Jeremiah
Forty-eight hours. No, it had been exactly two days. Two days of sulking in my bed, in that really horrible hospital dress, doing absolutely nothing but worry all day and stare at the tiny buildings outside from the window. The view was absolutely breathtaking from the fifth floor, the VIP floor. You could see the small river at the far end. It looked like the buildings were right on top of it. More like an island. But at that moment, I didn't care about any of that. I was restless. Ever since I got Kora's text to meet up, I had been restless. It was really going to be close to impossible to see her. To see the both of them especially since my father had made sure there were guards surrounding the hospital and monitoring my every move. Leaving without them noticing was never going to happen. I wasn't even allowed to have any guests. None except-
"Oh my goodness." I exhaled when I heard the slam sound of her textbook as she shut it close. "I'm bored out of my mind."
Except my Fiancée. Except Oma.
I slowly raised my head to look at her. Oma was an exception to everything. She and her family had the permission to do whatever they wanted and go wherever they wanted as far as my family was concerned. To my father, Oma and her mother were our family too. It looked like I was stuck with her for life after all. But look on the bright side, Oma was the only chance I got to put my plans into action. It was why I had chosen that day. It was why I had asked that she spent the entire day with me. It was why I had to put the rest of my plans to work or at least try to. She had a huge frown on her face. I could tell she was frustrated of being there. She hated hospitals. I knew that for a fact. It was a wonder she had been able to visit everyday without fail. I guess when you liked someone the way Oma did me, you could do everything for that person. Even if what you had to do were things you never wanted to do. She was trying so hard to shake it off, to act like she wasn't bothered by it but she was. She slowly reached for her phone.
"Why did you come if you know you hate it here so much?" I asked her.
She curved her lips.
"Like I had a choice. You asked me to come didn't you?" She rubbed her arm. "I really can't wait for you to leave this room. I'd choose your house over this place a thousand times."
"Are you that bothered by this place?" I took a deep breath. "Would you like to go out for some air? See a movie? Just us?"
She narrowed her brows. I could tell she was surprised. I hardly ever wanted any form of alone time with Oma. That was like the first time in a while but I was desperate. I needed her help.
She sat up slowly, not daring to take her eyes off me.
"I heard there are some really cool movies in cinemas right now." I had to convince her. "We could go check them out if you like."
"You want to spend some alone time with me?" She looked like she was having a hard time believing it. "Really? Are you even sure you can go out? Are you allowed to?"
I nodded.
"The doctor recommended I take a walk. My stitches are healing faster than I expected. Besides, it's only going to be for some couple of hours."
She thought for a while, looking right into my eyes and then she shrugged her shoulders.
"Okay, cool. I don't see why not. I'd just inform Manuel so he could come with-"
"No." I cut her off. That was going to ruin everything. Asking one of the guards to come with us was going to ruin everything. She stared at me. "I just said I wanted us to have some time alone. Would I have said that If I wanted the guards to come with us?"
"But your Dad said-"
"Would you really want a guard to go out on a date with us?"
"A date?"
"Come on." I was trying so hard now. "It's been forever since we did something like this. A third party is only going to kill the vibe. I'm just tired of sitting in here all day and seeing the same faces. Is it really hard to want to go outside for a couple of hours? Alone? To breathe? I mean it's just us. We are engaged. It's not like no one knows or I'm going to be in danger around you."
I could see how she tapped her feet nervously. She was thinking about it a lot. She took a deep breath and then nodded the moment she realized I was right. We had every right to want to be alone. Just us both and I knew she wanted it just as much as I did. This was bonding season for us both especially since everyone thought I had abandoned Kora. She nodded.
"Okay." She said. "Let's do it. Let's go on a date."
I would have jumped up in excitement if I didn't want to be too obvious.
Yes!
Exactly the words I wanted to hear. Exactly those words I needed to hear.
