Chapter Forty - Three

“ Why are they here? “ She said with eyes bugged out when she realized who they were. Mira and Sofia looked at Lady Lily who seemed engrossed in what she was looking at. Mira further went to satisfy her curiosity. She slowly aimed for the window with hands still kept on her stomach.

Outside the room:

Eva and John stood with hands held together. They greeted the guards who showed no emotions even when the duo were smiling at them. The guards gave them a questionable look making Eva’s heart skip a bit.

“ Lord close their eyes like you did in the  days of Lot, to help him leave Sodom and Gomorrah. “  She prayed silently.

John tried to crack jokes but that had no effects on the receivers. He cleared his throat when he received a deadly glare from the guards. He then, began to plead with them to allow him see his friends inside the room. A security guard made him recall that they are under someone’s command and cannot solely make decisions. Else, they step on their master’s nerves spot. Eva also joined in the plea but their pleas fell on deaf ears. 

John’s idea was useless after all. Eva was happy that she was going to give the trio ( Sofia, Lady Lily and Mira ) something to eat, but the guards wouldn’t allow them In. She nudged John to allow the guards be and the duo turned to leave. 

“ Who goes there! “  A deep, hoarse voice was heard from behind, startling everyone present. 

John and Eva stood rooted to the ground. 

“ Why are you loitering around here by this time of the night? “ The voice repeated again.

John and Eva still had their backs facing the guards. 

“ What is that Idiot saying? “ Eva asked trying to steady her breath. They turned around and faced the owner of the voice.

Eva summoned courage and told him the reason for their visit and pleaded that he should allow them in. The guard was surprised to see the boldness of the lady.

“ I’ll allow you in, but you have three minutes to do so. I don’t want someone else to walk in on us, so be fast about it.”

“ Thank you very much. “ They replied in unison. As they walked inside, the guard called Eva to stay behind and that John to proceed into the room. Eva strolled behind the guard to a corner.

“ Beautiful lady, what’s your name? “ The guard asked looking at Eva seductively. Eva wanted to shout at him but changed her mind on a second thought and played along in the game.

“ Eva.”  

“ Wow. What a nice name. “ He held his hand on her waist and moved her closely to him till they were only few inches apart.

Eva held her breath because of the bad breath coming from the man that held her so tight. She cajoled herself to endure for a while and decided to spice up the whole thing. She placed her hands on the man’s shoulders and began to trace his nape. That sent a tingling sensation to the man’s body and he immediately kissed her neck.

“ WTF! “ Eva wanted to scream but remained patient. ‘But, how long could she continue? ‘ She pushed the man aside when he leaned in for more kisses. 

“ Elm.. erm.. Our time has elapsed. I mean, the time you gave us. So,… “ Eva found herself stammering.

“ Shhhh…. I can give you as much time as you want. “ He persisted.

“ Oh no. It’s already late, I need to see them and then retire for the night, and also for the day’s work. Look, it’s almost 12:00 am. “ She said as she turned her watch to show the guard. The guard was disappointed but had to let her go. He gave her a peck on her cheek before she left.

Eva rushed back into the room. She closed the door behind her and stomped towards those in the room. Sofia, John, Lady Lily and Mira looked at her. They were munching some apples and had some cheese kept for them with chilled drinks.

“ Are you alright, Ma’am. “ Mira enquired. 

“ That fool had the guts to flirt with me.” Eva said angrily.

“ Which fool? “ Lady Lily and Mira asked her.

Eva described the person she was referring to and also narrated all that happened outside the room.

“ Don’t mind them. “ Lady Lily said.

“ Yes, Ma’am . And thank you for coming to our aid. We owe the both of you a lot. “ Mira said to her.

“ It’s nothing. “ John told her.

“ Pardon me for not asking before now, ' How are you Ma’am?’ “ Eva asked.

“ I’m over the moon with joy. “ Sofia responded.

“ Over the moon with joy? “ John, lady Lily and Mira repeated. Eva was astonished. “ What kind of a person is Sofia? “

Sofia laughed at their reactions and continued eating silently. Everyone else kept quiet till they finished eating.

