FLASHBACK
Naya got down from the cab in her mini black dress and nicely packed her. It was another amazing weekend to spend her evening on a few drinks and some new friends she might probably make. Club G was known for its loud songs and expensive guests, so as soon as she walked in, she knew she had arrived. She smiled at strangers and took her favorite shot of champagne. A few minutes into the party, she noticed some girls acting strangely and dancing seductively on the dance floor. Naya found that absurd and giggled at the embarrassment. She sipped her drink. “Your gown looks so nice,” a lady in a designer dress told her, as she sat before her. “I swear, when I saw you from a distance I knew that you were a damsel. I knew there was definitely something special about you.” Naya smiled with a grateful look. “Thank you,” she said with a polite tone. “I didn’t know I dressed that well.” “Baby girl, you did,” the lady got comfortable so quickly. “My name is Amelia.” She stretched her hand for a handshake. Naya accepted the shake and gave Amelia an admiration. The girl didn’t look bad at all, and her jewelry selection was amazing. “Have you checked out the guys? They look so hot!” Amelia directed her focus to the VIP section. Naya did find them amusing, but that was it. She had no interest in men, especially not after her scary past. Her sick mother went through a lot in the name of love; beating, abuse, narcissism… freak! Curse love! It wasn’t her strongest point at that point. “I guess the guys chill here after office,” Naya said, staring away from the men and watching the girls dance crazily as usual. “They always chill here after office,” Amelia agreed. “Some are married. They come here to escape their nagging wives for a while.” Both Amelia and Naya laughed. Naya was beginning to grow to like her. “Do you come here every day?” Naya questioned. “I wish,” Amelia giggled. “But nope! I only attend the club on the last day of the month. It sucks, I know. But that’s life for you.” Amelia waved to the waiter and took a glass of drink from him. “There is the latest drink going round. People call it a classic. Do you wanna have it? It will be on me.” Naya admired the crystal clear wine. She collected the glass from the waiter and thanked Amelia for the wine. “I have heard a lot about Club G introducing new wines, but I never knew they shipped them in,” Naya said. “Of course, they do,” Amelia nodded. “It’s been two weeks now.” Naya took a gulp of half of the drink and loved the taste. She took the rest of it. “This tastes so good,” she widened her eyes in shock. “Exactly my point,” Amelia collected the empty glass from her. “It’s a special kind of wine. That’s why ladies grow crazy for it these days.” “Can I have another?” Naya felt herself gradually getting addicted to it. “Nope, baby girl. One is enough. The crazy effect of one glass is enough for you already. I hope you are strong enough to handle it. I do not think those girls are strong enough,” she pointed at the few ladies Naya judged to dance crazily. It was at that moment, Naya realized that she was in trouble. “Wait!” Naya gasped in fear. “What did you give me again?” “Chill girl,” Amelia calmed her. “You won’t always feel this way. You will just be a bit crazy and that’s it.” Naya felt her mind slowly get fuzzy. She got an instant excitement from nowhere that she couldn’t understand. This made her tremendously uneasy, as her mind began to wander into a delightful world. “O! Naya look!” Amelia pointed towards the door. “There is another hot one!” Naya turned towards the door and her hormones immediately quickened. It was Brett. *** Lovelyn wasn’t happy with Naya questioning whether her husband attended clubs or not. Although she knew he did, she couldn’t bear the discomfort it caused. “Why would you ask that?” Lovelyn asked with a frown. “I just wanted to be sure. He looks familiar, that’s all,” Naya said as she concluded her meal. “This question isn’t the right question to ask here,” Lovelyn said with a calm tone. “My husband goes to the club to hang out with friends for a while, but that’s it. It’s not a big deal. This is straight up disrespectful now.” “I am sorry,” Naya apologized. “I am just…” Naya turned to Brett and stopped talking. For some reason, he looked very worried and she couldn’t tell why. Perhaps he knew something she did not. After the dinner, Lovelyn hurried to the restroom to relieve herself. “Why would you ask my wife if I attend clubs? Are you trying to sabotage my marriage?” He asked. “You look familiar to me, that’s all,” she defended herself. “I think I have seen you somewhere. I am trying to remember where.” “At a club?” He arched his brows. “Your wife didn’t deny you ever going there. Do not act like a saint or something,” Naya argued. Brett sighed and nodded. “Yes,” he agreed. “I used to attend clubs, but I have stopped now. Something happened in the past and I do not want it to repeat itself.” Naya arched her brows. “It seems what you did was very very bad,” she looked cunning. He