CHAPTER 26

That evening, Adriana went outside to read, and just be alone with her thoughts. She didn’t want to run into Noah until it was bedtime. And even then, she would just pretend to be asleep. Ever since their escapade the other day, she had been trying as much as she could to stay out of his way. He had been making himself scarce too anyway. Or he probably was regretting everything too because they slept in the same room every night, and he didn’t make any move to talk to her. This evening, he had said he wanted to spend time with the kids, and they had left her here alone. Didn’t that mean he wanted nothing to do with her?

Sighing, she opened the novel and started reading. It was a book she had found in Evangeline’s old room. An opened bottle of champagne with a glass cup stood on the stool beside her. Sipping it, she leaned back in her chair and began reading. The book was something about medicine and romance; just her kind of book. As she read, she got fascinated by the lead character, a doctor, who was in love with her married patient. But when they met, he had a memory loss and didn’t know he was married. The story spoke of her struggles with her feelings.

Starting to doze off, she folded the book on her chest and leaned back in the swinging chair. She soon fell asleep. She didn’t know how long she slept. But she knew she got enough rest. Yawning, she stretched feeling well-rested. To her surprise, she had company. Beside her was Samantha, lying on the couch too. “You’re here.” she said to the Monterey lady.

“Yes.” Samantha said, looking into the space.

“How long?”

“Long enough to catch a glimpse of the interesting book” she pointed at the book falling off Adriana’s chest. “Doctor in love with her anaemic patient”

“You’ve read it.” she noted. Her respect for the Monterey lady continues to grow with each passing day.

“Yeah, the doctor had an affair with her patient, who was anaemic. Then his wife walks into their lives and it was hell afterwards.” she smiled, “It was a twisted plot. The writer did a good job.” then she added, “Although I believe she could have made the doctor a bit more forgiving. She was in a better position to understand more than anyone what her patient was going through.”

“You mean she could have taken him back after he left his wife?” she looked at Samantha appalled. “That’s despicable.”

“I’m saying she knew he had a memory lapse. It was only a matter of fact before his past catches up with him.” she sat up, looking at Adriana. “And when it did, she could have been a bit considerate.” She explained her point.

Adriana wasn’t seeing it that way, “She did.” she gasped, shocked that Samantha wasn’t seeing the role the character had played in making sure he reunited with his family. “She walked out of his life so he could get back with his wife”

“The wife he no longer cares about. He had no feelings for her anymore” Samantha pointed out “Only because of the doctor. She had to let him go. It was best for everyone” she said. Somewhere deep within her, an ominous tune started to play. Nobody said anything for a while, and she could hear the tune playing sadly, slowly, it clawed at her. Suddenly, she heard Samantha whisper the tune she had heard playing sadly. “What?”

“I asked if that’s what you’re doing too.” Samantha said, “Letting him go because it would be best for everyone?” she asked, “And by everyone, we’re talking about your family, right?”

Adriana looked away. Was she right? “I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“Noah loves you, Adriana.” Samantha told her, “He fell in love with you while carrying out a stupid task that Gaby put him to.” she sighed, “And daily, he’s regretted that. Countless times, he wanted to tell you. But things were so messed up.”

“If only he had somehow told me. I found out from my family. Imagine how stupid I looked”

“Then don’t let your pride push you into making more stupid decisions. The man loves you. Since you sent him out, he’s been a shadow of himself.” Standing, she said, “Don’t be like the doctor who pushed away from her one true love because she wanted to do the right thing. Sometimes, the right thing doesn’t look so simple and straight. It could be twisted, and need a bit of a critical look at” she started walking away.

As she did, Adriana looked at the novel in her hand and stared after the lady walking away. Was she right? The doctor in her bid to do the right thing had sent her patient away. His wife’s deceptive look had made her think they shared a deeper love. Because everyone would blame her for breaking their home, she had walked out of their lives. The result was her patient dying in the hands of his wife, who landed him in the hospital in the first place. Had the doctor hold onto the man, he would have lived.

