Contract husband

The man saw this and broke into a deep frown.

” No matter what you do Omar….. You cannot run away from your family!!…. We are your family!! And I am your father!!” The man said with authority.

” No!! You are not my family!!!…. I don’t know you all…. Please stay away from me!!” Omar yelled.

Suddenly, the wind began to rustle again, prompting the other four to stand to their feet and walk towards her with a frown on their face.

They began to chant loudly and in unison as they approached her.

” A Leopard cannot change its spot, this is where you belong!!….. A leopard cannot lose it’s spot, this is where you must return!!!”

They chanted on and on as they closed in on her. She turned suddenly in an attempt to run, but she saw the thunder moving close to her in speed. Suddenly, she turned back and saw five hands pull her aggressively.

She opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her voice, shaking vigorously as more tears poured out of her eyes.

” Wake up!….. Wake up Omar….. it’s a nightmare!!” Ife shook Omar vigorously on the bed as she kept turning from one side to the other, letting out a deafening scream.

Omar vibrated aggressively on the bed until she suddenly jerked awake and saw Ife holding her. Beads of sweats broke out on her face inspite of the intense cold the heavy rain ushered in.

” It’s just a dream…. ok.” Ife whispered, still holding unto her with deep concern written on his face.

He took out a piece of cloth and mopped the beads of sweats on her face. As he reassured her that it was just a dream.

The lightening flashed and the thunder struck aggressively, causing her to shiver again in fear as more tears flowed from her eyes.

” Omar it’s ok stop crying..” Ife said calmly and gathered her in his arms, petting her as he stroke her hair tenderly.

” I hate thunder storms!!” She said tearfully.

” I know you do….. it’s ok.” He assured her. This was the second time he had seen her in such a state, under the similarity of the condition that there was a thunderstorm too.

” Let me get you some coffee…. Ok.” He said and stood up to leave but she held onto his hands.

” Please don’t leave me here!!” she begged.

He nodded and stroke her hair more tenderly.

” It’s ok….. let’s go together.” He said and pulled her to her feet and they headed to the kitchen.

It’s been more than a month of their wedding in Dubai and she had learnt so much about the man she married. Such as his strengths, his weaknesses, his daily routine, and habits. But what stunned her the most was his culinary skills.

He was a fantastic cook who had no domestic staffs apart from the gateman and a cleaner who came in thrice a week to clean.

Even amidst his busy schedule at the office. He always found time to cook and served her and the middle aged gate keeper.

There were times she had taken it upon herself to also cook him meals, but he never enjoyed her cooking and would rather have several things to correct about her meals.

At first, she felt offended at his insistent corrections, but eventually decided to relax and leave the cooking aspect to him.

He was stubborn, and a perfectionist who always liked his things left exactly the way he kept them. She also discovered he was strong willed and seemed to have a shock absorber for any situation he found himself. He was also a fast thinker and didn’t like to lasciviate in his decisions, especially at the company, since he took up the leadership position of the company about three weeks ago.

He does his routine exercises five times in a week, except for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and loved to take chilled glasses of water after his exercises. He only slept for five hours at nights because he spent most of his time in his study room, scrutinizing documents and files and seemed to be serious most of the time.

Ever since Mr. Coker was forced by the members of board to hand over the leadership of the company to Ife, he had been going in and out of the police station undergoing intense questioning by the police about the relationship between him and a man called spider. Mr Coker had denied vehemently about his involvement in Ife’s attempted murder case, despite the fact that spider confessed he was being sent by Mr Coker. But Ife never relented in his decision to charge his step father to court.

Richard, on the other hand, had kept his distance from Ife and never interfered in his decisions in the company.

Ife had suggested to her that he would love her to be actively involved in the activities of the company, and she accepted as a reason of the fact that she didn’t want to remain at home alone in the boring house. Although, she could have spent the time in the company of her friends, but she was curious to know how the company operated, besides, she wanted to limit down the time she spend in the company of her friends, because she was resolute in turning a new leave.

And in turning a new leave, she needed something new.

And so, she followed him to work on daily basis. She had an office given to her which was close to Ife’s office.

As days turned into weeks, Omar found herself more interested and intrigued by the work in the company.

She loved attending meetings and watch Ife dish out instructions in an orderly manner. The more he handled the company firmly, and manouvered his way through delicate situations, the more she got attracted to him.

Age they say, is truly just a number!!

Guilt washed over her each time she remembered how she had initially looked down on him because of his age until she realized now, that he had the intelligence and maturity way above his age.

Back in the kitchen,

Omar stood resting on the kitchen slab with a mug of steaming hot coffee in her hands, as she watched Ife expertly marinate the chicken on the gas, while he also removed the toast bread from the toaster. The aroma filled the kitchen, igniting a strong appetite in Omar as she licked her lips in anticipation of the sumptuous meal.

He was wearing a thick robe, but the outline his biceps still protruded inspite of the robe.

He turned to her and smiled sweetly, wearing the posture of a chef, he said.

” Breakfast is ready ma’am…. Why not go to the dinning table, so I can serve you.”

Omar chuckled softly and bit her lower lip.

” On the contrary sir…. I think I’ll rather have it here.” She said and helped herself to a mini dinning table in the kitchen.

He smiled more.

” As your worshipfulness pleases.” He said and bowed.

And Omar bursted into laughter. He had a way of making her laugh genuinely with ease these days.

A way of breaking down the wall of defence she had built around her over the years. And the more she grew attached to him, the more she feared.

She feared that his niceness to her was probably his way of carrying out his side of the contract. She wished there and then it wasn’t a contract marriage.

She hated to be vulnerable but she couldn’t help it around him anymore.

” Are you alright?” Ife asked her, noticing a touch of sadness in her expression as he served her more pieces of toast bread and refilled her mug of coffee.

She looked up and met his worried gaze, and smiled.

” I’m alright…. Thanks.” She said in more of a whisper, watching him settle beside her with his plate of toast bread and coffee.

She reached out her hands and took a bite of the snack.

” Hmmm!!” She exclaimed involuntarily, biting hungrily into the snacks and savouring the taste.

” This taste real good.” She said in honesty.