LEAP BY CONTRACT

CHAPTER 5

Alexander POV

I pushed her aside as I hurried to the table to answer my phone.

The caller happened to be Yvonne, Terrence nanny. I was glad she called because I wanted to ask after him.

Since I resumed work, I haven't spent enough time with him and each time I returned from work, he was already asleep.

"Hey, how's Terrence?" I spoke into the speaker

"There's a problem" Yvonne cried

"Problem? What's wrong? Talk to me." Her response had made goose pimples find their way to my skin.

"Sir, please return home." she pleaded then went off.

I returned the call severally but she refused to pick up despite the continuous ringing of the phone.

"s**t" I muttered under my breath as I began to search for my car key.

By the time I was done searching for the key which I couldn't find, my office was in a huge mess. "Help me find my key" I yelled at Marianne who was panicking at my actions.

Frustrated, I dashed out of my office only to return a few seconds later.

"Fix this place." I yelled at her then dashed out again.

"Yes sir." she yelled after me

I was hurrying towards the exit on the ground floor when my driver walked up to me.

"Is everything alright?" Bess, the driver asked

"Fetch me a cab right away." I ordered

"Cab? Ferdinand will be mad at me." he cringed

"Who cares? I can't find my key and I need to get home." I yelled, attracting some passers-by but I didn't care a bit.

I was scared and frustrated. The goose pimples on my skin were increasing with each passing second.

"You gave me your keys. Come along now let me get you home" he urged me and I followed him like a lost sheep.

A few days ago, my father got me a driver after issuing a stern warning to me. He had asked me to stay off the steering wheel because of my constant accidents and disregard for the traffic rules.

For crying out loud, that was two years ago.

I was 21 at that time, I'm 23 now but dad wouldn't hear of it.

The journey home was a rough one.

I kept urging Bess to drive faster.

We barely escaped crashing into the street light several times but that didn't stop me from shouting commands at him.

When I got home, I was greeted with the troubled faces of the domestic staff.

In their worry, they had no idea of my presence so I inched closer to find out what was happening.

"Call 911."

"Try mouth to mouth respiration."

"Be gentle, don't cause more harm."

Everyone present at the scene were confused and scared. They were trying to resuscitate someone but I don't know who it was.

"We are doomed" the domestic staff wailed.

"You caused this, Yvonne," Davis accused.

"I left her in charge of Birdie," Yvonne cried.

"That's not true. You never told me she was in my care else this wouldn't have happened" Birdie shot back.

What are they talking about?

They were getting me more confused.

When I got in, I went straight to Terrence's room but she was nowhere to be found.

I checked mom and my sister's room but none of them were home. I became scared once more.

Were they involved in an accident?

Dad and mom were out of the country to grace the wedding of a friend while my sisters were at their place of work.

Yvonne and Terrence driver were supposed to pick him up from school by 1 pm.

This is 6 pm and Terence ought to be home by now.

"Where's Terrence?" I yelled until I got to where the domestic staffs were gathered

"You're here" Yvonne muttered as others chewed or twisted their fingers as they stared at their feet or looked into space.

"Have you all gone mute?" I yelled once more as the veins on my neck threatened to pop out.

"The ambulance came for him" Vincent, his driver said

"I don't understand. Ambulance? What for? Come on dude clarify me" I urged.

Vincent took a deep breath but didn't say anything. I had heard the siren of an ambulance while I was inside but I never gave it a thought.

Out of anger and frustration, I grabbed his neck, I didn't mind strangling him.

"He drowned" Vincent gasped as I tightened my grip around his neck

I still had my hand around his neck, trying to process what I just heard.

"He's going to die," Bess yelled, coming to Vincent's rescue, only then did I let him go.

I turned to face Yvonne, my next victim of assault. Even before I could say a word, she began to run her mouth like a broken tap.

"Sir, please believe me. I left him in care of Birdie. I went to get his coloring book from his room. When I returned, I didn't find him nor did I see Birdie so I thought Birdie took him out..."

"Sir, I'm the chef not the nanny, there's absolutely no way I would be in charge of Terrence. I admit I was in the sitting room with the duo but I left them." Birdie rapped

I let out a dry laugh that sent chills down the spins of all 15 domestic staff. Before Bess could stop me, I had grabbed the key from him.

The City hospital was my next destination.

With the way I was driving, one would think a legion of demons were after my life.

I was trying all I could to get to the hospital in time but I became stuck in a thick traffic making me yell out in frustration.

I feared for Terrence.

If anything happens to him, I swear, the domestic staff were going to accompany him to the world beyond.

I was in a world of my own that I did not know when the traffic light changed from red to green. It was the traffic warden who drew my attention to it since I was depriving the cars behind him from progressing.

"Are you alright?" the warden asked.

From my rear window, I saw another traffic warden guiding the cars behind mine to move.

"Sure." I replied with a nervous smile, gripping the steering wheel.

"I'll advise you to get a cab instead so you wouldn't be involved in an accident."

I was about to speak when Bess showed up causing me to crease my brow in frustration.

"Thank you warden, I'll handle it from here." he said with a smile

He pulled the door open, after retrieving the key from the ignition hole, he ordered me to the owner seat.

Angered, I stormed to the other side of the road and in my haste to get a cab, I didn't look before crossing.

The next thing that happened was, my head connected with the road and that was the last I could remember.