Addison gasped. Amerley shrunk so far down in her seat that she wanted to evaporate.
“Hello, Mr. Addison, nice to meet you,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “And good afternoon, Miss Luna,” her voice trembling, revealing fear and surprise. Luna turned to look at her, setting her mouth in a leer. She scrutinised Amerley and gave her a curt nod.
“Sit down everyone, sit,” Mr. Wilberts implored, signaling the waiter to bring extra chairs.
“Sir, please I’m sorry but I can’t stay,” Amerley said.
“Oh, why?” Mr. Wilberts asked, his disappointment apparent.
“My mother is…She has to take, sorry, I have to…take her…to the hospital,” she mumbled.
Addison and Luna shared a glance from the corner of their eyes.
“Emm… okay. No problem. I will call you to discuss the other thing we talked about. Okay?” Mr. Wilberts added, scraping the bulge of his belly against the edge of the table as Amerley pushed the table towards him to get up.
“Okay Sir. Thank you,” Amerley said, gathering her things in a hurry and scampering off like a cockroach at the sight of light. They watched her leave; Addison in disbelief, Luna enraged, and Mr. Wilberts confused. Addison caught Luna in the middle of her glare. Her outrage against Amerley seemed rather severe, making Addison a little concerned. He wondered if Luna knew her outside of her father’s employ because although he’d mentioned her in conversations, he’d never shown her Amerley’s photo.
The waiter brought the chair, dissolving the tension that had started to mount. Afterwards, they sat down and had a fruitful discussion. Addison’s innovative ideas for running a rental company impressed Mr. Wilberts, and before they left that afternoon, he received a generous job offer as the General Manager of one of his rental companies. Addison was over the moon!
After her father left, Luna explained her outrage against Amerley,
“Remember what I was saying this morning about my dad cheating on my mom with one of his assistants? That was her.”
“You mean Amerley?” Addison asked.
“Yes! I’ve seen them together countless times.”
“Hmm…I see,” Addison said, nodding slowly.
“I had my suspicions when his driver started taking her home shortly after she started working for him. When I asked him why, he said it was nothing”.
“Hmm.”
“Addy, she goes everywhere with him. His driver told my mom they meet every Friday evening at a nightclub.”
“Nightclubs? Wow. She told me she goes for evening service,” Addison said thoughtlessly.
“She told you what? You know her?”
Suddenly aware that he’d let the curious cat out, he added, “Umm…well…that’s my ex.”
“What? No way! The one who dumped you at the restaurant that night?”
“Yes, way.”
“I knew she looked familiar; I couldn’t quite place her. That girl is awful! She deserves to die,” Luna said in a malevolent tone that alarmed Addison but he let it slide., overjoyed with the job offer.
* * *
Weeks later, Addison walked confidently into his old office and dropped his resignation letter on his boss’s desk. His stab wounds had healed and his contract with Luna’s father was sealed. His boss pleaded that he stayed, promising to increase his salary, but Addison’s mind was made up. He was now the GM of Wilbert’s Luxury Rentals and he was about to start living his dream, or so he thought.
By the end of that month, he’d settled into his new job that came with a luxury SUV, and a 2-bedroom apartment in one of Luna’s dad’s buildings in Labone. Addison took no time moving out of his one-bedroom flat in Teshie Nungua to the new place. As expected, Luna sponsored new furnishings for the apartment. She also helped him pick up a new chair for his office, which was yet to be delivered.
Early one morning, Addison was in his office waiting for his new chair to be delivered when his phone rang. He assumed it was the delivery truck. It was Amerley. He braced himself for a take-me-back pitch.
“Hello Addy, it’s been a while. How are you?”
“Uh…Hi Amerley, I’m okay.”
“It was good seeing you the other time. You were looking really good.”
“Ah, yes, I suppose it only takes a broken heart for me to turn my life around.”
Amerley laughed nervously.
“Addy, there’s something I have to tell you.” Addison stopped pacing.
“I know it’s not my place to say this,” she continued, “but…be careful of your new girlfriend.”
Addison chuckled. “First, she’s not my girlfriend, and second, you’re right, it’s none of your business.”
“I’m not jealous or anything. I’ve heard rumours about her and they’re…they’re not pretty.”
“Oh? Not pretty? Like how you dumped me in front of a whole restaurant.”
Amerley paused. “I’m sorry about that, Addy, but you have to believe me. I don’t want you to get hurt. I heard…hmm…I heard…”
“Heard what?”
“I heard she had her boyfriend in South Africa jailed. They say there was an argument and she stabbed herself in the arm with a letter opener and reported him to the police for abuse. He was in jail for 2 weeks before letting him out on bail.”
Strength ran out of Addison’s legs.
“Are you there?” She asked.
“Uh…yes. When did this…?” Trailing off as Luna walked in.
“Sorry, I have to go. Thanks for the call. Bye.” He hung up, stunned by the information he’d just received.
“You seem startled. Who was that on the phone?” Luna asked intrusively.
“Uhh…Nobody.”
She grabbed the phone from his hand and checked his call log.
“Amerley? That b*tch! What did she want?”
“Nothing, she was calling to return some of my stuff,” he lied.
“I see. Is that all?”
“Yes?”
“Mm…okay,” she turned as she walked away.
Overcome by a surge of curiosity, Addison cleared his throat and asked.
“Luna, I’m going to ask you something and I need you to be very honest with me.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What really happened in South Africa?” he asked, holding the arm that had been bandaged when she returned from the trip.
“Why, what did Amerley say?”
“Why do you think she said anything?” He quizzed.
“Why else would you ask me this out of the blue?”
“I just want to know. If we are going to be serious about us, I need to know the truth.”
“As I’ve said before, Addison, I don’t want to talk about it. Besides, it’s none of your business!”
“It is my business, Luna. It has everything to do with you, with me, with us,” he said, leaning in closer, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face.
“Well, so long as you stay out of my business, we’ll be fine,” she said and stormed out of his office. Addison called after her, but she slammed the door in his face.
Luna drove straight to her father’s office and called his office from her car. Amerley picked up.
“Hello, Mr. Wilberts’ office. How may I help you?”
“Amerley, this is Luna. Mr. Wilberts’ daughter.”
“Oh, Miss Luna, good morning.”
“My father asked me to give you some documents. I’m outside. Do you mind coming down to pick it up from the car?”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.
Behind the wheel, tension mounting in her muscles, Luna waited for Amerley. She’d parked at the far end where there was very little activity. Engine running, foot on the accelerator, contemplating the very worst.
Amerley came out of the office looking smashing in a tightly fitted beige skirt suit. The heels of her mirror black Louboutin stilettos scraped the pavement lightly as she walked. She peered over and through parked cars looking for her until she saw Luna’s headlights flicker 60 metres away. Amerley waved.
With every step forward, she inched farther away from safety and into Luna’s crosshairs. In a manic rage, Luna sat seething in the car; teeth gritted, fingers tightened like a noose around the steering, and her foot tapping rhythmically against the accelerator pedal. Occasionally, she would rev up the engine to check its responsiveness. Then in a moment of outright lunacy, she put the car in drive, floored the accelerator, and charged at Amerley. The car hit 60kmph in less than 6 seconds leaving Amerley’s reflexes no room to react. On impact, Amerley’s head slammed against the bonnet and bounced off, forcing her backward onto the pavement, where her head crashed against the concrete curb.
Foot on the brakes, Luna looked around. The parking area seemed deserted. She put the car in park, got out slowly, and walked to Amerley who was belly-up, coughing up blood, her lower half trapped beneath the bonnet and her beige suit soaked red. Luna knelt over her, placing her right hand across her neck and squeezing hard to strangle her. Amerley trembled convulsively under the pressure, using every strength to fight Luna off.
From the other end of the car park, a fruit vendor let out a loud scream, dropped her pan, and ran towards them, beating her breast as she came. Heeding the cry for help, people emerged from their offices and followed her to the scene, her cover cloth which hung loosely at her hips, flapped against the wind. Luna, realising that there were more people around than she’d imagined, loosened her grip on Amerley’s neck and joined in the screams for help.
To be continued…
