Zaphrina did the everyday routine; Walked straight to the kitchen after a sleepless night, where her mum secondarily resided considering that time of the day. She hung her purse on a chair next to the one she plopped on.
"Good morning mama."
The mid-thirty coal-black haired gentlewoman who was backing her at the moment pivoted her head to her daughter with a smile. "How was work?"
Usually, the question won't bother her as it was usual for her to just give it a casual answer but this time the question to her sounded like intolerable screeches into the ears as a flash of awful images came jogging in and out of her mind.
A cup of hot coffee was deposited in front of her followed by a plate consisting of two slices of peanut butter sandwich.
"Are you ok?" her mum questioned again this time pulling a chair adjacent to her.
"Yeah, I'm good, work was fine," she said as she sipped into her cup of hot coffee. "How's your leg by the way?" she asked, trying as much as possible to divert the conversation.
"It's getting better." she replied whilst struggling to stretch her legs.
Her mum had been on crutches for as long as a year and a half. She was trying to adjust the drainpipe from further damage using a seven-year-old ladder which decided to give up the ghost once she was at the top of it. A broken rib, two dislocations, and a compound leg fracture were what she ended up with. Three-quarters of their savings were buried in operations and medications leaving them with practically nothing.
No one dared tell her to stay in bed unless you meant trouble.
"I'll reach the drugstore after work." she said, biting into the sandwich.
Kate's eyes suddenly watered and a quivering mouth followed seconds later.
"What's the matter, mama." Zaphrina dropped the slice of sandwich to reach for her mother's hands from across the table. "I'm sorry for the inconveniences I put you through it's all my--"
"Mama, hey, stop," she whispered. "I don't want us to talk about it right now. Don't blame yourself for it. No one saw it coming ok? Stop crying."
Kate nodded vigorously.
Zaphrina reached for her mama's cheeks and wiped a tear off her face. "It is well," she said.
Her mum worried about her engagement in two jobs: Waitress at night and a supermarket cashier at day. The fact that she didn't create time for herself or did what the girls of her age normally did; go to college, hang out with friends, go shopping, watch movies and having a boyfriend. Talking about the latter, Her phone buzzed breaking her from the trance she was in. Eyes glancing the screen for a split second and bounces back to kate who had a worried plastered look.
She rapidly reached for the reject button without second thoughts. Her eyes met her mother's once more accompanied by a reassuring smile. Minutes later the phone came buzzing again. This time her mum urged her to pick up the call which she had found out to be Mason's.
Again, Zaphrina rejected it.
"Why don't you pick up his call? Perhaps he wants to apolog-- "
"Mum, we are not going to start this conversation." She took her purse to head to her room. "Excuse me."
It's always been all about Mason with her mum.
She gave Mason what he wanted thinking it'll get him off her back but she was wrong. Accepting his apology was like throwing grains around her to get the bird's attention. she never understood the saying ' love all but trust none. ' until her encounter with Mason, with that, she decided to formulate her own saying ' Love none( besides her family), trust none.'
**
Nothing could be more soothing than being in the company of a sister and best friend.
Liza was presently at the coffee shop flooding in her own tears while narrating to Zoe what she recalled of the previous night. The young brunette's mouth dropped at the mention of the words "unknown" and "bloody sheets"
Being the caring and loving friend she is, Zoe walked to the other side of the table where she took liza into a comforting hug.
"I don't get it," Zoe said, once the atmosphere returned to tears free. "You did as I taught you didn't you?"
She was answered with a nod. "And how did this happen? I mean I'm lost here. Did the guy know you had him all planned or what?"
She was answered with a shrug.
"I can't believe this. Hey, look at me." She said as her index finger lifted Liza's chin so she could meet up her eye level. "I got your back whatever happens ok? Now you stop crying, what happened didn't kill you but will only make you stronger," she said, as she wiped the last drop of tear rolling down her cheek.
"One more thing bothers me." Liza said. "what if..." she trailed on the words but managed to push through, "what if he didn't use a condom? I was so off to even notice, oh God!"
'We need to talk,'
'That can wait. I just want to enjoy this moment with my heir to be,' Marley retorted the girl lying on the maternity bed as he kept himself busy caressing the baby's chubby cheeks while he was peacefully asleep in the cot.
'will you just listen to me?' Her voice rose to an unusual baritone.
His head quickly snapped to her direction concurrently with the door creaking open. Marley's head shifted from the a mid thirty man in grey tuxedo confidently making his way into the room.
His eyes almost fell off their sockets when the man owned the girl's lips like he wasn't in the room.
'What's happening here?' Marley quizzed, perplexity jubilating in both his interior and exterior.
'I want you to meet Dexter, Zac's father. I...I'm so sorry Marley.'
Marley stopped signing the stack of papers before him, seconds later his pen went flying at the other end of the room. He hit his desk a couple of times before sweeping away the desk's contents in total rage. Josh and ken ran their way in before he turned his office into a key missing zoo.
"Hey hey hey. Chill man." Josh said with a firm grip on his left arm while ken gripped the other.
"Fuck! You should get over this Amanda of a bitch. Look at what you've become." he added. His actions weren't new to them as It was an exercise he did whenever his mind drifted off.
With an Uncontrollable breathe, Marley forcefully detached himself from their grips, straightened his navy blue suit and walked to his leather chair like nothing just happened.
"You need a psychiatrist. You can't continue this-" Ken said.
Marley shot him a deadly glare which caused him to stop in his track.
"I do not need anyone."
"You do bro," Josh added.
"Fine." He didn't know why and when he said the next words but he did anyways, "I need the pastel hair stripper as my psychiatrist then."
She was another reason he reacted the way he did. He needed to see her. He had a thousand questions balling up in his mind which only she could answer. Amanda too happened to be the negative feedback in all that just occurred.
He had been there, not once, not twice but no sign of this mystery lady. He questioned those he thought might help unfortunately they claimed not to know her, those who manage to, won't tell him a thing. Use what you got to get what you want. That certainly didn't cross his senses all that time. But was this lady some sort of illusion? No, she wasn't, she couldn't be, for he felt her that night; every tender part of her body against his. He felt those soft and juicy lips of hers against his where he thought they belonged, her big brown eyes so charming yet stained with a worrying flicker of sorrow and a pain that had him persistently intrigued. He returned to reality at the sound of his office door creaking revealing to him a slender lady in her late forties who adorned a beige designer satin dress on a pair of black three inches stiletto. A thick white vintage designer fur coat over her shoulders complimented her elegant togetherness. To crown it all were a pair of sapphire earrin
Zaphrina was getting all comfortable with the silent ride so far until the barfly sitting next to her peforatated her inner peace with, "What's...your name?" He managed to ask despite his too far from sober state. His breath diffused in the car and stunk of a smooth amalgamated mixture of alcohol and puke. For crying out loud is the name really necessary right there and then? She shot a glance at his limp body on the passenger's seat before returning her full attention to the road. He hadn't even strength to break open his eye lids. What a mess of a man. "Zaphrina." She quickly answered praying it will be the first and last question of the ride but boy, she was wrong. "That's a nice name for a boorish lady." The fuck! That spoil button he just broke got her legs abruptly landing on the breaks, almost causing him to fly through the windscreen. "Holy crap!!!" he exclaimed, bracing himself against the dashboard. His sights partly washed off of half his somnolence. "What did yo
Twenty more minutes. Just twenty little minutes and I'm out of here. Liza thought as her body twisted in different acrobatic styles. It certainly wasn't helping her stomach the least bit especially after her encounter with Dean. He threatened to fire her yet again when next she went awry. Now, the population in the room had suddenly doubled from a couple of minutes ago, she knew too well that it wasn't as a result of more customers filing in--well if at all more really did come in what about the double tables and drinks, did they come in too? Liza's belly gurgled more and louder with time as a huge lump slowly began to build up to her buccal cavity. Her throat lurched, ready to empty it's suffocating contents but she managed to out smart it by posing into an erect pole stance. Delightfulness tickled her lips but that was just for as short a while as she could remember because nature could really not be cheated. Damn it
"God's a wonderful man, All of you will agree with me this God of ours doesn't take something good without something better in return," he beamed one of those contagious smiles he ever owned, "he is the way, the truth and the light. He keeps not a record of our sins. Can somebody say a big Amen to that?" "Amen," Came the congregational chorus. "You know, he knows the moves you have taken and the ones yet to come. He is waiting on you with arms wide open saying 'come onto me and have rest', he doesn't care about your past; abortions, fornications, drug abuse, just to name a few. Whatever it is, repentance is your key to him. God..." he trailed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Jesus! This man is just wonderful," Pastor Jones he was called. The altar was his home and the Bible he fed on. Zaphrina looked up at him with admiration and a little guilt blending as his words sipped into her soul; for a moment, she felt like he was referring to her all through.
