The Wife ESCAPED!

Caro had worked at Tim&Olly for some weeks now and her expertise and experiences had surpassed her expectations. From the fact that she hardly saw Timmy to the news that her sketches had found favour in the eyes of ‘the other boss’ whom she had only met once, events were headed in a direction that she never imagined they would go. She was now being paid weekly, even though she only worked on Fridays and weekends. Something told her Timmy was behind it, but surprisingly, he had stayed totally out of her way and not even tried to check on her to see how she was blending in. Not that she wanted him to, but she had expected him to show himself more often and make friendly advances to her. Afterall, the whole circus was just to get her in bed, wasn’t it? What else did men do such things for?

Her final exams were also around the corner and she had stopped normal classes and joined the SS3 students in their daily preparatory lessons. They weren’t friendly and neither were they hostile, but they exuded this aura of superiority as if to remind her that she was dealing with her seniors. But other than that, things were going as smoothly as they could go.

She was beginning to quietly and secretly pay off the smaller fees associated with the finals while telling her Mummy that the school had not yet demanded for the main fee which was the truth. The lie was that, so far, no fee had been demanded.

She was bent on reducing the financial burden on Mary as much as she could. The kind woman had done more than what her own mother had ever done for her. It was only fair that she try to make things a little easier for her. It was as well that Mary never asked questions about her salary. She expected Caro to save it prudently and Caro was doing nothing less, with some of it at least.

One evening, she returned from school and found her Mummy attending to a customer in the shop just in front of the house. She kneeled to greet her as usual, but as she made her way into the house, Mary called out to her.

“Caro, have you seen your friend?”

“Who?”, Caro asked, wondering which friend she was referring to.

“Millicent na. She don born o.”

“Eh?!”, Caro shouted. “Wetin she born? Boy or girl?”

“I hear say na girl. I never go there sha. I go go later.”

But Caro had already dropped her bag and was running off in the direction of her friend’s house.

“Tell her say I say congrats o. I go come see her tomorrow,” Mary shouted after her.

Caro arrived breathless at her friend’s house. She had run all the way.

“Millicent. Where Millicent?”, she panted, addressing her friend’s sister who was the first person she met outside.

“She dey inside,” the girl said, pointing at the curtained doorway.

Caro rushed up and pulled aside the curtains. Her friend was seated on a couch in the parlour, a bundle of white baby blanket in her arms. Caro could not hide her face-splitting grin as she rushed in and plopped down beside her friend, completely oblivious to Millicent’s relatives in the room.

“Caro,” Millicent sighed, smiling back at her.

“Thank God for you o, Millicent. Finally, you are a Mama. I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you, my sister,” her friend replied and then handed over the baby to her. Caro, who was no stranger to babies, received the bundle with joy and care.

“Chai! Fine baby like this come carry your ugly nose,” she teased as she stared at the sleeping infant. Her friend couldn’t help but laugh.

“So what’s her name?”, Caro asked. It was on the tip of her tongue to also ask if the father, who had disappeared and abandoned Millicent when she had gotten pregnant, was aware of the news yet. But she thought it inappropriate to spoil her friend’s joy.

“Caro.”

“Hmm?”

“That’s her name. I named her after you. I want her to be strong like you.”

For the first time in her life, Caro was short of words. She’d never had a baby named after her before! She felt honored and loved. Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at her one true friend. Millicent couldn’t keep her eyes dry too. She put her hand around her shoulder and drew her to herself. If ever there was anyone Caro could call a best friend for life, she was right here beside her!

*****

“I hear um… that she’s uh… writing her final exams?”, Timmy said warily, wondering if he would be asked how he had gotten hold of such information.

“Yes o,” Mary sighed. “They have not started yet sha. They’re still preparing, but I just hope she’ll come out in flying colors.”

“I’m sure she will,” Timmy assured with confidence, and relief. “I think she’s very intelligent and has that drive… to achieve anything she sets her mind on. Such people are not so common and they are usually victors.”

His eyes were focused straight ahead as he sat beside Caro’s mother just in front of her house on a blazing Saturday afternoon. He was thinking of the times he had seen and heard of Caro’s brilliance in action. He had not only come to love her more and more, he was also developing deeper and greater respect for her as time passed.

When he didn’t hear any response from his companion, he looked beside him to find Mary staring at him with an expressionless face. He quickly switched his focus back to staring straight ahead. His heart was pounding wildly now. He could only guess why Mary was staring at him in such a manner. She was probably suspicious of his motives. He tried to make a mental note to pay less ‘update visits’. For crying out loud, the woman could easily ask her daughter how she was coping at work, so certainly, there was no need for him to come and give her ‘updates’. Now that he had given it a second thought, the excuse did not look as sensible as he once thought it was. But for now, he had to show confidence and silence was not a very polite way of doing so.

“Um… I was thinking about, you know… letting her take some time off, so she can focus solely on the exams. I mean, we’ll miss her, but… her studies are surely much more important.”

“I don’t think Caro will like the idea of you giving her holidays. But I’ll do you a favour and talk to her about it,” Mary promised.

“Oh. I’d very much appreciate that. Thank…”

“Just don’t make a habit of it. You should be able to have such a conversation with an employee of yours without my help. What’s the time?”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Flustered, Timmy scrambled for his phone and dropped it due to his shaking hands. He picked it up phone again and then remembered that he had a wristwatch.

“Um… one… one-thirty,” he reported.

“Caro is late. She can come home any minute now, so you better start going… unless you want her to meet you here.”

“O… of course not,” Timmy replied, quickly getting to his feet. But before leaving, he dropped the bag he had brought with him, carefully placing it beside Mary on the bench.

“What’s this again?”, Mary demanded.

“Well, it’s just a gift for…”

“Do you always give gifts like this? Caro is already working for you, so what are you bribing me for again? I hope you don’t have any ulterior mo…”

“Oh no, no, no, ma’am. Not at all. My motives are very pure. And the gift is far from being a bribe. It’s actually one of your daughter’s designs and I felt you’d love to have it. If you don’t mind, I’ll take my leave now. Thank you very much for your time and company.”

She watched him as he took a respectful bow and retreated. She would never pass up on a chance to harass him in order to test his loyalty and reliability. Caro was no ordinary girl and she would not allow her to fall into the clutches of an ordinary man.

She sighed as he got into his car and drove off, then she turned her attention to the bag beside her. She was eager to see the content, but a regular fruit customer of hers was already approaching the shop. She would leave the cloth inspection for some other time.