It was exactly three forty-five. An hour since we left the hospital and it was safe to say my plan worked. Oma and I were able to leave the hospital without any trace of guards. I mean. Who would have stopped us from going on a date anyway? It was all father ever wanted. It was all he had hoped for. That things could get more serious and intense between us so he bought the story without much thought. Now, I was left with looking over my shoulders every three seconds, waiting for my plan to take effect while Oma stood in front of the ticket counter, trying to choose what movie we were going to see.
"What about this one? Signature angel?"
I could tell she was trying to get me involved in the selection process but selecting a movie I wasn't even going to see was the last thing on my mind.
"Yeah, that's cool." I told her, taking a quick glance at the paper in her hands. "I'm fine with whatever you want. How long is it?" I asked the attendant behind the counter with a long smile on her face. It was obvious she had recognized Oma and I at first glance while others just gathered around us watching. I knew I should have rented out the entire hall for the duration of the movie. It was last minute. I just didn't have the time to.
"It's seventy minutes."
An hour ten minutes was a hell of short time to do what I had to do. I slowly turned back to Oma.
"Do you have plans after seventy minutes?" I had to ask her the moment I had realized that Kingsley was getting closer to us.
She shook her head.
"Nope."
I turned back to the lady,
"What's the movie with the longest duration you have in cinemas right now?"
"Uh." She needed a second to think. "That would be the last empire. It starts an hour after signature angel. It lasts for about a hundred and thirty three minutes."
I had exactly four hours and some spare minutes. Great. I got out my wallet immediately and took out my debit card. I dropped it on the counter so she could see it.
"We'd take two tickets for both movies please."
She smiled and then nodded her head, sliding my card off the table.
"Hey guys."
Just the voice I needed to hear.
"Hey man."
"Kingsley?" Oma called his name while I slowly looked back at the woman so we could complete the transaction and I could have the tickets. She was working on it. Kingsley turned to me.
"You ready?"
I nodded.
"Already got the tickets. We've got about four hours."
"We?" I could sense the confusion in Oma's voice. "I thought this was a date for just us." She looked at me. "Why is Kingsley here? And what are you doing?" She noticed how I had my eyes focused in my phone.
"Trying to get a cab." I had to be honest. "There's somewhere I have to be right now. Kingsley is going to keep you company so you don't get bored."
"What?" Oma looked around to make sure people weren't watching us. She leaned closer to me. "You're kidding right?"
"Oma," Kingsley grabbed her arm. "We've been seeing movies together since primary school. Why are you acting like I'm no fun? You're hurting my feelings."
I took the tickets quickly and handed them to Kingsley. He took them. Oma pulled her hand from his immediately.
"Jeremiah Ozor-"
I exhaled. I could tell she was getting really upset. I was taking advantage of her yet again for my own selfish intentions. But this was an intention I just had to make work. I took a step to her.
"I promise, we'd see a movie together next time." I told her. I hated to hurt her feelings just as much as she did. "I've just got something important I have to do right now. Somewhere I have to be."
She scoffed.
"I'd be back before the movie is over. You can't leave until then alright?"
"Where are you going?" She asked me. "Is it Kora? Are you standing me up so you could be with her?"
I took a deep breath. I didn't know how I was supposed to answer that. Yes, Kora was a part of it and I was dying to see her, but Kora wasn't the only reason I was going to the address in the text.
"I'd explain everything to you when I'm back. I promise." I had to at least try to convince her to get on the plan.
"No. I don't want to. I won't let you be with her."
I exhaled. I was running out of time. I turned to Kingsley, hoping he could help me out. Kingsley turned to Oma immediately and laughed nervously.
"How about we ask your other friends to join us? It would be more fun don't you think? Four of us?"
She scoffed yet again in disbelief. I knew she was finding it difficult to believe my guts but that was the thing, I always got away with everything even when I wasn't supposed to. I really hoped she understood even though I knew I was still going to do what I had to do if she didn't. I couldn't wait for her to make up her mind. I turned to Kingsley immediately. He knew the plan. He was going to take care of everything. I trusted him. He nodded.