How was this like her? Adriana wondered. Samantha was right in her saying the character looked unforgiving. The doctor had found it hard to forgive a patient for not remembering his past because medically nothing was wrong with his brain. Was she unforgiving of Noah for fighting for a past she had no role in? The past that had been set in motion by her family, and now it would appear for the same family, she was pushing him away.

The man loves you…. Samantha had said. She had known he loved her. But that was when she didn’t know he wanted her for what he could spoon off for his family. How was she to figure out which was a lie; his love for her or his playing her for his vendetta? She breathed out slowly. The right thing to do would have been to forget everything and let him go. She knew her family, and everyone believed that was okay. At least she knew her mother wanted Noah gone. But did she? And for whom was she making this decision? Herself or her family?

She had to face Noah, and talk about this. But first, she needed to be sure he still wanted her, not for her body, but for the feelings he has for her. Maybe from there, they could sort out their tangled past together.

*****

Somewhere downtown, Noah was having a difficult time controlling the twins. What had started as a fun time together was becoming a hell of a time. He sat down looking at the kids in frustration as they bantered back and forth about their parents.

“Must be a tough call”

Noah looked at the intruder. It was a young black American lady, who had somehow sat down with him on the bench and he didn’t even know. She looked so hot in her flowery gown, he couldn’t help but remember the first time he had gone on a date with his wife. Adriana had dressed in some flowery gown too, with her sunglasses, and her tote bag. As he picked her up that day, he had been stunned at how feminine she looked. He was used to seeing her in a suit, and her robe in court that she looked so different. He remembered her bright smile when he told her she looked astonishing. It had been a long he saw that bright smile. All there was now was a pain in those eyes that once shone with love for him.

Smiling at the young lady, he replied casually “Yes, it is.” He admitted staring across the field at the twins.

She pointed at Ethan and Elizabeth, “Those are yours?” she asked following his unwavering gaze.

Noah nodded, eyes still on the kids. “They are”

“Twins?”

He nodded again.

“Wow.” the lady laughed, “You’re in it deep.” A tall black kid ran up to them. “Hey kiddo” the lady scruff led his hair.

“Mom.” he pulled away from his mother’s embrace. He patted down his hair, and dash off again.

The lady smiled at Noah “That’s mine” she said, “And he hates when I touch his hair. He’s all grown now. Wants nothing mommy-ish going on”.

“Oh, I see.” he looked from the woman to the son running off. She looked so young to be the mother.

“I get that a lot.” she said. “Had him when I was in college. And it’s being one hell of a ride with him. I can imagine what having two at a time would do to you.”

Shaking his head, he replied, “You don’t know half of it.” The kids had been more fun when they were kids than now. Then, he did what he wanted, went to places he wanted with them. Now, they were the ones calling the shots. They could tell you when they wanted what, and when they weren’t satisfied with your choices for them. “They were much fun when they were younger.” he told the lady.

She laughed, her curly hairs bobbling up and down as she did. “Says every father. But trust me, for mothers, we love them this way better. They’re all grown and can make their decisions. We don’t have to rack through our brains wondering what they want”

He shrugged, “Good point. But now, they see everything even when you want to keep it hidden from them. For their good.” he said, sadly. “Look at them, fighting over what they shouldn’t even know about”

“As parents, we want to protect them. It’s our job too. But sometimes, they don’t need our protection. They need to stand on their feet, and grow”

Noah smiled at her. for such a young lady, she seemed experienced in the field. He wondered if the kid wasn’t her only child. There could be another. The boy who was playing around couldn’t be that old; ten maybe. She doesn’t look like she’s had ten years of experience though. More like someone with tons of experience with other kids. He didn’t say anything to her though. The two sat down in silence, watching the children play around.

