It was finally happening, and Hope was a mix of both excited and terrified. While it would be great to openly be in a relationship with Raymond with the full support of her family, just imagining the thousand ways things could go wrong . . .
But it had to be done, she assured herself. She only had a few weeks until resumption and the last thing she wanted was her mum or Sophie finding out about them some other way. Now, that would be a disaster, and the fact that Alex had so easily figured them out only reteirated the fact that neither she nor Raymond was very good at keeping secrets.
So yes, ultimately, it was the best decision. But why could she still feel her intestines boiling?
"Nervous?"
Hope would have expected to see Raymond, but was only mildly surprised to see it was Alex who approached her, a teasing smile on his face.
Was the sky blue? Why else would she be hiding away in the kitchen while her mum was with Raymond in the sitting room, discussing only God knows what.
"A little?" She chuckled dryly at his obvious look of disbelief. "Okay, a lot," she admitted.
He chuckled, reaching out to pat her shoulder encouragingly. "You don't have to be, you know. Your mum's really sweet, and she adores you."
Sweet? Her mum? Was he talking about the same woman here? The one who'd raised her the whooping twenty one years of her life? "Are you sure you've even met her?"
"She's a bit protective of you, yes, but that's only normal," Alex insisted, chuckling when she looked everything but convinced. "Besides, if there's anyone you should be scared of, it should be me. I'm the one letting you have my only brother for free."
A breathy laugh escaped her lips, her hand coming to rest on her face. Pondering it now, she realized he was maybe right. Funny how she'd never even thought of him as a potential threat; probably because he'd made it so easy for them.
"Everything okay over here?" Raymond asked as he walked into the kitchen, his gaze jumping between them both.
"I like to think so," Alex replied, turning to Hope. "Right, Hope?"
"I'm fine," Hope assured, surprising herself 'cause it was true. She had an amazing family, and it had always been like that. So what if her mum said no? They'd only have to work harder to change her mind."What about mum? What did she want to talk to you about?"
Raymond shook his head amusedly, recalling his conversation with Hope's mum. It had been . . . something, to say the least. "She wanted to know the progress of things between Val and I. I mean, of all days, she chooses today to be direct."
Alex chuckled, obviously finding the whole situation entertaining. "So? What did you tell her?"
"What else?" Raymond asked, shrugging. "I told her nothing's going on between Val and I."
"And?" Hope prompted.
"In her exact words, she said and I quote, 'It'll happen in due time, don't worry,'" Raymond replied, his amusement now matching his brother's.
"And she didn't find it strange you came with Hope to see her on a Saturday morning?" Alex asked, thoroughly entertained indeed.
Raymond responded with another amused shake of his head. "At all. She even thanked me for looking after her."
"Oh, lord." Hope was about to ask them what they both found so funny until she realized she was smiling as well. "This is not supposed to be funny."
"Right?"
"Maybe today's not a good day to tell her," Hope suggested, already losing her bravado from a few seconds ago. Yes, she was that fickle.
"I just knew you were going to say that." Pulling her to him, he ruffled her hair affectionately. "Relax, Hope. It'll be fine."
"Mm," Hope conceded, throwing a faux annoyed look at him as she smoothened said hair.
Pleased that only lasted so long, Raymond directed his attention to Alex. "When did you say Sophie will be back again?"
"Considering how early she left for the checkup, soon," Alex replied.
"Why didn't you go with them again?" Raymond asked. He'd not really been paying attention when his brother explained his wife's whereabouts the first time.
"Well, I figured you both might probably be in need of some moral support."
"Awww, you didn't have to," Hope cooed, chest filling with warmth.
"Hm, now I feel like a liar. To be honest, that was just the official excuse," Alex confessed sheepishly. "I wanted to. Do you have any idea how much Ella cries whenever she visits the hospital? I'm a hundred percent certain she hates seeing the doctors' faces."
"Ah. So you were just avoiding responsibility," Raymond quipped, bobbing his head as he concluded that made more sense.
"If that's how you choose to interpret it," Alex quipped back, unaffected. "Besides, Angel was more than happy to accompany them to the hospital. So everybody's happy in the end."
