Ike's POV

"Hello," I say as I hear the dial tone end. "Hello?"

"Shit!" I exclaim when I heed the beeping noise that indicates the connection is futile.

"What the fuck?" I implore, gawking at the device in irritation.

"Ana, where are you?" I query, pacing the floored space of the hallway where I hold important business meetings that can't be carried out at the office for confidential purposes hence you never know who is serving as an informant to the man to who I bear his last name.

I've been aiming to speak to Ana but she doesn't seem to be picking which is a weird case because we spoke well in the morning and had no arguments so I don't see any reason why she should be ignoring me.

We are supposed to go out on a date this evening which is one of the justifications as to why I'm striving to connect with her to know if there are any changes of plans especially as there is a heavy downpour.

"Bro, what is the problem?" Cecilia inquiries as she materializes from the entrance, the flair red and blue wrap-round dress she's wearing dipping in a V-shaped style at the breast angle, thereby showcasing enough cleavage.

"Where are you coming from dressed like this?" I ask, the overprotective instinct kicking in as I see my sister dressed this way.

"I met up with a friend of mine," she explains, resisting my challenging stare.

"Is this friend a male or a female?" I interrogate, stilling my movements as I stand face to face with her, my arms crossed behind my back.

"Uh, his name is Kelly," she answers scratching her all-back black weaves that stop just below her full bum.

"So he's a man," I assert eying her.

"Yeah, he's a college friend," she responds, pouting.

"Does this friend of yours know how old you are?" I poll, lifting a brow.

"Ike, what does that have to do with where I'm coming from?" She interviews, blushing.

"It has everything to do with it," I declare, putting on a fierce expression. "I want to know if he's a pervert or worse a pedophile, or if you've begun having a sugar daddy?"

"Bro you know I'm not like that," she argues. "What will a sugar daddy give me that you haven't?"

"You never can tell," I shrug.

"You still haven't told me why you are restless," she recalls, walking past me in a six-inch black stiletto.

"The same way you still haven't explained to me what business you had with that friend you met up with," I counter, following her past the hallway into the living room.

"I told you, he's a graduate from the school," she clarifies, withdrawing her toes from the cages of the heeled shoe.

"Well, you didn't tell me that," I remind, folding my hands.

"Anyway, I've said my part, it's your turn now," she blurts, peering at me.

"My turn for what?" I ask, pretending not to hear.

"Don't act like I didn't walk in to see you pacing like you are waiting for someone to exit the washroom so you can take a shit," she chastises, eying me.

"That doesn't seem like your business," I retort, seeming in a bad mood.

"Well it is because if you faint or go unconscious I'll be the first sister to cry," she scoffs.

"Good to know," I retort, resuming my match.

"Son, what's the problem?" Mom quizzes, rolling into the room in her wheelchair, guess she doesn't have the strength to work her bones today. "I overheard your conversation."

"Never mind ma," I say, bending to kiss her forehead as she comes to me. "You know Cecilia and how she can be nosy."

"I'm the nosy one, not Cecilia," Mirian voices, descending the stairs in a pair of ripped jean shorts and a crochet blouse. Don't stare at me that way, I'm their senior brother so I grew up knowing all the names of female clothes and also keeping up to date with the latest fashion trend.

"You also forgot the loud one," I input as she offers mom's bare shoulder a squeeze due to the off-shoulder toe-length kaftan she's donning.

"Thank's for the compliment," she winks, not upset by my statement. "Why are you dressed that way?"

"When did wearing black slacks and a half-buttoned long-sleeved white shirt and a loosened tie become a reason to be gazed at in disgust?" I raise a question in regards to the look she's sending me.

"Did you hear yourself?" She interviews, gaping at me. "You look like something a dog picked from the trash."

"Thank you for making me feel pretty," I sneer.

"I'll always do that," she grins, knowing she's getting on my nerves.

