₦airaland Forum

Interesting I came across this post again. This is 3 years later and I can boldly say I have learnt the necessary techniques. How time flies and how far determination gets you.

FlourishBliss:
luvly story u gad here.......

Thanks dear. Please don't forget to get your copy.

Ten


I stood transfixed; watching Chief, Mrs. Avero and Mrs Hope accuse each other of crimes committed against William and themselves.

"He maybe your flesh and blood Hope, but you sold him to us. What kind of a mother does that?" Mrs. Avero asked. "You sold yo..."

"Shut up Alero, just shut up!" Mrs. Hope ordered. "I never sold my son to you or anyone else. I never took money from any of you. All I wanted was a good life for my child."

"Don't you think I want the same thing for him?" Chief asked.

"From what I have seen, all you want for William is suffering."

"How dare you?" Chief barked. "Its you who wants him to suffer. After paying you off you came back into our lives and turned William against us."

"I never turned him Luke, your actions did. Blame yourself for that."

"You know what?" Mrs. Avero asked. "I purposely kept all records of the transaction we did. I will now go home and bring them out."

"I don't care, feel free to go and dig up any fake evidence you've planted. All I know is this. When William wakes up, when he recovers, I am going to tell him the truth."

"You won't dare!" Chief threatened with clenched fist.

"You just watch me" Mrs. Hope said.

"If you tell him, be rest assured that he wouldn't only hate me and my wife, he will also hate you for lying to his face all these years."

"I know he will hate me. Maybe even reject me. What's important is that he finally learns the truth."

"I am going home Hope, I will be back with my wife and daughters to check on my son. You better not do anything stupid before I get back and after he gets well."

He turned to leave with his wife but then he stopped to faced us again.

"One more thing people" He said to all of us. "Get yourselves out of this hospital before I come back. If you a..."

"Save your breathe Luke" Mrs. Hope cut in. "You cannot do anything to us."

"Be out before I get back" Chief warned for the second time before leaving with his Wife, Alero.

After Chief left with his wife, I decided it was best to leave too. I had heard too much for one day and I didn't want to be caught up in their fight. I only took two steps forward when Mrs. Hope reached out and held my hand.

"Charity." She called.

I stopped and then slowly turned back to face Mrs. Hope's wet eyes. "I know you have a lot of questions and I am ready to answer them."

"I'm not the one who needs those answers ma! Just save them for William."

I turned to leave again but she still held me back. This time, her cries increased. I couldn't bear the sight so I moved closer and hugged her.

Tina and the men pulled back and sat quietly on the long chairs. They didn't look surprised or confused, only worried and angry.

"Do your children know about this whole mess?" I asked.

"Yes they do." She replied and then pulled away from my embrace to clean her tears. "Although, the others are just hearing it for the first time. Please come with me" she said as she led the way.

We went outside the hospital and stood at a corner. The early morning air was cold but we could manage. Mrs. Hope cleaned her eyes some more and then looked at me.

"I really wanted to tell William" She started. "But, I was scared."

"Why? Because you sold him?"

"No! I didn't sell him, I would never sell any child let alone my own."

"Then what were you scared of?"

"Rejection. I still don't know how he will react when I tell him the truth."

"l heard him call you mummy once, I don't think he'll reject you."

"You won't understand."

Ok then, tell me. What really happened? How did this happen?" I asked.

She sighed before she answered. "It happened over 30 years ago when I went to work as a baby sitter for the Averos. Alero had just given birth to her second daughter but Luke wasn't happy. He wanted a boy. He was okay having just two or three children as long as a boy was included. But he had two daughters and no boy. He wanted to have his last child and he wanted to make sure he had a male child this time around so he approached me. He wanted me to get pregnant for him and after the child was born, he was to pay N2 million to me to give him up. I would then walk away and have no ties whatsoever with the child. I needed the money then, so I agreed."

"You agreed?" I asked surprised.

"Yes Charity, I agreed."

"Then why do you deny taking money?"

"I didn't take a dim, Charity. What do you even take me for?"

"Then make me understand this whole thing. I may not be William but I already feel what his pain will be like when he learns the truth."

"Hmmmm..." She sighed again. "Listen Charity, I agreed to the plan, and that same night Luke came to me."

"Was his wife aware?"

"No. Alero didn't know what was going on until my pregnancy became Visible. She wanted to know who was responsible for the pregnancy. Because the attacks I got from her was not good for the baby, Luke had to come to my defense. Alero couldn't accept what had happened until after I put to bed and handed the baby over. They gave me the cheque and asked me never to come back to the house or tell anyone about our secret. Oh Charity, after carrying a baby in my womb for nine good months, I couldn't just give him up. I refused the money and asked for a different payment. I asked to work as a personal maid to William. That way, I could be closer to him and watch him grow. At first they refused, but, after I promised to remain silent, they let me be."

"If you refused the money, why is Mrs. Avero still accusing you of selling William?"

"I don't know. Alero is a very crafty woman who likes to frame people for things they didn't do. Anyway, I didn't stay long with William because I couldn't bear the pain of seeing him take another woman as his mother. I left but I later went back when he was much older."

"Pew..." I sighed. "You know William is not going to take this lightly at all."

"I know he won't." Mrs. Hope agreed. "But I have to tell him. I have to let him know I am his mother."

"He may reject you"

"I don't care. The important thing is that he learns the truth. If he kicks me away, fine. If not, then I will forever thank my star."

I was glad about her decision. Even if it was hard for her, she was willing to finally do the right thing. We went back into the hospital to meet the others. Later that day, Chief Avero came back with his wife and daughters but he couldn't send us out of the hospital. We were ready to deal with him if he did anything stupid. Seeing the way we were going, he finally decided to let us be.

We went back to the hospital day after day. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months. At one time, we almost lost William but he was able to pull through after another operation.


After William stabilised and was able to receive visitors, Chief Avero had so many private meetings with him and then one day, he came out smiling, happy that they had both settled their quarrel. The law suits were going to be withdrawn just as long as Chief Avero restored the ex bank manager to his position and allowed the villagers live in peace. These, he agreed to.

"Seriously?" One of the men asked when we were alone with William. "Since you have settled with you father, does that mean we are no longer in business?"

