Belina 2 – batch 5

Belina
Season 2

EPISODE 15

I stared at the phone still
wondering what was going
on. I was beside myself
with rage. The girl sounded
sincere but I couldn’t see
myself believing a word she
said. I remembered that I
had felt an instant dislike
towards that Oyinade girl
when I saw her over a
week ago but I could not
place my finger on what the
problem was. I had told
Richærd what I felt but he
had defended her saying
that her work had been
impeccable since she
entered BRH. I knew my
instinct was almost always
right but could my earlier
anxiety have anything to do
with Richærd.

He hadn’t
given me any reason to
doubt him and his love for
me since I met him so why
should I doubt him now?
Could he cheat on me?
**********
**********
Richærd got to BRP Hospital
and on getting to Belina’s
office; he was informed
that she was already out. He
knew that the cloth she
wore was the same with
the one in the picture but
he could not imagine her
seeing that despicable guy
for whatever reason. He
knew calling her would be
bad because he might
accuse her, which would be
unfair since she hadn’t
given him cause to doubt
her love for him. He knew
she could not cheat on him
especially with that guy but
he could not understand
this; plus he was her first
love. He rubbed the back of
his palm against his
forehead. Who even sent it?
He wondered since there
was no I.D.
He went back to the office
and saw Tony waiting for
him. He invited him in
without the usual hugs and
funny guy to guy chats.
“What’s eating you bro?
You look distant and pale”
Tony asked immediately
they were on seat.
Richærd sighed. “Its…
personal” he replied.
“Personal” Tony repeated
and laughed. “Since when
did you start having
personal issues that I can’t
hear about?”
Richærd stared for a while
then stretched his phone
towards Tony. Tony scrolled
through and saw a
message with the words,
“check this out”. Below it,
he saw a photo of Belina
and a guy in what seemed
to be a hug.
“Oh… I see… Jealousy is
eating you up. It is just a
hug man, nothing more. He
must be her friend. You
know Belina better than
that” Tony said confidently.
“Yes. It is just a hug, only he
is not her friend. That is
Kelvin. Her ex. Her first love”
Richærd lamented.
“Ok, calm down” Tony said,
looking at the picture again.
“I don’t get it. I know she
despises him, so what is
she doing with him?”
Richærd said standing up.
“Well, since you know her,
you should not doubt her
faithfulness. It would be
unfair to accuse her
wrongly pal, she may never
forgive you. If you ask me,
this does not look like a
proper hug”. He said
inspecting the picture
again.
“But it is definitely
something, right?” he
retorted.
“Who sent it? Or are you
keeping tabs on her?”
“definitely not. I also don’t
know who sent it. The
number is hidden”
Tony stood up and went to
meet Richærd where he
was, by the window,
looking outside.
“You guys
have come a long way. You
are married. Not just a new
couple but you are two
years into the marriage. You
should know that people
are jealous of the
relationsh¡p and love you
have both maintained till
now and they want to
destroy it. Don’t allow them.
I would advice you to take
this out of your mind. I am
very sure that Belina loves
you and would not hurt
your feelings this way. I can
vouch for her” Tony said.
Richærd smiled  faintly.
“Thanks man” he said
honestly, feeling better.
“Not a word of this to
Prisca, please” he said as an
afterthought and Tony
nodded.

EPISODE 16

The silence at home that
evening was awkward. I
could not understand
anything. Try as I may, I
could not get the phone call
out of my mind. I had
cancelled church for that
day when I could not pull
myself together. Richærd
also seemed very distant; I
could not understand the
reason for this or if I was
just assuming things.
“Richærd? Are you alright?”
I asked after a while.
He nodded, saying he was
ok but I was not convinced
in the least. Richærd is a
quiet person but not that
quiet, especially not when I
am around. I swallowed
and made for the bedroom.
I can’t tell him. It would be
unfair and unreasonable. He
does not deserve that. I
would not do anything until
I have strong reasons for
doing it – I am sure I would
find none. I lay on the bed
feeling more miserable than
ever before. Richærd’s
silence this evening was not
making things any easier. I
felt burdened and even my
physical weakness seemed
to have doubled. My eyes
suddenly became blurry and
I closed my eyes tight.
I vibrated from shock when
I felt someone touch me. I
hadn’t noticed Richærd’s
entrance into the room. He
looked at me with concern
written all over him, placed
his hand on my head and
his frown deepened.

