Chapter 5

Lee Otto Fraser’s Pov

I paraded the hotel, scanning every nook and cranny of the hotel. My staff were busy carrying out their different duties. A female staff member dressed in her hotel suit, in charge of changing the bed sheets of every room, walked out from one of them. She acknowledged with a smile and walked past.

Wilson was beside me as we both inspected the rooms for any inconvenience. We stopped at the hotel kitchen, hearing the chief chef yelling on top of his voice.

“Who dropped this spinach here!” His voice reverberated across the room as a junior staff rushed to him. “Didn’t I tell you guys to separate this stuff?”

“I’m sorry, I was going to do so but it sl*pped my mind,” the junior chef earned a glare from the chief chef. I supervised the activities going on in the kitchen, trying to pull my mind from the woman at my house. Wasn’t in my agenda to make her my wife but till now, I couldn’t define the force that made me pull the stunt I pulled at her sister’s wedding. What compelled me to take off one of my bracelets and wear it around her wrist?

One thing I couldn’t stand was bullies and there she stood watching them taunt her with their words and was sorry her signature word? She was prepared to say that one word a million times.

My mind traveled back to when she showed up in my house. Honestly speaking, she looked unkempt. In that homespun detached gown, clutching her shabby bag. This woman was the first daughter of one of the richest influential men of the four clans so why did she look like a poor malnourished pauper and why was her father so eager to give her out to me in a hurry?

“You are not allowed to leave this house without my permission, you can’t leave this house without my knowledge.…..especially at night.” I had said, watching the fear in her eyes change to surprise in a twinkle. But I had that question in me as to why she seemed so terrified.

When I took a step close to her, she retraced her steps, clutching her satchel tightly as though her life depended on it. I could feel her b*dy quiver a little, making me wonder why she was so afraid. When those words left my l*ps, she looked at me with surprise, expecting her to counter my words like my previous wives did.

But she didn’t, instead she gave me a long stare with a mixture of surprise and fear and never said a word. She gave me a nod as a response.

I wondered if she had no other words to say except sorry and the rest…..she simply reacts with her b*dy.

“While living with me, you have rules to abide by.” I said and of course, without saying a word she only nodded. I spared her a moment of stare, watching her and her b*dy language. She looked so afraid and for some reason, I felt this intuition that she didn’t want to argue with me but to only obey.

My previous wives wouldn’t have stayed a few moments when I enlisted my rules. I tore my gaze from her and headed into my room, minutes later, I returned and handed her a piece of sheet and pen.

“You did go to school, didn’t you?” I inquired.

She nodded. And for some reason, I was getting irked at the silent treatment but decided to ignore it.

“So you must be good in writing and good in vocabulary? Good,” I sighed and sat back on the seat I had gotten up from. “Now write down every rule I told you and you are to abide by them.”

She did as I told her, she quickly dropped her bag on the floor, and dropped to her knees, placing the paper on the center table.

“First,” I began. “I wouldn’t tolerate any form of insolent behavior and no singing. I’m irritated at noise or any form of sound including the sound of your breath.”

At my last line, she suspended her hand which was already writing and lifted her gaze. A glint of surprise flickered in her eyes and they also had questions in them. I thought she was going to disagree but she didn’t. She gave me a brief stare and returned her gaze to the sheet. Why wasn’t she reacting to anything? Why was she obeying and not wrangling words with me right now?

Was she comfortable with all of my rules and was it in her nature to accept anything and everything? For some reason, I rather find her strange.

“Second,” I went on. “You will be having your room, we won’t be sharing a room together as a married couple and you must knock and when I usher you in, that’s when you are allowed to come into my room, got it!”

She nodded and scribbled down.

“Third, I dislike questions, especially personal and prying ones so I’d appreciate it if you refrain from asking me any questions and yes……I forgot to add, I liked cleanliness and I wouldn’t want a tiny dirt anywhere because it would irk me.”

