Towards the outskirts of Westler City stood a moderately established medical centre called The Glove Clinic.
Like two beans in a pod, Lola and Chelsea were seen entering the hospital facility discreetly.
After almost three hours of different exhausting hospital test procedures and compulsory bed rest, Lola was feeling a lot better and composed. Even her earlier feverish condition seems to have waned.
A couple of medications were prescribed to her by the doctor on duty and she was finally released.
"Since all the test results are not out, I will suggest you go home and rest. I will handle every other thing here." Chelsea suggested, guiding Lola out of the hospital.
"Oh, pumpkin...how am I ever going to thank you for being my fairy godmother in my darkest how?" Lola threw her arms around Chelsea, pulling her in for a warm embrace.
"Me...fairy godmother?" Chelsea laughed out her heart.
"Nah...I'm certainly not a fairy, talk less of a godmother. Tell me, which of those magical creatures have you seen profiting from their kindness? If you haven't realized it yet, I just hit the jackpot with that 1.4 million dollars you sent to my account. I could decide to quit my job now and not work for the next ten years without going bankrupt. You girl are my fairy godmother."
Lola's lips broke into a smile. She was happy that at least the majority of the money Richmond sent her would be enjoyed by her bestie and not her greedy in-laws.
"So, you said Richmond sent you two million dollars, right?" Chelsea opened the front seat passenger door for Lola to climb in.
"Yeah," Lola replied casually.
"Wow!" Chelsea turned around and climbed into the driver's seat, her eyes brimming for more gossip.
"It seems he has a lot of money to throw around. I wonder why he would give such an amount to you as a gift."
"The money is meant for Brian, remember." Lola rolled her eyes at her nosy friend.
"Yeah, but I bet if Brian was the one who went to collect that money, he would give him exactly that 1.4 million and nothing more. Could it be he has a thin for you?" Chelsea wiggled her eyebrows in Lola's direction.
"Chelsea Adam!" Lola's eyes flashed with displeasure.
"It's just a thought." Chelsea chuckled.
"As I told you earlier, Mr Richmond has a girlfriend who practically humiliated me back at his office. Also, may I remind you that I am a happily married woman." Lola clicked her tongue annoyingly.
"Alright Mrs Hart, pardon me. So..." Chelsea started the ignition and put the gear lever in the drive mode. "What do you plan on doing with the remaining six hundred thousand dollars? And please, don't tell me you're going to spend everything on your husband and his ungrateful family."
Lola's forehead furrowed. "They can be overbearing sometimes...
"More like all times." Chelsea scoffed, her eyes on the busy road.
Lola let out a sigh and turned her gaze to the side window, watching the slow movement of traffic on the ever busy street of Westler City mainland. She closed her eyes and imagined what life in the Hart family would be like if she had children.
"Brain is all have, Chelsea. I am nothing without him. If loving him means enduring Rosemary's injustice, then so be it. Maybe this extra money is a blessing. Now we can conveniently offset our house mortgage, pay for Brian's therapy, settle Juana's college tuition, purchase Nana Imelda's wheelchair, construct..."
"Enough... please." Chelsea hissed. "Don't give me a headache with your endless list of responsibilities. Let's let's talk about something else or we could listen to the music on the radio."
Without seeking Lola's consent, Chelsea increased the volume of the R&B music playing on the car stereo and before long both friends were singing and smiling to themselves.
When Lola finally returned home, she was both surprised and alarmed to see Brian waiting at the door, his hand folded across his chest and his gaze slightly void of emotions.
Lola took in a sharp breath and feigned a cheerful smile.
"Did someone miss me so much that he had to wait at the door?" Lola asked jokingly.
Sadly, Brian's chilly expression didn't change. Instead, it became worse.
"Where are you coming from, dear wife?"
Lola felt her legs turn into steel as she remained transfixed on a spot. A million questions and irregular answers collided in her thoughts.
'Could it be that Brian has discovered my visit to the hospital? Is there any possibility that the bastard, Ian got to him? Did Richmond talk to him concerning my ill health? What should I say to keep him from losing his temper?'
"Lola..." Brian's piercing voice broke through the walls of her thought.
"I...I was with Chelsea." Lola blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"Chelsea!" Brian's eyes lit with rage. He moved away from the door entrance and stood before his wife out on the open porch.
"You mean to tell me that you have been with Chelsea for the past six hours or you were with your flirtatious boss, fooling around?"
