Chapter Two

Thursday mornings were meant to scoop up the rich brats and tourists who came all the way from distant cities and countries to explore the serene landscapes and locations in California, but Dele’s shoulders slumped immediately when he realised he had another motive for this very day.

He needed to locate Sonia’s family. Just like he had done on previous mornings, Dele revisited the dreams he had, his psyche generating conflicting thoughts. He didn’t realise how many minutes he had spent standing in the same spot. The absolute silence explained to him that he had been left all alone—or not.

Richie stepped out of his room, a sketchbook in one hand and his headset in another. He glared at Dele, examining his looks.

“Too hot for an Uber driver.” Richie commented, settling on the couch. Dele rolled his eyes in irritation, spitting out the words that rolled into hot balls of fury just before he could stop them.

“… and you are too built to be jobless.” Dele purred, staring down at his loosened tie. 

“Be original, man. Those are mother’s lines; not yours.”

“Whatever,” Dele scoffed, scanning his pockets to confirm if he had taken his keys upon exiting his room.

“Speaking about Uber, does Bella know about this yet?”

Such a question within the midst of his mother or Bella would have made him stab Richie just before he proceeded with his speech, but Sonia’s death was occupying his mind greater than anything else he would have believed to have held higher in terms of priority levels.

“Speaking about a job, why aren’t you job hunting?” Dele threw the nerve wrecking question; unapologetic of how it would have made Richie feel. That was something he would have immediately taken back, but he was basically living the life of a ‘Meh’ at that moment.

Richie smiled, “Just come out clean with her, bruh.” he advised. “She genuinely loves you; that I can assure you. I don’t know why you would have done such a thing in the first place.”

“Oh really?” Dele snapped, walking towards Richie. “How else do you think I would have gotten to myself the heart of the woman I fell in love with hopelessly, huh? She’s a well known celebrity, mannie!” Dele hissed. Richie stared at him for a moment before shifting his gaze to the sketchbook sitting on his crossed legs.  He was well aware of how much Dele despised being ignored, but he went on sketching.

“People who slice the cakes don’t eat crumbles, Richie.” Dele stated. Richie dropped his pencil and clasped his sketchbook shut, flung the book away blindly as he stared at his brother in disbelief.

“So your lie defines true love?” Richie asked.

“This is what life taught us all, Richie. Have you suddenly forgotten?” Dele fired back. His thoughts revisiting memories of his years as a teen inflicted immediate pain to his heart, and Dele regretted responding to his brother’s compliment; as that wouldn’t have led them to discussing Bella—or the past.

“Listen,” he said, motioning his hands in demonstration. “I love Bella, and she does too, but … would she have considered loving me as …” he gestured at himself. “… as this? A common Uber driver?”

Richie remained numb for a few seconds before he scoffed. “Believe me, brother. I am not in anyway sorry for thinking that you are stupid.”

Dele raised a brow like he was questioning his brother to revisit his words, but the stoical look on Richie’s face demonstrated he meant what he had said.

“If this is what you consider as the option for Bella to be in love with you, then I should be correct when I say that she’s in a relationship with you for your money and nothing more.”

Dele opened his mouth to object, but his voice betrayed him.

“Listen, brother. Let’s be honest with ourselves. I do not see any reason why Bella would reject a good looking man like you when you’re just as financially stable as every other person. You,” he spread his arms out. “You gave this to us, Dele. You gave us a new life, a roof over our heads, a happy and satisfied family … and I don’t see why Bella should consider you any less lovable, bruh.”

Dele stared at the tiled floor like he was just getting to notice them for the first time. He could feel the conflicting situation in his heart which was torn between paying heed to Richie’s words and the fear of losing Bella in the process.

Richie got up from the couch, his eyes scanning the living room for his sketchbook.

“Over there,” Dele pointed out to the sketchbook laying behind the sofa opposite where he sat. Richie retrieved his sketchbook and pencils, turning for the stairs afterwards.

“You can’t continue to keep her from meeting our parents, Dele.” Richie stated, turning back to face Dele. “It’s best to come out clean with her. A marriage can’t be based on lies, and when the lie is discovered, that marriage crumbles instantly, brother. Think about it.”

And he was gone.

Dele’s head hung low; his head running through a series of thoughts. His phone chimed and he plopped it out of his pocket.

The caller ID read Ketaro.

A plastic smile crept past his lips as he answered the call.

“D. George,” Ketaro hailed. Dele had withheld the urge to smile genuinely but ended up chuckling. 

“You never called me this early, man. What’s happening?” Dele inquired.

“You can come over today, right?”

“Come on, bruh. Today is …”

“… of course, I know the response. It’s a Thursday and you have to take advantage of those who frequently visit.” Ketaro mimicked, recalling similar excuses Dele had given in the past. “I’m talking about later tonight, man.”

Dele gasped softly. “Err, that’s fine. I’d be there. You sure nothing’s wrong? Because Thursday calls are always meant to announce something bad or talk about a girl you failed to hit up.”

Ketaro sighed. “You always have your way of dragging my pants, don’t you?”

Dele chuckled softly, responding in a pretentious manner. “Come on, bruh. I don’t do that, do I?”

