Chapter Text
She entered the building greeting her secretary/receptionist and handing her some paperwork to be filed; the lobby was vacant of any awaiting clients. She continued into her office, space kicking her heels off and sliding into her slippers, just after placing her briefcase next to her desk. She removed her jacket and hung it up on the coat rack. She went to sit in her comfy chair behind her desk, pouring herself some water; finally, settling herself in after a hectic day.
She was an attorney and had a full morning of court, and if that wasn’t enough; her afternoon was filled with sitting in a doctor’s office as a walk-in. For the last few weeks, she has found herself becoming fatigue more than usual, and not feeling quite herself. She had closed her eyes enjoying the serenity when her secretary tapped twice at the open door and came through; taking a seat on the other side of the desk.
“So?” She asked. Okoye’s eyes parted reluctantly; her basking in the tranquility abruptly interrupted.
“So, what Sarah?” She asked.
“How did it go?” She inquired. Okoye let a long breath out knowing she won’t go until she discloses the details of the court time.
“Two cases were dismissed, one we won and two were scheduled for another day,” she gave her the short version. Sarah straightened up.
“Good, but I meant your doctor’s visit,” she clarified. Okoye stared at her realizing she had omitted that bit of information.
“Oh, that,” she says nonchalantly. “She examined me, took tests and said she would notify me, when the results came back. You know we’re done for the day; why don’t finish up, go home and enjoy your weekend?”
“Sure, I just hope all is well with you, Miss Okoye,” she said then left to file the paperwork before she left for the weekend. Okoye hoped so as well, she has been losing her appetite and not sure why. At that moment, her phone vibrated, she had forgotten she set it while in court.
“Hello, my love,” she answered cheerfully, knowing who was on the other end. “Wait, do not tell me you’re calling our night off.” She protested.
“No, my darling; I just wanted to hear your voice before we met up,” he told her. “But I will be running late.”
“Thank goodness, I really need this; it has been a crazy day,” she expressed. “We only get this time once a month. and I cannot wait.”
“I understand, baby. I want this date night as much as you,” he says to her. “With you building up your law firm. Me, with my business, not to mention our children; it’s been hard to get that us time we so deserve.”
“Yes, it has,” she concurred. “But my love, I wouldn’t give it up for anything in this world.”
“Neither would I,” he said with mutual feelings, and with that; they hung up with plans to meet up later. Okoye smiled knowing what this night meant for him and her. She rose to her feet, grabbing her jacket and briefcase to go home.
“See you Monday, Sarah, enjoy your weekend,” tells her.
“Thank you, Miss Okoye,” she replies, as she finished, ffiling and preparing to leave also. “Enjoy yours as well; and get some rest.”
“Thanks, I will do that,” she says and goes out the door.
Okoye made the drive out of the inner city to the outskirts of it, where her home was located. Not too close and not too far for the commute. She came up the driveway and entered her side of the four-car garage. She exited the vehicle taking her belongings with her. As she walked towards the house, the first person she saw was Jeff, their gardener. He has this way of staring at her that does not conceal his intentions.
“Hi Miss Okoye,” he greets her. He always seems to find himself near the garage area when he figures she will be coming home.
“Hello Jeff,” she says courtly, and continues towards the house. She puts a little ump in her hip movement aware of him watching her walking away.
Jeff is a twenty-five-year-old young man, who does their grounds, and the nephew of their previous gardener who retired. He recommended Jeff, stating he has a love for gardening and wants to open his own business going from home to home up keeping their yards. He stood over six feet tall, very handsome, smooth dark caramel skin, he had long thick black locks he pulled back into one braid down his back to his hips. He was very muscular built easily could have been a football player. His eyes were olive green and were very intense if you stared into them long enough.
“She’s very gorgeous,” a voice came from behind him, as he leans over watching her go into the house.
“Yes, that she is,” he replied slyly, reality check hit him. He gradually straightened up and swallowed the lump that had quickly formed in his throat. With dread in his heart, he slowly turned his head to stare into the face the voice emanated from; her even bigger husband.
“And I understand she’s married to a very jealous husband,” he warned him.
“Yes Sir,” he replied. “I better finish up the other side.” He moved away, placing a nice distance between them. Attuma said nothing watching him scurry away, then headed towards the house to convey some bad news to Okoye. She was up in the room playing with the children when he came in, she looked up into his face and knew.
