Afraid To Love – Episode 32

By Patience Ahworegba
95

The wooden door flung open, without a knock. That sent Supt Cayson’s head upwards, towards the direction of the door. He frowned. He hated being rudely interrupted. He got ready to lash the offender with angry words.

A female figure bounced in.

The frown on his face soon disappeared and was replaced with a look of amazement and worry. What was she doing here? She just bursted in. It was strange of her to do that. She looked worried and nervous. She seldomly visit him at work – only when there was trouble. He stood up hastily. “What is wrong? Are you okay?” he inquired, pushing himself to meet her.

Tricia lazily staggered towards her dad. She had just been humilated – the worst ever. It had never happened, ever. She’d played the fool, pleading for a man to have affection for her. Her emotions propelled her to act that way, she wasn’t thinking straight. That was that, nothing could be done about it. All she needed at that instant was comfort. Comfort from the only person she knew loved her, cared for her and was willing to risk anything for her safety and happiness. That one person was David Cayson – her papa.

David warmly welcomed his daughter into his arms. He held her affectionatley, gently giving her pats at intervals on her back. She was sobbing, this time. He had no idea what was bothering her, what put her in that situation and made her cry. It was what he could not comprehend at that instance; however, he was willing to bring her comfort, consolation and soother her. He was ready to do away with all negative feelings surging through her.

“Calm down, my darling, calm down,” he spoke calmly, hoping it’d take some of her anxiety away.

Tricia was not able to bottle up what she felt anymore. It took her by surprise when she broke into tears in her father’s arms – she was hardly moved to tears. It felt nice expressing her innermost feelings that way. She tried to control it, tried to stop the tears from falling. They didn’t relent, it kept running down her cheeks more and more; especially as she recalled how Jeremy walked out on her. He took no pity. He didn’t feel sorry for her. Neither did he endeavour to understand her feelings. Her viewed her as a pathetic human being. What wrong had she done just to need someone like she’d never done before? The most shameful part of the scenerio was the fact that Jeremy had his house servants throw her out of the house. It was simply unbelievable. She was treated like a commoner, a nobody. They dared laid their disgusting hands on her. It was a pitiable situation.

Her sobbing increased to the next level as those events invaded her thoughts. She wondered why Jeremy had deemed her fit to recieve such cheeky treatment. She was filled with despair, anger and grief. Despair towards having any lasting relationship with Jeremy or any other man. Anger towards Jeremy for abandoning her and treating her like unwanted garbage. Grieving herself, her loss for not being his Purity. She hadn’t got what she needed.

“Tricia,” David whispered.

d–n it! she thought. Why did he have to call her that? She wants to be called Purity, not Tricia. Wouldn’t anyone just listen and grant her request? Was it that difficult? “Father,” she croaked, “Is anything wrong with me?”

“I don’t understand you, my dear,” David replied, confused.

“Why do men reject me? I’m not called Purity, is that the reason?” she asked, clinging unto her father.

There was something defintely going on with Tricia. Why was she suddenly obsessed with that name? And who on earth was the guy that rejected her? What was happening in her life? “My love, no guy rejeceted you. You’re soon to be married. Jeremy, right?” he smiled, there was warmth in his voice. He wanted her to feel it.

“Hell no! He’s not!” she screamed, breaking free from her father’s grip. She held his gaze, “I’m not getting married to him.”

“What? What is it you’re saying? I saw your engagement ring, you…” he sighed, coming his hair with a hand. “You showed it to me. He can’t end things with you.”

“I lied,” she bluntly confessed, looking away.

David found her revelation shocking and incomprehensible. What did she mean by that? The whole thing was a lie? Was that why Jeremy never made it to dinner? Who lies about being engaged to a man? He couldn’t believe his daughter had turned into a liar.

A tap on his door dragged him out of his thinking. He turned to it. He stared curiously at the two men standing by it. He was in no mood for any troubles. “Yes?”

“There’s an urgent matter at hand,” Myles reported.

96

Jeremy slowly turned the brass handle of the old door. He didn’t mind that it was dirtly, covered in dust and cobwebs. Surprisingly, the door gave way; creaking open. He maintained his pace, pushing it slowly. Soon enough, it was wide open, suitable for them to go through.

