Chapter 34
~
Chris lost track of Laura's car after following her for a long while then decide to turn and go meet with Josh instead.
He called him and asked him to meet with him at a bar then hang up the call and turned towards the place. He got there in about ten minutes and went in to wait for Josh.
Josh arrive there in thirty minutes surprised that Chris asked him out by that time of the day instead of spending the time with his wife. He entered and the waiter who recognize him immediately direct him to where Chris is.
"Did he order yet?" He asked and he told him no.
"Okay..bring two of my favorite wine then" he told him before walking to where Chris is.
Seeing that he did not ask for anything then it means he is not here to hang out with him but talk, probably a fight between him and Laura.
"Hey man, you look..not so great" josh teased but Chris finds it lame and gives him a deadly gaze
"Someone is boiling" Josh said playfully and sat down across him
"Tell me, what is this about?" He asked then remove his watch and place it on the table
"Did you order something yet?" Chris asked him instead and before he could give him an answer, the waiter comes in with his order and served them then leaves quietly.
Chris pick a glass of wine and drink it slowly, Josh also did the same and waited for him to say something but it looks like he is not going to.
"So why did you want to see me?" He decide to ask curious
"Nothing, just hang out" Chris responded and pour himself another glass
"Are you sure?" Josh asked again not believing him
"What do you want to know?" Chris asked back and Josh laughed
"Nothing just surprised you will call me here by six on the evening just to have a drink together when you are married" he said with hidden meaning
"You have a problem with that?"
"No, not at all just that you should also check my schedule before setting up meetings like this" he said and took a sip
"You can take your leave then" he said nonchalantly and Josh shut up before he will kick him out.
"So how is marriage treating you? Is it like you imagined?" Josh asked again after another two minutes.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't you remember the things you wrote yourselves in high school, getting married to Laura and how your life is going to be with her" he said recollecting old times.
"What nonsense are you saying?"
"Are you going to act like you did not or act like you don't remember?" He said but Chris didn't say anything and just continue to sip at his drink but Josh continued anyways.
"I can't believe that impossible dream of yours came true, I mean I will never imagine that Laura will actually get married to you"
"Shut up your mouth" Chris warned but Josh laughed happy that he is able to get to him
"Why? Are you embarrassed about your past? Come to think of it, it was pretty obvious to everyone that you liked her but she was the only one who acted like she doesn't know"
"I asked you to shut up!" Chris yelled at him
"Sorry didn't mean to annoy you" he said but his face says otherwise
"Do you hear something though?" He asked still not giving up on teasing him with Laura
"Laura came for the school reunion for the first two times we gathered and she asked after you on both occasion" he told him and that caught Chris's attention
"You are lying" he simply said not believing him
"Am serious, the first time, no one knows your whereabouts and the second time Kayla told her she is in a relationship with you and that was the last time I saw her there" Josh wait to see Chris reaction and seeing that his words has impact on him, he continued
"I guess she wanted to apologize or something"
"Hmm" Chris responded and Josh opened his mouth in awe
"Is that all you are going to say to everything I just told you?" He asked pissed
"Hmm" Chris said again and Josh drank up the wine in his glass totally pissed off then tried to make him angry
"Are you already tired of her, you sound like you are going to live your whole life as her slave in the past?" He said provocatively
"Just drink" Chris replied not paying any attention to him and Josh give up concentrating on his drink.
Few minutes later, Chris finished the wine in his glass and stood up to leave
"I will pay for this, see you" he told him and walk out then he returned
"Living with her is more dreamy than you could imagine" he added then left and Josh stares at his back in disbelief.
~
Laura continue driving for a long time before deciding to drive straight to Ella's house and stay with her.
She got to the house and luckily, Ella is just getting in with pumpkin so the three of them entered in together.
Ella helped pumpkin to undress her clothes and change into another clothes then let her play with her toys
"What's up girl? I didn't get your call" Ella said after returning to meet Laura in the living room
"I didn't plan to come here, won't pumpkin eat something?" Laura replied
"no, she had dinner already
"Couples fight? Seems like it" she said and offered her a drink
"I think some beer will be better" Laura said and Ella looks at her stunned
"Beer, you never take that, always complaining about how it's for peasant like us"
"Come on.."
"Okay fine, I will get it for you" she said and served her some chicken with it.
"So what happened?" She questioned.
"Can you believe…I found out…Chris…forget it" Laura picked her beer and gulp it down but Ella grabbed it away from her
"Are you going to drink it all at once? Not like you have a high tolerance for alcohol. Have some chicken instead"
Laura calm down and took the chicken's lap then devour it hungrily, she pick another part and continue to eat in an hurry
"Now, gently tell me what the issue is" Ella said and gave the drink back to her
Laura hesitate this time to say anything about it, if she tells Ella that Avan cheated on her with Clara, she will get angry and might go to Avan or Clara.
