She hastily ran to hide under the bed from where she could hear muffled kisses and moans.
'Oh, God. No, not today, please,' she prayed silently.
"What is it? Why did you stop?" Steph heard a husky male voice ask Vera.
"I smell a strange perfume," Vera answered back, and Steph's heart beat like the West African drums. She even feared they would hear it.
"You're just being paranoid. This place smells the same as always," the other voice assured, and Steph tried scratching through her memory to recognize the voice, but it didn't ring a bell.
"Mmh. You might be right, but I just want to check the house to see everything is in order," Vera said as she took a step towards the door, but the man held her wrist and turned her to look at him.
"I understand why you're afraid, but I know Ivan can't send someone or come up here himself. Please don't let us waste this chance. I have wanted you for so long,' the man said in an assuring voice as he kissed Vera on the palms.
'Ivan? Is the guy a student at Monich?' Steph asked herself.
"We're safe. Just insist on your current story, and things will fall into place," he went on, and Vera sighed deeply and smiled as she touched her tummy, which had suddenly changed into an asset.
Under the bed, Steph was adding one plus one, and when she finally made sense of what was being talked about, tears slowly flowed down her cheeks.
'S*it! Calm down, Steph. Don't get so emotional and act like you love Ivan,' she assured herself. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw clothes fall down one after the other, and she prayed for a miracle.
"Vera!" Kim called as she entered the house, and though that wasn't the kind of miracle Steph wanted, it was a distraction for Vera and the guy and a welcome relief for her than staying in a house where people were making out.
"S*it! My mom is back," Vera cursed as she took a step away from her lover.
"You said she wouldn't be in for a while," the man argued, and Vera signaled him to keep quiet and run to hide in the closet.
Luckily for Steph, the man bent down to pick up his cloth, his gaze fixed on a panicked Vera, and though it was a good thing because it meant he hadn't seen Steph, it was also bad because Steph hadn't caught a glimpse of his face.
But her biggest nightmare was how she would get out of the house unseen!
"Crystal," Kevin called in a low voice as he stretched on the bed to find it empty. He slowly opened his eyes to see the sun penetrating through the curtains.
"Crystal," he called out again as he sat straight on the bed and rubbed his eyes before looking around the room.
He slowly got down from the bed, and as he walked towards the other rooms, he could hear a muffled voice.
For a second or so, he stood still to listen keenly, and then he heard it again. Crystal seemed to be taking on a call and only answering with one-word answers of yes and no.
Despite not hearing anything suspicious, Kevin felt his heart skip a beat.
"I have been looking for you," he said with a plastic smile as he walked into the kitchen where Crystal was.
She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Kevin's voice, and she fumbled to disconnect the call.
"Who was it?" Kevin asked, trying to act as calmly as possible when in reality, anger was boiling within him and consuming every inch of his being.
"No one, just a friend," Crystal said after clearing her voice, and Kevin scoffed and asked why she had disconnected the phone if that was so.
His eyes were squinted, and a few lines had been drawn on his forehead.
"Uh…I… because when you came in, I remembered I was cooking," Crystal mumbled an explanation, and Kevin turned to look at the kitchen workspace, which had a bowl of mixed flour, a pan, and a few eggs. There was nothing on the cooker.
"Uh, okay," Kevin said with a heavy heart as he turned around to walk out of the room.
Crystal thumped her feet in frustration and stretched her hands to hold Kevin, sensing the disappointment on his face.
"It's not what you think," she said in a loud voice, and Kevin stood still and turned slowly to look at her in hurt and ask what she thought meant.
"He's just a friend. We were organizing how we'll travel back to campus and stuff," Crystal answered hurriedly.
"Then call him," Kevin dared Crystal, whose eyes widened in shock at his request.
"Are you jealous or something?" Crystal asked in hurt, and Kevin scoffed.