[]In Murky Waters
By
Kayode Odusanya
© Kayode Odusanya
The girl coughed a few times, and Frank turned around to look at her, naked under the sheets. Her bronze complexion shone under the white lights of the room; slim waist, wide hips, and big round bu.tt. She told him she was 24, and when he told her his age, she didn’t even flinch. It was a rule of his never to go below 25, but with this girl, he had to make the exception. Apart from having a great body, her personality was so appealing to him. She reminded him of his ex wife earlier on in their relationship.
Never had he thought he and Esther wouldn’t work. They had been so much in love for years, but things changed after the marriage, and Esther’s family members started getting in her ear. It had gotten worse when Frank had started losing weight all of a sudden, and rumors started making rounds that he had gotten infected with the deadly virus. He had gone from having a 6 ft 2 athletic body, to an unattractive lanky stature that clothes looked horrible on. Esther didn’t care at first, but the freaking bloggers wouldn’t let the story die. People around her started asking about it was all the time, and she ended up losing her banking job over it.
Money from his writing wasn’t coming in abundantly at the time, and things got pretty hard. Esther finally decided to go for a test, and when she found out she was negative, she left him; five years of marriage gone. They didn’t even have a kid together. Even when he finally went for a full medical checkup and found out he was also negative, and that he had lost all that weight because he was diabetic, she still didn’t want him back. He wouldn’t say he was a saint either, as he had had a couple of girls on the side at the peak of his career. Now, he was 41, 4 years after the divorce, and he still hadn’t found love again.
A flash of bright light from the Plasma TV on the wall caught his eye; he robbed his nose bridge a few times and Put his glasses back in place as he focused on the TV. There was news about a terror attack in Paris. A couple of Arabs had gone on a crazy rampage, stabbing and killing multiple people in a park, before they were gunned down by the police. He wondered how the family members of the victims would feel knowing their loved ones had lost their lives. Why do innocent people always have to die this way? He thought to himself.
The girl turned around, and without opening her eyes, she found his arm and put it over her body, making him resume the sp00ning position. He moved in closer, holding her tightly. She m0aned silently and went back to sleep. After his divorce, he had sworn not to ever fall in love again. He didn’t ever want to put another woman through what he put Esther through, so he lived a solitary life, and paid for s£x whenever he needed to. Tomorrow morning, the girl in front of him would be gone, and maybe he would never see her again. He felt it was best that way; no one gets hurt, and everyone leaves happy, no strings attached. The way he looked at it, he always got inspired to write a new novel with every new girl he got with, so at least he got something out of his philandering ways.
His phone started to vibrate on the side stool by the bed on his side, and he quickly turned around to get it, not wanting to disturb the girl’s sleep. He scratched his beard as he stared at the caller ID, wondering why his agent would be calling him this late. He sat up in bed before picking. “Hello.” He said into the phone as he sat up in bed.” He said with a low voice.
“I knew you would be awake.” The person on the other end said.
“Why are you calling me this late? It’s…” He was saying then stopped to look at his wristwatch.
“I have a job for you, and you need to get here ASAP!”
“What are you talking about? Where is here?”
“Are you at home?”
“No. I’m…I’m somewhere on the island.”
“Perfect. Please come right now to Federal Palace hotel. Someone wants to meet you.”
“Who?”
“Fatai Mohammed.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Fatai Lion.”
“What tha…” Frank was saying and lowered his voice before continuing with, “Why does he want to meet me?”
“He wants you to write his biography.”
“What? Can’t you get him someone else to do that?”
“Frank, I can’t tell him no. Just get here as soon as you can.” His agent said and the line went dead.
