The Wife ESCAPED!

Timmy yawned and stretched after downing a second glass of water. It was Sunday and he had just woken up from an afternoon nap. Being almost always occupied, he tried not to miss any opportunity to have as much rest as possible on weekends. Though Olly had taken much of the actual day to day operations off his hands, there was more than enough work left for him to do. Maybe someday, he’ll get around to hiring an assistant, so he would get the chance to foray deeper into the technical part of the business which was really one of the reasons he had teamed up with Olly to start it in the first place.

His mind suddenly drifted to Caro. He wondered what she must be doing now. Watching TV, cooking, hanging out with friends or maybe playing football? He’d learned that last bit of info from Millicent some time ago. Come to think of it, it’d been a long time since he’d seen that girl. He wondered what she was up to nowadays. Perhaps she had given birth? He would have to ask Caro. That could also give him the opportunity to have his first conversation with her in over a month. Just the mere thought of it made his heart beat faster.

Just then, he heard a knock on the door that immediately jolted him out of his reverie. He scrambled into his slippers and hurried to the front door.

“Hold on,” he called out as the visitor knocked again.

He reached the door and unlocked it as quickly as he could before pulling it open. Who he saw standing there was the person he least expected to see. He couldn’t help but blink in surprise!

“Wow. Is this a dream?”

“Not at all,” came the giggly response. And Timmy went in for a tight hug.

“Please come in, come in. You’re most welcome,” he said, happily leading the way into the large parlour. She followed him and made herself comfortable on a couch.

“So what can I get you?”, Timmy asked.

“Just water. Cold water.”

“Only water?”

She nodded.

He darted off and soon returned with a bottle of ice-cold water and a glass.

“Thank you,” she mouthed with a smile as he set it down before her.

“Wow. I never expected to see you… I mean, it’s a huge pleasant surprise. Thanks very much for coming to see me.”

“I’m happy too that I came. I actually didn’t intend to visit you. I just came to Lagos to see someone and do a few things and it occurred to me that I should take the time to come and see my dear little bro. So… here I am.”

“Wow,” Timmy grinned, rubbing his hands enthusiastically. “Really nice of you to remember me, Dora. I mean, Tracy remembers me all the time, mostly when she needs something or just because she wants to threaten the shit out of me. I really do appreciate your unexpected visit. Frankly, I miss all of you guys back home.”

“Awww,” his sister cooed. “It’s sweet of you to miss us, but at least we’re happy you are doing fine. Maybe one of these days, you can take a holiday and come spend some time with us. Your nephews and niece would be very happy to see you.”

“Yeah! How are they? Been ages since I clapped eyes on them! How’s umm… what’s his name now…”

“They’re all fine. George is fine too. Danielle wants to grow up to make beautiful clothes like her uncle.”

“Whooo! That’s one beautiful dream! I think I’ll find time very soon to come over and see everyone. It’s been so long!”

“Yeah, it has,” Dora sighed with a thoughtful smile. Then she sat up abruptly. “Sorry dear, but I think I have to start going home now. I’m running late already.”

“But you just got here!”, Timmy couldn’t help but shout in disappointment.

“Yeah, I know. And I’d love to stay much longer. But you know this your state. If you forget yourself for one minute, you’ll end up spending the night on the road.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he sighed dejectedly. “But you can spend the night here and leave first thing tomorrow.”

“Thank you, my brother. But unfortunately, I have several things lined up for early morning tomorrow. I’ll have to stop halfway and spend the night at my friend’s place. You know you can’t leave Lagos in the morning and arrive Abuja that same morning, even that same day sef, at least not with this bad roads and crazy criminals everywhere.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Timmy nodded, looking quite hopeless.

“Cheer up, bro,” Dora smiled, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “When next I come to Lagos, I’ll come a day ahead, so I can spend one whole day with you. But for now, let me rush off before the whole road for this your state go block,” she giggled.

“Hold on. Just a minute,” Timmy suddenly said and darted out of sight like someone who had just remembered something he had completely forgotten. But before Dora could wonder what was wrong, he returned with a bag marked Tim & Olly, stuffed full with clothes, and handed it to his sister.

Dora received it with a pleasant surprise. “Ah! This one plenty o.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Timmy shrugged with a shy smile. “It’s for you and the kids.”

“Owhhh, thank you my darling brother. I’m sure they’ll love it. Danielle will practically faint from joy! Let me be going, my dear. God bless you.”

They hugged one last time and then Timmy saw her off to the door. He watched her get into the car that had brought her and as the driver sped out of the area, he waved and waved until the vehicle was out of sight.

*****

Early morning the next day saw Timmy at work. He didn’t wear a suit very often, but today, he was sporting one, together with a Tim & Olly badge on his chest, showing his position as co-owner. He was feeling like a really proud co-owner all of a sudden. His sister’s visit the previous day and her tale of how much her little daughter desired to be like him made Timmy glow with excess pride. In fact, plus the puffed out chest, there was an unusual spring in his step as he left his office, walked down the hallway and rounded the first corner. He was on his way to satisfy his urge to keep a more attentive eye on the latest designs and productions. Wasn’t that what a good co-owner did?

“Oh sorry,” he apologized as he stopped just short of walking head-on into someone right in front of him. He had been smoothening his suit for the upteenth time instead of looking ahead of him. But who had he just bumped into?

“It’s okay,” Caro whispered and made to go around him. She too had been surprised when she saw him barely a minute ago walking in her direction and looking so different and classy. So surprised that she was forced to stop short which had led to the near-collision. But his dressing was not her business anyway. She would just go on to her destination and…

“Um… hey. Uhh… excuse me… Karow,” Timmy called out to her. She came to a halt and turned to face him.

“Um… I thought you’d been given some time off… ahem… I mean, for your exams and…”

“I just came to see Mr. Stan,” she cut in, saving him further stuttering. “I want to thank him for giving one of my… our designs to my mother.”

She thought that would be effective enough to put an end to the conversation, so she could go meet Stan, but she was quite surprised to see Timmy acting weird. He was looking everywhere but her face, shifting from one foot to the other and then coughed and said, “Um… th… that was me.”

“Oh,” Caro blurted involuntarily. Those words were the last thing she had expected to hear from him and she had no idea exactly how to respond.

Hearing nothing from her, Timmy ventured a glance at her face and what he saw there was mild confusion. But she rallied quickly. “I… Let me just go and greet him.”

Before Timmy could open his mouth to respond, she was already rushing off in the direction of Stan’s office.

“Fool!”, Timmy cursed with a sound smack on his own head. What on Earth had made him stutter like a goat instead of exuding confidence and maturity?! Already, he could see his past efforts to gain more respect in her eyes going down the drain.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck you!”, he swore angrily, kicking the wall as if it was the cause of his failure.

“Sir, is everything okay?”, Jim asked as he stumbled on his boss acting a drama.

“Yeah yeah, it’s fine,” Timmy panted and left the wall alone. He straightened his tie and turned to see who had interrupted his venting of frustration and seeing that it was Jim, his anger rose again. The young man was now passing behind him, heading to only he knew where and Timmy immediately thought of harassing him over his dalliance with his sister. He’ll teach the bastard a lesson. But as he opened his mouth to call him back, his anger sufficiently cleared enough to allow him consider the probable consequence of his intended action. Tracy would certainly be at her worst if she were to find out about such an harassment!

As quickly as the thought of harassing Jim entered his head, it was with even greater speed that it flew out and he snapped his mouth shut, allowing the young man to walk out of his sight undisturbed. But what next? He still felt like shouting at someone or something. Well, he’ld just go out and take a walk in the street and woe betide anyone who would have the misfortune to accost him on the way!