CHAPTER SIX

~Elizabeth ~

"What did you prepare?" I heard the voice that gave me creepy chills all the time growl.

My weak and frail body just stood in front of him and I was taught never to look him in the eyes so my gaze was on the ground. "I'm talking to you." His voice grew darker with rage and it made me more scared.

"T-there's n....nothing. I didn't....cook. You didn't leave any money." My voice trembled, so did my body. I knew how much he hated hearing no food at home but it was the truth. But today, I wasn't fortunate at all, he came home drunk and whenever he was drunk, bad things happen.

"What do you mean you didn't cook." He got up from where he sat and headed my way. I just stood there waiting for the worst to happen.

"I swear I would've cooked something for you but there was no money in the house and I......"

"Shut that dirty mouth of yours." He said and as usually supported his words with a slap on my cheek. Helplessly, I fell to the ground as tears flowed out of my eyes.

"What about the money your mother always sent to you. So you couldn't sacrifice that little change. You rather starve both of us right!" He shouted at me and I whimpered in pain.

The money my mother sent wasn't much, but he knew when the money came and he spent them on buying drinks and carrying girls around. Leaving me with nothing. Most times I go to bed with nothing in my belly and he didn't care. Some times I'd go to the back yard to see if any pawpaw was ripe. If it was, then I was very lucky. But when it's not, I just have to wait. Hungry.

"The money has finished." I tried to defend. "I said shut your mouth." He shouted again and pounced on me. All I could hear was my sobs and my begs.

"Please, I'm sorry."

Elizabeth

"I promise to be better next time." I kept begging but he didn't listen.

Elizabeth.

..............

"Please stop!" I jerked up shouting. Another dream. And with every dream I have it's like I'm getting closer to him. Like he's going to come back and this time around kill me. My body was dripping with sweat and my heart racing like I ran miles. I didn't understand anything around me for about one minute but after that, I decided to open my eyes. Only to meet with dark brown ones. I blinked to know if it's another dream but it wasn't. I was facing my boss. Now he'd want to know what's happening.

"Elizabeth." He called my name again. He's been the one calling me from afar.

"I...I need to use the bathroom." I muttered and got up from the chair. That's when I remembered I had slept off on the couch last night.

~DAVID~

I watched her shaking body leave the chair and head upstairs. There was a lot on my mind that I wanted to ask her. But I knew she wasn't going to say a word to me. I'm not surprised. The only time we got along was last night, she can't just start pouring out her secrets to me. She doesn't even trust me.

God I was so scared when I heard her plead to no one in particular. She was having a bad dream, I knew that for sure, but it was still so damn scary to watch her body shake out of fear, to see tears pour down her closed eyes. I thought something bad was going to happen to her. I hated the view I had this morning.

I heard footsteps, so I turned to face her. Her face was wet, she probably wet it to clear the sleep in them. She didn't say anything, just walked towards me and sat back on the couch she left minutes ago.

"Elizabeth." I called her name for the umpteenth time and I watched her take a huge breath in and finally face me. "Yeah?" She whispered out, her voice still recovering from fear.

"What happened?" I asked. Even when I knew she wouldn't tell me, I still asked.

She chewed on her lower lip and I waited patiently for her to say something.

"A bad dream. I just had a bad dream." She shrugged, sniffing in.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked her and she shook her head immediately. I still wasn't surprised.

"Is it always like that?" I asked again and her eyes shot up to meet mine. They became glassy again and I felt that familiar weight in my stomach. A tear slipped out of her eyes and it broke me more. I didn't know what got over me, I just had to pull her in for a hug. I didn't know why I did what I did but I just felt it was the only way I could console her.

Luckily, she didn't resist, she hugged back and I let her cry on my shoulders. "It's okay. Just take in breaths." I said softly patting her back.

~Elizabeth ~

When I'm sure I didn't have any tears left to shed, I let him go. It was shocking how he was there to console me. "Are you okay?" He asked with concern and I sniffed nodding my head in reply.

I turned to look at the time, then my eyes widened in shock. "Oh God." I breathed out still looking at the time.

"I'm late. We're late." I got up already panicking. He didn't even say anything, just watched me act my drama as I paced round the room.

"I over slept. It's 11:24am. I'm so sorry." I ran a hand through my hair and he chuckled softly.