Raymond scoffed, offering a response that Hope didn't quite catch as she instead was more interested in watching the two of them bicker back and forth. Without conscious effort, she felt the rest of the tension dissipate from her body. Ultimately, this was what she had, and she was more than glad for it. For them.
Breathing out a relieved laugh, she left the two to their bickering as she left to sought out her mum who was as expected, in the sitting room, laughing at something going on on the TV as she munched on bitter kola. Hope never did and probably never would understand what pleasure anyone derived from chewing that.
Hope walked over, sitting on the armrest of the seat her mum was on. Her mum spared her a side glance, probably wondering why she'd decided to sit there despite all the empty seats available but not deeming it important enough to actually ask.
Hope sat even closer, wrapping her arms around her mum who didn't seem so surprised at the action although the look on her face screamed, 'What is it now?'
"I love you!" Hope declared, clutching, if possible, onto her mum even harder.
A big smile graced her mum's face even as she pretended to be inconvenienced. "I don't have money to give you o."
Hope loosened her grip on her mum, unrestrained laughter bellowing out of her. "Why would you even say that, mummy? Am I only affectionate when I need money?"
"That question is for you to answer yourself. I was just letting you know I have no money to spare," her mum replied, turning her attention back to the TV.
Taking advantage of the fact that her mum wouldn't see, Hope stuck her tongue out at her. "Sha shift."
"I see I've finally turned to your mate," her mum grumbled, shifting as requested, except closer to Hope so she could successfully nudge her off the seat.
"Mummy!" Hope exclaimed, rubbing what was now a sore spot on her butt. Hope's mouth fell open when all her mum did was stick her tongue out in response. So she had seen.
Hope sat there, shoulders shaking in silent laughter as she watched her mum stand, walking over to the TV stand, and Hope just knew she was going for one of her numerous mount zion movies, already bored with what she was watching, which was funny considering she'd been laughing hard a few seconds before.
Hope was still trying to catch her breath when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID. Sophie.
The laughter still evident in her voice, she cleared her throat as she picked. "Sophie, what's up?"
"Tell her not to forget what I asked her to get o," Her mum said without even turning around. If Hope hadn't known that wasn't the case, she would have thought her mum had been expecting the call.
"Mum said you shouldn't forget what she asked you to get o," Hope relayed, rolling her eyes.
"Hope."
Hope's blood chilled as she froze, almost as though a bucket of ice cold water had suddenly been poured over her.
"Missed me?"
Her stomach sank as her high spirit gave way to dread until she could feel nothing but the panic setting in, the knowledge that this was Sophie's phone faintly resounding in her head. He was calling her using Sophie's phone.
A million thoughts were running through her head, to the point she couldn't even make sense of one. She tried for words, but they failed her. It was as if her lips had suddenly been sealed shut and there was no prying them open.
"I'll get straight to the point," the voice on the other end spoke, malice lacing every word. "I'll be sending you an address right now, and you have only fifteen minutes to get here. One minute late, and you can say goodbye to your sister and nieces."
Hope gulped, still incapable of forming words.
"And Hope? I'm sure you're smart enough to know not to tell anyone about this." It was a threat and a warning, the meaning of either not lost on her.
Hope still felt disconnected from her body even as the call ended, her mind scarily blank as she strove to make sense of what just happened.
She'd forgotten for a brief moment. She'd let herself get carried away, and how she'd have loved to remain forever in that bubble she'd created for herself, her greatest fear being what her mum's reaction would be when she found out she and Raymond were together. But reality was not so thoughtful, lurking around, waiting to hit her in the face.
It was a wonder she even heard the faint buzzing of her phone over what sounded like heavy pounding in her head, an indication she'd indeed gotten a text, but she did, and that seemed to snap her out of her trance and spur her into action as she sprung up to her feet, not even realizing how tightly she'd been clutching the phone, silent tears streaming down her face.
She walked mechanically toward the door, and out of the house. She distantly heard her mum asking where she was going, but couldn't find the strength to say anything. Once out of the door, she ran.
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"What's wrong?" Alex asked, instantly picking up on the worried look on his mother-in-law's face as he, together with Raymond strolled back into the sitting room.
