Are you sure you can't remember anything else about Friday mer? Jane enquired wearing a concerned look on her face.

Honestly it's weird but I don't,it's as if my memories got flushed away,maybe it's for the better though because I don't think I can handle the embarrassment that comes with it''
Ummm okay,well in case you remember anything don't forget to call me''

'Sure J ,but what's the point, it's not like anything happened ,where's Gina by the way ?Is she ready for work? She won't stop making fun of me because she walked in on kJ and I ,you know, and it's not her first time. Gina is an awful person you know that right,nwanyi ojoo''

Jane laughed so hard that I joined in
"But Mer, never let me see such thing again,the imagery is stuck in my head and it is very disturbing especially because my brother is involved.
Great Gina is here,Wait for it''

" M what's up have you seen my shirt? I dont know where I kept it ,or was it the one you used for your tonguing on Friday?''

I don't have strength for you ,Jane biko drop me off ,Gina the shirt is on your body,don't tell me you mistook it for mine''

Jane started laughing again before we walked towards the car.
See as the kind thing was sweeting you that you burnt a pot of meat,meat that I was already prepared to devour,'' Gina continued

G biko zie nu ,it's okay !you should be more like Jane ,forget what happened and stop taunting me please''

Mer but for you to have forgotten what you were preparing ,means my brother is definitely good at something'' She  said amidst a chuckle
Jane please don't join forces with this evil girl,don't make me miserable please''

The two of them only made things worse,by the time they dropped me off I already had my earpiece plugged in to block out their taunting.
While they drove off I noticed that a car left immediately after,I got the feeling that we were being followed but I waved it off '' who would stalk us ,it's not as if people know who I really am?''

On getting to class the kids were already there and they didn't notice me come in, I went closer to find out what was keeping them distracted and I heard Scott say

''That's a big lie,it looks nothing like the cookies we used to eat back then in Australia, You can always ask my father when you see him'
But Paul's mother said it's American biscuit, maybe it's how the ones in America are made'' I heard another kid say

'' It's so thin,white and fluffy,do you think it's tasty? Why don't you have a bite Paul?

"Okay I've never eaten this before, but I hope it is as tasty as ice cream
Paul ! Paul ! Spit it out now,spit that thing out of your mouth. Everyone else scampered and found their seats,while I struggled to get chunks of fluffy sanitary pad stuffed in Paul's mouth .

How do these children always get their hands on things like this ? Paul come with me we are going to wash your mouth?

I took the other sanitary pads Paul gave his classmates and stuffed them in my bag .How many did this boy even get from his house,everyone got one piece.

"None of you should take another bite out of these things ,they're not biscuits .Scott you're in charge watch them."

"Paul follow me!

Paul makes me regret teaching them to share things with each other,he always comes with the wrong things and he manages to share them.
My phone rang and I answered with my hand still holding Paul with the other

''Hun this is not a good time,one of my kids just ate sanitary pad ,stop laughing it's not funny,I'll call you back later and uh don't come to pick me I'll explain later,bye love you!'
Now bend over spit everything out now!,open your mouth ,thank God there's nothing there. Now I want you to take enough water ,rinse your mouth and spit into the toilet'

"Paul did as I told him,but he screamed when I wanted to flush. No! Miss Meredith, my keys please don't flush!

Your what !

My keys!!

" I didn't know why but the scenario was so familiar then it hit me'' I was in the toilet with Jane"

Paul calm down,I'll get your keys out ,why'd you let it fall into this place?I notified the cleaners at once and they promised to get it across to me.

I was beginning to remember bit by bit what had happened to me at the party .

I notified Paul's parents when I got to class about the little gift their son shared amongst his classmates. The fact that they couldn't keep something's from their son was beginning to wear me out.

Please everyone gather round I need to talk to you like adults just this once.
Miss Meredith are you mad at us?a voice asked

No!! I'm actually happy this happened, but from tomorrow I'll be inspecting your bags to avoid incidents similar to this.

I reached into my bag and picked out a sanitary pad,'' Does anyone know what this is?

A voice replied '' American biscuit'
No it's not American biscuit, it is called sanitary pad.it is for women alone,and older girls. We don't eat it ,we use it when  ummmm we are menstruating''

And like I expected I heard ''What's menstruation?''

It's a sign that you have reached puberty as a girl,puberty means maturity ,you're growing.

Mary please come stand here,everyone look a t Mary ,is she mature ,has she grown?

They all yelled "no!!

That's good that means she won't be menstruating yet,but in a few  years she will.

