‘’I guess I should be going now. You know I can’t
spend the night here with you guys’’ I softly said
to Clara as we watched over Vivian who was
peacefully sleeping like a baby. The doctor really
did a pretty good job on her and had equally
assured us that she would be okay to go home
the next morning.
‘’ I guess I have a long night of watching over my
cousin all alone. Who could have imagined things
ending this way today? I’m really still confused
about the whole thing. Many things don’t add
up’’ she breathed while I softly embraced her.
‘’early tomorrow, I will head back to the hotel to
talk to the manager. I will try to get the CCTV
footage of the bar from him, with that I can check
out what really happened’’ I assured her,.
‘’what if they don’t have it?’’ she asked curiously,
bringing up her face to meet my gaze.
‘’come on don’t be ridiculous’’ I replied with a
smile.
‘’ok very well, I will wait for your call tomorrow.
Good night dearie and be careful’’ she added, and
pecked me.
——————————————–
I cautiously headed back to my house with plans
on how to follow up with the case. I had showed
up from the village that fateful day on Vivian’s
invitation and was never prepared for the turnout
of events.
I couldn’t go back to the village that evening
because it was already very late at night when I
left the hospital and I equally knew with the case
at hand that my vacation there was definitely
over.
As I got to my apartment that night I couldn’t
help but inspect my surroundings because I knew
whoever that drugged the poor girl was still very
much around following things up. I equally knew
my own life could be in danger but only hoped for
the best as I whistled a song. and headed into my
apartment.
————————-
The next morning I headed back to the hotel to
talk to a visibly surprised manager who nervously
listened to my story without interruption.
‘’I really do sympatize with the poor lady but I
can assure you that neither the bartender nor any
of my staff was responsible for her condition. We
run background checks before employing anybody
and I can vouch for them. Luckily the bartender in
question works two shifts and he’s at the hotel
already, I will send for him right away and equally
get the CCTV records for the previous day for you
to see’’ he replied politely, grabbed his office
phone and summoned the bartender who
appeared within two minutes.
‘’this young man here is a DSS officer and he’s
here concerning the lady that collapsed at the
toilet yesterday. You served her drinks right?’’ he
asked the young man who was probably in his
early twenties.
‘’yes sir I served her like every other customer.
She didn’t drink much. I was really surprised
when I heard she fell at the toilet. My first
thought when I heard the news was that probably
her head couldn’t take the drinks she took which
weren’t much in the first place’’ he nervously
replied.
‘’fine, I will collect your name and phone number
from the manager and get back to you if I still
need you for more questioning. You can go now’’
I said to him while he heaved a sigh of relief,
smiled and headed out of the office.
‘’so now I will be needing the CCTV record you
promised’’ I said to the manager who smiled and
stood up.
‘’I will be back shortly with it. Let me go get it at
the security department’’ he breathed while I
nodded. Definitely with it I could see what really
happened at the bar the previous evening.
Clara’s side of the story continues from the first
scene
It really was a very long and uncomfortable night
for me as I watched over Vivian. Of course I could
have easily assigned someone to be with her and
gone home to sleep but I didn’t do it because I
wanted her to feel respected and appreciated.
Yes I must confess it really took me a whole lot
to be with her till morning. I wasn’t used to
spending the night in such an uncomfortable
small room. In fact I wasn’t even sure of making
it to the next morning but I luckily did. My mum
on her own part kind of disturbed all night with
her calls.
‘’where am i?, what happened?’’ Vivian woke up
the next morning asking like a terrified child. I
smiled and held her hands.
‘’I believe someone got to you at the hotel and
got drugs into your system. We still don’t know
how it happened’’ I informed her slowly while she
closed her eyes.
‘’I remember nothing. All I remember is having
few drinks at the bar as I waited for you and Val
to finish with your romance’’ she managed to
mutter while I rolled my eyes as the memories of
what we did the previous day played back in my
head.
——————————————
Two hours later we were back in the house to
face my mum who was as curious as ever. I had
to leave Vivian in her room to rest further while
mum and I went into my room to talk. For the
first time, I opened up to her, telling her
everything and hiding nothing. I had no choice
than to tell her everything myself because I knew
she would still find out if I hid my story. However
I couldn’t help but smile inside as I noticed the
different expressions her face gave out as I
narrated everything to her, including my rekindled
relationship with val. Seriously I didn’t know what
got over me that gave me the mind to open up to
her as if we were mates.
‘’so you see mum, there is no doubt Charles is
behind everything. I won’t marry him anymore.
He’s too tricky. He has a bad heart. He’s a
chameleon’’ I concluded seriously while my old
lady grabbed a bottle of water which was on my
table, drank it and breathed deeply.
‘’my ears are filled up believe me. Dear Lord, you
children of nowadays is something else. Gosh I
feel so terrible and disgusted’’ she muttered with
a frown.
‘’mum let’s talk about the current issue at hand
please. How do I deal with Charles?. I need your
help. I need your support’’ I asked seriously.
‘’you should first ask yourself if all Vivian told you
was the truth in the first place?, even according
to your story she had and still has a thing for
your val. Are you really sure she told you the
truth?. Let’s not sacrifice Charles yet till we
confront him. He called me yesterday evening, full
of excitement that he finally secured the ministry
of works deal he has been fighting for his father.
He equally hinted of making full payment for a
house he got close to ours for your sake. Do you
think such a guy is capable of doing all you
accused him of?’’ mum asked while I drew back
in despair. I couldn’t help but feel that I made a
mistake telling her the whole story.
‘’Anyway first thing first, since Charles will be
showing up either today or tomorrow we will
confront him together and decide afterwards. Do
you agree??’’ she asked while I swallowed hard
and nodded. Deep down I felt very uncomfortable.
How do I get to catch him red handed??
To be continued