Overlook Love – Episode 3
PART 3
I hardly saw Tess anymore. We chatted on phone but she spent most her free time with Ryan. It was always Ryan this, Ryan that and every detail of their bedroom adventures landed on my inbox. I was part of the sex, sometimes I felt like I was the referee blowing the whistle for the game to start and for it to end. “Jade we have just done it, I am headed to the shower and then round two” like I didn’t have a sexual life. Sometimes I stayed late at night to have a threesome with them from my apartment. It was the circus of the year!
I was surprised one Sunday morning when Tess showed up at my door-step with a long face and unkempt hair. She looked battered from within. I didn’t want to jump into conclusions as I always did. I let her in, fixed her a strong drink and let her relax. She sipped it thrice before saying a word. I kept stealing glances at her and smiling inside. Two things crossed my mind, either Ryan was playing her or she was already bored with the relationship and wanted our old life back. After running her fingers through her long hair, she looked at me shook her head.
TESS: Jade, did I make a mistake falling love with Ryan? Please tell me it is going to be okay.
JADE: I can’t tell you that coz I don’t know what he has done. Is he cheating on you?
TESS: I don’t know. I trust him and have never bothered to find out if he is cheating on me or not. That’s not even important anymore.
JADE: Then what’s the issue? I thought you were happy and having fun from the texts that you send me daily.
TESS: I am happy and it’s fun dating Ryan, but he has this habit that I can’t take in anymore.
JADE: What habit, does he pee in bed?
TESS: Get serious Jade. First it started with 10k and it increases every next time.
JADE: You are not telling me anything Tess, speak straight.
TESS: First he asked me for 10K. He said he had ordered for some materials for his shop and was short by that amount. So he said I sort him out. He was to refund later that evening when we meet. That never happened.
JADE: Did you ask him for it?
TESS: No I didn’t. I went to his house we had dinner and sex, then I went home.
Next day I texted him about it and he said he would refund as soon as possible.
JADE: Then what happened?
TESS: He didn’t refund but kept asking for more and promising to refund all together.
JADE: How much so far?
TESS: 350K
JADE: Tess, Tess, Tess! Have lost your sanity? Has he proposed or taken any dairy cattle to your mother?
TESS: Not yet, but a week ago he told me he was renovating a building and once it is sold he will refund the whole amount.
JADE: And you believed him?
TESS: Yes I did, until yesterday when he rang me to go to his place and found him with a certain man. I listened to them but something didn’t add up.
I couldn’t believe was Tess was telling me. From the beginning I knew that guy was a leech. He must have known Tess before and marked her for exploitation. I didn’t know what to tell her because she was head over ass in love with the guy. She didn’t even ask me what to do. She came to share what was happening between her and Ryan. She was afraid that if she stopped helping him, he would dump her before recovering her money. She had found him with a contractor who Ryan had contracted to renovate a building which he intended to sell for 15M and then refund Tess her money once the sale went through. The contractor told Tess
not to worry because they already had a willing buyer. They took her to the said building and true as they said, there was work going on.
JADE: Did you talk to any of the workers there?
TESS: No, but I know the place. I can take you there.
JADE: Tess, I don’t want to be part of this mess you are getting into.
TESS: I have come to you because he is asking me to loan him another 800K
JADE: And how did he know that you have such kind of money?
TESS: I am a fool Jade, you know when one thing leads to the other and then you have those bedroom talks after being ironed thoroughly, you end up saying a lot.
JADE: Did you tell him about the source of that cash apart from you salary?
TESS: I can’t be that thick as to give such information to another man. Even my mother doesn’t know about it. I lied to him that my ex left me a parcel of land which I sold and was planning to open a business sometime soon. If he knows about my boss he will think I am screwing the guy.
JADE: Why are you really here Tess? I don’t get you at all.
TESS: To ask for your advice. Do I loan him the money or not? Do you think if I say no he will leave me?
JADE: Are you buying his love or what? I don’t think I can help you. You are already afraid of losing the guy. You know what Tess; give him all the money in your bank account so that he keeps loving you until you die. Let him milk your account dry.Kindly share out more interesting stories from generalloaded.com using the floating social media icon button below.
TESS: What if he is actually going to get that money from the sale of the house? What if I doubt him and he is real, what if, what if Jade!
JADE: Do me a favour Tess, carry the burden of your what if’s. I can’t tell you what to do about Ryan. Continue loving him, continue lending him your cash and pray that he doesn’t milking you dry and leave you hanging on tree top.
TESS: Should I tell my mother?
JADE: And let hell break lose! She will kill Ryan or kick him out of your life. I don’t want to nurse your broken heart for years Coz I am sure you will land here after Ryan leaves you.
