CAN’T HOLD MY TEARS SEASON 2
EPISODE 20
Amara slid out of the car so slowly, feeling boneless. The rain still poured heavily and she leaned against her car tiredly as the rain washed over her. The day was already bright around her but it made no sense to her. Finally, she dragged her drenched semi-limp body away from the car walked stiffly inside her apartment. Her cold apartment added to the chill she felt deep in her bones. She walked into her bedroom, like someone operating under the direction of a remote control and started removing her wet and dirty clothes. She left them in a heap on the floor and walked into the bathroom almost lifelessly as her wet feet made patches on the tiled floor.
She entered the tub and sat down, opening the shower which she knew would produce hot water. The shower washed over her almost like the rain falling outside, only thing one was hot, slowly extracting the chill she had gathered. She shivered, despite the hot water, drew her knees to her chest and held it firmly with her linked hands. She cried anew, her salty tears mixing with the constant flow of hot water. She didn’t know just how long she sat there. Minutes? Hours? Or maybe days! All she knew was that her limbs refused to get her out of there. Finally, when the hot water reserve got exhausted and cool ordinary water started pouring, she pushed to her feet numbly and shut the shower.
She didn’t bother toweling herself dry, she climbed into bed, dripping and all and pulled the thick blanket over her nude form. Settling her head on the pillow, she cried and cried until sleep eventually claimed her.
********************
Kelvin ran on the treadmill, increasing his speed at a maddening pace. He wanted to forget! Just forget! He ran and ran and ran even more. He had never wished himself dead more than he did now. The look of betrayal and hurt he had seen do vividly in Amara’s eyes would definitely hunt him for the rest of his miserable years. He ran faster! He had wanted to save her from pain, instead, he had given her double of that pain. He ran faster! And all for what? If what Alex had said was correct, the child even isn’t a product of incest! He had given Amara pain for nothing. Nothing! His legs flashed out in a blurr as he raced even faster, his still-drenched clothes splashing water in all directions.
And Sam? How would he let him go? Over the years, Kelvin had grown so attached to Sam, he felt like his biological father. It didn’t help, knowing that Sam obviously saw him as his father. Sam had been his only consolation, all those years he had been searching for Amara. Sam had been his happiness. He had done everything within his power to ensure that Sam never hated the absence of his mother. He had told him good stories about Amara and that they would see each other soon. But now, he had to give Sam up, because he knew without a doubt that Amara wouldn’t want Kelvin involved in their lives after this and he definitely deserved it.
Exhaustion ate at Kelvin’s bones as he ran, the treadmill on top speed. Finally, he slowed it down till it came to a stop. His ragged breathing made his chest heave wildly. He ached all over, but not just from exhaustion. The idea that he had to let go of Sam forever hurt beyond reason; but beyond that, immeasurable pain engulfed around him when he realised that he would have to let go of Amara. He would have to give her the happiness he had deprived her, even if it meant… vanishing from her life forever.
**
It was already past eleven and Tega was beside herself with worry. Amara was not showing up, neither was she picking up her calls. She smiled at yet another person. “I am sorry sir, perhaps you could come back later, I can’t reach Miss Peters”. The man had been seated for over twenty minutes, and he wasn’t even the third person she had discarded. The man murmured something and stood up. “I promise to give you a call when she arrives, I am so sorry for the delay” Tega hastily added. The man nodded and left.
“Where are you boss?” She growled as she diaked Amara’s number the 67th time. The head of PR poked her worried head. “Have you been able to reach her?” She asked.
Tega shook her head. “I don’t know what is going on. Can you please help me out here, I should probably go to her house to see if everything is okay” she told Aminat.
Aminat nodded. “Yes, we are all getting worried. She never comes late. Maybe I should go, I don’t have much to do”
“What is going on?”
Tega lifted her head to see Maxwell approaching, with a frown. It had to be the first time Tega saw a frown on his handsome face. “Is everything alright?” Tega hesitated. “It is OK, please tell me what is going on”
Tega sighed. “Actually, it is Ara… I mean, Miss Ara, we haven’t seen her at all today and I have called her endlessly, she isn’t picking up. We are all so worried now.”
Max’s frown deepened drastically.
“I am going to her house now, to check if she is there. Oh God, I hope nothing happened to her” she breathed worriedly.
“It is fine. I would go to her place. You can stay here” Max answered.
“No sir, I would go with you. You might need my help or something” Tega insisted.
“Yes sir, she should go with you” Aminat said, then faced Tega. “I would take over your desk here, please call immediately you find out anything.”
Max finally nodded and turned instantly. Tega grabbed her phone and followed Max instantly, dialing Amara’s number as she went.
