SEVENTEEN.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Reese .



“Reese Chloë mother fucking Quinn!” Regina said in her high pitched voice over the phone. I flinched at her words, understanding why she had yelled that way.

I didn't get the chance to call Regina since I got to Washington, I had gotten so engrossed with the sex contract with Luther that I had almost forgotten about her.

“Hey Mama, I'm so sorry I haven't kept in contact with you this past week. I was caught up on a lot of things.”

“Oh please, it is all about having sex with you both. What has that man done to you?”

“I'm alive and safe.”

“Did he touch you? What did he say to you? What is the sex like? Tell me about the charity ball!” She rambled on and on.

I thought of how much I had missed her, she was such a drama queen who was ready to make my day. “One question at a time, Madam.”

“Sorry! I'm just eager to hear the gist.” She said cheerfully.

“Alright, a lot has happened.”

“Tell me about it.”

“We fight a lot. I mean. . . a lot!”

“You don't say!”

“Yes, Gigi and we just end up having a teasing sex.”

“How is he in bed? Is he big? Oh my God, is he good?”

“He's all that, in fact, the almighty when it comes to that but I am not a fan of him.”

“Oh please!”

“What?”

“Why do I find it hard to believe you? I know you like him. Don't lie, tell the truth.”

“Goodness me! No!”

“Alright! Alright! I will take that as a no but I'm still not convinced. What have you been up to aside from sex?”

“Well. . . just a business conference and staying home. I am dying of boredom.”

“Don't worry, only a few more weeks and you both will be done.”

“Thanks, babe. That reminds me, how about Xavier?” I asked in curiosity because I knew how well Xavier and Regina got along. Regina once told me how Xavier had confessed to her about the feelings he had for but I wasn't sure if Regina was ready to give in to the idea of being in a relationship.

Regina went mute all of a sudden, I was able to understand how things might not be good between them. “I'm trying to make things work but I don't even know how to.” Regina sounded so sad. It made me sad that she was feeling this way because I knew how far they have both gotten with each other's relationship, even way before I came into the picture at C&0 limited.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I breathed a sigh.

“Yes. Yes!”

“Then what happened?”

“We got into a fight, a big one.” Her tone lost some of the edges.

“How bad?”

“Roughly 98 percent.”

“That is something else.”

“We talked about kids. I told him that I wasn't ready for us to have any once we get married. You know Em, I lost a baby. Way before Xavier and I just never stopped sinking in that thought.” I felt so bad for Regina, narrating this to me.

I was aware of how Regina's miscarriage in her former relationship which was two years ago, she had talked to me about her then-boyfriend who beat her to a pulp. Cameron was his name—an abusive man at that. I was never a fan of him when Regina introduced me to him, something about him did not just feel for the very first time I set my eyes on him.

Soon, I noticed Regina coming to work with bruises on her face or visible bruises underneath the makeup she wore. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this. I confronted Regina about the bruises but she felt hesitant or would give excuses which didn't make me convinced that all was well with her. It wasn't until when I went to visit Regina with chocolates on her birthday unannounced—I would never forget that very day, I took her favorite chocolates in my hands, excited to surprise Regina with her gift in my hands but instead—I found Regina, laying on the floor in a pool of blood. I screamed so loudly at what I saw. It turned out that Cameron had beaten her till he smashed her head on the wall, causing Regina to lose the baby through the process.

It was a horrifying memory that very day, Regina had fallen unconscious and Cameron had absconded. It wasn't easy getting Regina to recover as she had fallen into a state of coma, I had informed her family about it and all they did was cry and cry. No one wanted to see their daughter in this state, Regina told no one about what she went through at the hands of Cameron, so seeing her in such a devastating state made things disheartening for me. During two months of her coma, I had made a vow not to let go of Regina out of my sight, there was this need to always be there for me as that was the time she needed me the most. In fact, it was a miracle that she came out alive. After her recovery, I made Regina promise to never keep secrets from me.

A lot happened to both of us in those two years—down to Regina's medical recovery and therapy. It was a tough phase for Regina as she was diagnosed with PTSD. Things became cranky with her but it gladdened my heart that I was there for her and I was happy that she smiled and laughed more often now.

“Does he know about the baby you lost?”

“I can't bring myself to tell him, I tried. Trust me.” I nodded in agreement with what she said, Regina wasn't probably ready to reveal anything to Xavier about her traumatic and abusive past relationship.

“I thought he knew but nevertheless, you are going to get through this. You have to tell him to give you the time you need, you are not ready to tell him about Cameron and the baby, which is fine. Just tell him there was a bad experience you went through which you are not ready to discuss with him but he should give you time to process it. Xavier should understand.”

“You are the best. What can I do without you?” I could hear her cry.

“You are the best.”

“And you know, when he asked, I felt triggered. I was so scared that I couldn't speak to him for days. I avoided him like a plague, he noticed this and then we got into a big fight.”

“Which leads to the fight but you both will do fine if you discuss and understand this. Maybe you both should prioritize communication in your relationship.” I suggested.

“You know what? You are right!I need to prioritize a healthy relationship. I love Xavier and I am tired of dwelling in the past. I don't want to have anything to do with the past. Not anymore, I'm tired!”

“Now see, that is the spirit right there! That's the fierce Regina in you but. . .” I pointed it out to her.

“What will that be?” Regina questioned as she sounded eager to listen to what I had to say.

“You will have to give yourself the baby steps. Hear me out, you got into something traumatic and I'm happy that you are healing from that as the day goes by but please, don't make things too hard on yourself. Be calm with yourself, embrace that soft life.”

