46

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX.
It took a while for Adele to calm down and stop herself from crying. Jamal was ruining her entire life for her and she hated it. He was making it impossible for her to do anything in life without him getting involved.
First, she lost her unborn child, then later she found out that her chances of ever conceiving again were very slim and now Jamal had made sure she was fired from her work place. He had also made sure no publishing firm in the country was ever going to hire her again.
He was like an evil shadow lurking in the corners, following her everywhere she went.
An evil shadow that brought her nothing but bad luck.
“Damn!” She screamed in agony as she hit the steering wheel countless times, shaking her head, caring less about the fact that her hair was turning into a hot mess.
She was angry and frustrated at the same time.
The same man she had been avoiding for the past year was back in her life to torment her and there was sadly nothing she could do about it.
Her phone rang again and more tears spilled down her cheeks when she saw Jamal’s name on the caller Id, she did not want to pick his call, but on second thought, there was no need to ignore him. He had already ruined her life enough, there was nothing worse he could do.
“What?” She barked at the phone the moment she answered the call.
“My secretary is going to call you soon. Adele, make sure you answer her call because she is a very busy woman. She doesn’t have all day to call you and you alone. Am I understood?” He questioned, but Adele did not respond. Instead, she hung up and threw the phone on the console.
***********”***********************************
Adele spent the entire day out. She did not want to go home because she knew the only thing she was going to was to overthink herself to, probably, death. It was until nightfall that she drove home to have some rest. Jamal’s secretary called just like he had promised and she had no choice but to pick up the call. She told her the documents she would need to bring to the conglomerate the next day and Adele had no choice but to listen attentively and comply.
As she opened the door to her apartment and walked in, her phone rang in her bag and she quickly took it out to see who was calling . A smile flashed on her face when she saw her Grandma’s name.
“Hello Grandma.” She greeted the moment she swiped the green icon.
“Adele my darling. How are you doing?” Grandma asked enthusiastically and Adele’s heart fell into her abdomen. She wanted to tell her she wasn’t fine, that Jamal was running her life and driving her nuts, but on a second thought, she pushed the thought behind her head and smiled.
“I’m doing okay, grandma.” She simply replied, but her grandmother was not convinced.
“Adele, I know that’s a lie. I can tell from your voice that everything is not okay. Tell me honey, what did Jamal do this time around?” Grandma asked calmly.
Adele groaned in frustration as she slumped on the couch with her phone still on her ear.
She didn’t even know where to start.
“Well grandma…” Said Adele and a deep sigh followed. “As promised, Jamal has successfully chased away every possible suitor of mine. He had them both transferred to different towns and gave them sound warnings never to contact me again.” She began to explain and Grandma couldn’t help but giggle at the other end of the phone. An action which got Adele mad. “Grandma, it’s not funny!” She hushed and Grandma snorted as she tried to calm herself down.
“I…I’m …I’m sorry sweety, I’m just really intrigued by how jealous and possessive Jamal can be. Why would he even do that?”
“Because he has the power and connections to do so and also because he’s a thoughtless insensitive jerk!” Adele blasted. There was so much spite in her heart for Jamal that she could hardly contain it.
“I can see that his actions got you mad.”
“It did, grandma. I wasn’t even interested in the guys. It’s not like I was going to date someone when I’m still legally bound to Jamal even though against my will. I wasn’t going to date any of them! I’m seriously mad because he made me lose a very good friend. God I hate him for getting my colleague involved in this.”
“My dear, I’m really sorry you have to go through all of this. I’m not in support of Jamal’s actions, that was such an irrational way to handle this situation.”
“I wish someone would crack open his skull and put some sense into it. God, Jamal can be annoying as hell!” Adele lamented bitterly over the phone and Grandma Devon felt really sorry for her.
As much as she was happy that her grandson was trying to get Jamal back into his life, he was doing it the wrong way and he was hurting Adele severely in the process. She would have loved to tell him to stop, but Jamal was a very stubborn man. He would never listen to anyone else’s opinions when it comes to handling issues like this. He only did what he thought was best, even if it was not the best option.
“As if that was not enough grandma…” Adele continued. “He had me fired from my workplace and has also made sure I never get employed by any other firm in this country, but his conglomerate.”
“Oh. My. God! Now that was way over board.”
“Everything he has been doing lately is way overboard!” Adele fumed. “He claims he’s trying to win me back, but he has no idea he’s only pushing me away. With every irrational thing he does, my hatred for him only increases.” She was breathing hard at that moment and her voice was shaky.
Grandma could feel the seriousness in her words and it hurt her to hear them. She really wanted Adele and Jamal to be together again.
“Grandma I…” Adele was about to give another report when she heard voices in her grandmother’s background. She could very much recognize the voices.
They were voices of Jamal and Danielle and it seemed they just returned home together.
Pain coursed through her heart and she felt a knot in stomach. All her nerves suddenly went into total disarray and she began sweating profusely.
She was furious at the fact that Jamal and Danielle were together.
“That’s Jamal and Adele, right?” She asked between her teeth.
” This girl Danielle keeps forcing herself on Jamal. She’s like a plaque in his life.”
“A plague he loves.”
“Grandma, who are you talking with?” Adele heard Jamal ask from the background.
“With Adele.” Grandma responded and the next thing Adele heard were footsteps approaching. Crackling sounds followed and the next moment, Jamal called her name over the phone.
“Adele.” He called as usual. Adele felt bile rise up from her stomach to her gut. She thought of ending the call, but she quickly dismissed the idea and made up her mind to talk.
“You get very agitated when you find out that men are interested in me and you go as far as driving them out of town just so they can be far away from me. You don’t want me getting close to any man, but here you are, driving around with your mistress. Jamal, aren’t you ever going to change ?” Adele asked bitterly and she could hear Jamal sigh on the other end of the phone.
“Adele, you are wrong. That girl is not my mistress, I have nothing to do with her.” Jamal defended and Adele laughed sarcastically over the phone.
She did not believe a single word he had just said.
“Of course you don’t! You have nothing to do with her but it’s seven pm in the evening and you two are coming together. Wow, just wow!”
“Adele…”
“Save it Jamal… I don’t want to hear it. I really don’t care what you do with your life or who you fuck.” She lied.
Her own words stabbed her heart brutally and brought tears to her eyes.
“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow, good night.” Said Jamal as he handed back the phone to his grandmother.
When Adele was sure that he was far away from the phone, she sniffled tears and cleared her throat.
“Those tears mean you still love and care for him, don’t they?” Asked grandma and Danielle vigorously shook her head in denial .
“I don’t love him and I most certainly do not give two shits about him. I’m just mad that he’s controlling my life so much. I’m mad that he gets to do whatever it is he wants to do, but I can’t.” Exhales heavily. “I’m seriously mad at Jamal, grandma. He’s the most narcissistic person I have ever come across and I swear I hate him. I hate him very much!” She swore from the depth of her heart and Grandma Devon was even more heart broken.
“I completely understand you sweetheart. Let’s stop talking about all this now. You should get some rest. Remember you have to be at the Conglomerate tomorrow morning.”
“Alright grandma, thank you for listening to me rant out my frustrations and suffering. Thank you very much.”
“Anytime sweetheart and I promise you that with time, things are going to be a lot better. You two will get through this. Goodnight my love.”
“Good night grandma.” Then the line went dead.
Adele placed the phone by her side and pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs.. She then rested her head on her bent knees and let the tears in her eyes fall down freely.
It was all too much for her to take.