Just then, a younger girl came running towards her. “Hello.” she waved at them and dashed off too. Noah looked at the lady. She shook her head, laughing. “No, she’s not mine” she explained. “A neighbour’s child. She dumps the poor girl on me all the time. Wait for it, you’ll soon meet her little brother”.

Noah laughed heartily. It was good sitting with the lady. He watched the twins, a bit. They were still arguing. He sighed.

The lady watched the twins, and heard them arguing about their parents. She turned to Noah. “Seems you’re the reason for their argument” she said to him. When he nodded, she asked “And why aren’t you settling the fight then?”

Noah looked exasperated. How was he to handle his twin smart kids about things he didn’t have answers too. they were smart. If he made any mistake, they’d figure things out right on the spot. And he could just imagine the look on Adriana’s face if that happens. She was going to chew his head off. She had been avoiding him since that hot afternoon when they had slept together. And as always, he had let her be too, with everything going on. She was vulnerable. Whatever they had shared that day could easily have been because of what they were going through. But if that was how she felt, he knew that wasn’t why he had given in to the needs quelling from both of them. He had wanted it. He had done it all for himself, and her. It had only pushed them farther apart, and he didn’t know if he had done the right thing or not. Now, he was in doubt of where their path would lead. He looked at the young woman with uncertainty “Because I don’t know what to tell them. On one hand is the truth. On the other is the desperation to keep my family together. I cannot lie to them.” He ran his left hand though his hair, frustrated. “I don’t even have the answers they need”.

“With kids, you don’t have to have all the answers.” the lady said, “At that age.” she nodded at the kids, “They are ready to believe whatever you tell them. Saying nothing makes them assume things, and that could be the real danger. Some of them seek answers elsewhere; relatives, families. And most times, the view from there isn’t the right opinion.” she said, nudging him. “Don’t let them control the narrative”

Noah sighed. She was right about the narrative part. Imagine Ethan or Elizabeth asking Mrs. Swiss about the coldness between their parents? He could just make out her response. “Oh, your dad used your mother, and now they are getting a divorce.” Shaking his head at that thought. He didn’t want his kids hearing that. Heck, he wanted no divorce. His mother in law had been giving him the bad eye ever since the incident. They barely say anything to each other aside a grumbled good morning, and hello. And after the meeting that day, she had made it point she wanted him gone after everything was done.

“She deserves better.” Mrs. Swiss had said to him as he stepped outside to give Adriana some space “What?” He had asked the older woman, turning to face her.

“Walk away from her after all these is sorted out.” Mrs. Swiss had said to him.

“I won’t do that to her, to us. We are going to make this work” he had told her firmly, even though he knew he wasn’t sure. Adriana might have opened up to him some minutes ago, now after their passionate sex, she was putting up some distance. But he wasn’t about to let his mother in law see that.

“And what good would that do anyone?” asked Mrs. Swiss angrily, “All you’ve done to my family is steal our money and cause us pain. Do you really think we want you here?”

He had tried to control his anger when she said that. He swallowed hard, trying to stay calm, “Your family started this. You killed all of mine. Why doesn’t that bother you? Why are you only bothered with the repercussions instead?”

Mrs. Swiss staggered back, shocked, “Are you insane?” she yelled, “We didn’t kill your family. Why do you keep making this about us?”

Noah turned away from her, angry that she wasn’t letting him off easy, despite what they had lost. “We can return your money.” he said to her, his back still turned “Can you return mine? Can you get back my late relatives and parents that you locked up in the cell?”

Mrs. Swiss had gasped, the impact of his words weighed heavily. “Can’t you see then? All we will ever give each other is pain. Anytime you look at her, you’ll see her family who ruined yours. And anytime she looks at you, she’ll see the ruined boy, whom her family wrecked, and in turn came into her life. And when I see you, I’ll always see the man who ruined my daughter because of a family feud.”

He turned to face her, anger in his voice. “And all these means what?”

“Be gone.” she said, “It’s the right thing to do for everyone” she said.