"My father has agreed to change his ways, true" William replied. "But there are other politicians and wicked CEOs and MDs out there. So no, Andrew, we are not out of business."

We all smiled at his statement. I could tell that the men were even happier.

Before William came back home, the men still went out helping the common man on the street, especially those who had no one to help them fight for justice. Because of that, I knew William Avero's mansion would still be a hot target for criminals. After I recovered fully, I started taking combat training with Tina and some of the men. I was also thought how to properly fire a gun. I took my job very seriously because I didn't want any loop holes again. When I was not training, I was in the operations room watching every corner of the mansion. I only went to the hospital once in a while to see William and he too was always very happy to see me. I missed him so much but there was nothing I could do about it.

William spent six months in the hospital before he was discharged. He wasn't still able to walk without the aid of a walking stick but at least, he was better.

The day William came back home from the hospital was a great day indeed. We had a small, surprise welcome party for him and he was truly surprised. Although the party was fun, I couldn't really be there. I was in the operations room. I didn't want to make the mistake I made before. I wanted to make sure intruders didn't have a chance to come in as they liked.

While the party progressed, I kept my eyes on William but after I removed them briefly to look at what Tina was doing, William was suddenly nowhere to be found. I looked at the computers covering other parts of the house but I didn't see him. I was starting to get scared and almost raised alarm when the room door opened and William step in with his walking stick.

"Hello Charity" He said, grinning.

"Seriously, you didn't have to scare me."

"I wasn't trying to scare you. I only came to visit. I missed your presence down stairs."

"Oh" I didn't know what else to say. William move closer and stopped right in front of me.

"I haven't really asked how you are doing?" He said.

"I'm fine." I replied "Its you who is recovering from multiple injuries. Mine has long healed."

"I'm not asking about your injury, Charity. I know they are long healed. I am asking about your emotions, your mental wellness."

"Like seriously, did anyone tell you that I'm mad or something like that?" I asked surprised.

"No" He chuckled lightly and then became serious again. "Look Charity, I was paralyzed and then beaten seriously until I passed out. I couldn't help you. I just want to be sure they didn't harm you in anyway. I know what those soldiers are capable of. I hope they didn't force themselves on you?"

"They tried." I admitted. "But your father came to my rescue just when they were about to succeed."

"Thank God." He said as he pushed one of his walking sticks away and used his free hand to pull me into his embrace. Surprisingly, the strength of his muscles was just as before. If not for the walking stick, one wouldn't believe he just got discharged from the hospital after a near death experience. That aside, I was surprised at his action but all the same, I felt comfortable resting my head against his chest and listening to the rhythm of his heart beat. We remained in that position for a while with him stroking my hair backwards. There was so much emotion between us and I wondered why. Maybe those soldiers who kidnapped us were right. William felt something for me and I could not help admitting that I felt something for him too. I was thinking about all these when William suddenly placed a finger under my chin and gently lifted my head up to look at him. I thought he wanted to say something but then he bent low and kissed me. It was a light kiss at first but then it deepened. I never thought I would find myself kissing William Avero so I was really surprised that instead of pushing him away, I kissed him back and my passion matched his own. His hand ran freely up and down the length of my back as our longing for each other deepened. We were still at it when the door opened and Mrs. Hope stepped in with one of William's most trusted men, Andrew. We pulled away from each other; feeling like thieves caught in the act. I was feeling too ashamed to face them so I turned away to my computers and fixed my attention on them, while using one finger to caress my swollen lips.

"Don't you knock?" William asked the intruders. I heard him chuckle so I knew he was taking it lightly.

"Knock?" Andrew asked. I could hear the tease in his voice. "This is the operations room sir, not your bedroom. Besides, I thought walking sticks prevented a man from doing that?" He chuckled.

"Doing what?"

"Holding a woman," he answered, "Kissing her and thinking of how to take things to the next level."

"Really? William asked. "And how did you know we were going to the next level?"

"Oh common boss, don't deny it. I know what I just saw. I'm a man too you know."

While they were at it, Mrs. Hope quietly walked over and tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned to face her, I saw she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Seriously, what's the big deal?" I asked, while faking seriousness. "Haven't you seen people kiss before?

"Yes I have, but not you and William" She chuckled.

"Think whatever you want"

"Its not whatever I want dear, its what I have seen a long time ago. You only denied it then."

"Phew... Just leave me alone. Didn't you come for something? Just take it and go."

"Oh! We didn't intend to ruin your moment or stay this long. We were just wondering where William was. Now that we know he is safe in your arms, we will be going"

I could hear them chuckle as they went along and I knew that soon, everyone will hear and talk about us.

"I'm sorry about that." William said, trying to hide a smile.

"Which one actually?" I asked. "The kiss? Or that we got caught?"

"That we got caught. I'm not sorry about the kiss."

"That means you won't think twice before doing it again?" I asked.

"Yes" He replied.

"Look boss" I sighed,

"Boss?" his eyebrows shot up

"Yes. You are my employer now. I can't do this with..."

"Do you feel anything for me?" He asked, cutting me short.

"Is that important?"

"Yes, because I know what I feel for you"

Seriously? The almighty William just admitted to feeling something for me? I didn't know what to say. I just stared at him.

"I heard what Mrs. Hope said." He continued. "Don't hide anything from me."

"William, this is complicated. We cannot even be talking..."

"I see we are back to first names." He cut in.

"The important things is..."

I didn't finish before he moved in and took my lips again. I wanted to push him off but it was useless. We were at it again and even went a step further but William withdrew.

"I hope I'm not forcing you into something you are not interested in?"

"Dear God!" I said and pulled away. "William I'm confused."

"Well, so was I until I almost died. I thought I would never have a chance to tell you how I feel. Now that I am well, I don't want to lose any moment."

"But I..."

"I will leave you to think about this, Charity. I can't and I won't force you."

William left the operations room that day and I felt like something very important left me. I sat back on my chair and tried to resume my work but my mind was divided. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours. Soon it was bed time and the house was indeed quiet. There were only a few of us awake. Jerry, Mrs. Hope's second son, the ground patrol guards and I. When it was 12:00AM, I went to sleep and Jerry took over. I was indeed happy to go to sleep because frankly, I wasn't really working. I was thinking about what happened with William earlier and on the computer screen, I was watching him sleep quietly in his room. I needed to rest not only my body, but also my mind.



