CAN’T HOLD MY TEARS
EPISODE 19
I have never had so much fun in my life. I have danced with virtually everyone in the sitting room, except my mother-in-law of course. Tina had cooked so many things and I could not stop eating. I had a feeling that I would be twice my current size within the next twenty four hours if I did not reduce my consumption.
Several hours after, the door opened and Alex entered. His eyes found me and he seemed to freeze on the spot. I watched in irritation as his eyes raked my body slowly; what surprised me though was that I was not reacting to him the way I used to. My skin did not break out with Goosebumps, or anything. I nodded internally and gave myself a good pat in the back. This was definitely a good sign.
“Is this the time you are supposed to be arriving for your wife’s birthday? Where have you been? You definitely were not at work and neither did you sleep here” the senator scolded.
Alex ignored him totally, obviously angry with his father.
“You look really beautiful Amara” he said, surprising everyone into complete silence. I stayed there for several seconds, unable to believe he had just said that. Instead of feeling delight, anger ran through my veins at his audacity. I turned to grab a cold cup of water to quench my sudden thirst and anger, passing by my mother-in-law but she suddenly grabbed me; the first time we actually touched all day.
I was stunned. “Did I do something wrong ma?” I asked, instinctively knowing that the excitement was finally over.
“Can’t you greet your husband? You have no respect for my son” she snarled.
“You are hurting me ma” I squealed in pain as her nails bit into my flesh.
She caught her husband’s eye and instantly let go of my hand. I hurried past her and filled a cup with a much needed cold water. As I drank and walked back, my mother-in-law shocked me again by grabbing me. Something seemed to have caught her eyes and she froze. Before I could think, she turned me around suddenly and tugged on my left ear. “Where… where did you get that?” she stammered.
“What is the meaning of this nonsense Katherine?” the senator boomed, calling his wife’s name for the first time.
“Do you have a problem with my daughter?” my mum asked, moving closer.
The senator’s wife looked pale. “Where did she get that black dot behind her ear?” she asked shakily.
My mum shifted. “It has been there since her birth. Why?”
The senator’s wife released me and shook her head furiously. “N… No… Nothing…” she stammered. “It is nothing.” She laughed nervously. “I feel sick. I want to go home” she hastily said and headed outside. The senator looked stupefied at the drama and hastily said.
“Uhhh… Don’t pay attention to her. She is like that when she does not get enough sleep. I think we have to go” he came towards me and k!ssed my cheek before going after his wife with a confused look on his face. I stood there frozen, trying hard to come up with a reasonable explanation for what just occurred.
Mrs. Bello exited the discomfort of the car before it even parked fully. Her brain was in overdrive and being confined in a car with her husband, whose silence was more dangerous than a pointed gun was almost running her insane. He had been quiet throughout the drive home from Amara’s party, with his gaze outside the window and she knew that he was trying to come up with a logical explanation for her actions in the party. She had been too obvious in that gathering and, thinking of a logical lie to give her husband when he finally probes her was a major worry. She did not even know what was scaring her most right now.
She hurriedly entered her personal room and locked the door before the senator thought about probing her but he did not seem in a hurry to do that.
She flung her purse onto the bed and started pacing restlessly. “No! It can’t be! It just can’t be!” She wiped sweats of perspiration off her forehead. This had to be a great coincidence, she thought shakily. Of everyone in the world, it can’t be Amara! It cannot be HER!
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed and crumbled onto the bed. She rubbed her sweaty palms across her face before burying her head in it. Her mistake could not be closing in on her! Not now! Never! And Alex? The pregnancy in Amara’s womb? “OH God, it just can’t be!!!”
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20+ YEARS AGO
Katherine Bello arrived at the hospital, finally deciding to allay her fears before the situation got out of control and becomes exceedingly obvious to all. She could not explain what the problem was, but heaven knows she definitely had her suspicions and it scared the hell out of her. The fear of the unknown had prevented her from going to the doctor because she did not want the doctor’s diagnosis to tally with her instincts. As she was allowed into the doctor’s office, she prayed to heaven that her thoughts were wrong, because if not, she was in for deep s***.
“Hello doctor” she said as she entered the doctor’s office and sat down instantly, to hide her shaking legs. She was using a hospital distant from home now, so this was not their regular family doctor. She could not afford to risk it.
The doctor smiled. “Good evening ma’am, how may I help you please?”
Mrs. Bello sighed softly. “I have been feeling somehow lately, for some weeks now to be precise. I expected it to go away so I ignored it but it is not going away” she said, beating about the bush.
The doctor nodded, with her professional look firmly in place. “Can you explain the symptoms you have experienced?”
