Chapter 18: Sixteen

Hope's mood seemed to be in a constant state of decline, and it was all Raymond's fault. She'd worked hard getting over her silly crush on him, and just when she'd finally made progress -- thanks to Raymond and his stupid noodles -- she was right back where she started -- reduced to tossing and turning all night long.

That had resulted in her starting off her day with swollen eyes and a cranky attitude that even Val had taken one look at her and decided to keep her distance and so far, nothing had succeeded in lifting her mood even the slightest bit.

She'd then tried to talk her mum into letting her sit out the family dinner this one time; a plea that had fallen on deaf ears. She'd had no choice but to drag her feet over only to find out Raymond was not going to be present. Was the universe playing a trick on her or what?

Then to put a cap on it, all through dinner, her mum wouldn't stop subtly suggesting what a perfect couple Raymond and Val would make -- and by subtle, she meant very obviously. It went without saying that Hope was done with this Sunday already.

"So Val my dear," her mum was saying. Dinner had finally ended and Sophie had gone to put the baby to sleep. Alex, the ever dutiful husband had followed. Angel as usual had sneaked off to watch TV. "I hope this stubborn girl is not giving you too much trouble."

Hope didn't need a genius to inform her who the 'stubborn girl' was.

Val chuckled, glancing briefly at Hope. "Hope? Not at all ma. She has been a very wonderful host."

"This one?" Her mum asked, giving Hope the side eye. "Try another lie."

Hope tsked. The last thing she needed was to get into it with her mum. "Dinner is over. Can we go home now?"

That as Hope had figured, earned a glare from her mum. "I'll decide that. I have some things to discuss with you girls first."

"Things like what, mummy?" Hope asked.

"Nothing. Just life, you know," her mum replied innocently.

Hope didn't know what 'life' was all about, but she dreaded the discussion already. And if the expression on Val's face counted, she was very much thinking the same. Only, Val was faster as she hurriedly made up an excuse about going to go check on the rest and racing up the stairs before her mum could protest.

"Ahnahn. Why is she running like I said I want to eat her?" Her mum asked, eying Val's retreating back.

Hope scrambled up as well."Me too mum, I want to -- "

"If you move one centimeter from that spot ehn . . . " She didn't complete the sentence. She didn't have to.

Hope sighed, falling resignedly back on her seat.

"Oya tell me. How are things between Raymond and Valerie?"

She'd dreaded this. She'd tried to avoid involving herself all through dinner but she should have known better. She wondered why she'd agreed to her mum's ridiculous bargain in the first place.

"They're fine," Hope replied, trying to sound uninterested. Maybe that'd help in getting her mum off the case.

"What kind of reply is that?" Her mum demanded. "You better start talking now before I force it out of you."

"Mummy!" Hope whined. "Shey Val is here. Why not ask her yourself?"

Her mum looked shocked that Hope would even suggest that. "How can I ask her? Haven't you heard of being discreet? We can't let either of them know that we're trying to get them together. That'll ruin the whole thing."

For the first time that day, Hope finally found something to laugh over. "Wait. I don't understand. You? So this is you being discreet?"

"Kini gbogbo eleyii? What do you mean by that?" Her mum asked defensively. (What's the meaning of this?")

"Mummy, I think you're the only one that's unaware that everyone knows you're trying to set Raymond and Val up. I'm sure it's even part of the reason Raymond didn't come today."

"Ehnehn. Do you really think so?"

Hope was almost amused at how alarmed her mum seemed. She really did think she was being discreet? "Yes, I think so."

Her mum seemed to ponder over it a bit before shrugging. "That one too is okay. As long as the result is the same, the process doesn't really matter."

Hope didn't agree much, but she knew better than to tell her mum that. "Mum, I think you should just let nature take it's course. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen."

"It's not only nature. It's vegetation," Her mum replied sarcastically. "What does a child like you know?"

Now she was a child? Hope resisted the urge to face palm but she decided to stand firm on her point. "I still believe we really should let them be."

