Song: Beamer (Bad Boys) – Rema & Rvssian (My Nigerian crush. Rema and Burnaboy)

*Unedited* (Another light hearted chapter for you guys 😊. Well, light to some extent)

It wasn't like I was trying to get away, so I didn't know why he was chasing me like his life depended on it. I knew I wasn't in the best of shapes so there was no way I'd be foolish enough to try and outrun him.

I was simply heading to the car, but my stupid bathroom slippers had to get in the way, making me trip and fall.

The ground was a long way down, and my anticipation for the pain made it even worse. I knew people were looking at me as I clutched my sore elbow. It scraped the ground due to the uncomfortable position I fell in.

Kofi quickly caught up and stood over me.

I was already short and his height was intimidating all the time, but I was on the ground now. It was much worse.

"Now where did you think you were going?" He asked, holding out his hand to me.

The flesh covering my elbow was torn off, that was for sure. I put pressure on the skin around it that was still... well, there, and got up on my own. "To the car." I replied.

I looked at my feet and saw that the part of the slippers that sat between my big toe and the toe beside it was torn. I really wasn't thinking straight when I wore bathroom slippers out, was I?

"Take those off. The only thing worse than wearing bathroom slippers is wearing torn bathroom slippers."

More people were looking at me. I wondered what my hair looked like in their eyes. How could I have been so torn up over a boy leaving me that I went out dressed so shabbily? That was not me. In love or not, this behaviour of mine is so unusual.

I sighed, averting my eyes to the ground. I lifted my feet and took the slippers off. The weather was lovely with a hint of harmattan in the air, so the ground was cool and quite pleasant. It'd have been great if sand particles weren't sticking to my foot.

"Give those to me," Kofi said, holding out his hand.

I looked up at him. "Why, so that you'll slap me with them?"

"Elorm," he chuckled. "of course not. I'm just helping out."

"That's not like you, so there must be nothing good about your seemingly good intentions." I replied. I held onto the slippers and led the way back to the car with my head still bowed. My skin was crawling under the gaze of all those eyes.

"Princess? What happened?" Wolfgang's eyes passed over the wound on my elbow that I was still putting pressure on and my injured arm with which I was holding the slippers.

"It's nothing. Can we leave?"

"Your ice cream..." Kofi said.

"Leave it."

"No. I'll go and buy it, I'll be back." He passed a look to his brother which I couldn't really decipher.

I went and sat in the car after shoving the bags inside.

Wolfgang came and sat beside me. "Did he do something? What happened to your elbow?"

"I tripped. The bathroom slippers."

He took them from me. "I told you it was a bad idea to wear those."

"I wasn't exactly in the best mind frame."

He sighed. "He'll find his way back to you."

"What?" I turned to him.

"Michael. You're sure that he loves you, aren't you?"

I stared at him for a while before nodding uncertainly.

"Then he'll find his way back to you. There's only so much the chief can do to hold him back."

I frowned when I felt pain shoot through me. The air passing over it made it worse. "I know that. That's why I'm afraid that he'll come for me or my family. If I'm not willing or around anymore, Michael won't have anyone to fight for. He'll accept his betrothed."

"Once the chief sent you over here, you became ours. We won't let him do anything to you. You're safe over here."

"And my family?"

He shook his head slowly, pursing his lips. "I'm afraid that there's nothing we can do for them. They're still in his village."

"Right," I nodded.

Kofi came back with our ice cream. I was surprised when I took my ice cream from him and realised that it was the same coffee and Oreo flavoured ice cream with Oreo crumbs. He noticed.

"Ew, what's that?" Wolfgang asked, poking my cup. His own ice cream was white, which meant vanilla and brown, probably chocolate. There were colourful sprinkles on top of it, along with some biscuit crumbs.

"Have you seen yours? Vanilla and chocolate?" I countered.

Kofi sparked the car to life and began to reverse. We'd spent a lot of time in the mall; it was probably afternoon by now. "Vanilla and chocolate is a classical mix. Shut up."

