THE REAL ILLUSORY

Chapter Nine

After a few hours of sleep, Nicole finally woke up. She reached for her phone to know what time it was. "10:47!!" She screamed. She was surprised to how time had gone by. "I slept for five hours.... Mark why didn't you wake me up?" She said to herself. She got up from the bed sluggishly because she felt so weak and tired.
    "Is he even done with dinner?.....let me go and check o before Mark burn done my house because of one food".
    She wore her slides and walked out the room. The house was quiet when she walked down the stairs. It felt strange to her so she started calling Mark. "Babe?.....Babe?.... where are you?"

"I'm here teddy....." Mark replied.

"Where?" She asked.

"The living room"

She walked to the living room and she saw Mark laying down on the blue leather couch. "Hey babe, why didn't you wake me up?" She asked.

"I wanted to but you seemed really tired so I allowed you enjoy your beauty sleep"

"So how did dinner turn out?" She asked.

"Wow....okay you'll be impressed.....let me go get your food". Mark replied.

He ran to the Kitchen and dished out her food. "Teddy can you move to the dining?"he asked. He brought the food to her in a hurry because he couldn't wait to hear  "Wow it smells so nice..... is that Jollof Rice?" Nicole asked. Mark just gave her a nod with a huge smile on his face.

"Wow it smells so nice" she said.

"It taste even better" Mark replied.

"I can't wait to eat it.

Immediately she put the food in her mouth, she closed her eyes and she had this uncontrollable smile on her face. Mark knew he did good but he just wanted to hear her say it so he asked "So? How is it?". Nicole tried to tease him so she just said "It's alright.....You need more work but it's alright". The smile on her face made Mark realize was just trying to tease him. "Nicole I know the food is good just say".

"Honestly it's wonderful......it's better than my Jollof rice and now it makes me sad" Nicole said.

"Thank you so much....I appreciate the honesty" Mark replied feeling so proud of himself. But the he asked "Why are you sad?".

"Well first of all you're a white guy who cooks Jollof rice better than I do, secondly I've been preparing it for years now, how are you so much better?" She asked.

Mark just laughed and said "They're some things you don't know about Teddy" he gave her a wink and then told her to enjoy her meal while he dishes out his own meal.
   After they had dinner, Nicole looked at him and said "Wow this was wonderful babe ....I really enjoyed. Come to think of it, it reminds me of my moms cooking". Mark was surprised because Nicole does not say anything about her parents or her life in Nigeria. "Wow that's really nice....So what was your mom like?" He asked. Nicole looked at him and said "Babe don't ask me that".

"Why Nicole?" He asked.

"Because I don't want you to" she replied.

"How can I be your boyfriend and I know nothing about your parents? You've seen my family haven't you?" Mark asked.

"Yes I have but I don't want to talk about mine, can you please respect that?" She asked.

"We've been dating for a couple of years now and I know nothing about your life in Nigeria and don't even know what your Mom's name is. Your name is probably not Nicole...". Mark got really upset because Nicole never wanted to open up to anyone, she always wanted to keep all her problems to herself. "Nicole I'm your boyfriend, we live together. Why don't you tell me things about yourself?" Mark asked. Nicole didn't reply but just sat down quietly staring directly at the dining table looking very angry.

"Nicole, Nicole, Nicole!!!!" Mark screamed as he called her name.

Nicole politely said to Mark "Don't ever ask me about my past". Although she said it politely, the look she had on her face says otherwise. She had this angry look and she stared directly into his eyes and that scared Mark a little bit. She walked away and went to her room. Mark just placed his face on his hands and said "Damn, I messed up". He started contemplating if he should go and apologize or just sleep it off and do that in the morning.
    Meanwhile Nicole just laid on her bed and started crying quietly. She started thinking of her childhood and how close she was to her family. She really missed all the love she got from her mom and the protection she got from her dad. She missed how her baby brother would annoy her always and how she would take care of him whenever their parents would go out. She missed how her mom would give her really good advice whenever she was sad, she missed how her dad would always check up on her whenever she went out with her friends.
   She couldn't stop thinking of her life back in Nigeria and how good it was until she lost the love of her life Michael then everything changed. She was so heartbroken that she couldn't eat, sleep or speak with anyone. She shut everyone out completely, attempting suicide twice but was stoped by her mom who spotted her on the two occasions. She knew she couldn't live with her family anymore because everyone was getting angry at her cause she didn't tell anyone why she was heartbroken, no one knew Michael killed himself. She started failing badly in school, she lost so many friends who couldn't keep up with her gloomy mood always. Her teachers were surprised at how bad she flunked her test and exams semester after semester. She couldn't keep up with the pressure from school so she dropped out and never went back to school. Her parents tried everything they could to get her back to school but it was to no avail because her mind was already made up. At some point her dad got really angry and said "I will not allow you waste all the money I've spent on your education.....if you don't go back to school you are leaving my house" her mom wasn't really pleased with what her husband said but she just had to play along so her daughter would go back to school. The next morning, her mom found a note on the kitchen table which said

"Hey mom and dad,

I really appreciate everything you've done for me and I can never repay you for it.
I know I've being acting different lately and I also know you can't tolerate it anymore.
I've decided to leave and never come back because I don't think I'll ever be the same. I can't tell you what happened because it wouldn't make any difference.
I love you guys so much. And I wish you guys the best.
                                                                                            Yours lovely
                                                                                             Keji."

Her parents waited for her return but she didn't and they never saw their daughter again.
   After a while Nicole felt arms wrapping around her as she laid side ways on her right arm. She was startled at first but she got comfort when she realized it was Mark. He didn't say anything. He just held her close to himself and cuddled with her.

"I love you" he whispered.

"I love you too" she replied.