It was like a knife piercing into Bassy's heart when the word hit her.
"Does that mean you won't take me to him if I decline your proposal?" she asked, pushing Nathan's hands off her body and speaking furiously.
Nathan smirked devilishly. "Yes," he answered, locking his eyes with Bassy's.
Bassy was amidst startle and fury. It was obvious, even as Nathan glanced at her, that she was burning inside. "Okay then, tell me the location," she spoke in an authoritative tone with a trace of apprehension under her firm tone.
Nathan let out a loud chuckle. "The security won't even let you stand an inch closer to his gate, talk more of giving you the opportunity to pay attention to your words. Edu has a woman in his life, perhaps, they are deeply in love with each other, and she's a woman of class. Come on, Bassy, wake up from your daydreaming," he said, lowering his gaze and speaking with a soft and admiring voice. "The Edu you used to know no longer exists; I bet you don't know who Edual is. That name is big in the whole of Nigeria. The earlier you get used to this, the better for you."
"Then why did he accept to meet me?" Bassy asked with a cracky tone, tears blurring her vision.
"Well," Nathan stammered, "I pleaded with him that I could see so much desperation in your eyes, imploring him to give you a second of his attention," he glanced at Bassy empathetically, softening his voice. "I know you really want to see him, and only I can make this work. I'm not begging or forcing you to do anything, but you might not have this opportunity again because I'm going to tell him you never showed up."
Tears streamed down Bassy's eyes as she went on her knees, promptly soliciting. "Nathan, please don't do this to me. I've always known you to be a calm and nice person back then. I know that humanity is still in there."
Her reaction drove Nathan taunted. "Why does she want to meet Edu so eagerly?" he asked himself, figuring out what to say next. He peeked at Bassy with pride written all over his gesture. "Well, the more desperate, the more expensive. You may never have this opportunity again," he uttered, pivoting towards the entrance door. "You have 10 minutes to decide whether to leave my house or follow me upstairs."
He stood in front of the entrance door, his fingers dancing on his phone's screen while his eyes got locked on the screen.
"Why is he being so wicked to me? I know the village people see me as a spoiled brat that got what she deserves, but is Nathan being very serious over this? Having sex with him just to meet with Edu will be the last thing I'll do in my life. What if he gets me pregnant and denies me again? Why am I even thinking about this? It's never an option, and I'll never give in to such a cheap trap," Bassy thought to herself.
Bassy was on her knees, lost in thought when the deep bass voice of Nathan brought her from her turmoil.
"Your time is up. What did you decide?"
It was like something fluttered in Bassy's stomach as the deep, mean voice frightened her.
She was about to say, "Please, Nathan, I need your help. You are the only person that can link me with Edu," when Nathan widened his eyes, yelling for her to keep her words while he opened the door widely for her to get out of his house if she didn't want to cooperate.
Bassy saved her words as instructed as she carried her son silently, leaving the house.
"Look at who is playing hard to get for me," disappointed Nathan started ranting while watching Bassy walk to the exit gate. "This girl that all the men in Abudu have finished sleeping with. Someone that Edu used and dumped. Instead of you to be jumping up that I gave you the opportunity to have sex with me, I can see definitely that you were born to suffer. I even offered to take care of your jeopardized life. What a stupid girl."
Bassy had a huge sigh of relief as she closed the gate behind her, while the sounds of the piercing words faded away. "Did Edu really dump me deliberately? Is that what he told his friends? That he dumped me after using me?" Any other word Nathan had said earlier sounded more like background noise compared to the sound of "Edu dumped you after using you." She just couldn't stop the words from replaying in her head as they persistently echoed.
Bassy felt extremely disappointed in Nathan's unexpected behavior. She kept on thinking if he really wanted to take advantage of her or if Edu really asked him to do so it was really unusual to see Edu's from behave like that even if she knew after her pregnancy people's thinking perspective about her changed completely.
As the evening draped the compound in a cloak of tranquility, Bassy made her way towards her modest abode, passing by Nsisong who diligently scrubbed their employer's car, preparing it for the next day's duties. "Good evening, sir," she greeted with a forced smile, concealing the turmoil within.
Returning the greeting, Nsisong couldn't help but notice the unease etched on Bassy's face. "Are you alright?" he inquired, pausing his work to focus on her. Putting on a facade of normalcy, Bassy replied, "Yes, I'm fine," her lips forming a tight smile as she continued toward her room, eager to evade conversation.
"You don't look fine to me, you look miserable," Nsisong observed, pausing from his work to focus his attention on her.
Bassy, respecting Nsisong for bringing her to the compound, couldn't ignore him. "It's nothing serious, just exhausted," she said, trying to maintain composure.
Nsisong, aware of Bassy's plans to visit her son's father, expressed concern. "You told me you were going to see the father of your son. I saw how excited you were when you were leaving. I've known you for a while now, and I'm sure it didn't go well. But it's fine if you don't want to talk about it. I'll respect your decisions and privacy," he said gently but firmly.
Something fluttered in Bassy's chest as she realized she had already informed Nsisong of her whereabouts for security reasons. Unconsciously, tears welled in her eyes as she thought of her son's father. She wiped them away quickly, but Nsisong had already noticed.
Nsisong advised her to put Gabriel, her son, to bed and then come back to explain everything. "You never can tell who might help you," he added sympathetically.
After putting Gabriel to bed, Bassy returned and explained everything to Nsisong in detail. He sighed in disbelief at Nathan's unexpected behavior. They both hailed from a small village far from the state's capital, where Nathan should have treated Bassy kindly, regardless of her status.
Seeing how desperate Bassy was, Nsisong suggested she attend one of his shows on her next day off and wait for him backstage afterward. "You might be lucky to meet him there," he said.
Bassy agreed, but she worried about not knowing her way around or how to find out where Nsisong's next show would be.
Nsisong assured her he would personally take her to the venue of the next show and advised her to start following up on where EduaL is performing next.