Miss Meredith, do boys also menstruate? Paul asked

No! Boys don't menstruate, that's why this is not edible ,we use it to remove bad blood from our system but it only happens to girls. Boys remove bad blood by sweating okay.

So please when next you see or hear about sanitary pads please do not think of putting it in your mouth to avoid it hurting you,just like the devil hurts people. You might get sick and that's bad because I only love healthy kids.

So do we promise never to put such in our mouths again?

They all responded yes!!

Very good ,the devil won't hurt us''
That statement brought another memory back and I was shocked by it''I told jane''

This is bad,this is really bad! What was I thinking? That's why she's been nice the whole time ,I'm such an idiot''
The whole time I was in class I couldn't concentrate, I was distracted by how things played out in my head. Jane probably confronting her father and KJ finding out from her.
Nathan called to know if I would be coming over and I had to go to his house. On  my way to Nathan's car,I heard two boys talking about menstruation and I knew they were from my class.

''My sister doesn't let me come close to her when she's menstruating and she cries too,do you think she's sad because I don't lose bad blood and she's the only one using sanitary pads?

The second boy just shrugged and went away.
I was quiet on the drive to Nathan's house,there were too many things bothering me and I couldn't help but get lost in thought.

Nathan didn't ask me questions and I was glad he didn't ask .I spent two hours teaching Scott and I was impressed with how well he was doing but I lost my spirit of excitement.

Finally I was done and as much as I wanted to leave ,I felt too scared to walk out of the door. What if Jane had told kj already ? What if they were already talking about it?.I needed a safe haven from all this,I craved a trouble free life.

''Earth to Meredith,wow what's up with you? You've been zoning out all day.is everything okay?
Nathan asked..

I wanted to lie and say everything was fine but a part of me felt I needed to say something to someone. ''Actually I uh ,I'm not okay. Everything is wrong,I might have messed things up for myself, how does one prevent the past from destroying the future without using a time machine. I feel like my whole life is revolving around one bad day and it's tearing me apart,I feel that I should keep a secret from fiance because I don't if he'll remain with me if I tell him. I just want a normal ,stress free,drama free ,no secret filled life. I'm tired of hiding who I am ,I just want to be happy, is that too much to ask' at this point there were tears in my eyes and Nathan probably didn't understand what I was saying.

He didn't say a word he just pulled me into a hug and I just let myself cry, I cried till I had no strength in me to cry anymore. Nathan kept patting my back making me feel that I actually needed to let everything out. It felt strangely good to be vulnerable in front of Nathan and I was done decorating his short with tears ,I started sniffing his shirt.

His cologne whatever name it was smelled so nice,it wasn't the normal harsh and strong masculine scent that almost everyone wore,even kJ .it was different, it was masculine quite alright but filled with fragrance. It was strong and a bit feminine. The more the scents hit my nostrils the more I wanted to be kept in the embrace.

But of course he was tired'' Meredith, I could lend you my cologne if you want,there won't be any need for you to sniff me like a dog''

His statement made me laugh so hard,he had noticed what I was doing .

I sat down on the floor and so did he,looking straight at my face. ''You still look beautiful after your liquid expulsion but I prefer the water works in movie and not in real life,no matter what you're going through mer ,you'll pull through. Maybe you should not try to hide the past so much ,haven't you heard that it helps shape the future? Let things play out the way they're supposed to. Those who'll stick by you will and those who won't will not irrespective of your past ,present or future''

Oh and you owe me an apology for ruining my shirt,it'll cost you a thousand naira for dry cleaning,unless your tears can turn into diamond much later in the day'' he said chuckling.

I felt relieved hearing him speak and I just threw my hands around him .'' Thanks a lot I needed a good friend and you are a terribly good friend'' A little part of me thought of probably being with Nathan if I hadn't met KJ. What a less complicated life it would have been. I could picture myself so happy with him and Scott which was weird .I had to shake away the thought but I couldn't help but stare at Nathan.

'' You are one very beautiful Lady, Mer and I wish I had come home sooner maybe just maybe ,we could have been more than friends''

He lifted my chin and rubbed my lower lip with his thumb,maybe I should have stood up and left at the instant but I felt glued to the spot.
When he came so close that our faces were inches apart ,I didn't flinch either .Maybe I need to let things flow maybe I could find out what I actually wanted with Nathan.
He hesitated probably waiting for me to push him away,but I didn't then slowly he closed the distance between us and kissed me.

His kiss was different from KJ's it was soothing,comfortable and at the same time a bit demanding. This was wrong of me but what if this was the only break I'd get,the only chance to live a normal life.This wasn't fair to KJ at all ,I had to stop .