"See? Even he knows!" Wolfgang exclaimed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kofi queried, looking in that driver's mirror high up.

"You know what that means, shut up." Wolfgang said. Kofi just shook his head. Wolfgang turned to me and eyed my ice cream. "Can I taste that? What is it though?"

Kofi laughed. "Coffee and Oreo."

Wolfgang's eyes widened into the size of saucers. "You're officially the most disgusting person I've ever met."

I shook my head, uncapped my cup and licked my ice cream. An ice cream spoon was in the rubber but I decided not to use it until I got to the under part. I wanted to eat as much of the ice cream as I could before it started to melt.

Everyone knows that ice cream doesn't hit right when it's warm.

"What did you get?" Wolfgang asked Kofi. "And no, I'm not a bad brother for not knowing your favourite. You don't like ice cream."

I choked. Wolfgang patted my back as I regained my bearing. "W-what?"

Wolfgang nodded.

I put my arm down because the wound was hurting. I couldn't move my arm around as freely as usual due to the pain. "Figures." I replied.

He looked at me through that mirror again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I scowled at him. "Your heart is already as cold as it can be. You don't need ice cream."

He just rolled his eyes and refocused on the road.

"Hey," Wolfgang began in an attempt to ease the tension. "let me see your arm."

He didn't wait for me to give it to him, but rather, grabbed the area just above the wound and yanked my arm to him.

I bit my lip to muffle the cry of pain that tried to escape. I snatched my arm back – successfully doubling my pain – and hissed at him. "Be patient, you brute."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

I gave him my arm. He turned it this way and that way, inspecting my wound. "Looks like you ripped off one whole layer of skin."

"Stop being so dramatic," I rolled my eyes. "one whole layer?"

"She barely skimmed the surface. Serves her right for wearing bathroom slippers to the mall." Kofi quipped.

I ignored him. We both did.

"When we get home, we'll have to put some antiseptic on it and bandage it."

I ignored the fact that he just used the word 'home'. That place was no home of mine. Prison, was more like it. "No," I whined. "I've been wounded before. That thing hurts."

"Die of tetanus then." Kofi said again.

Again, he was ignored.

"Come on, stop being a baby."

"No, no, no."

"We're taking care of that wound as soon as we get back. End of story."

"You can't force me."

"Watch me."

I glared at him. "See what you've done? My ice cream is melting."

"I mean, coffee tastes good warm too."

"It's coffee flavoured ice cream, it's not coffee."

"The thought alone brings bile rushing up my throat. Who even decided to create that flavour?"

"Those of us who are fed up with the clichés." I said smugly. "Vanilla and chocolate. Reminds me of nerd-jock stories."

"One reason why we love clichés is that no matter how many times we read – or taste them, in this case – they never get old."

"Do you know the definition of the word 'cliché'?"

"Are you insulting my intelligence?"

"I'm sorry, you have intelligence?"

"How dare you? At least I have a senior high school diploma!"

"That was such a low blow."

"You asked for it."

"Well, I don't need to spend sixteen years in school to be considerably smarter than you."

"You're not smarter than I am."

"I am. By far. You still eat chocolate and vanilla in twenty-eighteen."

"That's your argument?"

"A very valid argument."

"Coming from someone who drinks frozen coffee!"

"Coffee flavoured ice cream, dumbo."

"You did not..."

"I did, what are you going to do about it?"

"Okay that's enough," Kofi cut in, sounding clearly exasperated. "both of you, shut up, or I'll stop the car and kick you both out."

"Who does this fella think he is?" Wolfgang asked me.

"You really want to try me?" Kofi challenged.

"I dare you to drop us off." Wolfgang said.

"Fine."

I didn't think he would. We were right in the middle of the road. Kofi wasn't playing though. I wondered if he ever did joke.

The man really did drive over to the side of the road and stopped the car. We were on the Accra-Tema motorway where cars drove at full speed, so cars were just noisily whizzing past us.

