CHAPTER 57

Lily's stepsisters were quiet for a while as they were lookig at her with surprise. One of them walked closer to her and said "do we look stupid or deaf to you? We have been in our rooms before you arrived and we heard everything that was being said here. You just met Jay last night and you couldn't help but give yourself to him and now you shamelessly stand in front of us to claim that he is your boyfriend. Hey girl, I don't know where you have been living all this while, but you need to know that having sex with a man does not make you important to him." She turned to Jay and asked "did the sex with Lily make her important to you?"

He looked at Lily with a smile and said she is definitely important to me but the sex did not make her important because what made her important is her intelligence and kind heart." He held Lily's hands and asked if she was ready to leave this house where all she has had since her mother passed on, are bad and painful memories. Lily nodded her head as she and Jay began to walk out of the house.

 One of her stepsisters ran after them and told Lily that she will never be happy with Jay because Jay is a national cake that will be shared amongst different women. Lily pretended not to hear what her stepsister said and continued walking away. When she and Jay got outside the building of her father's house, she looked behind again as it occurred to her that she will never be allowed into this house which she once called her home.

 She kept looking at the building until she heard his voice calling her because their car was waiting. When she finally turned to look at the car, she discovered that it was another car and not the Uber that brought them. She walked up to the opened door and entered and as the car was pulling away from the house, she had mixed feelings of both sadness and happiness. If anyone had told Lily that her life will take a different turn in such a short period of time, she wouldn't have believed it. Everything that was happening to her seems like a dream because in one minute, she was crushing on her favourite musician and in the next minute, she was in a car with him as he has taken her as his responsibility.

Jay looked at the young lady beside him and she looked like a child who was missing her parents already. He knows that he promised to take her as his responsibility but the truth is that Jay does not know what to do with her or where to take her because he is only here on tour and not to babysit some adult baby. He was in thought as he was blaming himself for not letting her walk away that night. There were many ladies that he could have called and they would have answered but he allowed her Innocence to lure him and now he has ended up with a lady that he doesn't know what to do with.

 He took out his phone and called his manager as he told his manager to put Lola on the phone. Lola is his friend and the person who does his damage control. Every time that Jay feels that he has messed up, the person he runs to to save his image in the eyes of the public is Lola. When his manager finally got Lola on the phone, Jay told her that he will send her a message and her reply is very urgent because he needs her help now.

 When Lola heard what Jay said, she shook her head and said "what have you done this time? You were supposed to be on tour peacefully but I know that you wouldn't let trouble rest because you have gone to disturb trouble. So what have you done this time? Did you sleep with somebody's wife or you have finally knocked up someone's daughter? Because with you, nothing is impossible." While she was questioning Jay like a detective, he said nothing and only listened to her so when she was done talking, he said "Lola has anyone told you that you are too noisy? Well I have sent the message and I want a reply in two minutes."

 Lola checked the message that Jay sent and when she read it, she laughed out loud and told herself that for once, she will try to be mischievous and ignore him to see what Jay will do. She turned around and told Jay's manager that Jay has gotten himself into a difficult one this time and she will like to see how he gets himself out of it without getting hurt. "Lola if you know what is good for both of us, you had better reply him now because if he can't get to you, he will call me until he and I will go crazy as he will be fed up of calling me well I will be fed up of seeing his calls. You know that sometimes Jay calls me like he is insane especially when he is in need of something urgently." 

 At the psychiatric hospital where Ima was taken to, everyday was torture for her because she feels that she is not as crazy as they are thinking. She is only taking her drugs and pretending to show good behaviour because she intends on escaping very soon. She told herself that her job outside the psychiatric hospital is not yet done as her enemies are still living happily. Every time that she gets the opportunity to leave her ward and go into the garden, she tries to study the surrounding and learn where the exits are so that she can plan her escape properly.

Every day, she sees different kinds of mentally deranged people who try fighting the nurses and some who keep asking them out. When one of the patients approached Ima to have a conversation with her, she felt very terrible as she asked herself if this is what she has been reduced to. She looked at the young lady and feels like beating her up but she knows that doing that would jeopardize her escape plan so she stood, looked at the young lady, and said "In case you have not noticed, I do not fraternize with mad people so stay away from me and stop trying to be friends." As she was walking away, she blamed Shulamite and the others who offended her and made her look like a mad person.

 After Jay waited for Lola without getting any reply from her, he told the driver to take him and Lily to the hotel where he was staying for the meantime. While they were on their way there, Jay could do nothing but curse Lola in his heart because he knows that whatever she was doing, she was doing it on purpose because Lola derives fun from things that people feel are not funny. When he got to his hotel suite, Lily asked him what they were going to do next because even though she appears clueless sometimes, she is not a child and she knows that Jay does not know what to do with her.

