Chapter 60
"Oh, are these your daughters?" Violet who had her elbows placed on the edge of the table asked now as she gestured, with two fingers at Sarah and Laura who were sitting on the other side of the table.
"Is the resemblance not striking?" Mrs. Michaels retorted, feeling offended. "Anyone can see that!"
Violet squinted at Mrs. Michaels for some seconds then at the twins to find the resemblance. Soon, she shook her head in disagreement and said, "Nah, I don't really see it. Pardon me, but this one here..." She pointed at Sarah. "...has such beautiful lips and pronounced eyeballs that men will easily go out of their way for. While this one..." She pointed at Laura and said in awe. "...damn! Momma have you taken a good look at your daughter's ass?! That bazuka behind her will definitely cause men gawking at her everywhere she goes...hey!" She said to Laura now who was embarrassed and was also trying to suppress a smile at the look of horror on her mother's face. "Do you know how to twerk?" Violet asked her.
"No." Laura managed to mumble, sneaking a look under her brows at her seething mother.
"Too bad!" Violet clicked her tongue. "I can't have you wasting such good ass when you can make good dough off it! In case you don't know, you could be a superstar with that kind of ass! You could gain a lot of followers and make a lot of money on Instagram just from shaking that ass. Know what? I'll teach you how to get down. I'll teach you how to shake what your momma gave you till the earth vibrates! Your twerking coaching begins tomorrow."
"CHIEF!!!" Mrs. Michaels cried out now in desperation.
While the other guests besides Susan and Mrs. Eweala snickered, Stephen felt like lunging across the table and shoving a spoon into Violet's mouth hoping that would get her to shut up, but since he couldn't openly react in front of everyone, he reached out with his leg and kicked her foot under the table. Violet secretly lifted her middle finger at him then adjusted her feet away from his reach.
"Chief! I want this girl out of this house this instant!" Mrs. Michaels who was breathing hard in shock, unable to stand Violet anymore, panted as if she would soon pass out. "This girl is the very daughter of the devil herself! I want her out, Chief!" She pointed towards the door. "If this girl stays one more day in this house, she's going to make hoes out of our two innocent daughters! She's a bad influence and she has made that clear!"
"She should stay all the same." Mr. Michaels remained resolute much to the chagrin of Violet. Unlike the others, Mr. Michaels seemed to be controlling his own shock pretty well. "We can't narrow the choices now, dear, and besides, I think she will be fun with her boldness and different personality." Mr. Michaels gave a subtle smile then he addressed Violet directly. "My dear, I understand that you don't want to do this, and like you said, you'd rather not compete for a man, but all the same, I'd like you to remain for our anniversary, please. As long as you are here, you are now a member of this family and please feel free like everyone else."
Mrs. Michaels couldn't believe what her husband had just said and she could only gape at him in surprise. "Chief!"
"Eat, Eucharia..." Mr. Michaels pointed at his wife's plate with his fork as he said calmly. "Eat dear, we can discuss this when we are alone." Then he returned his attention to everyone else and said, "We will be having some important guests tomorrow at noon and while Grace will be in charge of the kitchen for the next three days, Susan will begin hers on Tuesday and Violet on Friday."
Susan swallowed hard when she heard the word- cooking, and she became very nervous that she had to gulp some water just to calm her nerves.
Mr. Michaels was not done yet, so he continued: "On Wednesday, Grace and Violet will both go shopping for their wedding gowns since Susan already has hers which she didn't wear to the wedding that was supposed to hold. Not to worry about all the expenses, the owner of the bridal shop is a family friend and I've filled him in on all the details...so we can return all these items later if they are not to be used, after all, all we will be needing is just one bride, not three!"
"Dad, is all these really necessary?" Stephen spoke now. "I mean, not only is this weird, this really doesn't sit well with me."
"Well, you can save us from all the stress by immediately choosing whom you'll want to settle with." Mr. Michaels said.
"Like now?" Stephen asked in surprise.