“Ah!” Regina screamed piercingly which made me squirm.

“Good God! You scared the shit out of me!”

“Who the hell are you and what did you do to my best friend?”

“What now?”

“You sound so much like my therapist. When did you get into psychology?”

“Believe me, you're not the first person to ask that," I said, "and come on Gigi, it's not about psychology, it is logical for one to think that way.”

“You! My dear friend has gotten into something big.”

I roared in laughter. “You are a clown and you crack me up. My ribs hurt!”

“Duh! What are friends for?”

“Alright, young lady. Thanks for listening to my TEDtalk show.”

“You are the best!”

From there, we talked about other things and narrated stories that made us laugh.




––––



I roamed around the library in excitement as I found many books that were arranged in order on the shelves. Samuel's library was huge, in fact—I never knew for a fact that he was much of a book lover. Whenever I was surrounded by books, I got excited. It felt like there was this joy which was soon followed by happiness.

I smiled to myself when I came across his library. My fingers traced through each of the neatly arranged books on the shelves. I found myself admiring the title of books I was seeing, somehow, I doubted if he read all of these books. One who brought thousands of books would relate to not reading them often if they were too many.

“Enjoying your day?” A manly deep voice interrupted which caused me to jump in fear. I turned to meet a shirtless Samuel, who looked amazingly hot in his sweatpants, only. He had rested his biceps on the wall whilst his legs were crossed.

“Sorry, I didn't realize—”

Before I could finish, he interrupted. “Yes, I'm a lover of books too.”

A smile of joy came to my face. “These books are beautiful. I mean. . . with your library.” I compliment as I looked around, trying to avoid his face as I heard his footsteps.

“Had it put over here the very first day I bought the penthouse, it's beautiful.”

“Truly,” I whispered, my eyes still focused on each of the book titles. He had a collection of authors like; as J.K. Rowling, Colleen Hoover, Dan brown, hell! He even had classics like Shakespeare, David Nicholls, John grisham, Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Chimamanda Adichie.

It was a shocker! Did he read Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o too?

“You do have good eyes for books. I love his piece.” I said as I brought out a novel from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, titled; ‘Weep not child’. “You read this too?” I asked him in awe.

He chuckled lightly. “Yes, I read this long ago, I was ten.”

“I was twelve when I read mine.” I laughed.

“Yes, a heart-gripping book at that. What do you think of Njoroge?”

“Poor child, I think every child was once like him. There has always been a part of our lives where we hoped for light to see.”

“No. I think children have been fed with so many fantasies that build up their passion for hope.”

I turned to him. “Are you saying he was at fault for hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel?”

He shrugged. “I personally do not believe in light at the end of the tunnel for some people. I think life is way beyond that.”

“How so?”

He took a deep sigh. “Look, life is different. Different people with different realities and with Njoroge, difficult things happened to him and his family during the colonial era. It was a different reality back then, people hoped and prayed. Even with religion, things weren't guaranteed for them. Even in the book, he lost hope and lost faith in God. I think life can just be shitty to people without them seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It is shitty but that is the truth.”

“Okay, I like your perspective,” I said as I gave him a warm smile.

“Romeo and Juliet.” He pointed at another collection of books which I was guessing was arranged in all of Shakespeare's books.

“Powerful love.”

“Was that a name you came up with?” He asked, following suit as I reached for Romeo and Juliet.

“Yes, actually, I had difficulties reading works from Shakespeare. Didn't settle with one of his books until I got to college. Y'know the use of ancient English and all, I couldn't sit through the book without using Google search.”

“What did you think of the book?”

“Somehow, I find the ending a bit too dramatic but hey, that's life I guess.”

“Why do you find it so?”

“Okay, don't get me wrong, I understand that they loved each other and there were just forces, for example, family feud with their interference and all that but I still do not understand why anyone would die for love,” I took a pause to turn through the pages. “Maybe because I have never been a believer in love.”

“That makes us two then.” He muttered.

We talked more about books and their characters until I found a collection of little framed pictures that were on top of the shelves. I was in awe, this looked like Samuel. The first one was the picture of him as a toddler, he had a pacifier in his mouth and he looked so cute. My hands reached for his picture and I couldn't help but smile as I saw this, this felt like the other side of Samuel, I didn't know about. The second picture was of him with a woman and man who looked too engrossed in admiring each other while the boy smiled who I was guessing looked like Samuel.

“Those are my parents.” he said from nowhere, meaning he'd caught me staring at the picture.

“They are beautiful couples.”

“You can say that again.”

“Where are they now?”

“Let's just say they don't like being in the spotlight.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “I understand.”

My eyes soon shifted to a picture of Luther until I felt an arm around my waist from my back. I moaned at his approach when he bit on my neck slowly. I placed my hands on the back of his neck, moaning loudly.

“You want me to touch you this way?” His hot breath fanned my neck.

“No.”

“No?” His hand dipped into my panties. I tried to act as though I wasn't affected by it but the pleasure became too unbearable that I had suppressed a loud shriek as he rubbed my clit. "And now?"

“Yes!”

“You want it now? Beg for it.”

“Please Samuel.” I closed my eyes and said. He turned to me and then carried me in his hands, I shrieked at how he spanked my buttocks. He carried me to the living room, kissing and nibbling at my lips as I felt my back land on a wall.

My mind coursed with carnal lust, raw and insatiable. Luther losing his battle with lust when I began biting his neck made him let out an inhuman growl. I placed my arm around his waist too, not caring in the world if anyone would find us in that position.

“What is going on here!?” A voice retorted.


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