"Baby!" Lola's trembling voice was almost breaking up. She tilted her head to the right and then to the left to check for any nosy neighbour.
As expected, she found Mrs Clover, the number gossip monger in the neighbourhood pruning the hedges of her fence in late afternoon.
When Mrs Clover noticed that Lola was staring in her direction, she waved at the latter, a fake smile tugging at the edge of her lips.
"Hello, Mr and Mrs. Hart. Just trimming my beautiful flowers to keep those pesky insects away. Carry on with whatever you are doing."
Brian's already contoured face reddened with fury. Without saying another word to his wife or his annoying neighbour, he forcefully took Lola by the wrist and dragged her into the house.
"Baby, take it easy. You will hurt yourself." Lola cried out, ignoring the stinging pain emanating from her wrist. She was more concerned about her husband's weak heart.
Brian slammed the door shut and pulled her into the centre of the living room. He was already sweating from the little exercise that he did and his left hand was massaging his chest as though he was about to experience another heart failure.
"Don't tell me to take it easy on myself." Brian had tears in his eyes as he spoke. "You were suppose to do a simple transaction and come back home. But what do you do instead...huh? You take the whole day doing god knows what. Take a pretty good look at the time, Lola..."
Brian angrily pointed at the wall clock without peeling his eyes away from her. Tears of dejection and hurt were streaming down his face.
"Brian, please stop this. You know it is not good for your heart." Lola tried to touch her husband but he pushed her hands away. "Please, baby... I promise I wasn't doing anything wrong. I wasn't even with my boss. I can explain..."
"Explain what, Lola? All you had to do was go to Richmond's office, get the money, thank him and transfer the said amount to your ruthless boss, before returning home. How come you took the whole day doing that? It's past 5:00 PM, Lola."
Lola turned her head in the direction of the wall clock. She had been so engrossed sorting out her mess that she didn't realize time had flown by.
"I've been waiting all day." Brian continued with his nagging like a forsaken full-time housewife.
"I tried reaching out to you but your phone was switched off. Even Chelsea's line was not reachable. Why on earth will you turn off your phone when you have an incapacitated home-alone husband? What if something bad had happened to me?"
"I'm so sorry." Lola clasped her hand, more tears flowing down her reddened face. She went down on her knees and pleaded earnestly.
"I wasn't feeling too well so I decided to rest at Chelsea's house. I didn't want to stress you because of your condition. You can call Chelsea to confirm my story...please."
"What makes you think that my heart is so weak that I can't take care of my wife?" Brian queried, his ire melting be the second as he watched his precious wife cry.
"Chelsea is not your husband. I am your husband and I am capable of taking care of you irrespective of my condition."
Brian pulled Lola up to her feet and cuddled her tenderly.
"I've been worried sick that something bad might have happened to you. I even placed a call across to Richmond and he told me you left his office before noon. You got me thinking a lot of things. I even thought you were with your boss."
"No...never. I didn't go to see him. After I left your boss's office, I paid back my loan through a mobile app transfer and called to inform him of the transfer. Afterwards, I went straight to Chelsea's office." Lola sniffed, her heart breaking at the lies she was telling her husband.
Brian pulled Lola away from his chest and raised her chin up to look into her enchanting tear-clouded eyes.
"I love you, Lola Hart with every bit of my weak heart..." Brain spoke softly, his right thumb caressing her trembling lips.
"I love you too Brian Hart, with... every ...breath in me." Lola hiccuped on her words.
Brian nuzzled Lola teasingly on the cheek while brushing his lips against her lips.
Parting her lips with his tongue, her took her lips in an intense and passionate kiss.
When they parted lips momentarily to catch their breath, Brian made Lola pledge her vows of fidelity to him.
"My love, promise me that no matter the circumstances, you'll never share your body with another man aside from me."
Fresh tears started flowing down Lola's cheeks. But she quickly buried her head on Brian's chest and said softly.
"I promise."
Brian pressed his lips on her forehead, feeling calm and peaceful once more.
"Baby," Lola called tenderly
"Yes."
"Mr Gibson sent me two million dollars instead of 1.4 million dollars."
"Really!" Brian's eyes lit up with immeasurable joy.
"Yes." Lola nodded her head. "After returning the loan, I have a balance of six hundred thousand dollars in my account."
"This is awesome news, baby." Brian lifted Lola in his arms against her wishes and spun her around in jubilation. "I'll call to thank him later."