“You
are running a temperature”
he exclaimed.
“It is just stress, I am fine” I
said, trying to dismiss his
worry.
He shook his head.

“You are
not fine. Sit up” he ordered.
I obliged and within the
twinkling of an eye, he
transformed from a caring
husband to a doctor. His
eyes did the job of
inspecting every inch of my
body, feeling my
temperature, checking my
eyes and all other
ceremonies doctors
perform. I was getting tired
of the scrutiny and I voiced
my thoughts but he would
have none of it. He finally
concluded that I was being
stressed up and I made the
face of ‘I told you so’. He
said I was to do a proper
check-up at the hospital,
then asked me to relax
while he went to fix me a
cup of tea.
He got back with a cup of
steaming hot beverage and
a sachet of painkiller tablets
ranting my need for a
house help. The house we
live is a big one and the
maintenance could be
tasking at times but I did
not see the need for a
house help when my hands
were functioning to
capacity. Being at work
everyday of the week asides
weekends and maintaining
the house was his basis for
argument but I was not
overwhelmed because he
always lent a helping hand
whenever he was home. He
pampered me, forcing the
drugs down my throat with
continuous
encouragements.Looking
at him as he did all these, I
found it increasingly
impossible to believe a
word I heard from the
anonymous girl. I found
myself forgetting everything
I heard and relaxing. I slept
soundly that night to my
amazement and I woke up
the next morning earlier
than usual.
I saw Richærd sleeping
peacefully too and spared
few seconds to gaze at him.
He looked gorgeous in his
sleep and even when he
was sleeping, I had to agree
that his male arrogance and
confidence was evident. I
went to fix breakfast and
went to the room to
prepare the bathtub for
Richærd. I wanted to make
up for the doubt I had in
him by doing something,
anything, even though he
did not know anything
about it. Immediately I
finished what I was doing,
Richærd’s phone beeped
signaling the entrance of a
new message. I was
surprised because it was
just 6 am. The message
alert did not seem to
awaken Richærd, so I picked
up his phone. It might be
MTN and their silly
messages, I thought; the
name I saw was far from it
though.
The sender of the message
was Oyinade. I could not
believe my eyes. I checked
the time again and it was as
before. Everything I heard
and every doubt I felt came
rushing back in full force. I
dropped the phone
carefully and left the room
in a hurry. My vision became
blurred as tears filled my
eyes, clouding my sight.
Perhaps it is an urgent
message, I told myself. I
tried to assume the
message was a coincidence
but the conviction did not
hold water.
“Honey”
I rotated and looked at
Richærd like I would a villain
as he approached. I must
pull myself together, I
thought, righting myself
and putting up a passive
front. He did not seem to
notice any of these though
because he approached
with a concerned face.
“Good morning sir” I said
quietly.
“Morning honey, and what’s
with the ‘sir’” he asked
looking at me critically.
“Why are you up baby? You
should be resting. How are
you feeling?” he said all at
once and I shifted
uncomfortably. He touched
my face tenderly and my
body reacted to his touch
as usual.
“I am feeling better” I lied.
“Since I couldn’t sleep back,
I decided to fix us breakfast
and prepare the bathroom
for you”.
He looked into my eyes,
searching the way he does
when he knew something
was wrong.
“You look
troubled”.
I w¡dened my eyes as if
bewildered.

