Afterward, Louis laughed softly and pulled her nose, and requested, “Tell me you are joking, my sweetheart.”
To buttress her point, Olivia looked straight into his eyes, and declared, “Louis, I'm not joking. The doctor's report said I'm pregnant.”
“What?” Louis screamed, and sat up from the bed like one under a spell. Then, he walked briskly to the wall, and faced it for a moment while she watched him in trepidation. Subsequently, he spoke up, “Olivia, how can you be so careless? Are you a kid? Do you mean that after graduating from the university, you cannot take care of yourself?”
At that moment, Olivia got down from the bed too, and walked up to him. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and opined with a husky voice, “Honey, I thought you will receive the news with joy. You told me I’m the only woman in your life, and besides, you have proposed to marry me. Why all these?”
Nevertheless, Louis took a deep breath, calmed down, and cupped her face with his two hands and admitted, “Yes, you are the only woman and I love you so much. It is just that I am not prepared for marriage now.”
In addition, Olivia crinkled her brow in bewilderment, and asked, “Why did you propose marriage to me when you are not prepared?”
She waited for his response, but he was bereft of speech. Then, she elucidated, “You are doing well in business, and you are twenty-four. Besides, you are the only son of your parents. Now, I’m out of school. So, what is stopping us from getting married, as you proposed to me?”
Now, Olivia was already tearing up while she talked. Likewise, the distraught Louis released her and gave her a stern look, not minding the tears dripping from her eyes, before he poured out his heart nonchalantly, “I suggest you abort it, Olivia.”
Meanwhile, Olivia, who was yet to recover from his excuses that held no water, flared up and yelled, “What! Abortion? Did you hear yourself, Louis? Can you think of such a thing?”
Nevertheless, Louis walked to the wardrobe, and dressed up. Then, he brought out a pack of cigarettes, pulled out a stick and lit it up with the lighter on the reading table. Afterward, he held it between his index and middle fingers. Olivia, was aware that he smoked only when he was angry, stood and watched him. Not minding that she detested that, he inhaled and removed the cigarette before he repeated himself, “Abort it, Olivia.”
“Louis, is this coming from you? You are talking about our baby,” she remarked, and waited for his response. Instead of responding, he sucked in the smoke, gently, and blew out. Then, Olivia continued with her sermon, “Don’t you know the risk involved in abortion, and besides, it is a crime against humanity? You don’t even know what the child will be in the future.”
Now, Louis sat on the bed smoking his cigarette nonchalantly, Olivia went on her knees, with tears rolling down her cheeks and pleaded, “Please, honey, reconsider your stand. Consider our baby. What will my parents say about me?”
Instantly, Louis took a quick puff on his cigarette, and became furious. Then, he explained, “Olivia, I'm still young. I'm not ready to marry now. This is my stand; abortion and the relationship continues or leave my house for good.”
Thereafter, he attempted to walk out of the room, but Olivia cried out, and tried to stop him. However, he eventually walked out of the bedroom, and left Olivia, who was sobbing, unrestrained, to her fate. After ten minutes of weeping without consolation from him, she dressed up and picked her belongings. Then, she walked to the parlor and met Louis watching the television, unperturbed. She cast a last look at him and announced, “Louis, I'm leaving.”
She thought that would make him change his mind, but he was resolute and declared, “Please yourself.”
She looked at the time, and it was 10 PM. Then, she looked at Louis, who was not planning to give her a ride and she left his house at Oak Avenue by herself after she ordered for a cab.
At Olivia's Bedroom.
She sobbed all through the ride to her house in Baden Powell Road. Then, the cab driver, a thirty-year-old guy, who was moved by her condition, could not help but console her, “Young lady, I can feel your pains, but my advice is simple. Another door cannot open if one does not close. Cheer up.”
“Thank you,” she said. The taxi took her home at 10:25 PM, and she got out of the taxi with her suitcase and walked towards her apartment. Meanwhile, Her parents were Missionaries, and had been on foreign missions in Egypt, and that made her matter less tasking.
“Olivia, you are back. We were not expecting you home tonight,” the janitor greeted.
“I see,” she gave them a perfunctory response before walking to her room. Now, she sat down all alone on her bed, and soliloquized. After a few seconds, she sat up and paced up and down in exasperation.
'What will mummy say about this? How do I face her? Father will certainly disown me. No one has ever done this in my family. I’m so ashamed of myself. Can Louis do this to me? What do I do now?'
She asked numerous questions to no one but herself. Nevertheless, she was truly ashamed of herself, so, she sobbed and meditated a bit and came up with an idea.
'I will go down to Dover, the capital, to see my school mother, Julie Bailey. Although I have not heard from her for some time, but I will trace her through her family name. She is the only one who would harbor me until I have my baby. Abortion, is never an option.'
Now, different thoughts flew in and out of her mind while she soaked her pillows with tears.
'Just like that? Is it over between us?' She wailed uncontrollably, and rubbed her flat stomach. When her eyes drifted to her purse which contained her phone, a thought came to her mind.
'He must have called to say he was sorry,' she wished. The black purse had been on the reading desk since she walked in. She hurriedly picked it, opened and removed her phone. Then, she pressed the power button and, to her whammy, no call or message from the first man she had ever loved. Furthermore, she tossed her phone aside, and cried buckets until she drifted off to sleep.