CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.
Adele went straight to the doctor’s office for a check up when she noticed she was bleeding. At the hospital, tests were carried out on her and she was later told she had a difficult pregnancy and was the cause of her persistent vomiting and nausea that morning. She was told to expect other symptoms like dizziness. Fever or chills, blurry vision and many others. She was also given a long list of does and don’ts which she could hardly recall and all that made her very scared.
When she left the doctor’s office, she was terrified and devastated. She did not want to tell Jamal about her pregnancy just yet, but it seemed it was really important for him to know. She has a difficult pregnancy and it was important that he knew so that they would both know how to go about it.
Once she got settled in the car, her driver took off and she tried Jamal’s number, but her call was immediately forwarded to his secretary who immediately told her that Jamal was busy and cut the line.
She tried over and over again but the same thing happened so she finally gave up.
Before leaving the house that morning, Jamal had told her to call him if anything came up, that he would not forward the call to his secretary, but there he was, doing just the same thing.
A hot tear escaped her left eye as she threw her phone in her hand bag and sobbed quietly. Jamal wasn’t treating well at all and his actions were taking a great toll on her. She was pregnant and needed to tell him, but he wouldn’t even give her a listening ear.
Just then, the thought of calling her grandma crossed her mind and she did not hesitate to do so. She hastily fished her phone out of her handbag and dialed her grandmother’s number and she picked on the third ring.
“Hello Adele.” Grandma’s voice came through and Adele chuckled as more tears spilled down her cheeks. She instantly wiped the tears away and cleared her voice to respond to her grandma.
“Hello Grandma, how are you doing?” She asked, trying her best to keep her voice steady.
“I’m doing just fine m, Adele. What about you? Are you alright? I can tell from your voice that something is bothering you.” Grandma speculated and Adele chuckled hard as more tears trickled down her cheeks. Her voice hitched over the phone and when she couldn’t take it any more, she let the tears flow and sobbed hard over the phone. “Adele, what’s wrong my dear?” Grandma asked, worried, but Adele did not respond, she just kept crying hard as she contemplated whether to tell grandma about the pregnancy or not, but in the end, she decided not to tell her.
“Nothing grandma, I just miss you that’s all.” She lied smoothly, but grandma didn’t buy it.
“I know that’s a lie, Adele. Tell me, is it Jamal? Does he not treat you well?”
“You have no idea grandma.” Adale replied within violent sobs. “Jamal treats me like I don’t even exist. He is hardly at home, even when he comes back home he doesn’t spend time with me and everytime I call, he forwards my call to his secretary. Nothing is moving over here grandma. I’m trying hard to be patient, I’m really trying but Jamal keeps making things unbearable for me. I’m tired!” She cried over the phone, caring less about the fact that the driver was listening to everything she was saying and that he might report to Jamal.
She was devastated about how Jamal was treating her and she needed to share her predicament with someone. The only person she could do that with was her grandma.
“Oh my goodness! What is wrong with that grandson of mine? Don’t worry Adele, I’m going to talk to him. I’m going to scold him properly.”
“Please do grandma, because right now I really need him. I need Jamal more than ever.” Adele cried bitterly and grandma instantly dropped the call to call Jamal.
Adele tiredly threw her phone into her handbag and kept bawling her eyes out as the driver drove on.
By the time they arrived at the mansion, Adele was done crying and she was stable again. She stepped out of the car and was about to go into the house when one of her husband’s cars drove into the compound. She stopped walking and stood still to wait for him to get out of that car so she could scold him for not taking her calls. To her greatest dismay, the door opened and it was not Jamal who stepped out first, but Danielle who was dressed in sports attire with a tennis racquet in her hand.
The other passenger seat door soon opened and her soul left her body when she saw Jamal step out of the car, dressed in sports attire and holding a tennis racquet just like Danielle.
Out of confusion, she looked from Jamal to Danielle and back to Jamal, not even knowing what to say or how to react to the situation.
“Adele…” Jamal called the moment he saw Adele standing a few meters away from the car he just stepped out from.
“Oh Jamal!” Danielle called as she rushed over to Jamal and snaked her arms around his arms just to provoke Adele. “We had a great game at the tennis court today and I look forward to playing more games with you.” Danielle slurred, looking from Jamal to Adele.
Adele couldn’t take it anymore so she turned around and rushed into the house. Jamal instantly pushed Danielle away from his hold and rushed after Adele.
As Adele rushed to their bedroom, she wanted to cry, but she promised herself not to. She had already cried more than enough for Jamal that day. She wasn’t going to shed a single tear for him again.
“Adele.” Jamal called and walked majestically into the bedroom. Adele instantly turned to look at him with bloodshed eyes. She was furious. She wanted to smack him hard across the face. She wanted to hit all over his body and tell him how much she hated the fact that he was treating her like trash, but she did not find the energy to do so.
She was angry and wanted to retaliate, but at the same time, she was pregnant and too tired to start up a fight with him, so she just stood there, looking at him with anger burning in her heart.
“It’s not what you think.” Said Jamal as he calmly placed the racquet on the floor and took a few steps toward Adele, but she stepped back.
“Don’t you dare come any closer to me.” She warned and Jamal obeyed.
“I went for a game at the tennis court and we coincidentally met there. We played a few games and she begged me to bring her home to see Shannelle. It was nothing.” He tried to explain and that got Adele even more enraged.
“Do you honestly think that’s why I’m mad right now?” Adele asked almost in a whisper. She had promised herself not to cry, but she could not hold back her tears. They broke loose and within seconds, her face was completely drenched and she was struggling to breath because of the anger she was trying to contain in her heart.
“Jamal, I called you repeatedly a while ago and you kept forwarding my calls to your secretary even after promising me you wouldn’t do that. What if it was an emergency? I could have died!” Adele screamed in fury and Jamal was shaken to the core.
That was the first time he was seeing Adele display her anger before him and he felt very guilty for treating her the way he did.
“I was told you went to see the doctor again, is everything alright?” He asked calmly, dismissing the topic Adele had just raised. Adele calmly shook her head and bit her lips hard, looking at him in total disbelief.
“You’re a monster Jamal. Stop asking me about my health because I know you care less about me.”
“You are wrong, Adele. You are my wife and I care about you. If there’s a problem, you should let me know so we can deal with it together!”
“If you really care about me then you should pick my calls and accompany me to the hospital to get the news from the doctor yourself! If you really care about me, you’d stay at home with me when I’m sick, not go out to have a fun game with your mistress. If you really care about me as you claim, stop treating me like I was some worthless piece of trash. God Jamal! What did I ever do to deserve all this cold treatment from you? What is my offense?” Adele asked, screaming at the top of her lungs and Jamal was truly taken aback, but he did not react.
He had a blank countenance as he looked at her.
Adele couldn’t tell whether he was guilty or angry or happy that he was frustrating the hell out of her.
He took two steps forward and looked at Adele straight in the eye.
“What news do I have to go and hear from the doctor myself?” He asked in a quiet, but serious tone, with his left brow creased.
Adele, who just realized that all her scolding had been in vain, scoffed in pain and rolled her eyes hard at him.
“Go to hell Jamal.” Then she walked to the closet to change her clothes.
Neither of them spoke a word to the other for the rest of the day.