“Why should I
be?” I looked away. “Come
and have your bath” I said,
pulling him like a small kid
into the room. He followed
without question though I
knew he must be curious.
He started undressing, still
looking at me critically and I
turned towards the
wardrobe, not only because
I felt he might find my
doubt in my eyes but also
because I still found his
uncladness alluring.
“You received a message.
Have you seen it?” I asked
feigning disinterest.
“Oh…” he said grabbing his
phone. Something seemed
to pass through his face
which I couldn’t
understand. Is that surprise
or anxiety? I shifted my
weight from leg to leg,
nervously.
“Who is it?” I asked.
He stared at me, knowing
instantly that my attitude
was linked with the
message. Why am I so
transparent to him, I asked
within myself. He seemed to
find it easier, reading my
thoughts when I had the
professional look on.
“It’s Oyin”. The name
seemed more of an
endearment than a name to
me. Oyin; meaning honey.
This kept repeating itself in
my head repeatedly.
“Oh…” I breathed. “And
what did she want at this
time?” I asked, consoling
myself with the fact that he
hadn’t lied to me.
“Nothing important” he
disappeared into the
bathroom before I could
turn back. I glared at the
door, my anger spiraling
over the edge. I marched
out of the room with my
legs pounding hærd on the
tiles. I was sorely tempted
to go back to check the
message myself but I could
not bring myself to doing it.
He never kept anything
from me and never stopped
me from browsing through
his phone but I just could
not check this message. I
don’t even want to know
what is there, I thought,
lying to myself. I killed the
gas, my appetite gone, even
though I didn’t really have
one before.
Richærd was already out of
the bathroom when I
returned. I went about
setting out my clothes. I
saw a faint smile playing on
his face but I didn’t even
think of it. He saw what I
was doing and started
lamenting my need to stay
at home due to my health.
He complained that I was
putting up a brave front
just to avoid staying at
home but I told him I had
an important patient to
attend to. It was a lie but I
could not sit back at home
while the person I loved the
most was being taken away
from me. He asked me to
come to the hospital for a
check up and I nodded. I
would definitely go there.
There is someone I need to
have a boss’ wife to staff
discussion with.

EPISODE 17

Oyinade got to work earlier
than her usual time. She
had to visit BRP Hospital.
She was sure their efforts
the previous day were
yielding enormous results.
She had seen Richærd’s grim
face when he left the
hospital.
She arrived at the building
looking for Tunde. He had
been making advances
towards her but she never
obliged or noticed him. She
had had enough, having to
sleep with Kelvin, alongside
Ronke once a week – a
threesome. She needed a
break since that was finally
over.
“Hey Tunde” she said
flirting with her eyes.
He looked surprised and
pleased.

“Hey beautiful, to
what do I owe the pleasure
of your attention today?” he
asked coyly.
“Aaahn, it is not like that
now” she said.
“I guess you need
something then” he
breathed, moving closer to
her.
She nodded.

“A little favour.
I want to surprise my boss’
wife today but I don’t want
to be caught unawares. You
know the things you do to
secure your position?
Would you mind alerting me
when she is coming over?”
she asked, playing with his
tie.
“One date for one favour”
he cooed and she hastily
nodded, knowing she had
to get to her office before
Richærd arrived. They
exchanged numbers and
she was off.

**********
**********
Richærd sat in his office
expecting his assistant. He
hadn’t sighted her
throughout the day and he
became worried. He had
sent his secretary to call her
since she was not
responding to her intercom
but he had seen none of
them. Her bad dressing had
instantly left his mind the
moment he received that
message about his wife.
Thanks to Tony’s visit, he
had been able to stop
himself from doing a stupid
thing by confronting Belina.
Despite that, he had been
cold towards Belina when
he got home, always
suspecting her movements
and stupidly forgetting her
state of health. His doubt
had been taken over by
worry when he felt her
temperature. The sms was
out of his mind as he took
care of her.
His assistant’s indecency
never crossed his mind till
he read her text message
this morning. The veiled
jealousy he saw in Belina’s
eyes and actions pleased
him because it showed her
love for him. He however
knew that he could not tell
her anything about Oyin’s
innocent actions because it
would reinforce her doubt
in the poor girl. Oyin had
felt so bad that she had
sent a message, though too
early; apologizing for her
actions and claiming she
might not be able to face
him because of what she
did. She was apparently
trying to gain attention
since her fiancé was not
giving her enough. Richærd
felt bad for condemning her
the way he did.
“Sir” his secretary called
from the entrance
“Where is she?”
Entering, she replied, “Sir,
she might not be able to
come. She seems to have an
emotional breakdown. She
was crying when I saw her
sir” she said looking
concerned.
Richærd’s guilt increased as
he stood up.

