Hidden Bonds - Episode 1

 

Bethel stepped out of the cab looking solemnly around the small town that had been her home for seventeen years, little had changed in the town of Okene. She breathed in the cool air deeply, closing her eyes and memories came flooding, she had developed friendship here and some too. She breathed a deep sigh and started the small walk to the hotel. The hotel was in an opposite direction to her parent’s home but she couldn’t go there, not when Valerie was there.
Bethel doubted if she would have still gone home in Valerie’s absence, she couldn’t go back there, too much guilt waited for her, too many silent accusations . She smiled sadly as many bitter-sweet memories threatened to engulf her at the thought of even returning. She had known Valerie was home from Shannon, Valerie had stopped returning her calls many years ago, probably for the best.
They hadn’t seen each other in eight years and Bethel was still not ready to see her, not ready for those accusing eyes, those smart remarks. Their meeting was inevitable though, seeing as they were both in town for Shannon’s wedding. Bethel had tried so hard to come up with numerous excuses, anything to get out of the week-long wedding in her hometown but Shannon had shut it all down, finally holding her down by making her the chief bridesmaid, she could hardly say no to that.
She turned into the Dabras hotel, her mind still reeling around what it meant to be a bridesmaid, what was her job? What was she supposed to do? Why hadn’t Shannon chosen Valerie instead? She was definitely better at things like this, Valerie knew how to throw parties, memorable ones. Bethel smiled at the receptionist behind the desk at the hotel and walked slowly towards her.
‘Hi’ she said slowly
‘Hello’ the receptionist smiled nicely ‘what can I do for you please?’
‘My name is Bethel Davids, I booked a room earlier’
‘Ok, give me a minute please’ Bethel nodded and the receptionist turned to her computer, tapping away, she looked up minutes later ‘Welcome to Dabras Hotel, you are booked for room 415, that’s the fourth floor’ she handed Bethel a key ‘Do enjoy your stay’
‘Thank you’ Bethel turned away from her and headed for the elevator, she got in, punched in the fourth floor and hummed as the elevator glided up

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

. She slid out once the elevator stopped and headed down the hall, looking out for her room. She came to a stop in front of room 415, unlocked the door and got in.
Entering the room, she dropped her luggage on the bed and fell back on the bed, feeling exhausted and wishing she could just go back to her life, a life she had built to block out her past. She fished her phone out of her bag and flipped through the messages, most were from her parents and Dan, her boss. She sent him a text that she had arrived and switched off the phone, throwing it to the side. She laid back on the bed and closed her eyes, shutting every thought out.
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Ade stood in the centre of the room, staring into space, his mind lost in a past memory, a time when he had been the carefree playboy most knew him as, a time when his biggest fan could always be found hanging on his neck. Back then, he had tried to get rid of her most times but right now, he would do anything to have her by his side again, even if for a second.
He swallowed loudly and blinked back tears which were creeping into his eyes, threatening to spill over if he didn’t get a hold of himself. He couldn’t let himself break down, his mother needed him to be strong, everyone expected him to be strong, he had to be.
A mixture of rage and sadness turned inside m, she had been murdered! Who could have done this, deprive him of his only sister for eight year. They had all believed she ran away, it was the only reasonable explanation he could find for her sudden disappearance, the only explanation he really wanted to be true. It wasn’t above Vivien, she had threatened to do so many times, even dreaming of where she would go and what she would do. So he had grasped at that when she had suddenly disappeared. But now it had been confirmed that the body found at the building site was his sister’s. she had been murdered and it had been at her own graduation, her ‘final walk to freedom’ as she called it. He sat down dejectedly at the edge of the bed and stared around the room in horror. Mother had tried to keep it tidy, just the way she liked it, in expectation of her return.
But there was no return for Vivien, she was gone, had been gone for eight years. He sighed shakily wondering how he was to plan his sister’s burial, what was he supposed to say, what could he talk about? How could he say goodbye to her? What words could express the way he felt?
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Valerie finally put the phone down rom the hour long conversation between she and her assistant, he had only succeeded in making her bad mood even worse. He had called to tell her of another disaster he couldn’t handle. Shirley, a model she handled PR for had gone out and bashed her car while drunk driving. The story was already all over the news and her assistant, Felix couldn’t put a handle on things, how could he? Everyone expected her to take care of things all the time. But Valerie was bent on taking a break this time; Felix was just going to find a way to handle things over there. She stood up and walked to the mirror, assessing the image in front of her, she smiled in satisfaction, she had always wanted to be a model but she found out early that she had a penchant for other things. She was tall; a gift from her father, her heart-shaped face complimented her small facial features. She was beautiful and she knew it and she was good at what she did, good enough to own one of the best PR companies in the country, good enough to represent the best artists, models in the country.
In business, she was a raving success but in relationships, she sucked, couldn’t seem to stay in a relationship for long. She had taken this break to get away from Tom, her new ex who she had been engaged to for a year and two months. She had desperately hoped she would just come home and have some fun, then go back to the city with a positive mind and a fresh start but now, it seemed she should have stayed in the city.
Bethel was back, the thought of it alone filled her with rage, what did she want back home, life was good without Bethel, life was bound to turn sour with Bethel around. Valerie knew she didn’t want to see Bethel just yet or even ever but she had no choice, her parents were ecstatic that the prodigal daughter was returning, they had even prepared her room even though she wasn’t staying over. She wondered if Bethel had changed at all. She had stopped returning Bethel calls a long time ago, there was nothing left to say anymore and Valerie was tired of formal conversations.
But now Bethel was back, Valerie could feel in the air something big coming, something that could change everything and she didn’t like the feeling a bit.