Jema looked at him annoyed as she began to feel fear set in.
"Lionel,what is the meaning of this?", she asked,not hiding the shock and anger evident in her voice.
He turned to face her when he heard her call his name before turning back to face the road.
" Calm down,I'm not going to hurt you,I just locked the door because in the few minutes I've known you,I've realised that you behave extremely childish",he said,stretching his hand to tap the online geographical map on his car's tablet.
Jema felt her temper flare up at his poor judgement of her.
"I don't behave childishly, you just have a way of pushing me to the wall,that's all and how could you be so foolish to think that I would attempt suicide by jumping out of your car,I am an adult okay,not a preteen",she said clicking her tongue and turning to take a view of where they were actually going.
She straightened herself in the seat when she saw that they were approaching her office complex, only to frown few seconds later when they passed it.
" You passed it,my office is that way, like there",she said pointing her hands back wards.
He smirked in annoyance at her incessant bickering and knew if he didn't respond, she would get more annoying.
"I'm not taking you to your office,I'm taking you to your house", he stated before adding," for someone so pretty,you sure are dumb".
She became even more angry with his statement. She felt like retorting but didn't have a sensible comeback.
She just pressed her lips into a straight line and look ahead so as not to say or do anything insensible over which he would gloat.
She watched as he continued driving silently,flicking his eyes expertly between the tablet and the road. He drove with such precision that made her wonder how on earth he managed to crash into her car at all.
She looked through the tainted glasses as they closed in to the private estate that she resided in. He had accurately traced her house with no hitch.
Jema couldn't help but be impressed.
He did so without any ruckus as though he had been doing so all his life,which made her wonder what he did for a living.
The car then came to an halt and he leaned back into his seat,turning to look at her. She stared back at him in silence.
He flung his head backwards and sighed. He didn't know how he even got into such a situation with this woman.
"Won't you get down already or are you waiting for me to come open the door for you", he said without turning to face her at all.
She crossed her hands across her chest and refused to look at him.
" Take me to my office",she said adamantly.
"That's it", he said and grabbed her bag before opening up the car and stepping down.
He walked over to her side of the car and opened up the door.
" Move or I move you",he said but she still kept her hands crossed across her chest and looked straight ahead.
"Okay,you asked for it", he commented and moved to carry her.
She gasped as she hadn't anticipated his next line of action. She felt stupid for not thinking that that was going to be his next step.
" Put me down this instant",she said whining like a little child but he ignored her and walked into the compound of her penthouse with her still in his arms.
She wanted to writhe in his arms but became scared that he might drop her causing an embarrassing situation for her. She decided to lock up her ego to secure her dignity.
He opened the door of her house with the key he had taken from her bag and entered into her house boldly.
He didn't spend anytime at all in dropping her on the sofa. He placed her bag in her laps and added before leaving.
"I think you have a minor concussion, so if you love yourself enough not to nag,go grab an icepack in your kitchen",and with that he was gone.
Jema sat on the sofa and for the few seconds thereafter, felt her head begin to reel again. She felt that he was right,maybe she did have a concussion and with that she headed to her kitchen to grab an icepack in the fridge.
She went back to her sofa and felt a cool and relaxing wave course through her body on placing it on her head. She sunk into the sofa letting out a satisfied sigh.
The man was right,she did need rest and lots of it seeing that she had been crazy busy at work since her father got to the hospital.
She suddenly regretted her earlier actions towards the young man. She didn't even know why she behaved so hostile towards him. She then realised that she didn't even get his contact or that of his toll driver.
She didn't even know where the repair shop was. She picked up her bag she kept on the table and quickly ransacked it looking for nothing in particular.
The key to her house was missing. She checked the bag even more carefully but she couldn't still find it. She looked around the sofa and saw that he left it on the table as well as a card. The car wrecker had dropped it before he left.
She picked up the card and read it to find out its content. The card was the business card of the toll driver. She quickly brought out her phone and dialed the number.
The man picked up his phone with a few rings.
"Hello,this is Miss Malteng, I'm calling to ask about my car,when do I come to get it", she asked darting straight to the point.