“Catch up later, bruh.” Ketaro hollered and ended the call.

Dele stared at his phone for a moment and chuckled. He knew his expensive joke had hit a hard blow on Ketaro’s gut, for he was never successful in keeping a relationship. Ketaro’s way of dismissing the urge to get offended was by either walking away or changing the subject—which explained his sudden dismissal and terminating the phone call.

Dele sighed, burying his phone back into his pocket. He stared at the living room, cursorily looking out for anything odd. Satisfied, he turned for the door. His mind kept racing  to Sonia’s bag as he walked towards his car. He couldn’t tell exactly what to expect, but he knew he had to meet with her family.

••

Emily pressed down hard and swiftly on the gamepad as she battled against a virtual opponent on PubG. She hissed and muttered cuss words, alerting the female employee who was just beside her working desk. She took a glance at the employee and wavered her hands, returning her attention to the video game.

“Head to the safe zone, you idiot.” her teammate in the game who has been killed already yelled at her. She adjusted the headphones she had on and fired right back at him. 

“I am no idiot, f*cker; I am a professional.”

Unaware of the eyes staring at her from their respective desks, Emily kept tapping furiously at her gamepad as she struggled to camouflage along the borders of the safe zone —a very risky strategy.

Emily felt a tap on her shoulder, and that was enough to piss her off immediately. 

“You can always hand this over to another employee! I am not the only one here to review—oh shit!” she turned backwards and realised it was her superior standing before her. The supervisor had his arms folded before his chest, a flat expression sitting on his face. 

Emily jerked right up immediately, cursing the supervisor intensely in her mind as she was sure she had been wasted by the surviving squad in the game. The supervisor turned around, his hand raised.

“My office. Now.”

That was all; he had taken off in his majestic strides. Emily knew better than to delay him for less than a second, so she hurried up to him, trying to catch up. She heard muffled giggles and snickering from her fellow employees who had watched the supervisor catch her playing video games during the working hours. Yelling at them to mind their business would have been compensation for losing the game, but not when she was still trailing behind the supervisor.

“Excuse me,” she called out, hoping she wouldn’t be facing the same fate as Sonia. “Believe me; that wasn’t a video game.” she muttered, smiling nervously. They walked past a few employees who exchanged pleasantries with the supervisor. The supervisor remained ignorant to Emily’s pleading and continued his walk to his office.

The cool air brushed past Emily’s face as she stepped into the office. Rather than taking her time to inhale the strong scent of the huge flower vase—which was on either side of the door—like she will always do, Emily stared at her supervisor as he took his seat calmly on the leather chair, a stoic expression on his face.

“Take a seat, Emily.” he said, gesturing to the seat opposite his. 

Emily shook her head instantly. “I’d rather remain standing, sir.” she insisted.

The supervisor let out a short laugh, resting his back on the chair. “I insist, Miss Emily. Take a seat.”

Doubting the change in her supervisor’s demeanor, Emily sat on the chair, intertwining her fingers tightly as she whispered silent prayers.

“I just wanted to ask a few questions …”

“This is the end of me.” Emily thought. “He’s going to question my actions and then dismiss me?” sporadic thoughts about being moments away from being dismissed stormed her mind, her hands squeezing tight against each other as she fought the urge to go on her knees and plead fervently.

“I wasn’t expecting to be the one dropping Sonia’s sack letter at the door to her office on that day, but I believe the management had genuine reasons to do so.” he sighed heavily, shifting the laptop on his desk to the left. He moved the chair closer to the table top, resting his elbows on it. “I’m sure you must have spoken to her after that day, haven’t you?”

Emily sighed, relieved that he had, after all, not brought her down to his office to get her prepared to be dismissed from work. Knowing fully well the close-knitted friendship that exists between Sonia and Jude—the supervisor, Emily knew he was eventually going to ask after her.

“Truth be told sir, I haven’t heard from her in days.” she confessed. Jude leaned in closer, his face clouded with astonishment. 

“You are lying, aren’t you? You are her best friend.” 

Emily hit her forehead slightly. “I have been trying to reach out to her for two days, and … it’s so scary I haven’t heard from her.”

“What about her house? Did you try visiting her?”

“Of course, I did. She wasn’t home either. Her neighbour confirmed it too.” she explained in a sulky tone.

Jude leaned back on the chair, his fingers browsing through his beards. He stared at Emily for a moment and broke his gaze.

“We will make a finding, but that will be discussed later on. You can return to your desk.” he waved his hands in a dismissive manner, marking an end to the interrogative session. Emily stood up hurriedly; a part of relieved to not have her job opportunity being strangled out of space by her supervisor. Thoughts of Sonia flooded her mind in an instant, and she couldn’t help but be engulfed by worry once more.

“You won't be pardoned next time.” she heard Jude say in a warning tone just before she exited the office. She wore a plastic smile, nodding her head curtly before shutting the door.

Jude leaned back on his chair, reminiscing the conversation he had with the personnel governing the department of the press company’s research team. Beginning to place two and two together, Jude began to think of possible linkers joining the hasty decision of the board and Sonia’s dismissal from work.