"Really, bro?" Wolfgang exclaimed.

"Get out."

"He's not serious... is he?" I lifted a brow.

"He sure isn't. He's tripping."

Kofi didn't say anything.

"Okay. Let's see." Wolfgang said. He took my hand and pulled me out of the car with him. "B–"

Kofi didn't even wait for him to finish. He drove off immediately.

Wolfgang's jaw sat comfortably on the ground.

"He didn't just leave, did he? Am I seeing things? Did I hit my head?" I questioned.

"He left." Wolfgang said like he was in awe. Then he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "He'll be back."

We held on to that hope and stood there for thirty minutes.

"He's not coming back." I said.

"Wow. He actually left."

"I thought he was just playing."

"We must've pissed him off."

"But when? How?"

I knew when and how. It must've been when we were bickering like siblings. He must've been jealous. If anything, I felt glad knowing that I was making him suffer just like he was doing to me. He deserved to suffer.

But the odds weren't in my favour now as we stood on the side of the road like a couple of homeless beggars; especially me, with my naked feet and unattractive clothing.

"Do you think I should call him?" Wolfgang asked, patting his pocket for his phone.

"That's exactly what he wants. Let's take a taxi."

"Elorm, a taxi can't take us where we want to go."

"Right..."

"I'll call him then."

I groaned. I didn't want him winning.

He answered on the third ring. "Brother, you left."

There was silence as Kofi replied.

"It wasn't a real dare."

Again, the silence.

"Please just come back for us. My ice cream is melting!" I said loudly, hoping he'd hear.

Leaving the ice cream in the car was the worst mistake I'd ever made. It'd be warm to the touch when I go back for it.

"What? It's not even been an hour. You can't have gotten back so quickly." Wolfgang continued.

"He's not coming?" I asked. My ice cream.

Wolfgang shushed me. "Fine, send one of the drivers."

"But my ice cream," I whined.

"Can you send Elorm's ice cream with him? Mine too."

I shifted close to Wolfgang to hear his response. "If you wanted your ice cream so badly, you wouldn't have dared me. When you get back, you can put it in the fridge. Bye."

Wolfgang removed his phone from his ear, which meant that Kofi had ended the call. Wolfgang turned to me, deadpan. "I'm going to kill the son of a gun."

* * *

Coupled with the delay and the time it took to get to us and back to the mansion, the afternoon was almost ready to give up by the time we got back.

"Devan!" Wolfgang shouted, marching up the stairs.

I just plopped myself onto one of the living room sofas, washed out. I spent a long time standing and suffering the judgemental stares from passers-by. The car ride too was too long; I'd gotten car sick in no time.

I clutched my stomach again as I felt it rumble. Coupled with disgusting thoughts about – for some reason I can't understand – me drinking poo water, I was about to lose my 'breakfast'. I groaned and rested my head on the sofa.

I could hear yelling from upstairs, which meant that Wolfgang was really angry with Kofi. I thought it was all just buffoonery, but from the sounds of it, both of them were letting each other have it quite noisily.

I wasn't exactly cool with Wolfgang – I hadn't forgotten that he brought me here in the first place – so I was fine with letting them fight. I just needed some sleep to burn today's memory out of my mind.

I hate to admit it, but Kofi's words really cut me deep. I'd never felt so insecure about myself in my life. I wouldn't be forgetting that anytime soon.

I dreaded climbing the stairs back to Michael's room. My legs were wobbling, my stomach was upset and I was dead tired. I wanted food and a good shower. I hoped to have dinner with the others tonight.

I steeled myself and made it as far as the door before I fell. I pushed the door open with much difficulty and staggered to the bed. My poor stomach was knotting itself as what I'd eaten was rushing up my oesophagus.

Who'd have ever thought I'd get car sick, when a month ago, it was a dream for me to ride in a nice car? I went to the toilet, but I didn't vomit. Instead, I groaned when I realised that wetness between my legs.