If you like what you've read so far, then please patronise my books. Get the full story at http://okadabooks.com/book/about/the_house_keeper/8019


Cheer! And have a great weekend.

Nine



I had no idea what the time was but looking through the window, I could see that we were well into the night. All the while, William remained motionless on the floor and I was still crying helplessly over him. I managed to raise his head onto my thighs and for the 20th time, I called to him to please wake up when the room door opened again and the men came in. The bald one looked at me and smiled.

"Stop crying" He said. "You don't need a man like William. I can take care of you. I can do that"

He came to squat in front of me and tried to clean the tears from my eyes. My hands were tied so I couldn't ward him off but I had another quiet plan. While he used the back of his hand to wipe the tears off my cheek, I turned and caught his fingers between my teeth. Oh dear lord, I bit him hard, so hard that he screamed like a 3 years old baby. In return, he gave me a dirty slap with his free hand and I removed my teeth from his finger but that was not all. He was so pissed with my action that he slapped me again and again. The man with the low cut had to pull him back so he could stop.

"Is this how you plan woo her?' The soldier asked his colleague after he had calmed him down.

"I didn't plan for this but since it happened, no need to woo her again. I'll just get what I want and be off."

He then came forward and forced me into a kneeling position and started to take off my jeans trouser from behind. I knew what he was up to so I started to scream and beg him to leave me alone.

"No begging" He said. "No begging. Don't worry you will enjoy it, I promise."

My hands and feet were tied so I couldn't do much to fight him off. Just when I thought he was going to succeed in carrying out his devilish plan, I heard a man's voice yelling at him to stop.

"Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?" The man said. "What do you gain in forcing yourself on a woman?"

"Sorry sir" The soldier said as he pulled away.

"Sorry for yourself." The voice said.

My tears completely blurred my view so I didn't know exactly when the man came in or when the soldiers went out. The man stepped forward and helped to loosen my binds. I felt so ashamed kneeling down there with just my pant.

"Get dressed" He said before walking over to William. "Oh my son." He said.

At the word son, I looked up but the man had his back to me so I didn't see his face. I quickly stood up, wore my jean properly and faced him. The man bent over William and was crying. Soon he brought out his phone and made a call.

"Bring an ambulance now please. My son is in critical condition." After that, he gave his house address before cutting the call.

"Chief?" I asked.

The man slowly got to his feet and faced me. I stood surprised as I looked into Chief Avero's wet eyes and tear stained cheeks. He was a huge man with gray hairs, dark complexion and truly handsome even with his protruding stomach. His expression said a lot about his feelings for William. He truly loved his son despite everything.

"And you are?" He asked.

"Charity"

"Come with me Charity." He said as he walked out of the room.

"But what about William?" I asked. "He needs help."

"There is nothing much we can do for him. When the doctors arrive they will do what they can to save him. Meanwhile, I need to teach some people a lesson or two."

My thoughts were with WilIiam so I reluctantly followed him out of the room and into the sitting room. The soldiers were there waiting. When they saw me with Chief, their faces squeezed into a frown.

"Sir, what do you want us to do with her?" The one with a low hair cut asked.

"What do you want to do with her?" Chief replied him with a question. "Haven't you done enough harm? Do you people feel my pain for me? I ask you to bring my son to me so I can talk with him but instead, you take matters into your own hand and beat him up badly."

"But Chief.."

"Shut up! Just shut up!!!" Chief yelled. "If my son dies, you two will die too."

The soldiers began to beg but Chief ignored them. He called some names and four hefty men came in.

"Lock these two up in the basement until I know what my son's fate is."

The men took the soldiers away, leaving Chief and I alone.

"You must be hungry" Chief said before calling one of his servants to get me anything I felt like eating. I had no appetite because of William. All I thought about was how to get him to safety.

"No sir, I'm not hungry" I said.

"But you should eat."

"I don't feel like eating. What about the ambulance you called for? Aren't they supposed to be here by now?"

"Yes." He brought out his phone and was about to make another call when we heard the ambulance drive into the compound. The paramedics quickly rushed in with a stretcher, carried William on it and took him to the van. I insisted on following them and Chief agreed. He too followed behind with his car.

Inside the ambulance, one of the Paramedics touched William and said something about his breath being very faint. To save his life, they started to administer first aid treatment and do everything possible to keep him alive before getting to the hospital.

At the hospital, he was immediately admitted into the emergency unit and the doctors started their work. I sat with Chief Avero at the waiting area. He looked so tensed up and worried. From all that I had heard about the man, I didn't expect him to cry or even be worried about William's life.

"He will be okay sir." I said to him as he stood up and began to pace the length of the long bench I sat on.

"I hope so." He said without looking at me.

I too was scared for William but I couldn't show my weakness, at least not in front of his father. Finally, after about thirty minutes, he sat down again beside me but his legs couldn't stay still. He kept fidgeting. A sign that he was still scared.

"If you love William this much, then why?" I asked.

"Why what?" Chief asked.

"Why do you send men after him all the time?"

"What's your name again?" He asked.

"Charity"

'Okay Charity, picture this. You have children and you need the resources to take good care of them. You go out of your way to do things that will make you rich and ensure your family's happiness and comfort. Along the way, your son mistakenly sees you doing something he never thought you could do and since then, he does everything possible to frustrate your efforts. Brings down your businesses and is now about to put you in jail for life. Now tell me, what do you think about that? And if you were me, what will you do?"

"It is an easy issue that can be solved. You two can make peace."

"Don't you think I have tried that? William doesn't want to settle."

"I think he will if you stop most of those bad things you do."

"Bad things?" He scoffed. "I forgot you are his girlfriend, you will definitely take his side."

"Its not about that sir, and by the way I am not his girl friend."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Okay then, believe what you want. All I am saying is, there is a way for you two to settle."

"Yes, you said so already. I should stop all bad things and we will be friends again. I hear you."

For a while we were quiet. I was in deep thoughts and so was Chief. I silently prayed for William to recover. If anything happened to him, I knew I would never forgive myself. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep by his side when I went to his room. Why didn't I just sit in the operations room and watch for intruders or unusual activity? Not taking my job serious was what led to our being kidnapped in the first place. I thought about Tina and Mrs. Hope and I wondered about the men. I knew they would be searching for us. I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall of the waiting room. The time was 1:15AM. I searched my pocket for my phone but it was not there so I turned to Chief.