“Thanks. You
can go now”
**********
**********
I got out of my chair with
obvious frustration. My
temper and emotions had
been all over the place since
morning. I just couldn’t get
two people out of my mind.
I concluded on confronting
Richærd and having a long
chat with that Oyin of a girl.
I had the conviction that
Richærd would not have
extra-marital affairs even
though that was the
routine with men these
days. He can’t betray our
love like that, I thought as I
left my office. I stopped by
to give my secretary
instructions before leaving.
**********
**********
Oyinade heard a knock on
her door and smiled. She
had anticipated this. She
knew Richærd didn’t like
feeling guilty for anything.
She had learnt that within
days of working with him.
She deliberately went to the
door without asking who it
was, framing up crocodile
tears. She gave Richærd
enough time to see her
tears before hurriedly
mopping her face. Richærd
became angrier at himself
for being so violent the
previous day as he entered
Oyin’s office for the first
time since she became his
assistant.
Oyin deliberately opened
the door slightly enough for
anyone to see what was
going on in,side. She just
hoped that someone who
gossips would see them.
Her phone beeped on the
table but she was unaware
of it. She was so
preoccupied with the joy of
finally having Richærd’s
attention, though; she
covered it with a dull
emotion-stricken face.
She faced Richærd.

“I am
sorry sir; I am a bit
indisposed right now. You
were right to reprove my
action yesterday sir. My
fiancé is seeing someone
behind my back and is
treating me like trash. I felt I
wasn’t woman enough and
I wanted attention from
whoever could give me. I…”
she broke down in tears.
Richærd tried to console her
with words but her tears
just increased in tenacity. If
there was something he
was always confused about,
it would be how to manage
a crying woman. He was so
glad that his wife was not
the crying type and once
she was moved to the point
of tears, he was always
shaken to his soul.
He held Oyin’s shoulder but
instead, she collapsed in his
arms, crying all over his
chest. He held her
awkwardly, not knowing
what to do with each
passing second but he
didn’t have to do that for
long as the door creaked
open. Standing before him
was a familiar face, looking
alarmed.

EPISODE 18

I stood right there, at the
entrance of Oyinade’s office,
staring in utter shock. I
could not believe my eyes.
Oyinade was definitely
oblivious of the fact that I
was in the office as she
held on to Richærd like a
lifeline. Richærd tried to
detach her on sighting me
but she clung to his shirt,
too busy crying. I had left
my office for Richærd’s,
when I saw Oyinade’s door
open. I wanted to bypass it
and come back later to see
her but a familiar shirt
stopped me. The alarm
went off in my head as I
stepped closer and I
instantly became convinced
that Richærd was there. I
did not remember common
courtesy which required me
to knock before entering, I
just pushed the door w¡der
and there, before me was
Richærd holding a crying
Oyinade to his chest with
his arms all over her.
Richærd pushed Oyin away
and her shock was evident
when she saw me. Tears
filled my eyes to the brim
but I refused to give them
the pleasure of seeing me
in tears. I ran out of the
office which was already
chocking me. I heard
Richærd calling but I ran out
like a crazy love-struck
teenager to the amazement
and shock of the staff.
Thank God we had a staff
entrance and the patients
could not see me. I could
not hold the tears as I ran, it
came cascading down
without stopping. I could
not stop, no, I could not. I
felt like throwing up, and I
did. Thank God no one was
there.
I felt Richærd’s approach
even before I heard it. I
sprung to my feet,
desperate to get as far
away from him as possible.
He called me over and over
but I turned a deaf ear,
wiping more tears from my
face but it didn’t stop.
Richærd grabbed my hand
fiercely from behind.

