15

Then it struck Rose that she was conveyed there because she had to start living with him.

"How did I forget about this". She thought to herself as she came out of the car and walked towards the stairs.

Unfortunately for her, she walked into the last person she wanted to see right now, her landlord. He was an American in his 70s, he had already been ruthless, inconsiderate and mean toward Rose since she moved into that apartment.

Mia thought he had a personal problem with Rose.

"Hi, good day". Rose said as she tried to walk past him so as to avoid any further conversations.

"And where do you think you are heading to?". He asked.

"I know you are upset because I haven't paid you your money, but I promise I will pay you before the month ends, I am working on something really huge and I am sure that it is going to work out, I will pay you in full, i promise".

She said with pitiful look on her face that she hoped will convince him.

"Same story, different techniques". He said.

"Please  be considerate". She said to him.

"I have exhausted my ability to be considerate towards you". He responded.

Rose clasped her hands together, as if in prayer, and looked at him with a pleading expression.

Andre saw all that happened, though he could not hear them but through their body gestures he understood a little of what was going on. He knew that whatever was happening had to do with her not paying her landlord.

"There is nothing I can do for you, I already packed your luggages out of the apartment. You are so lucky I kept them under the stair case. If not for my considerate nature, I would have thrown them away". He said in a brusque manner.

Rose covered her mouth with her palms as she had not been this heartbroken in a while.

"He messed with  my stuffs?, there are things he should not even lay his hands on". She thought to her self.

The thought of him mishandling or misplacing the stuffs her mom gave  her messed with her head.

"Why did you mess with my stuffs?" She yelled.

Andre faintly heard her yell, and he knew that for him to have heard her through a  fully closed window, it meant that she screamed.

"Go out and find out what's happening with those duo". He instructed the chauffeur.

The chauffeur went there and asked what was happening.

Rose knew that for the chauffeur to be there, it only meant that Andre sent him. She did not want to involve him in anything that concerned her. He was her boss and nothing else.

"Nothing is wrong". She said with her heart almost in her mouth.

Her landlord looked at the well stacked chauffeur in front of him from his head to his toe.

"And who are you?". He asked with a very high level of confidence.

"My boss asked me to find out what's happening here, he is in there waiting for her". The chauffeur responded.

"Please you can go back, I will handle this". She said to the chauffeur.

"Oh really?, so  you work with people like this and you can not afford to pay your rent. What a shame". He said facing Rose.

"What is going on here is that, this young lady here has refused to pay her rent for months now, so I packed her properties and locked them under the stairs, when she pays the rent then she can come get them. I would love to sell them but they are of no use, they would not cost up to one dollar because they are old and antique". He said to the chauffeur.

Rose was emotionally deranged, tears rolled down her cheeks as the thoughts of loosing the diamond necklace her mom gave to her were swirling in her head again, that was the only thing left of her mom, she felt her mom's presence anytime she wore it.

  Without saying a word, the chauffeur stepped back and went into the car to report the situation to his boss.

"Tell her to get into the car". Andre told the Chauffeur.

He went there and passed the message to Rose who stood there as she felt a mix of emotions. She was angry, sad, scared and she also had a feeling of despair, she felt defeated.

With tears in her eyes she walked back into the car.

Andre heard her cry faintly. As usual he showed no emotions. After the chauffeur drove for some minutes, she felt her moms memories slipping away from her, she was unable to control her emotions and that made  her cry became more intense and louder that it began to disturb Andre.

"Why are you crying, shouldn't you be happy you found where to dispose those antique items". He said without considering her emotions.

Rose could not hold back her tears, she expected him to at least console her. But she realized that she should not expect such from someone who acted like he does not own a heart.

"He can keep any other thing but I need my necklace, it means the world to me". She said hyperventilating.

"What necklace is that?". He asked with a little bit of concern.

"My mom's, it was a gift from my late mom." She said as she tried to catch her breath.

She could not breath, she was suffocating.

She tried desperately to catch her breath but all her efforts were to no avail.

Andre looked at her, he did not know what to do. All he knew was that she needed air.

"Pull over". He screamed at the chauffeur who complied immediately.

They were on a deserted road that led to Andre's house. He came out from the car and rushed over to the side she sat. He opened the  door and pulled her out gently.

She aggressively hits her chest without caring about the pain she caused. She just wanted to breath. He stopped her from hitting her chest.

Her eyes soon began to close.

"Open your eyes, please open your eyes". He said as he knelt and placed her head on his thighs. He regretted saying those words to her.

She was in severe pain as she struggled for her life.

He felt pity for her because there was no hospital nearby.

He was so confused because he had never been in a position like this . He did not know any first aid techniques.

He looked up at the chauffeur.

"Please what do I do?" He asked as he craved for his response.

"She obviously need oxygen, mouth to mouth respiration will do. But let's get her to drink Water first, maybe she needs water". The  chauffeur said .

" Yes, yes, get me water". Andre responded.