EPISODE 4
The sun wasn't out, and the street didn't have a lot of people walking through it, but Mandy had her sunshades on, it was herself she was trying to protect this time.
Her heart ached so much that it felt like it would split open if she didn't ease it out a little, without having to answer any question from anyone, especially Jonas who she already noticed had questions floating in his mouth but was just being too careful to ask her anything. She wanted to cry to her heart's content.
As she got few steps closer to the luxury car, Jonas swiftly moved over to the other side and opened the door as carefully as he could.
Jonas was an observant one. He didn't need to see her eyes to know she was crying even though she tried to hide it all behind the wide sunshades she was putting on. The way her lips were shaped sold the truth out to him; they say the eyes don't lie, but this time the lips did it for Jonas.
When she entered the car, he closed the door as carefully as he had opened it. Just to get a scratch on the car, is worth more than his salary for half a year. Making such a mistake was too expensive for him to buy.
"I am sorry to ask you this ma'am, and l know it is out of place and character for me, but, is anything wrong?"
Mandy said nothing and just folded her arms looking outside the tinted window.
"I am sorry again; it's just that I've noticed you've been too quiet for some time now. It's not like you talked a lot before now, but at least you wore a lively look on your face, but today everything about you is so quiet. I just hope all is well?" Jonas said stealing glances at her from the mirror above his head.
"If you don't want to get laid off work today, just focus on the road and drive," Mandy retorted and said nothing more.
They got to Mandy's favorite ice cream shop. Jonas parked the car around a nice spot and he was about to step down to come to open the door for Mandy.
"It's okay. You don't have to come down because you won't be taking me back home.
You can go back home, I would find my way back myself," Mandy said stretching her left hand to the other side, trying to reach for her bag.
"Ah! Mrs., I am sorry, but, I don't think I can do that. If I should go back without you, my boss, who is your husband, is going to kill me. How do I tell him I left you all by yourself? It's not like you know your way around here," Jonas said stuttering and fidgeting all at once.
Listening to Jonas talk about how Jake would be furious to not find her when he gets back home from driving her around, gave her butterflies in her tummy and her heart fluttered. Even though she knew it was never going to be possible, just the mere thought of it made her excited.
She remembered the conversation she had with Jake before he left for work in the morning.
"Why do you keep doing this to me, Jake?" Mandy cried out, rubbing her hands over her tummy.
Jake noticed her hand moving over her stomach and he laughed out for minutes before replying to her question.
"Stop playing games woman, moving your hands over your stomach reminds me you are carrying my child, it won't change the fact that I don't want to have anything to do with you. So, stop it! You can't buy my pity with that child!"
Mandy only realized she had her hands on her stomach after Jake had said it.
She wasn't doing it intentionally, it wasn't a conscious act. Screaming made her tummy hurt, and each time it hurts that way, rubbing her hand over it helped ease the pain.
"You are not the only one who regrets that night. I did not want this either, but I do not have a choice now!"
"Oh, you do!" Jake shouted back. "You do have a choice; as a matter of fact, you have choices. I would tell you one of them; pick up everything that is yours in this house and be on your way to wherever you want to go. Then you would get the serenity you want and l would get the love of my life back too. How about that, huh?"
Tears rolled down Mandy's cheek, but she didn't bother wiping them off this time. She just let it flow as it wanted; besides, she had began to get acquainted with the outflow of tears.
Every day, every hour, every minute, and every second she spent in this mansion was a nightmare. It became harder for her to breathe with each passing day. It was almost as if the entire building was beginning to collapse in on her.
"Oh Jake, one day you would call for me and I won't answer. You would want me back into this castle of yours and you won't find me here. You would miss me but I won't be beside you, neither will I be available at your beck and call. You would regret every moment you asked me to leave because you would not be able to live without me. Then I would not even care anymore, because I would have long forgotten about you. That day may be closer than you think, so just watch this space," Mandy said in a wet voice and stormed out of the room with bloodshot eyes.
