BELLA'S MEMOIRS (ENTRY #16)

THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE

I was about to throw up. The lady Yinka was with, jumped off the desk and I watched as they both rushed to put on their clothes. I wanted to walk out and dramatically slam the door like they do in the movies but for some reason I couldn’t move. My eyes locked with Yinka’s and he said,

Yinka: Bella please shut the door, we need to talk.

I found my voice somehow.

Me: There is nothing to talk about.

I took off my engagement ring, and flung it at him. I had planned to return it that night anyways. He caught the ring with his left hand, rather skillfully if I may add. The guy was good at everything!

Yinka: Bella don’t be ridiculous.

I turned around and was about to leave when the lady spoke.

Lady: Bella we are bound to have this conversation at some point so please let’s do it now.

The nerves! I came back into the office and faced her

Me: Who the hell are you to address me? Don’t you ever speak my name again!

Yinka: Bella this is Toni. My ex-fiancée, I told you about her. We couldn’t get married because she cannot have children.

Me: So you have been seeing her this whole time?

Yinka: It’s complicated. Look I am in love with Toni and I always will be. I may never be able to marry her because of the obligations I have to my family but I will never stop being with her. She will always be in the picture Bella get used to it.

Me: I don’t have to get used to anything. This relationship is over and you Yinka are a sick man. You want me to get used to you having a mistress when we are not even married yet? That’s not complicated, its sick.

Yinka: I guess your sordid affair with Okechukwu is sick as well then. We are cut from the same cloth Bella.

The blood drained from my face. How much did he know about me and Okechukwu?

Yinka: Oh. You thought I didn’t know right? Bella I know about you spending the night with Okechukwu. What exactly is your plan? Use this as an excuse to end this relationship and run into the sunset with him? Surely you didn’t think you could make a fool of me and get away with it so easily. We are getting married Bella and Toni will stay in the picture and you will not make an issue out of it.

Me: And why would I do that? When I can walk out that door and drag your name through the mud. By tomorrow this news could be all over the media and I would have every justification for ending this relationship. You have more to lose Yinka, your father would be so disappointed if you bring this much shame to the family and it would not do your political ambitions much good either.

Yinka: Toni please can we have the room?

I watched Toni pack up her things to leave and as she walked past me to the door, she said:

Toni: I am sorry you had to find out this way Bella.

Yinka: I have always told you how unassuming you are Bella. Any other street smart woman would have known there was another woman in the picture. Did you think I remained celibate all this time we have been together…while I supposedly waited for you to be ready to sleep with me? A favour that you granted to Okechukwu so easily by the way. I am not the only one with something to lose Bella darling. Speak a word of this to anybody and trust me your father will lose the elections, the investigation on his embezzlement case which The Duchess covered up would be reopened and he will lose every single thing he owns. The kidnapping case you were involved in not too long ago which was also swept under the carpet would be reopened and I will ensure the Ayo-Kessington name is dragged through the mud so badly that you would become irrelevant overnight and you my princess will never see Okechukwu again. Oh you think I don’t know all your family’s dirty secrets? I am more powerful than you think Bella and you can never outsmart me.

The room was spinning…Yinka was blackmailing me.

Me: Are you blackmailing me?

Yinka: No. I am offering you the life you want but are too scared to have.

Me: I am sorry Yinka. You can’t offer me the life I want because the life I want is not with you.

He laughed and walked over to the coffee table where he poured himself some Whiskey. He offered me a drink and I refused.

Yinka: Bella, Toni won’t be a problem. Look how well I hid her from you for almost a year, if not for your bright idea to come here unannounced you may not have found out at least not for a while. She knows her place and she is fine with it. You will be the queen of my kingdom, you will be the mother of my children, and you will be my First Lady when I become President. Toni fulfills a need only she can fulfill. Surely you know you can’t handle a man like me… you cannot fulfil all my needs, Bella it’s not possible.

Me: I am not interested in fulfilling your needs Yinka. I want to be with another man.

Yinka: Where is this Okechukwu by the way? Have you heard from him recently?

Me: Do you know something I don’t?

Yinka: I always know something you don’t darling. Your Okechukwu was held by a Special Anti-crime Task Force for questioning. He was released the very next day and has gone MIA since then which is to his biggest detriment.

Me: What???

Yinka: Yes. He has a lot of questions to answer about the money laundering stunt he pulled off for his brother a few years ago. The case was buried then because his brother had strong ties with the past administration. However, a new Pharaoh that did not know Joseph has risen and the investigation has been reopened.

Me: That is wrong and illegal. He has been gone for a week, he has the right to let his family know where he is at least.

Yinka: The officers in charge of the case offered to contact someone, instead he requested for a phone call and told his family he was out of town, protecting his family according to him.  He is quite stubborn and arrogant. I like him.

Me: It is not a coincidence that he was picked up by the Special Task Force the day after I slept with him is it?

