The Woman

Chapter 12

When Kazia woke up in the hospital bed it was as though she was not in her own body. Her body felt limp and weak. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the hospital room and when it did she saw him. His head was resting against her bed and from his gentle breathing she immediately knew he was asleep. 'How long had he been here?' How long had she been here?'

She raised her hands gently because they still felt weak and slowly stroked his head which caused him to wake up.

"Hey!" She said, realizing her voice too was weak.

"Hey!" He took her hand that was on her head a while ago and squeezed it. "I'm glad to see you're fine."

"I don't...I don't remember what happened." Kazia lifted her other hand and wiped her face as though trying to awaken her subconscious.

"You fainted...obviously. The doctor said you were severely dehydrated so they gave you something to help you rest. I'm sure she'll explain it better when she comes."

"So how long have I been under?"

"Well yesterday was the 13th of February and today is the 14th."

"What? Wow!"

"Yep! But it's good. Your body needed the rest and at least you're waking up to some good news."

"And what's that?" Kazia asked excitedly. Her body was finally waking up so she felt more alive.

"As it turns out, one of the days Efe claimed to be harassed, one of your staff had a birthday and there were videos and pictures. I was able to retrieve a few and go through it. Luckily, in one of the frames in the videos I saw Dayo forcefully trying to hold Efe and her obvious resistance. I called his attorney in this morning and they agreed to settle, no payment and he will leave your company quietly and never return."

"Are you kidding me right now? When did you do all this? How? When? Words can't describe how grateful I am to you. Thank you so much Raymond!" She squeezed his hand tighter and gave him the sweetest smile. As the realization of the good news dawned on her so did the realization that they would not be seeing each other as much. This whole process had given them an opportunity to spend time together, longer than was actually needed and now it was all over. "Thank you once again Raymond."

"It's ok, serious its ok. Besides I'm charging you for it aren't I?"

"That's true! Oh, I forgot to ask you, how was your time in court yesterday, I know you were headed there when you wanted to drop me off."

'I didn't go."

"What?" Just as she wanted to get an explanation, ask him why he would do that for her? Why he would do any of this for her, his fiancé walked into her room.

"Oh my gosh, Kazia! It's so good to finally meet you. Of course the circumstances aren't so pleasant but never the less it's good to meet the woman taking up all of my baby's time." Grace said extra bubbly that it made Kazia cringe.

"It's nice to meet you too." She tried to muster a smile but she felt it came out as a frown instead. "I've heard so much about you."

"Oh really, all good things I hope? "Grace made her way to Raymond and planted a kiss on his lips that last longer than necessary. Kazia turned her face away till Grace was done sucking his face and right when she was done she sat down comfortably on Raymond's laps, ignoring the perfectly functionally chair right beside him.

But Kazia understood. She was marking her territory.

"Happy valentine's day baby." Grace said completely ignoring Kazia. "I already made reservations at our favourite restaurant tonight."