Chapter 50 Strange man
Derick opened his eyes and found himself in one of Arthur’s rooms. He cleaned his eyes and got out of bed, heading out of the room.
He could hardly lift his legs without his head hurting. He dragged his feet to Arthur’s room and knocked on the door.
“Arthur?” He called out, and almost immediately, the door opened, showing Arthur who was busy wearing his shirt.
“You’re up…” Arthur muttered, walking away from the door. Derick walked into the room, letting out a loud yawn.
“About yesterday. Thank you. I just had to…”
“You didn’t have to, man. Don’t give flimsy excuses.”
“Carter left because of my parents again. Two days before the proposal I already planned. I have tried to reach him since then, but his number isn’t reachable. I’m so broken!” Derick muttered, lying flat on his bed.
“Your parents? They showed up?”
“Yes. With Betty, claiming I have a child. A three year old child that I had zero idea about.”
“What? How is that even possible?”
“We had sex once. Betty and I, one night I was drunk. I never knew it led to pregnancy until they came to break the shocking news to me two days ago. I also went for another DNA test and it claims I’m the father. I don’t even know where to start from.”
“Wait… slow down. You’re going too fast. DNA test? You’ve seen the child already?”
“Yes. And oh my… he looks so much like me, Arthur! What should I do?! I have lost Carter for good.” Derick mumbled.
“Stop sulking, okay? You’re a man. Find him and explain to him, but I don’t think it will be that easy, now that he knows you now have a family.”
“What are you saying? I don’t have a family! I have a son. I’m not married to Betty and I’ll never marry her. I’m going to marry and we’ll be fathers to him.”
“And Betty?”
“I don’t care about her.” Derick answered, sitting up again.
“I have to go now. I’m running late.” Arthur uttered, grabbing his briefcase from the single car in his room.
“Wait! Last night when you came to pick me from the club, you were with someone. Was that Aurora?”
“No.” Arthur answered coldly, walking out of the room. Derick stood up and hastily walked behind him.
“Who was it then?” Derick further inquired, walking with him as he headed to the living room.
“Why are you so concerned about that?”
“Because I can remember knowing that face from somewhere, but now, it’s all blurry. You were with her.”
“Derick, stop it already. You should be worried about Carter, not the woman I was with.” Arthur responded, making his way out of the house.
“I know why you’re avoiding this question. It was Anita, right? When did you even start seeing her again?”
“I am not seeing her. She was the reason why I found you last night, you should be grateful to her.” Arthur answered, throwing his briefcase into the back seat.
“I knew it! I knew Anita was there that night. Though I couldn’t see her, I could sense her. Don’t tell me you’re letting that woman back in your life, Arthur.” Derick uttered, but Arthur ignored him and settled in the driver’s seat.
“It’s none of your business, okay? Take care of yourself. I’ll be back before 8 .p.m. Theo must have prepared breakfast. Feel at home.” Arthur answered, gunning the engine of his car.
“You don’t have to tell me to feel at home. Make sure you don’t see Anita today! That girl is a devil!” Derick yelled, waving at Arthur as he drove out of the compound.
After he was out of sight, sadness overwhelmed Derick as he headed back into the house.
‘I need to try Carter’s line again.’
Getting to the office, Arthur began work immediately. He went from one conference meeting to another, and anytime he returned to his office, he looked at the chair Anita always sat on to wait for him.
‘Why isn’t she here yet?’ He wondered. He picked up his phone to check if she called already, but he saw no missed calls from her.
Deep down, he waited and craved for her biscuits, and he didn’t even eat on time just because he was waiting for them.
But now, she was nowhere to be found.
“Has she given up so fast?” He muttered with a smirk. Just then, he remembered that he left his suit with her the other day.
‘At least, she should return the suit.’ He thought, shaking his head. He tried to move thoughts of her out of his head and continued working.
Throughout the day, he found himself checking his phone severally to see her calls but he got nothing. Soon, he became pretty worried about her.
He knew he shouldn’t, but he just couldn’t help the feeling. Since he had known Anita, he knew she doesn’t give up easily, and when she chases something, she doesn’t back down.
‘She told me she’ll be here today, why isn’t she here yet? Not even a call.’ He thought, staring at the time on his phone. It was 6:30 .p.m. already and she didn’t show up, call or text.
“This is weird.” He muttered.
‘Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? That she leaves you alone? Why are you so concerned she didn’t reach out now?’ He scolded himself, shaking his head like this was going to erase the constant thoughts of her from his head.
While he began to clear things up for the day, there was a knock on his door. The door opened and his secretary walked in.
“Mr. Arthur, someone is here to see you.”
‘Anita!’ He called in his head. “Let her in.” He answered. He let out a deep breath and adjusted his shirt.
He kept on a cold look and turned to his computer, scrolling through it like he had something on it.
He heard the door open again, and when he raised his head to see her, the visitor happened to be a man. An unfamiliar man. He wore all black and a face cap. He looked pretty dangerous and mean.
Arthur creased his brows in disappointment as it wasn’t who he was expecting.
“Good evening.” He uttered to the man, while he shut down his PC.
“You’re Arthur, right?” He asked, and Arthur looked up at him again.
“Yes. And you are?”
“You don’t have to know. I came here to warn you.” He responded with a straight face, causing Arthur to arch one of his eyebrows.
He let out a chuckle and shook his head. “Who do you think you are, coming into my office to warn me? I don’t even know you.” Arthur stood up from his chair, keeping an intense eye contact with the stranger.
“You don’t have to know me before I warn you…” he moved closer to Arthur’s desk. “Stay away from Anita. I don’t care if you’re just a friend or more. I don’t like you around her, so stay off.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying right now, young man. If you know you have nothing tangible to say, please leave before I call security to get you out of this company.”
The strange man broke into a psychotic laughter and nodded.
“I knew you’d try to prove stubborn and I totally understand that. But I won’t say this anymore. Stay away from Anita, she’s mine!”
Before Arthur could reply, he headed out of the office. Arthur stood still, staring at the door for minutes in awe.
“Who the hell is he to Anita? Why is she involved with a man that looks like that?” He wondered.
He picked up his phone and saw there were still no calls or texts from Anita.
‘Is she in danger?’ He wondered, staring at her phone number on his phone. He wasn’t sure if he should call her or not.
After thinking so much about it, he clicked on her phone number and dialed it. He clenched his jaws as he waited for her to answer the phone.
She didn’t pick up the first time, so he called again. This time, he found himself pacing around in his office.
“Pick up, Anita. Pick up.” He mumbled as he listened to the phone ring.
And then she finally answered the phone.
“Hello?!” Her voice sounded low and unhappy.
“Anita? Are you alright?” He asked worriedly as he stopped walking so he could hear her clearly.
“You called me. Wow. Is that a sign?” She teased and sniffed.
“Oh please, don’t start. Are you alright? You don’t sound so good.”
“So you care about me now? That’s definitely a sign.” She mumbled, her voice barely reaching Arthur’s ears.
He knew something was up with her but she kept trying to divert his attention from her.
“You didn’t show up today. I wanted to collect my suit, that’s why I called.” He lied.
“Really? Are you that petty? You have so many suits, is that why you are calling tonight?”
“Hold on… why are you whispering? Where are you?…” The loud noise of a door closing from the other end of the phone interrupted Arthur, making his words hang in his throat.
“I… I have to go now. Bye.” Anita stuttered in a low voice, and before Arthur could say a word, she hung up.
‘What the hell?! What’s going on with her?’