Condemned Daughter

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 11

Dad, I am sorry I can’t do that”. I told him with a strong voice.

He fumed at me. “How long will you remain foolish?”.

“Dad, when I was condemned by my own family, Raymond was the one that quenched the fire in my soul”.

My father and sister exchanged glances.

I cleared my throat. “Don’t get wierd ideas, we are just very good friends”.

“Very good friends and he quenched the fire in your soul?”. My sister cried out.

“Your friend can not quench the fire in your soul?”.

She shrugged.

I walked into my room and banged the door like a spoilt brat.

My phone was ringing.

It was Raymond Maxson.

I was having mixed feelings about picking the call.

If I pick the call, will it increase my father’s anger and make him feel like I was still a disobedient daughter?

I had turned a new leaf right?

I watched my phone ring and Dominic walked into the room.

She looked worriedly at me. “Are you not going to pick the call?”.

“It is Raymond”.

“What about it? Is Raymond his father? Will you pick the call!”.

I walked to the phone and reluctantly connected it. “Hello…”.

“Is it about what happened between our dads? I will do everything to clear your name, okay? You have nothing to worry about”.

“…but our dads quarrelled. What will we do about that?”.

“Can you come over? I have a good news for you concerning this case”.

“Okay”. I disconnected the line and looked up at my sister who was smiling suspiciously.

“Are you kidding me right now? You mean you are head over heels for Raymond Maxson now? When did this start by the way?”.

“Why is everyone thinking wierd?”.

“Because ‘wierd’ is happening to your heart right now”.

I rolled my eyes and rose to my feet. “I have to meet him. We have a case to deal with”.

“Are you now supernaturally a detective now because you and Raymond are looking for excuses to meet each other? Be using ‘case’ to decieve people oooo”.

“I have to clear my name off the suspect’s list, sis. Stop being unnecessarily romantic”.

She winked at me.

Raymond was ironing his clothes when I got to his house.

“You don’t wet your clothes before ironing? How will the gator glitter?”. I snatched the iron from him and began to iron the shirt properly.

He watched me for a while and looked away. “Thank you”. Was all he said.

I pretended to not notice the strangeness in his actions and continued ironing.

He cleared his throat. “I am sorry I made you disobey your dad”.

“No, it is fine”.

There was a knock at his door.

I looked up at him. “Are you expecting someone?”.

He walked to open.

It was Sophia.

The coffee seller.

I had met her once when I and Raymond had gone there together one Saturday.

She smiled and walked in with a package. “I was at your place and your mum and I prepared this for you. She said that due to your bachelor life, you won’t eat good food and you will lean again”. She completely ignored me and focused on Raymond.

The lady even knew his mother enough to even cook together with her.

They must be closer than I had thought.

I had a wierd feeling about it and patiently waited for Raymond’s response.

“Thanks for the meal, Sophia”.

She sighed deeply. “Your mum wants us to visit her together tomorrow”.

“Why? Why should we visit my mum together?”.

She shrugged. “Probably you should ask her that yourself. I have no idea”. I could hear the lie in her voice.

“I will be busy tomorrow. Tell her that I will be available on weekend”.

“Tomorrow is your day off…and another thing, tomorrow is your brother’s birthday”.

He frowned slightly. “er…you can go without me tomorrow. I will come later”.

There was hurt in her eyes. “Are you ashamed of me?”.

He was surprised at her. “What do you mean?”.

She shrugged. “You are one of the most famous detectives in Nigeria and I am just a coffee seller, so it is not abnormal for you to be ashamed of me”. She walked out of the house in self pity.

I looked up at him. “Why don’t you want to go with her?”.

“Why must we go together? We are not a couple and we will never be a couple”.

I was surprised at his reaction.

I had actually thought that Raymond was the kind of person that you could manipulate with words.

But I had been wrong all along.

He stared at me. “I and Sophia have nothing to do together. She only knew my family because we were coursemates, that’s all. My mother is very hospitable especially with females”.

I was surprised that he was explaining everything to me. “You don’t need to explain to me”.

He sighed uneasily and looked away. “I just thought you might think otherwise”.

“It doesn’t matter even if I think otherwise”.

“Oh yeah, afterall, I am not Ryan. It is only Ryan that has to explain things like that to you”.

I chuckled at the way he was behaving awkwardly like a kid. “Are you really alright, Raymond?”.

“Not at all, my head aches”.

I looked up at him. “Why? Have you taken anything for it?”.

He walked to sit on the cushion. “I took drugs but anytime I see you, the head ache just increases”.

I gasped. “I am the reason for your head ache?”. I hung his clothes and walked towards him. “Repeat what you said again”.

He chuckled. “Er…I said I like the feel of this head ache that i am feeling right now because you caused it”.

I chuckled and he pulled me to sit beside him on the cushion.

He smiled heartily at me. “Anytime that you are not with me, my heart feels empty, Rosa. I thought I could stop thinking about you when I stayed away from you for two months, but everything became suddenly frustrating. It occurred to me that I am only happy when you are by my side”.

Tears filled my eyes as I searched his eyes. “Stop telling me all this, Raymond”.

He held me on my jaw and reached his lips for mine.

It was the first time someone had ever kissed me.

…and I responded.

That was what my heart wanted.

My heart longed for Raymond.

How could I not have realized it all these while?

I couldn’t sleep all night.

My first kiss.

Raymond had given me my first kiss.

I excitedly drove to work the next morning.

When I got to my office, there was chaos going on in my office.

Mirabel slapped me. “Why did you steal the company’s secret recipe? How dare you???”.

The company’s recipe?

I finally realized that someone had framed me.

“We saw it in among your things on your desk! You will forever be the criminal that you have always been!”. Diana fired at me.

“I didn’t do that”. I defended.

Mirabel folded a sack letter into my hand. “The CEO of the company gave me this to give you this personally”. She leaned to my ear. “Rosa, this is what you get for stealing Raymond from me all in the name of friendship. You deceived everyone with a useless case that you were dealing with. You are sacked from the Sparkles that your parents treasured so much”.

Mirabel had framed me because she already found out that I had feelings for Raymond.

His phone rang.

He connected it.

It was Arnold Anderson.

He coughed. “R…raaaay… help”. He disconnected the line.

Raymond impatiently traced his location and headed to the place.

He was in the toilet of Saint villes eatery.

Arnold was lying in his pool of blood.

Raymond immediately carried him on his back.

Arnold winced. “I won’t last, Raymond. Just one warning, stop tailing Steve Austin, he is more dangerous than Nathan. He was only a taxi driver the day Nathan’s son was killed. One more thing, twinkle…twinkle…little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the wall so high, like a diamond in the sky…”

Arnold gave up the ghost, singing….

Twinkle twinkle Little Star.

Raymond knew it.

The truth was in that song.

Twinkle… twinkle Little Star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky