Love At Last

LILY

After everything I explained to this guy in front of me, he still had the nerve to ask me for more. As far as I was concerned, he was being really insensitive.

“Golf meeting?” I asked again and scoffed. I wondered how someone could be as insensitive and as self-centered as he was.

“Listen,” I held myself back from getting angry and scolding him again. “I really don’t think it’s best for me to remain here, okay? I need to leave and right away okay?”

“Lily please listen. If I go there alone, it’d portray our relationship as a joke or even a fake in front of everyone. Please I really need your help on this one,” he pleaded.

“Cayden don’t you get it? You really don’t? With everything that happened, you really do expect me to go back there?” I pointed the door as a form of gesture.

“I promise to be better this time, Lily. Please you have to help me. I’m okay with you calling me selfish but please, you really do have to come to my aid on this. I need you badly,” he pleaded heartily. He was doing the thing again – using his seductive tone on me. He knew very well what buttons to push and it infuriated me the more.

“Please?”

“But I really have to be back in time. Are you not putting me into consideration here?”

“Okay, how about we do this?” He looked like he had an idea.

“You have an idea?” I asked.

“Yes. How about we just make an appearance together and few minutes later, You feign a faint or stomach upset or anything at all that you could use as an excuse to excuse yourself and exit the premises?” he asked staring at me.

I thought about what he said for some time, it wasn’t a bad idea after all. I decided to help him as he had me completely swept off my feet.

“How long from now is the said meeting?” I asked and noticed the instant switch in his countenance from ‘nervous’ to ‘happy’.

He looked at the time and replied, “thirty minutes from now actually.”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” I gave in, but grudgingly.

“Thank you so much, Lily. You’re the best,” he appraised me and headed for the bathroom to start preparing.

The golf meeting was held at a golf course obviously. In no time, the golf club were all present, including Gabriel – Cayden’s rival. We were all in golf clothing.

“Nice shot,” they all cheered Cayden as he played.

Those who played took on the putter and made their shots, while those who didn’t stood by the side and cheered for them. Among those who cheered were me and Gabriel. For some reason though, Gabriel had his eyes on me the entire time which made me feel very uneasy. After checking my wristwatch for the umpteenth time in a bid to discern when the best time would be to feign a stomach upset without giving off the smell of a rat, I decided to go for it.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“Arghhh!” I groaned and held tight to my stomach. Gabriel immediately rushed to me. “What’s wrong miss?” he asked.

“My stomach hurts badly,” I groaned. “It does?” I sensed sarcasm in his tone. “You ate something Cayden didn’t? Because he…,” he gestured towards Cayden, “seems just fine,” he completed his sentence.

I turned to look at his face, “I said I feel sick right now. What are you saying?” I still remained in character.

“We have a medic team, you know? We could call them for you. How’s that? This guy was hell bent on frustrating my efforts. “No, thank you,” I declined politely.

Cayden then noticed what was up and came to us. “What’s wrong Lily?” he held on to me to provide me with support as I was bending over a bit. “Are you okay? What happened to you?” He asked compassionately almost at once. Cayden was a complete drama ‘king’. He was being so dramatic; I hoped he didn’t spur unnecessary suspicions.

In no time, the entire club were all around me, inquiring of my condition. “What’s wrong honey?” one of the investors’ wife asked with concern. “Is it that time of the month?” another chipped in. In order to look the part, I ignored their concerns and kept groaning.

“She could go home if she isn’t ok,” I heard someone said what I wanted to hear. “Or we could call the medic team,” Gabriel suggested and extinguished the ray of hope I thought I had. Gabriel immediately put a call across and requested for the medic team. ‘Shoot! This is heading for a proper screw up’, I said in my mind.

I looked at Cayden, scanning his face and eyes for any possible solutions. ‘Say something’, I said to Cayden without uttering a word.

“Gabriel that wouldn’t be necessary,” he finally said. “As a matter of fact, she’s been having episodes as this one for a while now, we need to get her to a hospital or better still, invite my personal doctor over. We need to go,” he lied. “Thanks for your concern,” he added.

“Oh is that so?” Gabriel didn’t seem to buy Cayden’s story. “I’m sure everyone would be curious to know what will become of her condition…,” he took glances at each an everyone present, “why don’t I accompany you both?” he finally asked and sent chills down my spine. What was this his problem?

“Excuse you?” Cayden retorted. “If anyone here is curious, they can as well call me on phone to ask of her. Why do you need to come along?” Cayden spoke in his defense.

“There’s no harm, right?” he asked no one in particular. I noticed some other members there bought his idea, seeing how they nodded repeatedly.

“Unless you have something to hide, this shouldn’t be a problem,” he said, acting all smug.

“Listen Gabriel, Lily here is mine and taking care of her is completely my responsibility, okay? You do not have to bother yourself with our business,” Cayden backfired.

“Hey, hey, hey. Calm down Cayden. No one here is competing with you over this.” “True!” I heard someone else concur. Things were about to get real messy. “All I ask is to be there as a representative of this honorable club,” he spread out his arms as a form of gesture.

“But…,”

“It’s fine…,” I cut Cayden off to his surprise, “you can come with us,” I concluded. ‘What are you doing?’ spelt the expression on Cayden’s face as he turned around to stare at me wide-eyed. I nodded slightly in a bid to say ‘I got this, relax’.

“It’s fine?” Gabriel asked looking all thrilled. “Yes you can tag along,” I replied. “Seems like she doesn’t have a problem with it after all,” Gabriel said to Cayden.