“What is it Attuma?” she asks, after leaving the children in the nursery with the nanny and closing the door to their bedroom to discuss the matter.
“I am so sorry my darling,” he walked over to her placing his hands on the sides of her shoulders and looking into her deep brown eyes. His heart ached knowing how much this was going to hurt her. “We have a last-minute meeting that came up with a possible new client. They will be in town until the morning and wants to meet with us tonight.”
“This is not fair,” she moves away from him and flops down on the bed. But she understands the importance of meetings such as these. So, as much as it is disappointing, she must let him do this as he would have her. He came to her and got on his knees before her.
“I will make this up to you, my darling,” he promised her. She kissed his forehead, then went to stand on their terrace, leaving him still on his knees. He watched after her knowing how saddened this had made her.
She stared out not looking at anything in particular; if she had, she would have seen Jeff staring up at her and seeing her facial expression. Attuma joined her getting a glimpse of Jeff staring. He turned her towards him, hooked her chin, tilting her head slightly back and gazing deeply in her eyes.
This move was twofold, warning Jeff for the second time he will not tolerate his pursuit of his wife, and mainly he wanted her to know he was conscious of how he had made her unhappy. He pecked each corner of her lips then claimed her mouth with his own, sweetly kissing her with all the love in his heart.
She responded in the only way she could, she was caught up in him. They moved into the room with Attuma closing the doors behind him, showing it was him laying her down. Jeff had taken in the display with envy in his heart. Most would have heeded this man's signs, but sometimes a person wants what they want. The way she returned her husband's kiss only made him desire her more. He was going to throw caution to the wind and have her as his endgame.
Now, there were five people on staff at their manor. Cook whose name is Kendra, Lenora the housekeeper, the nanny Helen, the gardener Jeff and their chauffeur Hamilton. They have staff quarters on the premises for those who choose to live rent free and avoid the commute back and forth. It was more like an apartment complex, each having their own bedroom apartment.
Lenora had a room adjacent to the kitchen, Kendra was the only one who would commute, as she was married and lived with her husband. Jeff and Hamilton were the only two who lived in the apartments.
Jeff had completed his work for the day and had cleaned up; prepared for an evening out. He entered the kitchen where the cook and housekeeper were chatting. They looked up and made their comments on his attire. Neither could deny he was a good-looking man and could have any woman around.
“So, ladies, how do I look?” He asked making a full circle as if they couldn’t already get his full view.
“Did you look at yourself in the mirror before you stepped out of your apartment?” Kendra asked, never liking him, and feeling he was too arrogant.
“Why, yes I did Kendra,” he replied. At that moment, Hamilton joined the trio sitting down at the table with a newspaper in hand. He crossed one leg over the other and shook out the newspaper to see what was going on in the world.
“Then you already know what you look like,” she told him and continued preparing dinner. Lenora let out a huge chuckle, she shares the same feelings as Kendra for him.
“You ladies are just jealous because I do not aim my attraction at either of you,” he says to them.
“Why would I want a wet behind the ears, youngling?” Lenora snapped. “And you are not my type.”
“Well, I am someone’s type around here,” he smirked, which caused everyone, even Hamilton to pause. He had been watching the little punk eyeing Okoye and wanted him to boldly say it.
“The nanny?” Lenora asked, knowing she was an elderly woman doing this type of job for almost a century. Well, that could be an exaggeration, but quite near it.
“Don’t be cruel, she could never handle what I put out.” By now, Hamilton had laid the paper on the table glaring at Jeff's crude remark. “Now, Miss Okoye is a horse of a different liking.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Kendra yelled at him. “Leave that woman alone before you find yourself disappeared.”
“Miss Okoye wouldn’t give you a backwards glance,” Lenora chimed in.
“Maybe not, she just moves those hips for me whenever she passes by,” he remarked.
“Now you look a here, you little pup,” Hamilton stood up. “Don’t you ever say anything so disrespectful about her like that again. She’s one of the finest ladies around, and a very married one at that.” Hamilton was in his late fifties, and a no-nonsense kind of guy; a gentleman through and through, something Jeff lacks.
“Be quiet old man, you know you been peeping that action out,” Hamilton slowly walked up to him, inches between. He was very well built himself, but not quite as tall; but that did not matter.