"Really?" Her mum asked, and anyone else would have thought she was conceding. Not Hope though, she knew her mum too well.

"Really, mum," she replied with a subtle eye roll.

Her mum nodded repeatedly, as if she was actually considering it, but when she finally spoke . . .

"Okay, no problem but it seems I'm forgetting something. What was the reason I let you be when you refused to move here with me again?"

Hope blinked. She'd known it was going to come back to that anyway.

"Better," her mum said. "Anyone would see that Val and Raymond would make a fine couple. If what they need is a little push, why not help them?"

Hope chose not to reply. Against her better judgment, Hope's mind conjured up an image of Val and Raymond together and she felt her heart sink. She didn't want to think about the possibility of them being good together. It hadn't bothered her previously, but now it really did. She let out a relieved breath when footsteps started back down the stairs. Thank God for small mercies.

•     ~     •

Raymond checked his watch for the millionth time. 7:16 p.m. He'd been waiting for almost an hour. That was it; he was leaving. He gathered his phone and car key and made his way out of the lounge, heading straight for the parking lot. He'd just gotten to where his car was parked when he saw Rose's figure speedily walking over to him.

"Raymond! Wait!"

Trying to keep his anger in check, he chanced a glance at her. With her skimpy dress and perfect makeup, she looked like she'd taken her time to get dressed. And he'd been left waiting for an hour.

He sucked in an annoyed breath through his teeth as he turned squarely to face her approaching figure, darts shooting from his eyes.

"You're leaving?" She demanded, and she had the guts to look offended.

"You've had me waiting for about an hour," he reasonably replied. He was surprised he managed to sound as calm as he did.

"I didn't mean to. I had something urgent to take care of," was her excuse.

"And I'm the jobless one?"

She sighed, like one would when a child was being unnecessarily fussy. "I didn't say that."

Raymond didn't wait to hear the rest. He unlocked the car and climbed in. He started the car just as Rose opened the passenger door. He waited for her to climb in and strap herself in before starting the car. The car was silent for a while as he drove out of the parking lot and headed for home.

"Well? Aren't you going to ask me why I called you over?" She demanded after a while.

"You said it was an emergency. But it's obvious now that was a lie," he replied.

She chuckled like she found the whole thing funny. If only she knew how much he was internally brewing at the moment. "Really? So why did you come then?"

"You said it was about Jason."

"As expected. Jason is the only reason you ever choose to see me." It was a statement but it seemed like she was complaining instead.

Raymond chose to ignore her attempt at starting another argument. "So, is there really an emergency?"

"No," she snapped. "I wanted to see you, and that seemed the only way to get you here."

"I see."

She turned worried eyes to Raymond who was fully concentrated on driving. He was strangely calm, and that alarmed her.

She wasn't prepared when he spoke again. "You know, I missed an important family dinner for this."

"So?" He briefly turned to glare at her then she realized he expected her to feel remorseful. "Oh. I'm sure there'll be lots more."

"That's correct," he replied with a nod. Without warning, Raymond swerved the car sideways and pulled to a stop.

"Why are we stopping?" She inquired, confused.

He took his attention off the road and turned to face her. "I didn't come today just because you called me. I have something for you."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?"

Raymond saw the excitement in her eyes and he felt a bit of wicked glee knowing that he was going to squash that at any minute. He nodded briskly before leaning over to her side. Raymond's brows raised and an amused smile tugged his lips upwards when he saw her pucker her lips. He opened the glove compartment instead and pulled out a card. He leaned back before offering her the card. "Here."

Rose fought to hide her disappointment as she took the card from him and examined it. "What's this?"

"A business card."

She gave him an eye roll. "I know, Ray. I'm not stupid. What's it for?"

"It's someone I know who can help you with a job since you seem to have a hard time getting one by yourself."

"Why are you suddenly getting me a job?" She asked, an unsettling feeling setting in the base of her stomach. He had never attempted to do that before, so she knew this wasn't anything good, even if anyone else would think it was.

