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Chapter Thirty-Four
Timi
I woke up to seven missed calls from Aaliyah, mom and dad. I was already panicking, thinking there was an emergency but then I remembered it was my birthday so I calmed down. Instead of calling them back, I went to WhatsApp and checked the messages I had there. My friends and former team mates had sent me birthday wishes and the birthday wishes kept coming in. I scrolled down looking for Nahlela’s message but I didn’t see anyone from her. I didn’t really care about my birthday but I wanted her to care about it. I called Aaliyah on video call and then added mom and dad. They were together so dad picked up on his phone and they both used it.
We spoke for some time and then dropped the call. I was about to take my bath when I heard the doorbell ring. Mary had probably forgotten her key again. I went to open the door and It was Nahlela at the door. She was hold
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Nahlela I woke up when Timi was still asleep. I quietly got out of bed and went to the kitchen. He was leaving with the team for Dschang in a few hours’ time for the university games. I would have loved to go with him to watch the games but I had a doctor’s appointment; so he agreed to give me daily updates about the game so I would add to the article. I made him breakfast and packed some treats for the team to eat on the way. Then even though he insisted on the fact that he wasn’t a kid going to boarding school, I made some snacks for him. Timi insisted on hiring a driver for the few days he was away but I wasn’t having it. He said he wasn’t comfortable with me staying alone so I told him I was going to go and stay at my parent’s place till he came back. I was only pregnant and he was pampering me as if I was a baby. He even
Braced Chapter Thirty-Six
TimiI hadn’t heard from Nahlela since she told me she was leaving the office. I called her and she didn’t pick up. I was worried. Two hours had passed already and it was so unlike her. I called her parents to ask if they had heard from her and they said they hadn’t. They promised to tell her I had been asking after her but I insisted that they go to her house and check up on her. They told me I was worrying over nothing, but agreed to go to her house and promised to take her to their place.Two hours later, Nahlela’s dad called me. He told me he had just received a call from Nahlela’s phone. She had been kidnapped and the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of twenty million francs. I wanted to leave Dschang and start going back to Bamenda but he told me he had it all under control. He told me he had installed a tracker on her phone once. I was really grateful for that. H
Braced Chapter Thirty-Seven
NahlelaLater that evening, Nadine left the building and I was left with the boy who instead of watching me had been concentrating on his phone all through. I told him I was pregnant and needed to pee, so he took me to the bathroom. When I was done, I told him I was tired of sitting on one place and my back was aching. He seemed to take pity on me, so he brought out a tiny mattress from the wardrobe and gave me to sleep on it with a little blanket to cover my body. Early in the morning when I woke up, I noticed that he had fallen asleep and was snoring so I tiptoed to the door and tried the key and the door opened. The stupid boy had left the key on the door and fallen asleep. I wondered where Nadine had taken him from. He looked like a good kid trying to make fast money. I took out the key and when I closed the door from outside, I locked it with the key. The house was
Braced Chapter Thirty-Eight
NahlelaMom, dad and Timi rushed into the room at the same time. Before they could start asking me questions, I told them Nadine was behind the kidnapping. Timi said she had called earlier and when he told her I was unconscious, she said she was on her way. Dad immediately called the police and informed them of the new developments, Mom climbed on the bed and kept on hugging me. Timi just stood at one corner and kept on looking at me and smiling. I was so happy and grateful to have them. I told them the full story about how I was kidnapped and how I managed to escape and mom cried all through. I was trying not to cry but she was making it so difficult for me. Timi asked mom and dad to go home and promised to stay with me through the night. Mom tried refusing but we all told her to go home and rest and she said she will be back first thing in the morning. She and
Braced Chapter Thirty-Nine
NahlelaEveryone was behaving strangely, like they were all hiding something from me. Timi had been very distant lately. Timi left home very early in the mornings and came back late at night and after eating and taking his bath, he slept immediately. Sometimes he fell asleep in the middle of conversations or in front of the television which was very unusual for him. I asked him if anything was wrong and he passively told me everything was fine. I felt like something was off so I insisted but he insisted everything was fine and I shouldn’t bother. I tried asking his sister Aaliyah but she said everything was fine and I shouldn’t bother.After the whole kidnapping saga, I had moved in with Timi and terminated my contract with my former landlord. I wanted to take a few days off because I felt like I was suffocating Timi; he didn’t exactly say it, but I felt like he needed a
Braced Chapter-Forty
TimiI watched Nahlela as she moved towards the fountain, the expression on her face was priceless, it was like she was mesmerised by everything. As she turned and stretched to touch the water, I quietly knelt down and softly called her name. when she turned and saw me on my knee with a box in a tiny velvet box ion my hand, she looked shocked. She wanted to speak but I cleared my throat and she kept quiet.“Nahlela Bih Samgena, from the first day we met, you got under my skin, there was something about you which I couldn’t place my hands on, then we got to know each other and it became evident why you always unnerved me, I loved you from the first day we met. Io love your smile, the way you talk, the way you walk, your personality, in fact I love everything about you. Since you came into my life, you have shown me that there is more to life, you have been my inspiration and muse, you hav
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Chapter OneI repeated my affirmations till I started believing them. That’s how I started my day always. I finally dragged myself out of bed and started getting ready for work. I was sleep deprived but I had no choice so I put my bathing water in the kettle, made up my bed and picked out my outfit for the day.Two hours later, I was ready for work. I checked to make sure I had locked all the taps, switched off all the fans, turned off all the light switches and locked all the doors. I also checked to make sure I had taken the snacks which I had to eat before lunch and my little “tea” flask which most of the time contained rum or whiskey.
Braced Chapter Three
CHAPTER THREETimiSince I had an accident a year ago, I haven’t been to a football field. I followed my physiotherapy religiously till I was able to move well. Football is my life and not playing it is killing me slowly. When I was 8, I fell in love with football. I started kicking everything till my dad gave in and sent me to a football academy. The other guys there had talent and all, but the thing that kept me going the highest was my passion for it. I always made sure I was early for practice, I worked thrice as hard at everyone else and before I was 18 years old, many teams were looking to sign me in but I went with Chelsea FC because of this immense love I have for it. When I joined the team, the training was more, everything I thought I knew about football started looking like a joke but I kept my head down and followed the ball. At the peak of my career,
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