That was my cue. My cue to leave. Everything was perfect now. I turned to walk away and some people got close to me with papers and items for me to sign on.
"I'm really sorry guys." I had to tell them. "I can't right now."
I didn't have the time or luxury to. I rushed out as fast as I could without turning back.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Kora
"She's upstairs." I could hear my own voice tremble even as I stood right in front of him. My eyes staring right into his and his into mine the moment I got the front door. My heart was racing when I saw him. When I saw the look in his eyes. I had been dying to see him ever since I heard what had happened to him. I had stopped by the hospital more times than I could count but I wasn't allowed to get into the VIP section talk more of his room but that was information he didn't need to know. I had not forgotten all the things he said to me. I had not forgotten how he humiliated me. I had not forgotten that there were no twilights or love stories for us. He was a man that belonged to someone else. Someone I would dare wish for. I knew my place more than anyone now. I took a deep breath, taking my eyes away from his immediately so I didn't stare too much. I let him do the staring himself.
"My room." I continued. "It's the last room by your right."
He hesitated right before he nodded so I knew he understood. He walked slowly his first three steps and then started to run to the stairs after that. I guess he was just as anxious as I was when I got my Nanny's call asking for my help picking her up from the airport two days ago. She sounded like it was urgent, like she was crying and had a lot of sadness in her voice. Thank God my mum had also volunteered to help me. To help her. When we got there, it looked more like she was leaving, leaving for good but then changed her mind.
She had asked us to help her but I knew exactly what she meant. She wanted to be hidden. My mum didn't know all the details. She didn't know about the secret the Ozors were hiding but she knew one thing, Nanny Obianuju was a good woman. A woman that worked diligently for us in the past and helping her wasn't a bad idea at all. I mean, I was going to have to explain why Jeremiah was involved in any of it later but I hoped she didn't ask questions because I only knew only a part of it and I had questions too. I also knew how important this secret was for Jeremiah and his family. I knew it wasn't in my place to share so I was going to help him keep it a secret for as long as I could.
I slowly turned to my mother who had been standing behind me all along, watching everything. She was giving me that "suspicious" look and it made me cringe.
"Mum."
"You're going to have to tell me everything sooner or later." She told me. I exhaled.
"I thought we already talked about this?"
"I know how much you like your Nanny, Kora. I love her too. But we are not the only ones in this house. We don't own this house. I'm barely trying to get the story straight while explaining to Peter and he's just going to go with anything I want or say because he's trying to make up with me for the misunderstanding we had but now the Ozors are involved. I just need to know we are doing the right thing."
I exhaled and then slowly reached for her hands.
"Just a few days." I told her, squeezing her hands. "We just need to keep her here for a few days while Jeremiah and I figure everything out. I promise I'd tell you everything soon."
"Hmm." My mum thought for a while. She was going to give in eventually anyway. My mother trusted me so much. She knew whatever it was I was trying to hide from her was worth it. That was another thing I appreciated her for. For always being so understanding. "Okay." She told me. "I guess we could be the good guys today isn't it?"
I nodded my head letting a little smile appear on my lips. We could definitely be the good guys. My mother exhaled and then rubbed my arms. She understood perfectly. I was glad she did.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Jeremiah
I rushed up the stairs like my life depended on it. It did. Every step I took reminded me of how much I couldn't wait to see her. I turned towards my right just as Kora had told me to. My hands still trembling and my heart still skipping multiple beats. There was a door just as Kora had described. A brown door marking the last room at the corner. I grabbed the door knob as fast as I could and then turned it. I pushed the door open and stormed inside.
I paused.
