6:30 am finds Tobi at his mother place taking everyone especially Lisa is so surprised to see him there after so long he rarely comes there, she heard his car outside as she made Monica’s breakfast, she quickly comes out to receive him, she’s so happy to see him
“Good morning boss….Glad you came to see us today”
“Lisa how are you” he walks past her and she could sense something was not right, Tobi walks some metres and then turns to her
“Is mother in”
“Yes, she’s already woken up but still in her room” he finished the rest of his journey to Monica’s room by talking to his heels……he knocks at the door and this makes Monica jump, it’s not just some normal knock
“Lisa what is it” she tells from inside
“Mother…..it’s me”
“Tobi…..” she picks her phone and looks at the time and it’s still six
“What has happened…. why are you here this Early” she was afraid it might be her grandchild
“Can I come in”
“The door is open please…. come in” Tobi pushes the door and walks over to his mother’s bed, Monica studies him from head to toe and sees his red eyes, she can tell he never slept a wink
“Did you and Melanie have a fight” she asks and doesn’t even wait for him to respond first but she goes on and on and on
“It’s Normal for couples to fight, even the pastor and his wife do fight, the president and his wife do that, talk of the marriage counselors, no marriage is perfect a hundred percent so I don’t encourage you as man to be accumulating these things without solving them” Tobi just looks at his mother who has nothing, no experience in marriage or whatsoever giving him advice
“I wish that was the case mother……I wish it was just that Mel and I were only having a normal couple arguments and fights” Monica looks at him
“You slept out didn’t you”
“Yes…..I did but not out of home” Monica is dumbfounded
“Don’t give me that look mother….. I just needed time alone to cry”
“Now you’re confusing me the more…..what’s happening” Tobi gets up and starts pacing up and down
“What’s It please talk to me son”
“Mother, my past is here to destroy me finally” Monica gets up to and walks over to him, holds his hand and leads him back to sit down
“Can you explain that to me……, I’m not understanding this”
“The guys….those who kidnapped Melanie, who drugged my drinks and…….and” he could not finish it and Monica’s arms drop
“Tell me you’re pulling my legs just”
“I wish I was mother….. what am I going to do”
“Wait…..how did you know they are back, have they started blackmailing you”
“No no….that’s not it, I don’t even know when they got back but last night, I ran into David, Mel and I had reservation for a dinner fro two….we ran into him”
“Did he recognise Mel”
“I don’t know mother…..I can’t tell, we left immediately and I have not talked to Mel ever since, I’m sure she’s now aware there is something going on and she would want answers yet I have non” he gets up again
“What are we going to do” Monica wonders
“Simple….. I have to do the right thing”
“And what is the right thing if I may ask” he comes back and scouts, he takes Monica’s hands
“I have to tell Melanie the truth before someone else does” Monica takes away her hands
“Is that what you said simple?….. is that simple”
“But I have no choice mother……… do you know who he was with”
“Who??”
“Ronald…..Melanie’s ex boyfriend, so you can imagine what this means…what if he gets to know Mel is the woman Ronald almost got married to, how sure am I even that he hasn’t told him something already”
“Calm down and listen to me…
you’re not going to tell anything to Melanie, I know people like David, I know what they are capable of…..all they want is money and that’s all they re going to ask for”
“But that’s blackmail mother”
“Yeah it sure is….”
“No mother, I won’t stoop that low….do you know that once you starts giving a blackmailer money, that’s the beginning of your end, the money giving will not get over with and in the end they betray you anyway”
“We have no choice right now son…..this is our only option right now but I can assure you, a mother is capable of anything just to see her children fine…. I’m capable of that to see that you’re well protected go back to work and let me handle this….don’t say a word about this to your wife….. let’s wait and sew if the stupid losers are going to open their mouths” for now Tobi accepts his mother’s advice and heads to his office that’s not very far from there………..
