Chapter 10

Present

Molly slumps into her comfy queen sized bed and put her arm across her face. She inhales deeply the cold air emanating from the 10 degrees Air condition in the room.

"That jerk. Who's he to judge me? What does he think of himself?" She mumbles as she twitches her nose in disgust.

She rolls over and gets into the shower to take a bath.

She put on her purple unicorn overall and sits on her bed clutching a pillow like she always does when she's worried and begins to reflect on the news she received in the last two hours.

* those people, what do they want with me. I have no grudge against anyone Why would they come after me with .... weapons. I'm so glad they did shoot him. He deserved it. He’s so nosy. He should know he has no right to poke his annoying ass in my business. It serves him right. .......Aaaaaah! Nick!*.

She stretches toward the bedside lamp and takes her phone . "Geez" she says when she realises the over twenty calls she had missed from Pedro. "Oh gosh I should've called him. I totally forgot our date." As she scrolls through the phone contemplating on whether to phone Nick or Pedro, Pedro comes to her rescue as his call comes through for the twenty- fifth time that day.

M: hi

P: hi babes

Molly blushes at the sound of the new nickname he called her.

P: where were you all day. I came around a few times but you were absent. I tried asking Nick but he said he hadn't seen you since the last three days or so.

Molly bit her lips not knowing where to begin from

M: well my boss needed me so I had to rush to his home early this morning .

P: Mchenzie? Is everything okay?

Molly didn't know what to say. Should she tell him what happened to Mchenzie??

M: it was nothing serious. It was about my suspension extension.........It turns out he felt I needed sometime off so he decided to extend it. ...........Nothing more nothing less.

She sighs as she lies through her teeth.

P: ummm okay

He said,not sounding convinced.

P: anyways, could we meet up tomorrow for at least lunch? I miss you already Molly.

Her caramel cheeks flush pink at the sound of being missed. She had planned to offer lunch date to Nick as a peace offering but, on second thoughts, she agreed to Pedro's suggestion.

She looks on the mobile screen and taps his name.

Nick is in deep sleep when he is interrupted by the constant vibrations of his phone. Without opening his eyes. He picks up the call and speaks huskily.

N: hello?

M:umm..Hi Nick

His eyes shoot open as he becomes fully awake.

N: Molly?

M: yeah. Look... ummm I'm sorry for the treatment I've given you these past three days. I should have known better. It's just.... I've been kinda busy. I'm really really sorry. I'll make it up to you. What do you say to a talk over breakfast tomorrow morning in the restaurant down south of the hostel.

He smiles, feeling pleased with the current situation.

N: sure. What time?

M: perhaps 8 am??

N: cool

" wow that was easier than I thought ". Molly says gladly as she hung up the call. She slides under her blanket and turns off the switch forgetting for a moment, what happened between she and her boss.

Mchenzie tosses about in his king sized bed as he thinks of what happened between he and Molly. * Was I too harsh? I just wanted to help. Why am I even concerned anyway? She's infatuated with that stupid ass Pedro. I wish his case would be cancelled but I can't mix emotions with work. Damn! * He sits up holding onto his hurt shoulder. " I have to find out why they're after her despite her protests. What will others say when they see my claimed girlfriend being attacked or something? Yes. I'm doing this for my reputation. Only and only my reputation. Nothing else."

He says to himself as he lays on his back lost in thoughts on how to find out about those guys. “First thing tomorrow, I'll have to check on the hostel's cctv. Whether she wants me to or not. This is my new case. So now two discrete cases to solve. (he sighs)I have to be fast. Things are taking too long to surface."

He rolls to his side and shuts his eyes.

Flashback

" Why did you have to call me now, didn't you know I was eating? You know how much I hate being separated from my meals especially when it's my favourite Bambara bean stew with pasta and minced beef" she rattles as she enters Mchenzie's room. He stands and stares at her until she's uneasy. "Okay fine let's talk, all jokes aside, what happened to you?". " what happened to me??(smirks) You are the reason I'm in this condition". "Wait, what? Me?(laughs and puts on a serious face) seriously? So if you not gonna tell me why'd you call me here". "Like I said you have a lot of explaining to do and I'm not joking when I say you caused what happened to me". Molly looks at him with a very confused look and her brows crease.

" Well you would wanna sit for this" he says and sits. She sits as well. "Firstly, I want to warn you about flirting with that soon to be divorced Pedro.

Secondly, I want you to know that I saw you both on all your encounters over the past few days ( he looks away) , how he hugged you, held you and how you were laughing at his boring jokes( he frowns).

But that's not the main point. Yesterday, I met you and Pedro while jogging. And ......you walked right past me without even noticing me, because of that boring piece of sh*t".

" Hey don't talk about him like that, Pedro's a nice guy( smiling broadly ) and besides since you saw us, you should have drawn our attention or something duh". He attempts to reply to her but stops and swallows hard causing his Adam's Apple to move up and down very visibly . (smirks) Well, few metres from your home, I received a call from Nick saying I should be a responsible boyfriend because my girlfriend is roaming around town with somebody else's hus-b-a-n-d in intimate ways". "Sh*t Nick!( puts hand over mouth) I forgot about our……but did he really call you?? ( Mchenzie nods) damn I'm so dead. He must be raging by now"Molly remarks and bites her lip half way.

