"Yep, she only came to see me briefly"
"Good, so should we continue with our cards now?"
"Ahn ahn, don't you want to know anything apart from cards? Me, I'm tired o" , Kelvin whined and continued after a brief silence
"Well, I have good news guys. I found a good apartment I would like to move into"
"Hmmm, where's the place?" Bode asked
"Around Mandate estate. I wanna go there on saturday, will you come with me?"
"Yeah sure, we will" Bode replied excitedly.
"And Frank too?" Kelvin asked and turned to Frank who gave no answer because he was already deep in thoughts and not listening to their conversation
"Ahn ahn, what's the matter Frank? Why are you absentminded? You've been acting strangely since we greeted Ini and went out" Bode ask hitting Frank slightly on the shoulder with his elbow.
"Mtchew. See guys, let me tell you the truth. I've just been trying to keep this in but I can't anymore. I'm going crazy everyday when I think i will have to live my life without Amarachi. Truth is I've not been able to get her off my mind. The feelings I have for her is growing stronger the more I try to suppress it." He paused and looked at Kelvin with pleading eyes. "Can you tell me their address? I wish to see and speak with her even if its for the last time"
"Ooooooh oh, this Amarachi matter again? Why can't you just forget about her? I don't think I can let you know the address, that might cause a lil trouble for me" Kelvin replied.
"She might never get to love you back, so why don't you just move on with someone else"
"Move on with someone else? Bola?" Kelvin questioned. "And tell me, how will giving me the address cause any trouble for you?"
"Forget about the address Frank and face the challenges you have. I suggest that you try to get along with Bola"
Frank got up and looked at Kelvin with disgust in his eyes, he looked at Bode who was just quiet and listening to them and looked back at kelvin.
"I don't believe you are saying this, how can you suggest I move along with someone like Bola?"
"That might be the only option. Amarachi is probably somewhere now enjoying the love of another man and you're killing yourself here"
"Why won't you say that? When getting Ini for you was so easy" Frank flared up.
"Look here, I'm only telling you the truth. Stop behaving like a kid"
"Me a kid? Something must be wrong with you upstairs"
"Don't insult me Frank" Kelvin stood up and faced him.
"It's okay guys" Bode interrupted. "Don't let this turn into a fight, lets just take dinner and go to bed, we'll discuss this properly later"
"Talk to your friend Bode, tell him to stop acting like a fool" Frank replied and left the living room to his bedroom.
"It's okay" Bode said to Kelvin who was looking at Frank as he walked away. "You know Frank well, you would have been more careful."
"The guy just behaves like a kid, why does he want to kill himself on a girl who doesn't even care if he exists"
"It's okay. Lets go take dinner now"
Amarachi's alarm went off by 5am, she did set the alarm wheb she decided to go to work that day and forgot to turn it off after Kelvin told her her office wouldn't be opened. She couldn't sleep back so she got up at ten minutes to six after hesistating for a while to do some domestic jobs.
She recalled the last night incident where Ini had refused to eat the meal she took time to prepare. She got to the dinning table and met the small cooler still covered the way she left it. She picked up the cooler but was surprised that the weight of had reduced.
On opening it, she found out that someone had changed her mind and decided to take her dinner in the midnight. A portion of the food was neatly taken and the rest in the small cooler was covered and kept neatly probably to discard any suspicions of someone eating from it.
Ama had finished with the washing and was already preparing breakfast when Ini walked into the kitchen to take a cup of water wearing a bony face. As she finished drinking and dropoed the cup, she noticed Ama was staring at her.
"Yes, what is it?"
Ama replied with a smile and placed her hand on the cooler which was on the slab.
Seeing the cooler made Ini remember how she had crawled out of her bedroom at midnight to eat part of the food. She felt like a seven year old kid who has just been caught by her mother stealing meat from the pot of soup.
"Ehn, ehn? You can't even prepare a nice meal, the plantain you fried were the worst I've heard in years, you really need some cooking lessons" She snapped trying to put up a serious face but was surprised as Amarachi kept smiling at her and remain unmoved by her words.
"Good morning Ini" Ama greeted and turned back to continue with her work.
"Good morning", she replied with a forced smile and left the kitchen in a hurry like a kid who just bed wetted and was running from her friends to avoid disgrace.
The friends didn't say anything else to each other that morning again, Ini drove to work silently, wondering if Ama was trying to intimidate her in her own house.
"Bola, what have you come to do again?" Frank asked Bola who just walked into his office.
"You didn't even greet me. Ain't you happy to see me here?" She asked after sitting on the visitor's seat.
"Just state your mission here"
"Alright, since you want to be cold, let's go straight to the point. I've come for us to discuss our wedding date."
"What wedding date?"
"Stop asking me dumb questions. My Dad called yesterday and he only gave us a week to pick a date and then we'll need to wed before the end of next month"
"A week to pick a date? And we'll marry next month? That can't be possible, even if I wanted to marry you.Today is 22nd of February already, how will I prepare for the wedding in the next one month?"
"Don't worry, my Dad will get people to make all the preparation. All he wants is that the wedding IVs should be out before it becomes noticeable to everyone that I'm pregnant"
"Oh poo! How can I quickly plan my escape within this short time" Frank thought to himself
"See, the fact is that I don't want to marry you" he spoke out.
"Why ? You're still insisting on this?"
"Yes, because I'm in love with someone else"
"With Amarachi, I guess"
"Who it is does not concern you"
"Hahaha, Mr loverboy" she laughed. "Do you think Amarachi would ever love you back? Never!"
"Never say so"
"She can't love you back with everything she's heard heard about you"
"Damn" Frank was infuriated, he banged it hands on the table. "What did you tell her about me?"
"Hahaha, don't be angry at me. You should be angry with your Friend Kelvin. He's the one who has been feeding her with stories, he was even caught kissing her when she was sick"
"Liar, you're insane, that's impossible"
"Ask him when you get home and see if he will be able to deny it. You can also ask from Ini"
"If I find out that you're lying"
"I'm not lying, that's what Ini came to sort out with him yesterday. You'll notice she didn't stay long, she left angrily"
"Oh Damn!" Frank stood up and paced the floor angrily.
"Take it easy, that's life for you. Well, that's not what I came here for. Just sit down and let's talk about our wedding"
"I'm not in the mood to discuss anything now. Just get out and I'll call you later"
"But we have to ..."
"Shut up and get out" Frank shouted at her.
"Okay, Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then", Bola replied and hurriedly got out of the office.
Frank continued to pace the floor angrily, he began to understand why Kelvin couldn't give him Amarachi's address. He understood why Kelvin said it could cause a little problem if the address was given.
He also remembered he overhead Ini and Kelvin talking silently about a forced kiss when Ini came to their home.
His anger welled up, if he had a gun at that moment, he would have gone straight to Kelvin's office and shoot him dead instantly. He could now clearly see reasons why Kelvin had always been advising him to forget about Amarachi, he used to think Kelvin cared, not knowing Kelvin was backstabbing him.
TBC......
