56

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX.
Jamal’s alarm sounded at exactly six am and he snapped his eyes open. He attempted to rise up from the bed, but he felt some weight on his right arm. That’s when he turned around and saw Adele sleeping peacefully on it and a smile formed on his face.
Memories of what happened the previous night flooded his mind and he slapped his forehead with his free left hand and groaned in frustration. He had a nightmare which Adele witnessed and when he woke up, he told her his big secret and then begged her to stay the night in her arms. He had known that he would sleep peacefully in her arms and that’s exactly what happened. For the first time in many months, he had slept like a baby.
No nightmare about his baby, because he had spent the night with the baby’s mother.
He looked down at Adele one more time and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. He wanted to stay and watch her sleep, but he had a lot of work waiting for him at the office. He wasn’t in the office almost all day and didn’t work all night. It was over for him that day at the office.
As he struggled to pull his arms from beneath Adele’s head, she felt the movement and instantly snapped her eyes open. The moment she saw how close she was to Jamal, she quickly shifted away on the bed. An action which made Jamal laugh. He wanted to say something, but on second thought, he did not because it would only cause an argument and it was still early for them to start arguing.
“Good morning Adele.” He greeted her with a smile.
“Good morning.” Adele mumbled under her breath.
“Thank you very much for letting me stay the night. I really appreciate it.” He thanked her from the depth of his heart and Adele nodded as she tugged a few strands of hair trying to block her vision behind her ear.
“You are welcome.”
“I have to go home now so I can freshen up and go to work.”
“Should…” clears her throat. “Should I prepare something for you to eat?” Adele asked. She had no idea why she felt so concerned about him, but she couldn’t help it.
“Nah, it’s cool. Don’t bother yourself. I’ll eat breakfast at home.” He said as he stepped down from the bed and began putting on his shirt. Adele turned her face away when she noticed that the sight of his muscles popping out as he flexed his arms to wear the shirt was making her body hot. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
“Take the day off. Just stay home and rest or go out and do something fun.”
“Grace is going to rip me apart!”
“I’ll handle Grace. All I need you to do is get enough rest and if anything comes up, you have my phone number. Do not hesitate to call me. Is that clear?” He asked, giving her a serious look and she nodded with a smile.
“Yeah.”
“Good. For now, I have to go. Thank you once more.”
“You are welco…” her words were cut short by the feel of a soft, wet kiss on her forehead which made her heart melt. She looked up at Jamal and found him smiling and no matter how hard she tried to hide it, her smile spread on her lips and her face turned tomato red.
Jamal had just kissed her.
Her heart fluttered at the thought.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
He said and exited the bedroom.
Adele listened carefully as he exited the living room and when he closed the door behind him, she fell on the bed and buried her face in the pillow, letting out a muffled scream as she shook her entire body, specifically her legs.
She continued the action for a few minutes and only stopped when she heard her name.
“Adele.” That was Jamal’s voice. She quickly turned around to look and yelped sharply as she fell behind the bed in shock. Jamal just laughed and walked over to the nightstand to take his phone and car keys.
“Why are you back?” Adele asked aghast.
“Calm down love, I’m not here to give you another kiss. I just came to get my phone and car keys.”
“Oh…” was all she could say.
“Well, I was hoping to give you another kiss, but from what I’ve witnessed, I think I better leave without doing so cuz if I do, you will definitely go crazy.”
Talk of embarrassment.
Adele turned her face away in total embarrassment. Jamal smiled and left and this time, he did not return.
“Fuck you Jamal!” Adele cursed as she sat on the bed.
That was not how she wanted her day to start. She had no idea how she was going to face the man henceforth. She had made him understand that she loved the fact that he had kissed her.
“Ugh!!!” She lamented in frustration as she kept wiggling her body all over the bed.
********************************************
Jamal was surprised to arrive home to meet his mother in the living room. The moment she saw him, she rose from the chair she was sitting on and walked over to him.