I pushed him away probably a little too late then he apologized so much that I had to scream for him to stop
'' I'm the one who's at fault here not you,you were just comforting me okay just uh forget it happened, do you think maybe you could give me a ride home''

When Scott wakes up tell him I owe him cookies,he's learning so fast.
He nodded and we left.
On getting to my apartment I thanked Nathan again who apologized once more before driving away.Gina was the only one in the apartment and thankfully Jane was no where in sight
Gina where's Jane?thought you guys would be together''

She left few minutes ago she also asked about you ,she said she had something important to do this evening,why are you asking ? Are you missing her already? She replied smiling

"No G there's a big problem, two big problems actually , I sort of might have told jane about what happened between her father and I While I was drunk on Friday ''

" How come she never mentioned it to me,that's bad .Has she told KJ ? Do you think maybe she went to confront her father? What's the second big problem please tell me you're still engaged and Mrs Johnson loves you''
Well today I was so down you know,I uh cried a lot and Nathan was there consoling me and he kissed me and I let him and might have somehow kissed back''

Wow! This is so I don't know wow! Mer you kissed him '' Then she started pacing around

' please don't be angry at me ,I think it was a mistake ,I felt I needed a relief from everything that has been happening ,I was just vulnerable and stupid.Now I have more secrets''
Mer I don't think you should be apologizing to me ,it's normal sometimes to be attracted to two different men,the only problem here is that your attraction came at the wrong time''

So who are you in love with ,be honest with yourself M ,who do you want? You need to know what you want to be able to fix this .

"I love KJ so much but part of me wonders if he's the right man for me,I don't think I love Nathan .I only care about him and I was wrong to have let him kiss me''

Mer have you thought about coming clean to KJ ? I think you should just tell him the truth about yourself ,your past ,everything. If he does love you M ,you guys will make this thing work.Maybe it's not a bad idea that jane found out,give it some thought I'll always be here if you need me''

Thanks G ,I think maybe you're right .I need to come clean with KJ so I'll tell him,everything about me tomorrow. I'll tell him everything,but first I need to make sure Jane hasn't told him''
I dialed Jane's phone number and she answered finally, I told her that I remembered everything that happened on Friday and she was glad surprisingly. She promised not to tell KJ she said it'd be better if I did it myself ,She told me she was setting things straight before she hung up''

Do you think Jane's with her father G?
I doubt that she's not right now M,but don't worry hun everything will turn out good,darkness is only thicker when daybreak is close,and after the rain comes sunshine .Maybe these are your rainy hours.plus it's not as if her father would kill his own child.
Ehe M I get gist for you,you won't believe what happened today,I forgot my keys at Jane's and I had to do the usual,but when I got to the back yard you won't believe what I saw with my own eyes.

What did you see?"

I saw Mrs chinwe smoking weed,chei!! my dear Mrs chinwe the holiest of all ,hiding behind her water reservoir to smoke,my dear I was stunned and excited ''

" Gina biko what did you do?please tell me you walked away?"

" Walk away gini,and let her get away with it. I walked straight to her and told her that she was going to hell,for being a hypocrite ,I even took a picture of her before walking away. Mer you needed to have seen her face''

"G you are heartless but this is so funny ,my God Mrs chinwe smoking'' I couldn't help but laugh some more.please let me see her picture''

When Gina showed me the picture I laughed even more,for some reason I felt bad for Mrs chinwe because I was pretty sure that Jane wasn't going to let this go anytime soon,poor woman.
But she did deserve what she was getting.

Before I slept I kept thinking of how KJ would react when I finally revealed everything to him and it kept me awake before sleep overtook me ,hours later.

ANDREW'S POV
My daughter Jane barged into my office calling me names ,accusing me of moving her dear friend and other horrible things. Then she shocked me when she mentioned what I had done to Meredith.

She was raving of how she was silent for too long,how she was going to tell her mother and brother,how I was going to pay for everything?
There was no way I could let her do that,my children do not really know that in as much as I'm the one in charge of our wealth ,it was their mother who owned everything. Their mother was the only child of her parents and when they died everything went to her.

For years I tried so many things to get her and when I did I made sure we got married.If their mother found out about anything i would   be removed immediately,I would be nothing ,all because of a silly mistake
How could that tramp tell my daughter all these horrible things about me,there was no way that I was letting her destroy everything that I have worked hard for.

I signalled my men to lock my daughter Jane in my office,she was to remain there till I figured out what to do with her. But as for that tramp Meredith, her time was over.
I called my Secretary and asked her of my godson's location which she presented to me. It  was time to pay that young man a visit.

A/N: whew! Nathan and Mer🤔🤔