Chapter 48 A friend
Arthur finished his work at around 8:30 p.m. and started preparing to go home. As he cleared his table, his eyes fell on the empty bowl on his desk.
He couldn’t believe he actually finished the biscuits Anita made for him.
‘But that doesn’t mean anything. I was hungry and had to eat something.’ He thought, picking the bowl and throwing it into the trash can.
On his way out of the office, he finally took a look at his phone after a long day and saw several missed calls from Derick.
Also, there were missed calls from the recent phone number Anita used to reach out to him.
“What the hell. Why are there so many missed calls from Derick?” He mumbled in surprise.
Hopping into his car, he clicked on Derick’s phone number and put his phone on speaker. Gunning his engine, he made his way out of the parking lot, waiting for Derick to pick up.
Derick finally answered the phone after he recalled his phone number about three times.
The loud sound of disco music from the other side began to burst Arthur’s speaker before he could even speak.
“Where the hell are you, man?!” Arthur asked in a loud voice, and all he got as a response was Derick laughing drunkenly.
“Are you drinking? Derick?!” He called, but then the phone got disconnected.
‘What happened to him?’ He wondered, trying to call him back when another call from Anita popped into his phone.
“Oh God.” He rolled his eyes in frustration as he answered the phone.
“Why you stop disturbing my peace with your calls?” He asked angrily.
“Have you left the office?” She asked, ignoring his question. From the other end, Arthur could hear the faint sound of music playing.
“Why do you care?”
“Well, I’m in the club with your friend as we speak. He came in looking awful and has been drinking since then like he has lost his senses.”
“My friend? Derick?!” Arthur asked, wondering how she got to know he was his friend in the first place.
“Which other friend do you have? Are you going to come down here and save him from embarrassment or what?” She asked.
Arthur heaved a sigh, tightening his jaws before speaking. “Where are you? I’m on my way.”
“I’ll share with you the location.” She responded and hung up almost immediately.
Anita sent her location after a short while, and Arthur headed down there. He couldn’t help but worry about Derick.
He knew Derick doesn’t just drink to stupor because he wants to. Something must have happened. Something really bad and beyond his control.
After a while, Arthur got to the club, and in front of the entrance stood Anita. From the car, he saw her rubbing her bare arms and breathing into her hands to give her warmth.
Anytime she breathed out from her mouth, she let out a frosty breath. She wore a sleeveless red dress that stopped right above her knees.
‘How long has she been standing out here in the cold with that dress?’ Arthur wondered, reaching for his suit. He stepped out of his car and approached the entrance of the club.
Immediately Anita saw him, her face lit up and she instantly forgot the discomfort she was in.
“Arthur.” She called with a wide smile.
“Why are you out here in the cold?” Arthur asked, stretching his suit to her.
“Thank you.” She collected the suit excitedly and put it over her shoulders. “I couldn’t stay in there anymore. It was getting too loud, and the men were beginning to stare at me.” She added.
“Where is he?” Arthur asked.
“He’s still inside. I’ll take you there.”
They both walked inside, the loud music bursting their eardrums and the dim lights causing Arthur to squint his eyes before he could see clearly.
“There he is.” Anita pointed to the corner where Derick was seated, drinking and wallowing in his sorrows alone.
“Oh goodness.” Arthur muttered, seeing so many bottles of alcohol on his table as he approached him.
“Derick?!” Arthur called but he was too far gone to respond. His head was on the table and his eyes were closed.
“I think he’s passed out!” Anita uttered loudly, and Arthur nodded.
“I need to get him out of here.”
Arthur grabbed onto his arm and pulled him up. He groaned as managed to get him off his chair without both of them tripping over.
Derick weighed more than he imagined.
“Can you hold him alone? I can help you out.” Anita said, and Arthur shook his head. He placed Derick’s hand around his neck and grabbed his side, pinning him close to him.
“No, I got this.” He grunted as they both made their way out of the club.
Derick could hardly stay still or walk upright, giving Arthur a very tough time. “Goddamn it, Derick. Why did you fking drink?” He cursed under his breath, breathing hard as they approached his car.
Anita ran forward to quickly get the car door before he got there. She opened the back door and stepped away so that he could put Derick there.
After he placed Derick at the back seat, he let out a deep breath and shook his head. He shut the door tiredly and turned to look at Anita.
“Where are you heading to? I’ll drop you at home. It’s late.” He said to her, and she smiled widely and nodded.
“My house is about three blocks away from here.” She answered, and he nodded, taking a round turn to the driver’s seat.
“Hop in then.” He said to he, and she sat in the front seat.
They hit the road and Arthur kept looking at Derick through the rear view mirror. He kept wondering what must have happened to him.
“Did you get to talk to him when he was more like himself?” Arthur asked, and Anita shook her head.
“No, we didn’t. But I heard him calling a name a few times. He kept calling…ermmm… Car…” Anita stuttered, trying to recall what the name was.
“Carter.” Arthur answered, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘Of course, it was only love that could turn Derick this miserable. It had always been his weakness.’ Arthur thought as he kept his eyes on the road.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to take care of him on your own?” Anita asked as she saw her house come into view.
“Yes. Don’t worry about me. Thank you.” He answered.
“My house is right there.” She pointed out, and Arthur nodded. He parked in front of her house and waited for her to alight.
She looked at him and smiled widely. “How were the biscuits? Did you like them?” She asked, while Arthur kept his eyes off her.
“I threw them away.” He answered coldly.
“Fine. I understand. I’ll make another one and bring it to your office tomorrow, okay? You can keep throwing it away all you want.” She responded with a chuckle, unbuckling her seatbelt.
She opened the door and just when she was about to alight, she leaned closer to him and planted a soft, rapid kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you for the ride.” She uttered, finally making her way out of his car. In satisfaction, she turned to wave him goodbye, but he zoomed off instantly.
She let out a sigh and shook her head. ‘With time you won’t be able to get rid of me, Arthur.’ She thought, heading into her house.
Turning on the lights of her living room, she flinched as she found him sitting on the couch, staring at her. She wasn’t expecting to see him.
‘He isn’t supposed to be here today.’ She said to herself, her heart thumping against her chest.
“Where have you been?” He asked coldly.
“I told you I was going to see a friend.” She answered, removing Arthur’s suit.
“Is that your friends’?” He asked, causing Anita to roll her eyes.
“We are not doing this now, okay? I’m exhausted, and I need to go to bed.” She said, walking past him, but then he grabbed her all of a sudden and threw her against the wall.
“Don’t you dare walk out on me! Who is he? The man that came to drop you?!” He muttered, his large hand wrapped around her delicate neck.
“A fri… friend.” She struggled to say as he already blocked her airstreams.
“A friend?! Don’t you dare lie to me, Anita!”
With tears gathering at the corner of her eyes, she struggled, hitting his hands so he would let go of her.
“You’re… you’re hurting me.” She groaned, opening her mouth to gasp for air.
He yanked his hand off her, watching her couch her way back to life.
“Don’t you ever try something stupid, okay?! You know I won’t let you live if you do so. You belong to me!” He smacked.
Anita broke into tears as she felt excruciating pain in her neck. She nodded in agreement and ran into her room. Shutting the door behind her, she fell to the ground and broke into more tears.
“I can’t do this anymore.”