"Why're you apologizing?" He got up from where he sat to meet me. "Why am I apologizing? You always told me never to be late to work and...."

"Elizabeth." He called my name and I paused. "I'm giving you a day off." He said calmly. My eyes snapped up, I met his gaze and he was being serious, my jaw dropped slightly. "What?" I asked, maybe I didn't hear right.

"You heard me." He shrugged dipping his hands in his pockets. "A day off?" I asked still unsure.

"Yes, you've been stressing yourself out for a long time. You deserve it. I think we both do." He said evenly.

"Wait both?" I raised a brow. "Yeah, I've also been busy." He said and I rolled my eyes.

I'm his assistant. I knew his schedule for a year, and I know his definition of work is my definition of enjoyment.

"So how do you wanna spend it. I was thinking we could go...."

"We?" I questioned still confused. "Yeah, maybe like France or South Africa. I've always wanted to visit there again....."

"Wait I don't understand. We?" I asked again. "Yes, we both have a day off. So I was guessing we spend it together." He suggested. "Um..err....I" I began to stammer.

"You don't want to..." A frown grew on his face. "No, I didn't say that. It's just. You're always strictly by work and stuffs like that." I bit my lower lip.

"I meant what I said about being nice yesterday." He said and I still couldn't believe his words. "Do you want to go?" He asked still so damn relaxed.

"Um...yeah. Sure. But I think it's better to stay in Nigeria." I suggested and he made a pouting face.

"Fine. Today I'm letting you be in charge. Whatever you wish is my command." He said giving a curt bow.

"Okay do you want me to be honest?" I asked as a smile subconsciously played around my lips. "Yeah." He replied. "You're taking this being nice too seriously. Please it's getting weird." I dramatically raised my hands in the air and dropped them just to make my point.

"What's wrong about what I'm doing? I'm only trying to do you a favor. It's like a thank you gift." He shrugged but it's till didn't make sense. He doesn't have to go all nice with me.

"I appreciate it a lot but it's getting much. When I asked you to be nice, I meant like the way you talk. Not waste your money on pointless things."

"You know I don't care about that right? So my cousin owns a restaurant in lekki. We should go there. He's been bugging me about a new recipe. He wants me to try it out." He kept on talking and I just stared, dumbfounded.

Things are really getting weird between us. He's been hard and bossy for so many years. Why'd he change all of a sudden? Is it because of the way he saw my mum? Again, I don't want him to feel pity for me.

"What do I wear? My clothes are at home." I tried to make an excuse.

"Elizabeth, quit creating a wall of impossibility, I have a sister about your size, you guys have met before, so borrowing the clothes she left here wouldn't harm anyone. Beauty wouldn't mind." He stated firmly and I sighed.

"Okay." I gave in.

...........

"David!" Uniformly, I and my boss turned to the sound of the person who called out his name.

"Segun. Hey long time no see." David had a smile on his face, a genuine smile. It was surprising but at the same time pretty good to see. For the first time he looked like an average human being.

"You finally made it after so many years of me pleading. When you said you were coming, I thought you were joking." Segun said as they both shook hands and hit shoulders.

Segun Martins. The owner of 'THE GREAT' restaurant. He has at least three branches in about eleven countries all over the world. And he's related to the Badmus. I feel honored to meet him. I've visited on of his restaurants and his food is the most delicious thing I've tasted.

"Oh, you must be Sandra. His girlfriend I've been hearing of. I must say, you look prettier than what I've seen on tv." Segun turned to me and his first statement to me made my jaw drop. Really? Sandra?

"It's nice meeting you." He stretched his hand for a shake making me frown slightly. I turned to face my boss and anyone could see he was trying to stifle a laugh.

"Um..." I started and stretched my arms to shake his. "Nice to meet you too but...I'm not...."

"She's not Sandra." David cut in and Segun's eyes widened in amazement, then it turned to a frown.

"You broke up with Sandra?" He asked and I almost face palmed myself. "Sandra's still my girlfriend but this isn't her. This is Elizabeth." Someone finally got my name right.

"Oh." He said in realization. "I'm sorry for the mix up." He apologized and I smiled. "It's okay." I replied.

"So are you two...um...." Segun began to stammer. My brows furrowed when I realized where he was heading with his words.