An ocean of tears filling my eyes when I saw her. It was real. She was real. She was sitting right there staring at me, trembling. I could see the fear in her eyes. I saw it the moment she jumped when she heard the door open. What had they done to her? How could they terrify her so much? I took a weak step into the room, not exactly sure what I was supposed to do. I could see how she waited. She waited for me to come to her. She wanted me to. I took my time to get to the bed, Pinching myself at intervals to make sure I wasn't seeing things, to make sure this wasn't a dream. It didn't feel like it was. She was real and she watched me walk all the way to the bed and then sit on it. My eyes didn't leave her for a second. I was taking a good look at her. She turned to me too. She had just as much tears in her eyes.
"Jeremiah."
I sniffed. My eyes still scanning every part of her body. I slowly reached for her arms.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked her. I really needed to know. I slowly raised my eyes to hers. "They didn't hurt you anywhere did they?"
When it came to my father and Christian, there was no limit to what they could do to make sure they got what they wanted. I knew that for a fact. She shook her head slowly as a drop of tear fell from her face. I sniffed.
"I can't believe it. I can't believe they tried to make you leave again. How could they-" I paused. I had a lot of scary thoughts in my head. I shut my eyes for a short while right before I felt my mother's hands slowly take mine. I opened them again.
"Don't let it get to you." She told me. "I'm here aren't I? I came back. I couldn't leave again. I couldn't leave you again. I lost so many years being by your side, being your mother. I lost so many opportunities to see you grow up to the man that you are now. I just couldn't let them make me leave again. Not after what had happened to you."
"Mum-"
"I'm sorry." She told me, squeezing my hands tightly. "I'm sorry I abandoned you all these years. I'm sorry I've not been able to hold your hands like this and embrace you. I'm sorry you had to go through all those cold nights and lonely days on your own. I shouldn't have left you behind." Her voice broke. "I just wanted you to get a chance at getting a better life. A life I couldn't give to you. A life I can't give you. Over and over again I've proved that I'm a useless mother to you. There's nothing I can do for you, there's nothing I could have done for you and that was why I abandoned you before, that was why I was going to abandon you again but when I got inside that plane, I just couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to abandon you anymore. I want to try. I want to be by your side from now on as your mother. I know it's late but I want to watch you grow, I want to be there when you walk down the aisle with whoever it is you want to be with. I want to try to do everything to make up for the times I've lost. I know I can't give you the world like your family can but I want to at least try. I want to stay here by your side. I don't want to leave you behind anymore."
I sniffed. I hated to see her cry the way she was. It broke my heart every second to see her like that. I didn't know what to say or do but I found myself slowly leaning towards her. I just wanted her to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay. I needed to hear those words more than anything at that point. I hugged her, crying as hard as I could on her shoulders. I never knew I had that much tears inside of me. I had waited for years to hear her say the words she had just said to me and hearing her say those words made everything better. She hugged me tight I could tell she was crying too. I was going going to hold her like that for as long as I could. I wanted every second with this woman beside me. Every minute. It was all I had wished for all my life. All I had hoped for. Everything was starting to fall in place now as I prayed it would. I wasn't going to let her go. She was never going to get rid of me that easily again.
I had been on an emotional roller coaster for almost four hours. No scratch that. Make that two days and eighteen hours but now that I saw her. Now that I saw my mother was okay and she didn't leave me, everything felt better. I couldn't believe my father tried to make her leave again. And this time permanently. When I thought about the fact that that day she had stopped by at the hospital could have been the last time I ever saw her, it made my heart skip so many beats. When I thought about the fact that that would have been the last day I ever ate her food...I was just happy, happy she didn't leave, happy she had the courage to get off that plane before it took off and made that call for help.
I stopped walking, narrowing my gaze on Kora's figure on the stairs where she had been sitting the entire moment, more like she was waiting for me. I hoped she was. I had a few more minutes to talk before I headed back to the Cinema and Kora was the right person to spend that time with because I had a lot of explaining to do anyway. I took a deep breath. I had spent all my time in the hospital hoping she didn't hate me for what I did to her.
"Hey." I sat down right beside her just as she turned to me in a hurry. She looked away the moment our eyes met. She looked like she hadn't seen this part coming. She went back to playing with her fingers.
