THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 11 – 20

EPISODE 20

“He still hasn’t called? It’s almost 4 PM already.” Prisca announced as she walked into the office.

“I can see the damn clock! I’m not blind!” Kimberly snapped at her, and then took in a deep breath, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.” Kimberly quickly apologized when Prisca raised her brow slightly.

“You’re that upset that he isn’t taking you up on your offer?” Prisca asked curiously when she saw how tense Kimberly looked, and noticed she was pacing around the office barefooted.

“Shouldn’t I be? I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to go through the stress of going around looking for someone else. Now I’m not looking forward to going out there and trying to find someone else. I think I might want to compare everyone else with him.” Kimberly rambled on as she walked over to her window, turning her back to Prisca.

“You should have taken his number.” Prisca said with a sigh and moved from the door to sit down on one of the empty seats.

“Aren’t you tired of saying that? I already told you why I didn’t! Besides I expected he would give me a call at the very least to turn down my offer as civilized people do, but then, what was I expecting from a mere cab driver?” Kimberly asked irritably, and neither of them noticed the young man standing by the door since they both had their backs to the door.

“Maybe he doesn’t have call credit.” Prisca suggested.

“Abeg tell me something more reasonable. He doesn’t have call credit what about chatting me up on WhatsApp? You will say no data, abi? He has a cab for crying out loud, couldn’t he just have driven himself down here? To think I even thought for a moment that he was the right person for the job. Remind me to pick someone of a more noble profession instead of…”

“A mere cab driver?” Eric asked from behind the door which Prisca had left slightly open, making both ladies turn to look at him in surprise.

He was dressed in a vintage shirt whose first two buttons were left undone, and was tucked into his black colored trouser, and he was wearing a decent pair of brow shoes which matched his belt.

One look at Kimberly’s flushed face and Prisca could tell that she was very flustered by Eric’s unexpected arrival. She didn’t need anyone to tell her who Eric was since Kimberly had given her a very detailed description of the guy the previous day, so she quickly excused herself.

Kimberly suddenly felt very warm when she felt his cold gaze on her, “I didn’t mean for you to hear that.” Kimberly said apologetically without meeting his gaze. Kimberly promised herself that she was going to kill the receptionist when she was done with Eric. How could she not have called to inform her someone was at the office to see her?

“And here I was thinking you were going to actually say you didn’t mean to say that… That’s what normal people would say.” Eric said as he stepped into the office and shut the door behind him.

Kimberly bit her lips, and decided to let that slide, “It’s past 4 PM, I thought you were not going to come.” Kimberly said pointing to the big wall clock in her office. She paused when she noticed he was staring at her bare feet instead of the clock. Damn! She quickly hurried to her seat, and sat down where she always felt the most confident. This was her show not his, and if she was going to make that clear to him then this was her chance to show him she was in charge.

“Well, I’m here.” Eric said without taking his eyes off her. He could tell she was feeling very uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her, but he had been more than a little disappointed when he heard her statement earlier.

“Please sit down.” She said pointing to the seat opposite her. She was sure he would look less intimidating if he stopped towering above her like she was David and he was Goliath.

“Thanks.” Eric said as he lowered himself to the seat she had pointed.

“So I take it you have considered my offer?” Kimberly asked going straight to the point.

“I’m not sure about that. Are you done with work for the day?” Eric asked, taking charge of the conversation once more. He had a feeling she wanted the sort of man who would submit to her, but he was going to show her she had approached the wrong person.

“Yeah. Why?” She asked with a confused frown.

“Let’s discuss over dinner at your house.” Eric said startling Kimberly.

“My house? I don’t even know you! Why would I want to take you to my house?” She asked in disbelief, but Eric simply raised a brow and tilted his lip to the side in a slightly amused and questioning manner.

“If my memory serves me correctly, I asked a similar question yesterday. You don’t know me, why would you want to marry me?” He asked making Kimberly snap her mouth shut.

“What do you want? Why do you want to go to my house? You want to see if I’m rich enough to pay you?” Kimberly asked with a displeased frown.

“For starters I have to see where you live as it might give me a fair idea of who you are. I also want to eat a meal prepared by you. If I’m going to marry you, I have to make sure you can prepare decent meals.” Eric said making Kimberly look away in embarassment. She was very certain if she was light skinned she would have been blushing.

“I can’t cook.” She told him without meeting his gaze.

“You can’t?” Eric asked, although he didn’t sound surprised by the information.

