Shameless
1620 Words
Nathan
Amari returns from the job interview, upset. She bursts into tears and weeps the moment I pull her to sit on my lap.
“Babe, what happened?” I ask, my heart already breaking. I have been with her for a month now and know that she is no cry baby. Something big must have happened.
“The manager there is a bigot!”
I remain quiet until she recollects herself and continues.
“He would only give me a job if I agreed to sleep with him. He tried to force me when I turned him down…” she explains while I flinch. Just the thought of another man touching my wife makes my blood boil. I am fuming by the time she finishes relating what happened. I will teach that Campbell and those guards a lesson they will never forget for doing this to my wife. I can take any crap coming my way while everyone thinks I am a nobody, but Amari is where I draw the line. I don’t know when exactly she became my priority, but she is.
I hold her tight until she settles down. I stop her when she tries to wipe away her tears.
“No, let me. This is my job,” I say and gently wipe away her tears. She smiles at me, immediately lighting up my world. I don’t know anyone who can still smile after being through everything life has thrown at her. My wife is special.
She is taking a nap when I call Brian.
“Sir,” Brian greets and quickly corrects himself. “Sorry, no Sir.”
I only shake my head. He and I can never be seen together. He will blow my cover.
“Get Campbell, the manager at Palmland Live hospital and the guards who assaulted my wife fired with immediate effect,” I say slowly, making sure that he gets my every word. “They must never be hired in this country again,” I add, still fuming. With my asserts doubling every day, I have the authority in many businesses now. I can bankrupt anyone who dares to mess up with me, but I can’t make any drastic moves at the moment. I must stay as a nobody until I get a confirmation on whom amongst my friends and business partners, tried to kill me.
“Consider it done,” Brian responds, but I don’t think he gets how important this is to me.
“ASAP, Brian.”
“On it, Sir.”
I don’t bother correcting how he addresses me anymore. I move to my next agenda instead.
“I need you to either buy that Live hospital, or build a clinic, hospital, whatever really.”
“Sir?” he questions, clearly confused. Besides the donations I make to the struggling hospitals, my businesses have very little to do with healthcare. That is about to change.
“My wife needs a job. A good paying job, not very far from here,” I clarify my order.
“On it and the ring is on its way. There were issues with discretely importing it into the country,” he confirms and updates me on the status of my wife’s ring.
“Fine.”
“I am curious. How do you plan on explaining a million dollar ring when you are supposedly poor?” he asks. He really hates this whole set-up and would be thrilled if I said I would be coming back to claim my place.
I laugh. “That’s the thing, my friend, people here are not very invested in materialistic stuff. The ones who might recognise it will assume that it is fake.”
It is ironic that we pity poor people and assume that they are always hopeless and sad, but they seem to live fuller, meaningful lives than us. We worry about the next design and acquiring exclusive possessions, while they build genuine human connections.
I end the call with Brian and watch the angel I married sleeping. She is the blessing I would have never met had someone not tried to kill me.
We wake up the following morning to find ourselves breaking news.
Amari stands in front of the television with her fists clenched.
“I did not!” she refutes the reporter’s allegations. “He is smearing my name!” she cries as the reporter continues to speculate that Amari must be finally getting tired of being married to a poor, impotent, cripple. That is apparently, the reason why she tried to seduce Mr Campbell for a job and then turned around and accused him of assaults when he turned her down.
Mr Campbell and the guards have also been interviewed, all painting my wife as some desperate, shameless w***e, who got them fired from their work.
My impotence is another discussion that takes the whole hour before Ella is interviewed as Amari’s cousin.
She flashes her fake lashes at the reporter before spewing damning allegations about me and my wife.
“I am honestly not surprised by this. Amari is shameless and has always been loose. It is no secret that she slept with older men for money. She also seduced Nathan while he was my fiancé. They cheated on me,” her voice trembles when she says this. The witch!
“Is that why you refused to marry him?” the reporter asks sympathetically and she confirms.
“I know that a lot of you think that I am a gold-digger, who deserted Nathan when he lost everything. Some people even smear my name on social media, but you don’t know the truth. I broke up with Nathan before his accident and before he became poor. He cheated on me with her. I am pretty sure that she just wanted money as always.”
Ella is saying all this with a straight face. I can’t believe this!
“There are allegations that you and your family deserted Mrs Lord while her father literally raised yours,” the reporter says and Ella waves her hand dismissively.
“That is nonsense! Daddy tried his best to treat Amari as his own, but she was too shameless. She slept with every guard in our mansion until daddy chased her away. She is set in her ways, but I still help her with money, you know?”
“Wow!” Amari exclaims with a defeated tone and slouches on the couch.
“That is very kind of you, Miss Brown,” the reporter compliments.
I roll my eyes and the lying b***h continues telling the reporter how she sends Amari money every month as an attempt to stop her from prostituting herself.
“My parents have given up talking to her and have cut her off. I still try because she is my cousin, but I can only do so much, really.”
This woman even blinks her eyes repeatedly. I can’t believe that I almost married her!
I switch off the television and wheel myself to the couch. Amari quietly helps me get off the wheelchair. I sit next to her and turn her head to look at me when she avoids my eyes.
“Listen and listen carefully. I know you. Your friends know you. This community knows you. None of them will believe that nonsense about you.”
I know how serious she is about her character and morality.
“How do you know, Nathan?” she asks. “You just got to know me. I could be that shameless w***e they say I am,” she adds and I can’t help but laugh.
“How do I know? Let’s see. I am your first love. I gave you your first kiss and you are still a virgin.”
Her face immediately flushes. “How do you know that?”
I can’t help but chuckle as my suspicions get confirmed.
“Is that not the reason Ella broke your arm?” I question and she opens and closes her mouth. She is so cute when caught out.
“I liked you back then, but it does not make you my first love.”
“Who was your first love, then?”
She pouts.
“James?” I ask and she glares at me.
“No!”
I can’t help but laugh at her reaction. She really hates that guy and so do I.
“Trent?” I ask and her eyes widen.
“How do you know about Trent?”
I play with her hair and gaze at her alluring almond eyes.
“I know everything about my wife,” I brag and plants a kiss on her cheek.
“It’s Isaac, I am going to punch his big mouth,” she threatens, while I look questioningly at her. Isaac and Brian told me about her high school study mate, who moved abroad five years ago.
“Trent was my study partner, nothing more.”
“I know. That leaves me,” I say with a grin and she rolls her eyes.
I pull her feet to my lap and massage them. She is quiet for a long time before letting out a sigh.
“I don’t think I will find a job after this.”
I am about to respond when she speaks again. “I am going to be self-employed from now on. You are a businessman, what small business can we start?”
I look at her, shocked by how fast she bounces from a disappointment.
“I did a lot of sessions this month and the month before this. We should be able to start something,” she adds. I guess we are starting a business.
- Writer