" Oh,Miss Malteng,good afternoon, well your car is a bit of a hassle to fix,
but don't worry,I have asked one of my boys to take it to the manufacturers,it would be up and running by tomorrow",he said and she thanked him before cutting the call.
She sighed,stood up and headed to her room to cool herself off. She had totally forgotten about her father's proposition in her fit to relax as she sought to have her bath.
She slipped out of her clothes and got into the bathtub,immersing herself in the warm,relaxing water.
Just then her phone rang. She groaned in frustration when she heard it ring. She didn't know who was calling or why but she decided to ignore it until every one of her nerves relaxed.
When she had relaxed to her satisfaction, she washed herself up before stepping out to go pick her phone.
She checked the caller's ID only to be surprised that it was her best friend who had just got married and was on her honeymoon.
She dialed her number and her call was picked almost immediately.
"Lily I'm sorry I didn't pick up your call,I was busy at that moment", she said apologizing.
" Why didn't you tell me the good news,why wait till I hear it myself",her friend questioned.
She chuckled in confusion,
"What good news didn't I tell you", she said with a tiny smile on her lips.
" The news about your new lover,it's all over social media,they even tagged him mystery lover ",she said causing the tiny smile to totally disappear from Jema's lips.
" What!",she screamed over the phone, "I don't have a lover, who the heck are they talking about this time", she said annoyed that the paparazzi were at it again.
" Well go check it out yourself, it's everywhere,bye",she said and with that cut the call.
Jema's hand fumbled on the screen of her phone. She wondered who they might be talking about, ignoring the hunch that it might be Lionel.
She eventually found what Lily was about. Some crazy person had snapshots of Lionel carrying her into her house.
She felt herself breath harder upon studying the pictures. She didn't think that someone was going to intrude her personal space like this and she berated herself for being so foolish. She was usually more articulated than this.
She viewed a blogger's site and clicked the video posted on the page.
"The heiress of the multinational company,Acacia has finally found the man she has been waiting for. According to an unidentified source,the two were seen showing off their affection towards each other in public eyes. There are many speculations as to who this person may be as only the man's side view could be seen in the snapshot but from his attire and his car,fans say he is a person of no mean status".
Jema flung her head back and groaned again but she continued to listen to the blogger.
" People have been wondering how she could handle a company as big as her father's even when she couldn't manage a relationship for too long. She has a record of jumping men who swindled her out of a lot of money,and let's just hope, this one isn't one of the lot",she paused the video at that juncture.
The paparazzi and their constant intrusion of individuals' private lives. She didn't know how she would get herself out of this mess.
Just then her phone rang again. She picked it to see that her father was calling.
"Oh no,did he hear this crap as well", she wondered and picked up the phone.
" Jema,why didn't you tell me you already are in a relationship ",he said not hiding his excitement causing Jema to shake her head in disbelief at how fast lies spread.
" Oh darling,I want to see the young man,I want to speak to him",he continued causing Jema's breath to hitch.
Her father thought that Lionel was her fiance,she didn't even know his name hadn't it been for that truckdriver.
She panicked thinking of what to say to break the news to her father.
"Uhm...dad ...ehm,we might not be able to come,uhm...",
" And why can't you",her father asked,his tone changing.
"It's because he,is ...a busy man", she said hating that she was resorting to lying so as not to hurt her father even more.
" He would be able to squeeze out a few hours for his father in law",he said with a chuckle.
Jema covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head in horror of what was just happening. How did things get this bad.
"Or if you can't get him to come by,send me his number,I'll call him myself", he said making her to shout a quick no.
" I mean,we'll be there... ourselves and in person,so don't stress yourself and relax,you have to recuperate",she said making her father scoff.
"Recuperate, I really don't have more time left,that's why I want to see your future husband,since you refused to let me see my grand babies", he said and her eyes went wide.
" Uhm dad,I heard someone at the door,gotta go,call you later,love you,bye",she said and ended the call realising that her heart was beating fast.
She tried to calm herself down but she couldn't manage to,not when her house was in fire. She had just lied to her dad. She didn't even know anything about Lionel or have as much as his number.
Her mind raced thinking of what next to do and it struck just one idea,to call the truckdriver.
She fidgeted as she dialed his number. He didn't waste much time and he picked up her call,greeting her with amuse in his voice.