I was glad it hadn't started long enough to show in my trousers. That would've been the ultimate embarrassment. Luckily, Etornam was also occupying this room, and I don't know whether she had sanitary pads just to deceive Michael, but there they were, in one of the drawers.

I took a quick shower and put on a fresh shirt, realising that this time round, I needed panties. I didn't know if the men were still arguing though, and it's not like I could go in there and sneak out with a pair of panties.

I sighed and wondered if I could fit the pad in one of the tighter boxers. I was very fortunate that day, because as I rummaged around for boxers, I came across a pack of tampons. Etornam, that sneaky wench.

"Hey God," I greeted, now that He had come out of hiding and was actually watching over me.

Once I was done taking care of myself, I dumped the jeans and boxers that I'd ruined in the bathroom wastebasket and snuggled under the sheets. I loved how everything on and around me smelt like him.

I was drifting off to sleep, but I was awake soon after. I wondered why I woke up. I rose from bed and pulled the curtains back, seeing that it was pitch black outside, which meant night had fallen. I looked at the clock on the bedside table, seeing that it was seven pm.

I realised that a dream had woken me up. No, rather, it was a memory. The memory kept nagging at my mind. Well, first it was the memory of the hurtful things Kofi said to me at the mall, then the memory of me tripping, then surprisingly, the memory of me buying the pills at the pharmacy.

I still had no idea why I did that, or what possessed me to do that. I went over to the bathroom. The jeans and the boxers were still there. The boxers had gotten stained, but there was only a small dot on the jeans.

I threw it away because blood stains were hard to get out, but more importantly, the jeans held bad memories. Yet still, I removed them from the wastebasket and rummaged through the pockets for the bottle. I clutched it and yanked it out.

Sleeping pills.

No, I wasn't thinking of overdosing on them. That silly thought of self-harm was long gone, and now, I was wondering what would've have happened if Barbie hadn't gotten there in time. I owed her.

I'd gotten these sleeping pills for Kofi.

When realisation dawned on me, my heart began to beat faster. Seven o'clock. They'd be having dinner. Kofi must be eating on the balcony of his room, like he usually does.

I stood up, crying out in pain when my elbow hit the toilet bowl. I looked at my elbow. I remembering scraping it, and suddenly, the pain coursed through my arm. Funny how I only remember that there's pain when I remember that there's a wound.

My sub-conscious must've planned the whole thing when I was oblivious, and the right events had taken place to put my plan into action.

I glanced at my wounded elbow. It was disgusting.

I exhaled, trying to calm my racing heart before I went ahead to execute the plan that I had no idea I had.

Once I was in front of Kofi's door, I took another calming breath and knocked. I quickly slipped the bottle of pills into my boxers.

He took a while, but when he opened the door and saw me there, he frowned deeply. "What are you doing here?"

I pulled the most innocent face I could muster. "My elbow." I lifted it.

"Why don't you go to Wolfgang?"

"He must be eating. I don't want to disturb him." I said slyly. I needed to come up with a better excuse for why I wanted him and not his brother, because it was common knowledge that we couldn't stand each other.

"My food will be brought to me anytime soon too."

Good. He hadn't started eating yet. I needed to put Kofi to sleep, there was no two ways about it. If Wolfgang on the other hand, found me out tonight, I could simply manipulate him. It was no secret that he was head over heels for me. Kofi though, was another case all together.

"Then you better hurry, yeah?" I went past him and sat on the bed.

"Take care of your own wounds."

"I don't know how to, but I don't want to die of tetanus."

"Go to my brother," he said again. "you're not welcome back here, by the way."

"I thought you said I couldn't have Michael's room."

"You're not working for me any longer, my idiot of a brother has made that clear, so I don't care what you do with your life. You can sleep with anyone you want. It's your own health at risk."

"You'll miss me."

He scowled. "I've put my rug to better use."

I rolled my eyes. "You have some dressing to do." I lifted my elbow.

"You're not going to leave, are you?"

