Chapter 6

Marcus POV

A few months later ........

I pressed on the intercom at my desk.

"Adeline, ask John to come to my office please"

" Yes sir"

I have been in Kenya for a few months now and everything was going rather smoothly. My businesses were popular and in turn they were bringing a lot of income. Hotel Royale was by far more popular than some of my other hotels.

I have seen socialites posting videos of the hotel and their experiences. So far all the customer reviews we have gotten have been positive and they really boost morale. The most popular influencers in Kenya have come to the hotel at least once or twice .

We have a very vibrant social media platform that allows our customers to know when we have holiday packages that they can afford. We are tagged by so many influencers, socialites and even politicians on our social platforms ,which boosts our bookings.

Recently we were called the tropical heaven by the Daily Standard ,a popular newspaper in Kenya. This made our bookings go over the roof. I guess if you want any business to succeed nowadays you have to have a social media presence.

We have had visitors from as far as Zimbabwe as well as the rest of the east African community. Long story short business was booming.

Home front was another thing all together. Katelyn and I have not been on the best terms. We are always arguing and getting into small fights. Most of the time I don't know what we are fighting about. She was six months pregnant now and I didn't want to stress her.

The doctors already warned me that stress was not good for the baby. So I decided it was best to avoid her as much as possible. She has people who take care of her. I hired a chef to deal with her never ending cravings.

Seriously this cravings were too much. She knocked on my door one night and forced me to go and buy KFC at 2am in the morning. When I told her it was too early she started crying. I don't know what to do with a woman who is crying so I got out of bed, wore something warm and drove to the nearest KFC.

I was very lucky that they are opened for 24 hours because I didn't know what I would have said to her. I brought back her chicken and she burst with joy, smiling from ear to ear. She even called me her hero. After that incident her cravings got worse and I was not always around, so I figured I should hire a chef.

I feel for the guy . Katelyn sometimes wakes him up at 1am to bake her a cake. Seriously, a cake. And she would cry if she didn't get what she wanted. That behavior was cute at first but now it annoys the hell out of me.

For the purpose of peace ,I moved to my penthouse in the hotel. I knew she was safe because I also hired a resident nurse as well as a maid. She wouldn't have to lift a single finger. She told me she needs a driver to drive her around so I think I will deal with that fast before she starts yelling at me again.

I was not running away from her ,rather I was maintaining peace and making sure my baby was healthy. That was what every decent parent wants.

Speaking of other parents, John and Zuri are eight months pregnant. They are so close to the finish line that I envied them. I was impatiently waiting to see my baby. I didn't even know whether we were having a boy or girl as Katelyn refused to know the gender.

And now because of her decision ,I was left in the dark too. I didn't like that. John has been a great addition to the team since he joined us and I was impressed by his work ethic so far.

As a thank you I was preparing a surprise for him. He had to know what the surprise was first in order for both of us to surprise Zuri the blushing mother.

A sharp knock was heard on the door before the door was opened. John walked in looking surprised and curious as to why I called him to my office. We mostly talk in the conference room about work matters. But since this was a personal matter I preferred to talk about it in my office.

" Come in, take a seat please" I motioned with my hand.

He settled comfortably on the seat before turning his undivided attention to me.

" So I have planned a surprise for you and your wife but am guessing your wife will be the one who will get surprised"

" And what is the surprise?" He asked.

" I know you guys are yet to have your baby shower"

" Yea, the planning is a nightmare, all the venues we have checked are booked and Zuri is not exactly known for her patience" he chuckled.

" So why don't you have the baby shower here?" I asked

" We didn't really think of that. Oh man, sorry...this pregnancy thing is a wild ride" he tried apologizing.

Come to think of it, he looked tired. If Zuri was driving him crazy as much as Katelyn was ,I could totally understand.

" Tell me about it. Katelyn asked me to get her KFC at 3am in the morning and when I refused she started crying"

" Zuri told me she wanted pizza the other day, so like a dutiful husband I went and bought her her favorite. She took one bite and said she didn't want that one" he shrugged.

Apparently I was not the only one going through hell, we both were. That experience made us get closer.

" I was thinking we could have your baby shower here, everything will be on me" I announced.

He looked overjoyed that the burden he was carrying was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. All he had to do was bring his wife.

" Thanks man, all that planning was driving me nuts"

" All you have to do is give us a guest list and all will be sorted" I said.

His expression changed from joy to worry on the snap of a finger. I didn't understand why he looked worried.

" About that, you are cool with everyone coming right?" He asked nervously.

" I don't see why not" I tried to assure him.

" You do remember that Zawadi is my girlfriend's best friend and she has to attend" he stated .

I don't have a problem with Zawadi coming to the baby shower. It was obvious that she has to attend. She was the guest of honor's best friend after all and that would not change.

" I know that and she is welcome" I insisted.

" Just checking because if she was not allowed to attend my girlfriend would probably kill us both" he stated.

" I bet she would" I grinned at the thought.

" You just have to bring your girlfriend on the set date. We in turn will handle everything else"

" Thank you so much."

" Your welcome. This is a small token of our appreciation"

" How is Katelyn doing?"

" Am guessing fine because she has yet to blow up my phone" I casually answered.

" What do you mean you are guessing?" He asked curiously

" I am guessing because I moved to the penthouse and left her in my house with everything that she needs"

" Dude a pregnant woman needs a lot of emotional support. You have to be there for her"

" I am trying but she is making it so hard for me"

" Can you elaborate?"

I thought for a moment if it was wise to talk about my personal life with this guy. He might be one of my trusted lawyers but was I ready to lay it all on the table?

He has not betrayed me so far and he has handled my business with the utter most respect. He has proven that he can be trusted. Nevertheless we were going through the same situation, so maybe talking to someone else might help me put things in perspective.

" We have been arguing too much of late, more than we normally do and she always ends up in tears"

" And you don't want to stress her further, so you moved here" he concluded.

Damn he is good!

" Yes"

" If you don't mind me asking, did you want this baby?" He looked like he wanted to decipher a mystery.

" To be honest yes I wanted a baby but not with her" I admitted.

This was the first time I was saying it out loud. I didn't have a problem with the baby but with the person carrying the baby. In my head I always dreamed of Zawadi carrying my seed not this woman.

" And how did she get pregnant?"

" We were having some fun, you know friends with benefit but conveniently she didn't take her birth control pills"

" So you suspect this was planned?"

" Yes it was. Do you know we broke up because she cheated on me? How can you trust such a person?"

" That is hard. Trust is a very fragile thing."

" Very much so"

" And you believed her when she said the baby is yours"

" Not at first, I ordered a DNA test. After the test confirmed the child was mine I took full responsibility"

" That was a smart move"

" Now the only thing keeping us together is the baby. I don't want my child to grow up without a father. I would do anything for him or her"

"I believe you. I feel like I love my baby so much and yet I haven't met him or her"

" I somehow knew you would understand "

" Staying away is not a bad idea but don't stay too far away for too long" he advised.

I was probably not going to follow that advice but I was not going to tell him that. I was happy that someone at least understood me and what I was experiencing.

" Anyway that was all I wanted to tell you"

" Thanks boss. I will send the names of our guests very soon"

"Do you have a specific date for the shower?" I asked

" In two weeks would be great"

" Perfect, I will make the arrangements. You can send the list to me and I will personally see to the invites"

" You don't have to do that" he protested

" I want to, now go home to that wife of yours" I commanded

" Thanks again, you don't know how stressful this was" he thanked me the a hundredth time

He rose from his seat and walked out. I was left pondering on how I felt about seeing Zawadi again.