As she walked down the stairs to the restaurant, Natasha could feel her legs tremble. And as she fought it, one man, seated between other four men, smiled secretly watching her. He watched her every move, his heart beat warmly. The other four men could not see what he was looking at for the shades on his eyes hid where his eyes focused on.
"Ms. Claire!" Edward shouted at the lady approaching them. "Late busy night?" He teased.
"Yeah, I think I drank too much." Natasha quickly lied as she sat down between Watson and Jacob.
"How so and we did not see you drink at yesterday's party?" Fred enquired.
"Do you forget that my room has a bar in its kitchen? Or is that only in my room?" She answered quickly pouring herself some tea. The other men nodded in agreement. Brandon watched her. He could see she was struggling. He smiled even bigger.
"What are you smiling about Bran?" Jacob asked having a piece of cake. Everyone at the table looked at Brandon. They hardly saw him smile. Natasha avoided looking in his direction.
"Nothing much. My night was just exciting." Brandon replied calmly and sipped his coffee.
"How so boss?" Watson asked, biting off a piece of sausage.
"Well," Brandon said, taking off his shades, exposing his deep brown eyes. He looked at Natasha for a brief moment then at Watson. Natasha chewed hard on the piece of chicken in her mouth. She crossed her fingers. "The drama at yesterday's party got me a girlfriend. What is there not to be happy about?" Everyone at the table looked at him in surprise. He had finally declared it. Natasha was the most shocked.
"Does that mean that you two are seriously dating now?" Edward asked, hiding his disappointment.
"What is it Ed? You sound disappointed. Just like Clara would be if she were to know you are eying someone else's woman." Brandon said as he put a spoonful of rice in to his mouth. Everyone looked at Ed and laughed lightly. Natasha did not get it but she smiled. It seemed that Edward feared a lady named Clara.
"Is that true, Natasha?" Fred asked when he noticed Natasha's surprised face. Natasha quickly flushed pink upon the question as everyone turned to look at her. She looked at Brandon, who was busy taking another spoonful of rice. She looked round the table at the men who were looking to her for an answer. Unknown to her, Brandon had his fingers crossed. Watson, who was close to Natasha, leaned in and whispered: "T, please choose your answer very carefully. Because boss B. has indirectly asked for you to be his. It is your time to answer him." He then looked at Brandon who was eating away to hide his anxiety. He hoped she said yes, but he knew she was a hard woman to please.
"Well…you are killing us here with anxiety!" Jacob stressed.
"Yes. He is mine, just as I am his." She answered calmly and with a hint of pride. The whole table went quiet. Brandon took another sip of his coffee and looked at Natasha, who was focused on cutting a piece of chicken. He felt happy. Watson looked at his boss and thought that he had never seen such a bright light shine in boss's eyes before, not even with Julie, his first love.
"So you two are already in love?" Edward asked finding it hard to believe what he had heard. Natasha almost spit out the juice she had just sipped. 'Love?!' She asked herself. She looked at Brandon with concern. "Ms. Claire?"
"I…I…excuse me. I have to go to the washroom." Natasha replied as she wiped her lips and stood up. "And Ed, call me Natasha." She carefully walked out of their sight trying to hide the pain, but Brandon was all eyes. As soon as she disappeared, all men turned towards Brandon, expecting an answer. He ignored them.
"Come on Bran, are you two guys in love?" Jacob insisted. Brandon ignored as he sipped his coffee.
"They don't know." Fred answered having a slice of cake. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "There is indeed attraction between them, but, they do not know how deep. They have not figured it out yet. But they know, it is very deep, so far." Fred added confidently avoiding the threatening look coming from the far right corner of the table. Everyone looked at him and back at Brandon, who had put on his indifferent face. He did not say anything, and everyone in the table understood. The table was soon distracted with business talks as the men moved on to talk about the business in DD City. Natasha had still not returned yet several minutes had already passed. Brandon felt uneasy. Watson noticed and smiled. After a while, Brandon could not take it anymore and he stood up and walked away from the table to the restrooms. No one noticed but Watson as the other three men were busy in business topics and assumed he had gone to clear the bill.
Brandon walked up slowly to the gent's room and took a few steps past it to the ladies' room. He stood out there for a while, no one came in or out. It was almost quarter to four and he was sure thirty minutes had gone by since Natasha had left the table. He stood there patiently for a few minutes, then turned impatient. He called out for her, softly, three times. There was no response. Then his calling out became louder and his impatience could be heard in his tone. Without thinking and ignoring the slight tremor in his left hand, he kicked the door open and found no one on the sinks on his right. He looked to his left, all stalls were opened except three. He slowly bent over and looked through the spacing under the doors-all were empty except one, the second last at the far end. He slowly walked towards it and knocked on the door lightly. There was no response.