John and Eva bade them goodbye and thanked the guards before leaving. They also returned back to their rooms. 

The morning rays seeped into the room. The room was quiet messy, with a bottle of wine on the floor and some of its content sprayed on the floor. Albert woke up that morning. He tried to stretch his body but he felt sharp pains in some parts of his body. He had gained those pains from bad sleeping posture. He looked around the environment which didn’t seem like the usual environment. He rubbed his eyes to remove the sleep from his eyes.

“ Where am I ? “ His scanned around the environment and saw Valerie lying close to him. It was then, that he recalled what happened the other night. His gaze flew to the clock which hung on the wall. 

“ Omg… Valerie.. Valerie.. “ He tapped Valerie who was still very sleepy at the moment.

“ Wake up, Valerie… We’re late for work. Valerie…” He called out again, this time he hit her hard.

“ Ouch. What is that! “ Valerie yelled at him. She didn’t want to be disturbed and wasn’t going to tolerate that from whoever did that. She became calm when she heard her name again from a familiar voice. She blinked her eyes to examine her environment and went mute when she realized that she had shouted at Albert.

“ We’re late for work. “ Albert told her again.

Valerie squinted her eyes in pains when she felt a sting of headache popped up in her head.

“ I feel dizzy. “ Valerie told him. 

“ We drank more than enough yesterday. “ Albert reminded her. “ You can rest at home while I go to work. Let’s leave first. I’ll call the servants to clean up this place.” 

They left the room after that.

EDDIE’S RESIDENCE.

“ Seems my baby girl has gotten ready for today’s work.” Annie said as soon as she entered Eddie’s room. Eddie had dressed for work and was arranging some files, which she’ll need at work.

“ Yeah. I’m almost ready. Unlike you that stays at home and rarely goes out and work.” Eddie said to annoy her friend. 

Annie exhaled loudly, “ Well, what can a blogger do? “ She raised her shoulders as to gesture what she had said.

“ Don’t mind me, ok? “ Eddie said and patted Annie’s back. She gave her a kiss on her lip.

“Ouch.” Eddie screamed when Annie hit her. She began to mimic a child crying.

“ Do I look like your boyfriend that you can kiss me so casually? “ Annie shouted at her.

“ Bad friend. “ Eddie cursed and slung her bag over her shoulders. “ I’m off. “ Eddie told her and dashed towards the entrance door.

SMITHS RESIDENCE.

Albert left for work with Sarah while Valerie remained at home. She didn’t eat with Smith because she was not feeling well. So, she laid down and slept for a while. When she woke up, she put a call across to Eva to bring her food to the room and she immediately went into the bathroom to freshen up. 

The maid arrived while she was still bathing and left after several knocks on the door. Valerie called Eva the second time, to bring the food to her room. Within a short period, a maid delivered the food to her. 

“ You can just drop it there. “  Valerie pointed to a table at the other end of her room. The maid did as instructed. She bowed down and left.

Valerie wore her cream and makeup and dressed up for the day. She then went to eat. After a while, the maid came to take back the plates. 

Valerie left the room, almost immediately after the maid left.

“ Are you not supposed to go to work today?” Eva asked John. 

“ Young Master Albert, gave me a day’s break as a reward for a job done earlier. “ John replied her. “ Who owns these? “ 

Eva furrowed her eyebrows when she heard him ask that. “ Ma’am Sofia can easily be forgotten. Right? “ Eva asked in annoyance.

“Oh no. So sorry about that.”  John said to Sofia. Sofia plunged the food pack into John’s arms and left him standing in shock.

Eva had gone a distance before turning to John, “ Why are you standing there?  “ Eva asked John. He began to trail after her, glaring at her from behind.

… 

… 

“ You people are putting us to risk. “ The guard at the post said. Eva scanned around to check if she would see the head guard that flirted with her. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she didn’t see him around.

“ You have two minutes to stay with them.” The guard told them (Eva and John).

“ Thank you. “ Eva and John replied in unison.

As they proceeded to enter the room, the saw a certain person approaching them.

“ Valerie”

“ Eva”…

“ John “ …