"Hey."
I watched her. She was trying so hard to not look at me. I could see how her composure had changed and how nervous she was. I let a smirk appear on my face. I liked it when she had that expression on. She looked so cute. I gave her time, time to get herself together.
"I Uh-" she fiddled with her fingers. She cleared her throat and then took a really quick glance at me. "You don't have to worry about anything. Nanny Uju can stay with me and my mum for a while and don't think I did this for you. She's my Nanny. I did it for her because she's just as important to me and my mum."
She raised her head and then took her deep breath.
God. It was really amusing to watch her get worked up and consumed by so much nervousness. I knew she was putting up a defensive wall. She couldn't even look me in the eye and lie. She couldn't look me in the eye at all.
"Thank you." For what it was worth, I needed to ease the pressure on her a little bit. I could see how my words had calmed her. She slowly turned to look at me. Finally. "Thank you for being there for her, for helping us. For helping me."
She stared at me for a short while. I could see my reflection in her bright eyes. She looked away after a while.
"Well, just take it as payback for what I caused."
I narrowed my eyes. What was she talking about? She exhaled and then turned to face me. It was like she could hear my thoughts.
"I heard you got stabbed the other day trying to save me. That was why you got admitted wasn't it?"
I exhaled. Why did my mother have to tell her everything?
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked me. "I can't believe you kept that from me. I don't know what's worse, I don't know what I'd have done if something bad had happened to you." She stared at me. "Are you a fool? How could you risk your life like that and not to go a hospital when it happened?" She exhaled. "I just can't with you. You just find new ways to mess with my feelings all the time."
I could see how upset and extremely worried she was. I knew this was where I needed to explain myself. To explain why I did what I did. Why I had pushed her away the way I did before. I slowly reached for my phone. I had spent the past thirty minutes thinking of the best way to do what I was about to do. To show her the recording. I wanted her to be the first person to hear it. I wanted her to decide what she wanted me to do with it.
She slowly turned to me just as I gave her my phone with the Voice recording of Charles right on the screen. It was going to play the moment she wanted it to. She hesitated.
"It's something I want you to see. It's the reason I did what I did the other day. The reason I had to push you away."
She slowly reached for my phone after a few seconds. She didn't take her eyes away from the screen. She looked at me again like she was hoping I explained what it was but I wasn't going to. I know she needed to hear it herself. I watched as she slowly pulled the phone to her and then paused for a second. She pushed the play button.
"Damn that Kora."
Charles voice started to play from the recording. I had edited the recording so all the irrelevant stuff we talked about didn't have to play first. So it just got to the point. I could see how she froze the moment she heard his voice. She narrowed her gaze to the screen, her hands started to shake too.
"I mean, if she had just done what I had asked. If she had just gone out with me and not be so stubborn about it, it wouldn't have made me so hungry for her and so upset. I was ready to wait for her, to wait till she was ready but she kept looking down on me. Do you know what she said? She said I wasn't her type. I mean look at me, I'm everyone type. How dare she make fun of me like that in front of the whole school? It killed my ego. I had just had to show her that I was a man. That I was a man that could get anything he wanted. I had to show her that I was more than her type. She didn't want to give it to me and so I took it in the best and only way I knew how to. I took it by force."
Kora took a deep shaky breath. I could hear her breathing all the way from where I sat. I kept my eyes on her every single second. I didn't dare take my eyes off her. She had a lot of tears clouding her eyes too. I wanted to stop. I wanted to take the phone from her that moment but I stopped myself. She needed to know. She had to hear Charles confession first.
"Y-you raped her?"
"Raped her? Why does everyone keep saying that? She wanted it. She wanted me. If she didn't, she wouldn't have trusted me and come to the back of the school to meet me on her own. She pretended like she didn't in front of everyone but she did."
"She told you she wanted it?"