The scent that greeted him was familiar. It was strange. The whole house – parts that he’d been through smelled of dust and age. It was different here. The smell was feminine and it was hers. He looked around the room. His eyes slowly darting around it. She’d been kept here, she’d been in the room for days, but she was no where to be found.

His eyes caught a slender figure of a man. He was kneeling besides the window, his head bent. Who could that be? Jeremy mused, silently. Why wasn’t Purity here? What was happening? Without much ado, he hurried off to the unknown man, yanked him to himself and held him by the throat, trying to choke him. To his utmost surprise, it was Ernest.

“Where the f–k is she?” Jeremy roared, his eyes unreadable.

Ernest was taken aback when he felt a hand grab him roughly. He was unprepared to fight back. He let his cousin position his hands on his neck. That was what he wished for, he wanted death to take him away. He’d been so stupid, now she was never going to belong to him or his cousin. He displayed another act of stupidity by not even noticing the door creak and two people invaded his privacy; all because he had been absorbed in his thoughts. He was mourning his loss, his failure.

“Answer me!” Jeremy demanded, choking him.

Ernest had wanted to speak. It was impossible. Very strong hands blocked the easy flow of words in him. He remained mute, bearing the pains as his punishment for being stupid.

“Let him go,” he heard another voice order. He shifted his gaze. That was the man he had met the night he cleared the room for Purity. He had also been fooled by him – all the more reason he wished to die.

“Let him go,” Darren instructed a second time. He held out his gun and pointed it at Ernest. “He can’t speak when he’s about to be strangled. And you have no right to take a life. I can handle this.”

The anger burned more fiercly within Jeremy as he listened to Darren’s lecture. Resignedly, he removed his hands from Ernest’s throat. Darren was right. “Good thing he saved you from my wrath!” he grunted.

“I….think….. I deserved that,” Ernest responded amidst coughing gasping for air.

“Don’t you-”

“Hold it!” Darren commanded, just in time to stop Jeremy from putting a punch on Ernest’s mouth. “I got this.”

“How did you find me?” Ernest questioned, unafraid.

“You should be worried about what’s gonna happen to you and not that,” Darren replied.

Ernest tittered, “I don’t care about that anyway. She’s gone.”

*
*
*

David sighed. Dealing with the new version of Tricia Cayson was of more importance to him. That was his promise to his late wife. “I was busy before you came in. We can talk about that later,” he spoke his mind, rejecting the offer to get busy to work.

“Its-”

“I beg to disagree sir,” came Allan’s voice, cutting Detective Myles off, “It does affect me personally and I need immediate action.”

“Who are you?” David demanded. He was already irritated.

“Allan. Doctor Allan,” he boldly answered, smiling.

Tricia froze on hearing that name. A million and one thoughts ran across her mind. He had come to report Purity’s case to the cops? Does he have any evidence implicating her and Ernest? Oh, no! Not in the presence of her papa. He’d lose his trust, more of it in her. He’d be disappointed in her. He’d resnt her, never love her or care for her. She had brought disgrace to him and she’d be all alone in the world.

“What can I do for you, Dr. Allan?” David asked.

Allan and Myles fully entered the room.

“This is a private investigation,” Myles informed Supt David. “Do you mind if you do this alone?”

David shook his head. He wasn’t gonna let Tricia out of his sight. Its time she started taking her profession seriously – just as he does. “Nope. Let me do some introductions,” he swiftly turned Tricia to face the men. “This is my daughter, Tricia Cayson. Tricia, meet Myles, another superintendent and a man with an urgent case – Dr. Allan.”

Tricia’s entire body quivered under the gaze of the doctor. She was short of words. Didn’t know what to say to him. She hadn’t yet cooked up a device on how to deal with him, she was facing him again. She s—-d at unplanned visits. She nodded mechanically, in replacement of her not-to-be-found-words.

Allan smiled silly. “Nice to meet you, again.”

Myles had no idea what was happening.

