The Road of Love

Chapter Ten

Emma got out of her world when she heard her name from behind.
"Hi Emma" the man said with a sunshine smile.
"Hello Gerald" she replied and gave Leo an "I'll explain it" look.
"It's been a while" Gerald said and scratched the back of his head.
"Oh yeah, I've been busy" she replied with a beautiful smile.
"Okay" he said and shifted his gaze to Leo.
"I'll see you later then" he said and turned to leave.
"Oh wait" Emma said happily.
"This is my boyfriend, Leo" she said and turned to Leo.
"Eeerrrmmm Leo, this is Gerald"
"Hi" Gerald said with an outstretched hand. Leo ignored him and turned his attention to Emma.
"Is this guy your friend?" he asked and looked Gerald from head to toe with disgust written boldly on his face.
"Y...,yeah Leo" Emma replied nervously.
"I don't want you to be friends with him" Leo said and shifted his gaze from Emma to Gerald.
Emma opened her mouth to protest but was stopped by Leo.
"Gerald or whoever you are, stay away from my girlfriend" Leo said to an all ready shocked Gerald.
"Oh yeah, su..., sure" Gerald stuttered.
"Good" Leo said and shifted his gaze back to Emma. Her head was bowed in shame.
She looked up and met Gerald's soft gaze.
"I'm sorry" she whispered.
Gerald nodded with understanding.
Emma wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Let's go" Leo said and got up making his chair fall in the process, he made no attempt to lift it.
Emma took the chair and wiped the tears that had escaped.
Leo was waiting outside in fury.
"Don't ever speak to that guy again" Leo said angrily.
"But Leo..."
"No buts" Leo cut her sentence short.
"If I ever see you even look at his direction that'll be the end of this relationship" he finished and stormed off without a second backward glance.
Emma was speechless.

                                *****
She hurried to get hostel. She couldn't tell Livia because Livia has been avoiding her the moment she walked out her room after giving her the news of Leo's return.
And besides Livia had warned when she have her the news of Leo's sudden comeback.
She took a picture from her study table and started crying.
"Oh mummy, I've missed you so much" she cried uncontrollably.
She sobbed as she held the picture and Hughes it tightly.
"Mummy why did you have to go?" she asked the beautiful woman without expecting an answer.

                                *****
Her phone vibrated in her bag.
She searched through her handbag for it. The call had all ready ended when she pulled the phone out.
She stared at the phone screen.
The caller called again.
She hesitated before answering the call.
"He, hello" she asked and sniffed.
The person on the other end was silent.
"Gerald" she said barely audible.
"Yeah" he said calmly.
Emma felt at peace when she heard his voice. She felt like she was not alone.
"Have you been crying?" he asked.
"Me?, crying?, no" she lied.
"Emma you're lying to me" Gerald said.
"No, I'm not, my head is aching" she pressed.
"I really don't have a problem with how your boyfriend reacted" Gerald said and let out a sigh he didn't know he was holding.
"I'm sorry" Emma apologised. The tears threatened to fall again.
"If he sees you as a threat, then he has every right to give me that warning and not you and in that manner" Emma said.
"But you also didn't say anything, Emma" Gerald said calmly.
Emma was silent.
Gerald didn't know what to say to call her down.
"It's all right,  Emma" Gerald said in a worried tone.
"I'm sorry Gerald" she aplogised again.
"It's fine, please" Gerald assured her.
"Don't worry, I'm gonna stay away" Gerald said.
"Thank you" Emma said and hang up.
Gerald continued to stare at the phone after the call came to an end.
He didn't know why he felt so bad yet relieved to have heard Emma's voice.
He was going to stay away but he felt Leo was up to something obviously not good.
He only hopes Emma wouldn't get hurt. He somehow felt responsible for her safety.

                               *****
Livia hesitated before answering the call at the third ring.
"Hello?" Livia asked the caller.
"Liv, Livia, please come to my hostel, I really need you" her friend said amidst sobs.
"Are you all right, Em?" she asked worriedly.
"No Livia, I'm not" she said and cried.
"I'll be there soon, please stop crying" Livia said and hurried out of her room.

                                *****
Emma was lying in the floor when Livia got to the room.
She knelt beside her and called her name.
The floor was wet indicating Emma had been crying.
"She lifted her friend from the floor and hugged her.
Emma hugged her back.
Livia broke the hug and pulled a chair and say Emma down.
"What happened?" Livia asked.
Emma covered her face with both hands and started crying again.
Livia bent down and took Emma's hands.
She wiped her tears with her handkerchief.
Emma was in a bad state.
Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
Livia was on the verge of tears.
She couldn't bear to see Emma in such a condition.
"Hey, stop crying and tell me what the problem is" Livia said and hugged her friend again.
"Leo..." she said and closed her eyes to stop the tears from flowing.
"What has he done this time?" Livia asked getting angry at the sound of Leo's name.
"He embarassed me by telling Gerald in a rude manner to stay away from me" she managed to speak.
"Gerald?, Who is Gerald?" Livia asked.
"The guy..., the guy I introduced you to" she replied.
"Oh yeah, the hot guy" Livia said intending to make Emma smile. It worked.
Emma smiled and wiped her face with the back of her hand.
"Why did he do that?" Livia asked.
"He sees Gerald as a threat to the relationship" Emma replied and looked at her friend.
"I see" Livia mumured.
"Is that why your eyes are red and swollen?" Livia asked.
"Yes" Emma replied.
"Everything is going to be fine" Livia said and straightened herself.
"Gerald is a guy and I know he understands Leo perfectly" Livia assured her friend.
"But Leo shouldn't have said that to him. He doesn't even know him" Emma said in a defensive tone.
"Don't worry, give me Gerald's number of you have it. I'll call and apologise to him" Livia said and gave Emma a broad smile.
"Okay" Emma said and nodded.
"Have you eaten?" Livia asked her friend.
"No" she replied and stuck out her tongue.
"I'll fix something for you" she said walked to the balcony.
"I want jollof, there's stew in the fridge" Emma shouted from the room.
"Yes ma'am" Livia shouted back.
"Emma can sell me for food, I can bet on that" Livia said to herself and laughed.