From Africa Ch. 11

'Say that you're ill.'

'Olu, I wish it were that easy. I'm sorry, but I can't… I'll have Henriette come over to care for you until I come back.'

'I'm concerned for your safety,' his voice sounded strained.

'Don't worry; I'll just tell Eugene to…'

'No!' Olu was shaking.

I held his hand and sat next to him on the bed. I started to say something, but the telephone rang. I looked to Olu to see if he would object to me answering, but he said nothing.

'Yes?' I waited for a few seconds for a response.

'Olivia!' It was Eugene.

'Yes, Eugene…'

'Are you all right?'

I looked at Olu, wondering how much I should say.

'Why do you ask?'

'Well… I've just read in the newspaper that some man was found stabbed on the street near your flat.'

'Oh, no! That sounds frightening…' I held the phone nervously, wondering how much he would ask me.

'Where were you last night?'

'I was here… after I visited with Henriette, I came home.'

Olu was watching me now, seemingly holding his breath.

'I'm concerned about this… I think that neighborhood is no good for you. I think you should go back to the house and stay with Chad for a while.'

'Chad's never there. I'd be out there all by myself… at least here, I'm close to Henriette.'

'Well, Miss Peake is there, and I think you should start traveling with her again. How did you get home last night?'

I paused, searching my mind for some innocent response to give to him.

'I walked.'

'Alone?'

'Yes.'

'Olivia, you can't go around at night alone… I've told you this a dozen times, now. You're too well known, and I don't want… I want you to move back to the house, and leave that apartment, at the earliest possible convenience…'

'But, Eugene, I…'

'I'm not going to argue with you, Olivia, it's for your own good…'

'I'm all right… really…'

'I'll come to see you later this afternoon…'

'No,' I blurted. 'I… I'll be out later.'

Olu looked alarmed.

'I'll just wait for you, then.'

'I don't know when I'll be back. I don't want to make you wait.'

'Can't you cancel your plans? This is very important, Liv.'

'I know, but I'm fine, Eugene. I'm not in any danger. I'll take a taxi.'

'I don't trust that that will be enough of a precaution.'

Olu squeezed my arm, silently expressing his apprehension.

'Eugene… I have to go now… I'll talk to you later. Please… don't worry.'

Olu was fussing at me before I could hang up the telephone.

'You can't go out. You need to stay here…'

'Yes, yes, I know. I just said that to him to throw him off. He was going to come here.'

Olu tried sit up.

'Wait…' I moved to help him, bracing his warm body as he gingerly moved around the bed.

'Olivia, you're in danger.'

'You said that last night…' I looked at him, growing nervous again. 'Who was that man?'

'I don't know exactly who he is…'

'You knew that he'd been following me, though?'

'Yes.'

'Why was he doing that?'

'Someone paid him to. I saw him, in a bar, he was with another man, talking.'

'When was this?'

'About a month ago. They would come to this place… to hatch their plan.'

'But how did you know?'

'They spoke only in English. That man, last night, was supposed to abduct you and hold you for ransom…'

I raised my hand to my mouth in shock.

'But… he was going to kill me…' I shivered in fear.

'No… he was only supposed to kidnap you… but I got in the way…'

'I'm so sorry…' I sniffled. 'He stabbed you, and I…'

'I don't want you to go out. You'll stay here with me, until we think of what to do.'

'Olu…' I paused, clearing my aching throat. 'That man, last night… what did you do to him… after he stabbed you?'

'I managed to get his knife from him, and I only stuck him in the side, here,' he pointed to a spot below his rib cage. 'And then I pushed him away. You saw it all…'

'Yes, I did…' I looked away from him for a moment, confused.

'What is wrong?' he looked at me. 'Are you afraid?'

'Yes… I'm afraid, for you.'

'Why?'

'Olu… he's dead.'

'What? That's impossible. I only gave him a shallow cut, like the one he gave to me… it was only to shock him…'

'Eugene says that they found a man stabbed to death on the street near here…'

'Maybe his cohort turned on him and killed him.'

'Olu… I'm worried.'

'So am I… the other man is out there, and he's probably angry that this has happened. That is why I want you to stay here.'

'No… I'm worried about you. What if they find out that you stabbed him? What if someone else saw it? Olu, they'll put you in prison…'

'Olivia, don't get excited. No one knows anything yet. We still have a little time.'

'I've got to get hold of a newspaper…'

'Remember… you can't go out.'

