CHAPTER 40: WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY BOSS?
Later in the evening, after dinner, Evelyn shared the chocolates with Tom and kept the messages to herself. She told Raphael in his office earlier on that it was cheesy and too teenage-like but the truth was that this was something that she liked. The smallest things could be considered valid for changing the heart. Evelyn sighed in relief as she took the last bite of the chocolate, feeling totally satisfied. It seemed Raphael was indeed serious with her.
She brought out her phone to go through Raphael’s latest posts but what she found there were all business related. Nothing fun, she blew out air just like a horse would but didn’t make any sound. A message popped in from Ralph’s ghost and she clicked on it.
‘Hey, how are you doing?’
She typed back, ‘I am cool. How was your day?’
‘It was dramatic, stressful but payable. I love money so I consider the demerits of the job nothing.’
Evelyn chuckled when she read his response, ‘I am amazed but anyway, you are right. Have you had dinner yet?’
‘Not yet. What about you?’
‘It’s the opposite.’
‘Alright, so what’s your decision about your boss?’
Evelyn waited for a while to think that before replying, ‘Nothing much. Just like my friend said, I don’t need to think too much about this. I should go ahead and do this if it will make me and my son happy. Tom has no issue with him but I still want to confirm if he has any issue being with a single mother and if his family is also okay.’
A few minutes later, his response dropped in.
‘He is the one in love with you, not his family.’
‘I think the word LOVE is a strong term to use here.’
“Evelyn, I haven’t seen you before but from your profile picture, you are one hell of a pretty woman that one can easily fall for. It’s nothing strange. I am a guy, your boss is a guy so we understand these terms very well. Once a guy is totally into a girl, he uses the word LIKE at first to gain her attention and probably pull her heart towards him if he didn’t interest her in the first place before presenting their feelings of love. That’s why it’s special.’
‘Love expert.’
‘ [laughing emoji] ‘
‘I apologize now, Evelyn. I need to go offline to continue working before it’s daytime.’
‘Good night.’
Evelyn put down the phone and continued watching the ongoing show. It was a cartoon that disinterested her a lot but because Tom seemed pretty occupied with it, she had no choice but to watch the ‘rake-like-looking’ beings. This was why she preferred Disney cartoons over any other, their animations are superb and just not like those with big heads and broom-like bodies.
Not quite long, her phone rang. She looked at the screen and Raphael’s name showed on it. It was a video call. Why was he calling her this late? Nevertheless, she answered the call.
“Hello.”
“I thought you would let the call drop,” Raphael spoke immediately, the call connected and he saw her pretty face.
Evelyn smiled and packed her hair to the side before asking him, “What are you up to?”
“Chatting with you.” He replied smoothly.
“Do you think you are wise, huh?”
“Certainly.” He did not deny it.
“How is my little boy? Tell him to say hi.” He said and at first, Evelyn felt reluctant to do so.
“Can we keep him out of this?”
“Am I not allowed to say ‘hi’ to me? Or are you hiding your son?” Raphael asked with a frown.
“No…no, I will never dare to but…” She kept silent. She didn’t want to involve Tom now because she didn’t want to raise her son’s hope for nothing. She darted her eyes towards Tom who was busy chewing the chocolates, maybe she should take him to the doctor to check on his teeth during the weekend.
“Tom, come over, someone wants to speak with you.” She beckoned to him. Tom stood up and lay flat on his belly while staring at the phone, on seeing who it was, he broke into a smile. Raphael chuckled and waved at him from his side, Tom reciprocated it too.
“How are you, Tom?”
“Daddy, I am fine.”
“Don’t call him Daddy.” Evelyn couldn’t help blurting out.
“But he ain’t complaining, he loves it when I call him Daddy and I also like it. I will keep on calling him Daddy till my biological daddy comes.” Tom replied, not knowing the weight of his words this time around. Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat as she glanced at her son. What the hell was he spouting?
Raphael could see the nervousness in her eyes and watched her excuse herself from the conversation. His heart ached because she seemed not to be able to withstand hearing that. Even though he was grateful somehow that Tom was making things smoother between the two of them, he knew that it was somehow affecting Evelyn.
“Tom, that’s okay. You should listen to your mum, okay? Don’t question whatever she tells you.”
“But don’t you want to be my daddy anymore?” Tom asked in a low tone that showed his downward-curved mood.
“Let me be the judge of that, son. All I need you to do is for you not to question or argue with your mum, obey whatsoever she tells you. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“That’s my boy. I will get you your favorites whenever I come to visit.”
A few minutes later, Evelyn headed towards the sitting room but stopped midway and leaned against the wall as she watched her son speak with Raphael. The latter was telling the former some important things about the greatest scientists and Tom seemed to be having fun as he laughed when he ought to and asked questions even though many sounded silly, yet Raphael was able to answer him perfectly.
She looked away from them and walked back into her room to give them more space to talk. This must have been what Kira had talked with her about, that feeling of warmth, something that had never happened before in the life of her son was beginning to happen and it felt good. It was high time she started working on building a better relationship with someone responsible without thinking about what society had to say.
Fifteen minutes later, she came out only to find Tom already sleeping and the phone was beside him. On reaching his side, she was surprised to find Raphael still there.
“Why did you not go offline?” She asked.
“I was watching over him till you got back. Where were you?” He asked her.
“In my room. Thank you for tonight, bye.” She quickly ended the call before he could say anything else.
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Raphael glanced at his phone and smiled. He went to his contact list and searched for Jeremy’s contact. He dialed the number for the first time but he did not pick up, then he called for the second time before he answered.
“Hello, boss.”
“Jeremy, how are you doing?”
“I am alright, boss. How may I help you?”
“You are helping me with nothing. There will be an auction that I need to attend and I believe that you must have heard of it one way or the other.”
“Yes, boss.”
“There will be no need for you to accompany me to the place.”
“What? Why, boss? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, you didn’t. This time around, I will be going with Miss Evelyn while you stay behind. That is all, I will see you tomorrow morning. Have a good night.” Raphael ended the call and covered himself with the blanket.
Jeremy on the other side was in disbelief. Why did it seem as if Evelyn was the one getting all the benefits instead of him? What was wrong with his boss?
“What’s wrong, Jerry?” A young man came out to the sitting room and sat opposite him.
“My boss just called to inform me of the unnecessity of following the auction. Instead, he wants Evelyn to follow him.”
“And what’s special about that?”
“Bruh, I am his assistant.”
“So is Evelyn. Moreover, you have been working with him for a long time, this must be Evelyn’s first time so let it be. You can not be everyone’s favorite all the time.”
Jeremy nodded and resigned, “That’s right.”
_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
“Okay, let’s do it,” Kira whispered to herself and walked hastily to her apartment. She had left there a few minutes ago with the hope that Richard might come. As she got nearer to the door, her hope had risen to the highest but soon she was disappointed when she opened the door only to find it empty.
He wasn’t there. He didn’t come. Was he angry? She came out and looked again but no one was around. Deep within her, she felt sad and shut the door.
She should give up then since he wasn’t going to come.
Outside the apartment, a little bit away from the place, Richard was standing, staring at it. He was wearing a hoodie and he looked very disguised but not suspicious. He had watched her leave and come back, every one of her actions somehow made him smile before he turned around and left. Some issues were better off kept till the perfect time.