Deborah

Episode 16

Just as the waiter approached, he was surprised to see her…. This time, she looked more confident as she took dedicated steps towards him….

‘good morning Andy, I’m sure you remember me’ Morganna smiled…. There was something about Ani’s cousin….she had a deep talk with herself and she remembered everything but it was a long time ago.

He hadn’t acted like he did, that was why she had to get closer to him….if he remembered, then she had to take him out else he’d ruin everything about her wedding with Aniebiet.

‘Yes I remember you, you are my cousin’s fiancée’ he replied, did he have such a short memory?

Deborah looked from the lady to Andy, she felt like vanishing….she quickly hid her rubber shoes underneath the table…

She had never felt that inferior before, being a hawker had never bothered her, but setting her eyes on this woman made her feel undeserving of everything Andy had offered….

‘is this your new catch’? Morganna lowered her long lashes to the girl with Andy….
She looked every bit a lowlife, and she smelled of cheap soap ….but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was very beautiful, for the first time in her life, Morganna felt threatened by another woman’s beauty…

Very well, she was Andy’s girlfriend and that didn’t bother her at all…..another thought did, it disturbed her greatly…and this was it: what if Aniebiet got to see her? She was too attractive to be ignored by any sane man.

‘Excuse me’? Andy hated nosy people

‘Oh I’m sorry….can I have your number, so we keep in touch’? She requested nicely….

Deborah felt so out of place, she even lost her appetite…

‘No problem….’ Andy wasn’t comfortable with her request but he granted it anyway, he didn’t like Morganna ….and for no good reason. That confused him the more….

She took her leave and he turned back to face his angel….

‘ I’m sorry about that, that’s my cousin’s wife …..you’ve met him before…’ he shrugged and picked an apple from his plate….

She dropped the fork heavily….his wife? So he was married….

All her fantasies rode away on the clouds of the new found reality….she felt like screaming out her pain…her stomach began to rumble….all of her was in pain…

But what right did she have to feel this way? She was a fool that lived in dreams….

‘it’s like you don’t enjoy the food’ went Andy as she had slipped again…into her own world…

Andy wondered if she was always that way, absent minded…putting up walls around her beyond his reach…

‘ I’m fine ….i enjoyed it but I think we should get going before your Aunt changes her mind’.

She felt glued to where she stood as she beheld the first wonder of her own world…. The mansion was the most exotic thing she had la!d her eyes on since her existence….

‘Wow….this is beautiful’ she breathed….

Andy smiled, if only she could be his, he would build a house better than that for her…‘you like what you see’?

She nodded and straightened the ends of her skirt…she had to look presentable…

These were obviously very rich people and she was lucky to be right here…Sara was right, if she had changed her mind about coming, she would’ve missed a lot.

‘Follow me’ Andy instructed as he carried her bags to the house….she was carried away by the ambience surrounding her…

Clara had already spotted them from her window….she couldn’t hold back her excitement….there was now a glint of hope for her brother, there was a chance he could fall for this girl and dump Morganna.

‘Who do we have here’? she yelled excitedly and quickly got into her clothes running past her mother and Selene who stared at her in wonder….

What had come over that girl? thought Selene

‘Mum you should be more firm on her…she’s losing it’ Selene complained….her younger sister was being over pampered and she displayed many undesirable patterns of behaviour.

‘Leave her be…you talk like you were a saint at her age’ Mrs Brigass laughed softly.

She was sure her nephew had brought the ‘maid’ she had asked for….it was now time for assessment.

‘Come this way’ Clara took over from Andy who’d gone to drop her bags at the workers quarters.

‘thank you’ Deborah smiled at the girl she met the other day, a bit perturbed by her friendliness….she knew people of the higher class, they rarely mixed with her type. This made her more wary of the innocent girl who was only trying to make her feel comfortable.
They arrived in a large room which was certainly the parlor… Debo paused as she observed the boundless display of wealth ….a large television was fixed on the wall….the settees were carved exquisitely…and different kinds of paintings hung on the wall…

‘This is beautiful’ she repeated the umpteenth time as she observed the chandeliers above the diningtable….

‘Take your time’ Clara encouraged….

She spun round and found him staring at her…
Those beautiful eyes….piercing deeply into the depth of her soul. They made her tremble inwardly, did he live here? then another image smiled….he was truly handsome…she wished again he was hers…but he was married…

But where were the wedding pictures? That meant he stayed somewhere else with his wife….the thought of the woman brought cold sweat on her brows….

Although she looked very much an angel, she cast a fear on her at the restaurant ….a fear she couldn’t understand. She exuded an aura of danger…

Clara observed the girl, the way her eyes were transfixed on her brother’s picture made her smile. If only Aniebiet would feel this same way. But something else bothered her, she had seen the way Andy gawked at the girl…

‘I see you are already getting yourself acquainted’ A stern female voice brought her back to reality….

She quickly followed the direction of the voice and turned….she bent her knees slightly as she greeted the woman. A younger woman came out few seconds later ….

‘Who is she’? Selene was surprised to see the cheaply dressed girl in their Parlor.

‘God help me’ she prayed and wondered why the woman stared at her that long and very silently.

Ekanem Brigass was stunned….could this be Ateri?

After so many years….what was she doing here? but that logic was irrational…if Ateri never died she would’ve been older than this young girl who stood before her….

She looked so much like Ateri, the girl who had rescued her from the claws of death.

Like Ateri, she was tall and slender….her hair in its natural state was very long, her lips were full and pink and she had a peculiar golden brown complexion.

But what was most attractive were her eyes… they were the brownest shade she’d ever seen…

Ekanem’s shock was so palpable that she stood rooted in one spot, staring at Deborah as if she had seen a ghost.

‘Mom are you okay’? Selene wondered why her mother had suddenly grown so quiet and transfixed…