"Mira called yesterday, she said she'd been trying to reach you all day to no avail," Kate said, keeping some leftover food into the refrigerator. "I told her you were probably too busy to pick up." "Yeah, I was. Messaged her immediately I saw her missed calls," she confirmed, wiping the last plate in hand. Mirabelle was the closest relative she was in touch with all the way from her paternal home town--Cameroon. Unlike her, Mira as she was preferably called, was married with two kids. A girl who was just a year older than she was. Zaphrina was just nine years old when her parents took her there. Immediately, she and Mira became inseparable. The only problem she had was communication. She knew nothing about french back then same was Mira with English, but as children are; quick to learn, eight months three weeks spent was more than enough to know every secret of the french language. The doorbell rang just in time, Zaphrina wiped her hands on a k
'Earliest hours of Monday' were his exact words to his dad on Saturday, so there he was in his private jet to France as early as seven. France wasn't much of a distance, But the approximated seven hours flight was enough to think about his encounter with this merging company. He hoped and rehoped his absent-mindedness wouldn't lead to a bigger mess in his company. The Renault company was one of the most reliable and strongest French car brand and working in partnership with them wasn't much of a bad idea though this case couldn't have idea classified under it but rather mistake. He turned to his P.A who had been standing beside him for the past eight minutes since he called him. "I'll be in France for just a couple of days, say two or three. I want my home tidy before my arrival, you know, butler, maids and all those. A maximum of sixteen maids will do. Do not recruit any from my parents home be it former or present neither should you let my mum chose t
The sun was overhead. She felt its diverging rays on her skin like million stabs, a glimpse at her wristwatch confirmed it as it read 12:01 noon. How time flies. A loud groan from her tummy etched a frown on her face whilst her hand rubbed it gently; Anticipation getting the best of her, She woke up as early as six for a job hunt that she hadn't had time to chew on the slightest edible thing around. Her eyes darted, making sure its loudness didn't pick awareness. Her mouth released a small puff of air in relief when no one did. Gotta ingest something, she thought. But not until I'm over this. Zaphrina was Currently standing in front of a grocery store where she mentally recited a short prayer. Hoping not to have a repetition of previous stores encounter. She clung her bag a little tighter than it already was before reaching for the glass door. Fortunately, there wasn't a population at the cashiers. She walked straight to a
The sound of her ringtone ghosted a dizzy groan out her lips but her eyes won't open. They were still sleep coated and resulted in her hand playing the role of her eyes with the help of her ears. Zaphrina outstretched her hand to the direction of the ringtone but tapped on an empty surface and then a book, now her lamp. Damn phone! "Hello..." Her gravelly voice dawdled immediately at the phones hold. "Will you get your ass off that bed and come help me prepare for a dinner date tonight?" "Aren't you aware of the time?" Her voice was now slowly but surely diving back into sleep like her eyes did. "I am, reason why I called." Her hand sluggishly directed the phone to a pair of barely opened eyes. Nothing reported clear to them before but the blurred figures at the top left of her screen were enough to hit her eyes open. 9...wait!! Perhaps her eyes were playing tricks on her. A couple of eye blinks got the fo