CHAPTER 8

Nobody was in Tom's good books, and discussing him with someone else could only make matters worse.

"I'd rather not talk about him," she said, trying to force a smile.

Henry knew she was forcing a smile. "Why?" He probed further.

"Ermm…" her face was contorted with a smile. "Sir, I'm sorry I would have to leave you now. I have to take care of the laundry, and I will be back after then."

"Hmmm," Henry shrugged. He wondered why she was scared to talk about Tom.

"Are there dirty clothes in your room?" she asked, hoping to get away hurriedly from him and avoid answering questions about Tom. The last time Tom had caught her discussing with her colleague about him, he had asked Cara to do away with her, not considering the fact that she wasn't saying anything bad against him. It had turned into a heated argument between him and Cara and got resolved several days after. Since then, she always avoided him like a plague whenever he was in the house.

"Well, I have my pyjamas and a few clothes. I was hoping to do the laundry myself since I'm not busy with anything."

"I'll take care of the clothes."

"I'll come along to help you," he offered.

"No, please, I'll do it alone by myself." she said.

Henry didn't press further. He noticed she was no longer comfortable discussing with him.

"It's okay, I hope you come back later."

She bowed slightly and quickly hurried away. He watched till she was out of sight. He turned around and placed his elbows on the concrete rails, taking a view of the beautiful garden. He had taken strolls around the garden several times since he began to stay in the house.

He took in a breath of fresh air. He realised he was missing Cara more than he imagined he would. She never got tired of talking with him whenever she was around and always answered his questions pleasantly. But he had learnt from his discussion with Lesedi that even though Cara had always answered his questions truthfully, she never gave him more details than he asked for. She had told him about her family when he asked but never told him how wealthy and well known her father was in the country. She also never told him she was the CEO of her own company. He smiled to himself as he wondered how she could be so humble despite her father's wealth and influence.

The day had been a long one for Henry. he managed to make it less boring by engaging himself with some of the books he found in his room and with the apple phone Cara had gotten for him. Lesedi had come back like she promised, but he was already busy then having newly discovered a website, mhiztaemy.com.ng , where he could read thrilling fiction stories. He was just playing a crime game on the phone when an advertisement popped up, showing the banner of a tough looking man and woman both holding guns and looking ready for war. The picture caught his attention and gave him some strange kind of excitement that he could not explain. He clicked on the banner and was led to the fiction stories website.

He was already busy reading an action story on the blog when he heard the sound of Cara's voice. She was already close to his room. Though he was hesitant to leave the story he was reading, he managed to put down his phone and sit up. He heard a soft knock on the door.

"You may come in," he said.

The door opened gently, and she walked in slowly. She managed to put a smile on her face even though she looked tired from work.

"Hey, big man! Don't tell me you locked yourself in all day," she said, raising her brows mischievously.

"No, I actually spent more time outside today."

"Good," she smiled again. "Okay, I need to take a shower and deal with some other things now. I'll call for you in thirty minutes."

"Okay," he smiled and watched her walk out before returning to his phone. He continued with the action story he was reading. He discovered he was more interested in the fighting and gun scenes. It felt so real to him, and he found himself clenching his fists occasionally and positioning his fingers like someone who wanted to use a gun.

Thirty minutes passed by, and Cara wasn't back. It was so unusual of her, he thought to himself. He waited for an extra ten minutes before he decided to go look for her.

He stopped when he got out of his room, trying to decide whether to go look for her in the direction of her room or to the main living room. He finally decided to go look for her in the living room and advanced in the direction.

It was a large house, and he had to go through a major hallway and a smaller one before getting to the main living room. He was close to the curtains covering the living room from the hallway when he began to hear some sounds. He couldn't tell what was happening exactly, but he knew the voice heard was Cara's. He moved closer, and the voices became clearer. He could also hear the voice of a second person.

Cara was laughing so happily as if she was being tickled.

"But you know we are in the living room, right? Can't you just…" she was saying before she burst into another round of laughter.

Henry stood at the entrance of the hallway and watched Cara and Tom continue their romance on the sofa. He felt like turning back immediately, but somehow, he felt glued to the spot. He watched as Tom covered Cara's lips with his.

"Argh!" He shook his head in a sudden movement as the picture of a woman flashed across his mind.

He remained there with his eyes closed, trying to keep the picture that flashed through his mind, but he couldn't keep nor retrieve the image.

He opened his eyes to find Cara staring at him and disengaging from Tom. He realised the sound he made attracted their attention.

"What? Is he why you're getting up?" Tom asked in a disgusted tone as he looked back and saw Henry. He was annoyed that Cara was disengaging herself from him because Henry was seen watching them.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Henry, you have to forgive me for not keeping to my promise."

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry for interrupting you," Henry quickly said and turned back immediately, feeling somewhat embarrassed. He walked back to his room.

"What? Do you want to go with him?" Tom scoffed, his anger clearly written all over his face.

"I'm sorry, Honey," she turned back quickly to Tom. She sat on his lap to prevent him from getting up. "I'm sorry, I had promised him I was going to call for him in thirty minutes' time but you came and I totally forgot him." she explained, looking again in the direction of the hallway.

"And so what?" Tom raised his brows.

She looked at his face again. "You know he's not supposed to be neglected, I have to help him recover faster."

Tom sighed. He was getting tired of the attention she was giving the stranger already, and he wasn't willing to understand her actions anymore. Solely because of the stranger's presence in the house, he had reduced his visit to Cara's place and only visited once since he got to the house. Now that he had decided to visit again, he was dividing their attention.

"Give me a minute Tom, I'll be back." Cara said and kissed him on the forehead as she got up from his lap and hurried towards the hallway.

"Cara!" he called, but she only reaffirmed that she was returning soon without looking back. "Are you leaving me for him?"

She stopped at the curtain and turned back briefly. "I only need to apologise, I'll be back here in a minute."

Tom stared at her without knowing what response to give until she got out of sight in the hallway.

He was furious! He wasn't going to have anymore. He picked up his car keys and bounced to his feet. He glanced towards the hallway before he stormed out of the house.