CHAPTER 29
“Just five am, I still have a few hours left.” She mumbled, shutting her eyes tightly.
Nuzzling deep into her pillow and pulling it to herself, Antonia tried to get more sleep. Adding to her frustration, the alarm clock which was on the bedside stool, began to ring.
“Keep quiet.” She grumbled, pulling the duvet over her head. Christian who was occupying the other end of the bed, pulled himself up and then quickly silenced the alarm clock.
“Much better.” She mumbled and then readjusted before falling back asleep.
A few hours later, her eyes snapped open only for her to shut it almost immediately because of the blinding sun rays that had made its way into the room through the opened window.
With her eyes still shut, she felt the other side of the bed Christian was occupying but he wasn’t there, only then did she open her eyes.
“Half past seven? Where has he gone so early? He didn’t tell me he was leaving for work…” she continued muttering some words as she wondered where he had gone so early that morning.
Not confused, she decided to reach out to him but before her hand could touch her phone, she saw him standing behind the window.
Surprised, she raised her brow.
“I was thinking you already left for work.” She said,
“No.” He replied not bothering to look in her direction. Pushing his hands into his shorts pocket, he arched his back backwards before straightening up as he continued staring out of the window.
Swinging her feet off the bed, she made her way to the bathroom and after performing her morning routines, she returned to bed.
Sitting at the edge, she allowed her gaze to settle on Christian who was standing like a mannequin on display. Without being told, she knew already that he was bothered.
“Hey,” she called out to him but he didn’t respond. It wasn’t as if he did it on purpose, he had zoned out and was completely oblivious of his current environment.
Antonia tried all means to get him to speak to her but when it seemed he wouldn’t do so, she pulled herself from the bed and then walked up to him.
Immediately her hand landed on his shoulder, he jerked and with a face masked with horror, he muttered, “You scared of me.”
“Just like you are scaring me right now. I have been trying to get your attention but… come on, Christian…” she filtered off.
Grabbing his hand, she asked, “You don’t look good this morning, are you alright?”
“Uh… yeah.” He nodded, giving her a reassuring smile but she wasn’t buying it. Slipping her fingers into his, she tried to pull him towards the bed but he wouldn’t move his feet.
“Come with me, let’s talk things out.” She coaxed but he kept his ground. She had wanted to lead him to the bed so that we could have a concise conversation.
“Let’s talk some other time.” He said. Disentangling from her hold, he immediately made his way to the closet and threw some clothes on while Antonia looked on, wondering what the issue was.
When he was completely dressed, he walked up to her. Leaning close, he planted a kiss on her forehead.
“I need to get some stuff off my shoulder.” He said.
“But…” she was unable to finish what she intended to do today when he banged the door shut.
Antonia, still wondering what the issue was, wouldn’t stop staring at the closed door. While staring, she had her lips pressed tightly together.
“If only I knew what exactly to say to him to make him speak, I would be at ease.” She muttered. “Now, I wonder what he is keeping to himself.”
When Christian left, he made his way to the cafe which was quiet and was a few meters away from his company.
As he sipped from his cup of coffee, he pondered on the recent happenings in his life. It was from one scene to the other and the way it happens swiftly made it difficult for him to comprehend.
It had been almost two hours since he arrived at the cafe when his phone beeped. Immediately, he pulled it to himself only to discover it was Laura who had texted him.
Clicking on the message icon, it opened up, revealing a one line degrading message.
‘You are the worst father ever.’ the message read.
With his mouth slightly opened, he read the message several times before he decided to put a call across to her.
When Laura saw his phone call, instead of picking up, she declined and when he wouldn’t stop calling, she turned off her phone to prevent further disturbance.
“It wouldn’t be long before I go insane.” He muttered, biting his bottom lips.
Gripping his phone tightly, he drown the remaining content of his coffee which was now cold down his throat and then hurriedly made his way towards his car.
On getting to his office, he quickly slid in and then banged the door shut.
Still trying to reach out to Laura he stood in the middle of the room, his phone against his ear as he rubbed his forehead that was producing tiny beads of perspiration.
“Come on Laura, you’re making this more difficult for me.” He muttered, re-calling her phone.
He was still in his position when Damien knocked on the door. He had seen him walk in earlier and so he decided to deliver messages to him.
“Who’s there?” He asked with a tone that depicted that he was not interested in having a conversation with anyone.
“Damien, sir.” he replied and immediately, his tensed features relaxed and he ushered him in.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Christian asked him to take his seat and then began feeding him with his current predicament.
“If you were in my place, what would you do?” He asked leaning towards him as he awaited his response. He had just concluded his tale.
“Having two kids that are not from your wife can be so devastating.” Damien said, repeating Christian’s words.
“I said that already and I’m slowly going insane. If things continue to go this way, I might end up in the psychiatric home.” He muttered, hitting his head with his eyes tightly shut.
“Sir, I’d advise you to visit a therapist. You need a professional to guide you and also save your mental health which is at the verge of crashing.”
“I need an immediate solution to this… come on man, you’re smart. I know you can help me out with this.” Christian said.
Taking in a deep breath, Damien scratched his nape before saying, “If you owe up to it, I mean, if you accept responsibility for everything that has happened, it would be way easier for you.” He said, staring back at Christian who was looking at him.
“Are you sure it’s going to work?” He asked, his interest piqued. He was ready to do anything to right his wrongs.
“You’re the one who would make it work so it’s up to you.” Damien replied and after a brief silence added, “I’d suggest you visit a therapist for the sake of your mental health.”
“Thank you.” He muttered.
“You’re welcome.” Damien was about to go ahead with delivering the message he had for him but on seeing Christian was still in an indisposed state, he held back and then excused himself.
After several minutes of pondering, Christian grabbed an action figure on his table and then began to swirl it in between his fingers as he made his way out of his office.
Half an hour’s drive from his office brought him to the city hospital and immediately he alighted, he made his way to the children’s ward to meet with Laura.
Propping himself up for the drama which was bound to happen between them, he knocked on the door once before pushing it in.
To his disappointment, Laura was nowhere to be found and so he began to look around the hallway but she wasn’t lurking around.
Slowly, he made his way into the room. After staring at the sleeping boy for a few minutes, he crouched beside him and then began to smear his hair against his face.
He continued this process for a while hoping Laura would join them soon but she didn’t. Already tired of waiting for her, Christian placed the action figure on the table and then pulled himself up.
Taking one last look at the sleeping child, she turned around and then stepped out of the ward.
It wasn’t until five minutes after his departure that Laura, holding the other twin, Walked in. The first thing the little child saw was the figure and immediately he disentangled his hand from hers.
“Mom, Superman.” He called, sweeping the toy off the table.
“Do you know who placed it there?” She asked, her brow knotted with confusion.
“No,” he replied, already playing with the toy as Laura wondered how it got there.