CHORALE SANDERS

CHAPTER 15: BREAKING NEWS

All through the drive back home, she was reprimanding herself for letting her guard down like that. But she had to face it, it was bound to happen. In the coming week, she would be three months and a week gone, and her belly had pretty much started showing: not too much, but it was. Maybe this was the best way to let Margarita find out.

She banged the car door harder than she had intended to and then went to the reception to say goodnight to Antonio. She met him sitting and facing the glass door with a walkie-talkie device close to his ear.

"Good evening Antonio." She greeted from behind him. He became alert quickly and turned to face her, relaxing only when he saw that she was the one.

"Good evening, ma'am" He replied shyly. She gave him a stern look.

"I'm sorry. Good evening Chorale" she laughed at the young man's confusion. He was too shy for someone who had been a bouncer before.

"Did you eat anything?" she asked. When she was free and managed to cook, she gave some to him and Margarita so they could 'feel how Ghana food tasted'. But that wasn't the rationale behind it. She was doing that because she once saw the quality of food the company van brought them and she did not like it at all. She was trying to feed them herself but in ways that they wouldn't notice.

"Yes ma'am....I mean, yes, Chorale" he fumbled, "the company van brought me rice" he answered.

She frowned a bit but quickly hid it with a smile. "Tomorrow, we'll eat jollof rice. Did you like it the other time?" she asked.

"I did" he smiled.

"I'm glad you did. Have a goodnight Antonio,"

"You too, Chorale" he said and she smiled and turned her back to climb the stairs.

"And oh Chorale, Mr. Alvin was here this evening." He announced, stopping her in her tracks. She frowned. He had not informed her that he was coming to see her today.

"What did he say he wanted?"

"He did not tell me anything. He just looked really angry and asked that I tell you to call him immediately you got back."

"Such impudence!" she thought to herself. "Did you tell him where I had gone to?"

"No. I just told him you went out."

"Thank you, Antonio" then she climbed the stairs and went to her room.

What at all was that man's problem? She was so angry and she had learnt very early in life to not act on her anger. So she took her time, changed out of her dress and went to shower. After she had finished, she took her phone out. She had missed a call from an unsaved number but she knew who it belonged to. It was Esmeralda's. She quickly saved it to her contacts. Then she called Alvin. He answered on the first ring and she remained silent until he spoke up.

"Where have you been, Chorale?" he asked, practically shouting at her but she remained silent. He continued talking, "Answer me! Where did you go to and why did you not tell me before you left?" she was about responding when he said something that shocked her, "I had to ask a colleague to follow you and because you were going to visit another man and didn't want anyone to know, you outsmarted him and he lost you on the way. How dare-" she cut him off.

"Now, you shut up and listen to me carefully. I don't know what right it is you think you have over me but I'm warning you, the next time you have me followed by any idiot, I'll have you arrested and I'm not joking about that. You helped me, yes and I'm grateful for that, but that's where it ends. You do not own me, understand?" then she hung up.

She had to be extremely careful with this guy. Everything was so off about him. How come she didn't notice early? Helplessness does that to you.

She stood up and went to the kitchen to prepare a quick-fix meal for herself. She was hungry. She hadn't really had much to eat the whole day. In the morning, she ate noodles and that was all. Later in the evening, at Carmen's party, Margarita had served her some banana cake and yoghurt and all those, she had vomited out. She decided to prepare some cereal for herself as it was almost 11p.m and she couldn't eat anything heavy.