Tega had lost count of how many times she had dialed Amara’s phone, but now, it had just become worse because the calls were no more going through. “Now what?” She groaned at the phone in anger.
Maxwell turned his head in her direction, taking his eyes off the road briefly. “What is it?”
Tega shook her head then dumped the phone on her laps. “Her line is no longer going through!” She sighed, “I don’t know what to make of this”
Max turned his eyes back to the road, his mouth drawing to a thin line. “We would get to her house soon, her phone probably got lost or something” he said, almost like he was trying to convince himself as well.
Tega glanced at him. “She couldn’t have gotten lost together with the phone, could she? I am sure something is wrong somewhere”
Maxwell swallowed, gripping the steering wheels hard. He still didn’t know what it is he felt for Amara, but one thing was definitely certain – it would hurt so badly if anything bad happened to her. He strictly schooled his head against thinking about terrible things, but it was not helping at all with Amara’s secretary’s state of unease. He spotted the house he had driven Amara to several days back and instantly came to a stop.
Tega barely had the seatbelt out of the way when she jumped out of the car, entering Amara’s compound hastily. Max followed hastily in her wake. He immediately spotted Amara’s car when he entered the compound and his alarm increased. Involuntarily, thoughts clouded his head. ‘Could she be sick’… ‘did she slip in the kitchen’ or… He put a big full stop to the evil thought that crept to his head.
“Boss…” Tega called out as she hastened to Amara’s apartment. Max stood nervously behind her at the entrance, as Tega knocked over and over. She tried the handle but the door was locked. “Boss” Tega called again, her voice ringing with fright. It was obvious no one was in the compound, if not, someone would have surfaced due to Tega’s high pitched shouts, loud enough to raise the dead. Max’s patience seemed to have expired and he grunted.
“Move aside” he ordered instantly, gently shoving Tega to the side. Before Tega could fully fathom his intention, his leg flashed out and it pounded against the door.
“You can’t break the door, the Nigerian police are not so understanding”
Max wasn’t in the mood to answer that, fear that something terrible had happened to Amara ate at him. He gathered all his strength and hit the door again with his leg. It shook again, but not enough to break it. After two more hits, the door broke free, bouncing off its hinges. The muscles he had gathered in the gym now paid off, but that did not stop his leg from throbbing painfully. He pushed away the pain, charging into the apartment like inspector general. He couldn’t tell which he feared most; finding Amara inside, or not finding her at all. Right now, he would prefer the latter because if she had been inside despite all the noise, only one thing would stop her from answering – the one thing that he did not even want to imagine!
Tega followed closely behind, as if scared of what she might see, should she come forward. “Amara” he boomed, tension eating at his nerves. Except if Amara was under the sofas in the sitting room, she was nowhere in sight. A quick glance around the kitchen and dinning showed no sign of her.
Tega looked fearfully at the bedroom door, covered with a curtain. “You think she… might be there?” She gasped fearfully.
Max walked towards the door.
“Wait! I should go” Tega said, jumping forward. “She might be… indisposed” she hastily said.
Max did not even respond, only pushed open the door and entered. Tega entered closely behind, only to find the room empty. She hurried to the bathroom and found it empty too.
“What is going on?” She yelled. Max bent down and picked some clothes on the floor. Tega hurried to his side and examined the clothes. “These are still wet” !ax murmured. “And sandy”
“She wore these to work yesterday” Tega commented.
“She must have been in the rain” he reasoned.
Tega spied something on the bed and hissed aloud before bending to pick up the phone that she had spent several hours calling. “She isn’t with her phone” she felt like smashing the phone against the cold tiles.
Tega shook her head. “This is not making any sense. My boss isn’t one to be untidy; there is no reason why she would dump…” she suddenly gasped. “Oh my God! Rapture couldn’t have taken place, could it?” Her alarmed eyes turned as large as doughnuts as she peered up at Max.
“This is no time for jokes, woman” Max groaned in anger. He couldn’t have Tega fooling around when all he wanted was to find Amara.
“I am not fooling sir. Rapture would explain her absence and the reason why her cloth is in a head on the floor. Kidnappers wouldn’t kidnap her naked, would they?”. She grabbed Max’s arm in fright. “Oh Lord! I have been left behind!”
It took all his might not to hiss at her. “I am pretty sure my staff would be searching for me by now, if rapture had taken place” he responded, then turned on his heels. “What I need you to tell me is where she might be. Where does she go often?” He ran his fingers through his Jerry curls, which ran silkily through his fingers.
“Oh” Tega gasped. “I should have thought of that! She recently started visiting a friend in the hospital – Miss Tina; she takes care of Ara P’s catering services. My boss never did tell me what was wrong with her but she visits her all the time and-”
“Take me there” Max cut in instantly, marching out of the apartment.
TO BE CONTINUED
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