Yinka: Nothing in life is ever a coincidence. It is also not a coincidence that the news hasn’t leaked. That is me putting a lid on the situation. Breathe one word of what happened here today to anyone and Okechukwu’s investigation becomes public knowledge I will take his entire family down and yours too. So walk out of here and act like nothing happened, we have a wedding to plan.

Me: I need to see him Yinka. Tell me where he is please.

Yinka: Like I said earlier, I haven’t been able to keep tabs on him since he was released and he is due to make another reappearance in 48 hours, if he doesn’t turn up he would be declared a wanted man and then we will have no choice but to make this public.

Me: What do I have to do to make this go away?

Yinka: Marry me as planned and never see Okechukwu again and I will get the Task Force to close the case and bury all your family secrets forever, in any case I wouldn’t want anyone to use them against us when we are married.

Me: This is a win-win situation for you isn’t it? You get your trophy wife, the woman you love and your political career and I get nothing.

Yinka: Don’t play the victim Bella. You don’t end up with nothing…you end up with me. I promise you more money, power and fame than you ever imagined possible.

He was offering me money, power, fame…not love or happiness. He seemed to be holding all the cards in his hands but true love conquers all right? Okechukwu and I would have to come up with a plan. I had to find Okechukwu. I started walking towards the door when Yinka called out to me.

Yinka: Bella you are forgetting something.

He held the engagement ring out to me. I walked over to collect it, he took my left hand and slipped the ring on my third finger gently…slowly. His touch sent shivers down my spine I was now so scared of him.

Yinka: Good night baby. Remember we are playing golf with my dad in the morning before he goes back to Abuja. Pick you up at 7.

He kissed me on my cheek and turned his back as I walked out in tears.

I couldn’t talk to anyone, I was so scared about the disaster that would happen if I told anyone what was going on.

Scenario 1: Tell my dad.

Possible Outcome: My dad would get angry and probably try to kill Yinka. Yinka would open Pandora’s box and ruin my entire family

Scenario 2: Tell Mrs. A.

Possible Outcome: She would panic, get emotional, and run to tell my dad which would then lead to the possible outcome in scenario one.

Scenario 3: Tell the Duchess

Possible Outcome: She would try to “fix” the situation as she always did and Yinka would outsmart her. He had already proven that he had more influence than The Duchess. After all, she was supposed to have made sure the family secrets were dead and buried. Obviously her allies were more loyal to Yinka and his family. No surprise there, they were definitely more powerful.

Scenario 4: Tell Vanessa and ask for advice

Possible Outcome: Vanessa would ask me to either tell my father, my stepmom or the Duchess in which case one of the other three outcomes would be the result of that.

Scenario 5: Find Okechukwu.

Possible Outcome: Run away together or make a plan.

I chose scenario five.

I spent the next day calling everybody I knew who might have heard from him. I kept hearing the same thing…Okechukwu is out of town and then later that evening I got a call from Dapo Smith, Okechukwu’s best friend.

Dapo: Bella hi. I heard from Ferrari this evening. He is fine and he is in town said he needs to talk to you urgently but he can’t contact you himself. There is something serious going on and I think you should hear it from him yourself.

Me: So how do I reach him?

Dapo: There is a movie showing at the cinema, it’s called Mandy. Buy a ticket for the 7.45pm screening this evening and go in to the last row at the back. Ferrari would be waiting there on the last seat to the left. Don’t be late Bella.

He hung up. I looked at my watch and I realized I had an hour to get there.

The first five minutes were quiet. He just held my hand in the dark. The theatre was only about half full and I was glad we had some form of privacy.

Okechukwu: I had to lay low for some days. Some policemen picked me up for questioning and I….

Me: I know what happened.

I went ahead to narrate my ordeal with Yinka to him.

Okechukwu: I should have known that slimy bastard was behind it. That investigation couldn’t have just been reopened for noreason.

Me: What are we going to do? My whole family is at stake here.

Okechukwu: Mine too. If I go down so does my brother. What would happen to Aunty Linda and her five boys? This would tear my whole family apart you know Senator is the bread winner.

I nodded. I hadn’t even considered how much Okechukwu had to lose as well.

Okechukwu: I don’t mind going to jail or whatever but my brother, I can’t let that happen to him. It would ruin him…his business, his family, everything!

Me: You are not going to jail Okechukwu. I would rather marry Yinka than let that happen.

Okechukwu: What????

Me: Shhhhhhhh. Don’t raise your voice please.

Okechukwu: So you mean you would marry someone capable of all this? You surprise me Bella.

Me: What choice do we have? We either have to come up with a plan that keeps you, Senator and my dad out of jail and doesn’t ruin our family names or we give Yinka what he wants.

Okechukwu: You are not marrying that monster! I would rather spend the rest of my life behind bars than watch you spend the rest of your life with a cold hearted blackmailing monster!

Me: I am not letting you go to jail.

Okechukwu: I am not letting you marry him.

Me: So where do we go from here?