Village Girl And The CEO

Chapter 3

Sharon saw the drama unfolding between Tina and Prisca, but she hissed and didn't bother asking them what was going on, as she never liked Tina. She wondered what her brother saw in Tina that made Patrick so interested in her.

Sharon would agree that Tina was beautiful, and very fair-skinned, but to her, Tina was still too local. Patrick stepped out of the kitchen and into the parlor. His house was a small two-bedroom apartment that he had bought, and he shared the two rooms with Sharon.

Patrick noticed Tina sobbing and saw Sharon laughing and drinking happily with her two best friends. He got irritated and asked Sharon, "Where's your friend?"

Sharon, with her hands on her hips, asked, "Which of my friends?" Patrick glanced at the parlor wall clock and saw it was getting late. He wondered what was taking Prisca so long to take Tina back to their village, which was a little farther from the nearby city where he lived with his younger sister, Sharon.

Patrick and Sharon weren't the only children of their parents; Patrick had three other siblings besides Sharon. Just then, Prisca stepped out of the restroom and said to Tina, "Let's leave."

As they stepped out of the house, a strong wind blew, and heavy rain began to fall. Prisca turned back to Tina and said, "You see, Tina, we can't go out in the rain. We'll have to wait for it to lessen or stop before leaving for home. I'm going back inside."

Prisca didn't wait for Tina to respond as she turned and went back into the house to continue her discussion with Sharon and the two friends who had arrived earlier. Tina stood outside by the door and started crying, not wanting to go back inside, even as the heavy rain continued to soak her clothes. Tina remained outside by the door, sobbing.

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Patrick stepped into the living room after finishing cooking and discovered that Tina wasn't inside with Prisca and the other three ladies. He assumed Tina was still outside, and it was already getting dark and raining heavily, as the rain made the night fall quickly.

Patrick ignored the ladies' discussion and went out to open the door. He saw Tina sobbing under the small porch in front of his house and said, "Come inside, Tina, it's still raining."

"No," Tina refused to move an inch, not wanting to go back into Patrick's house. Patrick frowned, went back inside, and later returned to give Tina an umbrella. But Tina refused to accept it, saying, "There's no need for it."

"Take it and use it to cover yourself. You're already wet, and you should avoid getting too cold since you don't want to come inside," Patrick said, leaving the umbrella beside Tina. He knew Tina was very stubborn and went back into his house, unhappy about Tina's attitude toward him. The heavy rain continued, with lightning and thunder, but Tina still stood outside, regretting, "Why today of all days did I follow Prisca here, knowing this heavy rain would fall? Mom will already be home from the market, and she won't find me there. Richmond and Jude might be outside playing or wondering where I might have gone."

Tina sobbed as the heavy rain continued to fall, increasing until late at night.

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Mama Tina (Tina's mother) was at her market stall earlier, where she normally sold fruits and foodstuffs at the village square. She noticed the sudden change in weather and knew it would rain heavily.

Mama Tina immediately packed up all her fruits and went back home to her husband's house, where she still lived with her children, even though her husband had run away with another woman ten years ago. When she got home, she found only Jude, her youngest son, sleeping inside the house, as the door wasn't locked. She wondered where Tina and her eldest son, Richmond, had gone, leaving only Jude at home.

Mama Tina approached Jude and gently tapped his shoulder to wake him up, saying, "Jude, Jude! Wake up. Where are your sister and brother?"

Jude, a 10-year-old boy, stirred awake and was happy to see his mother had returned. He quickly hugged her and replied, "I don't know, Mom. I finished eating my food when I saw Aunty Prisca arrive and talk with Aunty Tina. Later, Aunty Tina told me to go back inside and sleep if I had finished eating."

"Hmm," Mama Tina frowned and asked Jude, "Then where is Richmond?"

Mama Tina wasn't happy that only Jude was at home. Just then, Richmond rushed into the house and shut the door before the strong wind blew, and the heavy rain started to fall heavily.

