Twani toria.... The runway

The Runaway: II by Twani Toria

Mr. Udofia, as she had learnt the 50-something year old man to be, just saved her life. Abi couldn't be more grateful. She took in the surroundings of his living room. The structure explains a comfortable owner, not a rich one. She spotted a framed picture on the wall, showing a man and a woman, obviously himself and his wife. There was s girl that looked to be about sixteen. She looked like a younger Rhexa, which caused Abi to blink in confusion.

"Yes, she's my daughter." Mr Udofia said, sensing her confusion. She didn't know when he entered. He had gone to get her a glass of water while she busied herself with a view of the house.

"Wow". Abi said internally. It still seemed weird to her. She couldn't imagine Rhexa as their daughter. The 28 year old woman used girls for money but her father, the man was obviously a religious man. You could assert that, just by the various Christian posters on the wall, and the crafted images of Jesus, Mary and some Angels, as outlined on a shelf.

"I know what you are thinking." Mr. Onye said, reading her mind again.

He sighed heavily, and continued in a sad tone. "Her name isn't Rhexa, she is Tima. Rhexa and everything she's become is kind of like a symbol of new beginnings for her."

"New beginnings?" Abi asked.

"Well, you see, I couldn't take care of my family. Was a really poor man. The poverty probably killed my wife." He said with a shaky voice, but cleared his throat to continue. "After her death, things got worse. I drank a lot, not attending to the one person that should matter to me the most. I thought I had already lost that person. I never knew I was leading my daughter astray. Long story short, my mistakes have made her into what she is today. Everyday, I go to Rhexas' to watch over my baby. Everyday, I am saddened at the fact that I didn't pay attention. I thank God that she wasn't around today to witness the robbery. I don't know what I could have done."

"Why are you telling me this?" Abi asked, not meaning to be rude. She just felt the man was getting at something. You don't just open up to a complete stranger like that.

Instead of giving her a straightforward answer, he asked, "What are you doing at Rhexas' Miss Abi?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look my dear, I've been visiting Rhexas' for a long time to know everything and every worker there. In fact it was one of my buildings."

"One of your buildings?"  Abi asked.

"Yes. But that's not what I'm driving at. What I'm saying is that you don't belong there. Anyone could tell. You don't look like a typical Rhexa girl."

Abi didn't reply, she just gave him a scowl.You don't look like a typical Rhexa girl. In otherwords, you are all bones, not sexy. These city people tho, they can make you feel shapeless. She said internally, biting her cheek so as not to voice it out.

Mr. Udofia continued all the same.
"I don't think any reasonable father would be happy if they found out that their daughter worked at Rhexas'." He looked at her intently as he spoke.

"What's wrong with this man?" He was giving her the creeps like there is more to what he's saying.

"What are you getting at?" She finally asked.

"Have you any skills in nursing?" the man answered her question with a question. Again.

Out of ethics, she answered.
"Yes, I do. At a time I worked in a hospital as an assistant nurse."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

The man arched a brow, but quickly recovered from his surprise. Too young to work in Rhexas'. He thought, before he finally spoke.
"Good. There is a nursing job available. I spoke with a man who has been in a search for the perfect nurse for his grandmother. He would be going back to Lagos tomorrow. Told Tima about it, she turned it down. I hope you don't turn it down. You have only today to decide. We will meet him tomorrow before he leaves for Lagos. That I couldn't save my daughter doesn't mean I can't save others. You don't belong in Rhexas' Miss Abi. Choose wisely."

。            。           。           。

He was going all cow, thrashing a lot of things in his room. How come they couldn't find her? He knew she worked at Rhexas'. He had visited the place since he found out about her hiding place. He hadn't believed at first. Abi was such a goodietooshoes girl. He always saw her that way. It took him two months to find her. He planned to capture her today but it looks like his plan had failed. He had told the kidnappers he had hired to stage the whole thing. They were to make it look like a robbery, while they abducted her. Her abduction was the main goal.

"How come!" He yelled with rage to no one in his empty house. He had always wanted Abi. He's been obsessed with with everything about her. Her colour, and very beautiful dark eyes enticed him. And her voice, oh her voice, he remembered the first day he heard her speak in class. She was providing an answer to a biology question asked by a teacher. That lush tone of hers had given him a hard-on right away. It still gave him whenever he thought of her. He was having one right this moment.

Hearing about her escape―a flying gist in Aregun―had caused him simmering. He couldn't bare not seeing her ever again. Thus, he had gone hunting and searching. Finally, he found her, in the last place he could ever imagine 'his Abi' to be. He would visit Rhexas', order a meal, buy a drink, or rent a room, just to see 'his Abi'. He had noticed how uncomfortable she always seemed to be, as though she hated the inn. He noticed everything about her. The way she frantically lifts her lowly hung V-neck shirt. The way she would intentionally walk stiffly, to prevent her little hips from swaying in the tight bum shot she wore. Everything.

Realizing how very uncomfortable she always looked, he had wanted to save her. He could simply approach her, make her fall in love with him and get her to marry him. But he knew Abi. She wasn't a type to woo easily. But he has waited for a long time. His clandestine feelings are eating him up. His patience, wearing down. So, he sought an alternative―abduct her. She would thank me later. He had thought to himself.

Now, he has to go hunting again, for she had manage to escape. Again.

"Lucky bitch!!" He spoke with stronger fury.

He looked down at his trousers and shook his head. He was already a mess. Thus, he walked to his bathroom, mumbling something like "she would be the death ofme."

He is indeed obsessed.

Twani Toria