" will you stop doing that? I'm trying to concentrate here". " stop doing what?" she says shooting up her brows. "stop biting your lips(he looks away. She blushes).

Well after I called you and informed you about the extension of your punishment, I had actually planned to feign sickness so that you come over to take care of me and let you work your ass off like never before but..( he takes a deep breath . Molly sits on the edge of her chair with the 'but what?' kinda look on her face)... I decided to turn back to your place to have a convo with Nick but when I got to your floor, I saw a group of guys opposite the door number he gave me, and I remembered you told me you lived right opposite him. I wondered what those guys were doing there. They were all dressed in black suits and ties with similar hairstyles.

They looked dangerous soo instead of pressing Nick's bell I asked them why they've been pressing your bell for decades, I told them you're my girlfriend, so if they have any issues with you, they could tell me and I'd settle it. But they didn't wanna play along.. they ignored me and attempted to break into your place. I touched ones shoulder and asked him again what he wanted from my girlfriend and all of a sudden I was down to the ground with a sharp pain in my abdomen.

'' you can't give us what we want from her and whatever is between us, it has nothing to do with you'' one guy said pointing fingers at me..........you know I won't go without a fight.

Fuming with the anger from the first punch I just stood up and gave an uppercut to the guy who punched me. So we began fighting and when they realised I was in the lead they began running away and one guy shot me in the shoulder. "we'll be back''he said and they left.

(Silence takes over the room) so do you get it when I say you did this?"

Molly nods as she sits there frightened to the core. " so-so they want something from me? But-but-..". " what have you been hiding Molly? Why are those guys after you? What do you have that they want so badly?", Mchenzie says as he sits from across her and looks intensely at her. " I-I -I don't even know.. I've never fought with anyone and I've never stolen from any one" she responds in a low and shaky voice. "Why the lies Molly? Just speak the truth and let me try to help. Hiding stuff won't help right now"

"Me? Hide stuff? I'm telling the truth here! I'm not like you who keeps secrets he doesn't want anyone finding out" she says. They sit in silence. "you know what, I'm outa here. You don't even trust me when I'm not a hypocrite like yourself.....(her shoulder drops and she sniffs) …..even though I ……trust you. You don't have to worry about those guys.. if they want something that I have, I'll just give it to them...... you don't need to interfere, moreover this relationship is just for show so don't cross the boundary". She takes her bag and storms out of the room and the house. Mr and Mrs Mchenzie look at each other." What happened?"

Past

Molly sighed deeply as she laid down and shut her eyes. "I can't believe it's been a year already. I hope Kev comes back for me like he assured. ......I know he will." She said to herself and smiled.

Just like the previous year, all the kids in the orphanage cleaned up, and dressed themselves up. Once again, they served them bean cake, tuna sauce and rice. Molly smiled, feeling satisfied with her looks. *He'd sure be happy to see me*. She thought. She went out to join everyone else under the canopy like usual and awaited Miss Meena to bring the guests.

Unlike before, instead of a bright wine CRV, a black Toyota Corolla pulled up. Miss Meena walked out, followed by a man and a woman. " theses aren't those who came for Kev.."

Molly mumbles to herself. She watched them keenly as they approached the canopy. "Where was Kevin?"was the question she kept asking herself. The couple following Meena came close and engaged some of the children in a conversation. They acted different as compared to Kevin's guardians. For them, they were straight forward with their selection process but, these ones seemed like they didn’t know what they wanted and were now looking for the right pick.Molly observed them quietly. " how are you dear?" The lady with Meena asked. Molly nodded and looked away, uninterested in whatever was going on. "Umm would you like to go with us?" The lady questioned Molly with a beaming smile. * why's she asking my opinion. Kevin was just taken without considering what he wanted. How come they are acting differently?" Molly wondered as she stared blankly at the smiling woman. She shook her head sideways and wondered away into the orphanage.

The woman was disappointed , but she covered it with a smile. The man who seemed to be her husband patted her on the shoulder and they finally selected a little girl about half Molly's age. They said goodbye to all the kids and drove off with their new daughter.

Molly sat on her bed motionless and stared at the bed beside her. A red haired boy walked in and slumped onto the bed. *That used to be yours until you left. Why didn't you come Kev? Have you forgotten me already? Did you move on and get a new best friend?* she quizzed and clutched her pillow tightly as she rested her head on the head board. " why didn't you come?" She said as fresh new tears rolled down her plump cheeks. She tried hard to find any good reason as to why he didn't show up. That's when it occurred to her "maybe he'd come next year. He didn't actually say he'd come a year after. And here I was drawing conclusions. Maybe he's trying to catch up with his new life before involving me" she murmured and smiled broadly, wiping her tears with the back of her palm.

She curled herself, still hugging her pillow and drifted off to sleep. "He'll surely come I just... know it".