THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 56

THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 56

“I want to go with you in the evening, at your place, we shall have supper there and then I will go back to my place.” Irene said affirmatively.

I thought for a while and wondered, what if Sally came unexpectedly as she already did previously? But without much of a thought, I told Irene, “I am fine, you are welcome. Besides you have never been to my place.”

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Once we got to my place, we settled and I served Irene some fruit juice.

“You live in a quiet neighborhood, I like it.” Irene noted.

“Yes, it is a nice place, I love it here.” I told her as we settled to watch some movie.

“Tony, there is this night you asked me a lot of questions about my business deals, I am still wondering why you were asking me.” Irene told me looking at me.

Never have I ever felt so shocked in my entire life. That could only have meant one thing, there was nothing like hypnosis for her, she was so much aware and conscious of what we were talking about. But I tried so hard to remain composed and not to appear visibly shocked.

“It was a matter of interest my dear. I got really hurt and discouraged when Kurd disappeared with our money, I really wanted to make some cash since I have urgent pressing issues that need money very soon, very fast.” I told Irene.

She looked at me and studied me for a while.

“Tony, I trust you and that is why I am telling you this: Kurd was still new to me, I had been introduced to him by a friend. We were to do some business with him too and I was to go in as a partner too. But instead, Kurd double crossed all of us disappeared with our money. Apparently, he told us that the current political situation in Kenya is not favorable for our business and wanted to move our operations to Pakistan temporarily. We all agreed. But once he got there, he changed all his contacts and no one is able to reach him. We have contacted Pakistan Embassy to help us with the case and some INTERPOL are also after him. We later came to learn about all this after he moved, that he is not just a genuine business man but also a human trafficker who is also involved in taking girls from Kenya to Saudi Arabia for slavery in the name of domestic workers.

Tony, I am so sorry I involved you and Carol into this. I feel personally responsible for the mess but for the sake of our friendship I am willing to make the sacrifice: I will compensate each one of you your full amount. I did not want to call you and Carol here since I have sensed that Carol no longer trusts me.”

I did not know what to tell Irene but it seemed like her conscience had been awakened suddenly after I got to tell her how much I loved her. But I wondered, why would Irene reveal to me all that very much aware that some of the people she called business partners were wanted for fraud cases and other strange business operations?

“Irene, I just do not know what to tell you, or what you are deriving at, but I must tell you that some of the deals you have involved yourself with are considered as crimes and may land you into serious trouble.” I told Irene watching her keenly. She was very attentive.

She was about to speak something when I heard a soft knock at my door. For some reason, a sudden flush of anxiety overwhelmed me as I stood up to go and open the door. I just don’t know why I expected Sally to be at my door when I opened it.

Upon opening, Cynthia stood at the door.” May I come in.” She requested.

“Come in please.” I told her.

She came in and stood for a while once she noticed Irene seated.

“Cynthia, meet Irene, my sweet heart. Irene, meet Cynthia, she is a daughter of my immediate neighbor.” I told Cynthia. 

“Oh! Nice to meet you Cynthia.” Irene said and extended her hand to greet Cynthia. 

“Nice to meet you too.” Cynthia said and sat down.

We did not continue with our conversation as we would not wish Cynthia to overhear some of the issues we were discussing, but we dwelt much on general life issues.

But Cynthia seemed unsettled and after sometime, she excused herself and left.

“The young lady seems like she wanted to tell you something.” Irene said. I did not answer that but I interpreted her tone and I knew it would have led to suspicion.

“Ok, you were telling me something.” I implored Irene.

“Promise you won’t betray my trust.” Irene asked me.

“Trust me.” I reassured her.

We spoke a lot but most did not make sense to me. But she wished she wished the deals matured as she felt like she had betrayed me and Carol.

“Ok Irene, my father had bought a land and now the land has a court case. We know there is another land grabber who intends to take it away from him and so we wanted to hire a lawyer to represent us in the case. Failure to, the land will be taken away from us. The lawyer will be available in 2 weeks’ time and he requires a deposit of Kshs 2 million to represent us. The land is worth Kshs 10 million and we cannot afford to lose it. This is why I really wanted to raise some amount so urgently. This case is taking toll on my father his health is deteriorating fast due to stress and if we won’t win the case, my father is as good as dead.” I told Irene.

She remained silent for some time, in deep thought fidgeting on her seat and when she spoke, I thought I was dreaming.

“Ok, sweet heart. I will sort you out. Your happiness is equally my happiness. By Thursday I will have sorted you out.” Irene said and smiled at me.

Truth is, there was a land case involving my father but all I knew, my father never needed my assistance. So, I knew in case Irene followed up, there was a perfect back up plan.

