CHAPTER 3

Philip got back home and kept his books aside just then, he got a call from Mr. Smart, A friend of his father. "Philip Hammond. Where have you been all this while?"

"Studying."

"We need you back in the team. Grand Foxx is back again."

"You must be playing with me." Philip said in surprise.

"He almost killed my wife a week ago"

"He died."

"He is still alive Philip."

"So what do you want me to do? Fight your battles again so that you can dump me like you did the last time?"

"Your father told me that you would help me."

"I am not my father. So why don't you tell him that I said that I won't do it?"

"I am sorry, I really am."

"I don't care anymore, find someone else." He said before he hung up.

He wondered why everyone that abandoned him was apologizing. He didn't care about anything anymore. All he wanted to do was to be alone and focus on his studies.

Martins smiled as he walked into the restaurant where Enya was working. He saw her serving food to the customers who had ordered the food. It felt very good to see her again, not like he was obsessed with her but he was in the process of getting obsessed with her.

He sat down at a table and when she saw him, she smiled and approached him. It was a surprise to see him there but she didn't show it.

"Can I take your order, Mr.Martins?"

"Very funny Miss. Enya. Why don't you give me whatever you desire to give me?"

"I would love to, but I don't know what you desire." both of them burst into laughter and she sat down on a chair on the other side of the table.

"It is good of you to check up on me." she said.

"No problem. As long as you don't get the wrong idea that I am stalking you."

"Stalking is my hobby. I used to stalk a guy that I had feelings for." she knew that she still had feelings for Philip. She just wanted Martins to get the idea that she was not in love with anybody.

"Who was he? I hope he didn't hurt you."

"He didn't. Actually....he did but not physically. He didn't realize that I loved him" in her heart, the word 'loved him' was wrong. She still loves him.

"He must have some bad luck over him."

"He doesn't....he just isn't ready for love."

"How did you know so much about him?"

"We have been friends since childhood. Not close friends actually...we were far from each other but we still knew ourselves."

"How does that work?"

"It worked in our friendship. Not sure if it would in any...the fact is, he has family problems and he didn't have many friends who stood with him during his difficult time. Even I... I kept away from him when he needed help the most."

"So he doesn't forget things easily does he?"

"He is from a wealthy family with problems, where hatred was the topic of the day. His father occupies a seat of authority here in New York. He has so many enemies and no time to forgive."

"I see."

"I am sorry for talking too much about him...what do I get for you?"

"Coffee"

"Alright" she walked away from him to get it from the kitchen. All she wanted to do was to stop thinking about Philip and now, she ended up talking about him to someone who probably had feelings for her.

"What's the matter?" Olivia asked handing the cup of coffee over to her.

"Nothing....just finding it hard to breathe." Enya replied.

She couldn't breathe whenever she talked about Philip.

"Take some time off then, I will talk to the boss and continue your work for you."

"Thanks." Olivia was a good friend and Enya appreciated it so much. She served Martins the coffee and left the restaurant.

Outside was beautiful but within her, she could only see the gloom of the day. She was going mad over him and as the day passed by; she only wished that she could love someone else as much as she loved Philip.

"From the way she talked about him, it seemed as though she still loves the guy." Martins said to Olivia.

"Yeah.....she is madly in love with Philip. Give her some time, she will soon recover from the madness."

"Philip Hammond is it?"

"Yes, it is. You know him?"

"We are course mates."

"He also studies C.E?"

"He is one of the best in Computer Engineering. But I didn't know that someone would fall in love with him?"

"Well....that is the story of her life" said Olivia as she walked towards another table to clear the plates.

Martins was disappointed, it would have been easy for him if Enya was not in love with such a person like Philip. Yet, he still had to try if he wanted her badly.

Philip got a call from his mother that evening, it seemed like a joke when he heard that his sister, Sandra had been kidnapped.

At first, Philip wanted to cut the call thinking that she was looking for a way to make him come back but then he realized that he and his father had too many enemies and his family had not been attacked for years because the family was together. His father, Paul never let his guard down for a minute but if this happened then it meant that Paul was doing something reckless.

"Where is dad?"

"He is speaking to the police now."

"Give him the phone." He said.

Claudia walked toward Paul and told Paul that Philip wanted to speak with him.

"Who did it?" Philip asked his father.

"You have no right to ask me that after what you did. You brat!"

"I did nothing, so if you want to accuse me, go on and maybe Sandra will die."

"It's Grand Foxx!. The man I sent you to eliminate. He is back again and I can't tell the police that." Paul said.

Philip kept quiet for a while after hearing that name.

"So you better top your game and rectify your stupid mistakes!" Paul said loudly. Philip cut the call out of anger and dropped it on the table. He could not believe that Grand Foxx was back again. Not now when he wanted to live a normal life.

Enya sighed as she paced about her room, then she took up the courage to pick up her phone and dial Philip's number. She wanted to hear his voice again or she would not sleep very well and she prayed that Philip would answer her call just for once. Unfortunately, he didn't pick up the call but some minutes later, when she had laid down on her bed to try to sleep, he called her and she didn't waste any time picking it up.

"You called." he said.