“Do you understand everything I just said?” I gazed at her as she continued to write. Her brown curly hair was bundled up in a bun, tied with a ribbon. Two strands of her hair dangled at each side of her face. For a moment, I almost reached out to tuck them behind her ears… Surprised at that thought, I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, and cleared my throat.

Something seemed to attract me to her but whatever it was— was merely an attraction. She’s just like a property I claimed. The collateral in exchange of the land but I wondered why a father would exchange his daughter for a land.

“Finally, I dislike the word sorry so refrain from using it. And don’t ever step out without my knowledge. These rules are the rules you’ve to follow in this house and breaking one means you have broken them all and it might not be good for you, do you understand?”

She nodded.

“Read them out,” I ordered.

She got up on her feet and read everything as I have stated.

In the same night, I had walked past her room toward the kitchen to wet my dry throat. I heard murmurs coming from within her room. She was sobbing and muttering at the same time.

Curiosity spiked in me. I pushed the door to her room open,—- startled to see her sleeping on the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest while wrapping her hands around them. She curled herself into a ball and her face was buried in her thighs. What was she doing? Why was she lying on the floor instead of the bed? I deliberately touched my right palm on the floor and quivered a little at the coldness. Why was she lying on the floor if it was this cold?

I reached out to do the thing I had wanted to do earlier. I reached out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and noticed her watery face. She was sobbing in her sleep and she hugged herself tightly. I saw her b*dy twitch a little and it must be as a result of the cold floor.

I didn’t know what pushed me— what compelled me to pick her up in my arms and lay her on the bed. She was very light as a feather and her eyes were tightly shut as they continued to water. I tucked her into the bed, pulling the blankets over her when her words halted my hands.

“I’m……sorry……” She said in her sleep, still sobbing. “I’m sorry…….please don’t hurt me. Don’t do it……I’m sorry.”

Does she also apologize in her sleep as well? I directed my gaze to her face. It looked troubled and her eyes were still tightly shut like she was fighting in her sleep or something.

“SIR? SIR? SIR?” A voice pulled me back to the present. It was Wilson’s voice and across his face was a worried look. “You suddenly spaced out,” he said.

Now that I thought about it, I got upset that my mind was occupied by her. I see nothing different in her, she was just like my previous wives and one day I was certain she was going to meet the same fate as them.

“Are you alright, Sir?” Wilson asked.

“Yes.”

I pulled my eyes from Wilson to the chief chef and the junior chef with the rest of the team. They acknowledged me with a smile.

“How’s everything going?” I asked, trying to wave off her image.

“Good, sir.” The chief chef answered. “Sir, the kitchen hood seems not to be working perfectly again.” The chief chef gestured to the kitchen’s ventilation fan.

“It seemed like something was blocking it from absorbing heat and smoke. That was the reason we opened the windows.”

“I see….. I will call in a technician tomorrow,” I said. “Also….” I swiped a finger on the white marble counter.

“I have told you that a kitchen ought to be cleaned at all times, what’s this?” I showed them the dirt smeared on my finger.

“We are sorry,” they chorused, slightly reminding me of the woman at my place.

“Get busy you all if you don’t want to be fired in an instant!”

●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Once in my office and seated on my seat.

“Sir, here’s the papers concerning your agreement with Mr Peter Usoro.” Wilson dropped the papers that stated the contract between him and I on my desk.

“Wilson, do you think it was wise of me to let go of that land?” I inquired, lifting my head from the sheets of paper.

“Well…..I wouldn’t say it was unwise, I’d rather think about the condition of the land and where it is situated. If the land is fertile and can generate revenue……….”

Just then, my phone rang. I picked it up from my desk and it was a call from my house. Why was I receiving a call from home by this time of the day?

“Hello,” I answered.

“SHE’S GONE,” I heard the voice of the female housekeeper at the other end of the line. Her voice trembled.

I immediately sprung to my feet at her words. Even though my intuition was telling who it was, I still went on to ask. “Who is gone?”

“Your new wife, sir. She’s gone.” The housekeeper said in a rushed tone. “We can’t find her anywhere in the house.”

“She’s gone.”