"Excuse me sir"

"Yes?" He sighed as he shook his head, probably to get some thoughts off his mind.

"Please can I make a call with your phone?"

"Who do you want to call?" He asked with squeezed brows.

"Mrs. Hope."

"Why would you want to call that traitor?"

"She's not a traitor." I defended her.

"Oh! So she's what? I trusted that woman and placed my son in her care. What did she do with him, she turned him into my own worst enemy."

"I think she is a good person."

"Oh! So I'm the bad person right? Look, call her if you want."

He threw his phone at me and walked away. For five whole minutes I was confused about whether or not to call. Finally I made up my mind but I didn't know Mrs. Hope or anyone's number by heart. Well, since our phones were not kidnapped along with us, I decided to call my own number. The phone rang endlessly until finally one of the cleaners picked it. I asked if Mrs. Hope was home and she said yes. They were all worried about us and were already working on locating us. I asked her to hand over the phone and she did.

"Charity?" The was the first question that came out of Mrs. Hope's mouth. "Charity where are you? Where is William?"

"I am in a hospital with William." I replied.

"Hospital? What happened? How did you get there?"

"Its a long story. Can you come?"

"Yes dear. We will be on our way. What's the name and address of the hospital?"

I didn't know the answer to her question so I quickly got up and checked some of the letter headed notice placed on the notice board. There I got the name and address of the hospital.

"Okay my dear." Mrs. Hope said after I had given her the address. "Just stay put, we are coming now."

"Okay then, see you soon."

I cut the call and looked at the phone. I didn't tell her that Chief Avero was also with me at the hospital because I didn't want any of them coming in with the mind to fight. Chief on the other hand just went missing. I looked around but didn't see him so I went back to the waiting room.

At exactly 2:05AM the doctor attending to William came out. Chief came out from, only God knows where and at that same moment, Mrs. Hope arrived with Tina and five of the men.

"What are they doing here?" Chief asked as he looked at Mrs. Hope and the others with pure hatred.

"What are you doing here?" Mrs. Hope asked back. "You will stop at nothing until William is dead isn't it?"

"You know nothing about me and my son."

"On the contrary, Luke. I know everything." Mrs. Hope argued.

Chief wanted to say something but he remained quiet and continued to look at Mrs. Hope with so much hatred.

"Knowing you was a mistake." He said at last. "Having you in my life was a mistake." With that, he turned to the doctor.

"Are you all family?" The doctor asked. After what he had just heard he didn't know exactly who to talk to.

"No" Chief said.

"Yes" Mrs. Hope countered. "We are all family. You can talk to us."

"I will be damned if I ever call you my family, Hope." Chief said. "You are nothing close to family, you are just an opportunist."

"Say whatever you like, Luke. You cannot tick the hands of the clock backwards." Mrs. Hope said with so much anger. She looked like someone who was about to say something more but her lips remained sealed as she dared Luke with her gaze.

"I don't know what's really going on here" the doctor said. "But whatever it is, please, I beg you to put it aside." He then looked at Chief. Your son needs you now." He then looked at all of us. "He needs all of you."

"And we are here for him" Mrs. Hope said. "But tell us doctor, how is he? Will he survive?"

"I can't say. He was severely beaten. It will take the grace of God for him to survive this"

The doctor left to go about his duty and at that point, Mrs. Avero came in.

"Oh Luke!" She said. "I came as soon as I could. What happened? Is William okay?" She asked with so much concern.

"We can only pray that he will be." Luke replied as he hugged his wife.



They were still in each other's embrace when Mrs. Avero saw Mrs. Hope, Tina, William's men and I.

"What in God's name are these people doing here?" She asked, pulling back from her husband's embrace.

No one answered her question, not even her husband. She frowned and looked at Luke.

"What is this Luke?" She asked. "Did you invite them?"

"No!" He replied. "They invited themselves."

Mrs. Avero faced Mrs. Hope and walked up to her. "Get out!" She said. "Leave this place now."

"You have no right whatsoever to tell me that."

"I do, Hope. Now get lost. Leave my son alone"

"You people are really trying my patience." Mrs. Hope said as she stepped forward. "Need I remind you that William is my son? My own flesh and blood?"

Eight


Mrs. Hope quickly stood up and went to William's room. I followed quietly behind. When we got in, the room was already crowded with the men, two cleaners and Tina. The cleaners helped William to a sitting position and then placed a pillow behind him so he could rest well.

"Good God! Give the man some space." Mrs. Hope said as she made her way through to William. "Can't you all see he needs to breath?" She said as she sat by him on the bed and held his hands.

"I'm okay mummy" William said, with a very weak smile.

"Oh my baby, you really scared us."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare anyone."

Mrs. Hope moved closer and hugged him to herself. "I'm so glad you are alive and I'm so sure you'll survive this."

From there on they started to talk happily about everything except the case they were working on or the court issue with Chief Avero. Mrs. Hope didn't allow anyone bring up the topic so they spent the time cracking jokes and telling tales. They all wanted William to be happy and truly he was.

I felt a little left out in the whole gist. From where I stood and what I saw, this was not just William and his employees. It was more like William and his family. They really loved and respected each other. Of course they could misbehave some times but still, they were more of a family.

After the cleaners left, the men started to leave too, one after the other because they needed to attend to other issues. Mrs. Hope soon left and so did Tina. There was really nothing much to do, I didn't even get a chance to say hi but I decided it was time to leave too. I could come back later to say hi. what was most important was that he was okay. As I stood up to leave, I was surprised to hear William call my name.

"Charity, please don't go yet. Stay with me a while."

Wow! As in, wow!!! I didn't know he recognized my presence in the room let alone ask me to stay. All these while he pretended not to see me and I just stayed back.

"Okay" I said. "I will stay a while." I couldn't say no to a sick man.

I sat back on my chair and watched the room gradually get empty. Soon, it was just the two of us.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"I feel like a thousand knives pierced my stomach and two thousand were left in my skull."

"Awch! That is a very bad feeling. You should rest some more. I can come back later."

"No, stay. I can manage, really I can."

"Okay."