Mrs. Bello nodded vigorously. “Erm…I am sure it is nothing serious. Just some feelings of dizziness, desire to eat all the time and also irritation and nausea” she rambled. “I mean, I don’t erm… feel nausea or urge to vomit all the time, just once in a while, it can even be overlooked… I hope it is nothing serious”
The doctor smiled and her eyes seemed to probe Mrs. Bello like her eyes alone was enough to carry out the needed examination. She smiled further. “I think I know what the matter is” the doctor said. “But since I am sure you don’t expect me to ‘think’, I would call someone to run a test on you. The results would be out within minutes, so it would not take long” she said, frightening Mrs. Bello.
She swallowed. “Are you sure I don’t need to come back?” she asked nervously.
“No! The results of the test would be out very fast” the doctor assured. She picked her intercom and called a nurse, who appeared almost immediately. The doctor gave her a few instructions which Mrs. Bello did not listen to as her mind raced on the possible outcome of the test. With stiff legs, Mrs. Bello followed the nurse into the lab where the test was carried out.
Mrs. Bello sat in the waiting room, looking at the ticking hand of the wall clock. She had never been so frightened in her life. Her brain rotated on whether or not to leave. She could not afford to have her instincts right because only doom was hers if the result of the test proved that she was indeed pregnant. She stood up and she turned towards the door to leave, a nurse called her. She turned with a shaky smile on her face.
“The result is out ma, you can go in now” the nurse said. “Were you about to leave?”
She shook her head, ignoring the question. “That was fast, are you sure it is ready?” she had turned as pale as sheet.
“Yes. Please, come with me ma”.
The nurse led her back to the doctor’s office where she hastily sat her pale form. Without wasting time, the doctor declared. “This is the test result” she gave her a brown envelope. “My assumptions were confirmed” she smiled affectionately. “Congratulations ma, you are three months pregnant”.
The news landed like an atomic bomb, rubbing her of her speech. “There… there must be a mistake” she stammered shakily.
The doctor frowned. “There is no mistake. This should be good news, are you not married ma?” the doctor asked, looking from the patient’s pale face to the ring on the left hand. Mrs. Bello totally ignored the doctor and stood up, leaving the office without a backwards glance.
Mrs. Bello roamed her sitting room with nerves all over the place. Her son, Alex was taking his nap, and she was glad that he was not down, disturbing her.
Pregnant? How can she do this? Her husband had been gone for over four months now, to the United States, establishing a new company there. Because of the rigor of starting a new company and the necessity to be there to pioneer and kick start this initial stage, her husband had gone to be there personally and had been there for more than four months, so there was no way in this world that this pregnancy could be her husbands. It could only possibly be for one person; their driver.
Being away from her husband for months had been more than she could handle, and when she complained to her friend, Bimpe, she had given her a ‘solution’. Her friend had pointed out her strong and s*xy-looking driver who had been driving her for about two years now. Though she was still very young, he was definitely older than her, so she would not be a sugar mummy to him or anything like that. Cheating on her husband seemed like a ridiculous idea at first but when his absence became irritating, she gave in to the advice.
It proved to be a really difficult thing to do because all her seductions seemed not to be working on Habeeb, her driver.
He was a strong man who did not seem like one to easily fall into temptations. She wore really exposing clothes, he noticed, she knew he did but his reactions never exceeded simple glances which could almost be overlooked. Katherine Bello almost thought there was something wrong with her own appeal. Getting Habeeb had taken all the feminine cunning tactics she could have or even come up with, but eventually, Habeeb fell for her charms and beauty. He had treated her better than any man – even her husband – had ever treated her. He had treated her like a teenager, even though she was thirty. He had given her flowers, taken her on dates, but still kept the relationship hidden from all and sundry.
But now, this is the result. She waved the pregnancy result and crushed it in her fist. She was carrying the result of her infidelity in her womb. Right at that moment, she hated the child she was carrying. She had risked her happiness and home for moments of pleasure. It had seemed like a good idea then, but now, she was face to face with reality. How could she hide this? She had always feared abortion more than anything on earth. Ever since she watched her best friend die from abortion, she had sworn never to attempt it. As bad as this situation seemed, Katherine still did not want to die. But how could she hide the pregnancy from her husband who would be coming back in a week?
Ever since she gave birth to Alex, four years ago, Katherine hadn’t been pregnant ever since and she had been glad because it had been really tough for her when she carried Alex in her womb; it had been even worse during labor, that she had to go through Caesarian Session when her life was threatened. Now, she could not afford to lose her family. She could not lose her husband or make her son lose his happy home, which might happen if her husband found out about her infidelity or the ungodly result in her belly. What could she do?
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