Months Later...
I was watching my favorite channel, E! I love the way the Kardashian sisters fight over everything. That makes them special and they’re still my favorite.
“I hate you!” Khloe hissed at Kim, and Kim gave her a blow from under her jaw. I bursted into an uncontrollable laughter and I felt a kick inside of me. With difficulty, I pulled myself up, still concentrated on the programme, but this time, the kick came harder.
“Ahhh!” I cried at the reaction. “What is wrong with me?” I asked myself and held my enormous stomach.
As if my back splitted into two, another kick hit through me.
“Elvie... Elvira!”
“Ahhh! Help me! Ell.... Elvira!” I groaned out in pain.
“My back.... Help me!" I cried and felt a sudden warmness between my legs. I looked down at my feet and blood was pouring out of me.
“No... Help me!" I cried, trying to stand, but I couldn’t.
In a blink, I remembered Elvira went out with her new boyfriend. I tried to move to the dining table where I kept my phone, but I couldn’t. I held myself to the chair and gently slipped down.
“Ahhh!” I cried once again. The pains hit me harder as I moved. Crawling to get to the dining room, the blood lingered between my legs and I held myself once again, unable to move. Stuck in between, I closed my eyes and tears rolled down my checks.
Unable to hold the pain, I felt a sudden dizziness and suddenly blacked out.
3 Days Later, Damon was watching football. It glued his eyes to the television as he suddenly threw the remote control out of frustration.
“Fuck! You can’t even kick a ball properly!” Damon cursed at the top of his lungs.
“Why are you excited so over this?” Mrs. Smith rushed out of the kitchen to meet him. I thought you were quarrelling with someone. I didn’t know you’re watching football."
“I’m not fighting with anyone. I’m just watching television.” He replied softly.
“What do you normally gain from football that you tense up yourself like this?”
“Football is universal. Everybody understands its language. This means, anywhere it’s play, a soccer fan supports his county, which might also serve as a system of peace and conflict resolution.”
“Oh, that’s good. And understandable too. So you mean everyone could be brothers and sisters because of football?”
“Yes, mum. That’s why I go to the stadium to watch it most times. It’s just that I’m occupied these days.”
‘Ring! Ring! Ring!’
Damon realized that his mobile phone on the marble table rang. It viberated once again. He looked at its screen from the chair and saw ‘Elvira Young.’
“Who are those that don’t sleep at night?” Mrs. Smith raised her gaze at him, pissed.
“It’s Elvie.”
“Who’s Elvie?”
“Elvira Young, Adelaide’s friend.”
"What does she want and why is she calling this late? Doesn’t she have a husband? You see... Birds of tafeather. She’s calling her friend’s ex-husband by 12:00 a.m!"
Damon concentrated on the television while his phone rang again. Its vibration on the table was disturbing. He couldn’t concentrate.
“She's calling again... Pick up the call and put it on speaker.” Mrs. Smith hissed.
Damon pressed the answer button and put the call on speaker.
“Hello boss. How’s your weekend?” Elvira started with a calm voice.
“What’s it?” He pressed. As if his time was being wasted.
“I want to tell you what happened to Ally on Wednesday.”
“What happened to her?”
“She just started bleeding, so I rushed her to the hospital. She’s lost a lot of blood and her condition is critical. It’s just worsening by the day.”
“If her condition is worsening, she would only get better in the hospital while receiving medical care. Not with me.”
“The doctor said he wants to see you.”
“Why would he call me?”
“I don’t know. Probably for an important discussion on her health issue or something. I’m in the doctor’s office right now and he said you should come.”
“What’s your business with that?” Mrs. Smith frowned at her son. “Hello? What does the doctor want my son for? Is my son her husband? She willingly left this house four months ago so we no longer have ties or responsibility towards Adelaide! If she’s bleeding to death, take her to the hospital for treatment and stop disturbing our peace! For goodness’ sake, it’s 12:00 a.m, and it’s risky to go out by this time! Do you want to kill my son for me or what? This is getting too much. I know of girls that survive pregnancy with no one and nobody died for them! So you think I’d allow my only child to go out this late? Who knows what you and your friend have planned since you’re both witches? Damon Smith isn’t going out or paying any visits, so please!”
Damon was tired of her complaints just ended the call.
“That Elvira girl and her friend are suspicious. Who knows their plan for you? Their charms might have worked in the past, but not anymore. You need to tell them that.” She pressed.
“Whatever, mum. He focused on the television. “A goaaal!”
Her son’s reaction frightened Mrs. Smith.
“I said it, my team will win!” He jerked off in excitement.
“Something is wrong with you, Damon. You know that, right? So broken are Adelaide’s spells now and football spell overpowered?”
“Say whatever, mum. My team won.”
***
Elvira paid her boss a visit, but he wasn’t home. She met his mum watching a programme on television while she walked into the mansion. Mrs Smith offered her a seat and asked one maid to serve Elvira, a bottle of chilled sparkling wine to drink.
“Mrs Julia Smith,” she started with a calm voice. “You are a caring mother. I realise how much you’ve endured and sacrificed to hold the name of your late husband and manage all your companies throughout the years. As it is, I’m working under you, so you’re also my boss. You know that whoever wants to discredit another man’s song wouldn’t mind how the song is sang.”
Elvira paused while the maid served her the drink. She smiled to her politely as a form of appreciation.
