“Get up!” I implored anxiously. “What if Lyle barges in and sees us together? There would be a lot of people with him. All of his wicked friends.” I shoved him again. If he wanted to be with me, we cannot be seen together yet.
“Alright. Give me a kiss, and I will obey you, albeit reluctantly.” Christopher rubbed his eyes and sat up. Without his usual mischief, coupled with his disheveled hair, he looked just like a child forced to wake up before he had slept his fill.
The voices outside grew more intense; it wasn’t the time to argue. I hurriedly kissed him on the cheek so that he would leave.
He stretched and threw open the window. To my amazement, he crawled out of it like in the movies and disappeared out of sight. I hurried over to the window with my heart thumping fearfully only to discover to my relief that I was merely on the first floor.
Christopher turned back to wink before disappearing into the shade of the foliage. At the exact moment, the door swung open, revealing Lyle at the entrance with a stony expression. Behind him, Sabrina winked at me and peered around Lyle to confirm that Christopher had left before giving me a thumbs up.
Lyle saw that I was already awake and that displeased him. “Why didn’t you come out since you were awake?” He shouted. “Do you have anyone hiding in here?”
Does he have anything new to accuse me of? I ignored him, save an indifferent glare at his direction.
Lyle tugged on his hair hesitantly. He did not seem to have meant what he said but spoke before thinking it through. It was a pet peeve of mine which he did so often that I have learned to suppress the anger quickly.
Due to this man’s shamelessness, I have learned my lesson countless times. The only thing I could do was to put myself in his shoes to gauge his thoughts. That meant channeling the worst aspects of myself to match his.
“I’m sure you can see for yourself if there’s anybody hidden here,” I snapped. “Why don’t you summon another one of your boys to lie in wait in my room before inviting a crowd over to witness my shame? Heck, why don’t you call the elders too? If this gets blown out of proportion, no amount of explaining would clear my name. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
In actual fact, I felt a guilty twinge in my conscience for saying those things because I was already involved with Christopher. But Lyle’s antics and his unwillingness to grant me a divorce had absolved me of my guilt a long time ago. I have no reason to respect a man who does not respect me in return.
“I’m sorry, Eve. I couldn’t stop this mad dog from coming in.”
“Sabrina, sometimes it’s better to remain silent,” Lyle snarled. Turning back to me, he said, “Can we talk?”
“What is there to talk about, scumbag? Try and harm Eve again with me here and see what happens. In a world of scumbag men, one as scummy as you is a rare sight indeed.” Sabrina stood in between us and shielded me from Lyle’s gaze.
“Yvonne!” Lyle implored, looking over Sabrina at me.
“Sabby, you’ve been up all night. Why don’t you grab something to eat and take a nap.” Of course, I wasn’t intending on discussing matters with Lyle, but Sabrina really was exhausted. She could not stop yawning.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Sabrina said hesitantly.
“Don’t worry. We’re in broad daylight.” I smiled.
“Alright, then. Do be careful. Scream for help if anything happens. I will be here with my knight in shining armor.” Sabrina winked at me and gave Lyle one last contemptuous glare before departing.
“You…” Lyle was rigid with anger as he had trouble finding the words to retort. Suddenly, his face grew ashen as something caught his attention. He strode quickly toward the bed and threw off the cover.
I grew anxious, worried that Christopher had left something of his on the bed. It was only when the cover was completely off that I caught sight of the large pillow before I understood what Lyle was suspecting.
I stifled a laugh with difficulty. Christopher was crafty. I thought he was just being playful when he stuffed the pillow under the quilt to approximate the shape of a person. He had laid a trap for Lyle to walk right into.
I wasn’t about to give up an opportunity as ideal as this to torment Lyle. I walked over to hug the pillow. “Here is my adulterer. Would you like to take a picture?” I said with a cheeky smile along with my most infuriatingly innocent voice.
