Crash! Old Mrs. Anderson pushed the food to the floor. She gazed intently at the male chef who stood by the side fidgeting.
"You are so unqualified to work as a cook. Tell me, who hired you? What is the name of your company, you need to be fired!" The old woman screamed at the top of her voice and the young chef couldn't help but cower in fear.
"I'm sorry, I'll start all over again. I'll prepare the meal again, what do you want to eat?"
"You can't be serious!" She said as her already wrinkled face turned red.
"This is the third time you are preparing another meal. Tell me? Am I going to starve?" She said and quickly walked elegantly to the telephone booth. She wasn't going to condone any nonsense at this moment.
-
Madam Paula Anderson was raised in an average family. She got married to the man she loved and they had a daughter, Lillian. She raised Lillian to be independent, what she didn't know was how luck went against her and Lillian started dating a married man. She warned her a lot of times and tried all extreme measures to keep her away from that man, but, her efforts were all futile.
She got pregnant for the man who had promised her marriage. At that point, she found out that she was dating a very powerful politician at that time, who was running for presidency. She also found out that he was equally married to the daughter of another powerful politician.
Her life was threatened because of the power clash. She went into hiding. She couldn't even go to the hospital for her ante-natal cares. She fended for her baby all with the help of her mother. Her father had suddenly developed a chronic illness and was at the verge of dying. She hid for nine months and soon the baby was due to come out. She delivered to a boy, who was a complete replica of her very own father whom at the day of his grandson's birth died.
The boy grew to be very handsome and strong. He lived with his complete family, his mother and his grandmother. They led their lives not noticing that there was a shadow that always followed them. Then, on one sunny day at the park, there was a gunshot. The gunshot was aimed at the little boy who was just four years old. The motherly instinct of the woman beside the boy kicked in and she took several gunshots for her son. It was a black Saturday.
She was rushed to the hospital but the killers were experts. The bullet struck at all the vitals in her body. On that day, Lillian Anderson, the mother of Alexander Anderson died.
Out of fear that such an occurrence would happen again, Paula Anderson, the grandmother of Alexander took the boy to his father. It caused a ruckus at first. The man had denied ever having a mistress not to speak of impregnating her. The wife to the man fumed with anger, but the old woman insisted that the boy who stood at a corner watching everything unfold belonged to that family.
A DNA test was agreed upon. While they waited for the test, the old woman and her grandson were not permitted to leave the mansion. The day the test result was revealed in that family was the very day the woes of little Alexander began.
His grandmother was sent out of the house. The wife of Alexander's father insisted
that the boy should be left in her care. In order not to create more troubles, the man agreed.
At this point Alexander also found out that he had a younger half brother. The preferential treatment was obvious. Their father was contending for presidency. So, in order not to sully the family's reputation. Alexander was sent to an unknown house in the province to stay. Where he was flogged and starved, but his own father cared less about what happened to him. There, he met a little girl, who gave him a hope of a new living.
Paula Anderson was deprived of seeing her grandson for more than ten years. Then, one day she saw that man on the TV as the president of the country, that was when she knew that, her grandson was far beyond her reach. Then she also saw her grandson one day standing beside that man. It seemed like he had entered into politics too.
Three years later a convoy came to her rat infested apartment, she was so scared that they've come to kill her. But, when that elegant young man came out and called out to her, 'mama'. She dropped the cup of hot coffee she was taking and hugged him. They hugged for close to ten minutes.
She was soon relocated to the mansion she was currently in. She turned into a madame. Well respected by all the servants and individuals visiting Alexander. She had suffered so much, so she threw tantrums as much as she wanted to. A typical example of that was the food fiasco that occurred just a while ago.
-
When she got to the telephone booth she dailed the very digits she had come to know by heart. Before the call could connect she felt a heavy force and the back of her head. The impact was much that she could feel her own blood trickling down her back. The very white wall suddenly started getting darker and then she drifted into the world of darkness.
Seeing what he had done, the chef panicked and dropped the fire extinguisher on the floor. He quickly ran straight out of the building, not bothering to change his uniform. The security outside was confused as to what happened inside that made the chef to panic. They thought there was a fire outbreak in the kitchen. So, they didn't bother to interrogate the chef, and he escaped. Some of the security men ran to the kitchen. One of them pressed the alarm bell, to alert all the servants in the building to evacuate.
