CYRIL
“Does it matter?
I thought you wanted me around. I’m here now, let’s go home,” I held Olivia by the arm. I dodged her question, knowing that I wasn’t there for her.
I was aware of her calls but decided not to pick her up because I was having the best time of my life with Rene at the party. If she wasn’t involved in a ghastly accident, I wouldn’t have encountered Olivia.
Seeing Olivia ruined my plan. I just hope she doesn’t get to find out about Rene pretty soon.
“No, I’m not leaving this place until you explain your reason for showing up. The last time I checked, you weren’t picking up my calls, which made it difficult to know my whereabouts,” Olivia interrogated me as though she were a detective. She didn’t allow me to have breathing space to process my response before tossing another question at me.
She put me in a difficult situation that seemed impossible for me to come out of.
My heart was beating faster like the drums of war. My feet trembled in fear. I wanted the ground to open and swallow me. It would be better rather than let Olivia catch me red-handed with Rene. I was lucky to escape from Olivia’s wrath during her birthday dinner. I may not be lucky this time.
“I’m still waiting for your response. Why are you not answering? Have you suddenly lost your speech ability?” She said to me In a placating tone.
Olivia was speaking more than intended, and it’s beginning to mess with my head. In normal circumstances, I would have retaliated, but the fear of Rene appearing from nowhere neutralized my ego. I could only think about embracing peace.
“Can we not do this right now? You don’t have to do this. What you need right now is rest,” I besought Olivia while I narrowed my gaze around, hoping that Rene wasn’t approaching my direction.
“Don’t you get it?
I’m not leaving this place. Why do I have a feeling that you came here with your mistress?” Olivia assumed. Not even her predicament could hinder her from guessing accurately.
“Mistress?” I chuckled. It came from a place of fright. I had to pretend to Olivia that I was courageous. Deep down, I was drenched in the garment of fright.
I displayed no sign of weakness to prevent her from becoming too suspicious
“Meet me at the parking lot when you’re done ranting. I can’t do this with you,” I sauntered outside just to evade Olivia’s bag of troubles. She was slowly fetching the truth. I don’t know how long I intend to ignore her for too long. It’s just a matter before I start confessing.
Olivia followed me immediately. Just when I thought running away would solve my situation, Olivia pulled my shirt badly and started screaming. All efforts to calm her nerves proved abortive.
For once In my life, I could barely recognize my wife. I saw a different version of Olivia I hadn’t witnessed before.
“You’re embarrassing yourself, and it’s not even funny. I won’t be responsible if anything bad happens to you. You have got to put yourself in order,” I cautioned Olivia. She was becoming too strong for me to handle. For someone who just came out from the sick bed, I expected her to be weak and fable.
What baffles me is Kate’s silence. She wasn’t making an effort to curb away the chaos. She stood there like a dummy, watching us engage in heated arguments like kids. She seemed to be loving every bit of the chaos. I won’t be surprised if she goes to grab a bowl of popcorn like a cinematic experience.
“Kate, do something.
Don’t stand there like a dummy,” I yelled at Kate to force her into action. She’s the only one who can call Olivia to order. Olivia often pays attention to Kate more than I, her legally married husband.
“Take my name out of your mouth. What do you want me to do? This is a confidential issue. I would rather not get myself involved,” Kate snapped at me and looked sideways like nothing happened.
I felt humiliated and insulted by Kate’s attitude towards me. I had the urge to punch her until she passed out. On second thought, I considered the possibility of spending the rest of my life in jail for assault. I endured my ego and decided to let go.
“Have you seen what you’ve caused? Aren’t you going to scold Kate for publicly disrespecting your husband?” I berated Olivia. She’s to blame for Kate’s misconduct. If she hadn’t told Kate nasty things about me, Kate wouldn’t have the audacity to disrespect me the way she did.
“Kate did absolutely nothing wrong. Don’t blame her. Why are we talking about Kate? This is about you. Don’t you dare to distract us with Kate,” Olivia clapped back.
My assumptions were right after all. Olivia has been feeding Kate fake stories about me. Their actions just confirmed my guess.
“Can we discuss this at home?” I lowered my voice. It dawned on me that I would never win the argument against Olivia. She was uncontrollable. She doesn’t mind arguing with me for eternity.
“Finally, you’ve accepted your flaws. I thought you were ruthless. What happened to your resilience?” Olivia mocked me with wicked laughter. I buried my head in shame. I refused to let her tantrums get into my head. If being ridiculed would make Olivia go home, I don’t mind.
My phone rang.
It was Rene calling my phone. My hands were shivering. I couldn’t answer the phone. That would be disastrous. Without being told, I knew that Rene needed my company in the ward.
“Who is calling at this odd hour? Let me guess, your mistress?” Olivia assumed. She was edging closer to me. Before I could find my balance, she snatched the phone from me. I tried retrieving the phone when Kate intercepted me. She stood in front of me obstructing my view.
“Rene again?”
Olivia broke down in tears. My secret was exposed. No amount of explanation could convince Olivia otherwise.
As I was about to explain, I heard someone calling my name from afar. I looked behind me and saw Rene being wheeled out of the hospital by a nurse.
Too much evidence against me. I may need a miracle to come out of this alive. Someone’s visiting heaven and it’s certainly not Olivia.