Day 6: Girls' Night Out

(Debbie Obasi’ POV)

Watching the couple these past couples of days has been such an incredible joy! I hadn’t seen Phoenix ever since high school and I was so glad when I got the mail informing of her arrival. The week before her arrival, I was so antsy and had to get everything for her arrival. Their time together in Nigeria was coming to an end and she was yet to tell me everything that had happened and even how she met Sterling.

The art exhibition was such a healing and relaxing moment for the couple and the art they picked together really made it feel as though they were soul mates but the hour was drawing near and it was already evening.

On the drive back to the hotel, I looked through the mirror and saw both of them, each staring out their seat windows and I had to interrupt them, “Hey Nyx,” I called out to her, getting her attention, “You know, when you first arrived, you said that you were going to tell me everything and you guys might be going tomorrow, so why don’t we just make it a girls’ night,”

She leaned forward with excitement and giggled, showing her pearly white teeth, “Oh, yeah, we definitely need to do that but how will we do that with this hunk of a man around me?” She looked quickly behind at Sterling before looking at me with a ‘what are we going to do’ expression on her face and I chuckled at her expression.

I looked at Sterling for a brief moment before asking him, “Sterling, do you mind me booking a room at the hotel for the night for just the both of us?” I watch him take his gaze from Phoenix and looked at me before some minutes before looking at her again.

“Urhh, probably, I don’t know; you know that I can’t let her out of my sight,” He shrugged and looked at Phoenix again.

“You do know that it is just us girls in a room together, having an alone time, right?” Phoenix countered.

He sighed, “Yeah, I do; alright, you guys are free to do what you want,”

“Yes girl, we’ve got a lot to talk about! Let’s hit this show down the road,” I said to Phoenix as I drove into the hotel premises and parked by a corner, “But you know, I have got to let Clifford know that we will be having a girls’ night and that I won’t be coming home,” I picked up my phone from the pigeon hole and dialed my husband’s number, thankfully, he picked up before the phone stopped ringing and I could hear the difference in his voice, as though he was gasping for breath.

“Hey babe, what’s up, are you on your way home?” he said as I could hear shuffles from his end.

Yikes, this may not end well, “Why, is there something going on over there?” I knew that I was reaching but still, I had to try.

“Uhh, the house was in total chaos but I sorted that out,” he said, sniffling a little.

I chuckled as I remembered that the house was always a total disaster whenever he cooked any kind of meal, “Did you try to cook?”

I could imagine him scratching his head slowly and lightly as he struggled for what to say with an embarrass look on his face, “Yeah, I did and this time, it didn’t end well but we can eat out or order something to eat at home and also, getting Gerald to sleep was chaotic! I can literally still hear the ringing in my ears but I am so glad that he is asleep now. I have never been happier,” he spoke without breaks.

“Well, about coming home, there is something that I have to tell you,” I said, drumming my hands against the steering wheel.

“What, what about coming home?” he asked

“I want to have a girls’ night out with Phoenix before she returns to America tomorrow. You know that it has been years since we last saw each other and I know that we will be relocating to America during the festive season but still, there are still a lot of things that us girls have to talk about tonight, so, can you left me stay over for tonight?” I anticipated his answer the way I anticipated the birth of Gerald some months ago.

He sighed and said, “Fine and I am only agreeing to this because I agree to what you said but then you owe me and I am going to punish you so bad when you get back home tomorrow,”

Punishment, what for?

“Babe, what sort of punishment is that?” I asked just so I could prepare myself for the battle ahead until he spoke his next words that blew my mind.

“I will punish you with rounds of hot steamy sex until you scream my name so loud that the neighbors will have to complain about us after that,” he said and I could imagine his signatory devilish smirk on his face and I blushed so hard that my cheeks hot. I heard ruffles at the back and I turned to see Sterling and Phoenix hands locked together while she had a wide grin on her face before she spoke up.

“He wants to punish you with rounds of hot steamy sex, right?” Phoenix questioned me while winking at me and making matters worse. Oh boy! I returned to my original position and spoke to my husband.

