CHAPTER FORTY NINE
When she was through crying out her pain, she cleaned up her tears, washed her face, put on some home clothes, and since it was time to prepare lunch,
As Raymond walked through the staircase, he heard a silent sob, and he decided to know where it was coming from, and to his greatest surprise, the sound was coming from the second floor. He walked through the hallway and stopped in front of the door where he was sure the sound came from. He did not mean to eavesdrop, but he had to clear his confusion because he knew that Gavriel would never go easy on his secretary. Raymond could not just understand why Gavriel was so harsh to the extent of maltreating a young lady who had a lot that awaited her in the future, and his actions could lead the lady to think about death or suicide. He was sure that his friend had gone insane.
He heard everything the young lady said while she cried, and it touched him. It was high time Gavriel stopped this because, according to what she said, she had just been in this house for twenty-two hours, which is not even up to a day, and she was already crying, saying she wanted to give up.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
Raymond sighed and went back to the sitting room. He needed to find a way to talk with her without Gavriel finding out.
Tina, who was not aware someone was standing in front of her door eavesdropping while she cried, quietly walked out of her room as she walked down the staircase and made her way to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
She just wanted to prepare something simple so she could go back to her room and rest her head to ease her pain.
She opened the fridge and brought out three chicken wraps, tomatoes, carrots, green peas, green peppers, red meat, and five eggs. Then she went into the food store and took enough packets of noodles.
“Hey,” Raymond said as he walked into the kitchen, and Tina, who quickly turned as a result of shock because of the unknown voice she just heard,
“Hi, I am sorry, but I have not seen you in this house before,” Tina said because she did not know how the handsome man got into the house.
“Goodness, this man is handsome and looks familiar, but where did I see him?” she said to herself as she ransacked her head, trying to remember where she had seen him.
“Yeah, I am sorry for not introducing myself… I am Raymond, Gavriel’s best friend.” Raymond introduced himself and smiled.
“Oooh, wow, it is nice meeting you,” Tina said as an image flashed in her head. He was the man who was with Mr. Gavriel that day at the bar, but she could not find him after some seconds.
“You are Mr. Gavriel’s best friend?” She asked.
“Yeah, why do you ask?” Raymond asked as he perceived a feeling of doubt in her voice.
“I am sorry, but I have to be plain with you,” Tina said as she broke the eggs into a bowl.
“Okay, go on,” Raymond replied eagerly, waiting for her to say what she wanted to say.
“I have two questions. First, how do you cope with Mr. Gavriel being your best friend? And secondly, I want to know if you are just like your best friend, who is a devil. “Sorry for saying that, but I just want to know,” Tina said as she moved to the sink and washed the chicken laps but suddenly turned to face Raymond, who was currently laughing.
“What is funny?” Tina asked.
“I am so sorry for laughing, but I have been friends with Gavriel for twelve years now, and I do not see anything wrong with him. I am not like my best friend… we have different characters,” Raymond said as he wondered how bold she was to ask him those questions.
“Are you trying to defend him because he is your best friend, and I know that you are aware of your best friend’s character and way of life?” Tina insisted that he knew Gavriel, and she knew for a fact that he was covering him up.
“Eehhmm, can I know your name since you already know mine?” Raymond asked.
“Christina, but you can call me Tina,” she replied.
“Nice name,” Raymond complimented.
“Thank you,” Tina said as she washed the carrots, green peas, green peppers, and tomatoes.
“I think I have something I need to apologize about,” Raymond said as he walked towards the fridge.
“We are just meeting now, and you already have something to apologize about… well, at least you are not like your friend, who can never apologize for doing something hurtful,” Tina said, as she could not believe that she was comparing the two friends.
“Yeah, I think I overheard you crying in your room. I am sorry, but I am not a pervert, but I just needed to clear my confusion,” Raymond said as he took out a bottle of water from the fridge, and Tina turned to face him.
“You heard me crying?” Tina asked with shock.
“Yes, and I am sorry about that. I think I understand what you are going through here… it is just like hell, and I also saw you crying by the roadside today when I was on my way here, but I never knew you were the young lady Gavriel told me about,” Raymond explained as he drank the water in his hands.
“It is okay… like you said, I have been here for just less than a day, but it seems like I have been here for ages,” Tina said as she picked up a knife and started chopping the carrots, pepper, green peas, and tomatoes.
” I understand, the fateful day you signed that contract I could not believe that Gavriel could do such a thing because when he told me I strongly objected to it, I was never in support of it up till this moment, Gavriel was not like this, he just happened to start creating hatred for people who threw up where he was or worse, those who threw up on him and when I noticed it, I thought it was just something he hated but I never knew it would get to this extent, I do not know if you have been told that this happened months ago when Natasha, his ex finance threw up on him, he never forgave her, he even called off the wedding and sent her out of this house, Natasha would sit by the gate crying day and night, begging him when he drove past but he never brought her back and her’s is better compared to yours because she got the chance to live her life but you can not because you are bound to him, I understand you are really hurt and it pains me because I can not do anything about it even at the point where he is my best friend, I told him plainly that I would not want to sow what I would not want to reap but please endure him and when it gets to a point where you can not endure it again, I will advise you to face him, go hard on him, if you can not endure it anymore then show him you can’t but for now just endure, please ” Raymond explained and pleaded with her because he felt she should know. Without even looking at her, he saw the light, kindness, and love she bore, but Gavriel was turning them into darkness, wickedness, and hatred.
“I also want to endure, but it is not as easy as it is said, you know, but if you say so, I will do so. I just hope I live a long life during my stay here,” Tina said as she fried the chicken wraps and also the eggs.
“I know you will survive his wrath if you do as I say, so do not ever think about death,” Raymond assured, and Tina nodded. At least she felt a bit of a burden leaving her, and she was happy about it.
“Okay, I will leave you to finish up your cooking… I will be upstairs so I can freshen up,” Raymond said as he walked towards the door.
“Wait!” Tina called him back, and he turned.
“Thank you for advising me… I appreciate it, and right now I feel like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders,” Tina appreciated.
“You are welcome… I will always be here in case you need any more advice,” Raymond said.
“Sure,” Tina said, and Raymond left as she went back to finish up her cooking.