Her sobbing got louder with every step she took. It felt like she was walking on thorns, but her feet were not what bled; it was her heart.
"That day could even be today for all I care. I won't even notice you left because I do not even notice you are around now unless you come talk to me. I don't see you, Mandy, I don't!" he screamed towards her trying to make sure Mandy heard every word he said.
Mandy sighed and got her mind back from what transpired in the morning. She turned to Jonas.
"You would get dismissed from your job either way. If you don't do as I say, you would get dismissed, if you go back without me you would still get laid off your job, but let's weigh your options here. Jake never gave you any instruction about not coming back with
me, so if you do, you could still get forgiven, but here and now I have given you an explicit instruction which if you disobey leads to immediate dismissal. So, take your time to think carefully before you act."
Jonas was in a tight corner because, what Mandy had just said was quite correct; he had more chances of keeping his job if he goes back without her. As hard as it was for him, he had to go back without her.
"Would I be dropping the keys with you?" He asked after making up his mind.
Mandy had a smile on her face, she was glad things were going her way for the first time in a long while.
"No, you would not. I don't have any need for it. I would commute with the public bus."
"But can I at least come down, to open the door for you, l am not comfortable with this at all," Jonas said in a tone that showed his fear.
"It's fine. Just go back," Mandy said as she opened the door and walked out.
She walked to her favorite corner in the cafe and sat at her favorite spot.
Jonas was still outside wondering if he had done the right thing. What was even the right thing for him to do? Did he have the slightest of ideas at all? Only time would tell.
###############
"You can go home after you finish working on the files I gave nu a few hours ago," Jake said to Neuy as he left the office.
Nobody goes home until Jake leaves the office and no one dared to come to work after Jake had arrived. The company was huge and everyone wondered how he managed to keep track of every single person.
There was a time he even noticed a security guard wasn't on duty and that was the end of the job for the poor guy.
He literally had no such words as mercy, kindness and compassion in his vocabulary.
There was nothing exciting to run back home to, and that was why jake spent hours in the office every single day.
Most of his excitement harned in the office, like the fun, he had with Tiffany earlier in the day.
#############
"He should be home by now," Mandy said to herself. "Why am I even doing this? Its not like he is even going to notice my absence. I know this is going to hurt me. So, why do I want this pain? What exactly is wrong with me?" Mandy wondered in thoughts to herself.
Hardly did she ever wear a smile on her face, not because she was coldhearted and ruthless like her stern husband, but because she had gone through more than enough to vanquish every trace of joy or happiness in her.
It was either a tear rolled down her cheeks, or sadness rested on her face, or her face had no expressions whatsoever.
"I am so sorry Ma'am. I am really very sorry," a tall dark handsome young man with thick dark brows which complimented his brown eyes and brown silk hair said as he tripped over the bag close to Mandy.
"No, it's fine. I should be the one apologizing for carelessly dropping my bag. I mean you almost spilled your ice cream; it's a good thing you have a really quick reflex response," Mandy said adjusting her bag properly underneath the table.
"It seems like you are going somewhere far," the young man said looking at the big bag Mandy had with her.
One thing Mandy loved about this ice cream shop was the fact that it was far from her home and people living around the area did not know her too well and were always minding their business. The only people who get to talk to her are the paparazzis that followed her about; this was the first time someone who wasn't a reporter talked to her at the ice cream shop.
Although she was not comfortable with the question, she still had to respond to him since he had asked her in the most polite way anyone had ever spoken to her since never. She feared that he could be a reporter undercover, monitoring her every move.
"It's nothing," she said as she picked up her bag and left in a hurry.
"What an interesting lady," he said with a smile on his face as he watched Mandy walk out of the shop briskly.
"What a strange man!" Mandy said to herself as she stood outside the door.
She looked at the bag she was holding and rested her eyes on her stomach.
She rubbed her hands over it again, wondering if she was making the right decision.
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