted with an frustrated scowl so Hope narrated all that had happened and by the time she was done, her friend was absolutely livid and Hope found herself shrinking away a little.
"I'm going to kill him," Tayo declared through clenched teeth.
Hope's brows raised in response. She wasn't sure who her friend was planning to kill exactly but at the moment, she didn't really care. Exhausted after revisiting the events of the day or maybe it was the calming effect Tayo's presence had on her, she laid back in bed and welcomed the warmth it provided.
"You poor baby," Tayo cooed, tucking her sheets around her. "You'll feel much better after a good rest."
Hope hummed but was incapable of giving a coherent response as she felt herself getting lost in the fitful abyss of sleep. Her friend's voice grew even more distant as she drifted off to sleep.
• ~ •
Hope slowly stirred awake. She felt a faint but steady vibration against her side and her hand automatically searched for the object that was causing her discomfort. Her hand grazed and wrapped around her phone which was silently buzzing.
Disoriented, she didn't bother checking the caller ID before she picked, raising the phone to her ear. "Hello?" She muttered, the sleep in her voice making her sound sluggish.
"Where's my money?"
Hope bolted up, all trace of sleep vanishing as her mind keened on the familiar harsh voice that she so greatly loathed. Her hands shook and she had to support one with the other to keep the phone from falling.
Swallowing the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, she managed to keep her voice even when she replied. She knew better than to show him any form of weakness. "Excuse me?"
"My money," he repeated dangerously, menacingly. "I want my money."
"What money?" Hope demanded, keeping her voice as level as his even as she was internally bristling. "The one that's due in a month? That money?"
The line was silent and Hope held her breath in agony for all of the three seconds it took him to reply. When he finally did, his words sent Hope off the edge. "For every week from now till you pay, it goes up by ten thousand."
Hope lost it. "You're insane! Bat shit crazy! You're raving mad!!! How do you expect me to get that kind of money??!"
"Don't test me, Hope." With that, the line went dead.
Hope screamed and flung her phone away.
"I will not cry. I WILL NOT CRY," Hope chanted even as unrestricted tears scrambled down her face and she buried herself deep into the sheets to muffle her sobs.
Her whole body shook as she sank under the full force of the shame and helplessness that threatened to swallow her whole. Panic began to settle in as his words replayed in her head. She was underwater and drowning fast with no one to save her.
Her mind hovered over how easy it would be to end it all. Now. Peace. At last. It all seemed too easy.
Her mum and Sophie's faces flashed before her and she knew right then that she'd never. What would happen to them? Her family, her anchor. Her resolve slowly but surely started to build and new found determination washed her, chipping away at the panic that had settled at the base of her stomach. She would find a way no matter what. For her family, she'd do anything.
It took close to thirty minutes but she was finally able to calm her mind and body down, shutting out her self destructive thoughts. Worn out and exhausted, her stomach grumbled and Hope let out a dry chuckle. Of course she was hungry. If there was anything that could lift her spirit even the slightest bit at the moment, it was food.
Her eyes roamed her bed searching for her phone until she remembered she'd flung it away in anger. Panicked, she searched the floor and found it lying at the foot of her bed. Heart in throat, she inspected it and was relieved to find it was still in good condition. She let out a relieved breath. The last thing she needed in that condition was a broken phone.
She opened the phone to see she had five missed calls -- three from Tayo and that had been hours ago. The other two were from Raymond forty seven minutes prior.
Hope scoffed and switched off her phone. Her wall clock read nine fifteen. She made her way out of her room and wasn't prepared for the darkness that greeted her in the hallway as her room light was on. She blinked to readjust her eyes and on instinct, stumbled her way into the kitchen which was also engulfed in darkness. She felt her way until she found the light switch and flipped it on. She turned around and screamed when she saw the figure standing right behind her.
"Whoa, calm down," Val whispered, trying to hush her.