Some went up to the old woman's room to guide her out safely. But, when she wasn't found there they started searching the house. Everyone paused when they heard a scream from downstairs. It seemed to be a female voice. They all rushed downstairs and found the madame of the house lying in her own pool of blood. Acting with their survival instincts some prepared the car while some carried her away straight to the hospital.
The other servants who were at home were placed under house arrest by the remaining bodyguards.
The chef who hid in the courtyard of the neighboring house took that opportunity to flee from the neighborhood. He flagged down a taxi and disappeared. He panicked inside the car. The taxi driver noticed his restlessness and asked him.
"Sir, are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? I can drive you there." The driver said out of concern.
"Just drive me to the train station."
The driver nodded and focused on his driving. The chefs mind was in great turmoil. Why did he do it? Why did he loose his mind? He knew he had temper issues but he had been very good at controlling it all these while.
Maybe he had panicked on the fact that he could lose his job. He knew what awaited him at home if he did so. His mother in law would throw him out of the house. His wife would finally marry the wealthy man that had been wooing her, and he would be left with nothing. He loved his wife so much that the thought of loosing her made him go nuts.
They had met in a little restaurant he once owned. She was a waitress there. It started from a mere crush and then it blossomed into love..... well, as he had thought. As of then his mother in law loved him so much because he automatically turned into the benefactor of the family. He paid the rent, bills and everything. This made his own family to totally disagree with him, but he was blinded by love. They soon got married and a year later, the restaurant caught fire and everything was lost. They sympathized with him and he tried building his restaurant again from the scratch but couldn't. He needed a lot of capital for that, but he could not see it forthcoming.
His mother-in-law's attitude gradually took a turn. She started making life miserable for him, at any slightest mistake she would pick an offense. He endured all this because he loved his wife so dearly.
Then, his wife started coming home very late. She started putting dresses that were so revealing. At that instant, he sensed danger. He tried to talk to her sometimes but she would brush it off. They no longer had sex like they always did.
Everything was always gotten from excessive pleading. He did not want to make so much noise about it because he was scared of loosing his wife. One day his urge came on hard on him. He tried touching his wife she declined. Out of sexual frustration, he tried forcing her, that act earned him a scar on the forehead because his wife smashed a flower vase on his head. He fell unconsciously on the floor and was rushed to the hospital. His family members pressed on him to sue his wife but he refused. This was so because at that moment his begged him and promised to give him sex anytime he wanted. She had also promised to stop going to clubs.
He accepted her apology because of the soft spot he had for her. Their relationship became strained from that moment on. His wife lived on the fear of not annoying her husband. Her husband lived on trying to heal the relationship between the both of them. God finally blessed him when he got a job at Sky Food Towers.
He started getting a slightly fat pay, then his wife started turning back to him. That was when he knew that she never loved him. She only loved his money. But, his only crime was that he loved her so much, to the extent that he did not care, as far as she was with him and remained his wife, he would be happy. When he finally got promoted as the Andersons family chef, he was so happy, the whole family celebrated him and his wife even gave him a very hot love making that night. He was so happy that he wanted the job to last forever. That was why he panicked when that old woman went to make that call. He knew that it could make him loose his job instantly. He was looking for so many ways to stop her that was why he grabbed the nearest fire extinguisher and slammed on her head. He realized what he had done when the metallic smell of blood wafted through his nose. He ran away as far as his legs could carry him.
-
When he got to the train station, he went to the nearest telephone booth and dailed a certain number. Soon a female voice was heard at the order end of phone.
"Hello Lisa, it's Jerry."
"Jerry what's wrong, why are you calling at hour, aren't you at work?"
He searched for a way to get her out of the house and his eyes sparkled as he thought of an idea.
"Honey, my boss rewarded me a million dollars for being a great cook. I want to celebrate this with my wife by going on a vacation with her. Could you pack up some of my things and yours, I'm waiting for you at the train station."
She quickly nodded and ended the call. The amount of money she heard clouded her judgment, that she stopped reasoning rationally.