He glanced away briefly before turning back to her. His voice softened slightly as he replied, "Because this is goodbye."

Her stomach sank. "What do you mean by that?"

Raymond sighed, exhausted even though he hadn't even started explaining yet. "I'm done taking care of you, Rose. I'm not even sure why I let it drag out this long, but Efe and everyone else is right. It's about time I put an end to this."

"What about Jason?" Rose asked, pulling out the card that always seemed to work on him.

"He's your son, Rose. Your son. He's your responsibility. I think it's about time you own up to it."

Shock was the only thing Rose was capable of feeling at that point. Raymond had never blatantly shut her out like this. Realizing this, the shock gave way to panic.

"You can't do this," she whispered and her voice quivered like she was only a second away from crying.

But he could, and she saw it. Raymond had given her the brush off so many times in the past few years that she'd grown accustomed to it but somehow, this time felt different. This time, he meant it. And she knew it.

Rose would have never thought the day would come that she'd have to resort to begging him but she couldn't stop the tear that fell down her cheek out of fear. "Raymond, you can't do this. I have no one else. Please."

He sighed, looking away from her crestfallen expression in fear he might give in. Even as he was already giving in. "Look, I'm not completely turning my back on you, okay? You can give me a call if this job doesn't work out and I'll help you get another one— "

"I don't need a job!" She snapped. "All I need is you. I promise not to bother you or coerce you out like this anymore, okay? I promise."

"You're not listening," He pressed, trying to break it to her as softly as he could. "This is it. I'm done, Rose. For real. You need to come to terms with it."

In an instant, like a switch flipped, the sadness was gone and in it's place was anger. "You bastard! You can't do this!"

Raymond felt surprisingly relieved to have the real Rose back. The selfish and manipulative Rose. "Of course. As expected. Get angry at me all you want but at some point, You'll have to start taking responsibilities for yourself and stop blaming others for your problems."

"Shut up!" She snapped.

He continued like he hadn't heard her. "Get your life together, Rose. If not for yourself, do it for your son."

"Son? Which son?" She started laughing hysterically. "There is no son."

Raymond froze, feeling his blood chill. "What are you taking about? What about Jason?"

Her eyes turned sharply to meet his panicked ones and she was glad to see the confusion and uncertainty in them. Finally. If he was so hellbent on hurting her and abruptly turning her whole world upside down, she was going to hurt him much worse, and she knew only one way to do that.

"What about Jason?" He demanded again, his voice rising a few octaves.

At that point, Rose was consumed with just one thought; to break him. "He's dead."

His eyes widened in disbelief as his whole being rejected the news. "That's impossible."

"Car accident. Three months ago. I survived, he didn't," she said with a shrug, trying her best to appear nonchalant and unaffected.

"That's not true. You're only saying this to hurt me," he whispered, his eyes still the size of saucers.

She laughed again, although there was no trace of mirth in the sound. Just dry, bitter laughter. "Really? So why do you think I refused when you asked to see him last month, hm?"

"Jason's not dead," he reaffirmed, squeezing his eyes shut as if that'd keep the possibility of it away.

"He is, Ray. Come to terms with it."

He opened his eyes to her sitting there, eerily calm. Like her one year old son dying was no big deal to her.

"Get out."

She didn't hesitate as she opened the car door and exited, almost slamming the door off its hinges.

Raymond barely waited for her to shut the door before he started the car. His mind fought against the credibility of the information he'd just received while at the same time, it was filled with dread at the possibility of it being true. His heart felt like it was being squeezed, and it was so painful. So much so that he didn't see the child running across the road until it was almost too late.

He blindly swerved to the right to avoid hitting her only for his eyes to grow big with horror when he saw himself heading straight for a pole. He squeezed his eyes shut and stepped on the brakes hard.

•   ~   •   ~   •

I promised someone an update latest yesterday, and I'm sorry I didn't deliver.

Hope this makes up for it though?