As Deep As The Sea Chapter -12- Prince and Gift sat in the Arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport. They were home for the holidays and had thought that they would visit their elder sister in Abuja, but their parents had informed them of her scheduled flight home. Although it felt like a dent to their plans, they were excited that she would be home for a while. “Look, look, here she comes!” Gift was on her feet, half walking and half running. Prince grunted and followed her. His ever impatient younger sister never stopped to amaze him. Promise sighted her siblings and beamed with joy. It was good to see friendly and trustworthy faces. Gift noticed how slim her sister looked. Her heart sank. She hoped her sister was all right. “Promise, look at you! You have lost so much weight. Mum is going to have an heart attack,” she hugged her sister and relieved her of some of her bags. Prince collected the rest. “I am just glad that I am alive Gift.” Prince shook his head, “The food poisoning really did a number on you.” “Hmmm… Let’s go home. I am tired and I need rest.” “You do need a lot of rest. I parked the car in the Airport car park. I will get it while both of you wait outside,” Prince headed out. Promise and Gift followed, but in slow sluggish steps. “Which of the cars did you come in?” “The Toyota Camiry. Dad has stopped us from driving his Jeep.” Promise chuckled. She knew that was going to happen sooner or later. ********** Prince drove the white Toyota Camiry 2004 into the compound. His father had refused to allow him to touch the black SUV Jeep since he returned from school. It seemed the old man had grown fond of his new car. “Dad and mum are at the door,” Gift got out of the car. “Really?” Promise saw her parents standing at the doorway, smiling as if they had just received a truck load of gifts from Santa Claus. She opened the door and alighted from the car. Blessing gasped and Osagie squeezed one of her hands. She understood what he meant. She glanced at him and wondered if she would be able to compose herself. Their daughter had lost weight and she looked drained and malnourished. “Welcome home darling,” her father stretched out his hands. She walked up to him and bathed in the warmth of his embrace. It was really good to be home. “You look… How are you feeling sweets?” Her mother stared at her. Her eyes held a host of questions she was willing to ask, but struggling to remain tongue tied. “Now that I am home, I am going to be just fine mum.” Blessing exchanged glances with her husband. They had a feeling she wasn’t telling them the whole truth, but they decided to allow her to recuperate. They hope she would open up to them when she was ready. “All right, let’s get you inside,” Osagie led his daughter into the house. Blessing sighed with heaviness and followed. Prince and Gift carried their elder sister’s luggages and dragged them in. ********* She sat by the window and fixed her gaze on the children playing a game of football on the street. Now that she was back home in Lagos, she was ready to live right and serve God with all her spirit, soul and body. No more cutting corners. She had paid dearly for drifting away, she would not make that mistake again. Her parents were still worried about her. She wished she could confide in them, but, she doesn’t want to hurt them. She might tell them her ordeal, but not as soon as they expected. She had destroyed her sim card so that Keshinro would not be able to call her. The only person that could reach her was Kabira who she gave her new number and Maimuna who she gave an email address. Her colleagues might still think she was on sick leave but little did they know that she wasn’t returning to Abuja. She had sent the keys of the car and flat to Keshinro. He would surely look for her, but he would never find her. It was over between them. The ringtone of her phone began to play. She glanced at the blackberry phone in her hand and noticed that the caller was Kabira. She smiled and picked the call. “Mrs. Abubakar how are you doing?” Her friend started to laugh, “I am not yet married.” “In less than five weeks you will be.” “I know, but till then.” “I hear you.” “How are you doing?” “Am good. Now that I am back in Lagos, my health is back with speed.” “Great! I am so happy for you.” “Thanks dear. What’s happening?” “Yes, yes, I actually called because Mr. Keshinro came to our apartment.” Her heart missed a beat. “He said he didn’t know when you moved out of your flat.” “Hope you didn’t give him my address in Lagos.” “Of course not. I simply told him you were using your sick leave to rest. I told him you were on vacation to an unknown destination.” “Good girl,” she relaxed. “Trust me. My lips are sealed. He also asked if you had a new number since your old one wasn’t going through.” “What did you tell him?” She sat on her bed. “What else? ‘I don’t have it sir.’” Promise started to laugh. “What’s with your boss? He was acting weird.” “Don’t mind him.” “Are you sure he isn’t dying for you or something?” “The man is married with two kids Kabira.” “And so? That hasn’t stopped many of them from chasing everything in skirts.” “True, true,” she held one of her pillows close to her chest. “Anyways, that’s all.” “Thanks love.” “You are welcome dearie.” “Hope those your roomates are not been such a pest.” “Those ones? They are on their own. After four weeks, we will all go our separate ways.” “That’s true.” “But, I am glad I met you.” “Awww… Me too.” “If not that you still need time to get back on your feet, you would have been my maid of honour.” “I know, I know,” she felt a tear slid down her face. “I miss you girl.” “Same here.” “All right, girl, I have to go. Abubakar is here.” “Wow!” “Yep… Hugs and Kisses!” “Mmuuuaaah!” Her friend hung up. She heaved a sigh of relief. If all things worked in her favour, she might be able to attend Kabira’s wedding. ‘I better check the email address I gave Maimuna since this man is out to fish me out.’ She scrolled through her phone and clicked on the browser icon. She found a message from Maimuna and dozens of messages from Keshinro. ‘Did this girl give this man my email address? Stupid girl! Thank God I didn’t trust her with my new number.’ She hissed and opened her colleague’s message. She scanned it and deleted it. Nothing new. Just the normal ‘Hope you are feeling better now’ message. That didn’t explain why or how their boss got her email address. She debated if she should read the messages or delete them all. She decided to deactivate the email account once she had read and deleted all the messages. She began to open them one after the other. The bulk of the email messages turned out to be pathetic pleas and half hearted promises from Keshinro. He wanted to know where she was and he assured her that Yellow Tube had retained her as a permanent staff. If she accepted the appointment, she would be resuming on the first of November. Aside her fat salary and allowance, she would have a company car and flat at her disposal. Everything he had written was really tempting. It was everything she had been praying for, but it wasn’t what she needed. Returning to Abuja would put her at the mercies of her ex-lover. She doubted if she was strong enough to resist him. At the moment, the farther away she was from him, the better. Lagos offered her the security and time-out to heal both physically and spiritually. She would start looking for a job immediately she collects her NYSC certificate. She believed God would favour her. She was ready to start afresh in Lagos, there was no going back for her. She deleted all the email messages and deactivated the email account. No one, especially Maimuna and Keshinro would be able to contact her again. It was better that way. She decided to also close her salary account immediately after she had redrawn all the money in it. That way, nothing else would tie her to Yellow Tube Communications Company. ‘God, I surrender all to you. Have your way in my life.’ ------------------------- Keep Checking For The Chapter Thirteen... Like, Drop Your Comments and Share!!!
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:19:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015