Kelvin
The encounter with Irene in my quarters laid a lot of questions on me and it got me thinking. It got to a point where I had to ask myself if I indeed had any feelings for her. That question proved to be a waste of time. I wasn't sure what my decision was. It was just an unsettling tension in my head that needed resolution.
Even with all the confusion in my head, one thought echoed and stood out among the rest. Which was to avoid being alone with Irene at all costs. You would think this wasn't possible but I really implemented it and I was able to completely avoid Irene for the rest of the hot day. Mostly because I spent more time in my room sleeping.
There wasn't much to do on the first and second floor after the workers were done with their work. So I just allowed them to go rest and resign to bed until help was needed. I had a feeling Irene would come search for me, so I quickly got to my room and locked it. The weariness got to me and I went to bed at noon.
By dusk, George and Tina arrived to cook something before they went back home and I made sure to spend time in the kitchen watching them in order to avoid Irene. When my food was ready, I ordered Mike instead to take it to my quarters and I followed him.
When we got to my quarters, he felt something was up. "Hey Kelvin, is something bothering you ? You look tense."
I smiled weakly. "There's nothing to worry about. It's just intrusive thoughts getting the best of me."
"Intrusive thoughts huh ?" Mike arched an eyebrow. "Well, you have to take care of it. You look like someone who's under pressure during a surgical operation."
"What kind of example is that ? That's funny," I laughed. "I'm not in any way in a similar situation like that. Mine is different."
Mike shrugged. "A great person once said; 'Face your problems head on and you won't have to deal with them again.' Deal with them and you'll be free."
"That's very touchi....wait a minute," I realized. "No one said that. Where did you even hear that from ?"
Mike laughed. "Of course, no one said it. That's not the point. The point is, you must face your problem rather than let it trouble you. I'm hoping this would help. I take my leave now."
Mike leaves my room as he puts the food trolley near the parlour. Mike does have a point. I shouldn't let this overthinking get the best of me. I should stay focus and concentrate on my job. It's time I face Irene head on.
The next morning arrived and I felt a bit more at ease. After getting ready for work, I did an inspection outside before moving to the kitchen in the main house. Tina and Mimi were present. They were observing the foodstuffs they had left in the storeroom. I greeted them and they responded amicably.
"I hope all is going well ladies ?" I inquired.
"Yes of course," Mimi replied. "There's no dull moment with you in the house."
Tina punched Mimi playfully for some reason. "She means we are all happy to have you work with us. It's much lighter and comfortable."
I smiled lightly. "That's so kind of you guys. Well, I'm here with today's schedule. The evening meal might be hectic but don't worry, I'll help."
I showed them the schedule on the tablet. "You don't have to strain yourself and help," Tina spoke. "We'll do our best. By the way, we've run out of cabbage, lettuce and carrots, we'll need them for the salad."
"Way ahead of you. I'm going to buy a stock, so start baking some bread and prepare breakfast for the meantime. I'll be back," I assured.
I exited the kitchen and made my way to the door of the main house with the iPad. Just as I had feared, Irene and Lilian were coming from the opposite direction. I gestured Irene to come over and she did. Lilian continued her journey through the hallway.
"We are out of some foodstuffs. I'll need you to accompany me to Mr. Hanson's mall to help me restock. Is that okay ?"
"Fine by me," she smiled. "We can even have a chat as we go there."
I didn't reply. I called a driver and he came by to pick us up. We entered the car and he drove us off to the mall. Mr. Hanson's mall was big. But not huge when compared to the other major malls in the region. The mall had almost everything and business was booming as customers went around purchasing products.
We alighted and got into the mall. Irene led the way and moved to one aisle that had groceries. "Here we are. You can get what you are looking for here."
"Thanks very much," I nodded. "I'll take it from here, Irene."
I moved around the aisle looking for the foodstuffs we were short of. Irene was walking right behind me with the mall trolley, humming.