"Yes. Now." His father nodded. "Go on, son. You have three beautiful ladies right here before you and all you just have to do is say a name and she's yours."
Stephen swallowed hard. All eyes were on him now as an unconfirmed silence ensued in the dining room. His mother began to mouth Grace's name to him but Stephen ignored her. He glanced at Violet and noticed the way she was wielding her fork on the table like a weapon as if she would not hesitate to stick it in his throat if he dared to mention her name. So, he glanced at Grace and noticed that she was staring at him lovingly with her usual coy smile still on her face. When he turned his attention to Susan, she had that usual convincing look that always wanted to make him do whatever she wanted, but he wasn't going to fall for it this time. Confused and pressured, Stephen finally blurted to his father in resignation. "Dad, I can't... I just can't..."
"Thought as much... So it means my plan will still have to hold and it's really going to be fun, so why not sit back and enjoy it, and hopefully by then, you would have reached a decision." Mr. Michaels said in anticipation and after he concluded, the dinner silently progressed with everyone busy with his or her own thoughts.
★★★
As Violet got up and left the dining room while the others who were also done eating, dispersed to different parts of the house, Stephen pushed his chair back, got up and quickly followed her out while Susan who wanted to play the good girl by helping to clear the dishes from the table with the assistance of the other ladies, in order to impress Mr. Michaels, followed Stephen with her gaze since she couldn't just leave what she was doing.
As they turned into the lobby, Stephen called in a low angry tone. "Violet!" She ignored him and continued to walk. "Violet!" He quickened his steps in order to catch up with her then he caught her upper arm and pulled her back to face him.
In anger, Violet suddenly snatched her arm from his grip and pointed a warning finger up at his face. "Don't touch me!" She hissed. "Again!"
"What was that all about?" Stephen suddenly asked through gritted teeth, trying to keep his voice down so that the others didn't hear him. "What the hell were you thinking saying all that to my family. Have you gone nuts?!" He was livid.
"No, I've not gone nuts, Stephen!" She retorted. "You have always had a thing against my profession from the onset and you have never failed to ridicule me with it on one too many occasions. So now, I'm saving you the stress of having to keep the truth from your family by telling them myself! You didn't expect me to come here and live a lie just to play the saint, did you?"
"You had no right to do that, Violet! It was totally uncalled for! Have you no shame?! Do you want to give my mum a heart attack by saying all the things you did, especially about my sisters?!"
"Well, she's still alive, isn't she? You think I came here for this damn game your father wants us to play? Listen and listen good Stephen, I'm done with you and you sure damn belong in my past where I intend to make sure you remain! It baffles me why you found it so difficult to just save us from the headache of going through with your father's plan by simply choosing a bride when we both are aware that you are still very much having sex with Susan!"
Stephen stared at her in silence now then finally said calmly as he was overridden by guilt once again. "I only did that twice with her, Violet!"
"Oh, fuck off!" She told him off, turned and resumed walking away, but as Stephen attempted to follow her, he heard his name and paused.
"Stephen!" A woman called.
Stephen turned to see Mrs. Eweala standing several feet down the corridor with Grace standing beside her like a polite-looking girl. "Ma'am." Stephen acknowledged her with a small nod of respect.
"You are not busy, are you? Or did I interrupt anything?" Mrs. Eweala asked just as Violet walked out of sight.
"Um..." Stephen hesitated then shook his head. "No, ma..."
"Good..." Mrs. Eweala placed a hand on her daughter's back and nudged her forward. "Then I think you two should be spending more time together. Fourteen years is a long time and I'm sure that you two have a lot of catching up to do, isn't that so?" She asked no one in particular, and as she nudged her daughter towards Stephen, she whispered so that only her daughter could hear her. "Make sure you give it all your best. Remember all I told you. If you can pull this off, then I shall give to you what your heart desires most, capishe?"