"Natasha." He called out softly. She did not respond. He hit on the door severally calling her name and there was still no response. As he was trying to get her to respond, a woman showed up at the door and was surprised to see a man in the restrooms and went back at the door to confirm. Before she could say anything, Brandon spoke. "You are in the right room. And my woman has been in this stall for a long time and she is not responding. And the door is locked from within. Kindly get me someone to help." His voice sounded cool and composed which was completely opposite to what he was feeling inside. The woman nodded and left. In a few minutes, she came back with three men, two dressed in well designer suites and one in a blue-repair overall. Immediately the men stepped in, the men in suites recognized the man leaning on the sink opposite the locked stall.
"Mr. Joseph, we apologize for the delay. I am Mr. Elijah, the manager here and this is Mr. Luwi, my assistant." The slightly larger man in the suit introduced himself to Brandon, who simply nodded to them. "Come on Frank, get moving!" He ordered the man in the overall who immediately went on to break down the lock to the stall. Within a few minutes, it was broken down.
"Stop!" Brandon ordered just as Frank was about to open the door. "That is my woman and we do not know the state she is in in that stall. So…" He said as he began walking to the stall. The men understood and the woman behind them smiled. 'True love.' She thought to herself. Brandon controlled the shaking of his left hand and walked slowly to the door, shut his eyes for a brief moment, almost praying, wishing, then opened the door. There she was, her back leaned against the cistern's front and her head laying on its top. Her hands had fallen freely on her sides and she was unconscious, or asleep. He did not know. She had taken off her shoes and placed them each beside their respective feet. For the first time, in a very long time, Brandon panicked. He picked out his phone and dialed. "Watson, ladies room, Now!" He ordered and went in to the stall as quickly as he could. The other four people in the room wondered what had happened. He came out with the woman lying unconsciously in his arms and carefully placed her on the floor. "Natasha!" He called out, panicking.
"Boss!" Watson had rushed in, followed by Edward, Fred and Jacob who had followed Watson out of curiosity. All the three men were surprised to see Natasha laying on the floor, unconsciously, apart from Watson, who took out his phone: "Simon, Natasha is unconscious…yes… DD City…will she make it?... let me feel her purse…yes, half way strong…okay, let us hurry." Watson then looked at Brandon, whose face had turned cold but everyone could see he was worried and he understood. He immediately took her in his arms again and the eight men and unconscious lady walked out of the rest room in a flash, leaving the woman confused.
In BB City, Heal Care Hospital, VIP Room 100.
Six men were looking at the woman laying unconsciously on the bed. Four were seated and only Brandon and Simon stood next to her bed.
"Relax Bran, she was just tired. I think the previous events of the day may have worn her out." Simon comforted his friend.
"No. If she was just tired, how can she be unconsciously that deep and for that long. I mean, I called out her name severally, and very loudly mind you, we broke down the door, I placed her on a very cold floor, we flew her from there to here, and she did not do a thing? Something is wrong." Simon listened to the words of his friend keenly. That was indeed odd.
"When are her menses due?" He asked after a deep thought. Brandon looked at him in surprise. How could he know that? And what did that have to do with anything? He wanted to ask these questions but he took out his phone and dialed.
"Hello Ms. Ryan. I do not have much time. When is Natasha due for… you know?" He asked, hiding his embarrassment. The other men in the room looked at him and chuckled but stopped when they felt his cold stare. He hung up his phone and said softly to Simon: "Every 12th to 17th. That means it should start tomorrow, maybe?"
"So regular?" Simon continued to enquire as he moved forward and buzzed the button to call in the attending nurse.
"I…guess yes. She said 'every month'." Brandon added and moved closer to Natasha. He observed her. She looked so pale but still so beautiful. Then it hit him. He looked at Simon. "Do you think that it may be…" The nurse rushed in before Simon could reply.
"Nurse, please have a sample of Ms. Claire's blood. Test it for anemia. Be urgent. It may be severe." Simon told the nurse and looked at Brandon. "I hope it is not what we think." Simon proceeded to take the tests and walked out with the nurse. Brandon stood there looking at Natasha turn pale by every minute. The men at the couch looked at him turn more worried every minute. Edward stood up and walked towards Brandon and slowly put his hand on his shoulder.
"I am sorry, brother." He said softly, but loud enough for the others to hear.
"She will be okay. She is a fighter." Brandon answered unknowingly to what he had uttered.
"I know. I know. But I am mostly sorry for the fact that you are deeply in love, and you do not know."