But Irene sounded so serious with me and I could tell she was genuinely smitten by my love for her, and that meant I was headed for a complicated situation ahead. But I was so obsessed with bailing out Sally and I felt justified to do anything to help her. Besides, I felt like it was some sort of payback time as I later came to know that Irene was the chief architect of the entire plan of organizational reconstitution that saw Sally getting fired. I however never got to tell Sally the details since I felt she could have blamed me for it. 

It was Irene who insisted that all people employed in the company must have formal qualifications for their positions and she convinced our boss. It was Irene who contacted Derrick and ensured he came to lecture us on institutional management perhaps to solidify to my boss the essence of getting the right people for the right jobs with right qualifications and with that Sally stood no chance at all. It was Irene who also contacted the recruitment company that was responsible for staffing our organization and she always made follow up to know who is the next employee. She literally was my boss’ right hand in every company operation. I however fell for the trap when I drafted the company constitution to support Irene’s ideas, got to append my signature as the Chief IT officer for the company, and even appended the water mark bearing our logo to the letter template that was later used to dismiss Sally from the job. I owed Sally a lot since the very letter that got her fired, was based on a letter template that I designed little did I know that my own template was to be used to fire my own lover! That guilt was my guiding reason as to why I was so obsessed to ensure that Sally got her formal certificates since were it not for them, she would still have been with me. In short, Irene perfectly crafted how to get Sally out of her way perhaps to have me by herself and I knew she was satisfied that her plans worked perfectly. It was even worse that I was unknowingly part of the grand plan to get rid of Sally. I however spared Sally the details, since I felt it would have been devastating for her to know that the very organizational constitution that fired her was my brain child, my own words and had my own signature in it. As I was making it, I had thought that they would not apply them to the existing staff members but perhaps to the future members of staff; I was very wrong. Poor Sally, I hoped she shall find the heart to forgive me if she ever came to know all that.

“Sweetie, you seem like you are thinking a lot. What is it?” Irene asked once she realized my mind had wandered from there.

“Life is not easy my dear.” I told her. She looked at me, then crossed over to sit beside me intimately such that her left thigh was pressing my right thigh.

“Honey, I know life is hard. But both of us can combine effort and accomplish a lot. I will help you where I can, you will help me where you can, and together we shall make it as long as we love each other and remain true to our promises.” Irene said and I could sense sincerity in her voice.

“Help me first on this case with my father’s land, that is the most urgent thing in my life now.” I told her.

“I did not carry my chequebook. Tomorrow pass by my place I shall write a cheque for you, honey.” Irene told me.

I turned and hugged her. She held me tightly and when she released me, she gave me a light kiss and stood up.

“Honey, I have to go. There is a lot I wanted to do this evening. We shall talk more later. I love you.” She said and gave me a light hug which I reciprocated immediately.

I escorted her to up to where she had parked her car, hugged her and she left.

Clearly, with Irene money was not the problem, but love.

=============

The following morning before I left for work, Cynthia came to my place and I was so surprised with whatever she felt was so urgent.

“Cynthia, you have been wanting to tell me something, and you seem so restless about it. Please tell me and if possible, I may help you out.” I told her as we sat on our living room.

“Please, Tony, forgive me if it will offend you. It is a sensitive issue and it is disturbing me a lot, giving me, sleepless nights and I feel you can help me.” She said earnestly. 

“Ok, Cynthia, trust me, I won’t let you down.” I told her looking at her.

She looked downward as if shy, and began playing with her long fingers. She seemed like she was very tensed and had difficult expressing herself.

“I am telling you this because I know you are a mature man, and I have no one close to share with.” Cynthia told me.

I was getting a little impatient as I was getting late for work.

Cynthia began crying. I did not understand why she was crying but it was sure whatever it was, it was making her very emotional. I was at a loss whether to comfort her or not.

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“Tony, it is about my daddy. He has been drinking a lot like he wants to die. He wants to commit suicide and I don’t know what to tell him. Last night he came with a woman in the house. They had been drinking together obviously and they wanted to go and sleep together but I don’t know why but my daddy shouted to her and told her, “Get away from me bitch! You are not Ange and you can never be Angel!!” the woman pleaded with him for a while but my dad slapped her and she went to sleep on the coach. But that is not even the big issue, the issue is, I once visited a certain clinic in the estate, I had gone there for some malaria medications and I found the woman there and she was on a line that was leading to an HIV care clinic. She got in and came out carrying ARVs, I know them since I have seen them in pictures. She does not seem to recognize me. When I got to the clinic, the nurses were discussing the woman saying how she is notorious in spreading HIV to married men, she seduces men. To be honest, the woman is beautiful and tall. I do not want her to end up with Daddy, she will infect my dad and kill him.”