“Babe, we will settle that when we get home but right now, we just arrived at the hotel and I am going to book a room; I will see you tomorrow, I love you, bye,” I hung up and got down from the car and walked to the hotel with hurried steps so as not to be taunted further by Phoenix.

I got to the receptionist desk, booked a room below the presidential suite for the night, made payments with my bank card, took my room’s key card and went straight to the elevator without saying a word whatsoever to Phoenix or Sterling.

The elevator stopped at my room’s level and I stepped out of it before finally turning to look at the couple but my gaze was directed at Phoenix before saying, “You have exactly 2 hours to get here,” and then turned my gaze to Sterling, “Let her be here in the next 2 hours,” then walked to my room, got in and ordered for room service.

***************************

2 hours later.

Phoenix was already in my room and we had changed into our pajamas or in my case, a bathrobe and underneath were my underwear.

So, Nyx, how did you get to know Sterling, what am I missing?” I asked her and then watched her sigh a little before adjusting herself into a comfortable position.

“Well, after high school, you left, I got into college and had a degree, then I met Allen when I just started PHOENIX CORP. whom I thought was the one until 3 years later when he cheated on me with some chic I didn’t know then but totally know her now and she is pure evil. He left me because he thought that I couldn’t offer him the power he wanted to become the best in his sector which is the gaming world. I was so broken by that act because you know how hard it was for me to even touch anyone but I let him into my life after so many years of being isolated and he did this! I think 3 or 4 months down the line, I met Sterling in the strangest way possible. He did little things that made my heart flutter but I didn’t let him in, I was using my head instead of my heart this time. During one of those days, specifically last year’s Christmas season, Allen broke into my home,” she sniffled before standing up to get a glass of water from the table beside us and gulped it all at a go and I didn’t interrupt her but let her do her thing at her own pace. She sat back down on the bed before continuing her story.

“He broke in, beat me to a pulp, raped me and left me for dead, he said it was my Christmas and birthday present and while he did that, flashes of what my dad did to me flashed my mind and I was back in my shell at that moment. I think I slipped out of consciousness and woke up at the hospital or something; I can’t remember but I know that Sterling was with me every step of the way. I took a leave of absence from work and Sterling covered up for me while still working his own job. When I returned home from the hospital that night, and Sterling left me, Allen broke in again. Long story short, I got him arrested and had a restraining order against him opened up. I moved into Sterling’s house and two weeks later, I found out that I was pregnant and it was as a result of the rape. Sterling stood by me through all the troubles and stuff and it made me fall more in love with him. He loves Emerald as his own and I am going to tell him to officially adopt her as his own when we get back; just in case,” Phoenix looked at me as she tried to clean the tears that rolled down her face.

“So, what about your dad, heard from him yet?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Yeah, he managed to come back and it was a lot to deal with. Came back to do business with me under a false alias, tried to haunt me again thinking that I didn’t recognize him but I played smart and got him arrested. He is in prison and he will be there for a long time and as for my mom, she came back a month ago,” she shrugged her shoulders.

“Wait, what? Where was she all these years?” I was angry at what her parent did to her, almost ruining her life.

“Haiti, working as a maid; as far as I know, I have everyone in my life back together and I can’t wait to have you back, then I will show you off to the other guys and I am very sure that you will love them. The only person I have to deal with now is Lisa, the girl Allen left me for. Turns out that she hired one Brianna to wreck my home with a fake pregnancy but she got caught months later and now, since I have been watching her closely after I set her free, she met with Lisa and I wonder if Allen has a hand in it too and if he does, I will make sure that both of them pay for what they have done,” Phoenix said and she jumped on the bed as though she didn’t just narrate to me in a short story what had happened to her in a nutshell but then the name Brianna rang a bell in my head until it all came together.

“Wait, Brianna, as in Brianna Diego?”

“You know her?”

“Of course, I do; literally everyone in high school did. I know that she didn’t like you but to go through all this just because of her hatred for you, that is just insane,”

“Yeah, well, I will deal with her when I get back tomorrow and thank God December is almost here,”

“Yeah, like four more months and I will be with you again!”

We played, ate, had lots of fun and finally, cuddled her to sleep like we usually did back in high school.