"Must you think rubbish?" David pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "It's not my fault. I grew up knowing you to never be with a girl except their is something attached." Segun defended himself. It's good to know I'm not the only one surprised.

"I'm just his assistant. Personal assistant." I explained and he nodded in understanding.

"No." David said and I frowned. "No?" I questioned with a raised brow. "No." He repeated. "No, you're not my assistant. Not today. Once we're back in work, then you can be that. But now, you're....." He trailed off. I waited for him to finish his sentence but he didn't say anything.

"I'm what?" I questioned crossing my arms around my chest. "You're a friend okay. See I've said it, no big deal." He confessed and I smiled.

It wasn't a conscious move but I smiled. It actually was nice to hear him say that. "Since when?" I asked wanting to hear him say words I've never heard him say to me before.

He ran his tongue over his bottom lips and narrowed his eyes at me.  "I know what you're doing, you're trying to push my buttons. Guess what, it not working. We came here for food didn't we. Why not concentrate on that." He said evenly and I smiled more. "Sure." I shrugged.

"I have a good feeling about the both of you." Segun finally spoke making both of us glare at his direction. "Do you want us to leave?" David asked simply.

"What, you're my best customer. Even if you've never been to this place before. Why don't you have a seat and let me handle the rest." Segun offered with a smile.

...................

"So, obviously I suck at this friendship thing." David finally said something. We've been lavishing our meal for the past fifteen minutes, Segun has been trying to make us have a taste of almost all his food. And none of us said anything to each other. Just ate in silence like we were in a business gathering.

"Why do you say that?" I asked taking a sip from my champagne.

"This is the only conversation we've had since we got here." He said truthfully and I nodded. "Well, don't feel bad cos we're on the same page. I suck at friendship." I also confessed. Then there was a pause between us. No one saying anything, no cutlery sound. Just the muted voices of the other customers.

"C'mon, that's a lie. You have friends. I'm always wanting to be in charge, so no one understands me asides family." He scoffed. "Well, Chidima and I meet sometimes. But I can't classify that as friendship. We only talk at work. So I should say I have only my mum and brother." I explained with a shrug.

"You have me." He said with a pouting face and I rolled my eyes. "We've not yet concluded on that." I took a napkin and wiped my lips.

"Really, why's that?" He sat back and tried to relax on his seat as he watched me intently. Which was a little uncomfortable, even me sitting opposite him didn't help the matter.

"I know you." I said simply. No matter how friendly he was trying to be, I made sure to mind what I said. "Could you explain further?" He asked dropping the cutlery on his plate of almost finished food.

"I know what you can do. Your mood swings are like a teenager going through puberty. You can be calm now, but no one can predict what you're going to do next. Probably yell at someone for making too much sounds with their mouth." I still tried to mind my words but when I look at what I just said. That was just the truth. Raw truth.

"How does that affect us being friends?" He pressed on and I had to take in breath so as to coordinate my mind. I've been waiting for the time to finally tell him what a big jerk he can be. But when I finally get the opportunity, I'm minding what I'm saying. Not because of what he could do, but because of how he would feel about it.

"You want us as friends now, but tomorrow, I know you're gonna call me and talk rudely about how slow I work or that I'm late or why you haven't heard about an invitation. That's not how friendship works." I explained and he listened rather calmly. I was expecting him defend why he's always grumpy but he didn't, he just sat there listening.

"And that's why I need you to teach me." He finally replied and I scoffed. "I told you, I also suck at having friends. I don't have any....I don't think I even want one." I said lowering my voice at the last part.

"Why not?" He was still calm. "Cos....." I trailed off trying to find the right sentence to answer his question. "I don't know." I added.

"You do know. Even I know." He explained and a small laugh escaped my mouth and it held sarcasm. But he was still calm.

"You don't trust people." He said, his voice still relaxed. I tried to fight it in my mind that that's not why, but it was the truth. I don't easily trust people. I mean how do you expect me to when I was let down by my own father.

"How long did it take you to figure that out?" I asked with a scoff.

"Do you know how many assistants I've had before you? About eight, but I didn't sack you. You're the longest one I've had. Once I hire someone to be in charge of what I'm going to be doing, I have to know that I can trust the person. I have learnt a lot about you than you think. And I learnt that you don't trust and you're a lot insecure." My lips parted slightly at his explanation. "You know that I can't trust people, then why didn't you fire me all along?" I asked still confused.