I was shocked by the details from Cynthia. She was now crying like a child. I felt pity for her as it was obvious she loved her father so much. I was at a loss how to assist her. But I sensed she wanted me to speak to her father and persuade her to that woman alone.

“My father loves Angel, the woman he once told me he will introduce me to as my step mum.” Cynthia added sniffing.

“What do you suggest I do?” I asked Cynthia.

“Talk to my dad, make him understand that the lady is up to no good.” Cynthia said.

I did not know where to begin, but it seemed Cynthia trusted that I would be able to help her. I did not want to disappoint her.

“Ok, is your daddy in?” I asked her.

“Yes, he is.” Cynthia said.

“Ok, let us go and I will talk to him.” I knew that was a difficult attempt, but I did not want to seem like a coward to this helpless young girl.

******

Cynthia woke her father. The said lady was gone so Sam came out wearing a long sleeping robe and sat with me at his living room.

“Oh! Tony, you have never been here. What brings you here this early?” He seemed to forget I was there when I begged him we take Sally to hospital.

Cynthia excused herself and left us alone with Sam.

“Mr. Sam, sorry if this will seem like intrusion to your private life, but Cynthia has shared something about you that we need to talk. Forgive her but understand she is your daughter and she really loves you as her father. She knows there is no any other father for her in this world except you and she cannot afford to see any harm come your way.” I paused.

“Ok, go on, I am listening.” Sam told me keenly.

I revealed him all the details that Cynthia told me and even exaggerated some. He remained silent for some time and finally told me.

“Young man, you are now a man and I know you will understand me when I tell you this. A normal mature man cannot stay without sex for long. You will suffer if you try that. I divorced with Cynthia’s mother, but could not stay single so I found Angeline who we got into a relationship too. She had been very nice to me but we had some disagreements and we broke up a few months ago. But I still love him a lot. That is why I was with that lady last night but no matter what, I just could not bring myself to have sex with her. I must say, God was on my side as I could have been infected with AIDS. Damn!” Sam told me.

“Do you love this angel lady?” I asked Sam.

“Of course, I do! Angeline is my life. Were it not for Angeline perhaps I could be dead. I really love her but I really miss her. I wish she would understand me.” Sam said sounding miserable.

“Who is this Angeline?” I asked Sam. The name sounded familiar with me.

“Angeline Muthoni, she lives about 10 KM from here and works in NexTech Suppliers Limited.” Sam said.

I momentarily thought I was dreaming. I was shocked beyond belief, more so to realize we have been talking about my boss all along and I completely had no idea.

“Do you know her?” Sam asked. He seemed to have completely forgotten that I once saw her with him the night we took Sally to hospital. But I did not wish to go into details.

“Yes, she is my boss.” I told Sam silently.

Sam looked at me as if he was seeing a ghost. He observed me as if to study whether I was lying to him. He observed me for quite some time it made me feel uncomfortable. When he spoke he finally said, “Tony, if you can, please help me get Angeline back. She means life to me, I cannot do without her. I really love her. Were it not for my loneliness I would not be going after prostitutes. Regina would not have crossed my mind if I were still with Angel.” Sam said.

The word Regina shook me to the core of my own existence. I momentarily saw darkness. I felt nauseated and sick to the bone. I began sweating. 

“Regina?” I asked Sam.

“Yes, the prostitute that was with me yesterday. She is called Regina Kathambi, she is from Meru. Stupid whore nearly gave me AIDS!” 

Those were the exact names for Regina the CID. I felt like dying.

I could no longer hold myself as I knew if this man meant the same woman, then I was dead meat. I however gathered myself and told Sam.

“Sam, I have to go. It was nice meeting you.” I told Sam.

“No problem young man, take care. Women are devils and if you won’t watch out they will kill you. Thank you so much for the information you have given me, I really appreciate. “

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As I left Sam’s place, I did not go straight to work but headed for Regina’s place. If it was true that Regina had infected me with HIV deliberately, I vowed I was going to kill her. I felt murderous.

I called a taxi and told the man to drive me to her place of residence.

“That is a police station. Are you telling me to go there?” The man told me.

“Yes, I want to see someone there, urgently.” I told him.

“Forget it, I am wanted by the police and I cannot take you there, find another car.” The man said firmly.

I looked at him and he saw the seriousness in my face.

“Are you going to kill someone?” He asked, afraid.

“I will pay you, 9,000 to take me there. Take me there asap!” I told him.

“Damn! Ok son. You have it. My daughter was chased away from school yesterday for lack of Kshs 5,000! You are God sent Son, I hope I won’t get caught.” The driver said.

The taxi driver hit the gas and drove me towards that direction top speed.

The time was 10 am. I was already late for work but I did not care anymore.

>>>To be continued: Tomorrow…>>>

As narrated by Dr. Love.