ONE

The car drove into the compound and parked properly in the garage. The driver got down from the front of the car car and hurried to open the door for Diane and her sisters, Malvika and Natasha. The three sisters got down and retrieved their luggage from the boot of the car. Diane smiled at the driver. “Thanks,” she said. 

The three sisters stood and stared at the magnificent house. 

“Wow,” Sixteen years old Natasha, muttered. “This house is huge.” She clutched her bag tightly as she gazed admiringly at the beautiful house. 

“Huge is an understatement,” Malvika, replied, shuffling her feet. For all her twenty years, she still looked like a dwarf. Not exactly a dwarf really. But she was short; even shorter than Natasha, which she hated.

“Hmm.” Diane turned to her sisters. “Well, let’s get inside now, shall we?” Following her lead, they approached the door and pressed the bell. It was opened by a middle aged woman, who was dressed in a white shirt tucked into a long black skirt. “Hello,” Diane greeted. “I’m Diane….Langston.” It felt weird calling her self a Langston.

“Oh, you are the boss' wife. Come inside.” They stepped inside and the woman closed the door behind them. “I’m Rachel, the cook. It’s nice to meet you. These two young ladies must be your sisters, right?”

Diane smiled. “That’s right. This is Malvika,” she said, touching Malvika's arm lightly. “This is the youngest, Natasha.”

The woman beamed. “You are all so pretty. Come with me. I’ll show you your rooms.” They followed and she led them upstairs. Natasha clutched her  bag as she stared at everything around her in awe. Sure, they had lived in a wonderful house but it was nothing compared to this.

“Wow,” Malvika whispered. “Nicholas must be really rich, uhn?”

Rachel chuckled. “Yeah, he is rich," Rachel replied with an affirmative nod. 

Natasha nodded slowly. "I heard he is a producer?" She says in a questioning tone. 

“Yeah and he gets a whole lot of money from his movies.” Rachel stopped in front of a door. “Natasha, I think this room will suit you.”

Natasha nodded and pushed the door open. “Wow. It’s really beautiful.”

“Glad you like it. Malvika, when you take a turn, the first room on your right is yours,” Rachel informed them. 

“Wait a minute, why is this house so huge by the way? They are so many rooms in this house. What for?” Malvika asked, ignoring the nudge Diane gave her. 

“Well, for one, Mr. Nicholas is a really rich person. Also, once in a while, his cousins come over. You know, family stuff.”

“Ah,” Malvika said. “Okay.” She turned and follow the directions Rachel gave her. 

“Mrs. Langston, come with me please. I’ll lead you to your bedroom.”

Diane followed her silently till they got to a room. Rachel pushed the door open. “This will be your room.”

“Er..will I be sharing a room with Nicholas?” 

Rachel shook her head. “Sadly, Mr. Nicholas has ordered that he doesn’t want to see you anywhere near his room."

“I see.” She shrugged. “That’s totally fine by me.”

“Good.”

They walked into the room and Diane put her luggage in the bed. 

“Do you need any help in unpacking?” Rachel asked.

“I might need. But first of all, can you tell me where Nicholas is? I’ll like to see him.”

“He is in his bedroom," Rachel replied.

“Oops. Is there any chance of me seeing him. I really need to see him.”

“When he comes down for dinner.” 

“Okay. What time is dinner?” 

“7 p.m.”

“Right. Please send someone up here to help me unpack.”

“Right away,”Rachel replied and walked away.

Diane closed the door and with a sigh, she flopped on her bed. “Gosh. I’m really married.” She raised her hand and stared at the ring on her finger. “This is so….aaargh!”

                            ---------- 

The knock on the doorwoke Diane up from her sleep. She groaned. “Who’s there?”

“Ma’am…it’s dinner time.”

She groaned again. “I’ll be there in a while,” she replied. She turned on her bed and sighed. Just when she was enjoying the sleep. She had even forgotten to strip off her clothes before sleeping. She was quite sure that the people who were supposed to help her unpack came but left when they discovered that she had probably fallen asleep.