“You two know eachother?” David enquired

97

“Where are you taking me?” Purity demanded for the umpteenth time. She was bundled up, riding in a red SUV in the middle of two bloody looking men. “Let me go!” she spat out.

“Shut up!” one of the men chided. His eyes narrowed at her. “Don’t make any more sound!”

Purity snorted, “I demand to know! I have every right to, where are you taking me?”

“For the very last time,” he warned again. “Shut your mouth up!”

The feeling of rage burning within her was instense, it intensified as the man kept rebuking her. That, she wouldn’t take. She didn’t know them, never seen them all her life. “Where the hell is Ernest? Who are you people? Leave me alone!” she defied their orders outrightly. She wouldn’t be taken to a place she never knew of without a fight. For Ernest to abduct her and put her through hell was what she could pull through. She knew what he was capable of doing and that he’d never hurt her. Presently, she was with men she had never seen in her entire life, riding to an unknown destination. She couldn’t understand why all that was happening. Her life was suddenly upturned. Jeremy never even came for her. All her hopes were dashed. She’d depend soley on herself. “Just give me an answer! Where are you taking me to? Where is Ernest Turner?”

*
*
*

“What do you mean ‘she’s gone?’” Jeremy retorted.

Ernest coughed and spat out. “He doublecrossed me. He betrayed me. She’s gone,” he repeated.

What was he talking about? Betrayed? By who? He was speaking in riddles. “Just get to the point,” Jeremy snarled. “Where is she?”

Ernest didn’t think much about it. He had no option than to open up to them. He musn’t have Melisa. He’d do what he could to correct his mistakes. He didn’t get what he wanted. He cleared his throat, “Jayden Cristiano. He helped me. Promised to make her mine. It was all a trick. He took advantage of my desperation. How much I wanted to be with her. Now, she’s on her way to him. We didn’t plan it this way,” he lamented. “She was to be with me and not him.”

Jeremy sank deeper into confusion as he listened to Ernest’s story. He sighed. Only if he knew it’d be this difficult and confusing.

“You know where he’s taking her to?” Darren questioned.

“I do.”

“Move it! We’re going to get her.”

*
*
*

“Jeremy, I’m sorry,” Ernest admitted that he was wrong. He regretted his actions. Few words had changed him. Words he never wanted to affect him. They did have very powerful effects on him.

“Don’t you think its too late for that?” Jeremy asserted, sarcastically.

“I know…. I know I’ve been wrong. I feel guilty, remorse for what I’ve done.”

Jeremy scoffed. “Then you must have felt it when you had her for days! Much more, even before you did all of these!”

“I love her! I felt I was doing it for love and she’ll get to love me back.”

“Screw you!” Jeremy snarled.

Ernest exhaled. He never imagined apologising to anyone. He had never been in the wrong. He wasn’t fallible. He could do whatever he wished. He could get anyting he wanted, nothing could stop him. That was how he was taught – by his mother. He had lived that way; always getting what he wanted till he met Melisa. Now he realized his mother was wrong. Getting what you wanted always doesn’t bring real happiness. Letting go and making others happy actually brought real peace of mind. A doctor made him understand that and he was going to right his wrongs. “Are you going to at least listen to me?”

Darren sighed. This was a family issue – meant for them only. He wasn’t gonna interfere. They both deserved to voice out their feelings and make decisions.

“Yeah, I’d wanna listen to a whole lot of crap,” Jeremy spat out. Apologies and all that bullshit were the last things he wanted to hear. He only wanted his demon of a cousin to bring back his Purity safe, without any scratch. Maybve after that he’d give a thought to what he was saying.

*
*
*

“Um, yeah,” Allan answered still smiling. He knew she’d expect him to spill the bean. But he was too smart for that. He was going to take everything slow and steadily. “We’ve ran into eachother a couple of times when Jeremy Broderick was hospitalized,” he said, giving her some advantage.

Tricia heaved a sigh of relief. She was relieved he kept his mouth shut. How was she sure he’d had other plans, waiting to be unravelled. She waved such thoughts aside. Feeling fagged out, she wanted to leave, get home, shower and sleep.

..to be continued