"Yes...I did. I just wanted to ask if you would be around tomorrow."

"Why the question?"

"I...Uhm...."

"No need to answer, I will be around. Any problem?"

"No...just want to visit you tomorrow evening. That's all."

"Good night." he said,

"Night" she replied and they hung up. She exhaled freely because she had been holding her breath during their conversation. She missed him so much even though they had never been so close before yet there was something about him that made it seem like he was closer to her than ever.

Martins had monitored Philip all day, there was nothing special about Philip that could make any girl crazy about him. It didn't make sense to him how Enya could love Philip so dearly. He met Enya on her way out for lunch and she was happy to see him. She remembered her promise to herself to forget about Philip but she had broken that promise by calling Philip that last night. All her body screamed out in passion whenever she saw Philip, it didn't change up till now.

"Lunch?" He asked.

"Yep." She replied and they both went into a restaurant where they sat down and were served according to what they ordered.

"How did you get to know Philip?" Martins asked. He looked serious.

"We were in the same class back then when we were still children." She replied.

"He looks like someone who has a lot of problems."

"He does....sorry, why are we talking about him?"

"I just want to clear some doubts.... sorry about that." Just then, Enya got a call from her father and she excused herself.

"Is everything fine?" She asked.

"Yes, yes... everything is fine my dear. No need to worry....how have you been?"

"Fine....only that I feel stressed sometimes."

"Because of Philip?"

"Yes...."

"Why don't you visit him? Your crush on him has been longer than expected."

"That's what Olivia keeps telling me"

"Olivia is a bad friend. Stay away from her....do you hear me?"

"I will try. She has been a good friend to me."

"She keeps getting you into trouble....that is not being nice. She hates you."

"Whatever Dad, I will call you when I get back home"

"Bye...greet Philip for me."

"Oh...Dad you can be so unbearable" "Love you" he said and then hung up. Before she could turn, Martins had approached her.

"I am sorry but I have to go to classes now. See you later" She said and walked off before he could reply.

She didn't know why he was asking those questions about Philip, it felt odd to share Philip's problems with someone she just met recently.

Meanwhile, Martins watched her as she hurriedly walked away from him, he felt like she was avoiding him for some reason and he felt stupid for raising up a topic about Philip instead of talking about something else. The fact was that he was really jealous of the fact that she still loves him even though she didn't say it out loud.

That evening, Philip heard a knock on his door and left his books to go and open the door, only to see Enya. He gestured to her to come in and closed the door behind her.

"Welcome....let me get you something to drink" he said walking to his refrigerator while she sat down.

She had actually brought her own books and Philip smiled at that. He knew Enya to be a hard-working lady, she knew he would be reading when she came, she didn't want to feel left out so she decided to bring her own books along.

"Thanks." she said as she collected the drink.

"You hardly visit me, so what changed?" He asked while sitting on another sofa that was facing her.

"I hardly see you...."

"That reason of yours should be an outdated one, don't you think?" Philip said glancing at her and then at his book. Enya kept quiet for a while before speaking up.

"I...I miss you....so much" she managed to say.

At first, Philip's heart melted at her words but he didn't want her to notice it.

"You know very well that I can't forget what happened four years ago...what makes you think that your words now, will change anything?"

"I know it won't.....I...I just wanted to tell you how I feel." she said trying to hold back her tears. Philip watched as she took her books to the dining table across the room to read. He tried to concentrate on his books but he couldn't, all his attention was on Enya.

He finally began to concentrate on reading and after some minutes, he looked in her direction again and saw that she had laid her head on the table and fallen asleep.

He stood up and walked to the table where she had fallen asleep with her books opened. He slowly lifted her head from the table and pulled the chair back then he lifted her gently in his arms. She clung to him with her eyes closed, he could feel her breath on his neck as he carried her to his room where he laid her on the bed without waking her up. He drew the duvet up to her neck and sat down to watch her sleep.

What she did to him four years ago still made him hate her, he didn't understand why she refused to help him that night but after he found out that she wasn't afraid of his father, all she wanted to do was to save herself and her father first and so his life didn't matter to her at that moment.

He remembered that fateful night when he was kidnapped by a major enemy of his father's. The man had beaten him so much that he felt like he was going to die at that spot. He had called Philip's parents to come and rescue Philip from the situation but Paul did not want to be threatened with Philip, so he told his wife that they were not going to rescue Philip and risk their lives. He reminded her that they had a daughter to take care of and maybe Philip would pay the sacrifice to let them live.

The man smiled at Paul's response and put the phone on a loud speaker so that Philip could hear what his father was saying. Enya and her father were also captured, the man turned to Enya in a short moment and decided to play a game and he won eventually. He told one of his guys to spread fuel around the room and he set it on fire.

"You can save both of them or you can save one." He said to Enya.

He had already cut her loose and because the fire was hot and spreading throughout the room, she cut her father's rope and helped him stand up.

"Philip! What about him?!" Her father asked.

"He brought us into this mess dad! You are more important and besides the fire is spreading, he can save himself." she said as she helped her father out of the room and Philip lost hope after hearing her words. He was all alone in this now and he had to save himself.