"It's Hope," she replied worriedly, pacing slightly. "She left the house in a hurry just now after getting a phone call from her sister."
"Sophia?" Alex demanded, although it managed to come out as more of an exclamation. "Is everything okay?"
"That's what I'm worried about," she admitted, looking helpless as her mind skimmed different possibilities. "She didn't say anything before leaving hurriedly. I should have gone after her. What if--"
"I'm sure everything is okay, mum," Alex interrupted, pulling her into a reassuring hug. His gaze met Raymond's in silent worry and Raymond shook his head slightly, brows creasing. He had no idea what could have happened either.
"Are you sure it was Sophie that called?" Raymond asked.
She nodded. "She called Sophie's name and even relayed to her what I asked her to."
"Let's try to reach either of them first," Alex suggested. Raymond nodded, immediately bringing out his phone to dial Hope's number. It rang, but she didn't pick. He dialed Sophie's number instead but the phone was switched off. "Hope's not picking and Sophie's phone is off."
He clamped down on the panic rising as he continued trying Hope's number, praying silently for her to pick.
"Maybe we should go over to the hospital," her mum suggested. "They might know --"
"Yes, mum. Calm down. We will," Alex soothed. "Let's try to stay calm and think about this rationally. We don't know if anything happened yet."
Raymond knew it made sense, but again it didn't. He tried to convince himself that his brother was right, that there was no point panicking if there wasn't a clear reason to. But he couldn't ignore that nagging feeling of urgency that had settled itself in his gut. "So what do we do?"
Alex didn't know either, and his silence only worked to strike more confusion between the three of them. "Let's go and talk to Musa first. Maybe he would have gotten anything?"
Alex didn't seem to think much of his suggestion, the possibility that the gatekeeper woukd have picked up on something slim, but in that situation, it was better grasping at straws than nothing at all. Nodding in agreement, Raymond led the way outside as the other two followed.
"Musa!" Raymond called out at the man who was seated on a plastic chair beside the gate.
"Oga!" He called back, standing up.
Raymond was distracted from saying anything else as a loud honk was heard from outside, followed by the gatekeeper checking to see who it was.
"Oga madam don come back," the man informed, grinning as he opened the gate.
The three exchanged hopeful glances which turned into those of relief when Sophie's car drove in.
"Ah, thank God!" Her mum exclaimed as he hastily walked over to the car. She immediately went to open the rear door where Hope was holding a sleeping Ella. She took the baby from her, allowing Angel to exit the car as well.
"Why is your phone off?" Alex demanded almost angrily as soon as Sophie stepped out of the car.
Thrown back by the sudden outburst, Sophie replied hesitantly, "I-I lost it on my way back from the hospital."
"What? How?"
"I was getting mum's herbs when a man approached me saying he wanted to make a quick call as his phone was out of battery," Sophie explained. "I lent him mine but he suddenly took off with the phone. Some guys attempted to help me catch him but they couldn't get him."
Alex's anger dissipated, giving way to concern. Inspecting her body for bruises or just anything, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Alex," Sophie assured with a gentle smile. "I'm sorry I made you worry."
Alex shook his head, his gaze shifting to Angel whose lips curled into a big smile. He smiled back, relieved they were okay, until something else occured to him. Before he could ask, Raymond beat him to it.
"Your phone getting lost," Raymond started, successfully diverting Sophie's attention to himself. "Was that before or after you called Hope?"
"Hope?" Sophie repeated, confused. "I never called Hope."
Raymond's fist's clenched, and he could feel it. The beginning of unbridled panic. "You never called her?" He repeated.
Sophie shook her head, looking between the three of them, expecting some sort of explanation. "Why? Did she say I called?"
Raymond couldn't respond as his mind reeled. There was only one other explanation he could think of for this. And he wished to God it wasn't what he was thinking.
"Hope left the house in a hurry after receiving a phone call we originally thought was from you," Alex explained. "She's not been picking up our calls since then."
"What?" Sophie whispered, looking as lost as every other one of them.
Now that it was clear it hadn't been Sophie that'd called her, Raymond could only hope it really wasn't what he was thinking.
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Hm ;)
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