"So I've been wanting to ask you what the hasty interest in getting to know me already is about." I asked subtly.
"It's nothing serious," she grinned. "You are a really interesting person and you already seem better than the old house manager."
"Is that so ?" I looked back at her as I placed a stock of carrot in the trolley. "What about the other guys in the house ? They were there before me. Aren't they preferable ?"
Irene laughed heartedly, which puzzled me for a second. "Please, no. Not in the slightest for me. I do talk to them once in a while but only because I have to. I don't trust them and I'm sure they do talk about me behind my back."
"So you mean all the guys ? You have a disliking towards them all ?"
"Not really," she mused. "I'm much comfortable with George but Mike and Francis, no way. I think something is fishy with those two. Especially Francis. That's why I keep my distance."
"I see," as I continued walking. "They don't seem the way you portray them so I have a hard time believing that."
"I'm just saying," she shrugged. "They are more than meet the eyes. I'm just pointing that out for you. That's why I want to be good friends with you. The others are.....meh."
"What if I was also someone who had a hidden dangerous past and I was on a mission to hurt you ?" I joked.
"You ? Hurt me ? You wouldn't hurt a fly. You don't look like someone with that intention." she smiled.
"Looks aren't everything," I replied as I dropped some lettuce in the trolley. "You can't solely judge someone by their looks. Before, I had some strange bad vibes when I was close to you but I guess it's over now. I'm sure it was because of the way I saw you in my head."
"And how did you see me ?"
"I'm not telling you," I laughed. "I'll keep that one to myself."
She frowned playfully and beamed in a second. "Fine. So does that mean we will get to hang out today ?"
"No," I said with an emotionless face. "It just means I don't have a bad image about you anymore. This conversation did help me."
She went back to her playful frown.
"Let's finish shopping and head back to the house." I declared nonchalantly.
.
Delilah
For most of my life, it has been anything but exciting. Yes, both of my parents are alive and I come from a rich family but my childhood wasn't a good memorable one. And it was all thanks to my older sister, Sonya.
Fights between siblings is very common in a family but Sonya and I took it to the extremes. Not a day would pass by that the both of us won't have a quarrel or fight. It got to a point that we were separated from each other for a while. But when we got back together, the fighting got worse.
Most of the fights generate from when Sonya wants to always have her way. On most occasions, my dad always defended Sonya and my mom defended me. This also caused small fights between our parents too. The only one who hardly got involved in the fights was our older brother, Gabriel.
The fights raged on till our early teen years. Sonya was 14 and I was 11 back then. During that time, Sonya would not only beat me but curse and insult me as well. That time, I wasn't as attractive as I am now, so it was painful to hear those words from my own sister. That was the turning point that changed our relationship.
I gave her as much space as I could and I hardly spoke to her. It just came natural to me. I didn't see her as my sister anymore. She was more like a stranger living with me. My sister's words also affected my self-esteem. I became a shy and quiet girl. I found it hard to make friends on my own and I was mostly alone. My mom was my only real close person to me.
That was how I lived most of my life. Alone most of the time and once in a while, I'll actually feel like talking to others. When I began my tertiary education in the University of Ghana four years ago, I had hoped my life would change and that I might meet someone special enough to do so.
I did meet Sena in my final year and she's been a handful. She was the one who approached me to initiate the friendship and at first, I wasn't interested. But after persistent trials, I decided to just go with it. It took a while before I could finally speak to her freely. She's in my Linguistics class and we meet physically on Mondays. On other days, we just chat through video calls.
PRESENTLY, it's a hot Monday afternoon and I was seated in a canteen on campus with Sena. We were eating and Sena was periodically glancing at me.
"What ?" I quizzed at her.
"You look moody today," she spoke. "Did something serious happen ?"
I sighed annoyingly. "It's Mr. Baah. I had submitted my project work last week Thursday but this man said he hadn't received it. I told him he should look for it then and that got him angry."
