Battered Wife

18

The week after Remy kidnapped Adesewa, I moved into the house provided by the company. The house was about 20 minutes drive to the company and a ten-minute walk away from Adesewa's new school.

I didn't move in alone with Adesewa, my friend Bisi moved in with us. However just after moving in I realized that I needed security so I called Elijah.

"Hello Elijah?"

"Lola?"

"Yes, how are you doing Elijah?"

"I'm great! it's...I'm so glad to hear from you Lola." I couldn't help feeling a little warm due to the enthusiasm I could hear in his voice.

"Well I'm glad that you wanted to hear from me" I couldn't resist flirting a little.

"So how how's the new house?"

"Its actually great..."

"But I'm sensing a but?"

"Not really... it has nothing to do with the house. I just... I don't feel very secure. Do you have any... do you know any trustworthy security company?"

"You want to hire security for the house?"

"Yes. I just... I'm just worried that Remy will try to pull something again. I know I sound too cautious but I'd rather error on the side of caution because I don't really know what else he has up his sleeve."

"Alright, I'll help you contact someone I know and I'll get back to you. Is that okay? Don't stress about it? I'll get back to you by tomorrow."

I couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips. "Alright, thanks."

"Sure, just let me know if you need any help."

"Of course, thank you so much Elijah."

"I liked it better when you called me by my Yoruba name." He said, his words throwing me out of balance.

"Really? Sorry. I thought that since I was making a request, I needed to be as polite as possible." I said sheepishly.

"Of coursr not, I like you the way you are." He paused and I could tell from how lower his voice got that he hadn't intentionally admitted liking me. It had just slid out of his mouth. "Just...Just call me anything you want."

Even though my dark skin couldn't show it, I was blushing heavily at the moment. I felt a moment of euphoria but that was followed closely by a voice in my head telling me that Elijah could have just intentionally said the right words because he was trying to pretend like Remi had just so he could lure me into becoming his girlfriend now that I was almost single.

I cleared my throat and answered, "Sure..."

An awkward silence lingered between us for what felt like minutes. I wanted to say something but I didn't know what to say so all we exchanged was just the sound of our breathing for the next few seconds until Elijah said something.

"So...um, I'll talk to you later?" I could hear the hesitation in his voice as if he was afraid that his confession to liking me would make me run away from him forever.

The hesitation in his voice equipped me with the tools to fight back against the cynical voice in my head.

From all his actions, Elijah had shown over and over that he was a good man who had my best interests at heart. While I was going to be watching him carefully to make sure he wasn't a 2.0 version of Remi, I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt until he showed me his true self.

I wasn't going to be as stupid as I was with Remi, jumping into marriage or a relationship with the first eligible bachelor that caught my fancy.

"Of course, I'll talk to you later." I answered with a smile.