stared at her unsure of why she acted so weird “My personal business is none of your business,” he said with a harsh tone. “Well, whatever,” she shrugged. “You just look like someone that would have a one night stand.” Brett was speechless. “Excuse me?!” He looked mad. “What the hell are you talking about?” Naya smiled. All she wanted to do was give her baby away. The conversation of her one night stand was boring to her and she didn’t want to talk about it. “Nothing,” she lied. “You just look like a playboy, that’s all.” She acted so weird and he was beginning to hat few her. He took a last sip of his drink and focused on his chicken. During his time at the club, he drank a sparkling wine. A wine that drew him nuts. Thanks to this stranger who had to remind him of how unfaithful he had been. “Look, Naya,” he gave her a piercing look. “Let us stop talking about this.” “Why?” She asked. “I only said you looked like a playboy.” “You will mind your business and focus on the baby and that’s it! Do not bring your assumptions into this. You do not know me at all.” Brett warned. “I am back,” Lovelyn joined them with a smile as she grabbed her purse. “I hope you didn’t miss me much. Shall we?” She turned to Brett. “Yes…yes… let us leave,” Brett was very desperate to leave now. Naya rolled her eyes nonchalantly. Something about Brett made her so sure that he was definitely the man she slept with. She hissed with frustration. At least she would give the child to the father. Wasn’t that better than nothing? “Bye, Naya! See you on Monday,” Lovelyn waved her bye. Naya waved back. Naya wasn’t that cruel. She would definitely play along and tell Lovelyn nothing. She wanted her mother to recover quickly, and as soon as she was done with the surrogacy nonsense, she would move out of the country. Brett wouldn’t be at loss anyway. He would be with his child as he wanted; his flesh and blood. But it wouldn’t be for his wife, it would for the woman he had a night stand with. Naya smirked. “I will definitely keep our secret, Brett,” Naya thought to herself. “You won’t ever know that the child isn’t your wife’s but mine.”Brett laid on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Since his thoughts were calm and his body was relaxed, the memories he sought slipped in slowly. That night, he attended the club to drink with his friend. While they joked and experimented on the sparkling wine with everyone over hyped, one of them pointed out to a lady in black dress who was sitting at the bar counter. “I can bet 1000 dollars that you won’t get that lady to lie with you,” the dare came. At that point, his senses weren’t working anymore, and he’d forgotten he was married. In fact, they had forgotten he was married too because they saw his wedding ring as an accessory and took it out of his finger. “Go! Go! Go!” They chanted as they slipped the ring into his trouser pocket. Brett nodded and went to meet this gorgeous figure. Her back was turned towards him, and she was speaking to a regular customer whom he knew. “Amelia, let me steal your guest for a moment,” he suggested. Amelia agreed and walked away, blow
FLASH BACK “Let go of mum!” Naya pulled her abusive father from her mother, but her father slapped her hard on the cheek, sending her flying on the couch. Tears streamed down her cheeks, as she watched him torture her mother with a belt. “Please stop it! I beg of you!” Her eight-year-old self pleaded helplessly as she watched. This wasn’t the first time, and it might probably not be the last. What was the point of having a child, if you couldn’t care for her? What was the point of birthing a child in the world of torture? A world where her mother is being maltreated. Naya couldn’t bear the thought of this anymore. “Let him show his love the way he can show his love, dear,” her mother said to her all the time. “Let him be the husband he can be.”“I do not want this kind of love!” Naya cried. “No one should love like this. I should never have been born into this kind of home.” “It’s fine, my love,” her mother stroked her hair. “My father used to show my mother this kind of love to
FLASHBACK“Where is your mother?” Naya’s elementary school teacher asked, as she submitted her assignment before the whole class. It was Parents-Teacher’s Day that week and her mother was specifically invited to check her grades. Since her mother claimed to have slipped and fell the previous night, she made an excuse not to come. Naya knew her mum didn’t slip and fall. The sight of the cut on her arm and the red marks on her neck, made it quite obvious that something was wrong. And it was her father that was wrong, not the wet floor. “She slipped and fell,” Naya said anyway, before walking back to her seat. How much she had started learning how to lie to cover up her mother’s pain from the age of six. Her mother taught her it was great, and it was for their own good. There was nothing good about it. In fact, nothing came out of it at all. But thinking about this. Naya wondered how she was different from a home-wrecker. She was Lovelyn 's husband affair, and aside from that, she was