“Not everyone.” he countered. “Just you.” then he moved closer to her, “But respectfully mother, this is about me and Adriana. It’s our decision now, not yours, not anyone’s. Ours.” With that he had stormed off, angrily, trying not to let himself be bothered by her words. But somehow, he had kept ruminating over it. And when his wife kept keeping her distance, he just let her be.

“Go to them, explain what they could understand as simply as you can” the lady urged.

“Thank you” Noah said to her, standing. Her kid ran back towards her again.

“Mom, come. I found something” said another kid. A boy, not less than 4years. She smiled at him, “Her brother.” she explained before taking his hand and mouthed, “Bye.”

He waved at them as they left, and started towards his own kids, “Hey kiddos” he said, bending down to speak to the twins. “What’s going on?.” And they started arguing loudly again. He waited until they were out of words, and out of breath, before he suggested they get some ice cream so he could gather his thoughts. “Let’s get some ice cream, and you can tell me what is going on after.”

They went to the coffee shop, at the corner of the park, ordered for three cup ice creams, and went to sit where he had been sitting with the black lady. Noah looked around to see if she was still at the park with her son, but he didn’t see them. “So, who wants to go first?” he asked. Elizabeth’s hand flew up, while her brother just shrugged. “Liz?”

Elizabeth cleared her throat, “He says you and mom aren’t talking. That you are moving out” she said. “Is that true?” she asked, “I tried telling him he’s wrong. I don’t know where he gets all these things he says”

“Because I see things. Unlike you who talks and talk, and talk” accused her brother.

Okay, he didn’t know he saw things. They were so close to the truth. How did that happen? he had thought he was being careful. Adriana wouldn’t believe this. “What things did you see?” Noah asked his son.

“Lots. Like that day when you didn’t kiss mom good night, I came back” Ethan pointed out.

“You did?” He tried to remember the night. If Ethan did cone back, it meant he had heard him and his mother arguing. He tried remembering what had been sad that night. Oh, my God. That was the day Adriana was quizzing him about the money, and what he was thinking stealing from them. He remembered the same night, they had spoken about getting a divorce. He wouldn’t heat of it, and had vehemently refused. Adriana had been upset. Blaming him for not making things easy. They could be separated and be rid of each other. Instead, he was straggling himself with her, and causing her more pains. Her words had stung. And he had felt like giving her the divorce. But he wouldn’t give up easily on his family. Not yet.

Thinking about that night alone had him sour. It was painful to think his wife would even bring it up. He could understand she was hurting, but they were in it together. He loved her, she loved him. Wasn’t their love strong enough to stand this storm? If she wasn’t fighting for them, how was he to find his way back and redeem himself? He had felt heartbroken that night. But nothing mattered now. If his son had heard that part, the pain of that night would be nothing compared to it. The damage that would cause would be catastrophic. Just what did their son hear?

“Yeah.” said Ethan. “You and mom were screaming so hard at each other. I couldn’t stay. I went to bed crying.”

Thank God he didn’t stay. “Your mother was upset”. He explained. “Why didn’t you say anything the next day, or after?”

He smiled innocently, “I forgot”.

“Okay?” He breathed out, happy he didn’t seem to have caught the bad part of that night.

“And the other day. I came in and you were on the floor” Ethan continued, he then turned to his sister. “You were asleep. When I walked into their room, he was on the floor” he pointed at his father. “I stayed there a while before waking them up.”

“Dad?” Elizabeth called, hysterically.

“Liz, it was a misunderstanding.” He turned to Ethan, “But that was because I wanted to exercise, and I couldn’t do that on the bed”

“But you were sleeping when I came in” accused Ethan, refusing to be played.

