Lost ✔️

Chapter 51

Stephanie was sitting with her feet up on the sofa watching 'Tom and Jerry'. Wendy had told her that whatever she watches, listens and eats would affect the baby's personality and taste.

So now she was watching cartoon shows, listening to clean and appropriate songs and eating healthy food. She was missing those horror movies and Eminem raps but she didn't want her child to turn out to be like her. 

Depressing and scared.

Marilene was always with her whenever Wendy was out to buy groceries and Chris was at the company working hard to make money and avoiding getting fired. 

She could see that Chris was getting impatient by every passing day. He never really got the chance to be alone with her and when he did it was too late in the night. 

Stephanie sighed.

"Hey you got any pickles?", she asked loudly.

Marilene who was in the kitchen doing who knows what almost her threw her slipper at Stephanie on hearing that.

"Hey you ate ten boxes of pickles this month! Are you trying to take a rebirth as a pickle or something?", she yelled.

Stephanie pouted and hid under the blanket kept beside her on the sofa. Marilene sighed.

Sometimes she's such a kid, she thought. Oh maybe it's the kid inside her?

Stephanie soon crawled out of the blanket and went over to Marilene in the kitchen only to see her working there.

Stephanie was shooketh!

Marilene was trying to cut the potatoes without even peeling them first!

"What are you doing?", she asked trying to be patient with her best friend.

"Oh! I was going to make potato fries! You and Chris love them, right?", she answered excitedly.

"Mari the last time you entered the kitchen you almost caused an earthquake here... In no way am I letting you enter this part of the world....", Stephanie scolded her.

"What! Please....", Marilene begged.

"And are you planning to give us the peelings too?", Stephanie asked pointing towards the potatoes with her index finger. 

Marilene looked bemused.

"Oh I thought they'd just peel off on their own, no?", came the reply.

That's when she realized that apparently potatoes don't peel their skin off themselves. She just stared at them intensely. It looked like she was trying to peel them with her eyes. 

Stephanie sighed and pushed her aside.

"Allow me Your Highness"

Marilene reluctantly let the potatoes go. She watched Stephanie calmly strip them of their clothing with a vegetable peeler. Her friend looked so poised and beautiful at the moment. 

Marilene gradually understood why a walking angel like Chris loved an wild animal like Stephanie so much. It was pretty obv-

Da-ring tring.

Da-ring tring.

Stephanie's phone rang.

Marilene's heart beat paced faster with each ring. She did not want a phone call to ruin her friend's happiness. She forced a smile on her face.

Stephanie, on the other hand, had forgotten all about the threat all for the time being. Too focused on the potatoes.

"I'll go check it out!", she heard Marilene say.

But suddenly she remembered that phone call on her wedding day. She whirled around. No one knew about it although Chris had not bought her story about the cramps yet. 

"Who-who is it?", she shouted from the kitchen.

"Oh it's Nathan! Guy doesn't know when to give up. Wanna talk?", Marilene shouted back nonchalantly.

Stephanie sank to her knees out of relief. So she was worrying over nothing. While she felt terrible for ignoring Nathan, she had no other choice. Out of nowhere, her mother's voice rang out i her head.

Honey we always have a choice.

Stephanie shook her head, stood up and went back to her potatoes. She noticed how clueless Marilene had been about the potatoes. They were not even cut smoothly. She tutted in exasperation.

What she didn't notice was that the sound of her phone ringing had gone away.

And so had Marilene.

*

Marilene closed the door behind her quietly as she exited the apartment. The contact named 'Mr. Brandon Collins' was still ringing. 

She picked it up and put it to her ear after looking at it for a minute. 

"Hey we meet again", a man's voice said.

Unfortunately for that man, Marilene's sassy side had just switched on.

"I think we are just talking. I don't think we are meeting anywhere. Next time get your facts right.", she replied sarcastically.

"Oh!", there was a surprised sound. 

But it seemed like the man recovered quickly.

"I see your attitude has changed a lot lately. So far you didn't speak with Nathan like we told you to. Now I want you to convince your beloved husband to set Alex free. You see we need to talk.", the man said.

Marilene laughed at the caller.

"If you wanna talk with him just give him a jail visit. Now I have potatoes to fry so excuse me.", she said, still laughing.

The caller coughed uncomforatbly.

When Marilene heard from him next, it was a different man who was speaking. She knew because she recognized the voice. It was Brandon.

So finally the boss speaks.

"Stephanie dear, if you don't do as I tell you to I'll make sure to kill that orange marmalade friend named Marilene, Chris and your baby before your eyes. I'll rip them apart from you one by one and you won't even be able to do anything. And it'll be your fault.", he said.

Marilene felt an irritation run throughout her nerves and veins. She wanted to jump inside the call and personally strangle the speaker with her bare hands but she begged herself to remain calm.

Now that he called her 'Orange Marmalade', it had just gotten more personal than ever. No one messes with her friend OR her appearance.

"I would like to see you try. Now unless you want potatoes, bye", she answered before cutting the call.

What a fool for not recognising the voice of his own victim.

*

"It wasn't Stephanie who was speaking", Brandon said as he gave the phone back to his secretary.

"What do you mean? I heard her!", his secretary argued.

"How much ever the girl tried to imitate it wasn't Stephanie. It wasn't her", he repeated.

"So now what?"

"Let's start by killing off that Nathan guy. He is pissing me off", Brandon decided.

I'll try and prove my point to you girl.

*****

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