Melanie who is in a hurry, didn’t wait for breakfast to get ready before she leaves, she had no patience to wait for it especially now she has no idea where her husband is and he’s not even picking her calls, she comes out of gate standing waiting for a cab, she now regrets why she has always rejected her husband’s offer to get for her a car of her own…..her husband has two unused cars he has packed at his mother’s where the workers there can once in awhile drive them…. he only has his favourite Lamborghini which is enough for him and his family…… she stands at the road side for about five minutes and yet no cab is coming, it feels like she’s been there fie hours, she checks her phone and it’s already seven plus some minutes, she gets going and tells herself she will get some cab on her way….she has only walked like two minutes when a car pulls
“Good morning beautiful” she looks inside and it’s Ron, she ignores him and decides to increase her speed but one can’t compete with a car and the stubborn Ron follows
“Get in the car and let me give you a lift”
“No thank you” she continues and he finds and open space where he pulls over and covering the pavement
“What’s wrong with you… what part of NO don’t you understand” she’s furious and Ron who is still inside raises both hands up
“OK OK… don’t get mad at me…. i just want to help” she looks likes she’s going to give in
“Melanie….. trust me I won’t say or do whatever that’s not OK with you”
“Promise”
“Cross my heart” he does the cross sign and comes out to open the door for her, Mel gets in and he starts the car, the first three or five minutes of driving in the busy morning jam was a bit awkwardly quiet but for Mel, her mind and heart was on Tobi, wondering where he might be and what’s eating him up…….Ron keeps on stealing glances at her…..he finally says something
“Did husband and wife have a fight” he asks out of blue and Mel shoots him daggers
“Don’t look at me like that….I’m only asking because last night you two looked so happy when you came into the restaurant though I myself can’t understand why you left in such a manner” she looks at him and says nothing
“Your husband has money, what could be stopping him from getting a car for you”
“How do you know I have no car”
“Because I know Melanie….. I know very well”
“Have you been stalking me”
“Just a little….. I can’t seem to control myself ever since I came back….i just want to see you, and yes I have been stalking you”
“You’re sick”
“I’m just a very helpless man in love that’s all ……Melanie please listen to me, I need your forgiveness for all my sins against you” she doesn’t want to look at him
“Take me to work faster, I don’t want us to talk about something that don’t exist anymore”
“Who says this doesn’t exist Melanie?…. huh…who says that” they are confronting each other and before Melanie knows it, Ron is talking another direction and not headed towards the direction of the office
“Where are you taking me to Ronald”
“Somewhere far away where we can talk and listen to each other like responsible adults we are” he responds gently
“Drop me….stop the car, I said stop the car”
“I’m not letting you go Melanie before listening to me……you have to hear reasons and if you wish to rerun home early, you better calm down and let me continue in peace so we can reach our destination and we talk like adults” Mel is cursing her luck, just when she thought she wanted to go see her husband and they talk, now all this is happening, she’s thinking on what to do next and then remembers the best would be calling him once again, maybe will receive this time around, she gets her phone from her purse and scrawls through the numbers, she dials and put the phone in her ears, only for Ron to take it from her ear and shuts it
“What’s the meaning of this Ronald”
“You can’t talk to that man in my presence Mel…..I can never allow that”
“Well I don’t need your permission to do so…he’s my husband”
“Stop that….. stop referring to him as your husband because he’s not, he has never been your husband so don’t use that stupid excuse on me because it ain’t working…..” she’s so stunned and decided to surrender it all, she shuts up as Ron continues to drive his car to God knows where…………
Tobi arrives to the office and packs his car, he finally locates his phone that has been on silent mods since last night, he has set it that way so no one could interrupt their romantic dinner so he forgot to change it….he checks and finds so many missed calls from his wife, he’s so frustrated he didn’t get to talk to his wife…..he dials her number and it’s off…..he just stands in front of his company building and dials his mother in-law
“Hello son…. good morning”
“Morning Mum…. has Mel left, I needs to speak with her and her phone isn’t going through”
“She’s gone…..she left for the office especially after learning that you were gone…. she didn’t even take breakfast”
“Thank you Mum” he ends the call
“Where could you be at Mel….. by now you would be here in the office, he fixes his phone back and walks inside
” Good morning Friend….. long time” Eddy who is seated next to the entrance door greets the very shocked Tobi who can’t even afford a smile to cover up………..
To be continued…