“I slept off because I was tired” he explained, “It’s just that one time”

“Remember that day I overheard grandma too?” Ethan asked his sister. “I’m telling you something is going on”

“What did grandma say now?” Noah sighed heavily. “Okay, never mind.” he stopped the boy from saying the words. He knew what she would have said anyway. The young lady had said he should control the narrative, and stay close to the truth. He was going to do just that. hopefully, it wouldn’t backfire, and Adriana wouldn’t kill him afterwards. “Look, it’s true your mother and I have some things to sort out” he began. The kids looked at him in rapt attention, “Adults have their issues, you know. Like you kids, we fight, and then we settle.” They were looking at him, and he honestly hope they got it. “When we fight, it could take a while to settle, but we eventually do”.

“Okay” Ethan said. “Go on dad” Elizabeth said.

“We are handling it. And I promise you kids, I’m not moving off anywhere. We just need some time to clear our heads” Did they get that?

The kids nodded. “But you’re leaving with Uncle Gaby and Samantha?” asked Elizabeth He nodded, “I’m driving them home. I’ll be back soon”

“Okay dad” Ethan said.

“So, can you kids give us just a little of time, and everything will be back to normal?”

They both nodded again. Then Elizabeth’s hand flew up again. “Something’s been bothering me too”

“What is it?”

“Why do we suddenly have to move into Grandma’s and why so many people in the home?”

Oh, of course, they noticed. He might as well warn them now to be careful. “Something dangerous is going on.” smiling so they wouldn’t be too scared. “I want you to be careful, at home and school. Anywhere. I need you to be very careful, especially of strangers.”

They nodded, both chorused. “Okay dad”

They were done with their ice creams now. “I suppose we can go home now?” they cheered. And while they headed towards the car, all he thought about was how to fix his family. He would need to keep Adriana abreast of this new development though.

*****

Samantha searched all the rooms anxiously. She told herself to calm down. He was somewhere, doing something with his many girls online, maybe sexting. Or did he go out? She went from one room to the other. All were empty. He wasn’t in his room, wasn’t in Noah’s or Gaby’s. He wasn’t in hers either. She brought out her phone and called his line. The phone started ringing. She was sure she could hear it ringing somewhere in the house. The sound seems to be coming from the foyer. Samantha ran desperately towards the direction. “Noah?” she called as she bent down to retrieve the phone. It was dropped under the laundry machine. She picked up the phone, and stood looking at the machine.

Standing up, she found herself staring confused, at the laundry machine. It was on the whole time, and blinking. Someone had been here trying to operate it. Nathan!

“Noah” she yelled, “Gaby?” she called in despair. Something was wrong.

The two men rushed down to her side hurriedly. “What is it?” Gaby asked, getting to her first.

“Are you okay?” Noah asked. He had been about dozing off when he heard her scream. They had just gotten home barely half an hour ago, and he was really exhausted. When she called, he had contemplated between sleeping, and answering her. But he couldn’t ignore the desperation in her voice. And somehow, he felt if he didn’t respond, Gaby might not. He was surprised however to find his cousin beside Samantha, looking worried. Was Gaby softening up on them all? Samantha had said he was.

Samantha held up the phone she had just retrieved for them to see. “I think something happened to Nate” she said, all shaken up. She pointed at the machine. “I met that working. Looks like he was going to do his laundry but never got round to it” she pointed at the clothes in the basin. Beside the basin was detergent and brush dropped roughly on the floor.

Noah looked at Gaby with sickening premonition. “There was a struggle here. He’s been abducted. Where are your men?”

Gaby brought out his phone and started calling his men. The chief officer didn’t pick up. he called again, no answer. Then he called his assistance, that one didn’t pick up too. Then he called Stone, Nate’s personal guard. No answer. He looked at his cousins in shock. “No one’s picking up” he told them.

Noah hit the table angrily.

Gaby called Stone again, murmuring angrily. “How can they all not pick?” he started looking around. He had left about five men at the house to stay with Nate. Stone was to monitor the main building with another man. He should have been standing guard at the door. What could have gone wrong? He called the guard’s line again.