"Capishe." In anticipation, Grace answered with a pleased smile, then started walking towards Stephen. Soon, they linked arms together and went in search of somewhere private where they could talk without any form of disturbance and Mrs. Eweala walked away with a very pleased smile plastered on her face.
★★★
"I can't believe that this is really happening, Anne, I just can't believe it!" Susan said as she angrily paced the length of her bed. "It is still very hard to believe that the whole me, Susan, has been reduced to a mere competition! How ridiculous!"
Anne who was seated on her own bed with a book on her lap glanced up at her friend and complained, "I think you need to sit down, you are making me dizzy already."
"I can't sit down! I was completely caught off guard by what his father did! I knew that Violet would definitely be a problem but I never knew that there was a second girl to contend with. I didn't even see that coming! Who's that girl anyway?! Who the hell is she?!"
"How am I supposed to know that?" Anne asked with a shrug. "I'm in the dark as much as you are and I've never seen her until tonight."
"For Mrs. Michaels to just suddenly decide that my own Stephen was going to marry her, then something must be very special about her!" Susan stated.
"Well, lucky you, that's not too certain anymore. If anything, you should be glad that you have been given a fighting chance over Stephen, Susan. All you have to do is prove yourself worthy and he'll be yours. Violet isn't interested in Stephen anymore according to her words, which means that you only have Grace to contend with, so I don't know what you are so worried about!"
"I'm worried about the tasks! Shopping, that I can do! Flirting and winning people over? Easy! But you and I know that cooking is not my thing Anne! I can't cook and I think that's the only edge that Grace girl might have over me!" Susan stopped pacing now.
Anne chuckled now. "Now, I know why you are so upset! Well, serves you right! My warnings are actually coming to pass! I remember telling you times without number to learn how to cook but you wouldn't listen to me, now see!"
"Oh, don't gloat! It will only worsen how I feel!" Susan grumbled then turned to face Anne now with a desperate look of silent appeal on her face. "Anne?”
Anne looked up at her friend and suspiciously asked now, "Why are you staring at me like that?" When she finally understood the plea in Susan's eyes, Anne quickly shook a finger up at her. "No,no,no,no,no! Don't even think of it! I'm not doing it, Susan! I'm not! There's no way I'm going to help you cheat!" She said firmly.
Susan sat on Anne's bed now and said softly. "Please, you are my best friend and this is where I need you most. No one really has to know. It will just be between you and I."
Anne slapped her book shut now and vehemently said, "No, Susan! I will not do such a thing! I won't cook for you! What if I get caught?! Instead of you to use this opportunity to learn how to cook, you'd rather I help you cheat?! Listen, the only help I can render to you now is to teach you how to cook before your turn comes, if not, you're on your own! After all, we are not marrying the man together, are we?!"
Susan was about to speak again when the door suddenly opened and Laura led Violet and Doris into the room. "This is going to be your room during your stay." Laura said with a smile then acknowledged the other ladies and left while Doris and Violet remained standing, sweeping the room with their gazes and they noticed that there were still three available beds.
"Hi." They said in Unison to Susan and Anne.
"You ladies are welcome and I can't say that I'm not glad that we will all be roommates for the next two weeks. I bet it will be fun all the way." Anne welcomed them while Susan stared at them in contempt.
Violet took her bag towards the bed next to Susan's and placed her bag beside it while Doris took the bed closer to Anne's.
"Where's Grace?" Anne asked.
"I don't know." Doris answered. "Last time I saw her, she was with Stephen."
"Stephen??" Susan asked with a start, obvious jealousy evident in her eyes. "It's late already and every decent lady should be in their rooms by now!" She seethed as she got off Anne's bed and sat down on hers now.
Soon, the door opened and Grace who was now clad in pink Minny pyjama and had been accompanied to the room by Stephen, walked into the room with Stephen following behind her. Susan didn't fail to notice how Grace was clutching a big white teddy bear to her chest. It made her wonder just how immature Grace was and also made her underestimate Grace, presuming that it would be easy to push her around too.