Caught In between

Chapter 9: Secrets out

Marlise wrestled with indecisiveness, feeling her belly tighten as she thought of what she was about to tell Elad. His expectant eyes were not making it easy. So she sipped her drink and took in deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"You were about to tell me something that will affect this job offer?" Elad asked.

"Err...I don't have a place to stay," she said quickly.

"Is that all?" He said.

"I came from Bamenda to find a job 3 years ago while searching, I
lived with a friend but now she has kicked me out. I need a job to survive or else I would have to go back with nothing, " Marlise said, looking sorrowful.
"What a story," Elad said amused.
"I'm not lying," she interupted, her raised pitch betraying her.
"I didn't say you were," The way he said it made her know he knew something was up.
"Jacques, do we still have free studio apartments beside the office?" He called out to his PA.
"Yes sir. One is available," Jacques replied.
"Great. We don't normally give out free housing to everyone but we keep studios for our international guest. You're in luck that one of them just left. You'll have 3 months of probation and you won't pay for house. When you get fully employed, you can find another place to live. The Watte Pharma headquarters is located on the outskirts of Yaounde so, say goodbye to this part of town," Elad said.
"Thank you sir!"
Marlise jumped in excitement. She would be far from Levi and everyone else and the pay was great. Her brain was already doing mental calculations on how much she could save up.

♡♡♡♡♡

"Why are you acting like I forced you into this?" Cherish yelled from the bed as Levi unbuttoned his shirt. It was almost midnight and he was only just getting home, smelling of alcohol.

"We've been married for almost a month and you're not even desiring me. All you are good for is coming home drunk and when we make love, you call me by my sister's name!" She shouted in tears.

When Levi realised that Marlise wasn't coming back, he took Cherish to the altar in a hasty small wedding. He knew she didn't mind because it was what she'd always wanted. However, he couldn't put his heart into it as his days were filled with thoughts of Marlise, where she could be and how his life would have been if he married her. He spent long hours at work or in a bar drinking so he could just come home and fall asleep without facing his new reality.

"You're wicked! You told me you would try to love me," Cherish screamed.
Levi sat down and fell backwards, his upper body on the bed and lower body dangling off the bed. He had not succeeded to take off neither his shirt nor shoes.

"This is not fair!" she cried, stepping off the bed to take off her drunk husband’s clothes as she'd been doing since they got married. She had resigned herself to her fate because Ma Eli constantly reminded her that marriage was to be endured and her own mother wasn't talking to her since after her wedding.

♡♡♡♡

The sun had spread angry rays across the skies of Douala and the heat beat down on everyone including Marlise. A headache was drummed the front of her head like a frantic drummer, making her dizzy.
Watte Pharma team were in a remote village in one of the suburbs of Douala for a health campaign, sensitising the inhabitants about Cholera and healthy habits. The area was covered with white tarpaulin tents with different activities taking place from health talks to screening for different diseases.

She pulled a white plastic chair and sat down, resting swollen feet  on another chair. While there, she spotted Elad in white T-shirt and blue jeans lifting two pallets of mineral water from the van. Sweat stains covered his shirt  yet he suddenly looked so handsome. For one month since she'd started working at Watte Pharma, he had been overly kind to her, offering to drive her back to the studio apartment and picking her up in the mornings. The man was growing on her like a beautiful jewelry and it was getting more and more difficult to lie that she wasn't liking him.

Some female employees at her department had started to dislike her as they suspected Elad favoured her. The man had suddenly started popping up at the Project Department just to 'check' on how work was going. The rumour was that they were secretly dating.

"Madame Ayah, You're watching the boss instead of working?"
Miss Ngando, her direct supervisor's voice made her quickly jump to her feet. This woman in her mid thirties didn't seem to like her and it got worse when Elad started visiting the department.
"I'm just resting ma," She replied quickly.
"Get some water and get back to work," Madame Ngando said pointing to the water filter.
"Yes ma," She replied respectfully.
As she stood up, she suddenly felt dizzy and her feet gave way.

♡♡♡

"This can't be possible!" Marlise heard agitated voices as if it were a dream.
She opened her eyes and looked  to her left. She seemed to be in a tent, a drip connected to her left hand. She was covered with a white bedsheet.
Looking to her left, she met a pair of angry eyes belonging to Elad. He seemed to be staring at something on her body.

She followed his eyes to her potruded middle section. The secret she'd been keeping had been exposed.

"You are six months pregnant and you were hiding it?" Elad shouted. Since she started working at Watte Pharma, this was the first time he had raised his voice at her. Fear gripped her whole body.
Tears began to pour down her eyes.
"Why? Why would you hide it?" He asked.
"I need this job and I didn't want anything to get in my way,"  She answered sobbing.

She had lied to Levi so that he would have no reason to come after her. Hiding her pregnancy was easy because she was normally bulky so all she needed to do was wear loose fitting clothes to work.

"So you are willing to risk your baby's life for money? How foolish can you be? How careless, how..." Elad was so angry, he couldn’t form his words.

"Mr Kameni, please calm down. Her blood pressure is still high." The doctor said tapping him on the shoulder.

"Calm down doc? People are looking for children and a lady would try to suffocate hers because she wants a career? Do you know how much I would give to have my daughter and my wife back?" He shouted.
"Please," Marlise didn't even know how to plead.
"You've been out for one hour and social media is buzzing with news that Watte Pharma overworks staff to the point of them passing out!" He revealed, waving his phone to her.
"I just wanted to save up for 3 months," She pleaded.
"I hope you saved up for a month because you're fired!" Elad said and stormed out.

To be continued..
THANKS FOR READING!
Yikes!
Secret out!
Cherish and Marlise in hot soup!
Should Elad be this angry?