'I'll phone Henriette.' I turned to dial her phone number, wondering who would want to have me kidnapped. I couldn't help remembering what she'd said about money, and how it made people do evil things.

Henriette picked up the telephone right away, and greeted me with cheer.

'Olivia! How is your day so far?'

'It's… it's complicated to explain…'

'What? Is everything all right, Mon Amie?'

'No…'

'What is wrong, Olivia?' she sounded worried.

'Henriette, I need a favor from you…'

'Yes, of course, anything that you need.'

'Did you get the newspaper today?'

'Yes. Yes, I did.'

'Well, can you bring it here for me? Along with… some other things?'

I could hear Henriette's confusion in her voice, but she didn't question me further. I rattled off a list of things that I needed for Olu, not going into detail about the reasons, and Henriette, good friend that she was, took it all in and promised to come over in a few hours.

'Henriette is coming,' I announced to Olu as I hung up the phone.

He looked a little apprehensive at first, but calmed himself after thinking about it for a moment.

'She doesn't know that you're here… but I'm sure she'll figure it out before she gets here.'

'I don't know if they were following her, too…' Olu frowned.

'I'm sure they wouldn't…' I tried to sound brave. 'She hasn't been here in months… I only moved back into this apartment a few weeks ago.'

'I don't want to put her in any danger, Olivia.'

'We have to hope for the best… it can't be helped right now, we need her.'

'I knew that I was right…'

'What? Right about what?'

'I had this feeling… I had decided to go back to Nigeria, when I'd found out that you were married… but I had this feeling that something was not right. Somehow, I knew that you were okay all the while that the detectives were following me… but when they stopped, when my landlord stopped telling me that some man had called with questions about me… I knew that something was wrong.

'I went to Anna, hoping that she wouldn't just throw me out when she saw me… I knew that she was trying to keep you from me… I tried my best to stay away, not to think about you… I tried to forget about you, but I just couldn't get you out of my mind. I know that she was only doing what she thought was best for you… I suppose I bought into that, and I thought that being away from me was best for you, too. She'd said the same things that your father had said to me: "Olu, how could you be so selfish? How could you knowingly sabotage Olivia's future… her career… just to satisfy your animal lust?" I felt that I was being selfish… I knew that I was a distraction for you, and that you could never build a career if I was a part of your life…'

'Olu… I don't…'

'Let me finish…' he touched my arm. 'Anna was angry that I'd shown up in London… she didn't believe me when I told her that I'd been there long before you came… She screamed at me, and cursed me… it always amazes me how different she has become since she went to the university…'

'What do you mean?' I sat next to him, placing my hand on his solid thigh.

'Anna and I were friends… long ago… she was a sweet girl, and we confided in each other. But she changed… when she came to Paris, to attend school… she became a different person… it was as if her heart had frozen over, and she thought that she was too good to talk to me.'

'Anna is just jealous of you, Olu… she's always been jealous of the closeness you that had with Dad…'

'I've never been able to figure it all out…' he heaved a sigh, and furrowed his eyebrows. 'I started moving around when the detectives were on my trail… I wanted to be far enough away for you not to discover me, but still close enough so that I could know that you were well. I knew you would be coming to Paris, so I moved here a few months before you did. I was shocked to find that the detectives had followed me here, or at least, had alerted their French counterparts to spy on me…'

'That was Henriette,' I explained. 'She hired people to find you… she's always said that we should be together…'

'Henriette has always been fond of fairytales,' Olu sniffed. 'She told me once, that she thought that you and I were destined for each other, because our names sounded alike… I think she was drunk when she said that,' he chuckled.

I smiled warmly, blushing as I watched him express something other than pain or displeasure for the first time since I'd found him again.

'Olu… how have you survived all of this time? Why are you living so meagerly, when you have so much money saved?'

'I don't need much… there was only one thing that would make me happy, and I couldn't have that, so why bother with anything else?'

'Why did you send your money to me?'

'I know that it will be safe with you…'

'But, Olu, you just told me that someone was trying to kidnap me, to hold me for ransom… that would only put more money into the kidnappers' pockets.'

'I know that your money is safe… I hired a detective of my own… and he enlightened me on several things…'

I looked at him in surprise.

'That is why I grew worried, for your safety… I knew that you would be safe, as long as it was easy for anyone to get to your money… but when I found out that your accounts are secure… I feared that someone would try to hurt you in order to get to it.'