“Good morning, mother.” He greeted her respectfully.
“Good morning, Jamal.”
“Any problem?” He asked, with a raised brow and his mother gave him a queer look.
“Where are you coming from?” She asked out of nowhere and that took Jamal off guard. He turned to look behind him just in case the question wasn’t meant for him, but there was no one behind him, meaning, his mother had just asked him where he was coming from in the morning.
The last time she asked him that question was fourteen years ago, when he was fifteen and his response had not been a good one. He had told her it was none of his business.
He turned back to look at his mother, both eyebrows raised and a surprised look on his face.
“Excuse me?” He asked, just to be sure he heard right.
“I asked where you are coming from.” She repeated the question. “I had something to discuss with you last night so I waited almost all night for you to come back home, but you did not. Where did you spend the night?”
“Mother…” He called and chuckled. “Mother I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“Well it is!”
“No it’s not! Do you even know how old I am now? You have no right to ask me such a question given my age and status. Jeez!” He fired back and Aliya swallowed hard, preparing her comeback.
“Jamal, you are my son and no matter how old you are or how powerful you are, I will always reserve the right to know your whereabouts!”
“You lost that right of yours when I got married, mother. Only my wife has the right to interrogate me as such. By the way, I was with her. I spent the night at her place.”
“You what?” She asked, shocked.
“I believe you heard me right, mother.”
“No!” Aliya cried. “No, that can’t be true. You must be kidding. You can’t be serious.” Aliya lamented.
“If you think I’m not, that’s okay. Look mother, I don’t have time for this. Just let me go get ready for work. I don’t wanna be late.”
“I haven’t even addressed the fact that you have employed her in your father’s conglomerate…”
“In “MY” Conglomerate!” He corrected, stressing on the MY and Aliya was shocked.
“Yes, whatever. Even so, Adele has no place there. She has no right to be an employee there!”
“She has every right to be there. Her husband owns the place.”
“You are not her husband!” Aliya screamed in frustration.
“She is, mother and there is a marriage certificate to prove it!” He contradicted.
“She left you, for goodness sake!” Aliya screamed in frustration.
“Because I pushed her away!” Said Jamal, raising his voice as well.
“She is not worthy of you!” Aliya fired again.
“Says whom?”
“Jamal!” Aliya called in anger.
“Mother!” He called back, equally angry.
Both mother and son stood there, staring daggers at each other for a whole lot of moments.
“Mother.” Jamal finally called. His voice was calm and subtle and he was struggling to steady his breath. “Please mother, stop all this. Adele has done nothing wrong to you. Stop hating on her, stop trying to pull us apart. It’s not going to work. You are only wasting your time.”
“So…” Aliya whimpered as tears trickled down her cheeks. “There’s not a single time in your life that you are going to listen to me. There’s not a single day in your life that you are going to grant me my request? I am your mother Jamal!” She screamed. “I carried you in my womb for nine months. I nortured you with all the love you could ever wish for. There’s no one in this entire world who would ever love you as much as I do. I want nothing but the best for you Jamal. I know what’s best for you!” She cried hard.
“No mother! You don’t. You don’t know what’s best for me. Not at all.” Said Jamal, tears spilling from his eyes as well. “I brought Adele to the conglomerate because I want her close to me. I love her mother and I have wronged her in every possible way and right now, all I want is a second chance to make things right with her and I know it’s just a matter of time before she gives me that chance.” He wiped away his tears and intensified his gaze on his mother who now looked like she wanted to kill him. “When that time comes mother, I embrace it with everything in me and I will spend the rest of my life proving to her that I love her, that I’m sincerely sorry for everything I put her through. When that time comes, I won’t let anything or anyone get in my way. Not you, not Shannelle, not Father, not Danielle. I will put everything and everyone on the line for Adele. Know this and know peace, Mother.” Then he walked away, leaving his mother utterly and completely dumbfounded.
“Adele, you can’t win this fight. I swear you won’t!” She swore to herself and she meant every word.