Chapter 17: Chapter 17

That evening I had dinner alone, when I asked Hannah why Jade and Juliet didn't join me she said, "Jade isn't back from work and Juliet said she'll be having dinner with her daddy". "But what if he comes back really late? Juliet will be starving. or what if he's already had dinner? He may not eat with her," I said feeling really worried.

Hannah told me not to worry that she had let Jade know that Juliet was waiting for him, "and besides," she added, "it's not the first time this is happening, Juliet only waits for her dad when she's really upset. Tell me, did something happen at the toy store?" "Not really, I think it's not what happened at the store but what happened at here. Never mind, I'll go meet Juliet when I'm done eating", I told her.

After my solo dinner, I left for Juliet's room. On my way there I bumped into one of Hannah's staff, " Sandra right?" I asked, "yes Miss Udofia." she replied, " are you busy now," she shook her head, "great, I really need your help please", I told her.

" how may I be of help?"

" Hannah told me Juliet would be having dinner with her dad and he'll probably be late, I'm sure she hasn't had anything since lunch and..."

" breakfast", Sandra interrupted

"huh?" I asked a bit confused

" she hasn't eaten anything since breakfast, she refused to come out of her room since Mr Kale left," she explained

" oh my God, she must be starving. It breaks my heart that I have eaten and she hasn't, anyways, I'd like to make some cookies for her, I need you to show me where all the ingredients are placed. please",

We went to the kitchen and she brought out every thing I'll need, "I'll stay here with you in case you need me to do anything else for you", she said. "Thank you so much, by the way, what's her favorite cookie?" I asked, "Chocolate cookies are her favorite," she replied.

she gave me an apron and I wasted no time measuring and mixing the ingredients. Since I started making arrangements to move to the States, I've had no time to bake, my hands seemed to be working on their own. Working on Juliet's cookies brought memories of how I usually work in my mom's small kitchen, making either cakes or pies, rushing to meet up with lots of orders I'd get in a week. I was smiling and enjoying myself, I didn't even notice when Sandra left the kitchen.

Within 30 minutes, the smell of freshly baked cookies filled the kitchen, "hmmm, I'm I perceiving chocolate cookies?" Hannah asked coming into the kitchen, "wow, UK I never knew you could bake, can I have a taste please?" " of course Hannah, you have the chance to be the first person to taste one of my creations since I came here," I gave her one to taste, she was closing her eyes and nodding her head. "Oh my God this is the best cookies I've ever eaten, whoever you're giving this to will fall in love with you right away," she said as she threw in another piece of cookie into her mouth.

"You really think it's that good? I'm sure Juliet will love it then," I said smiling. "wait a minute, this is for Juliet? you're in for big trouble, she'll always bother you for it everyday, I promise you, she may not even eat anything else after having this".

I felt encouraged, after it had cool a big, I placed all 11 of them in a small tray Hannah gave me and took them to her room, "knock, knock, Juliet can I come in?" I asked knocking gently

"Go away!" she screamed and threw something at the door. "Honey I have chocolate cookies," I said in an enticing tone, she grew quiet for a while and then open the door. I smiled and handed the cookies to her, " here, have some. If you're waiting to have dinner with your daddy, that's fine but at least have a little snack to eat, I feel disturbed to see you hungry," I told her

"Why do you care? You're not my mommy anyways, go away from me," she pushed the tray and everything fell down. She then got into her room and banged the door at me face. I don't know why but a lone tear dropped, I bent and picked up everything, when I turned to leave I saw Jade and Hannah standing there, they must have seen everything. I walked straight to my room without saying anything to them, I locked myself in my room and wept, I don't know why but I cried bitterly.If someone had asked me at that moment the reason I was crying, I wouldn't have had an answer. Where I come from, rejecting a gift someone took pains in preparing was frowned upon but pushing it on the floor was considered a big offense, it showed that what was presented was worthless. Being brought up in such an environment, I felt that way when Juliet pushed the tray of cookies on the floor.

After crying my eyes out, I sat there on the ground surrounded by used tissues, going through the pictures on my camera. I stopped scrolling through the pictures when I heard banging on the door to my room. Of course it was the master of the house, I didn't move, I didn't say anything, I just sat there staring at the door. Maybe I wanted to see if he'll break down the door to come in, "Ukpono, open up now, let's talk about this. Are you there? stop acting childish and open up", he said in a harsh tone. oh really, you don't have any idea that I can be more stubborn than a mule, I am not opening that door anytime soon Mr Kale, I thought to myself.

"Hannah, get me the spare key to this room", he barked

"no Jade, I won't, she's not ready to talk and acting this way is doing no one good. Give her space, when she's ready to talk, she'll open the door herself," I heard Hannah say.

"You don't understand, I need to talk to her", he said

"What do you want to talk to her about? Did you see her expression when she left? In case you didn't notice, she was really hurt, in that state, it wouldn't have stopped her from saying something nasty to you because of what your daughter did. But she respected you and said nothing, I'll advise you give her the same respect and give her time." Hannah told him

"Hannah, it's not just the cookies incident, Juliet is actually upset with her because she asked her to marry me and she said no", I heard Jade say.

I didn't want to listen to their conversation, i suddenly became claustrophobic. I wore my workout clothes, with a sweater on top, took my headphones and phone and went out. The moment I opened my door, I didn't wait to close it, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, taking the stairs 2 or 3 at once out of the house. of course Jade was hot on my heels, I didn't have to look back to know he was after me.

I ran out of the gate into the street, I just wanted to be out of that place, after running for about 20 minutes, I turned and luckily for me Jade wasn't chasing me anymore, or so I thought. I turned and literally bumped into him, he took off my headphones, he didn't look angry, just annoyed. I tried bypassing him but he held me, "what on Earth is all this UK? What if you got hit by a vehicle or something bad happened to you? You're 18 for goodness sake, stop acting like a 5 year old. come let's go home and talk it's getting late and cold," he said and I shook my head.

" Jade listen to me," I started. "I had a goal, a reason to come here, you wanted to help me and you brought me here for that I'm grateful. But there are some things you need to understand, marriage is not what I'm planning on doing in the next 5 years. I won't get pressured into it, if Juliet want to be upset with me, if she'll be ignoring me from now on then that's fine with me. All I ever did was try helping your daughter, Jade, I was worried that she'll be starving. If she didn't want to eat it then the least she could have done is ignore me, but pushing it on the floor was too much. I'm sorry if coming to live with your family has made things to change from the way it has been, you don't have to worry when I start school I'll move to the dormitory, that's where I told my family I'll be staying anyways. I really respect you Jade but my self control has its limit, I am begging you Jade, all I need is a little respect and a peaceful environment to study for my exam. please beg your daughter if she wants to snub me then it's fine but I don't want here disrespecting me just because I didn't agree to marry you. I have a very bad temper and I am telling you now that I may not be able to hold myself if Juliet does anything disrespectful to me again Jade, I don't want to be a bad person. Excuse me", I wore my headphones and walked away, this time he didn't follow me.