CHAPTER 24: SICK.
Outside a luxurious building, around the swimming pool arena were two seats beautifully decorated to sit on them. The full lights were on and it only beautified the whole outta area.
On the two seats were Erica and a particularly fair young man. They were sitting opposite each other and were immensely into the current discussion.
The young man was wearing a bathrobe and his hair was wet, signifying that he came out of the swimming not too long to discuss with Erica.
“I see no reason why you ought to swim tonight,” Erica commented.
“That’s because you are far from being me. This is the time I wished to and I did.” The man replied.
“My dear cousin Vincent is smart and knows how to play with words,” Erica said with a daring smile.
“And that’s why you will always be behind me.”
“Don’t be so sure of yourself.” Erica chuckled and they clicked their glasses together before pronouncing the word CHEERS to each other. They took a light sip.
Erica exchanged the position of her legs so as not to cause weariness on them.
“And how are things going with Theophilus in general?” Vincent asked.
“Hmmm, well, Uncle has managed to secure a business deal with Vegas on his father’s behalf and the deal is linked with Raphael so I guess we will have to be seeing more of each other as time passes by,” Erica replied and drank all her drink.
“That is good. I wasn’t expecting my dad to be on board with the plan though.”
“Well, he is bound to benefit from it, right? So how will he let it go?” Erica teased and Vincent nodded in agreement to what his cousin had said.
“Any new plans coming up?”
“Are you so eager to be a part of it?” Erica twisted the question.
“You’re sly.”
“I learned it from the best.”
“Will you be able to win his heart? I heard that recently, he has become cold towards women. He is turning into a Mafia boss on his own.” Vincent spoke out unhurriedly and poured another cup for himself.
It might not have been publicly announced yet but even from the business underworld, some smart people could perceive the change in the second son of the Theophilus family. The family was not as perfect as they painted it to be but only the novice would want to be like them.
“I am a woman. I have the assets both financially and physically to win him over. What else would he want? I know about the rumors about his past relationship three years ago but that does not mean he shouldn’t move on. There are better girls ahead for him and I am going to make him mine.” Erica replied possessively and received a sitting ovation from Vincent.
“I will love to see you try but unfortunately I will be blinded by more important things so good luck chasing your dreams.”
Vincent and Erica weren’t much different in attitudes. They had the same sarcastic words at that point and they were literally close. While Vincent was into illegal business deals like his father, Shaft, Erica decided to stay out of it and proceeded in furthering her education so she could become a high-class elite lady.
She knew a little bit about the business but she found joy in distancing herself away from it. She had taken interest in no one other than Raphael and she was ready to do anything just to stand by his side. After all, he was the perfect dream man of every spinster in the high-class society.
_________
Ring, ring, ring.
The alarm was blaring so hard against Evelyn’s ears that she had to cover her head with her pillows before turning off the alarm. It was 5:30 in the morning.
She laid down on her back while staring at the ceiling in a dizzy manner. Her hair was scattered all over the bed which she couldn’t even anticipate ever.
She sat up on the bed and held her head that felt like rolling off her body. She felt like someone was hitting a hammer against her head and it felt painful.
“Damn it, it’s about to get all hot,” Evelyn said in a hoarse voice before falling back on the bed and drifting into another hour’s sleep.
By the time she woke up, she could hardly stand on her feet. Her whole body was so hot that she could literally boil a kettle filled with water to the highest degree if placed on her body. It was 6:32 in the morning so she found her way quickly to Tom’s room so she could wake him up.
“Good morning, mummy.” Tom greeted sluggishly as he rubbed his eyes with his tiny palms.
“Morning, Cutie pie. It’s time for school and you need to be quick. Teaching starts by seven, you know.” With this, she lifted him off the bed and they entered the bathroom.
“Mummy, why is your body so hot?” Tom asked.
“That’s because I am your mother,” Evelyn replied half-heartedly as she turned on the warm shower.
In a few minutes, she was done bathing him and getting him ready for school. They left home after he ate breakfast. The ride to school was actually fast as there wasn’t any traffic delay.
On her way back home, she decided to call Jeremy but he didn’t pick up the phone at that time. She waited until she arrived home and then redialled his number.
“Hey, Evelyn. Good morning. I missed your call but I intended to call you a few minutes from now.” Jeremy spoke immediately after the call was connected. Evelyn could hear the sound of doors being shut and assumed that he was about to leave for work.