“I will say this only once,” he begins, looking him in the eyes. “Either you show some respect to our employer, and the marriage she has with our other employer; or you can get out of here.”
“You have no authority to fire me,” he clapped back.
“Maybe he doesn’t, but we can make life very unbearable around here,” Lenora informed him.
“We’ve done it before,” Kendra added with this sinister grin on her face. He looked at each of their faces seeing they were on the up and up.
“Let me get out of here and go do what none of you are capable of achieving,” and with that, he turned on his heels and was out the door.
After their little meeting of body, soul and mind; Okoye and Attuma showered together, getting caught up once again. Finally, she left, allowing him to take a proper shower alone. She dressed and went out on the terrace to reflect. She received a phone call at that time, seeing it was the doctor’s office.
“Hello Dr. Jonson,” she addressed her. Attuma came out of the room, giving her a light kiss and left.
“I wanted to call you myself,” she explained. “I would like to see you at the earliest possible time.” Okoye became alarmed.
“What’s going on? Did you find something?” She became frantic.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she tried to calm Okoye down. “I just want to take a few more test just to be sure.”
“Of what, exactly?” She persisted in knowing what she suspected.
“I am not going to reveal anything until further testing, Okoye,” she said emphatically. “When can you come in?”
“First thing Monday morning,” she snapped.
“Good, see you then,” she said and hung up. Okoye stood poised, staring out as a million possibilities of what was wrong circulated in her mind.
“I got to get out of here,” she said to herself, and rushed into the nursery, seeking the nanny. Usually, she would stay with the children and put them to bed, but she did not want them to pick up on her vibration.
“Helen, I will be going out. Can you go ahead and put the children to bed?” she asked, peering into the adjacent room where her daughter and son were playing.
“Yes, Miss Okoye,” she replied. Okoye went in the other room and gave her four-year-old daughter a hug and kiss, then the same to her two-year-old son. She left, thinking she would make it up to them the rest of the weekend.
No one was aware Attuma had come through the hallway that by passed the kitchen. He had heard the way Jeff spoke of his wife, Okoye; and the defense of the others. His rage welled up in him. He had warned him of his obsession with Okoye.
He never cared for him from the beginning, noticing how he stared at Okoye on first meeting him, and other times. Because he is the previous gardener’s nephew, and this fondness Okoye has for him is the only reason he’s still there. And the fact he is good at his job.
Okoye came towards the kitchen to see if Hamilton was around to see if he could take her into town. She saw Attuma leaning against the wall arms crossed staring out the door, she watched as Jeff hopped on his motorbike and sped away. Attuma shoved the door with great force and exited the house. She went over and looked at him drive off aggressively, curious to what had made him angry with Jeff. He knows Jeff annoys him, but this was more. She shrugged her shoulders, hoping he doesn’t plow Jeff down in the way he drove away. But then, that’s not her problem, she has other things pressing.
“Hamilton, I hate to bother you on your down time,” she said as she entered the kitchen causing the trio to halt their discussion of Jeff and his disrespectful remarks. She caught on to it and wondered if it had anything to do with Attuma and his glaring mood towards Jeff. But whatever it is, all of them will have to deal with it.
“Oh no, Ma'am,” he replied, bringing her back from her thoughts. “I am at your service.” She smiled. Hamilton along with Kendra and Lenora, were their beginning staff when they had finished building the house. Their previous gardener, Aaron, was the other until he retired, and Jeff took his place. Helen has been with them just a few months longer than Jeff, and their first nanny.
“Thank you,” she expressed and left to get ready. They all turned to one another wondering the same thing. Did she overhear?
“You think?” Kendra asked.
“I do not think so,” Lenora went to the door to make sure she was completely gone before further discussion.
“She didn’t,” Hamilton assured them. “She would have inquired.” They all agreed she would have wanted to know. He left the two to go get the car ready for their departure.
Okoye dressed for the evening checking in on the children before she left, kissing each sleepy head on the forehead. She lingered a bit watching them breathe, scared of what the doctor had discovered. She held back the tears, not wanting to have to redo her make up. The nanny noticed her demeanor but has never been one to inject herself into the private affairs of her employers. She didn’t mingle much with the other staff as well.
Hamilton held the door for her as she sat in the back seat contemplating what her evening should be. She elected to go to a restaurant Attuma and her frequent, she hadn’t eaten all day, now her stomach was growling. She instructed Hamilton where to go.