Married to a Stranger –                Episode 57 Part B

EPISODE 57 CONTINUED: BONDING BETWEEN THEM

Flashback ends.

Hearing the whole story, Aisha, Tunde’s mother, put her hand on her forehead in distress. But Kunle, Tunde’s father, said, You wait here. I will call Michael right now… I know him well. He would never insist on such a thing.” So Tunde said, “This isn’t his insistence, Father. It’s Amara’s mother’s decision and Michael knows nothing about it. I wanted to talk to him, but Mother stopped me because he is in Australia for some very important work.” Aisha was stressed, “So does that mean Amara will stay with us until they return? In this house?” Both Gold and Tunde nodded in agreement. “She is my sister, Mother… We have a relationship with her. We can’t leave her alone in such a difficult time, can we?” Gold said. “Child, if she only had a sisterly relationship with you, then no matter how many days you all asked, I wouldn’t have any problem with her staying here. But you all know what the truth is… And in such a situation, her staying here…” Aisha said. Kunle also supported her, “Aisha is right, child… Even we don’t think it’s right for her to stay here.”

Tunde had been listening to their conversation for a long time. He stepped forward and said, “I know why you don’t think it’s right for her to stay here but please, we can’t leave her alone in danger because of that reason. No matter what she has done, think about it from a humanitarian perspective. If it were any other girl instead of Amara, wouldn’t we help her? And Father, if Uncle Michael had asked you this, would you have been able to refuse him?” Gold supported him, “Tunde is right Father and anyway, it’s just a matter of a few days. When they return from Australia, Amara will go back with them.” Aisha finally agreed, “Alright, but first, we should file a police complaint about what happened to Amara.” Tunde replied, “We talked about it but she doesn’t want to go to the police right now. Once Uncle and Mother return, she will file the complaint.”

Neither Kunle nor Aisha was ready to accept this decision but they couldn’t do anything. Kunle couldn’t turn his back on his friendship; after all, at one time, he too had considered Amara as his daughter. Kunle said, “Maybe Tunde and Gold are right. And anyway, whatever happened, Amara wasn’t at fault. She was forced into all this. Whatever happened to them was written in their fate but now we have to take care of her until Michael returns.” Aisha still didn’t feel right about what was happening. She was worried about Gold and Tunde’s relationship, but after everyone insisted so much, she reluctantly agreed.

When everyone came outside after the discussion, Amara was trying to talk to Mother and Bukola, but they were only talking to her out of formality. Mother didn’t know much about Amara, but Bukola knew everything, so she was very confused about why she was here in this condition. Tunde asks a worker to place Amara’s belongings in the guest room. Aisha asks Amara about her well-being and then goes to her room.

Amara, trying to stand up, says, “Thank you so much for giving me a place to stay. But if I am causing you any trouble, please let me know… I will go back to my home.” Kunle said, “No, no, it’s nothing like that. Stay here comfortably and take care of yourself.” After that, Kunle also goes to his room. Bukola is still looking at everything with a confused expression. Gold notices her and gestures that she will explain everything later.

Gold told, “Let’s have dinner.” “I’m not hungry.” As Tunde refuses, Amara also says, “I also want to freshen up first.” “Alright, go to your room and rest. I’ll have your food sent there.” Tunde also goes upstairs to his room and Amara, with the nurse’s help, starts heading toward her room. Gold is still standing there, watching her leave. After a while, she thinks about something and then goes to the kitchen, serves food on a plate and takes it upstairs to her room.

Tunde is sitting on the bed with headphones in his ears. Gold silently goes near him and sits beside him. When Tunde senses it, he opens his eyes, looks at her and removes his headphones, placing them aside. “Oh wow… So you like listening to music too?” Gold asked. “Sometimes, I do.” Then, looking at the plate of food, he asks, “What is this?” “Oh… Since when do you need glasses?” “Are you joking?” “Yes” Gold started laughing. “Not funny.” Tunde glared at her. “Yeah, because you’re so panla face. If you had laughed a little, it wouldn’t have made you any shorter.” Seeing Gold making a face, Tunde starts smiling.

Then Gold extends the plate toward him but Tunde says, “I already told you, I…” “Yes, yes, I know, I know that you’re not hungry. But I’m very hungry! And if you don’t eat, I won’t eat either. And if I don’t eat, I’ll be in a terrible state because there are a lot of mice running around in my stomach. And if I don’t eat anything now, I’ll faint and fall. So, do you want me to faint and fall???” “Whoa, whoa… slow down, Rabbit! You haven’t eaten anything, so where do you get the energy to talk so much all at once?” Tunde told her because she is continuously speaking. “Oh, that’s God-gifted.” “Oh really? Then why are you so quiet in front of everyone downstairs? Where does this God-gifted talent disappear then?” “Well, you see… one shouldn’t show off their talent everywhere. It attracts the evil eye… Now stop asking questions and quickly eat so I can eat too. I can’t wait any longer.”

“Then just eat. Why does it matter if I eat or not?” “How can you say it doesn’t matter? You are my friend and when one friend is hungry, how can the other friend eat… Please, eat… for me…” After a lot of insistence from her, Tunde finally agrees and starts eating with her. But Gold is not eating, so Tunde looks at her in confusion. Gold understands and says, “Well, I forgot to bring another plate. I’ll eat later.”

Hearing this, Tunde places his hand on his forehead and then makes a bite of food, bringing it near her mouth, gesturing for her to eat. Gold refuses at first but then smiles and eats it.

Amara had come near their room for some work. Seeing Tunde and Gold together, she stopped outside and along with her nurse, stood watching them from the doorway. She didn’t like their bonding at all. Seeing them like that, she started thinking about something…

The rest of the story continues in the next chapter.