“Look, it’s not going to be a real marriage. It’s just an arrangement and you will be free to do whatever…”

“I don’t think I can promise you that you’ll be free to do whatever.” Eric interrupted.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I suppose you must have drafted some sort of contract terms, am I right?” Eric asked in a mocking tone.

“And your point is?” Kimberly asked with a confused frown.

“I have my own terms too. So like I said, I’d suggest we go over to your place and talk them over.” Having said that Eric stood up for them to leave.

“I can’t invite you to my house until you’ve agreed to marry me, and have signed the contract. What happens if I take you to my house and then you reject my proposal?” Kimberly asked making Eric smirk.

“Alright then. I guess it’s safe to say I’m not interested. This whole thing is a two way thing, and I can’t meet all your terms whereas you meet none of mine. Enjoy the rest of your evening Miss Abamba.” Eric said and headed for the door.

“Wait!” Kimberly called before he could walk through the door, “I don’t live alone. You could just drive behind us.”

Eric paused and turned to look at her with a straight face, “I’m not here with a car. I don’t own a car.” Eric said unashamedly.

“But yesterday…”

He shook his head, “That was a friend’s cab, not mine.” Eric said making Kimberly want to laugh. If he didn’t even own the cab what then did he have that made him so proud?

“Okay, give me a moment and then I’ll get Prisca so we can leave.” Kimberly said as she bent down to wear her shoes, while Eric returned to the spot where he had been seated initially.

Kimberly hurried out of her office and went straight into Prisca’s office, “He wants to come home with us.” Kimberly announced in a whisper immediately she shut the door her.

“Home? He accepted your proposal already?” Prisca asked looking slightly taken aback. Seeing Eric in person she had gotten a clue of what Kimberly had meant when she said he gave off vibes of pride and stubbornness.

“No, he hasn’t. He says he wants to know where I live, and he wants to eat something I prepared to see if he can marry me, what does that even mean?” Kimberly asked with a frown.

“This guy wants to see if you’re wife material. I think he’s a good choice for this marriage thing if you’re looking for a real husband, but not a fake one. He doesn’t strike me as the type who would end things simply because you say you’re done. And he is definitely not the type who would agree to raising a scandal about being domestically violent, just to let you off the hook.” Prisca said, making Kimberly sigh.

“So what are you saying? What do you suggest I do?” Kimberly asked wearily.

If there was a man Prisca believed she could bet her money on, to make Kimberly fall in love with him, then she believed she could trust Eric to do the job, Prisca reasoned. “I think he will do just fine for you. Let’s take him home. I’ll assist you in the kitchen.” Prisca offered.

THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 11 – 20
_________

Compared to the drama earlier on that morning, Kathleen’s office was thankfully much calmer as the time got closer to the closing hour. Pete’s secretary had refused to let her into the office to meet with him, and had taken the key from her instead, claiming that Pete was in the middle of a meeting and couldn’t attend to her. She had noticed the secretary had been more hostile than was necessary, and she had kept looking at her with disapproval.

Kathleen was almost dozing off since she was exhausted already and was just waiting for the time to hit 5 PM so she could leave the office. She had gone to the market during her lunch break earlier to pick up some undies for herself, as well as some cooking items she would need in her apartment.

“Good evening sir!” She heard her colleagues greet as they all scrambled to their feel, surprised to see the CEO in their office.

Kathleen glanced at him in surprise before standing up reluctantly to greet him too, “Good evening sir.”

“Yeah.” Pete responded to the others disinterestedly before turning to Kathleen, “Let’s speak in private.” He said and stepped out of the office without waiting for her response.

The others looked at her enviously making her want to laugh. If only they knew the sort of person their boss was, or understood the nature of his relationship with her, they wouldn’t waste their energy feeling envious of her, Kathleen mused as she headed outside to join Pete.

“I’m meeting up with some clients at Eko hotel and suites, so I was hoping you could pick Amanda up from school and head home with her.” He explained, glancing at his wristwatch impatiently, but Kathleen didn’t miss the worry in his eyes.

“Pick her up from school? I thought she mentioned something about the school bus usually dropping her off at the office?” Kathleen asked in confusion.

“Yeah, but her teacher just called to inform me the driver called he’s sick, so all the parents are going over to pick up there kids. It’s past time to pick her up already. Could you just head over there now?” Pete asked in a tone that told Kathleen he would prefer she stopped asking him too many questions and did as she was told.

“I don’t know where the school is and….”

“That’s not a problem, she schools at Royalty International School. You can just make use of your Google map for direction, and I’m sure the bolt driver knows where it is.” Pete said, and raised a hand to silent her when his phone started ringing.