Richmond had been at his friend Alex's place. He was a 14-year-old boy who liked helping Alex's father at his furniture workshop. He greeted his mother, "Good evening, Mom."

"Where's Tina?" Mama Tina quickly asked Richmond. Richmond gulped, not knowing where Tina had gone either, as he had left the house earlier with Alex when Tina was still at home. He didn't know who had visited Tina after he left or where she had gone.

Mama Tina frowned and became worried. She wanted to go to Prisca's house to search for Tina since Jude mentioned Prisca visiting them. But then the strong wind blew, and the heavy rain increased.

Mama Tina cursed and paced about in their old-looking parlor. She went back inside, hoping nothing bad had happened to her only daughter, Tina. She finally went to the kitchen to sort out their evening meal since it was getting late. She remembered that a neighbor had warned her to monitor Tina's movements with her friend Prisca. Prisca was always visiting when she wasn't around, and Prisca was known to be corrupt and hang out with different guys. But she thought Tina was disciplined enough and never took the neighbor's warning seriously. She thought there was no need to tell Tina not to make street friends, and now she regretted not warning Tina against Prisca or confirming if what the neighbor had gossiped about Prisca was true.

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The heavy rain continued to fall until dark, and Tina was still standing outside in front of Patrick's house, soaked and shivering from the cold, as the rain gradually reduced.

"If only I had known my way back home earlier, I could have walked home to our village when I stepped out at noon, when the sun was still shining brightly before the rain started," Tina said to herself, shivering as she stood in front of Patrick's house. Just then, she saw a car drive into Patrick's compound and park.

Tina became scared, using her right palm to wipe rainwater from her eyes. She saw the driver switch off the headlights, and fear gripped her as she didn't know who the man in the car was.

Tina continued to stare at the man worriedly as he answered a phone call in his car. Just then, she heard Sharon's voice and her two best friends' voices echoing and laughing as they stepped out from the house behind her, cursing the rain still showering.

Tina saw they were dressed in new, hot-looking short gowns, different from the ones they wore earlier at noon, looking like they were going out for a party.

To Tina's shock, she also saw Prisca tagging along with them. Prisca had changed her black gown into a red seductive short dress.

Tina quickly rushed to meet Prisca to confirm if they were going home and if the driver in the car was a good Samaritan who wanted to take them home. But before Tina could approach Prisca and ask her the question, Prisca immediately yelled, "Where do you think you're going, Tina?! With that soaked body of yours? Please step back; you're not coming with us, let alone soaking someone's car with your wet, dripping body," Prisca added. Tina frowned, unable to understand Prisca's recent behavior toward her.

Tina became utterly embarrassed and swallowed her words. Sharon laughed and looked at Tina's hand, noticing the umbrella in her hand. Sharon walked over to Tina, took the umbrella from her, and said, "Don't be annoyed, Tina, kindly lend us your umbrella. Oh, this umbrella even looks like mine, which I've been searching for inside..."

Sharon glared at Tina, but Tina didn't respond, still shocked by Prisca's statement. Sharon took the umbrella and walked away, opening it to cover her head as she returned to the car. Tina finally snapped out of her daze as she saw the four ladies preparing to get into the car.

Tina rushed to meet Prisca again and asked, "Wait, Prisca. What do you mean I can't come with you? I thought we were going home?"

"No, Tina. Sharon, please wait for me and don't tell the driver to go yet," Prisca said as she turned to face Tina, standing beside the car. "Well, you see, Tina, I've changed my clothes, and what does that tell you? I'm going out, not going home yet. Besides, it's already late, and I'll be back soon. So why not go inside and wait for us to return? When I return, we can start going home."

"But..." Before Tina could say another word, Prisca rushed back into the car and shut the door, not waiting for Tina to respond. She saw the driver start the car, and Tina stood outside the house crying as she watched the car drive out of the compound, leaving her all alone, standing outside in front of the house.