“What
is wrong with you, Bell?
Would you at least let me
explain” he yelled, looking
angry.
I shook myself out of his
grasp. “Let me go” I
shouted
“What you saw was
nothing. I… she was going
through an emotional
breakdown caused by her
fiancé and –”
“And what? And you
decided to offer yourself as
a substitute?” I said with
pure anger.
He looked outraged and
pained. “What? You don’t
trust me? for how long
have you had that doubt
honey?” he said folding his
arms around his chest.
“That girl told me… she told
me yesterday but I did not
believe her. I trusted you
cos I thought you loved me”
I kept on lamenting,
vibrating with tears of
anger and hurt.
“What nonsense are you
saying? What girl? What did
she tell you?” I was
confused.
I just could not stop my
tears and even though
Richærd was deeply angry
and hurt, he could not bare
to see me cry. I saw it in his
eyes. I became very dizzy
and everything rotated
around me. I felt Richærd’s
arms around me in an
instant but I still summoned
strength to ask him to get
his filthy arms away from
me. He did not seem to hear
because he never left me
and I passed into a realm of
nothingness.

**********
**********
Oyinade jubilated like she
never had in her life. She
never expected things to
turn out the way they did.
She had merely wanted to
put ideas into Richærd’s
mind by pressing herself to
him. She could not imagine
anyone being immune to
her charms. She had also
hoped that if luck shined on
her, she would have
someone see them who
could carry the gossip to
Belina.
She had planned on seeing
Belina though, just to taunt
her with words but she
doubted that they would
have very far known that
she was a psychologist and
could deduce truth from lie
with a glance. A wide, evil
grin spread across her face
as she dialed Ronke’s
number to give her the
good news.
**********
**********
Richærd held Belina in his
capable hands, racing
towards the hospital. His
heart was pounding wildly
even though he knew that
she just fainted and would
awaken soon.
“Bell… sweetie c’mon wake
up” he kept on saying as he
carried her. He entered
through the staff side and
some of the staff members
were around him in an
instant. They placed Belina
on the stretcher and
wheeled her into one of the
rooms. Richærd was denied
entrance and he stood
outside fuming in veiled
anger which was just a
camouflage for the deep
worry in him. He wanted to
vex his power and authority
as the head and owner of
the hospital in order to
enter but he knew that the
doctor was doing what he
was paid to do. Apart from
that, he is not one to be
found guilty of pride. If he
had been in a better state
and if it hadn’t been Belina,
he would have guessed
what the matter was
without waiting for the
doctor’s report. He would
have guessed it right from
the start but some things
just skips you when you are
with the one you love.
Doctor Felix approached
with a smiling face. Even if
Belina were awake, Richærd
still could not see why he
should be smiling happily.
“She is alright sir but asleep
now” he said still smiling.
Richærd breathed deeply as
a sign of relief, still curious
though. Doctor Felix was
deeply happy for the couple
as he had been part of their
waiting period. He is a year
older than Richærd but he
respected him more than
he could ever respect
someone five years older
than him. Apart from
Richærd being his boss, he
had taught him humility. He
treated everyone equally
and even though he was
probably the youngest
millionaire in Nigeria, he
was not puffed up with
pride. The same goes for
the ever beautiful Belina,  he
thought. The relationsh¡p
Richærd shared with his
wife was one that he would
wish to have if he finally
found the right person.
He held Richærd’s gaze with
a grin, wondering how he
could have missed that fact
considering his unequalled
doctorate skills.
“Congrats
sir, you are going to be a
father”
Richærd blinked and
swallowed hærd. “W… what
are… what are you talking
about?” he stammered.
Kelvin expected this.
“Your
wife is pregnant sir”

Tbc

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