"You said that to Mr. Baah ? Ei Delilah." Sena exclaimed.
"He was pissing me off," I hissed. "So he reported to the H.O.D and I was told to bring my dad to have a meeting on the issue."
"Were they going to expel you ?"
"That was what I feared," I responded. "Well, they wanted to give me a carry over but my dad found a way to sooth them down and I was granted another chance to my project work."
"A carry over in your last year ? When you are about to graduate ? Mr. Baah really wanted to teach you a lesson."
I rolled my eyes. "Jokes on him. It didn't work. I redid my project work and I had to submit it today. This morning, Mr. Baah avoided me and I had to chase him down before he finally accepted my project work."
Sena commented. "This man really hates you. I wonder why that is so."
I finished my meal. "I don't really care though. This will be the last time I'll be seeing him. By next two weeks Wednesday, we will be out of here forever."
We casually laughed together. Sena finished her meal later on. "When we leave, I'll miss you for real."
"Don't worry," I assured. "We can still connect through video calls you know."
"Yeah you're right. I wished I could visit you at your home at least once."
I gave her a serious eye. "You know why I don't want you there yet. When the time comes, you'll visit."
"Alright, alright. If you say so."
Sena is basically the only person who really knows my background. I'm certain my colleagues have no idea who my father is or where I come from. I don't even make it evident. I just live like a normal student among them. Sena however, found out due to the drivers and how much money I spend on campus. She even wants to meet my father but it's not going to be that easy for her.
Sena stretches out and looks behind me. She returns to her formal position. "Delilah, there's a guy in black suit behind us and he's constantly looking in our direction."
"Just ignore him," I said monotonously.
"Fine," she agreed.
After the kidnapping attempt last week Friday, my dad appointed a bodyguard to escort me whenever I leave the house and it's very annoying. Thank goodness I'm finally completing my degree and my last exam will be tomorrow. I can't stand him following me around wherever I go.
"The turn of events with Mr. Baah is great," Sena voiced out. "Glad that is over. So anyways, your last exam is tomorrow right ?"
"Yep," I answered. "When I'm done, I won't step foot on campus till graduation day. When is your last exam by the way ?"
Sena slumped down. "It's on Wednesday. I wished it was tomorrow. Just like yours."
"Too bad," I complimented. "I'm guessing this is the last time we will be meeting face to face for the meantime."
"Yeah," Sena said slowly with no emotion. She sat back properly. "So have you been in touch with Leonard ?"
I beamed when I heard his name but my face changed into a sad one afterwards. "No, I've not heard from him since Thursday."
Remember when I said I was hoping to meet someone special to change my life ? When I met Leonard a month ago, that was what I thought. I met him during a project work meeting and it turns out he was friends with Sena. So she introduced the two of us.
I was shy at first but I found talking to him easier. We met face to face once and since then, we only chat through video calls. Apparently, he said he doesn't always come on campus so it was hard for us to meet but either ways, we still connected through video calls.
"Since Thursday ? That's strange," Sena mused. "I had a chat with him on Saturday, so I'm wondering how he still hasn't reached out to you."
"You had a chat with him ? Why didn't you tell me ? He told me he was busy so we wouldn't be able to chat for a while." I looked concerned at Sena.
She raised her hands in innocence. "I didn't know you guys weren't talking. He just asked me about the Wednesdays exams. That's all."
"I see....Okay, I'll be going now." I stood up.
"Right now ?" she asked with surprise.
"Yeah, I have to go prepare for my last exam tomorrow," I explained. "And besides, talking about Leonard makes me feel...whatever."
I walked towards the exit of the canteen and waved at Sena. "See you later."
"Alright," she responded. "Call me when you are free."
"Okay," I agreed. I left the canteen and my bodyguard followed immediately. I called the driver and soon, he pulled up and I got in. The bodyguard joined and the driver took off.