"Ike my son, what is the problem?" Mom repeats, watching me. "I'm asking for the second time."

"It's Ana," I confess, having no other choice as the stares of three inquisitive women can make a man blurt out all his past sins.

"I knew it!" Cecilia exclaims in glee as if she just won the jackpot.

"Yep, why didn't I think of it earlier," Mirian muses, peeking upwards as if talking with supernatural beings.

"Me too," Cecilia concurs. "Because there's only one person who can get his panties in a twist."

"Children, let's allow the young man speak," Mom decrees, ending their blabbering, much to my joy. "What's wrong with Ana?"

"I don't know ma," I exhale. "She hasn't been responding to my calls."

"Did you two quarrel?" Mom asks, while my sisters perk up their ears to catch my response.

"No," I answer, and I almost chuckle at their disappointed expressions.

"Are you sure?" Mom investigates, bestowing that 'Mom gaze' that can do wonders.

"No mom, everything was fine in the morning, I'm back from work and calling to remind her to get prepared for our date which is to hold in an hour but no response," I elucidate, not understanding the reason why I am not able to speak with her.

"Then what are you still doing here?" She questions, making me confused.

"I don't understand," I inform.

"Daniel, Ikechukwu, Okwu, I did not raise you this way," she pronounces, using my full name for emphasis. "You should be on your way to her at the moment and not walking up and down here like a sheep who has lost his way."

"Do you mean--"

"Yes dummy, go find out why she's doing this," Mirian lets out in her ever-present blunt manner.

"Drive safely," Mom instructs, waving me off.

"Thank's mom," I kiss her cheek, running off to the hallway as I hear her say something on the lines of, "that boy should learn how to think things out for himself."

I shake my head in a quiet laugh as I abandon the interior of my mansion and go into the rain. Pressing the remote of the Ferrari which I left parked in front of the house and not in the garage hence I planned to use it to go pick up Ana for our date before this.

"Aki please open the gate!" I yell at the gateman who's sitting close to one of the bodyguards that surround this structure.

"Okay oga!" He shouts in response, rushing to the metal barrier as I enter into the vehicle.

Veering in the German floored arena, I steer towards the gate the exact moment it is tugged ajar. I wave at Aki as I drive out of the compound into the freeway.

"God please let Ana be alright," I pray, increasing the speed of the machine, zipping through the road in the direction of the estate she lives in.

A feeling of dread is struggling to settle in my gut, rather I don't let it as I struggle to cloud it with positive thoughts, not permitting myself to think of the worst-case scenario.

Concerning my speed limit and haste, I find myself taking the last corner that directs me to the gates of the building complex. I tap the screen of my phone twice and peer at it to note it's five minutes past six in the evening, the weather making it appear as if it's around nine pm.

Obeying a notion, I click the number and ring her, putting it on handsfree so I can hear it clearly if she answers or not. My heart plunges lower as the tone ends without any response whatsoever.

"Shut the fuck up," I mutter in frustration as the robotic message which I can now say offhand comes on because of the numerous times I've listened to it today.

Hissing in fear and trepidation, I speedily put the car back on track as I am almost about to hit down a wastebin that would probably leave my car smelling like a rotted pig's belly if not worse.

"Thank God," I sigh as I take back control of the wheel, now going at a normal pace opposite to the dead pace I was driving at earlier.

Soon I attain to the gates and give the security guard on duty a clarification of who I am and who I'm meeting up with before he lets me in. I give him a tip that brings a smile to his lips and thrust in the path of the two apartment compound, the only one in the area.

Arriving there, I horn at the gate, instead, I receive no indication whatsoever that my presence is noticed. I repeat my action two to three times in hopes of getting observed, and it works thus the gate slides open automatically.

I spot Joe at the side of the gate with an umbrella that shields him from the rain while I glide into the premises, and park directly in the garage. Switching off the engine and lighting, I see him standing at the door, the same instrument in his hold.

