Forty

CHAPTER FORTY.
Jamal was in his study that evening, signing a few documents when he heard a knock on his office door. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to or see anyone and so wanted to ignore, but the thought of that being his grandmother who had come with good news crossed his mind and he decided against his decision.
“Come in.” He said out loud and immediately, the door creaked open. He looked up, expecting to see his grandmother, but a wave of disappointment washed through him when he saw his sister, Shannelle, walk into the office with a smile plastered on her face.
“Hello.” She greeted calmly as she closed the door behind her and stood it.
She could not remember the last time she was in that office. That was about five years ago.
“What do you want, Shannelle?” Jamal asked in disappointment as he returned to what he was doing.
“I… I just want us to talk.”
“I’m busy right now, I can’t talk to you. Leave!” He ordered, but Shannel did not obey. Instead, she walked over to his office table and stood before him.
“It’s not going to take long. I just want us to have a brief talk.”
“About what exactly?” Jamal asked, agitated as he looked up, giving her a hard glare.
“Can I sit down?” Shannelle questioned carefully, with her eyes not leaving his face.
“Just get out now!” Jamal lamented but she still did not obey. Instead, she pulled out a seat and made herself comfortable on it.
“I’m not leaving this office till we have this conversation.” She said stubbornly and Jamal gave up. He stopped signing the papers on his desk and looked up at her.
“And what is the conversation about?”
“About you, your divorce and Adele.”
“Shannelle I’m not going to discuss my marital problems with you.” He clearly stated.
“What is so special about that girl Adele? Why do you even like her?” Shannelle asked, annoyed and Jamal chuckled in amusement.
He looked at his sister and shook his head. He was still finding it hard to live that she hated Adele so much only because their mother hated her. She was blindly following her mother’s footsteps.
“What’s not not special about my wife?” He asked, still smiling and Shannelle frowned.
“First, she’s not pretty!”
“She’s not pretty? You see my wife is not pretty?” Jamal asked as he picked up his phone from the table and clicked it on. He went to his gallery and fished out one of Adele’s photos and showed her. “Are you trying to tell me that the woman in this photo isn’t pretty?” Jamal asked yet again and Shannelle nodded.
“She isn’t!” She flatly denied.
“You know, I used to think you were only stupid, I just realized that you are blind ad well. You should get your eyes checked, dear sister.”
“I’m not stupid!”
“Then what would you call hating someone because your mother hates that person?” He asked with furrowed brows and Shannelle jerked backwards to deny the allegation.
“I don’t hate Adele just because mother hates her, I have my own reasons.”
“And I would be enthralled to hear them.” Jamal said as he intertwined his fingers on the table and focused his gaze on his sister. “Give me three reasons why you hate my wife. Please.” He pleaded, giving Shannelle an intense look.
She fidgeted on her seat for a while and looked up and down, left and right, probably thinking of what to say, but nothing came to her mind.
“You see, you have absolutely nothing to say and that means you only hate my wife because mum does. Now tell me sister, if that isn’t stupidity, how else can we term it?”
“She’s not good enough for you!”
“And who is? Danielle?”
“Yes, Danielle! She is the only one who’s worthy of you Jamal. I don’t know why that’s so difficult for you to see.”
“Shannelle.” He called in a quiet tone.
“Yes, Jamal.”
“A few days ago, I came back home and found Danielle lying on my bed with pants and lingerie on. She was trying to seduce me. Tell me, is that how to get a man to love you?”
“Well, that is one way to get a man to love you.”
“So, does that mean you do things like that as well to get men to love you?” He asked with a raised brown and Shannelle instantly shook her head.
“No! Of course not! I would never do that!” She flatly denied and Jamal chuckled.
“Why not? I thought you said it was just another way to get a man to love you.”
“Because… because…. Argh! It’s not appropriate.”
“Oh… I see. ” He said, nodding. “Shannelle, you have overstayed your welcome in this office. I would like you to leave.”
“Just think about it, brother.” She said rising from her seat because she knew if she dared to waste anymore time, he would personally shove her out of the office just like he had done five years ago. “Think more on the matter and you will realise the mistake you are making by choosing that lowlife over Danielle.” She said and left the office so as not to face her brother’s wrath.
As the door clothes, behind, he looked down to focus on signing his documents.
When Danielle revealed to him how she had to sleep with her father to steal the information about Jamal’s implication, he got scared that his sister was into the same life. He hired private investigators to look into his sister’s lifestyle and past affairs and when they reported that she was clean, he was relieved and asked them to keep monitoring her and also report to him if she ever tried to do such a thing.
He did not have a good relationship with his younger sister and that was because her mind had been corrupted by their mother. But that didn’t mean he did not love her.
He loved Shannelle very dearly and he was going to protect her from bad influence and make sure she didn’t ruin her life because had plans for her, she just did not know about that yet.
Moments later, another knock came through and this time around the door immediately opened, revealing his grandmother.
He monitored her countenance as she walked over to him and he could tell from the frown on her face that she did not bring good news.
“Grandma.” He called as she took the seat opposite his work table.
“I went to see Adele today.”
“How is she doing?”
“She’s doing just fine. She made some heavenly pancakes and milkshakes. We spent some quality time together.” Grandma explained with a sweet smile and Jamal just nodded his head.
He felt his intestines knot just thinking about Adele’s delicious pancakes.
He was jealous that she took the initiative to make pancakes for grandma when she went to meet her, but anytime he went over there, all they did was fight and she ended up kicking him out of her house.
“Nice.” Was all he could say as he kept nodding.
“However Jamal, I think trying to get her back is not going to be an easy task. I spoke with Adele, I tried to convince her to think otherwise, but her mind is already made up. She is serious about getting a divorce.” Grandma explained in a worried tone.
She did not want Adele and Jamal to get separated.
“I’m aware of that Grandma. I know Adele is hell bent on getting a divorce from me, but I mean when I say I’m not letting her go. I am serious about bringing her back home to us. This is where she belongs and she is going to come back sooner or later. That, I promise.”
Even though he still had no idea how he was going to do that, he was still determined to win Adele over.
She was his wife and he was never going to divorce her.