I sat back at the foot of the bed and looked at him. His eyes never left mine. Its like we were just comfortable looking at each other without saying anything. After a while, he finally spoke.

"How are you?"

"What?" I asked, with wide eyes. "You are the one lying on the bed. I should be the one asking you that."

"You got shot before I got shot." He chuckled.

"Well, mine happened about three days ago, I feel a lot better now. Its you we are concerned about."

"Sit by my side." He said, suddenly.

"Errrmmm..."

"Its nothing, Charity. I just want you to sit close so I can relax a bit. I am straining my self to talk out so you can hear me."

"Oh!" I quickly stood up and went to his side to sit. "Is this better?"

"Yes. Thanks."

"So what do you want to do next?" I asked even though I knew Mrs. Hope would frown at my question.

"How do you mean?"

"You have successfully stopped your father from doing what he was about to do to those poor villagers and the ex banker. But there is also the court case to handle."

"Yes. In fact there is so much to do but I will let Mrs. Hope handle it. I just want to rest. I need to work on my complete recovery"

"True. By the way I like the way you are handling this. Some people would have cried their eyes out by now after hearing such bad news."

"Believe me Charity, I have been in worse situations than this."

"Tell me one."

"Really? You want to hear my life story?"

"Yes. I think its going to be interesting." I grinned.

He laughed lightly and said "okay".

For the next thirty minutes, William told me about his childhood days, how he grew up and what incident led to his final decision about his father. He also gave instances were he was badly injured while helping out people in need. When he was through, he said it was my turn.

"My turn? Oh dear. You are about to listen to the most boring story ever told. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes. Right now boring is what suits me."

"Okay."

I told about my own early days. How I lost my parents and how my brother and I spent our early days in the house of different aunties and uncles. How we struggled to go to school and how we were still struggling.

"If you and your brother are still having financial issues, why don't you want to take this job? Even if its just for the money?"

"For the money?" I scoffed. "What about my life? Besides, no one told me how much my pay will be."

"Being a house keeper is no child's play Charity. The pay for that position is very reasonable."

"Let me guess. The pay will be 30 or 50 thousand naira, at most. "

"Whatever you say." William replied with a light smile. "But its way more than that.

"I haven't really thought about this offer again, William. That is the truth."

"So you won't take it?" He asked. There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

"For you William." I said as I took his hand in mine and sighed. "I will take it. You need some one to take care of you now."

William smiled broadly at my words. His smile was something so beautiful to behold and I was glad that I put that smile on his face. I was happy to take the job and I was sure we would get along with each other just fine.

We talked a little more and after that I left him to sleep. He really needed the rest. After I left, I went to Mrs. Hope and told her my decision about the job. She was very happy.

"At least when we all go out, we can be rest assured that William is in safe hands. She said.

That same day, I started my training with Tina. Mrs. Hope was supposed to put me through but she was too busy with the lawyer and gathering evidence for the court case. The other men in the house went out to also gather some evidence while Tina and I stayed home with William.

I had not fully recovered from the gun shot wound so I did no physical training. Tina didn't allow it because she knew how much energy was needed. All I did that day was learn how the cameras around the house worked. I was given an office full of laptops that were connected to the cameras around the house. It was more of an operations room. There I could watch the activities going on in every part of the house.

"Who used to be in charge here?" I asked.

"Me" Tina replied.

"Really, so you've been watching me too, right?"

"Yep! I couldn't help it. I needed to know I could trust you."

"This is beginning to get really interesting." I said as I sat on the big chair and faced the laptops.

"Well, it will definitely get more interesting by the day. I assure you." She chuckled.

Tina was a teenager but she acted like an adult. I hadn't really had any conversation with her or any of the other men before but from what I saw, they were calm and level headed people. Tina was very patient with me during the training sessions and when ever we had breaks, she made it lively with stories and jokes. I could see that the men's love for jokes and stories robbed off seriously on her.

By 5:00PM that evening, my training came to an end for the day. Tina left me in the operations room to go about her own business. After she left, I spent my time looking at the parts of the house in the computer. As long as I was concerned, my job had started. However, the one place I kept looking at was William's room. I saw that he constantly drifted in and out of sleep and I could tell he was restless. Well, as far as I knew, danger was at bay so I decided to leave the operations room and go to William's.

I opened the door quietly and sneaked in to sit on the empty chair by the bed. When I looked down at him, he looked peaceful so I wondered why he was restless before. After sitting a while, I began to dose off. I knew I was really tired after the day's training but I was determined to stay by his side. Somehow, with all that had happened, William had gotten to my heart. I admired his courage to stand for what was right even in the face of danger. Now I understood why Mrs. Hope and the others loved him so much.

Still feeling totally exhausted, I rested my head beside William and slept off. By the time I woke up it was very dark. I was lying on the hard, cold ground. Because of the darkness I couldn't get my bearing so I made an attempt to reach for my phone. At least I could use its torch light. When I tried to move my hand, I discovered that both my hands where tied together with a very strong rope,.

"What is this?" I asked myself almost in a whisper as I struggled with the rope.

"Don't bother" Said a weak voice. "The more you struggle, the more you hurt your wrist with that rope."

I recognized the voice and I turned to the direction it came from. "William?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied.

"What is this? Are you trying to kidnap me or what?"

"I am not the kidnapper here, Charity. My father's men are."

As if to confirm his statement, we heard sounds of heavy booths outside the door and soon the sound of keys followed. In a few seconds, the door flew open and the light switch clicked. After staying in the darkness, it took a while for my eyes to get accustomed to the fluorescent light. When it eventually did, I looked at the faces of two men who had just come in. They were very muscular, big and had hard faces. Their army uniform said a lot about them so I was sure they were going to be very brutal. One was bald and the other wore a low cut.

"What are we doing here?" I asked them. "What do you want from us?"

"We only need you here so your boy friend can cooperate." The bald said.

"I don't have a boyfriend." I replied

"Hmmm... Now you want to deny him?" The second man with the low cut asked. "Women! You all are the same. You see money, you come. You see trouble, you run."

"Stop being sarcastic." I said, frowning.

"Sarcastic?" He asked. "Look woman, when I see a man sitting up on his sick bed and gently stroking the hair of the girl sleeping next to him, I simply assume they are in love" He then looked up at William. "Isn't that true, Willy?"