As he called, Samantha strained her ears, picking a sound. “His phone is ringing somewhere in this house.” she said. Everyone followed the sound. “It’s the hallway”

In the hallway, they found the phone. It was roughly shoved under the hard rug. As Gaby bent to retrieve it, he found traces of blood stain on the floor, and some on the rug. It was getting dry, but he rubbed his fingers on the blood patch, and showed others. “There was a struggle here too. It’s someone’s blood” he said, turning round, he looked down the hall at the only door aside Nate’s leading outside. He started walking towards it. Noah and Samantha follows behind. When he opened the door, they found Stone, gagged up on the floor, and two others. He quickly gets them freed. The two men were passed out. He touched Stone who moaned in agony. Unlike the others, he looked to be alive but he was drenched in blood. The blood was gushing down in gulps from his head.

The men were badly injured. They were bleeding almost everywhere. “I’ll go check other spots. Noah, help Sam get these men up. Let’s see if we can get them talking. I’ll check everywhere”

“Be careful.” Noah told him, “They could still be here”

Gaby nodded, he doubted though that the men would still be here.

Samantha brought out her phone and called their private hospital. “Hello doctor, we need help ASAP. Please send someone” she looked at the three injured men, “Yes, two should be able to handle it. Maybe three? Good. Thanks” she told her cousin, the doctors would soon be there.

Together with Noah, they got the men lying down on the bed while Samantha went to get some cleaning items. She wore some gloves, and started to wipe the blood. The little she could wipe off. She got Stone cleaned up first. His injuries didn’t look so serious. Aside the bleeding on his forehead, he seemed to be fine. She gave him a cloth to press to the spot. “I need some ice” she told Noah.

Nodding, he went to get some in a big bowl, and brought it back to the room. Noah started pacing back and forth, lost in thought.

Samantha collected the clothe from Stone, replaced it with another which she had put an ice in. The man whimpered painfully. “It’s okay. You’ll be fine”.

Gaby who had left the room to check other places in the room, came back and said he didn’t see anyone. “I didn’t see any of the others.”

“Where’s Nate? What happened?” asked Noah, turning to Stone. The guard looked better now. The other two were being tended to by Samantha. They were unresponsive. She was checking their pulse now, looking for any sigh of life.

Stone coughed, tiredly. “I’m sorry. They have him.” he told them. He coughed again, spitting out blood.

“Who has him?” Gaby asked, grabbing him roughly. “You had one job; to keep him safe. And why did you do? You let them have him”

“Gaby?” Samantha cautioned, “He’s still not okay”

“As he should” Gaby released the hefty man.

Samantha nodded to Noah, telling him without any word that he better handle this. Noah nodded.

“Who has him?” Noah asked, he sat down on the bed, putting some distance between the man and his angry cousin.

Stone gestured with his hand.

“Your phone?” asked Noah. When the guard nodded, he turned to Samantha who was already reaching for the phone. She passed the phone to Noah, who handed it to the man. “Here”

Beside him, the two others started to move. Samantha stood up quickly. With a hand placed on the neck side, she checked their pulse. “They’re breathing. I think they were drugged” she said. “Why isn’t the doctor here yet?” She asked almost getting hysterical. The men were barely hanging on thin thread here. She looked at his cousins, but they weren’t paying attention anymore. They were both staring at Stone’s phone.

“I got a picture of them before they caught me” Stone said, he started to cough more, and unlocking his phone showed them the picture of the men. It was pointless talking. The more he talked, the more it hurt. Instead, he enlarged his screen and showed them the picture he had taken while the men dragged him to the room with the other. Before he could attack, someone had pressed a cold, hard metal to his neck. He slumped but had shoved his phone under the rug.

Noah and Gaby stared into the phone. The face of the man staring back at them was a familiar one. The man’s face seems to be everywhere now.

“It’s that same son of a bitch” cursed Gaby in anger.

“It’s Luke Smith. It’s the Smith again” Noah said.