“I learn you got here not just by wishing it, hoping for it, but worked for it.” Elvira continued. "I also recognize that you’ve worked too hard to quit. That’s why you’re determined not to make your family and family business perish. Your efforts at strengthening our culture have not gone unnoticed, ma’am. I credit and admire you so much for this. But, like I said earlier, people out there are thinking otherwise about you.”
Julie frowned at Elvira’s words, unsure of her point.
“I know their thoughts about you are false. Many people believe you’re wicked, selfish and not welcoming. I try to correct them as much as possible because I’m close to you, in a way. That you’re my boss’s mother and my friend’s mother-in-law.”
“Whatever they think, my dear.” Mrs. Smith smiled. “Anyone is free to say whatever he or she likes. Gossips don’t affect me, you know. It’s something the rich have to deal with. I know I’m a wonderful mother and I always protect my son’s and late husband’s name.”
“Yes ma’am.” Elvira replied.
“I know that I’m a nice person to the core. People would always talk, so I’m not concerned.” She explained.
“What I’m driving at is that my friend is dying at the hospital and she needs her husband’s love and support. I feel he’s the only one that can bail her out of this condition. Adelaide and I have come so far, and it was through me, ma’am, that they met and started a relationship. Seeing my friend in sorrow and sadness kills me. I don’t know what Damon thinks or feels, but I feel guilty.”
Mrs Smith gave Elvira a grave look, but she continued.
“I’ve spent all my earnings on her hospital bills just so she survives with the child in her. Please, Mrs Smith. I know how generous and kind you can be. Help me talk to your son to rescue her from the clutches of death. Money and medication can’t do the magic, only love can.”
A small grin formed on Julia’s lips as she watched Elvira from head to toe. “I see that you’re really a loyal friend.”
“Thank you, ma.”
“You’re a supportive friend indeed. I just confirmed that now. If it’s someone else, I don’t think they can take the steps you’ve taken.”
“Adelaide would do the same for me if I were in her position.” Elvira defended.
“Sounds fair, but... Let me advice you. Slow down in your advocacy for her. I know how hardworking and submissive you are to work at Smith Inc. At least, it’s been 8 years, but. You might need to draw back if the going gets tougher for her because it might also land you in trouble. You should be less concerned about this matter. It’s not as if you are blood related.” She persuaded. “What I know is my son is not responsible for that bastard child she’s carrying.”
Elvira wore a flushed face at her words.
“Are you surprised?” Mrs. Smith questioned.
“No, ma'am... I didn’t expect you to say that. It’s both of us here and we need to be truthful to ourselves as ladies. Adelaide is your daughter-in-law and Damon is her husband. My friend is trustworthy. She loves Damon so much. She’ll never cheat. That I’m sure of!” Elvira explained when a masculine voice intervened.
“She was my wife; not anymore!”
Elvira raised her gaze up, and it met with Damon’s. A feeling of astonishment clouded her mind as she watched him in dismay.
“And I’m not responsible for the pregnancy she’s carrying!” He clenched his fist and took a wide stance. “Like my mother rightly said, do whatever you like with that bastard child. If you like, flush it! I don’t care however you go about it. I want to be left out of this talk because it’s over! You should use the door, please.” He controlled his anger.
Elvira took a sharp intake of breath and looked at Mrs. Smith. She pointed to the door, directing her to leave. Although Elvira felt insulted, she grabbed her handbag.
“Have you seen a woman leave her matrimonial home for a very long period and come back to say she’s pregnant? Can you accept that kind of pregnancy? She could do it somewhere else, but not in this family!”
“You heard my mother. She’s been barren all these years and now she’s suddenly pregnant.” He clenched his jaw. Elvira turned to Damon with a serious face. Her delicate pupils focused on his, and he knew she was damn serious.
“Now, I understand you, Damon. Your mother, right? As old as you are, you’re still lying on your mother’s chest and sucking her breasts! It’s a big problem when a man is tied to his mother’s skirt, because you don’t even know what is wrong from what’s right! You can’t make a simple decision. I know how much you disturbed me before I agreed to introducing you to my friend. I know how much you were obsessed with Adelaide before she said yes! You don’t even know when you fucked a woman, your wife! Was she there when you consummated with Ally? Answer me!” Elvira rolled her eyes at both of them, disgustingly. “So you just used and dumped her? I so pity my friend.”
“Yes, he used and dumped her and nothing will happen!” Mrs. Smith defeated.
“Like your mum rightly said, you’re not a man!” Elvira opened the door and banged it on their shocked faces.
“Are you talking to me like that?” He stuttered in his words, but Elvira had gone.
“You’re just complicating the issue. We know the truth and we’d stick to it.”
Elvie opened the door again. They stared directly at the both of them with shocked silence. “If only I knew you’d do this to Adelaide. I wouldn’t have taken her out that night. But now I know you’re not a man!”
She banged the door shut and left. Sudden chills ran up Damon’s spine as he wore a flushed face. A burning sensation filled his mind while he thought about Elvira’s last words. She looked pained. He’d never seen her that paranoid but her words, like arrows of an enemy struck him in the heart. Damon couldn’t help but to feel disappointed with himself. As if memories of the past flashed through.
Watching the plastered look on Damon’s face, Mrs. Smith let out a deep and deliberate breath. She just held his hand, he jerked away. Unable to say anything. He hurried into his room, pissed. Mrs. Smith held her shallow breaths as she thought of what to do.