Okay, I fell asleep, true, but I couldn't believe what the nit wit was saying. William will never do such, he was my employer. I decided to ignore what they were saying by putting it out of my head. There were more important things to talk about so I surprised myself and even William with my next statement.

"William is my boyfriend, so what? What has that got to do with our being here?" From where William sat, I saw his eye brows shoot up in surprise but I ignored him.

"Everything." Said the bald man as he joyfully clapped his hands together. "You see, I just wanted to confirm the relationship between you two before I take action. So William, you will have to watch your girl friend die if you don't cooperate with us. We will slice her bit by bit. It is something terrible I assure you."

"What do you want?" William asked, still feeling weak.

"We want every evidence you have against Chief. After that, we want you to withdraw the law suit and also ask the villagers to do same. Tell that stupid banker to also follow suit. Then finally, we want you to stay away from Chief's business."

"You are asking for too much" William said, fully unrepentant. "But I won't mind doing all of that if my father does the asking himself."

"You have no right to demand anything William." The low cut man yelled. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for everything you've done to the man who brought you into this world and raised you. If I were your father, you will be dead by now. I wonder why Chief still wants you alive, after everything you've done to him."

With that, he jumped up from the table were he sat all these while, loosened William's rope and dragged him to the chair by the table. William was still very weak and pulling him like that was not just good at all. I begged them to be careful with him but they totally ignored me. The man took off his jacket and then I knew he was ready for action, talking was over. My fears tripled when the first blow landed on William's face. A second followed then a third, fourth, fifth and so on. I couldn't count again as tears filled my eyes. This man was yet to recover from a deadly bullet wound, he could not walk because he was paralyzed and here, these brutal man were beating him mercilessly. I continued to beg them to stop but they refused. I pulled myself up to a kneeling position. With the support of both hands tied together, I got to the soldier's back And pulled at his trouser. It was an attempt to distract him but it didn't work. All it earned me was a slap across my cheeks. My eyes and clothes were soaked with tears but still, they went on and on. William's face was very bloody from the beating. I knew he would not survive if they didn't stop so I continued to try to talk to the man to stop but he continued. The last blow was the end. The force of it sent William crashing on the floor along with his chair. There, he passed out.

"No! No!!!! No, no, no, you killed him" I said in a whisper after I recovered from the shock. "You killed him. You fools!" I yelled at the men "How could you do this to a weak and paralyzed man? What did he ever do to you? Why are you so wicked? You heartless bigot"

I kept crying, yelling and saying all sorts of things to them but they totally ignored me. It was William they wanted and they were satisfied. The man cleaned his bloody hands on William's body looked at me briefly and walked out with the other man. I was still tied but I dragged myself to where William laid. I needed to hold him close and do everything possible to revive him. With tears in my eyes and down my cheeks, I looked at the rope that held my hands and feet together. I bent over and tried to use my teeth to loosen it but it was useless. From the way things were going, I would only lose all my teeth and nothing would be achieved.

I cried all the more because of William and because of how helpless I was in the situation. I couldn't even do anything to help him. He just lay there on the floor, dead, or so I thought.

I had failed woefully at my first job as a house keeper. I had neglected my position and in so doing, caused William great harm. If only I had remained in my position; keeping watch, I'd have seen the men when they came in. I'd have alerted Tina and the other guards. This wouldn't have happened.

Seven

The day went by very fast. After my talk with William that afternoon, he went in to get dressed and then went out with his men, probably to handle the case surrounding the ex-bank manager. I was left alone with the cooks and cleaners. They were really busy with the chores so I assisted the best way I could. It was all work, work and more work. By the time we finished it was already evening. I ate, took my medication and tried waiting up for everyone but no one showed up until about 10:00 PM. I was in the sitting room browsing with my phone when I heard the gate open. I went out to see who had arrived. The cars drove into the compound one after the other and they were in such a hurry. I knew they left with five cars so when only three arrived, I knew not everyone had come home. I still felt pains in my abdomen so to reduce the stress of moving about, I simply stood at the front of the house and waited for them. When they finally parked and came down from their cars, they started towards the house in a hurry. One of the men carried someone over his shoulder and the others followed behind. I wondered what the problem was as I took few steps forward. When they got to the entrance, I cleared the way to let them pass but I was able to take a quick look at the injured person. My heart melted when I saw it was William. No wonder no one was talking. They looked so sad and even ignored my presence. Whether I stood there or not was non of their concern. There was a doctor and two nurses following behind with hospital equipment. It was then I knew that the situation was serious. William always preferred to be treated at home and he had his own doctor for that.

I followed behind but stopped in the sitting room. From there I watched them take William upstairs, probably to one of the spare rooms. Lucky for us, his guests left early that afternoon but his own room was still under construction.

The night was cold and very sad. It rained heavily; like nature was sad for William too. Everyone had a gloomy expression as we patiently waited for the doctor to finish operating on William and tell us if he would survive. The men couldn't eat. Tina stayed outside throughout the period of the operation. Mrs. Hope who later arrived with the rest of the crew locked herself up in her study. I couldn't find anyone who was willing to tell me what happened. As I worried about William and everyone else, the pains in my abdomen increased so I simply went to my old room to rest. There was just no need adding salt to open wound.

At exactly one o'clock that morning, I heard William's room door open and I went out to check what was up. From my door way, I saw the doctor, Mrs. Hope and a few of the men outside William's room. Although they talked in low tone I was able to pick what they were saying. The operation was successful but it seemed William will be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Mrs. Hope cried like a baby when the doctor delivered the news, she couldn't hold herself anymore. Although the men were sad, they did their best to console the elderly woman. I couldn't bear the sad news, neither could I bear to see Mrs. Hope in so much pain. I went back quietly to my room and laid on the bed. Things had certainly gone from bad to worse all because the man wanted to help an innocent ex bank manager. The William I used to know or rather, the William I saw on TV didn't give a hoot about anyone's ill situation, but here he was, facing paralysis because he tried to render a selfless service. That night I cried. I never knew I could cry for William Avero, but I cried. I soaked my pillow with my tears before falling asleep on it.

I didn't wake up until about 9:40AM the next morning. I yawned and stretched before sitting up on the bed. Mrs. Hope was sitting by the window and from the way she was, I could tell that she was lost in thoughts. I got up form the bed and walked up to her.