"It was all I needed. I've seen the way you behave when you don't trust a particular person much. You take note of his or her every movement like you're my body guard. And then you try to talk me out of the appointment. Even when I tell you to shut up, I still listen to you. Remember how you tried to explain that Ray wasn't here for real business and I sent you out of my office, I still took a thought about your words. Made more investigations and you were right. He wanted to dupe me."

"Then why decide to be nice to me all of a sudden?" I shifted a little on my chair.

"Wow, we're back to that conversation. To be honest, my brother tried to talk sense into me, that I should try being nicer to you. He's been trying to persuade me for about a year now, so I took it into consideration. And here I am. Trying to have a friend that is not related to me." He left me speechless. What was I to reply? I had nothing in my head.

"Um..." I trailed still not knowing what to say. He sounded like he knew a lot about me. Making me worry more, what if he knows more than he should? Is that why he's trying to play nice? Oh God I don't know what to do or how to feel.

"How about we don't put a label on it?" Was all I could utter at that moment. "We're not friends. But neither are we enemies. Again." I explained and he nodded. "Wait, again? Were we ever enemies?" He frowned at me.

"You know. Those times when we could kill each other if given the opportunity." I shrugged hoping I've not stepped past my limits. "I never had the thought of killing you. Yes I hated being disturbed and you did it all the time, all that came to my mind was sack you, but it doesn't last Cos my work crumbling down came to my mind. So I just over looked. But you....so if given a gun you could kill me?" He asked sternly. Great that bossy side is back.

"Um...not, anymore. Not now that I know you're...um..I" I stammered knowing I just put my self in trouble.

Then a loud laughter erupted from him making me stop. "Don't worry I was just pulling your legs." He kept laughing and my brows furrowed more into a glare.

"This is one of the jerky attitude you have. And it's not nice." I pouted crossing my arms and looking away from  his laughing face. I still hate him.

................

It was eight thirty in the night, the drive to my house was really quiet. David was beside me on the drivers seat and none of us said anything to each other.

Through out today after we left the restaurant was all about chatting and laughing like we've been getting along for a very long time. We paid a visit to the national theater to watch a live 'papa Ajasco' show. Then David just had to make us go to city mall at onikan, Lagos. It was actually really fun but at the same time exhausting. I wasn't exactly the type to go out or even catch fun. I just hope I don't over sleep.

The car pulled to a halt and I blinked back to reality. I stared out the window to see we were parked in front of my house. "How did you know where I live?" I asked, a frown of confusion forming on my forehead. He turned to look at me with boredom in his eyes, then he chuckled. "That's a really silly question to ask me, considering that I told you I knew a lot about you earlier today." He replied plainly.

I still don't get why and how he knows so much. I wasn't comfortable with it. I didn't want anyone to get too clingy with me.

"Your day off ends by twelve in the mid night. I won't accept any excuse if you come late to work tomorrow. Is that clear?" He raised a brow and I nodded in response. "Yes sir." He winked at me before driving off.

Kicking my shoes off, I locked the door behind me then slumped on the couch. Memories of how I spent my day began flashing back to me. That's when it clicked. What the hell have I done? What is wrong with me? I spent the whole day not achieving anything. How does today have an impact in my life? How did I let myself  get talked into this? How did I spend the night in someone's house, my boss's house. Why did I accept the day off? I know I needed it but who knows if he'll take it out of my paycheck. Why is he so nice all of a sudden? What does he want from me? I've known him long enough, he's never nice. He can't be trusted. At all. He must want something. There is always something needed.

A lot of things kept spiraling round my head. On and on till I felt a headache. All I needed was to sleep. But there's always this fear I get. The fear of sleeping. What if I never woke up? From all those nightmares.

The thought of my dreams brought goosebumps to my skin. It was still creepy. I still wonder how I mange to live alone in this house. I just saw it as the best way to avoid people from getting too attached. It's was good for me. I could run mad if someone kept asking why I get panic attacks.

Even with the fear of sleep, my eyes still felt heavy. I was so tired, my legs and head hurt so bad. I didn't even realize I had closed my eyes.

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