Consequences

Chapter 33

I had gulped down half a bottle of Hennessy in the presence of Chuks, the hotel manager. But I still wasn't satisfied. He looked at me surprised I was drinking so much. I wanted to empty the bottle.

The man I loved, for whom the world meant something to me, was dead and gone. Ten years of  marriage had come to an abrupt end. I sat down trying to imagine how life without him would be like.

"You know he's gone, Chuks? I won't see him again. I won't." I sighed, while taking the bottle again and filling my glass. Chuks came and took the bottle away from me. I tried to stop him but being a man, he overpowered me.

"Sunshine, that is not the way to go. Soon you'll destroy yourself."
"And what do I have left in this world?"
"You still have a family. Your mother and father, you still have them." I slowly shook my head.
"No, I don't. If I had, I wouldn't have gone through all of this."
"What do you mean, Sunshine?" He asked.

"They put me through this. They made me marry this man too quickly. As if they knew all of this would happen."

"Sunshine, it wouldn't be right to blame them for what happened." I looked at the hotel manager telling me my parents couldn't have been responsible for all that happened.

"And who else should I blame?"

"Well think of your late husband and your best friend. Think of his family too. Sunshine by the time you look deeply, you may find a truth much more bitter and horrible. It's why I keep telling you to move on and leave everything behind you."

I had gulped down my drink and felt my head spinning. I couldn't give up now. I wanted more drink. I looked around while breathing heavily. I was getting drunk but managed to lift myself up from the chair. I almost fell but suddenly felt the strong arms of Chuks the hotel manager, gripping me around my waist, preventing me from falling. I stared at him while I kept breathing heavily.

"Sunshine, I think you've had enough. It is better I take you up to your room."
"No! You... you.. don't go there! Nobody goes there, except my husband."  He gripped me with both hands and pulled me to him. For once I felt like, it was Ola holding me that way. I wanted to relax my head on his chest and allow him embrace me. But I resisted. I only stared at him.

"Sunshine you are drunk you need to rest. Let me take you to your room." He said.

"No, I can get there on my own. In fact my husband will get angry when he sees you holding me like that." As he slowly removed his arms from around my waist, I was slowly closing my eyes. I guess I was sleepy.

I finally closed my eyes and slept. I woke up to find myself lying on the divan. Chuks had used a bedsheets to cover me. I looked around to see if he was anywhere in the room.

I guess he must had gone out when I slept. I got up and left the private room and went up to my room. On my way up I saw the receptionist and asked her the time. It was  10am in the morning. I guess I had slept a lot. I rushed up to my room and opened it.

As I entered and locked the door, I quickly looked underneath the bed for the bag with the money in it. I had no idea what went on during the time I was asleep. But luckily, it was there. I brought it out and opened it.

The money was there. I heaved a sigh of relief and closed the bag and put it back underneath the bed. I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. It looked haunted, cold and unfriendly. It wasn't like that when I came here the first time.

But when I heard of Ola's involvement with Kemi, everything around me seemed hostile. I had to leave the hotel. I got up and went to the bathroom and took a shower. When I came out, I packed my bag and placed it on the bed. I wanted to tell Chuks the hotel manager that I was leaving.