It was a set up episode 2
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IT WAS A SET UP (EPISODE 2)
About a month later, Linda had an issue with one of our lecturers
He asked Linda out, but she politely told him she was in a relationsh¡p
The relationsh¡p stuff was a recurring problem for Linda
because she was too beautiful
With whom she was in a relationsh¡p with, I did not know
She had been turning people down
Students and lecturers alike
But Dr Mike was not the regular guy
In Dr Mike’s vocabulary, there was nothing like “NO”
Dr Mike’s frustration of students in the campus was an open-secrete
Open in the sense that everyone knew about it, but secrete in that you dare not speak out
He belonged to one deadly fraternity, so everyone was afraid of him
Female students were worst hit
Any male student who dated a female student Dr Mike was crushing on had no business with graduation in that school
So after lectures that day, Dr Mike asked Linda to see him in his office
On getting to the office, he told Linda to see him in his hotel room
It was there Linda told him she was in a relationsh¡p
“I am Dr Mike. No one says “NO” to me. We run this campus. If you go to heaven, you’ll see me. If you go to hell, you’ll also see me. We rule everywhere”
“I know, Sir. But I can’t. I have a boyfriend and I can’t cheat on him. In fact we are getting married as soon as I’m done with my academics”
“Are you referring to that refract waiting for you outside? You can’t cheat on that thing? Anywhere, my people told me that you two are dating. But what can he possibly offer you? Where will he get the money to maintain this beauty?”
“I’m sorry Sir, I can’t. I have to go”
Linda left the office and the man began to rage
She met me outside and we left
She did not say anything on the road and I did not bother to ask
When we got home, she played the recording of what happened back then in the office
“What can he possibly offer me?” she asked
“I can comfortably pay his salary for more than 10 years with ease”, she added
She hissed and added “nonsense” as she went into her bedroom
On hearing that Dr Mike’s salary can be comfortably paid by her, my spirit left me
I started thinking about my life
Linda had been the one feeding me for a long time
I had nothing left with me
If I did not meet Linda, maybe I would have dropped out from school
I sat on the couch and replayed the recordings
My main point was on where Dr said ‘his people told him I was dating Linda’
‘Who are his people?’, I asked myself
I did not want to be frustrated by Dr Mike
I would have no one to pay my fees should I have any additional year
I prayed for God’s intervention
I spent that evening at Linda’s house
At around 8pm, after having my dinner, I went to my place
When I got home, I met a notice on my door: “YOU CAN’T EAT YOUR CAKE AND HAVE IT”
I became afraid
I drew the attention of other tenants
They all said they had no idea who pasted the notice on my door
I removed the notice and tore it
I called Linda and she assured me everything would be ok
Linda was not easily moved by threats
And I did not know much about her family
I could not sleep well that night
I thought about who Linda was in love with, because I had never heard her mention anything concerning her boyfriend
So who could she possibly be faithful to?
The next morning, I made it to her place very early
I found Linda on the couch, she was on phone
When she finished with the call, she handed me her phone to check the last sms she received
I opened her message and saw it. It read: “YOU CAN’T EAT YOUR CAKE AND HAVE IT”
“This is the same thing I got yesterday on my door”, I said
“Yes. I got the message this morning”, she said
“So what’s the meaning of this?”, I asked
“I don’t know. Maybe we should wait a bit. We will know sooner or later”
“Did you try calling the sender?”
“You can’t call. It was sent as a bulk sms”
“Bulk sms? How many people received it?”
“I don’t know. Don’t let it bother you. I know what to do. Go to the kitchen and make something for us. I don’t want to be late for lectures today”
When we got to school that day, the first lecture we had was Dr Mike’s
At the end of the lecture, he gave an assignment and asked us to submit the assignment in his office.
We were not allowed to submit by proxy
I entered his office in the company of Linda and two other female students
Fifteen minutes after we left his office, I got a call from our course rep that Dr Mike was looking for us
“Us? Me and who?” I asked the course rep
“I guess you and Linda”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I’ll suggest you meet him at once”
He dropped the call as I turned to Linda
I told her who was on call and what he said
We agreed to meet Dr Mike at once
When we got to his office, we met the other two female students
“Good morning Dr. The course rep said you sent for us”, I said
“Yes. Did you pick my phone from this table?”
“No Sir. I did not even notice any phone on your table. Maybe you should check your car”
“But I saw a phone on this table when we came in”, said one of the female students
“They haven’t left this office since then. In fact, they were arranging your scripts when I noticed that my phone was missing, and ever since then no one had come in. I used her phone to call my line and I was told it’s switched off. That was when I called the course rep to inform you. So since no one has entered or left this office, I wonder where my phone would be”
“We have no idea where your phone is”, I said
“Maybe you do. Just hand over the phone and I assure you no one will hear about this”
“Sir, check again. Check your drawer”
“We have checked everywhere in this office. Can’t you see how scattered this place is? You can check by yourself”
I dropped my school bag and swung into action
I checked everywhere in the office, yet there was no phone
I checked the bags of those girls, I saw nothing
All this while, Linda did not say anything.
And I was sure she did not take the phone
Besides, she did not fancy android phones
Just then, Dr brought out a dairy from his drawer, collected a phone from one of those girls and dialed a number
“Good morning CSO. This is Dr Mike. Please come to my office immediately, I have a case here. Thank you”
© Ezekiel Umoren