She rose from the bed and changed her dress into casual jeans and blouse. She packed her hair in a messy bun and walked out of the room.

On her way to the stairs,she saw Jenny also moving to the stairs. She was dressed in a mini skirt and crop top. She looked older than Malvika but a little bit younger than she was.

“Hey,” Diane greeted cheerfully. 

Jenny refused to spare her a glance. 

“I’m Diane. You must be Jenny.” 

Silence.

“I saw you at the registry today. You came to witness the wedding,” Diane continued, hoping to strikes conversation. “You are very pretty,” she said,”and I hope we will become friends.”

Jenny rolled her eyes and jogged down the stairs. “Hey Nick!” She said to her brother who was standing below the stairs. “I had no idea you were around. Is Ashley here?”

“Yeah. She will be downstairs soon.”

Jenny grinned. “Good.” She turned. “Rachel, what’s for dinner?”

“Shrimp Noodle Salad With Peanut Sauce,” Rachel replied as she set the table.

“Good,” Jenny said, walking to the table and pulling out a chair to sit.

“Hi,” Diane greeted Nicholas, fiddling nervously with her fingers. “I was looking around for you.”

“Why?” he asked harshly.

“Well, your father said you have something for me.”

“Yeah. I’ll send it to your room after dinner.” Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked to the dining table. Diane began to walk to the table.

“Woohoo!” Someone yelled. 

Everyone turned their heads only to see Natasha on the handle of the stairs sliding down and grinning.

“Natasha!” Diane scolded when she finally jumped down. “That’s dangerous.”

“I told her,” Malvika said,descending the stairs. “But you know your sister.”

“What can I say? I love dangerous,” Natasha replied in a singing voice as she walked to the table and sat at the left side of Diane. Malvika sat at Diane’s right hand. 

"Hey guys," a soft, tiny voice said. Everyone turned there heads to the stairs and saw Ashley climbing down the stairs gracefully. Diane took one look at her and bit her bottom lip. She is beautiful, Diane thought. Diane watched as Ashley walked gracefully; her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders; and she felt a deep sinking in her guts.

Nicholas’ lips stretched into a wide smile. “Hey sweetie.” He pulled out a chair for her. 

She sat and kissed his lips. “Thanks baby.”

Malvika feigned a gag, making Ashley glare at her. Malvika returned her glare with an innocent stare.

“And who are you, if I may ask?” Ashley asked.

Natasha coughed. “Bitch alert,” she whispered, making Diane and Malvika giggle.

“And who are you?” Malvika threw back at Ashley, uncaringly.

“Nicholas’ girlfriend.”

“Cool. I’m Nicholas’ sister-in-law,” Malvika said.

“Er…actually, she’s my younger sister,” Diane offered with a smile. She darted a warning  glance in Malvika's direction. 

Malvika smiled at her innocently, then turned back to Ashley. “That makes me Nicholas’ sister-in-law, don’t you think?” She asked, directing her question to Ashley.

“Ah, so you are the wife,” Ashley said, nodding her head towards Diane. She gave an evil grin. “Welcome to hell.”

Natasha raised her brows. “This doesn’t look like hell to me," she joked.

Ashley frowned. “And you are?”

“Since we are doing the introductions, why don’t you guess?” Malvika asked before Natasha could reply.

“Hmm…she’s your sister,” Ashley stated.

“Correct. I’m Natasha.”

Nicholas cleared his throat. “Well, hmm, this is my sister, Jenny. And this is my girlfriend, Ashley.”

Malvika rolled her eyes. “She already said that. She couldn’t wait to flaunt the label at us.”

“Just what is your problem with me?” Ashley demanded, a frown creasing her forehead

“Nothing,” Malvika shrugs. “Everything about you just speaks.....”

“Malvika,” Diane called in a warning tone. 

Malvika shrugs. 

“Let’s eat now, shall we?” Nicholas said, opening his food.

Natasha glanced around at everyone on the table and shook her head.  “This is going to be one hell of a house."

©️ INIOLUWA

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