"You owe me for insulting me, making me fall, melting my ice cream and letting my stand by the roadside for almost two hours."

"When you put it that way..." he trailed off and disappeared into the bathroom. It would've been so easy if the food was here. I would've quickly slipped some pills inside his juice.

He came back with a first aid kit. "Only because my brother will be pissed when he finds out that you came to me."

"And here I thought you were being a decent human being for once in your life."

"Me? Never." He opened the kit. "Let me see that."

He took my arm. His hold was about ten times gentler than Wolfgang's had been. I wasn't expecting that. His fingers too were cold so I jumped when he touched me. He impatiently took the elbow again, his touch soft and gentle.

"Looks like it was already getting infected." He commented.

This wouldn't work if the food wasn't here. I needed the food to get here before he was done dressing the wound. I took my arm back. "Hey, I'm hungry."

"Okay?"

I frowned. "Everyone's having dinner but us."

"You know whose fault that is?"

I rolled my eyes. "Can I have something to eat?"

Kofi glowered. "What is wrong with you? Do I look like Rhys or Nate to you?"

"I just want something to eat, is that so much to ask?"

He exhaled. "Fine." He went out and came back with a maid, who had food for both of us on a tray. "Are you happy now?" She set the tray on the table in the middle of the room. I always wondered why he had a mini dining table in his room.

It was spaghetti, thank goodness. My mouth watered. "There's no beverage." For the pills, dumbo.

He could have slapped me in that moment, I'm sure. "Please bring us some juice." He told the maid. "Now will you stop wasting my time? Please?" He questioned.

I smiled contentedly. "Please hurry. It hurts."

When he put the antiseptic on the wound, its burn was more painful than I remembered. I hissed in pain and he smiled contentedly. I ignored him, knowing that if I played my cards right, this was the last time I'd have to deal with his wickedness.

He bandaged the wound. "There. Now get out."

"Chill, I still haven't eaten."

"Take the food and get out." He reiterated.

How was I going to get him to leave his juice unguarded? "I want to stay here."

His expression changed. He was no longer angry, but he looked guarded this time. "This behaviour of yours is suspicious."

"I... I don't want to sleep in Michael's room anymore. Too many memories." I lied.

Then he frowned again. "So, this is what all this is about? You can't just go and come back whenever you please. You chose to go there. Deal with the consequences of your actions."

"Kofi, please. Please, for once, just don't be difficult."

"I'm never difficult."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I really don't like this man. "Can I at least eat in peace before you start this nonsense?"

"What nonsense?"

I ignored him and went over to the table. There were two glasses of juice. I took one. "Please. I won't ask for anything else."

"I won't grant you anything else."

I went to the balcony. He hadn't closed the floor-to-ceiling windows, so only the curtains covered me from him. I quickly took the bottle out of my boxers, my hands shaking with fear. I couldn't get caught.

"You're letting me stay?" I hoped my voice wasn't shaking as terribly as my hands were. Three pills. That's enough.

I wasn't sure if they'd dissolve, and if they didn't, that would be very terrible for me. I put them on the floor and stepped on them. Nothing happened. My heartrate spiked as his voice sounded like it was getting nearer.

"No..."

The chair on the balcony. Its legs would be heavy enough. I grabbed the pills and went to bend beside the chair. It was heavy alright. I found it difficult lifting just one leg off the ground.

I put all three pills under and brought the leg down on it slowly. Suddenly, a gust of wind whooshed by and blew the curtains back. My heart jumped into my throat as my hands shook with fear, chilling all my blood.

Luckily, he had his back to me. He was looking at the kit and the bloodied cotton wool he used to clean the wound. The wind died and the curtains settled back into place.

"You know what? Sleep wherever you like."

I pressed a hand to my chest. My heart was beating wildly in its cage. I exhaled.

I knelt next to the chair and lifted the leg to check. Only one of the pills was somewhat crushed. I let the leg down again and sat on the arm of the chair. I was satisfied when I felt the leg drop, meaning that it'd crushed through all the pills.

