THE HONOURABLE MAN

Episode 51

Kiana grabs the arm of a skinny blonde woman dressed in a short mini dress holding a glass of wine in her hands, "Who are you and what the hell is going on here?" She barks at her after bumping into her along the corridor.

The blonde gasps and her eyes glance at Kiana's tight grip on her arm. "Get your hands off me whoever you are," she sneers.

"She is the woman of this house and you are intruding," Bryce grunts.

A perplexed expression appears on her face and before she could respond a familiar face comes marching into the room.

Kiana gapes, "Courtney!"

This is her sister who got married at the age of twenty five and moved a thousand miles away to her husband's country in Roseland.

They never saw her again since she never bothered to invite her family to her new home and she never cared to visit. She also didn't show up to any of her sisters weddings.

Bryce's jaw drops and his eyes widen as he sets his eyes on his wife's look alike. With her auburn hair, almond eyes, her tall height and her curvaceous body she could easily be mistaken for Kiana.

"Hello there little sister," she smoothens her dress and shoots a gleaming smile at her and later rushes forward to pull her into a hug.

Kiana is still too shocked to respond and her mind is racing with a lot of questions.

Courtney doesn't wait for her to respond, she sways her hips as she struts towards Bryce and extends her hand to meet his.

"You must be my dashing brother in law," she bats her eyelashes at him. Bryce blankly shakes her hand.

"Aww and this must be my lovely nephew and niece," she turns to Bryan and ruffles his hair, he responds by taking a step back and grabbing his father's hand. Courtney ignores his response and goes on to pinch Kiandra's cheeks who responds by writhing uncomfortably on her mother's hip.

Courtney's eyes flicker to Sam and she blinks with amazement for a short moment, "And who are you? You are too old to be Kiana's child...don't tell me my sister married a man with a child from his previous relationship. Hmmm I can't say I'm surprised...she has always been a mother Teresa," she flashes a fake smile.

After a long moment of being frozen silent Kiana gestures to her husband to take the kids upstairs so she can have a moment alone with her sister.

"Courtney what are you doing here and who are all these people in my house and how did you get in here?" She tries very hard to compose herself and resist scowling at her.

"Gee that's not a friendly welcome at all, what happened to...nice to see you again how have you been?" She smirks.

"I don't have time for games Courtney, you can't just show up in my house after ten years of abandoning our family and then you dare to invite strangers to party in my home?" She barks.

She furrows her brows and drags Kiana to a secluded room and sits her down. "It's Gareth...after we got married he told me I have a new family and I must keep my distance from you guys...what was I supposed to do?" She pouts pensively.

Kiana looks deep into her eyes searching for some truth in her words but somehow she is not fully convinced by her claims. "Okay let's not talk about Gareth for now...how did you know where to find my house and how did you get in?"

"Seriously Kiana?" She frowns at her as if she asked her dumb questions.

"I want answers Courtney," she insists.

"Maliah gave me the address and she told me where you usually keep the spare keys,"

"Why would Maliah do that and not inform me about your arrival, it's not like her at all," she utters with confusion showing in her eyes.

"I know you and Maliah have always been besties, she really wanted to tell you but I literally begged her not to ruin the surprise,"

"Hmm...why are you here Courtney? Why didn't you go to our parents house?" She folds her hands against her chest.

"You know how mom and dad are like, I can't survive in their house. They will only treat me like a child and force me to bend to their ridiculous rules. I thought it best to crash with my baby sister for a few...days and get to know my niece and nephew," she responds with a wide grin.

"You can't just show up unannounced, I don't live alone. This is Bryce's home as well. Why didn't you tell me you were planning to...."

She is interrupted by the sound of something falling to the floor and shattering into pieces.

"Why did you invite strangers into my house? You better hope that's not one of my expensive vases that has been shattered," She scowls.

"They are not strangers, just a couple of my old friends. I needed their distraction to stop me from mourning my pending divorce," she dolefully states.

"Divorce??" Kiana gasps

"Yes....he is leaving me for another woman," she sniffles.

"But why?" Kiana is dumbfounded by the news.

"What do you mean why...what kind of a question is that Kiana? Are you trying to imply that I did something to push him into the arms of another woman huh?" She snaps at her.

Kiana is not surprised by her outburst, her sister has always been a short tempered person who is quick to throw accusations at others but she had hoped being married would have a positive influence in her life and that after so long of being away from each other, she may have changed for the better.

"I'm not implying anything I'm just shocked, please forgive me if my question offended you," she apologizes to stop a heated argument from erupting.

"Good," she icily smirks.

There is awkward silence cutting in the room for a long moment.

"Courtney please do me a favor and get your friends out of here. My family is exhausted and in need of a quiet peaceful rest," she politely requests.

"Sure...I understand and I'm sorry for all this. If I had known you'd be flying back home today I wouldn't have invited anyone over," she states.

"That reminds me to ask...when did you get here?" She lifts an eyebrow.

"Yesterday morning...don't worry your fridge is still packed," she chuckles.

"That wasn't my concern," she mutters.

"Ooh I see...if it's about the party...it was only for today...I promise," she blinks feeling a little embarrassed she got caught.

In a few minutes the crowd hurriedly disperse out of the house as if someone just rang the fire alarm.

Kiana grimaces as she storms in to her bedroom, "Can you believe the nerve of that woman?" She spits with eyes blazing with anger.

"Calm down...that's your sister down there," he grabs her neck and forces her to look at him.

Staring into his blue eyes that burn with love and concern for her helps her to calm down and exhale deeply.

"I never told you about my sister, we grew up fighting...let me just say we never saw eye to eye and I was pleased when she got married and moved away and so was Maliah," she confesses.

Bryce widens his eyes, he is shocked to hear his wife speak ill of her own sister. He knows her to be the most loving, caring and forgiving person he has ever met. If she has nothing good to say about Courtney then he believes she is indeed a handful woman.

After an exhilarating vacation with her family, she just wanted to get back home and get back to their normal lives but with Courtney crashing in her house, uninvited, she can only fear the next couple of days will be challenging.

"Please tell her to leave," she peers at Bryce with desperate pleading eyes.

"What?" He is mouth opened.

"Think about it...you are my husband and you are the man of the house. You can give her an excuse as of why she can't stay with us," she frantically utters.

"An excuse like what?"

"I don't know... you will think of something," she blinks.

"No Kiana...maybe this is your chance to fix your relationship with your sister. She is our kids Aunt after all and they deserve a chance to get to know her," he rubs her shoulders in hopes to get her to relax.

"But honey Courtney doesn't like children she never has...why do you think she doesn't have a child of her own by now and did you see how rude she was to poor Sam?" She mutters.

"Sweetheart you are a good person and I believe her being around you for a couple of days may change her to be a better person," he states.

"I grew up around Courtney and that didn't make her become a better person."

"Well...you were both young back then and now you are mature adults." He says.

"Well It's clear that there is nothing I can say to make you change your mind," she sullenly mumbles.

"Cheer up my love...it's a new year and it's time to mend broken relationships. I will be right by your side every step of the way." He says as he wraps her into a big tight hug.

She loosens up in his embrace and tightens her arms around his back.