"Good morning ma" I greeted as I place a hand on her left shoulder.

She used one hand to cover mine without looking back. "Good morning dear." She replied my greeting. "I'm glad you were able to sleep"

"Yes, I needed it." I replied. I wanted to say more but I couldn't. I knew she was still sad for William, after all, the guy was like a son to her.

"Did they tell you what happened to William yesterday?" She asked.

"No ma. Everyone was quiet. I know they are still in shock."

"And did you hear the news the doctor gave?"

"Yes ma." I replied truthfully. "I over heard him telling you and the others last night."

At that moment, Mrs. Hope turned to look at me. She frowned as she touched my cheeks. "Oh dear, your eyes are swollen. Have you been crying?"

I smiled lightly at her question and nodded before using the back of my hand to wipe away the little tear that escaped. The elderly woman got up and gave me a surprise hug.

"If there is one thing I am sure of, it is that William will walk again. He is a fighter that never gives up easily" She said. "The doctor said a lot depend on William and some medication which he has already prescribed."

"But are you sure about that?" I asked. "I simply can't bear to see him on a wheel chair."

"No one can bear it Charity, that is why we have to keep our hopes up and pray for him. He needs us now, more than ever."

As she talked, I could feel the love she had for William and I knew she was feeling just as bad as his real mother would feel. After a while, Mrs. Hope pulled back, looked into my eyes and smiled.

"How are you?" She asked. "How's your abdomen?"

"It still hurts a bit." I admitted.

"I'm glad you are okay. I was so down yesterday I couldn't check on you."

"It's okay. I understand what you were going through. But please tell me, what really happened last night? What happened to William? What about the girl he was helping?"

Mrs. Hope sighed and sat down again. "William sent some of the men to find out who the owners of the bank were" Mrs. Hope started. "It turned out that his father, Luke Avero was one of them. The other two were also members at the House of Representatives. Already, William put a team together to block his father's new business transaction which includes buying a small village and building a construction company on it. The villagers were to be sent away and the construction company was to turn the place into a small city. These people have nowhere else to call home and Luke wasn't interested in providing that for them. If not for the corrupt and greedy leaders we have in our country, why will anyone sell an entire village to just one man? Anyway, part of the money he used to pay for the land was the N20 million he accused the ex manager of stealing."

"But why is he so wicked?"

"I don't know dear. Since William was a child, he watched his father and sometimes his mother step on people's toes. As they got richer and his father finally got into politics, things went out of control. The man hurt so many people and his son decided that he must be stopped. That's why William is doing all of this."

"So was he able to clear the banker's name?"

"Yes he was. In fact, we achieved a lot yesterday but William suffered seriously from the gun shot."

"So it was a gunshot? Now I see."

"At least the good news is this. He was able to set a lot of things straight. The villagers will get back their land, the banker is free and his family members are happy. On the other hand, Chief and William are supposed to meet in court. For now, I will stand in for William. As soon s he gets better, he can continue."

"Why should he go to court? Was it Chief who sued William?"

"No, everyone sued the chief. The villagers, the banker and William himself. I'm certain Chief Avero will not be able to bribe his way through this one. We are determined to nail him."

"This is something like a movie. How does William feel about all this? The Chief is still his father you know."

"William tried to reason with him. All his father did in return was to use deadly force to make his son leave him alone. That's the reason William resorted to this. The man who shot you the other day was sent by Chief. He could have killed you or William. The man doesn't reason with anyone Charity, he does whatever he likes. William has grown thick skin, he is ready and willing to do whatever he can to stop his father from hurting more people."

"What happened to that man anyway, the one who shot me?"

"He is cooling off in jail. He was already a wanted man so, he earned himself life imprisonment. William made sure of that. He was so angry at himself that day for allowing you get shot."

"He is starting to sound like a comic hero."

"Yes I know."

For the next few minutes, we sat silently thinking about everything that had happened. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Mrs. Hope asked the person to come in. The door opened and one of the house cleaners peeped in.

"Madam" She said. "It's William, He is awake."

Chapter Six


"Attracted to him? What does Mrs. Hope take me for anyway? I haven't gotten attracted to decent honest guys its William I now want to get attracted to? What are people thinking in their heads these days?"

I had been ranting ever since Mrs. Hope asked that annoying question. How could she even think such? I didn't think I was attracted to William at all. Of course he had a dominating personality and a body that seemed to get my eyes glued to it but that was not enough to get me attracted to him.

After Mrs. Hope asked the question, I gave her a quick no but she was not buying it.

"You know what I think, Charity?" She asked.

"What?" I nearly barked.

"Get as mad as you want but the truth is, you are very much attracted to him"

"That is not true." I argued. "Why would you think that?"

"Deny all you want my dear, but I have already made my conclusion. You want to know what I pray for?"

"What?" I asked frowning. My frown only made her chuckle and finally burst into laughter but to me, it wasn't funny at all.

"I pray that your attraction develops into love and I pray William sees what's in front of him. True love is hard to find my dear and to make things better, you are a good girl."

All the time she talked, my jaw dropped and I didn't even realize until she said. "Close your mouth dear, flies may go in."

I quickly shut my mouth but before I could say anything, Mrs. Hope had opened the door and left. She wasn't interested in hearing what I had to say.

"Arrrrggggg!!" I yelled within
"Why did she have to be so blunt and so out of the question? So out of point?"

Of course William had a dominating personality and my eyes seemed to always get glued to his open body but that did not mean I was attracted to him.

I kept on fuming and ranting to myself until the yam and vegetable stew Mrs. Hope ordered from the kitchen arrived. I ate and then tried to sleep but I could not. Anyway, that's what happens when one sleeps for almost two whole days and then wakes up to someone telling you how attracted you are to a he-goat. I tried to call Mrs. Hope to come keep me company but her lines weren't going through. While still thinking about what to do and how to rest, I heard the sound of laughter from outside and I decided to check it out. Within the next few seconds, I struggled out of bed and gently walked to the room's balcony. The breeze that greeted me was really soothing and I wondered why I didn't think of coming out before. Mrs. Hope's room was located at the back of the mansion so when I stepped on the balcony and looked out, I saw a side of the compound that I hadn't seen before. The back of William Avero's mansion had a moderate sized swimming pool, a Table Tennis court and a bush bar. While the patrol guards were on duty, some of the combat men relaxed at the bush bar and the others played table tennis. They looked happy as they told stories and cracked jokes. I could see Tina with the men in the bush bar. The surprising thing about all of them was that even though they were off duty, they were still dressed in their combat uniforms. William must be doing a lot to keep his men happy. If not, why will they be so comfortable doing this job for him? Well, I later learnt that William didn't do anything extra ordinary for them. All he had to do was be himself and this made the men very loyal to him. They loved his personality and the causes he fought for.

