Fulfilling Wishes - Episode 13

 

Reeva ate quietly but happily as she was beside Andy, the love of her life, with her best friends and her mother, her life could not have been better.

“So did you talk to Fred?”She asked Andy who was also busy eating.
“Not really, I sent him a message.” Andy replied. “I am going to see him tomorrow.”

“So, what exactly happened to your father?” Reeva asked curiously.

“Heart attack.”Andy replied.

“Wow! I am so sorry Andy, she continued, “but at least he didn’t have an heart attack on that first day that I had come.” She said, laughing but stopped as she realized that Andy was not laughing.

“I am sorry Andy, but why did you leave him so suddenly?”        

“He is fine, he just needs to rest more.” Andy replied.

“More wine Andy?” Tracy asked from the table.

“Yes please, thank you.”

“So, what have you been doing while I was gone?” Andy asked and everyone except Reeva sat upright to listen to this.

“Well, my friends came around to help me with the preparation.” She said with a smile, “they travelled down Andy, you have no idea how much they have done for me, they are really heaven sent . You should thank them.”

Andy smiled and addressed them

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/fulfilling-wishes

. “Thank you for whatever you must have done for preparation and...” He stopped. “What exactly are we preparing for?”

Reeva laughed at his ridiculous question. “What else would we preparing for?

Andy shrugged. “Well, our moving in together of course. Is that it?”

For a while Reeva thought she had heard wrongly, she looked at her mother and her friends but they all pretended to be deeply engrossed in their food. Then she faced Andy again, this time, her countenance was changing but she was thinking that he was probably pulling her legs.

“Baby, we are moving in together quite alright but that is not the next step right now.”

Andy shrugged, “Believe me I know what you are talking about love; I was just pulling your legs.”

Reeva sighed. “Well, you better be, because this ring is not for decoration.”

“Definitely, next week, we are throwing an engagement party.”

Everyone looked up at him.

“Oh!” Reeva said, unable to hide her disappointment. “Of course, we would have an engagement party and...”

“And you are free to swing it the way you like.” Andy cut in while his phone rang. “Geez! I forgot to call home that everything is fine. Please excuse me .” He pulled back his chair, stood up and walked out of the room.
For a while, Reeva was quiet and then burst out, “guys, we forgot about the engagement party totally.”

The rest engaged glances, “there would always be an engagement party, why else would there be ring?” Skybae blurted.

“Well, for a moment I thought he forgot about the wedding.” Reeva said with a sigh of relief.

‘Well, he never mentioned it did he?” Tracy asked.

Reeva looked at her mother and faked a smile. “Of course he did.”

‘No he didn’t.” Skybae and Prisrtin said at the same time.

Reeva was confused and scared at the same time. “Do you think he is having a cold feet?”

“Only the bride has a cold feet.” Tracy replies.

“You guys don’t think that he is trying to avoid having a wedding do you?”

The three made no response so she continued.
I am sure that he will start talking about it after the engagement party, right?”

“Maybe.” Pristin replied.

“What if he doesn’t want to have a wedding at all.” Skybae asked but Reeva laughed. “That is not possible, why would someone propose and would not want to get married, that is preposterous.”

“Well, it is also possible,” Tracy replied.

“I am not going to allow that. But I bet you, he is definitely in the same boat as I am.”

“Amen.” The rest chorused

**

“So, how did the planning go?” KEMI asked immediately she entered the office the following morning. Reeva scoffed and went directly to her seat. Still KEMI walked up to her.

“Details Jones, you can’t keep it to yourself, what about the girls,are they gone?”

Reeva sighed and finally replied. “The girls are gone but are coming for the engagement party which is this Sunday.”

KEMI’ eyes lit up. “Are you for real?”
“Yea, I totally forgot about the engagement party, I was totally into the whole wedding stuff.”

“Wow! That’s a great news, so why do you look sad then? Isn’t that what you want?”

Reeva sighed again and leaned against the chair. “It is what I want but...I just have this fear deep down in me that Andy might not be interested in having a wedding.”

KEMI burst into laughter, “that is the dumbest thing ever, who wouldn’t be interested in having a wedding?”

“I know what I’m saying and there are people like that who might not believe in the whole wedding thingy.”

“Like who?”

“Like my father.” Reeva blurted. “He deceived my mother into moving in together and they never had a wedding till his death, especially after they gave birth to me.”

“Wow! That is really strange.”

“Yea.”

“But why would you think that Andy is not into it? Was it not last week that you were so adamant about the fact that the wedding would hold at all cost and that he is fully in?”

“Yea I know.” She replied and stood up. “He behaved rather strangely last night during dinner.”

“How?”

“I can’t really lay a finger on it but it was odd, I don’t know. I wasn’t the only one that noticed, even my friends and mum did but I had to prove them wrong.”

“So where is Andy now?”

“He is at work.”

“Why don’t you talk with one of his close friends, he must have told one of them something.”

“No, I will chill till the end of the party, then I will start planning the wedding with him, it’s better to deal with him than to go behind his back.”

“Alright then.”

“You are coming to the party?”

Kemi scoffed. “Like you needed to ask. He still hasn’t officially introduced you to his father has he?”

Reeva shook her head.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“Well, I for one would need to get over my shame with the whole stuff that happened between myself and his father and as I am talking right now, its gone, but KEMI, there is not going to be any engagement party without me meeting his father.”

“Do you think that he might be afraid of his father?”

“I don’t know but all I know is that, he is surely hiding something from me, especially about his mother. I don’t just know why he needs to be doing that.”

“Maybe she is a terrorist, or a prostitute.”

“But I don’t care. I love him and he is the only thing that matters to me, not his past, not his mum or his dad, just him.” Reeva cried.

KEMI smiled and walked to her side, she placed a hand around her shoulder. “ You need to do whatever it takes to break your man Reeva, you don’t want to get married and later start seeing many skeletons in the closet.”

“I don’t even want to find a single skeleton, KEMI. I will give him an ultimatum, it’s either he takes me to meet his father or the engagement is cancelled.”

** **

“But you know you still need to tell your father, if he hears of an engagement party later, he will be furious with you.”

Andy sighed, John was right.

Read " Happy Never After " by the same author ( Tobi Loba )

. He couldn’t risk holding a party without letting his father know.

He was in his office with John,  his partner and his most trusted friend. John knew everything that was going on his life, even about Maggie. He was tall, well built and in his late thirties. They were both sitting down on their different seats as they shared an office.

“Why didn’t you even tell him when you went home?” John asked.

“Well, I don’t know. He just had a surgery and I didn’t want to make things worse.”

“I understand your point but from what you have been saying, the only thing that your father wants is for you not to have a wedding with a woman, but you are free to have an engagement right?”

Andy wasn’t sure. “I don’t even know dude.”

“Well then you are in a bigger trouble, how wouldn’t you know that? I suggest you go home and talk to your father on this before you take any decision that might eventually kill him.”

“Another problem is that, she wants to meet my father.”

“Then I think you two should go home together this time.” John replied, observing him for a while. “What is it? You look reluctant. Are you afraid of taking her home?”

Andy shook his head. “Not at all, I am just afraid of upsetting my father, I don’t know if he’s going to approve.”

John shook his head and stood up. “You are a man dude, you are successful and old enough to make your own decision, look if you keep doing this, you might eventually lose her. Everywoman needs a real man and you are not acting like one.” With this, he took a file from the table and walked out of the office.

Andy thought for a while and then picked his phone, he dialed a number and then placed the phone against his cheek.

“Hi babe, I would like us to catch a flight to my father this evening..Yea...let me know when you are through.” He waited and smiled, “okay, I love you too.”