“Yeah, it’s no problem. I am actually sick so I won’t be able to come over to work today. Can you please help me tell Mr. Raphael?”
“Why should I do that when you can actually tell him yourself? He isn’t going to bite.” Jeremy said nonchalantly and started the engine of his car.
Evelyn swallowed hard. Raphael. Why was she feeling that that name was suddenly going to become her worst nightmare? A moment with him was…
“Hello, Evelyn, are you there?” Jeremy asked with a concerned tone.
“Yes, thank you. I zoned out for a minute. About that, I tried calling him but his number wasn’t reachable so that was why I decided to call you.”
“Sure, I will deliver your message to him then. Take care of yourself.”
“And you too.”
The conversation ended and she sighed. It must have been because of the tears that were why she had turned into a hot chicken brought out from an oven.
Going to the hospital was unnecessary so she decided to make something light as breakfast for herself. While cooking, Evelyn sat on a chair to chat with Kira and to also inform her about her illness. Kira called immediately when she saw the message.
“Girl, you look like a mess,” Kira said as she scrunched her face.
“I can’t believe that you took Tom to school, looking like that.” She added.
“I am sick, I can hardly comb my hair, dude.” Evelyn shrugged and checked what she was preparing.
“Do you need me to come over?”
“Not now. Maybe when you get to pick up Tom from school, please.” Evelyn pleaded with a tired tone.
“Fine, I will do it. Anyway, I have a piece of good news for you.” Kira announced excitedly.
“Really? What is it going to be about?” Evelyn asked in a ‘duh’ tone because whenever Kira got something related to a piece of good news, she had nothing good to offer other than to waste your time.
“I am about to set you up on a date.” Kira squealed but stopped a minute when she saw that Evelyn’s expression didn’t yield the result that she was looking for.
“Am I the only one so excited about this?” Kira asked.
“Did I ever complain to you that I need a date?”
“Well, yeah, you did complain indirectly so that’s why I am about to but it has to go through pending because of the sudden illness. Anyway, it is going to be a good avenue for you to meet with other breathtaking guys and also lessen your depressing thoughts. I can assure you of that.”
“Who would want to be with a mother of one?” Evelyn popped her head forward to her phone’s screen.
“No…no, don’t let us start from that point. You are an amazing woman, Evelyn and that’s final.”
Evelyn sighed and checked her meal for the second time before turning off the electric cooker. She dishes while listening to Kira’s sermon.
“Don’t you have any artwork to deliver today?” She interrupted Kira who raised two eyebrows at her.
“See you later,” Kira replied and ended the video call, earning a small laugh from Evelyn. Then her laugh turned dry. Kira was one of the ‘goodly’ that she had seen in this life and she was her place of comfort since they met so she knew that Kira was only trying to make her happy but there was one thing that kept on biting her back whenever she tried chasing it away and that was…low self-esteem and lack on confidence.
Thinking about the decision to find a partner for the millionth time, she decided to do it.
__________
Raphael assembled his workers to give them a few strict information before they would begin work for that day. As usual, he was looking charming and dashing as a young man. His style didn’t change but the single ladies were trying their best to only focus on his words and not his looks.
“That will be all. Make sure that everything else is done appropriately as I don’t want any mistakes at all.” He ordered and looked around, his eyes searching for a particular person.
“Where is Miss Evelyn?” He asked coldly.
“Sir, she is absent because she is sick. She called earlier this morning to inform me so I could tell you on her behalf.” Jeremy answered quickly. Raphael stared at his feet for a while before looking forward in a professional mode.
“The meeting is dismissed.”
With this order, everyone got back to their respective places to work while Raphael, with Jeremy behind him, went back to his office. He unbuttoned his suit and flipped it over his shoulder before sitting down.
He brought out a file that was kept underneath the huge loads of files. It was a file that contained Evelyn’s house details alongside her other information. He stood up after that and grabbed his car keys
“Sir, your meeting is still…”
“In the afternoon, I remember but if I don’t come back till then, feel free to reschedule it or attend it on my behalf. I will be back.” With this, his boss was gone.
Jeremy was a bit confused. Where was he heading in such a manner? They had no meeting with anybody else early this morning. He walked closer to the table and saw nothing that could maybe shed some light on the issue but a few minutes later, he erased his mind from it.
Raphael might just have somewhere important to be in.
TBC…