CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE.
“Look, Adele, it’s either you announce your marital status yourself or I will do that on your behalf. You have two minutes.” Jamal threatened with a very serious look on his face the moment Adele walked out of the bathroom.
It was not an exaggeration to say she was shocked, because he said these words just the way they sounded to you now!
With no introductions, no explanations, Adele simply and
innocently walked inside their room. His voice was terrifying when he said those words and it sacred her.
Being the negotiating person that she was, Adele logically asked him:
” To whom should I report my status as a married
woman within two minutes? To the ghosts in this room?” She asked, feigning a confused look and Jamal’s jaw hardened.
“To him” he coldly replied while handing over her cell phone.
Adele quickly checked her phone to see what he was talking about. After looking for a moment, she realized there was nothing particular about it, so she looked at Jamal, extremely confused.
“I don’t see anything, Jamal.”
“Check your calls!” He agitated and she did that. She found an incoming call about twenty minutes ago and it was from Ward, one of her coworkers at the office.
Grace was always fond of pairing her with Ward to work on projects, so they had become close.
“You answered my phone call?” Adele asked Jamal with a very displeased tone.
” I did, should I not answer on behalf of my wife?” He
asked back while closing the distance between the distance.
Adele gave him a cold gaze.
“I have never answered on behalf of you, I respect your
privacy.” She replied.
“My phone is right there Adele, you are free to do whatever you please with it. I never said you couldn’t. This Ward of a man though, I checked your recent calls, and the last twenty were only with him. I can see you’re both very keen on calling one another. Who is he?”
“He is one of my coworkers at the office. Grace often teams us up for long reports because we both work well together. We only speak on the matters of work.” She explained, preparing herself to go into begging mode next because she knew he was going to threaten to transfer Ward.
“Well, ward seems very excited about his work that
none of his words were actually work related. He called
to invite you to a party, Adele, he even called you A. He has a nickname for you already. I don’t have a nickname for you!.”
Adele looked at Jamal and realised that he was in a state of mind that even if he provided all proof of her innocence, she would still be guilty and considered caught red handed. So she just decided to comply with his nonsensical demands.
“Fine.” She gave up. “I will call him now and tell him I am a married woman.”
Jamal, once she agreed, gave her his back and
he went to the window to enjoy the scenery behind the
glass.
Adele dialed Ward’s number while looking very
displeased at the back of her husband. The call was
soon picked up and Ward’s voice came through.
“Hello.” His deep voice sounded over the phone.
“Ward! Hi!” She greeted guiltily. The fact that she was going to tell Ward about her marital status over the phone annoyed her to the brink, but to avoid any commotion, she had to do so.
“Adele, is this really you this time round?” He asked to be sure.
“Yes Ward, did you need me for something?” She asked, pretending to not know why he called even after Jamal had just told her.
Jamal, who was standing by the window, turned to watch her make the announcement.
“I called to invite you to my younger sister’s wedding party. It happened that I have said a lot about you to her and now she is insisting that you come. She sort of likes you. Adele, the man who replied earlier said he’s your family member, my sister was too excited to hear that and she chipped in. I guess she went a bit overboard with him since he cut the call after sounding very displeased.”
Adele, on hearing that felt very uncomfortable.
“Can you tell me what is it that your sister said to
him?” Adele asked and Wards laughed uncomfortably before replying.
“Well, the usual. She said she would be elated to have you as a bride in our family.” He blurted out awkwardly.
Adele felt shivers all over her body hearing that answer,
because it was at that exact moment that she finally
realised why Jamal was acting cold and possessive all
of a sudden!
You see, that husband of hers was very much lacking in the matter of social etiquettes and general humour. That
suggestion of Ward’s sister which was a mere joke that any average woman says to a woman in a suitable
age of marriage as a compliment.
Jamal must have considered it as a serious marriage proposal and the invitation to the party as an invitation to a matchmaking event!
That’s why he was so annoyed.
Without wasting any more time, Adele cleared her throat to talk.
“I’m already married, Ward and the man whom your sister spoke with is my husband.”
She saved details such as “my husband is the big boss of the company and he currently was very enraged” to
save her poor coworker from experiencing a heart
attack.
After a few more words of apologies and excuses, Adele finally ended the call and approached Jamal guiltily.
She circled his torso with her arms and pressed cheek
against his back.
“I have told him I’m married. You should be proud that
your wife is still admired by others, it means you chose a good woman!” She tried to lighten up the mood with some humour.
Jamal untangled her arms from around him gently and
then turned to look at her with a serious face.
“Adele, this isn’t a matter to joke about, you should announce our marriage. This is disrespecting to both me and our marriage. I have always respected your wish of leading a free life that’s why I’ve been silent, but accidents like this make me question the correctness of
this decision of mine.” He whined and Adele rolled her eyes at him.
“In the past when you needed to keep me hidden, I never objected even when dating rumours of you and Danielle spread throughout the country. Even when you attended various parties and functions with her and now, just one single phone call from a coworker and a harmless suggestion and you say I’m being disrespectful to you?” Adele asked with a very serious face.
“Adele, I…”
“No, answer me, I’m being disrespectful?” She cut him off and he quickly shook his head.
“No! No you are not and I’m sorry. I overreacted. I had no right to say that to you.“
“Now that’s better.” She said as she walked away from him.
“Does that mean we are cool?”
“If you promise me not to do anything to him.”
“Cross my heart.” He promised with a smile as he walked over to the bed to meet Adele and she smiled as well.
“TSS…” she chuckled when a foolish thought crossed her mind.
“What?” Jamal asked, amused and she shrugged.
“I just thought about what you told me this morning at the office. The style you promised to show me when we got back home”
“Oh that!” He said as he playfully bared his teeth. “Come here!” He commanded in a playful tone but Adele jumped down from the bed and began running away.
She was going to make him earn what he wanted from her.