“You’re outside? Oh! Great! She’ll be right out.” Pete said disconnecting the call before looking at Kathleen who was looking at him in confusion.

“Your bolt driver is out now. You can go ahead.” Pete said making Kathleen’s mouth drop open in surprise. The nerve of the man! He had actually booked a bolt ride for her before even coming to her office to seek her consent?

“What do…”

“Not here. And definitely not now. We don’t have to get into any argument about this, but if we must, let’s do it later. I need to hurry now for the meeting, and you need to pick up Amanda quickly too. So just save whatever it is you have to say until later. Her mid-day snack and fruit is on the table, you can give her that after she freshens up, while you help her with her assignments. Thanks.” Pete added as an afterthought and turned away to leave while Kathleen kept looking at him like she couldn’t believe anything he had said.

“Why are you still standing there? Hurry!” He called out when he turned around and noticed she was still standing in the same spot.

Kathleen snapped her mouth shut and decided she was going to have to demand for her copy of their contract and read through it before having another business related argument with him.

She returned to the office and ignored the snide remarks from her colleagues as she picked up her bag and the items she had gotten earlier.

“You done close like this? five never nack o!” Dave pointed out when they saw the time was just twenty minutes past 4 PM.

“Oga call am, you say make she nuh go?” Rosy asked making the other girls laugh humorlessly.

“I need to run an errand for Mr Howells. See you tomorrow.” Kathleen said as politely as she could before walking away.

Sandra stood up before Kathleen could go far away, “I need to run an errand for Mr Howells.” She said mimicking Kathleen’s tone.

“As if we don’t know the kind of errand she is going to run for him. Hypocrite! Make she nuh try am share those her yeye church tract give me again o!” Rosy hissed.

“What kind of errand do you know she is going to run for him, madam I too know!” Dave asked scornfully.

“I call your name? Woman wrapper! See the way he is even sucking up to her because she is befriending oga. Shameless man!” Rosy hissed.

Because their voice was loud, Kathleen could hear all what they were saying, but she tried not to let whatever they were saying get to her as she kept walking down the hallway. She was sure the people in the office next to theirs could hear it all, and in as much as it bothered her that they were accusing her falsely, she also knew she didn’t owe anyone any explanation as long as wasn’t sinning against God in anyway.

THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 11 – 20
**********

Eric looked around Kimberly’s office while he waited for her to return from her meeting with her friend. He had no doubt that she had gone to confide in Prisca since he had seen them both in most of her pictures on Instagram, and seeing how she had been ranting to Prisca before he interrupted them, he could tell Prisca wasn’t just a friend, but a confidant too.

His eyes fell on a plain sheet of paper which seemed like it had been thrown into the trashcan without being properly squeezed, and had fallen on the ground beside the trashcan instead.

“How careless.” He murmured as he bent down to pick it up. He was about squeezing it and disposing it properly when the handwritten heading piqued his interest, “Dos and Don’ts” His brows curved when he glanced at it and realized it was about the marriage contract.

Dos

1. Act like a real couple around family and friends, (public display of affection permitted only in the presence of family and friends).

“Interesting.” Eric said out loud as he read it out.

2. His family doesn’t have to be involved, (No need for in-law dramas in a fake marriage).

“Very funny.” Eric said dryly.

3. Sx when necessary, (Use of condoms when I’m ovulating. We definitely don’t want fake babies from a fake marriage).

Eric felt his lips curve in a smile as he read that part. He could literally see her thinking about it and writing down her every thoughts. It made him feel like he was looking directly into her brain, and seeing all she was thinking. How could she have dropped something so personal this carelessly? He wondered as he continued reading.

4. Open marriage, (It’s not a real marriage so there is no need for faithfulness and fidelity.)

He paused at that and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He could tell that rule was more for herself than it was for whoever she was getting married to. Well, he was just going to see about that.

His eyes drifted off to the other side where the ‘Don’ts’ was boldly written as the heading.

1. No falling in love or emotional attachment.

“Ooooookay!” Eric said making a funny face to himself. He knew better than anyone else that nine out of ten times, those who made the rules were usually the first to break it.

2. No sharing of bedrooms, unless a visitor is around. “Okay.” Eric said with a smirk, and quickly dipped the sheet of paper in his pocket when he heard the sound of clinking heels approaching the office.

“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting for too long? We had to go over some last minute business details before…” Kimberly let her words trail off when Prisca pinched her arm.

“You’re blabbing.” She whispered to her before stepping further to face Eric, “Hi! I’m Prisca Afolabi and I’m Kathleen’s friend and personal assistant. It’s nice to meet you.” She said extending her hand for a handshake.