Must Read: Taking Chances

7 years ago

Must Read: Taking Chances

Daisy walked unsteadily towards Jide’s study, it had taken all the
strength she could, to actually make this move. The photographer had to
be paid, he would be coming on Saturday; there was practically nothing in the house to eat and She couldn’t possibly starve!

Her resolution firmer, she got to the door but hesitated some seconds before knocking softly, like the door would bite if she knocked any louder.
No response from inside.

She was about knocking again when she heard Jide’s voice.
She opened the door gently and stepped in standing an inch from door, she however made no move to go further.

Jide had been writing when he heard the knock, he was surprised ‘cos he knew there was only one person in the house who would be knocking & he was curious to know what she wanted.

Now she was standing at the door and didn’t seem to want to come any further, she was holding something like a parcel, he wasn’t sure what it
was, she didn’t say anything either, she just stood lost in thought and glancing round his room.

He considered the woman that stood before him, she was pretty, though not any prettier than his girlfriend. Grace qualified now as an ex, he thought drily, they should be of the same height he guessed, she was 26, he remembered his grandmother had said when he had inquired of her age, then he had accused her of wanting to get him hooked with an immature girl, but now as he examined her in that shirt of his she had annoyingly
decided to turn into her nightwear, she wasn’t immatured in any way,
she had the curves at the right places with that bossom of hers that was guaranteed to drive him mad if he ever let his guards down, she was all feminine and any man would appreciate that she was their wife, but that
man wasn’t him, she wasn’t his hand picked choice, she was forced on him through treachery and manipulation of his family and that grandmother of his whom he had loved dearly but obviously not anymore,
she had betrayed his love and trust in the most unforgivable way.

Jide anger rose automatically when he considered all this, he turned now to the document on his table, if Daisy was going to stand there
forever, he would gladly watch her do so.

Daisy stood lost in her perusal of the study now turned Jide’s bedroom.
It didn’t look homely to her, it had a bed jammed to the wall at one
side and a shelf stacked with books at the other, jide was perched on a
chair and an adjoining desk, writing ‘who knows what’. Daisy wondered
why a warm blooded handsome hunk would decide to camp in this unromantic crib, when a s*xy** willing damsel waited with open arms just a room
away, eager to fulfill his fantasies. She smiled at her silly thoughts
and caught herself, realizing only then that she had been standing at the door without uttering a word. She looked at Jide now, he had
continued writing and the expression on his face made all her earlier
thought and strength shrivel and in place was an unexplainable fright.

‘hi’ she said softly.

Jide continued writing, without a glance her way.

His coldness got to her and she looked down at the picture album she was
holding.

Another painful silence.
‘Daisy, what do you f.ucking want?’ Jide asked angrily, he wasn’t sure
he could ignore her forever again, her presence was making him
uncomfortable to his chagrin and he just wanted her miles away, if he
didn’t want to lose concentration or let his guards fall!

Daisy flinched at his tone and her face became all sober and sulky like
she would break down in tears the next minute.

Jide noticed her facial expression and even though he wasn’t sure if it
was real or faked, it affected his anger, he found it melting down that
he couldn’t keep it up, this scared him more and now he really wanted
her to be off and done with.
‘I don’t think you set out to come showcase yourself to me this evening,
so say what you want and be off from my presence’ he said, his tone
however held not the trace of anger it had before.
Daisy, finding strength in his renewed tone spoke:
‘uhm, sorry to disturb, but i uhm…the wedding photographer came today
and he…uhm, you know wanted…uhm, money for the pictures he brought
in today and i don’t…’ she was stammering, her face down all the
while, she did so whenever she was nervous.

Jide was amused by the way she was speaking, it showed she wasn’t all
that strong and resilient as she had shown, he resolved to make it
harder for her.
‘don’t you feel silly, standing there and talking to me about pictures
of a wedding you know i don’t care about?’
Daisy stared at him now ‘I…I…well…the man said on Saturday…I
told him..uhm…promised him that his money…but my bank…’
Jide was trying hard to stifle a laugh, that was surprising. Daisy was amusing him silly with all her stammering, he didn’t remember her to have speech problems, and he thought that the faster she was gone, the better for him.
‘is that all?’ he asked and resumed his writing.
‘uhm…no…I also…need…no…not me…just that there isnt any
food…’
‘food and pictures brought you here, which automatically means money…’

he was saying.
‘not exactly like that…’ Daisy wanted to protest but jide’s raised
hand signalled her to stop.
‘I have heard you’ he said with finality.
More like ‘I have heard all your stammering’ he thought amusingly but
his face held no smile. He wasn’t even looking at the pitiful sight of
Daisy at the door.

Daisy curtised mentally and left his presence closing the door softly
behind her. Once out, she relaxed her back on the wall, she realised she
was shaking inwardly, she raised her hand to her forehead and felt she
was sweating too, She became angry with herself. What was it about his
presence that
turned her into Jelly butter, she thought.
‘I bet Grace would be bolder in his presence’ she said angrily as she
walked to her room now.
‘such a chicken livered Daisy!’ she continued and b@nged the door of her
room like it had been the one who upset her.
Grace had been the caller of the afternoon, Daisy recognized her
immediately as the ‘lady on red’ from the picture and wedding. She
became a trifle jealous, because Grace was a stunner and she was as
nasty as she was pretty too.
She had gone on about how Daisy appeared from nowhere to steal her man
and how she was not gonna give up without a fight, how she would wait
for the day Jide would definitely push Daisy away with the messiest
divorce she (Daisy) had ever known and how the pain would be greater
than the scandalous wedding she had…bla bla bla…

Daisy was all calm throughout the exchange, she was only grateful that
her emotions didn’t give up on her, the worst she could have done was to
whimper and give up a tear in front of that woman! She wished she was
all bitchty like Brenda her friend. She would have given her a piece of
her mind too. But she wasn’t and all she had done was to tell the irate
Grace to kindly leave her home when she was done, then she had left her
standing in the parlour.
She didn’t know when Grace left cursing fire and brimstone. She just
went to her room to sulk, but bounced back to her cheerful self hours
later and started preparing for the confrontation with Jide.

Jide however, had not been aware of Grace’s visit to his home, he had
last seen her at the wedding.
The next morning he dropped a considerable amount of money for Daisy on
the Dining and that became his routine, dropping money weekly for Daisy
on the dining to buy whatever things she needed for the home or her personal effects. she should well know that his love and attention wasn’t hers, but she could eat and fatten up for all he cared.

He however, never ate the food Daisy unrelentingly prepared and left on the dining daily for him, until weeks later, he reconsidered and started eating the breakfast and dinner that was readily and steadily available for him.
He reasoned that since it was his money she used in preparing the food and couldn’t possibly poison him, they was no reason skipping it and waste money eating out.

But that was where the contact ended, he didn’t go any further. They lived like familiar strangers up on till…