Chapter 6

MAY

The door opened.

“I told you to stay outside!” Nicholas complained before turning backwards. I almost froze as I watched my Sherlyn enter. I put away the documents quickly and kept my eyes on her.

“Why are you here?” I asked coldly.

“Certainly not to visit you,” She replied just as coldly. She turned to Nicholas, putting on a fake smile. “I know you, Mr. Nicholas. My name is…”

“Why are you here?” Nicholas asked Sherlyn before she could finish. “If you can’t answer May, would you at least answer me?”

Sherlyn’s smile escaped from her face.

“This is my hospital!” She retorted. “I get to decide where I go.”

“Your hospital? You must have gone nuts!” I said angrily.

“Shut up, whore! You’ve been disowned, don’t you remember?” Sherlyn told me, smiling widely. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

“I really wish I didn’t have to get involved in your family issues…” Nicholas muttered.

“You don’t have to!” Sherlyn interrupted.

“Can you get out?” Nicholas asked, his eyes stern and sharp. He gazed at Sherlyn and it even made me nervous. Nicholas had a crazy aura, I just found out.

“But I… I am the owner… You have to…” Sherlyn was stammering. She was nervous too.

“May is a patient at this hospital and I’ll pay the hospital bills. You have no right to harass an hospitalized person, you know that?” Nicholas asked. This time, he was smiling. Sherlyn went mute. She disappeared from the room as fast as she had come. I had never seen her so lost for words.

Nicholas picked up the document right after.

“You should move into my mansion after you are discharged. How about you get some rest for now and we talk later?” Nicholas wasn’t asking, he was ordering.

I nodded. Susan entered the room right at that moment.

“You should get going now. She needs to rest. She is a patient for now, you know,” Susan winked at me. I smiled weakly.

“So nice of you. You couldn’t come in when her stepmother was making such a great fuss!” Nicholas shook his head as he spoke sarcastically. It seemed as if he had a knack for using people’s words against them.

“That’s because…” Susan tried explaining.

“Don’t bother,” He brushed it off. “I’m leaving already.”

“That punk!” Susan exclaimed after Nicholas was out of sight.

I closed my eyes. I had to rest. From now on, I was living for two.

**

“I should introduce you to my personal staff…” Nicholas said on the way to his home. Susan had discharged me in the evening and right now, I was in Nicholas’s car. All four seats were occupied. A driver and a young lady about my age sat in the front seats while Nicholas and I occupied the back seats.

“My driver, his name is Ken. I drive at times so he will be more responsible for your own transportation,” Nicholas told me.

“I drive too. I don’t need a designated driver,” I opposed.

“Not anymore!” Nicholas turned to me. “Ken will drive you anywhere and everywhere. He knows how to drive safely and I trust him too. No objections, please.”

I frowned. However, Nicholas wasn’t looking at me anymore.

“She is Susan!” He pointed at the young lady in the front seat. “She is my personal secretary and she will be useful to you as well. Reach out to Susan whenever I’m unavailable.”

“I understand,” I nodded.

“You won’t need to do that often anyway. I will always be by your side,” He winked at me. Even though I didn’t like his personality, I had to admit that he was charming. His dentition was perfect and somehow, his smile looked good too. Just like Conan.

Conan, just that name brought several memories. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

“We are here, sir,” Ken announced as he drove in. I took a good look at the surroundings as we entered. The scenery was beautiful and it felt like I was in heaven. Nicholas led the way in and I had a whole ‘crowd’ of people waiting for me. The household staff were lined up and waiting. The butler was a woman who seemed to be in her late fifties or early sixties. She had blonde hair and her wrinkly face made her look somewhat unforgettable. Lest I forget, her nose was as high as Cinderella’s heels. Wait, were Cinderella’s heels actually high?

“You can call me Mama,” The butler introduced herself. I raised an eyebrow on hearing that. Was the butler trying to manipulate me emotionally? Maybe she had heard my mother was dead and even the evil stepmother I used to have had disowned me.

“Why should I call you Mama? You ain’t my mother,” I replied brazenly.

“Ah, forgive me,” She replied quickly. “Everyone calls me Mama because my name is quite hard for them to pronounce. It has nothing to do with being their mother.”

“Oh!” I muttered in realization. “What is your real name?”

“Walk with me, Miss. I will lead you to your room and we will talk on the way,” Mama smiled at me. I returned the smile fondly and walked with her. She continued, “My name is Mamariahkutunda and before you ask, it has African roots. My dad was a doctor and he did some volunteer work in Africa. He met a very beautiful lady, cheated on my mum, and…”

“Cheated on your mum!” I exclaimed. I was taken aback at once.

“Yes, that old man did…” Mama smiled pleasantly. From her expression, she must have told the same story to a lot of people. “He came back, had me with my mother, and named me after his African lover.”

“Men are such vile creatures!” I retorted. We had gotten to my room. Mama opened the door and I found my way in.

“I used pink as the theme color since a lot of ladies seem to like that color. If you don’t like it, I will…” Mama was saying.

“I love it!” I cut in.

Maybe my life will be pleasant from now on.

Maybe not.