Thorns and Roses

Chapter 17

Nana Aba, Jake's receptionist, eyed Eyram from where she sat. She kept craning her neck to have a better view of Eyram. Intermittently she hissed throughout teeth.

Eyram ignored the cold stares from the receptionist. She was silently scolding herself for coming to drop Jake's son off and not running away. She knew she couldn't deny any request Jake made once he was standing in front of her. She fidgeted in her seat, trying to feel more comfortable.

The activities of the two ladies were interrupted by the opening of Jake's door.

***_***

All Jake could see was Eyram's body. He had opened the door with a weak resolve of taking his son, thanking Eyram and dismissing her but that decision was thrown into the bin when he beheld Eyram's beauty after opening his door. He knew he wanted her- just one more time. His erotic thoughts were interrupted by a fake loud cough from Nana Aba.

Jake turned in the direction of the cough and remembered he wasn't in the room alone. He cleared his throat and walked towards Eyram with his eyes on Nana Aba.

'Get us a drink from the kitchen.' he barked at Nana Aba.

Nana Aba rose lazily from her swivel chair, eyed her boss and walked away from her desk to go in search of a soda drink in the kitchen fridge. Once Jake was sure she was out of earshot, he grabbed Eyram and pulled her into a very tight hug. Jake was oblivious to his son's presence. He sniffed in the smell of Eyram's cologne and buried his head into her neck, pulling her even closer to him.

Finally, after an internal struggle he let her go with one instruction while pointing at his son;

'Take him home, I will come and meet you. I will have to go show my face to the woman at hospital.'

Eyram nodded obediently and gently grabbed Kojo's hand to help him to his feet. She walked towards the exit of the receptionist's office without looking back. Jake caught himself from drooling at Eyram's large behind as it wriggled while she walked off.

'Just this once Lord, I need some of that hot stuff before Esi comes back. Just this once and I promise I will change.' He muttered and stared at the exit.

'Sir, I found only water in the...' Nana Aba began. She had entered her office moments after Eyram stepped out.

Jake turned to her and smiled.

'Don't worry, you can have it. I am done with my meeting with her.' He said and walked back to his office.

Nana Aba remined frozen to the spot with a scowl on her face.

***_***

It felt like she had been possessed by him. She had not fought off his tight hug and had put up no complaint when he asked that she take his son home.

Eyram hit her forehead with her palm and cursed under her breathe as she drove towards Jake's house.

She turned to look at Kojo whom she had strapped into the front passenger seat. May be she could drop him off at home, fix him a quick meal and run off before Jake finally returned.

'Yes!' she said out loud and quickly covered her mouth. She turned to look at Kojo again. He seemed quiet and withdrawn as usual.

'We will soon get home ok.' Eyram said, trying to make conversation.

'Where is my mummy?' Kojo responded.

—*—

Dr. Samuel frowned at his phone.

'What's wrong?' Esi asked in concern. She had been having an interesting chat with Samuel about his experiences in medical school when his phone beeped.

'I might have to leave you for a few hours to attend to other patients.' He replied still looking at the phone's screen.

'O.' Esi's joyous expression suddenly turned dark. She allowed her head to drop to her chest.

'I will be back soon. Don't worry.' Samuel reassured her and patted the top of her head.

'Don't worry I will be fine.' Esi laid on her bed and turned to the left side. She didn't want to watch him go.

'I will be back, I promise.' Samuel rubbed her exposed arm and began walking out of the ward.

'Please don't forget.' she pleaded.

Samuel held the door handle and replied,

'I won't disappoint you.'

—*—

Jake had no intention of keeping Eyram or himself waiting. As soon he entered his office, he checked to see if there were more documents to review and rescheduled all meetings to the next day. His intention was to kill two birds with a stone by first visiting his wife and then rushing home to Eyram.

'I will see you tomorrow.' he shouted to Nana Aba as he walked briskly walked past her desk.

Nana Aba shook her head and picked up her phone. She knew her boss was up to something, she wasn't going to let this one go.

'Church leaders chasing girls.' she snorted at her phone.

—*—

Eyram's initial decision to work at the speed of light didn't feel like it will materialise. Kojo had began wailing and shouting for his mother when she had tried to reassure him of getting home soon.

It had taken her parking by the side of the road and coaxing him for close to thirty minutes before he calmed down. When they had finally gotten home, she had had to bath him before starting the meal. She had wanted to prepare rice to be eaten with any available stew but Kojo, who had livened up a bit, insisted on being fed jollof with salad.

Eyram had no other choice than to buckle Kojo up in the car one more time and speed off to the nearest Mart to get the ingredients.

As she was sat clutching the steering wheel and biting her lower lip, she regretted her decision because she had been stuck at one spot for close to seven minutes.

Traffic had appeared from nowhere! She didn't think she could avoid Jake tonight.

—-*—-

'I am here to see Esi... Esi Brandful.' Jake said to the nurse behind the counter.

'Please have a seat and let me check the records.' The nurse directed him to a set of metallic chairs in the OPD.

'I hope this doesn't take long, I have another appointment I can't miss.' Jake warned the nurse before moving to take his seat.