"Are you trying to kill me?" Hope demanded, her hands flying to her chest.
Val chuckled, walking over to the counter and leaning against it instead. "I was in my room when I heard shuffling sounds and I guessed it was you finally coming out of your room so I wanted to check on you."
"Please don't sneak up on me like that again," Hope pleaded, flopping into a chair in front of Val.
"Sorry," Val said with an apologetic wave of her hand. "So, are you okay now?"
Hope sighed. She really didn't want to revisit her day but she knew she owed the girl at least some sort of explanation. "Yes. I'm sorry I got you worried. I had a bad day but I'm fine now."
"Are you sure? 'Cause I'm sure I heard you yelling in your room some minutes ago," Val persisted.
Hope shut her eyes against the sting of unshed tears that she stubbornly refused to let out. It was surprising she hadn't exhausted them. Her voice was raw marble when she replied, "Drop it, Val. Please."
She looked about to protest but something in Hope's expression must have silenced her. Shrugging, Val pointed at something behind her. "There's rice in the pot if you're hungry. I wasn't sure if you were going to come out to eat but I prepared yours just in case."
Hope's heart filled with gratitude and a bit of guilt. She'd acted like a brat and had shut her out still Val had made food for her. "Thank you, Val."
Val waved off her gratitude. "It's fine. Look, I'm not trying to push things, but I just want you to know I'm here if you ever need to talk, okay?"
Hope's lips lifted in a genuine smile. "Thanks. I really appreciate that."
"Okay then," Val smiled back, pleased. "Oh, Raymond called about an hour ago. He called you but you weren't picking? He sounded really worried and I didn't know what to tell him."
Hearing Raymond's name had her smile dropping. She knew it was unfair to blame him for what happened but she couldn't help but do that anyway.
"I'm sure he's fine," Hope replied dismissively, not wanting to discuss the matter but again, Val didn't seem to get the memo.
"You probably should call him. If not today, tomorrow?" Val suggested.
"Maybe," Hope replied vaguely, knowing she was doing no such thing.
"He was really worried," Val insisted, her eyes searching Hope for something. What? Hope didn't know.
"Hmmm . . . " Hope tilted her head, studying Val as something occurred to her. And with that, an idea started to form. "You know, you seem very concerned about uncle Raymond."
"What? No, I'm just . . . " Val shrugged and her eyes flitted every way. She was obviously flustered and wasn't very good at hiding it.
"I've not said anything and you're already looking like a ripe tomato like this," Hope teased, successfully stirring the conversation off course. "You're not very subtle, you know."
"I don't even know what you're talking about," Val insisted stubbornly even though her whole body gave her away.
"Okay. Fine. Let's both pretend you don't know that I know you like him. It's fine."
"I don't. You're just imagining things," Val defended with a little too much force.
"Okay oo. I've heard you," Hope conceded, making a poor attempt to stifle her laughter. "But for all it's worth sha, I think he likes you too."
"And how would you know that?" Val replied, attempting to sound uninterested but it was there, the underlying note of curiosity.
Hope didn't know, but why wouldn't he? Val was gorgeous and sweet and Raymond would have to be blind not to notice that. Besides, her mum had said there was 'chemistry' and adults just knew these things. Didn't they?
In reply to Val's question, Hope smirked. "I just know."
Val rolled her eyes, looking both frustrated and embarrassed. "Just eat and go to sleep. Goodnight." She didn't wait for Hope's response before she scrambled out of the kitchen.
Her mum's suggestion came rushing back and unlike the other times, Hope let herself dwell on it. It had seemed ridiculous at first but now, not so much? What if Val and Raymond getting together was what she needed to get him out of her business? It wasn't guaranteed but she couldn't just sit around and do nothing either.
If anyone had told Hope a day before that she would be considering this, she'd have laughed in their faces but now at her wits end, the wheels in her head started to turn and operation #MatchmakeValandRaymond started to make form.
• ~ • ~ •
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