Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ROXANNE'S POV

I walked out of the company triumphantly. At least I had begun to stand up for myself. All the painful humiliation I had suffered throughout the day was now like a butterfly wing to my ear, I barely felt it.

I took on my usual route home but stopped, suddenly remembering the acid incident. For the past two days, I had used a different route.

Once, I had even paid for a cab back home, spending my precious little dollars. For some unknown reason, I was almost making the same mistake I had made on that fateful Tuesday. 

I decided to take the longer route which was something of a roundabout way.

Just as I was about to enter the street, I saw Tarella getting out of a car on the opposite street.

Overjoyed, I screamed out her name trying to get her attention. She was in the hearing range.

Her reaction was surprising to me, as she turned to the direction where her name was called, made eye contact with me and looked away, pretending not to have noticed me.

An old man held her waist, romantically pulling her inside. I was perplexed as to the reason for her strange reaction to my call. Yes, I might have screamed like a lunatic, but still, she should have at least responded with a wave or one of her angelic smiles. I lifted my gaze upwards to the building's label. It was a hotel.

"What was going on? Was I seeing things? I must have mistaken someone else for her," I thought quietly.

After brooding for a while, I concluded that the person I had just seen, could not beTarella.

The reason was that if the person I had seen was Tarella, she would have waved and given a warm smile.

Another reason was that she seemed to be a morally upright person and would not romantically walk into a hotel with a man thrice her age.

I still kept my thoughts wrapped around Tarella until I got home and got into the shower.

DERA'S POV

Roxanne was truly biting more than she could chew. The last words she said before leaving the company, had been ringing in my ears for the past 7 hours now.

How did she get to know my background secret? Was it Tarella? Did Tarella rat out to her? "That crazy bitch," I cursed

Did she spill my secret to appear as a Saint to Roxanne? She was certainly fish-brained to use that as a reason to betray my trust.

After all, we were in the same shoes. We both engaged in the same line of promiscuity for money. The only difference was that she accepted offers more frequently than I did.

It would have been a lot better if she had divulged the secret about my adulthood rather than my childhood.

My childhood was a painful incident I loved to keep hidden. It was something I only divulged to a trusted friend.

At a time, Tarella had been this trusted friend and I had poured out my heart hoping never to be betrayed. Sadly she had.

Betrayal attracted punishment from my end. She had to be subjected to some kind of painful humiliation. It didn't matter that she had just, as she had claimed, lost a dear one.

But first, Roxanne was to be dealt with mercilessly.

I quickly picked up my black pants and black jackets plus my pocket knife and taser, ready for elimination.

ROXANNE'S POV

I woke up to a loud knock on my door. My siesta had unexpectedly spanned to 8 pm. I wasn't expecting anyone. So who could it be?

I stood up sleepily from my bed, turned on the light and made my way to the sitting room to open the door.

On looking at the keyhole, I discovered that it was Stephanie, my old-time friend. 

She was a friend I had met four years ago when I was just a newbie to the world beyond the orphanage walls.

We both were babysitters at the time. Though she was five years older than me then, we had struck a good friendship bond.

I opened the door to let her in, still feeling very drowsy.

"Roxanne!!! It's been a while," she squealed in delight, succeeding in clearing my eyes and head from most of the drowsiness.

I smiled and ushered her into the sitting room, waving my hands at the available sofas.

"How have you been?" She asked, taking a seat on one of the sofas

"I've been quite alright. And you? Are you still babysitting?" I asked. The last time we met was two years ago when she had finished her master's program.

At that time, she had made known her plan to continue babysitting despite all her achievements.

"Well, I got married you know," she flaunted her ring for my gentle eyes to glimpse.

I knew that she added the marriage part to drive home a point that she didn't have to work herself to death anymore.

"Wow! Congrats. It's nice to start a family early," I congratulated her as best as I could. I was indeed happy for her.

She had been very hungry for boyfriends during our babysitting days. She would flirt with literally anything on pants. Ranging from the baby's father, brother, uncle and even the driver.

Thankfully, her flirtations had paid off as she had now settled down. I hoped her flirtations had equally settled down peacefully too.

"Oh come off it! I'm 27 and not young," she used her fingers to form curls on her brown hair. She did look a little older and she had added more weight.

I laughed and replied, "My bad, I thought you were my age or something"

She laughed delicately too, lighting her face with more shining beauty

"Where do you work now?" She asked, taking the sitting room to conclude my paycheck

"I walk at NattCom company," I replied, studying her expression.

She didn't hide the surprise in her eyes.

"That's so wonderful! What department are you in?" She asked joyfully.

But she didn't get the chance to hear the full story, as we heard a knock on the door

"Were you expecting someone?" She asked, standing up just the same time as I did to go check the peephole.

Not wishing to struggle with the position of the keyhole with her, I proceeded to open the door.