"Thank you," I beam in appreciation as I join him under the shield, the both of us walking hurriedly to cover the distance to Ana's apartment.

"You are welcome," he speaks, and I'm stunned he hears me because of the loud drops of the rain.

"Whoof," I let out, discarding my soggy shoes and socks to abandon at the veranda as he does the same to his slippers and pushes the door ajar, permitting me to see and hear the sound of the television from the inside.

I stride into the place and slam the door after me to shut the cold out and go further, spotting Oluchi and Glory cuddled up on the settee as they watch the movie playing on the gadget, my existence not known yet.

"Where's Ana?" I boom in a voice that will be heard above the noise of the device, startling them out of their skin with Joe laughing from the other seat as they get shocked at my sudden appearance.

"Wow!" Oluchi calls out, throwing the blanket over her. "You just had to ruin our fun didn't you?"

"Yeah Ike, you should have at least said hello, sheesh!" Glory flairs up, firing me a glare thus I'm blocking their view of the program.

"At some point, I agree with them," Joe inputs as the sound of the film stops, Oluchi placing it on pause.

"Sure you'll agree, one of them is your girlfriend so I don't expect otherwise," I counter, having no mood for their dramatics hence I can recall that I saw Ana's car in the driveway, rather I don't see any sign of her in here, the scent of her perfume too is faint as if she's been gone a while.

"What are you thinking?" Oluchi implores, catching sight of the way my eyes are scrutinizing the area.

"I'm pondering on where any of you could have hidden Ana because she's not been taking my calls," I announce, my focus pointing at her.

"What do you mean by hid her?" Glory quizzes.

"And what do you also mean by she hasn't been picking your calls, did you two enter into an argument?" Oluchi investigates, providing me that scary gaze she's especially known for.

"Wait, what did you do?" Joe booms in inquiry.

"I didn't do anything," I exhale, holding in a scream of irritation. "We were supposed to go on a date."

"She didn't tell me any of the sorts," Oluchi utters as Glory's vision shifts to her.

"Then where did she go?" I implore. "Glory is here, you are, Joe is here then who must she have gone to see?"

"She was meeting up with Emily, I wonder why she isn't back yet," Oluchi replies sitting on the armrest of Joe's chair.

"Emily?" I ask in astonishment. "Why the fuck did you three let her go out with that she-devil?"

"I tried to hold her but she didn't listen," Oluchi retorts.

"You should have at least informed me," I argue, my brain going to many places. "Has any of you called her number?"

"I don't have her contact," Glory blurts.

"Neither do I," Oluchi excuses when I turn to her.

"Fuck!" I shout, producing my phone from my breast pocket, unlocking it to search for Emily's number.

Locating it, I press send, and put it to the loudspeaker, the others keeping silent as it rings.

"Emily," I greet the instant she picks.

"Hello Daniel," she responds, the background sounding eerily quiet.

"Where are you?" I request, not giving room for conversation.

"I'm at my home, what's wrong?" She asks.

"Is Ana with you?" I query, and there is a pause before her voice comes up again.

"No, she left an hour ago with an Uber, she had an emergency summon from her parents," she tells.

"Oh, okay," I say, my mind calming down a bit. "Thank you."

"Don't worry," she assures. "She should be arriving there by now, and you know with the rain, the network may be messed up which is why she isn't picking."

"Bye," I say, realization shining on me, and end the call.

"Did you all hear what she said?" I issue, swerving to them, and they stare back at me in bafflement. "I'm implying the last part."

"The part where she said something about network and the rain?" Joe raises a question, picking up what I'm indicating.

"Yes," I affirm and gauge their reactions as I continue. "How did she know I was trying to call Ana?"

"Oh God," Oluchi gasps, her hands flying to her chest. "Because you didn't say anything about how you can't get through to her."

"So you mean, oh shit, this is bad," Glory blabbers, getting a drift of what we are talking about.

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