By Nightengale Ben-Onyeukwu
Chioma sat on the double bed she shared with her mother after having her bath. The window was wide open and the morning sun streamed into the room. She wished Chisom was right here with her to share this moment. She was glad that she found a lovely friend like Chisom. In fact, they were practically like sisters. Chisom was lovely, funny, chatty and kind. She was also happy to have a friend like Daniel, and also Audrey who recently became her friend. She hoped very much that Audrey wouldn’t be upset when she found out about her relationship with Michael.
Remembering she had to take her wet clothes outside to dry, she slowly stood up from the bed and went to the bathroom to carry the bucket of wet clothes she had managed to wash this morning.As
she began hanging out the clothes in the cloth line, she saw Peter approaching
the yard. She was curious as to why he was here and why he was carrying the
large bags. Quickly, she spread the clothes and went inside. She brushed her
messy hair before he knocked at the front door. She wouldn’t want him to
approach her in such a messy hair.
Peter
was looking too smart to belong in a slum area like this one where she lived,
Chioma thought as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. He was wearing a
high-end fitting black suit. It seemed that he had parked his car nearby and
decided to walk to her house. Perhaps, he didn’t want to draw much attention
in the neighbourhood. She didn’t care about her looks, but she had to this time
because she didn’t want to leave any bad impression for Peter to report back to
Felix. She knew that Felix must have sent him to her.
As she was about leaving the bedroom, she had a knock
at the front door. She hesitated to go over and open the door for Peter, but
if she doesn’t do it, then, it might seem that she was hiding something.
Peter,
who was still at the door waiting for Chioma to open the door, glanced around
at the compound. He knocked again and again but he could see no one coming to
open the door. Glancing around, he could see the long line of washing on the
clothe line.
After much thought, Chioma
finally opened the door. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I
would never come if Sir Felix didn’t ask me to.’
‘Anyway, you can deliver your
message and go away already,’Chioma said with a shrug.
‘Can’t you let me
in for a cup of tea?’Peter asked, staring at her. Chioma
was astonished to see Peter requesting for a cup of tea. Was he trying to test
her? Sighing, she said, ‘I will let you have a cup of tea because you look tired.’
‘No, I
don’t look tired. I simply want to drink tea.’
Chioma bit her lips nervously as if
already sure she would regret her kindness. But why would she regret being
kind? ‘But promise me you’ll go afterward and you wouldn’t tell anyone that
Felix had sent you here.’
Peter
smirked, ‘I won’t promise you that because I know that Felix loves you and in
return you love someone else.’
Chioma was
startled.
‘Don’t worry I haven’t told Felix
anything yet. And I can’t tell you the details of my finding. But it is all
related to your attack…’
Peter
walked inside as Chioma held the door for him to come inside. Then, he walked
to the sofa and sat down, placing the bags on the centre table. He was
concerned about Felix; he didn’t think Felix would be able to handle the shock
of knowing that the woman he loves was in love with another man, who was his
best friend and cousin.
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