CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
“Adele.” Jamal called as he gave a gentle tap on Adele’s arm. One of the chefs just called to inform him that dinner was ready and he wanted Adele to go down with him since they had both had nothing to eat yet.
Adele, who heard the call and felt the tap, opened her eyes and her mood immediately turned sour when she saw Jamal standing before her. She quickly turned her face to the other side of the bed in an attempt to ignore him.
“Dinner is ready, let’s go downstairs and join the others.” Jamal announced and at the mention of the word dinner, Adele’s intestines grumbled. She was extremely mad at Jamal and did not want to talk to or look at his face, but the idea of going down for dinner very much pleased her. She was famished and needed to eat something, especially in her condition.
“Adele.” Jamal called yet again and this time around, Adele sat up from the bed and stepped down, not even sparing Jamal a single glance. She was about to walk away from his presence when he held her hand and drew her closer to his body. Adele instantly pushed him away from her body and took several steps away.
“Don’t you dare come close to me. You spent the entire day touching your mistress, don’t you dare touch me with the same hands you used to touch her.” Adele warned and Jamal looked at her, amused.
He let out a heavy sigh as he calmly rubbed his forehead with his fingers before staring up at her again with something like a smile plastered at the smile of his lips. He looked at Adele long and hard and chuckled lightly.
“Adele, I thought you said you didn’t care about the fact that Danielle and I spent time together. Where’s all this coming from.”
“Oh, so now you admit the fact that spending time with her was an intentional act, aye?” Adele fired.
“Nay!” He flatly denies it. “However, I cannot force you to believe what you do not want to believe. I have told you what happened, take it or leave it.”
“Yeah, whatever!”
“It’s not nice for you to go down there and let everyone notice that we are fighting.” Jamal reprimanded when she turned to leave.
“And it’s not nice for you to do things that will make me fight with you.” She fired back over her shoulders and exited the bedroom. Jamal just shook his head and followed closely behind.
When they got to the dining room, everyone was already seated around the table and food was served. Both Adele and Jamal took their usual spots and everyone on the table could sense the tension between them.
“This week seems to be a rough one for the newlyweds. Tension every now and then.” Shannelle was the first to throw in a shady comment, but neither Jamal nor Adele reacted.
Adele, who was famished, focused on serving herself a good amount of chicken soup while Jamal just sat there and watched her, fascinated.
“Jamal.” His mother, Aliya, called.
“Yes, mother.” He responded as he averted his gaze from Adele to his mother who was smiling enthusiastically.
“I was told that you took Danielle to the tennis court today and you two spent some quality time together.” Aliya asked, making sure to keep her gaze plastered on Adele to monitor her change of mood.
“False news got to you, mother. That is not what happened.” Jamal debunked and began serving himself some food as well.
“What happened then, enlighten me.”
“Danielle and I met coincidentally at the tennis court and we played a single game together. I only gave her a ride back home because she started making a scene at the tennis court when I refused to drive her home. We spent zero quality time together.” Jamal explained detaily and his mother rolled her eyes and looked at Adele. She was shocked to see that Adele was the least bothered about their conversation as she was busy devouring the food on her plate.
“It’s the same thing. I don’t know why you can’t see it, but you and Danielle are very compatible. You two will make an awesome couple! If only you could just open your eyes and see.” Aliya provoked and that got to Adele.
She instantly stopped eating her food and pushed her chair behind to get up. Shannelle burst into laughter as she left the dinning almost in tears.
Jamal immediately stood up and followed his wife, leaving Aliya and Shannelle giggling like high school students who just carried out a mischievous act against their friend.
“Adele.” Jamal called the moment they both walked into their bedroom.
“What now, Jamal?”
“Don’t let my mother’s words get to you, they are untrue.”
“I think those words are true, Jamal. You don’t like me and it’s evident that Danielle is the one you want to be with. Why don’t you just let me go and be with her?” Adele asks in tears.
“That’s something that’s never going to happen. You are misunderstanding this whole issue.”
“I am not misunderstanding shit! Jamal I am not an imbecile. I see things and I understand them as they are. So stop telling me all this crap and just give me a break!” She scolded and tears fell down her cheeks.
Jamal’s heart shattered into a million pieces when he saw her crying again because of him. He began walking towards her, but stopped midway and exhaled heavily.
“Adele, I’m not doing all this to hurt you. I have a valid reason.”
“The tell me the fucking valid reason! I am tired Jamal… I… am exhausted! I want to know why you can’t love me back, I want to know why you’re treating me like some piece of trash and above all, I want to know why you agreed to marry me despite the fact that you don’t love me. I want to know!” She said hitting his chest hard and Jamal didn’t try to stop her. He let her vent out her frustration untill she got tired and put her head on his chest.
He calmly wrapped his protective arms around her and stroked her hair.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered and kissed her forehead before leading her to the sitting area where he put her to sit on one of the couches.
“Here’s what I want you to know. I care about you more than anyone else in the world and I married you because I wanted to. I am not interested in Danielle and I am most certainly not in any sort of relationship with her. I would never cheat on you, Adele. That’s how much I respect you. I have a reason for being close to Danielle, I have a reason for not giving you the attention you crave. I’m only going to tell you everything when it’s all sorted out. For now, I beg of you to bear with me. This won’t go on for long, I promise.” Jamal explained as calmly as he could and he wasn’t lying.
There was a valid reason behind his actions and he truly just needed some time before he could tell Adele what was going on.
He then proceeded to call the chef to come serve them dinner in their bedroom since none of them had anything reasonable to eat before his mother caused trouble.
When the chef and other servants arrived, they served the meal on the table and left.
“I will call you when we are done.” Jamal said and locked the door before walking back to the sitting area to meet Adele.
“You should eat something so you can take your meds.”
“I’m not hungry.” Adele lied and turned her face away. She was still famished and wanted to eat everything on that table, but she was very mad at Jamal for not wanting to tell her the things she deserved to know.
“Adele, turn around and eat some food.” Jamal repeated, but Adele chose to be stubborn. She kept looking away.
“I said I’m not hungry.” She lied again.
“If you don’t, I’m going to put you on my lap and feed you. I’m not bluffing!” He threatened in a serious tone and immediately, Adele turned around and served herself a big bowl of chicken sound and rice.
As much as the idea of him feeding her sounded pleasant, she was mad at him and wanted nothing to do with him that night.
As she ate hungrily, Jamal sat by her side and watched as she ate, totally confused. That was the first I’m his life he was seeing Adele eat so ferociously. Adele was usually a slow eater and she always ate very little, but that night was different. She was eating like someone who had been starved for an entire year.
“Adele?”
“What now?” Adele barked, giving him a hard glare with food full in her mouth.
“Are you sure you are alright?” Jamal asked, worried and Adele calmly nodded her head and rode on with her meal.
Jamal, after watching her eat for a while, decided to serve himself some food and eat as well, but he was convinced that all was not well.
He still had no idea that the sudden huge appetite came as a result of Adele’s pregnancy.