A lot of things crossed my mind after that conversation with Tess. I knew Ryan was a smooth operator after he kissed both of us the same night, but it never occurred to me that he is a con. I was very annoyed but I didn’t blame him, I blamed Tess. How can you tell a man who has not taken even half a chicken to your home about the cash you have in your bank? Fine he asked for 10k, why give him more before he refunds that 10K? She was to stand firm and tell him to refund the first one before dishing more. After taking all the small monies until 350k, the guy was now demanding for a whooping 800K at ago. I had to find out what was going On.
JADE: I will try and find out if that building is genuinely his and if there was someone going to buy it as he said.
TESS: How will you do it?
JADE: Leave it to me Tess.
TESS: But don’t talk to Ryan about it please. It will make him angry and he might dump me.
JADE: Look at you. You care more about a man dumping you more than him fleecing you. His sex must be out of this world coz your head has been turned into mash.
TESS: Do what you have to do but please, don’t talk to Ryan.
The next week I had a mission to find out what Ryan was up to. I am not a CIA agent and so I was going straight to horse himself . I didn’t care whether Tess would kill me for talking to Ryan directly or if Ryan was going to dump her. I had to protect Tess. She told me that she was saving that Money for Kyla and also to buy a plot and build a house. I wasn’t going to let Ryan take all that cash and misuse it. I decided to pay him a visit at his business place pretending that I was delivering documents to a client nearby.
Ryan had a big shop full of basic electronics and electronic components. On one side there were computer CPU’s, monitors and laptops. Everything was neatly arranged. Two attendants stood there looking at me as if I was an alien from Mars. I approached one of them and asked him if Ryan had come in. He said yes and that he had a guest in his office.
JADE: Can you tell him that Jade is here.
ATTENDANT: I can’t do that Madam, he told us not to disturb him. Can I be of help to you?
JADE: You can’t help me because this is a personal issue. Will he take long?
ATTENDANT: Not really, they never take long, maybe 10 to 20 minutes. You can hang around or come back later.
JADE: Who are they?
ATTENDANT: Him and his guest.
JADE: Ooh, he is with a client?
ATTENDANT: Madam just hang around and wait for your turn to see him.
JADE: Fine I will hand around outside and come back after 15 minutes
That attendant acted very strange. Something weird was going on in that office. Was it a client, a dealer or a fellow extortionist? I wondered. I went into a nearby café to take tea since I was a bit hungry. I never took breakfast at home, so I
decided to waste time at the café which was on the opposite side of the road from Ryan’s Shop. The café’s windows were tinted in such a way that you could see everything happening outside, but the outsiders couldn’t see what was happening inside the café. I ordered for milk tea and just before I took the first sip, I so Ryan come out of his shop with a woman. Believe you me, I immediately lost my appetite. My intestines summersaulted in my stomach and I almost pissed on myself since I was pressed. They hugged and Ryan pecked her on one cheek. I leaned on the glass window to see the woman closely as she walked away. It was Raksha. Saliva filled my mouth, I felt dizzy and almost fell on the table.
What was going on between those two? Was it a case of a future mother-in-law visiting her future son-in-law to say hello or they knew each other before? Was she the mastermind of the project “Extort money from Tess” or she had no idea what was happening. Was she the building buyer? So many questions crossed my mind. I was in semi shock and couldn’t breathe well. Something told me to call Tess immediately and tell her what I had seen, but I didn’t want to make a fool of myself before I found out what was happening. I went out of the Café and saw Raksha get into her car. She had parked it three shops away from Ryan’s. Why couldn’t she park at the space right in front of his shop yet there was enough space? Was Ryan sleeping with both mother and daughter or was he sleeping with the daughter courtesy of the mother to steal her money. I wish I was a CID to unravel the mystery there and then.
I waited until she drove off and then went back inside the café to finish my tea. Ten minutes later I was at Ryan’s shop. I found him at the counter and he was shocked to see me there. He left what he was doing and moved to the corner where I stood.
RYAN: You are the last person I expected to see here today.
JADE: Good morning Ryan
RYAN: Sorry, I am so excited I even forgot to greet you. How have you been? Long time no see.
JADE: I am very fine, is there somewhere we can talk privately?
RYAN: No there isn’t, let’s just talk here.
JADE: You don’t have an office where we can sit and talk?
RYAN: No I don’t have, this one here is my office. (the counter)
Why was he lying to me? What was inside that office that he didn’t want me to see? I felt like biting his nose off. The attendant who spoke to me earlier was looking at us curiously. He knew something and he was the one to target next time. Ryan was lying to me and even from where we were I could see a door going to an inner office. A client came and Ryan told me to give him ten minutes for him to attend to the customer first. I was offended but saw an opportunity like a snake does when it sees a porcupine enter a hole. I waited for him to be distracted and I went round the counter and into the shop, straight to the closed door. Before Ryan noticed what was happening, I was already inside and my heart stopped, this time for two good seconds.
I had to hold my chest with both my hands so that my heart doesn’t fall off. What was I going to tell Tess?
OVERLOOKED LOVE