The memory slowly set in and Brett became more and more aware of the face he saw. It was Naya. This sent him shivers and he felt more reason to stay away from her. Each time Brett saw Naya’s face, he was reminded of his mistake and the dark secret he had to hide from his wife. He wanted to keep away so bad but Lovelyn kept making things more difficult for him. During the next ultrasound, Lovelyn advised him to go with Naya alone. He hated the idea and didn’t want to leave without his wife. He hated the awkwardness when the doctor talked about the child around him and Naya. Things only got more awkward now that he knew it was Naya he slept with. He couldn’t tell her the truth. He feared letting her know.“Your child is growing very fast,” Doctor Doris told them as she turned off the monitor and printed out the result. “You are doing a great job taking good care of Naya.” Naya faked a smile, even though she knew that was not the case. “I guess there is 3 months left,” he said as he ho
FLASHBACK Naya Aurora arrived home to the sound of something breaking in her home. She couldn’t tell what it was, but her anxiety heightened, knowing something wasn’t right. She hurried in promptly, and was shocked to see her whole house upside down. “Mum?” She called, wondering what was wrong. There was no response. Instead, there was more glass breaking. Her aunt wasn’t around at that time since she went for her monthly pilgrimage visit. Naya followed the sound of the breaking and arrived at her mum's bedroom where her dad had a gun in his hands. He was threatening his mother’s life with his gun, asking her to give him all the money she owned and repay him for all he did for her. Her mother was clueless of what to do. Naya could tell that her mother was helpless and needed all the help she could get. Naya smartly snuck out of the room since he hadn’t seen her and called the police immediately. When she was certain they were on their way, she walked back into the room where he w
Naya walked into the kitchen and struggled to get a bowl down from the top cabinet. As she tried and tried with all the strength she had, she took a stool to help support her. “Stop,” Brett stopped her as he held her hand to prevent her from climbing the stool. “Let me help you, okay?” She nodded and watched him pull the bowl down for her. Her eyes couldn’t leave his physic as he assisted her with that little gesture. Her eyes admired his muscles and his sexy beard. His Adam apple bounced, and his chest looked comfortably broad. She snapped out of her thoughts and concentrated on the bowl. Why was she suddenly thinking like that? This was someone’s husband. Perhaps that was why Lovelyn was mad at her. She was beginning to grow to like her husband. This wasn’t allowed at all. “Have it,” he handed her the bowl. She thanked him and placed the bowl down on the counter, before pulling the packet of berries from the fridge. Her pregnancy was definitely getting into her head. For some rea
FLASHBACK “A man must never lay his hand on a woman, no matter how mad he is,” Desmond told Naya, as she gave him her torn bag to help her fix. Naya was 13 years old at that time and Desmond had recently moved into their home. He was now called her father and everyone told her to bear his surname Aurora. She remembered exploring her school premises telling everyone that she was Naya Aurora. "Naya what now?" Some asked in confusion, wondering why she would change her surname from Chase to Aurora. "Aurora is a cool name, isn't it?" She would flaunt it like it is some reward. It was definitely a reward for her because she deeply loved the name a lot. The name reminded her of how lucky she was to be strongly affiliated with a man who wrote very good books and sang beautiful songs in the name of her mother. “What if the woman gets out of control and persuades the man to hit her?” Naya asked, as her father placed the torn bag into a polytene bag. He was probably going to give it to his
TOUGH DECISIONS***FLASHBACKWhen Desmond walked her mum down the aisle for the first time, Naya couldn’t stop cheering, as she clapped her hands innocently with tears running down her cheeks. There were few guests on that day, including Desmond's parents and her mum’s siblings. Naya watched her new parents exchange their vows and put on their wedding rings cutely. Her chubby lips couldn’t stop grinning, and her aunt pulled out her old rusty phone to take a picture of them. “Till death sets us apart,” her mum said after they concluded their marriage speech at the pulpit. “Till death sets us apart,” Mr Desmond concurred with a nod. Naya remembered the look they gave each other in the eye, and how she thought they looked so adorable. “I want to experience love like this,” she remembered telling her aunt, who nodded. “When you grow up dear,” her aunt advised. “When you grow up.” ***Naya battled with the pain in her stomach as she held Brett’s hand trying to breathe. Lovelyn was i