"I had a little argument with Chris" she finally told her skipping the part of Avan cheating on her.
"What argument got you so worked up like this?" Ella asked further and Laura shifted in her seat and faced Ella
"Tell me, if you are married to someone and you find out something that you should tell him about, would you keep it to yourself or tell him?" She said in a complicated way and Ella scratch her head for answer.
Since she doesn't know what matter it is, she decide to ask but Laura refuse to tell her
"Then I will say it depends on what the something is, if it's something that might hurt him I might not but if it's something that will help him then I will"
"forget it, your answer is wrong"
"since you already decide the answer yourself why are you asking?" Ella said and shrugged
"But if Chris keep something from you then you should probably check yourself, everyone knows how unreasonable you can be"
"what! You just called me an unreasonable person" Laura exclaimed displeased
"Sorry your highness but am sure whatever it is, its not something to fight with your husband about" she said and place another bottle in front of them
"But are you sure you can handle this amount of liquor?"
"Am sleeping over so it's nothing to worry about" she answered and Ella nodded in understanding.
Pumpkin called Ella's name and both of their attention was turned towards the room she is busy playing. She came out holding one of the toys and walk to Ella
"Ella, I broke my Cinderella has a broken leg" she complained and Ella took it from her
"Don't worry I will get you another one" she consoled and bought some sweet out of her pocket then hand it over to her
"Pumpkin, why don't you stop playing now and freshen up so you can go to bed" Ella suggested and she dropped the toy in her hand willing
"Okay Ella" she said
"Pumpkin, will you like your godmother to bath you instead?" Laura offered and she nodded excitedly
"hmm" she agreed and Laura smiled and carried her up then stood up and Ella also smiled letting her take over.
Laura gave her a through bath and help her changed into her nightwear then help her to bed and tell her some bedtime story while Ella attend to one or two things around the house
She fell asleep at the beginning of the second story and Laura gently leaves the room to avoid waking her up and close the door then went to meet Ella at the kitchen where she is cleaning up
"She is asleep already?" Ella asked surprised that Laura is able to come back quickly
"Yes, she fell asleep before I could go through the next story" she answered and sat down on a stool
"I cant believe it, I always have to pat, read and read all over again before she could get some sleep"
"Really? Why is that? She is not troublesome from what I remember"
"Yes but she hasn't been feeling too well for the past week and the doctor said it is as a result of her illness"
Ella explained
"Is it that serious? When you told me she wasn't feeling too well last week I thought it was a normal child sickness"
"no, it's more than that and what made things worse is her blood group, it's very rare"
"Your blood group is not rare" Laura stated
"Yes, I guess its her father's and I had to pay a lot of money to get the blood type for blood transfusion"
"What! Why didn't you tell about all this? I should have been there with you. How is she now? All better?"
"Yes, the doctor said to come back next tomorrow for the final check up"
"That's great, I will come with you but don't you think you should tell her father about her?"
"I want to but I can't" Ella said and finished up with what she is doing then sat down in front of her
"Why not, instead paying to get some blood for her, you could just let her get it from her father and also what if she asks about her dad in the nearest future, what are you going to tell her?"
"Look, its not like I don't want to tell you about it but…"
"But what.. is it someone I know?"
"Yes, your brother" she told her
"I don't have a… oh Nicholas" Laura said and the two keep quiet for a while
"Are you not telling him because of me or.. how did you two even meet?" she questioned amazed
"Its a long story but its also not because of you. Just that we didn't really date and I was the one in love with him not the other way round" Laura sighed and tried not to say anything that will upset Ella.
If it was any other person, she will know what to say but its about her best friend and her daughter.
"I met him recently though, the day I followed you to the office" Ella revealed and Laura listened
"Even after I found out that he is your stepbrother who I cursed out a lot in high school, I still like him" she said feeling teary
"There is nothing to feel sorry or bad about, he might be my stepbrother but am sure he wasn't a bad guy to you and I really don't have a problem with you becoming my sister-in-law" she added jokingly and Ella laughed
"Who said anything about getting married to him?" she said and they both laughed
"But if you become my family then our relationship will get stronger. You know what they say"
"Hmm, that's not happening. Do you think your stepmom will want that? What if she thinks am a spy planted by you?"
"Nicholas is there, he might like a mama boy but he is quite stubborn when it comes to what he wants"
"Well then, will you still like to have something to eat?" She asked changing the topic
"No am okay, just need to lay my head and sleep" she said and they both held to the bathroom to brush and catch some sleep.
Ella's bed is big enough for the three of them so they joined pumpkin in bed and slept.