'Eugene takes care of all of those things…'

'Just as I had feared… why do you put so much trust in him, Olivia? That man is evil.'

'Olu… he makes good decisions… he's helped to make me rich.'

'I'm sure that you would be a lot richer than you are if he were as honest and caring as you think he is…'

'You sound like Henriette, now,' I scoffed. 'Eugene is a little creepy sometimes… but he has my best interests in mind. He doesn't make any money unless I do… why would he want to see me hurt?'

'Quick cash, I guess.'

'Well, what about Chad? He hates the sight of me… wouldn't he want me out of the way?'

'I don't know anything about Chad… it surprised me to find out that you'd married him… did you ever ask him about…'

'Yes, I did,' I blushed, remembering that day, long ago, when I'd told Olu about Chad's pilfering ways.

Olu laughed. 'And you married him?'

'I was pregnant… or, I thought I was…' I frowned. 'It was the biggest mistake of my life.'

I stood up and paced the floor, trying to calm my growing anger.

'Olu, what did my father say to you to make you leave?'

'I told you, he said that I was sabotaging your life…'

'No… I mean, what happened, exactly, the day that you left?'

'He'd seen us together, your bed. He'd walked in while we where lying there, naked and sleeping in each other's arms… He said that he was disgusted… that the sight of us lying together made him sick to his stomach… he told me to leave, right then and there, no discussions, no explanations… so I left…'

'But why, Olu? It's not in you to just accept things like that… why didn't you say anything?'

'Because your father told me, when he took me in, that I was never to touch either of you… I knew the consequences of my actions, and yet I let my lust consume me… I'd never felt so weak as I felt at that moment…'

'You say that as if wanting me was some kind of disease…'

He stared at me. 'It did feel like a compulsion sometimes… and even when I could have had Henriette… I still wanted you…'

I frowned, growing angry again.

'So, your feelings for me never amounted to anything more than empty lust?' I pouted.

Before he could answer, Henriette rang the bell. I closed Olu into the bedroom before I went to let her in.

'Ah, Olivia! I'm so glad to see that you are okay… I didn't read the newspaper until you phoned me… thank goodness you were safe at home when this tragedy occurred…'

I held my breath as she hugged me, wondering how I would tell her about Olu.

'I brought the things that you asked for…' she sat a large bag down on the floor. 'Hopefully they will fit… I can still remember like it was yesterday…'

'Remember what?' I asked her.

'I can remember the broadness of Olusegun's shoulders… and the astounding length of his legs…'

I gasped, blushing at the same time.

'You thought that I wouldn't figure it out, Mon Amie? I didn't need detectives to tell me that he was here… I could practically hear it in your voice. Where is he?'

I led her to the bedroom. When I opened the door, Olu was lying across the bed again, buried beneath the blankets.

'I'm sorry to be interrupting your fun, here, but I only came over because Olivia asked me to,' she chuckled, smiling at Olu as he struggled to sit up.

'Henriette…' he gave her a slow smile.

'Yes, if I were in your shoes, Olivia, I would be very angry…' she raised an eyebrow, looking at my thin slip and my bare legs and feet.

'Oh… no… there's nothing going on…' I tried to explain.

Just the look on her face, and the idea of sex with Olu made my legs tremble slightly. I could feel my nipples hardening, stretching the fabric of my slip.

'Don't blush now…' she teased me. 'You should be happy to have found your prince.'

Olu looked away, blushing as he made an attempt to explain the situation.

'No need to explain,' she interrupted him. 'I only came because I was summoned… I'll make this visit short…'

'The medicine…' Olu managed to say.

'Oh, yes… I practically cleared the pharmacy shelves… it is all here,' she handed a large bag to him. 'I kept wondering what you needed them for…'

I moved toward Olu and helped him to lie flat across the bed, so that I could clean his wound. When Henriette caught sight of the crude bandage, she gasped.

'Mon dieu! What has happened?'

'Olu was stabbed…'

'When was this… last night?'

'Yes.'

'Wait, Mon Amie… we must call a doctor…'

'No!' Olu barked.

'But Olusegun, you must be treated by a doctor… that is a nasty wound…'

'No one can know that he is here,' I explained.

'I'll phone my doctor… he will use the utmost discretion,' Henriette offered.

'I don't know…' I worried.

'You must tell me what happened,' Henriette moved to help me minister to Olu.

I explained the events of the previous night as we cleaned his wound and covered it with a new bandage.

