Anne, Lisa and Carol's past(5)

Mr. Clive was so stunned by what had just happened that after Lisa's mum had left, he kept on standing at the entrance, his eyes glued to the road. He was then taken back from his thoughts by Henry's father who was about to leave for work. Mr. Clive asked him to stay a little bit and he explained to Henry's father what had just happened. To which he also agreed with him, to tell Henry everything just as how it had happened. After Henry's father had left, Mr. Clive dialed Henry's number but he couldn't get through. Though he was positive that nothing bad could have happened to Henry he decided to pay a visit to Small Town just to be sure. He had an idea of where they were staying because he and Henry's parents had once visited them.

He arrived at Lisa and Henry's place around 1 pm and found only Lisa at home. Though Lisa was surprised by his unexpected visit she welcomed him, made lunch for both of them, and they had a general conversation, at the table as they enjoyed their meal. But still, for someone elderly like Mr. Clive, he could tell that Lisa couldn't wait to hear what had brought him to their house. After the meal and a bit of tidying that's when they sat on the couches that were in the lounge and Mr. Clive explained the events that had happened earlier that morning.

(Avoiding eye contact looking down and also touching her fingers) "I don't know how should face you, I am so ashamed of what my mum did to you. Though there is nothing much I can do to make up to you but I am very sorry." Said, Lisa with a voice that was so full of sadness and worry as well.

"It's all right my child, do not be sad, I know you are sorry and you mean it. You know the very first day I set my eyes on you I knew that your background wasn't that easy. Honestly, if I say I don't understand your mother I will be lying, not all rich parents would accept their children to build a family with someone who is out of their class. Hats off to you for loving Henry despite his background, but my child, love isn't only about you two, a lot of people automatically get involved, which includes all parents and relatives from both sides. So, my question is have both of you, thought of what to do in situations like these?"

"I don't regret loving Henry, but what I do regret is being hasty in everything that I do. I never gave myself time to consider the bigger picture and I don't think that Henry did too, now I feel like what we did was a very huge mistake which might not cost only us but other parties too," said Lisa after a deep sigh.

"We all have times when we leaped without looking, so do not be so hard on yourself because you are not the first to make such mistakes and you won't be the last also. I have another question, has your mother done anything out of the ordinary especially when she is angry or when she wanted to get back at someone who had crossed his or her boundaries?"

(After wagging her head) "Mhmh, honestly, I can't tell, I do know that she cares much about class, and reputation and she is also impatient. But I have never witnessed or heard of a situation whereby she made someone's life unbearable, however, looking at how she used to treat our cousin in the past, I would say she is quite capable."

"So basically, her threats are either empty or real. I am sorry to say this is what I feared the most which is the reason I had to ask you to live separately from others because I didn't want to make things hard for you and others, also, you are the first youngest couple in our family, I hope you understand that what I did wasn't to mistreat you," said Mr. Clive and his voice was full of sincerity.

(Looking up and wiping the tears that were slowly flowing out of her eyes) "No, not at all, I do understand, and looking at how things are now, you made the right decision."

"Thank you so much for understanding, you are very kind. If you don't mind, I will wait until Henry is back so that we can all have a little discussion about this issue at hand."

"No, I don't mind at all even if you want to spend some days here there is no problem." She said so because her house had two more extra bedrooms so it wasn't going to be hard to accommodate Mr. Clive.

"Oh, by the way, I heard that you opened a small food store, how is it going?"

Lisa explained everything about how she started her business, how it was going, and also the incident that had happened between her family and her, two days ago.

(Sighing) "My child, this journey that you chose is not going to be easy at all."

Lisa didn't say anything after Mr. Clive's words, after a few minutes they then changed the subject, and later she began to do some chores and also prepare for dinner. As for Mr. Clive, his eyes were glued to the television, watching the news.

On another note, after Lisa's mum had left the Roberts' place, she went on and visited one of her richest and well-connected friends. They discussed the situation at hand and her friend gave her some ideas and also offered to give her help with anything that she would need.

Later in the evening, Henry came back from work and he was happy to see his father's uncle at his place. After all the formalities, Mr. Clive then explained to Henry the reason behind his visit just as he had done to Lisa.

"Luiza and I agreed to keep out of touch until everything is settled or almost settled if I may say because I was also receiving unknown calls, and messages as well. It's like a lot of people, have been into our business recently and we got so tired of it."

"I understand, but I would suggest that you have another contact number so that your family would be able to reach you. Sorry to say this but we don't know what Luiza's mum is planning so you better be reachable so that you will be able to update us on the situation. On the same note, have you thought about what to do concerning this issue?"

"At first I had thought of moving to another country, but then looking at our financial situation and also the fact that I will be joining the national team soon, I then ran out of ideas." Said Henry sounding like one who had accepted his fate.

"All right, but I have one last question for both of you, if worse turn into worst what are you going to do?" Asked Mr. Clive sounding very concerned.

"Since we took a risky path already we should think about that when worst happens because nothing will change even if we plan," said Lisa with a face that was full of sadness, she had said so because she didn't want to keep on dwelling on the issue, also she had been asking herself the same question over and over again and finally came up with an idea that only she knew.

The following day, Mr. Clive went back home early in the morning the same time Henry left for his first job. He then gave an update on his journey to Henry's parents, in the evening. As for Lisa's mum she had stopped going to the office since the incident happened and she was managing the company from home. Lisa's dad was still sleeping in the guest room and there was still tension in the house. Their family was no longer the same as before.

Seven days passed and there was no sign of Lisa, and this made her mum very angry. The next morning which was the eighth day, she didn't waste time, her investigator had informed her about Henry's shift at Wonder supermarket, and that day he was having a morning shift that was going to finish at 2 pm and around 9 am her car was parked, outside of the market. She went right to the manager's office, she just used her class and status, and in no time, Henry was called to the office. The moment he got in the office the manager left giving room to the so-called mother-in-law and son-in-law. Henry, knew Lisa's mum as well as her dad because he had met them during some parents' activities that were held at his former school but he never talked with them.

He had expected something like that to happen, he didn't move close to where she was sitting, but rather stood close to the door in case something would happen, he would have the opportunity to run away. The environment was so cold that he could feel that anything would happen at any time.

(Showing respect) "Good morn…"

"Shut up my friend, for starters, I don't like you and I have realized that your voice annoys me and those ocean blue eyes give me vampire vibes, I don't know what Luiza sees in you. (Crossing her legs) Anyway, I will do the talking but I want you to answer something. I gave you seven days to return Luiza, where is she?"

"She is at our home…"

"What sort of home are you talking about, you have the guts to challenge me, do you even know what you are getting yourself into? Anyway, as it stands right now, I have the power to make sure that you won't be able to join the national team, I mean if you keep on disobeying me I am going to flush your career into the drain. You see, money rules in this world, and with money, I can destroy you and your family and no one will do anything. I am being very kind, so for the sake of my child I will give you two days, disobey my orders again and the Roberts will suffer the consequences." She said as she stood up, her face was full of contempt towards Henry, she was so disgusted that she even felt like spitting at him.

"But you disowned Luiza, so why are you doing this?" Asked Henry with a voice that was full of anger, the insults were too much for him such that controlling himself was becoming so unbearable.

(Angry, and almost slapping Henry) "Neither you nor your pathetic mother gave birth to Luiza, I did and I have the right to disown and claim her back any day and anytime. Remember I said two days, not two weeks, also don't make me look for you again." She said and then left the office.