I carefully gathered the whitish powder and poured it into the drink. It was only after I mixed the drink with my finger that my heart settled. This time, when the curtains came apart, he was the cause.

"But you're not sleeping on my bed." He added.

"That's fine by me." I said.

I walked past him and went into the room. The curtains covered us from each other again. Today, God was really on my side.

I simply put the drugged drink down and took the other glass. I sat down, holding my juice, and began to eat my spaghetti.

"This is so good," I began, smiling coyly. "come and eat before your food gets cold."

"Actually, I'm not hungry."

No, no, no. Why does he have to be so difficult?

He came back into the room. "I'd much rather go straight to bed."

"At least, have your juice."

He frowned. "You're being unusual today."

"Forgive me for caring. Go ahead and starve yourself." I shrugged. "At least, I'll have the room all to myself."

He chuckled. "Now we can't have that, can we?" The stupid idiot just grabbed the plate of spaghetti and went to sit on his bed.

Oh my goodness.

I couldn't risk being too suspicious, what do I do now?

He started eating. I should've put the pills in the food instead.

I watched him eat for a while, wondering what I could do.

"Why are you looking at me?" He asked.

His spontaneous question startled me, seeing that his eyes were still trained on his food.

"Uh, nothing." I squeaked, taking a quick gulp. It was orange juice, but it was reddish. It was blood orange. "Hey, this tastes funny. I don't think I've ever tried a fruit like this."

He looked at me, then at his spiked glass. "Must be blood orange."

"Really? It tastes funny."

"Funny?"

"Yes. Check."

He rolled his eyes, but he did anyway.

I smiled when he took a sip, but he needed to drink everything. "See?"

"...it's a bit different today."

Oh no. The sleeping pills.

"I like it. It's usually too sweet." He continued to drink.

I smiled contentedly. If only he was little bit into the sweeter things in life. Fool. "Well, I don't."

"I don't remember asking," he said, finishing it off.

I smiled like a Cheshire cat. Hard work pays off. "Whatever you say."

We finished our food in silence.

It was just eight o'clock, and because I'd taken a nap, I wasn't so sleepy. To my knowledge, Kofi's pills should take effect in the next hour, then he'd be asleep for a long time. I had better take a short nap so that I could be awake by eleven pm. With how nervous I was, I doubted I could oversleep, or even sleep at all.

"You can sleep on the bed if you want." Kofi said. He'd gone to take a shower and he was wearing a tank top and sweatpants.

Men. You're nice to them and boom, they want to take advantage of you. "No, thank you."

He smiled coyly. "I insist."

Which was a nicer way of saying 'you don't have a choice'. Improvement. "Why?"

"It was your choice to stay here. Deal with the consequences." He looked so pleased with himself.

"Why do you always have to make my life so difficult?"

He chuckled. "It's fun."

He was so bored and lonely. It was quite sad. When I leave, Wolfgang is going to do so too because of his addiction. He's going to be even lonelier.

Wait, was I feeling sorry for him? Who cares if he's lonely? He can die for all I care.

I went to lay in the middle of the bed, spreading myself all over. He just looked at me, then shook his head. He lay on the right, rigidly keeping himself as far away from the tip of my foot as the bed would allow.

If I let him sleep like that, he would fall off the bed and I didn't know if the sleeping pills were powerful enough to keep him asleep.

I moved over to the left side too, far enough to fall of the bed at the slightest movement.

Some minutes later, I felt the sheets move as he rolled to the middle.

"Goodnight," I said.

He ignored me.

* * *

Phew. I think I'm going to collapse from fatigue. This daily update thing is not easy, I don't encourage it. I'm sorry, it's four am so it's Sunday, but I started writing around nine pm so I tried.

Anyways, what do you think? Elorm drugged Kofi. What do you think will happen next? Will she succeeded in whatever she's trying to do?

Don't forget to vote! 🌟