 Jay decided to lay it all on the table for her as he told her that he will be leaving in a few days. He asked Lily if she wants to continue in her school or she wants to transfer so that he can take her along with him. Lilly  weighed the odds and told him that she will like to remain here and not transfer because if she decides to transfer to a new school, she will miss a semester or a year. She feels that she has been kept back for too long and she will not let anyone do that to her again under no condition, so will she and Jay came to a conclusion that he will get her an apartment since she said she can stay alone. Initially, Lily thought that Jay would not agree to get her an apartment so that she can live alone but after seeing that he agreed without any objection, she became very happy as she never thought that it will be possible for her to leave her parent's house and stay on her own someday.

While Lily was happy, she never knew that someone was about to ruin her day because Lola finally contacted Jay and told him to take Lily along with him because if he leaves her behind, her family could harm her and blame it on him. Lola told Jay that if Lily's evil stepmother could kill Lily's mom and turn Lily into a slave, he should imagine her teaming up with her daughters and imagine how much havoc that they can wreck together.

 After the conversation with Lola, Jay decided not to tell Lily anything because he doesn't want her hopes to be dashed so soon. He went into the bathroom to have a nice bath and when he was done, he came out and asked her if she would like to come with him for rehearsals as he will be going for rehearsals against tonight's performance.

Lily agreed to come with him and decided to watch him rehearse and also learn from him because she hopes to add music to her career in the future. Lily is a very good singer but she quit singing after she lost her mother because her mother has always been her greatest audience and her mentor. After her mother died and her father married her mother's friend, there was no way Lily could find it in her to sing anymore and sometimes when she tries, it doesn't go well. She saw her meeting with Jay as fated because there is a lot that she will learn from him and she hopes that he puts her through in many aspects of both music and life.

Najiba has been feeling sick for a while and most times, she feels nauseous especially in the morning. When it first started, she felt it was normal and maybe she ate something that does not agree with her stomach but after a few days, the feeling did not go away so she began to suspect that something was wrong. She began to count back to when she was supposed to see her monthly flow and she discovered that she has missed her menstrual period for two months. She wanted to use a pregnancy test kit to conduct a pregnancy test at home but she decided to visit the hospital and before leaving home, she called her mother also because her mother has been bugging her all this while about getting pregnant.

Najiba's mother wasn't sounding happy when she picked up her daughter's call because she has been having a bad day. "Mum, I will like you to meet me at the hospital because I'm going for a pregnancy test. I am not sure but I think that I might be pregnant." Najiba's mother whose mood was soured before, became happy instantly as she told her daughter that she will come to meet her at the hospital instantly. "Don't worry just go ahead and I will meet you there. If it turns out that you are truly pregnant, do you know what this means? My daughter it means that your level has been highly elevated than that of the other wives. You are not a child so if you tell me that you think that you are pregnant, I believe that you are pregnant already which makes you the Chosen One amongst the wives. Our enemies will finally be put to shame as they can do nothing other than to run into a corner and hide their tails between their legs." 

Najiba couldn't believe that out of the many words that her mum could say, she is talking about enemies. "Mum can you stop talking about enemies at this time? I am not even sure if I am pregnant yet as I am still about heading to the hospital to confirm it. If you are in competition with anyone, do not drag me into it anymore because you always seem to talk about negativity and that is not good at all. If it turns out that I am pregnant, it does not mean that I am chosen for anything rather it only proves that I am lucky."

Najiba and her mother ended their conversation as she got to the hospital. She has called the doctor before she came so immediately she arrived, the doctor knew what to do. While Najiba was sitting and waiting for her test results after her blood sample has been taken, she was praying and hoping that the pregnancy test comes out positive. Even though she told her mother not to talk about status and being important or being chosen, she was only saying that because she didn't her to feel like she is the chosen one but if it turns out that she is pregnant, the other wives will hear from her especially the third wife. She will rub it on their faces that they have been married to Zahid all these years and could not give him an heir until she came.

Within a few minutes Najiba's mother arrived at the hospital and quickly located her daughter as they both sat and were waiting for the results. "Why are the results not yet out? It's just a pregnancy test and with the technology of these days, I don't think it's supposed to take this long. Or have the doctors detected something else that is wrong with you which have made them to carry out other tests?

Najiba looked at her mother and wondered why her mother will come and begin to think evil about her pregnancy and health. "Mum! I did not call you here to come and jinx me. Must you be negative all the time? Can't you think about something positive even for once? You can see that I'm tensed already and you are still saying things that are making me more tensed. I asked you to come so that you can be a support to me and not a discouragement." 

As they were talking, the doctor came out and handed the result over to Najiba. Her mother wanted to quickly grab the test results and open it as she wanted to be the first person to see what was written there but Najiba withheld it from her and told her mother to control herself. Immediately Najiba opened the test results, she and her mother looked into the paper almost immediately as her mother shouted out for joy because the result is positive. Najiba felt like she was dreaming as she couldn't believe that she was actually pregnant.