I was still watching the activities of the patrol men and combat team when William suddenly showed up with a teenage girl of about 14 years old. She was dark skinned, a little plump and very un-kept. On seeing him with the girl, The men stood up from their seats and came together. They listened to what William said and from the way he held the girl close and constantly looked at her, I could tell that he was talking about her.

When they finished talking, Tina hugged the girl and then held her like a sister as she led her into the house. The men stood around to talk some more but William wasn't joining their talk. Instead, he looked at his wrist watch and then looked up towards my room balcony. I didn't expect him to suddenly look my way, if not I would have ducked. I felt like a spy caught in the act. William looked away after a few seconds, said something to the men and then walked towards the house.

I wondered what he was up to but I didn't wonder for long. The balcony door opened and William stepped out to join me. I looked at him with wide eyes before barking "Don't you know how to knock? Just because I live in your house, that doesn't mean you should just barge into my space."

"Actually, I knocked." William replied calmly and with a straight face too. "When no reply was forthcoming, I thought you didn't hear the knock. I guess you didn't."

He was right. I didn't hear him knock the room door. I relaxed a bit and then looked away before asking "What do you want?"

"I want to make you a last offer to be our house keeper."

"Why would I want to be?" I asked. "I think its a dangerous job, especially since a lot of people want you dead."

"Charity..."

"Don't call me that."

"Why? Its your name right?"

"Yes it is but I haven't given you the right to call me by my first name."

"What is your problem anyway?" He frowned this time. "I only tolerate your attitude because you took a bullet while trying to help me."

"Oh! So now you tolerate me? Don't Worry, as soon as I am strong enough I will leave your house. I promise."

"Look, I know you hate my guts but for once, just listen to me. This house will be almost exposed for a while if we don't have a house keeper. Some of the men who doubled as house keepers are now very busy with some cases and the few left just got a new case. There will be a few guards outside of course but what about inside?"

"If your guards trust someone enough to let him or her into the compound, that means the house is also safe, right?"

"Wrong. The man who shot you, he got past the guards easily because he was sneaky and there were a lot of people coming in. However, there was no one to watch his movements in the house so as to know if he was clean enough. You know the rest of the story."

I hadn't really given the house keeper thing a minute's thought since I got out of my brief comma. All I thought about was how to get well quick and be on my way home. Now that the issue was raised again and I had experienced what it was like to have a dangerous intruder, I didn't know what answer to give. Yes, Mrs. Hope had always said William was fighting a good cause and that was why people constantly targeted him. Maybe it was time to really got to know what he was doing before taking any decision. But all the same, the man only tolerated me. I looked down at the combat men. Some sat down and continued to relax while the others left the tennis table one by one. I knew they were leaving because of whatever William told them. Maybe the teenage girl needed serious help and they were given an assignment to find possible solutions to her problem.

"I would have tried to give it a second thought" I said to William. "But you just said it yourself. You tolerate me. I can't stay in a house where I am being tolerated."

"I'm sorry Charity," he sighed. "I didn't mean to sound like that. But you know you aren't helping matters either, its like you hate me."

"I don't hate you."

"Okay, at least that issue is cleared." He said, relieved. "So what say you?" He asked.

I knew I still needed to know exactly what was going on so I asked. "Who's that girl?"

"What girl?"

"The one you introduced to your men a while ago."

William sighed and took two steps towards the railing before resting lightly on it. "You mean Fegor. She is a victim of sudden poverty and harassment."

"Sudden poverty? How do you mean."

"She is the daughter of an ex bank manger. He was set up by his bosses with the sum of N20million. They made it look like he stole it and then sent him to jail until the money is paid back. They don't even want him to be granted bail because they are scared that he will give away their secret. What's worse, they took away his house and other landed properties as part payment."

"Really? Are you sure? How did you get to know all of this?" I asked.

"I saw her in the street this morning begging for food to eat. She looked like a beggar but her English was just too clean to be ignored. I offered to buy her food at a nearby restaurant and she agreed but begged me not to take advantage of her." William smiled broadly at that last statement and I could see how his white set of teeth complimented his smile. The guy was naturally breath taking. I got carried away and almost didn't follow what he was saying but I quickly fell back in track.

"... It was then she told me everything." William said. "I wanted to be sure her father told the truth, so, I went to the prison and paid some money to the warden and guards. They let me talk to the man. I looked into his eyes Charity, he is innocent."

"So why not just help the poor man pay the N20 million to his bosses instead of fighting?"

"No Charity, that's where you are getting it wrong. I won't pay a dime. The people who stole that money will cough out every knob. That is what we fight for, justice. Our security system favors only the rich and influential people, there is no one to fight for the poor."

"Well, that sounds like a good cause to me."

"It is. So, will you do it?"

"Do what?" I asked confused.

"Look Charity, every man or woman in this house is assigned to a case right now. Only a few of the patrol guards will remain on duty here. If you leave, the compound may be fairly guarded but the house will be left open. You saw what happened the other day, unfortunately you took the hit. Just think about my offer. If you accept, I promise you won't regret it."

"And if I don't?"

"Phew!!" He sighed. "Then there will be nothing left to say. I can't force you..

jadejay090@gmail.com

jadejay090@gmail.com

I agree

Divepen1:
I saw this concept on Romance and decided to spice it up.


I was not born in the days of great men like Alexandra the great but I was born to meet great writers like you. I duff my heart. In one way or the other I still learn from you.

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Wow! Thanks Divepen1. You are appreciated

Very true. Literature section cannot die. The nominees are regulars here and hardworking too. I support.

Please everyone, let us support this campaign. We need people who will revive and boost this section.


Repo, thanks for this initiative

Is this offer still open? I'm interested

I just sent you an email