𝙋𝘼𝙡𝙉 “ Please just help me balance everything” Miriam begged. Ifeoma shrugged and punched few keys on the keyboard. “ Miriam, this is not the second time, it’s not the third, and am certain this is not the last time we are doing this. If Oga…” “ Just for three hours, just three ooo, lfy babe, just three” she pleaded. “ If Oga comes back, what do you want me to say. the last time you went, we both got queries. And you know how rare this job is. An..and by the way, what is this important thing you are going out for?” she said, with her lips in a funny angle. Miriam frowned at this. Though she had done this in the past. Ify Was crossing her line. Being work pals doesn’t mean everyone should know your business. she wanted to tell lfy that it was no business of hers, but she kept quiet. “ l just want to see someone,” Miriam said calmly. Fighting with lfy won’t solve anything and moreover who would take her desk work willingly for three hours if not Ifeoma? “ Thank you , Aunty lfy, don’t worry my brother will marry you” Ifeoma laughed and continued with her work. She knew lfy would do the job, but she was also careful that she won’t become a topic of gossip in the firm. She packed her things from the desk into her handbag and walked to the toilet. She turned the tap on and splashed water on her face. She opened her bag and took her handkerchief which she used to wipe her face clean. Her phone beeped again. Ralph won’t even allow me to makeup, she said to herself. She dropped the handkerchief on the flat board and reached for her phone in the bag. Her makeup stuffs knocked against other things she kept in the bag as she searched for the device. The phone beeped again and the device’s torch flashed. She picked the phone out of the dark bag. It was a message from Ralph. 𝑀𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝐴𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒. She smiled. Ralph and his surprises, the last one he did was the iPhone he bought for her. Miriam wondered what he had in store this time. She decided not to make up again. She dropped the phone into the bag and hurried out of the toilet. “ Bye, lfy” she said and walked quickly to the exit. “ Oh, you’ve not left,” lfeoma said. When she got out of the firm’s gate, she took a cab to Raphael’s house. * * * Raphael dropped the camera carefully on the wooden shoe rack, which was an arm’s length to the bed. He clicked record and the small globe on the top of the kodak camera turned green. He walked to the bed and sat on it. He waved his hand in the air, duffed, and grinned like a mad man. Satisfied, he stood and picked the camera. He pressed play and watched the scene he just acted. The video was clear. He nodded and pressed record. His heart was beating faster and his skin was hot. He was scared of what he was about to do and his conscience, like a little god was judging his intentions. He stroked his full beard and breathed inward. The cab driver was playing Kenny Roger’s song — the gambler when she boarded the cab. She sang along for a while before her mind drifted to her relationship with Ralph. They had started as friends which she vowed would remain as such, but it turned out that she had to bend her standards. She knew it would come to this. A relationship without seeking God’s consent is bad, the one done secretly is worse. The cab jolted and made a fast bend to the left side of the road. The car screeched, its sound piercing her ear. The driver said something she didn’t hear, but she guessed it was about bad roads. The cab stopped few metres to a bungalow with a guava tree at the front. Miriam paid the cab driver and walked across the asphalt road to Ralphs’s bungalow. She knocked. “ Ralph?” “ Am coming!” He opened the door and smiled. “ Oh, l thought you won’t come again,” Ralph said, feigning dejection. “ You know l won’t do that. So what is the surprise” she said. “ Okay. hmm, wait. Wh… Why don’t you come in and have a drink before l show…” “ Ralph, you know we don’t do indoors. Our spot under that tree is good. “ “ l know…w… It’s sunny and l think inside would be fine. “ Miriam shrugged and walked in slowly. “ Show me the surprise now, abi. this suspense is too much. I can’t wait. Is it the job?” Ralph giggled and closed the door. “ Don’t spoil it” he said. “Let me close your eyes and lead you to it.” “ You and this your play- play, Oga l no get time, l have just three hours o” “ Okay,” He said and smiled. He walked to her back and covered her eyes with his palm. He gazed at the door of his room at the other end of the passage. It was opened. He smiled and cleared his throat. “ We are going straight,” he said.” one step “ she took a step. “ straight abi?” “ Yes straight” When they got to his room. he took his hands away. “ Your room?” she said and stared at him quizzically. Suspicion crept into her mind and her heart began to beat faster. “ where is it?” she asked. He frowned, licked his lips, and grabbed her. He tore her blouse into shreds and pushed her to the bed… 𝙁𝙀𝘼𝙍 Phillips dialed lfeoma’s number. She was the last person on his mind after he had called a couple of Miriam’s friends. No one had seen her. The phone rang