"She didn't say she didn't. She didn't even fight it. Rape? I did her a favor. If I hadn't, she'd have probably died a virgin. I gave her the best sex she could have ever gotten in her entire life. I made her cry again and again. It was so good. She was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted my whole life. Still is. I even cried too. I'm sure she enjoyed it. I mean why else would she refuse to sleep with anyone else after me? I gave her a whole lot of confidence. She didn't use to be so brave before."
"And then what happened after that? Did you take her home."
"Why would I take I home?"
"I mean, I just figured you'd at least give her a ride home after that, seeing it was late."
"Of course I didn't. I had about three friends that wanted to hitch a ride with me back home. There was no space in my car for a forth wheel besides, my mother had zero tolerance for women in her car. I don't know what happened. I figured her driver was going to come get her after the party so I left."
"You left her there?"
"They found her anyways didn't they? And can you imagine what she told her mother after that? She started to tell people I had raped her. I almost lost my scholarship because of her. It made my father so mad. We even offered to settle them for what happened. My mother wrote them a cheque of six million but they refused to take it. I mean, it was just sex. It's never that deep. Who on earth would turn down six million for nothing?"
"You tried to bribe them? With six million?"
"I mean, I couldn't lose my scholarship. And they kept making so much fuss about it. They weren't going to give in. They threatened to sue us. Kora's step father then was my father's best friend and business partner. They legit thought he was going to take their side and turn my father in. They really thought they stood a chance against us. My mother made sure that case never saw the light of day in court. It was dismissed before they even knew it." He chuckled.
"Those filthy free loaders still don't now their place. They don't know there are some bridges you just can't cross. They should have just taken the money and disappeared when we asked them to, when we begged them to. I thought the court case must have thought them a lesson, a few months later, we heard they were trying to get the case to court again. Apparently, Kora was pregnant and she claimed it was mine. Mine?"
I could see all the tears in her eyes starting to fall. She had her eyes glued to my phone. Was it too much? Did I have to stop her from listening any further? My heart was breaking. I knew this was something I had to do but watching her hurt he ways he was broke every part of me.
"Hey." I leaned closer to her so I could stop her. "You don't have to listen to it anymore." I tried to take my phone from her but she just moved it so I couldn't reach it. She wasn't done yet. I exhaled.
"I have sex all the time without protection, I've never gotten a girl pregnant in my life before because I have an excellent pullout game. How on earth could I have gotten her pregnant? It could have been anyone. I mean she and her mother were hell bent on destroying my life anyway. They could have done anything to achieve that at that moment."
Kora was staring to cry out loud now. Really hard. Holding on tight to the neck of her dress and crying to her hearts content while the recording kept playing.
"And so what did you do about it? How were you able to get past that?"
"I don't know. My mum just told me she handled it. I had to leave the country immediately after that. I had to give it some time. I had to take care of my reputation. A blow like that could have ruined my life forever. All I know is after a while, I heard she had lost the baby and they had moved. I didn't hear anything about them until a few weeks ago, after I saw you two on TV, at your father's gala."
I had never seen her that way before. I had never seen her so hurt before.
"Kora." I leaned closer to her just so I could hold her just as everyone started to rush out of all parts of the house to the stairs. Her loud cry must had alerted everyone. She turned to me immediately and went into my embrace still crying as hard as she could.
"Kora?" Her mum was the last to rush to the stairs. I could barely notice all those eyes on us. Kora had all my attention. I wanted to be there for her, to hold her just like I was going right now. She clung on tight to me, grabbing my shirt and crying as hard as she could on my chest while I just held her. I was going to hold her for as long as I had to. For as long as she needed me to. Everyone could see that and they let us be. I was going to let her cry to her hearts content.
And there it was, one of the hardest times of both our lives and I couldn't wait for what was going to come after it. From that moment, I knew both our lives were going to change. We were going to change. I could feel it.
I did.
I exhaled and then grabbed on tight to her.
Everything was going to change.