Biola was in the middle of packing her things when she heard a knock on the door, it was Efe; she was surprised to see her but she only expressed indifference. She opened the door inviting Efe into the house; they stood for almost a minute with no words to say to each other
“Sit down” Biola waved at a chair “can I offer you something?” Biola did not wait for her answer; she entered the kitchen quickly stopping in front of the fridge to sigh deeply before going back with a glass of water
“Sorry, there is nothing else in the house” she handed Efe the glass and sat down “it’s okay… water is fine” Efe sipped out of the glass slowly thinking of what to say to Biola “this is a nice place” she said her eyes catching the family portrait of Mrs Adamu, her late husband and children
“Yes it is… but it’s not mine though, they took me in since I had nowhere to go” Biola replied, another moment of silence appeared before Efe spoke again
“I went to see you at the police station but they told me that you have been released” Efe mustered the courage to go to the point, she continued by apologizing to Biola for what her father did to her and for throwing her out of the house.
The apology came as a surprise to Biola “don’t apologise for your father, I will get even with him” Biola wanted Efe to know that more was coming. Efe told her about the offers she got to write for different newspapers and Biola helped her pick the one she should write full time for. They forgot all recent events and talked like the friends that they used to be until it was time for Efe to leave.
She wrote a name BRIGHT CHUKWUEMEKA on a piece of paper and gave it to Biola “what is this for?” Biola asked “that’s the name of my father’s greatest enemy, he owns Caramel Hotel and Towers” Efe responded her heart throbbing “don’t give me information you don’t want me to use against your father” Biola tried to hand her back the piece of paper
“No no no… I want you to use it, I discovered that you aren’t the only girl he has done this to and I wasn’t there for you when you were emotionally crushed, especially with the abortion and stuff, so consider this my way of making it up to you…” Biola embraced her before she finished her explanation and Efe was pleasantly surprised.
It was a sign that they could be friends again outside everything that was happening between Biola and Chief. Efe knew that for their friendship to go any further Biola must first complete her quest for revenge. Biola went back to packing her things, just as she was done Umar called her “I am outside, are you done?” he asked “yes I am, I am coming out now”.
Umar asked her to move in with him and she accepted, with Umar there was no saying no and besides she didn’t want to bring any problems for Mrs Adamu, so leaving was a good idea. She didn’t tell Mrs Adamu beforehand because she didn’t want her to ask any questions; she waited for everyone to go out before moving out but not without leaving presents and appreciative notes for them. She was sad to leave but the thought of coming back one day consoled her, Umar helped her carry her things into the car and they were gone.
Unsuccessfully masking his shock Chief Ogene asked “Eheh … what about Biola Killa?” there was a fearful silence in the room then Dr James Emmanuel continued “you arrested her telling us that she was the master mind behind the catastrophe plaguing this company, she was released. We questioned why and you said that she was under bail but she was still a prime suspect, now the Chief Of Army Staff has been involved”
“How?! This has nothing to do with him, it is not a national issue” “yes it is Ogene. It has become a national issue” “how?! Why?!” “Because she is betrothed to his son”.
Chief slowly stood as an uncomfortable air crept into the room “what do you mean?” he asked, Dr James’ forehead formed more lines than usual as he replied “Ogene , you raped her, falsely accused her and arrested her on top of it” “I did none of those things!!” Chief shouted “I have the proof of what she did” “what proof?” Ebuka chimed in “Look whatever proof you have should be thrown into the dustbin because Major General Gayesu is upset and the president is upset…”
“Wait! How did the president get involved?” the question made Ebuka laugh out of annoyance “the president is Major General Gayesu’s best friend… do you see where this is going? Do you see how you are becoming an enemy of the state?” The Directors paid no attention to Chief’s explanation, they called the meeting to achieve one thing and that was to vote Chief out as the CEO and Chairman of the board according to the company policy and vote they did.
Chief Ogene Omorighe walked into his office the CEO and Chairman of Hillside Hotels and Resort chain but walked out as none of those. He was fired.
Biola sat in the office cafeteria eating and enjoying the news on the television about Chief Ogene’s removal as CEO and Chairman of his company; she watched how the press hounded him at the car park and his unsuccessful way of hiding his dismay.
“Biola you have a guest/customer” it was Diana “it’s 5pm I am not attending to any one… I am tired … I am eating” Biola waved Diana away “he is handsome and he is very persistent… he looks rich” Diana obstructed her view of the television until Biola agreed to go with her.
Biola was ready to be rude to the person that was going to make her miss the news she was enjoying until she saw that it was Seyi; “what are you doing here?” with a slight frown on her face
“Is that how you are going to greet me after two weeks?… I went to your house but they told me that you have moved, what happened?” Seyi stood up and walked closer to her, the over powering smell of his perfume tempted her to hug him but she resisted
“None of your business, I think you should leave” Biola tried to walk away but he pulled her back and begged her to have dinner with him. He took her to their usually restaurant above the ocean, they had missed each other a lot but Seyi was the only one who expressed his feelings.
He apologized to Biola for walking out on her at the police station without hearing her out “I should have asked you why but I didn’t” his hands across the table holding hers. Biola told him everything including the abortion, her boldness to tell him the truth made Seyi admire her more than ever. He didn’t understand why but despite her despicable actions he still wanted to be with her.
The day he walked out on her at the station was the day he discovered that he was in love with her; two weeks without her was a nightmare, he battled with himself. He wanted to hate her for what she had done but he loved her for always being herself no matter what and being honest about it all. It was a rare kind of confidence he had never seen in anyone else; sometimes he thought she was like that because of her beauty but he knew that it wasn’t true.
At last his heart won the battle and he decided to follow his heart and go back to her; he told her how he felt about her and asked her to be in a relationship with him
“I am seeing someone” Biola retorted afraid that if she waited another second she might never tell him; the news drove Seyi crazy and they found themselves screaming at each other in the middle of the restaurant, Seyi called her heartless, insensitive and insane while she called him a coward for walking out on her in prison.
After screaming at each other Seyi dropped a bundle of cash on the table and left. Biola sat down and continued drinking her glass of bloody mary; she found it funny how Seyi was the only one successful enough to bring out a certain type of emotion from her. She knew that he was never coming back and instead of thinking about the pain of losing someone she really cared for she focused on the benefits being with Umar will bring in future.
As she sat down sipping and thinking a voice startled her “I’m sorry” it was Seyi, she was secretly happy to see him. Seyi very calmly sat down and held her hand, his firm eyes looked straight into her eyes as he spoke “I don’t care if you are dating or seeing any one, I am not going anywhere. You are going to leave him, I ‘ll be damned to lose you to any bagger”
“You can’t do this, you have to let me go” Biola looked a little bothered but Seyi was adamant “since you don’t want to tell me who he is, I will find him and talk to him myself”
“You need not look far… here I am” Umar announced himself; Seyi stood up and walked closer to Umar. Both of them looking at each other with death stares and before Biola could accuse Umar of following her around a bloody fight ensued between Seyi and Umar.
As people gathered to end the fight; Biola stood still like a porcelain, unable to move or say anything. Her mind went back in time to the years when her life was simple “this is my life” she whispered to herself unaware that the blow meant for Umar was coming for her head and when it arrived she immediately went blank. The blow she received to her head sent her into an instant comma.