'I will call my doctor right now,' Henriette informed us. 'Don't bother to protest, because I am not listening.'

I sat next to Olu, placing my hand on his muscled back as we listened to Henriette talk to her doctor. He nestled his head in my lap, resting after another painful ordeal of cleaning his wound.

'He will be here shortly,' Henriette said as she hung up the phone. 'Olivia… you were with Olu for the entire night?'

'Yes. After Olu fought with the man, we came here. Olu was too sick to go anywhere… besides, I was up all night; I watched him sleep.'

'Well, the article in the newspaper says that the man was killed about an hour or so after you left my apartment…'

'But that's impossible! I saw the entire thing…Olu cut him, and the man walked away. How could he have died if he could walk away from a fight?'

'He walked away?' Henriette asked.

'Well, he was staggering…'

'I pushed him, after I sliced into his side,' Olu explained. 'Then I watched him stagger away, and we ran…'

'The newspaper says,' Henriette said, 'that the man was stabbed several times, and then his throat was cut.'

'Someone murdered him!' I gasped.

'It must have been his counterpart,' Olu theorized. 'You see, Olivia? Now I'm afraid that the other one will come after you.'

'There was a witness…' Henriette whispered.

'What?' I shook my head. 'The street was dark… we could hardly see anything…'

'Well, apparently, someone else was there. It doesn't say what the witness saw, only that the police are questioning the person today.'

'Maybe they saw the other guy jump out and attack his partner,' I guessed.

'I don't know… we will have to wait for tomorrow's paper to see,' Henriette sighed. 'In any event, I think that Olu is right, Olivia. You should stay here. I don't want you going out…'

'Oh, no… not you, too…'

The bell rang again.

'That must be the doctor… I'll let him in,' Henriette left us.

'You should cover yourself,' Olu reminded me that I was underdressed.

'Oh, yes, of course,' I said absently, pulling a robe from the closet.

I stood across the room nervously watching as the doctor treated Olu's wound and gave him some medication for his pain. Henriette hovered around, explaining to the surprised doctor that Olu was an old friend of hers from her travels in Africa.

'How did this happen to you?' the doctor asked Olu.

'You know how people can be so ugly and hateful,' Henriette spoke quickly. 'These young boys can be such animals sometimes!'

The doctor raised an eyebrow for a few seconds, but didn't ask anything further.

After Henriette ushered the doctor out, she announced that she was leaving.

'I'm sure that you need rest, Olusegun. I'll be back tomorrow, to see how you're doing,' she kissed his brow, and gave me a warm hug before she left.

Olu soon went to sleep, and I decided to take some time to rest my tired body in a hot bath. I was so exhausted, that I'd almost fallen asleep in the bathtub, and when I walked into the bedroom to dress myself, I collapsed on the bed, still wrapped in my towel, and drifted to sleep.

When I woke, I felt a warm weight across my stomach; Olu was holding me, as best as he could, and I could feel his shallow breath lightly tickling the skin of my neck. Thinking that he would be upset if he woke up to discover that we were so close together, I carefully tried to move away from him, but he stirred slightly, heaving a deep sigh. He moved closer to me, so that his leg was intertwined with mine, and his face was pressed into my shoulder. I held my breath for an instant, trying to figure out what to do. I decided to lie there and enjoy the moment, basking in Olu's warmth until he finally woke up.

I couldn't help but notice the stirring between my legs as I lay so close to him. I wanted to touch myself, but I was afraid that he would wake if I moved too much. As the room got drafty, I found myself moving closer to him, to shroud myself in his warmth. He was still a little feverish, but the doctor had given him some medication to relieve the fever and to help him sleep.

I woke up this way again, wrapped in his arms. He began to stir, groaning in discomfort. I quickly moved away from him, fearing that he would be angry to find that I'd slept with him for so long. I went to the kitchen, preparing a light meal for him, and preparing his next dose of medication, wondering how I would manage to make practice for my concert the next day. As I helped him sit up, I made up my mind that I wouldn't go; I planned to call Eugene with a suitable story that would keep him at bay for a few more days.

Henriette was in and out for the next day or two, bringing food and other rations, and lifting our spirits. I was beginning to feel closed in; I hadn't been out since the night that Olu came upon me in the alley, and I longed to see something different. Things were becoming strained between us, being forced to stay in such close quarters for so long. Olu was not one to stay cooped up for long; it must have been torturous for him as well.