Who on earth would want to take their wife on a vacation with a million dollars and go by train? They were supposed to go in a train. Why would he also ask for his debit card when he had so much money on him already?
She foolishly packed up her things and snuck out of the house without alerting her mother. She met up with Jerry and they both left the capital city in a train.
-
Alexander was at a gathering when he suddenly got a call from one of his security men. It would be rude to hastily leave the meeting because he escorted the president to the gathering, and he had a very vital role to play in the gathering, he decided to leave everything to his bodyguards.
When the gathering was over, it was already late at night. He made to leave immediately but was stopped by his fiance Christina. Not willing to turn her down in front of a lot of people, he decided to bring her along. When they got to the hospital.
Alexander learnt from the doctors that his grandmother was comatosed and they were not sure as to when she would wake up. Christina dramatically threw herself to the floor beside the old woman's bed and started gushing out tears. She wailed and wailed like she really cared. While, constantly screaming for her to wake up. The bodyguards had to bring her away because she was causing so much trouble. After the troublesome Christina was brought away, Alexander sat next to his grandmother's bed while grabbing her cool arms.
He brought his face closer to her arms and found out that his face was also as cool as his grandmother's hands.
"Don't die on me, okay?"
He whispered to her.
"You are all I have for now."
He continued.
"Grandma, do you know that I lost a girl that I loved dearly? Do you know that I'm a murderer? I got her pregnant and killed my own child. She resented me after that grandmother. She stopped talking to me and disappeared. Do you know that I can find her grandmother? But, I don't want to. I don't think I'm ready to face her. Grandma, I can't watch her get married to another man. Grandma do you know that I have been longing to tell you these, but I haven't gotten enough time. Wake up granny, I'll make sure I create enough time for us okay? I love you."
Alexander said as his eyes slightly teared up. He noticed that he had successfully generated warmth between their hands. He sat like that beside the hospital bed for more than an hour. By the time he came out of the hospital, Christina was already sleeping comfortably inside his car. He decided to drive the car by himself. He took Christina home, and old Mr. Miles smiled to himself. His daughter was really capable, that was the second time he was bringing her home. As soon as Alexander left the Miles household, the little smile on his face ceased.
He brought out his cell phone and made a call.
"I want every detail of the chef you sent to my house."
The details were sent to him within a matter of minutes. He quickly forwarded it to a certain account.
"I want you to track this man and bring him to me, alive."
He ended the call after getting a response from the recipient. Instead of driving to his hotel, he went home. He had a dozen of servants to scare.
The servants were all kept in a room after the incident. The security wanted to make sure that none of them made any suspicious movement.
When Alexander came over, they were all called in one after the other for Alexander's questions. All of them told the same story. His grandmother was not pleased with the meal he prepared. But, the servants swore that they did not hear any argument between the two. It was just a case of a boss and a servant, where the servant pleaded while the boss refused to listen.
Alexander wondered why his grandmother rejected his meal. He was clearly sure that his grandmother would love his food, when he tasted the chef's Lobster, Mac and Cheese. Something must have gone wrong. He swore to get to the root of it. He slept in his study that night.
In his dream, he saw his grandmother in a fog. He walked towards it trying to reach her but he couldn't. He kept on beckoning on her to come to him, but instead he saw the very woman that often appeared to him in the dream. He felt happy because she was standing beside his grandmother, clad in a white dress. He tried reaching out to the both of them, both the younger one grabbed the older ones arm and they started running back deep into the fog. He chased after them and screaming their names but they were long gone. Then he started hearing cackled laughter from the void.
He got up sweating profusely. He left the study and went downstairs towards the kitchen. He got to the refrigerator and got a can of drink and drank with vigor. He was still in his suit and it made him uncomfortable. He entered the master's bedroom which he hadn't entered in a long time. He tore of his clothes and he was left in nothing but his boxers(undies). He slumped on the soft bed and zoomed off to sleep again.
He knew tomorrow was going to be a long day for him. So he decided to get the ample time to rest so that his health wouldn't break down. He knew he had been stressing himself lately. He also knew quite well wat the consequences would be. That night Alexander Anderson slept off, waiting for what the future would hold the next day. Would his side be the. Victor or the Vanquished?