Chapter 138
Jojo:
Along with the cool evening breeze that blessed us by the side of the beach, came a strong and lingering feeling that someone was watching me from afar. I could not shake the feeling off, I could not laugh my worry away.Belongs © to NôvelDrama.Org.
No matter how far I tried to look into the beach, I could not find anyone. If anyone was staring at me, they also remembered to make themselves very invisible. Or, could it have been my hormones kicking in? After all, the doctor had said that pregnancy does things to a woman that she never expected. If I had grown to like coconut water which I had always hated, even as a child, then there was also a huge possibility that pregnancy was also causing me to see things that were not there, right?
I nodded my head.
Right.
I held on to my belly bump when I felt a sharp kick on my lower abdomen. I bit my lower lip to stop me from groaning in pain. I did not want to attract anyone’s attention. It was lovely, but I did not always enjoy being treated like an egg that could fall and shatter into pieces every waking moment of the day.
Anthony caught hold of my left hand and squeezed it gently.
Of course, I could have known that even if no one saw anything, Anthony would sense that there was something wrong with me, he always did.
He had asked for a second chance, another chance to prove to me that he could be more than a friend, that we could love each other if we gave ourselves the chance. We were good friends after all. I did not see why he did not deserve it. Infact, a man like Anthony was every girl’s dream. I was lucky to have the kind of man every woman wished for. I would have loved to love him back, it would have made a lot of things so much easier. But I could not force my heart to love him, no matter how much my head told me I ought to. Believe me when I say it sucked.
“Are you alright, Jo?” He asked.
I nodded eagerly and forced a smile. He did not buy my forced smile. He frowned slightly and moved closer to me.
“You’re not, but it’s okay. I would do the same if everyone had been on my neck since morning.” He whispered into my left ear.
I chuckled and turned to look at him.
“At least someone understands.” I whispered.
“Trust me, I do.”
We held hands and watched the sunset with the rest of the family. Night came and Anthony had to leave, we all bade him farewell and retired into the house. I stayed back to turn the lights off after everyone had gone to bed.
The next day, while Mel helped get Valerie ready and drop her at school, Mrs Smith helped me drive my mom to the hospital for her weekly appointment, before dropping me at school. All the while, even while she drove me to the community college, I still could not help but feel like someone was looking at me and following me. I found myself looking over my shoulder more times than normal, but I did not see anyone or anything that looked suspicious.
I decided it was best that I speak to the doctor about my feelings. I needed to know if feeling like you are being followed was part of the things that accompanied the constant headaches, nausea, violent kicking in my stomach and waist and back aches I had been feeling since I entered into what the doctor called my third trimester.
School hours lasted for five house today. I knew I was supposed to call Mrs Smith to pick me up, but I decided to take a walk to the restaurant instead. I needed the exercise, I had barely done any of those since my pregnancy passed five months. I could still remember how stern Mrs Smith had been with me for dancing at Valerie’s birthday party.
The strong masculine presence that I had felt surrounding me was there again. Even while I walked from college to the restaurant, I still felt as though I was being followed. I looked over my shoulder constantly, even stopped and sat on a bench by the road, just to see if I could find any strange faces or someone that looked as though they were following me, but I found nothing and no one.
Exasperated and confused, I rose from the bench and continued my walk back. To my surprise and greatest relief, the feeling was not there anymore. The dark looming presence had disappeared.
Perhaps all I needed was a minute of rest after all.
***************
Kenji thought it best that they seized to follow Jojo around town. When he saw the woman’s face as she settled into the bench, he could tell that she knew she was being followed, and she was scared.
“Let’s go to the restaurant instead. Now that she isn’t there, you can have sometime with your mother.” Kenji spoke to his best friend.
Jojo was already freaking out, it was not good for a woman in her condition to feel that way, especially for a long period of time.
Lake, who knew he could sit in the car and watch her all day long finally agreed with his best friend’s logic.
Kenji drove them to the restaurant. As usual, they stepped out of the car, but without their dark shades this time. There was no need to hide their identity when they wanted Mrs Smith to know they were there.
The door was opened by a uniformed security man and Kenji stepped in, before Lake followed him behind. Both of them stood side by side and stared at the counter. A very familiar face was seated behind the wooden counter, her eyes were buried in the screen of the calculator in front of her while her fingers punched the keys furiously.
“Customers!”
She heard someone call out.
Mel raised her eyes up, tearing her gaze from the figure on the calculator screen. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the men in front of her.
What in the name of the freaking moon goddess were they doing here?! She thought aloud. She dropped her pen and tried to look around. Neither Mrs Smith nor Jojo were anywhere in sight. She had to handle the men, and she had to do so alone.
With shaky hands, she stepped out of the counter and walked to them. They stared at her, letting her know that they knew exactly who she was. She swallowed hard. It was a pity, she had rather hoped they would forget her.
“Good morning and welcome to Emerald’s kitchen!” She fought hard to sound excited, but her words came out sounding like a croak.
The beta managed a warm smile, while the alpha looked at her as though he was yearning to see a different face. Which of cause, she knew he was.
“Allow me usher you to the best seats in the room.” She said out loud.
She turned her back and walked away, knowing that they would follow her behind. She led them too the VIP session of the room, a closed part of the room, very close to the counter and with fancy chairs and tables.
Immediately they settled into their seats, Mel turned on her heels and dashed away, partially running and walking at the same time.
She had not even remembered to ask their orders. All she did was disappear into the kitchen and bang the door behind her.
She pressed her back to the metal door while her chest rose and fell as she fought to breathe in air.
Mrs Smith turned away from the gas cooker and stared at the sweaty girl in front of her. Mel looked like she had just rounded off a marathon race, one she ran because a monster was chasing her.
She narrowed her eyes at the young woman.
“And what exactly is chasing you?”
Mel blinked twice as she stared at the woman. If she knew, she would breathe just as heavily as she did.