Two days after Rose and Ken were released from the police cell they both sat down under the shade provided infront of Ken's house. He was sipping his wine and making sure he did not allow the day go by without having enough reason to rejoice.
"Boss is very much concerned with our welfare" it was Rose speaking.
"Well I'm happy you are beginning to enjoy the family. Is it not a thing of joy that finally you are with us? it makes me happy to have you around and it assures me as well that we are heading to a time of victory"
"Victory over what?" Rose as asking.
"Victory over our enemies" said Ken.
"Does this enemy ever get entirely defeated?" asked Rose.
"Our enemies are people like us, those who want what we also want and they try to take away what we want from us. So if we allow those kinds to keep walking about freely they will entrap us. You see Rose you are new in all of these things and it is just a matter of time you will get used to our operations"
"I am not new in this family, I may have left in the past but yes I knew the system before now and that's why I'm fitting in faster than expected, by even you" she bragged and he smiled.
"About this Veronica that boss goes to save, sorry, that has saved from the hands of our enemies, what do you think about them?"
"I think Boss loves her and it doesn't matter if he does. I have never seen boss in love until now but you see boss has become strange. In the all things he has always wanted he has always found a way to take but this, this thing about the lady Veronica he is stuck to waiting for her approval of him and this is really really tiring"
"You mean boss is tired of waiting?" asked Rose.
"No, I'm tired of seeing boss go all out to try to make her happy" said Ken.
"You mean you can't do same for someone you claim to love?" asked Rose suspiciously.
"I will, I will only when the one I have showed that love has reciprocated the love. You should know long before now that it is within me to always see what it is and my interest is with the boss and no one else" said Ken as he sipped his wine once again.
"Do you ever think of loving someone someday?" Rose asked while staring at him steadily.
"Love, love, love; the word love is as scary as the word death, you see they both have five letter words. I run from love, I try to stay away from catching emotions, feelings because I'm afraid, yes, so so afraid" he confessed.
"Afraid of what?" She wanted to know.
"Afraid of having the one I love dying. You know quite alright that you passed through alot these passed few days when you had to watch boss take the life of someone you loved. I don't want to be in your shoes, watching the one I love die like that" said Ken as he sipped his drink again.
"Mine was different and you know it. Kelvin didn't know about the organization and if he knew he wasn't part of it and I can't tell you that there are things we do to those in the family but there are stranger things we do to those that are not part of family. You have nothing to worry about finding yourself a woman to love, a woman who can make you happy and bring everlasting joy to you, she won't be treated like an outsider, she will be treated with respect even when she sins" said Rose with a smile. Ken kept staring at her and suddenly she felt uncomfortable with his stare. She bent her head and when she tried to check if he was still staring at her she betrayed herself once again as their eyes locked. She wasn't sure what Ken was going to say next but she loved being with him and if he would keep his fears aside and enjoy what was before him then he would spend his life believing for the best and living every moment doing what needs to be done" She sat there, thinking about Kelvin and how he died but not knowing why Ken's presence was overpowering her thoughts.
"Rose" he said and she having heard him call her from a distance blinked her eyes severally and looked at him as if she was just realising he was seated there.
"Yes" she answered, while squeezing her hands on the table.
"Are you shy, suddenly shy?" he wanted to know and it was good that he was able to defeat her in their staring contest.
"No I'm not, it's just you are looking at me the way you have never looked at me before and I'm nervous" she said but suddenly added, "Not nervous in a bad way, just nervous in a good way" she felt it was funny to say that and so she chuckled. Then his hand came across the table and held hers. She was staring at the hands, hers and his and wondering what he was upto. Then he asked her to look at his face which took her time to obey and when she looked at his face she saw something she had never taken notice of before, a calm face with eyes overwhelmed with desires that can only be quenched by the love of a woman.
"Rose, I want to talk about something with you and I just feel you will not misunderstand me and you won't also take your mind off me if somehow you find my approach rather embarrassing; you see Rose, I, I really wish to be with you, to have you as mine, to be father to your son, to be the one who takes care of you, your needs and your desires. I just want to tell you that from the first day I saw you I knew there was something between us even though it was not there yet. Now I am really desiring to make my desires come true and to also make you as happy as any woman can be, that is if you give me a chance" he waited. She continued to stay at him, it seemed she was trying to know what else he had in mind about her, about them coming together, staying together, making love together and then what, what would the future hold for them, marriage? she waited.
"I want to make you my wife if you would let me Rose" when he added the last part she still waiting, wondering if this was all coming to play at the same time; both notifying her of his intention to make her his girlfriend and then proposing to marry her? So she waited to hear the end of this. "I want you to not only have Abel as your only son but to bear my kids, kids that will be his as his younger ones" He brought out a ring and knelt with one of his knees and kept looking at her face, not wanting to take his eyes off hers for fear of giving her the chance to say no. She kept looking at him and wondering what was happening; everything was so sudden and she needed time to check her heart, to check if she loved him enough to marry him, if it was safe to be his and to bear his kids. She was thinking about this yet there was this truth she wasn't ready to neglect and that was that she could only find herself with a man that would be willing to stay with her in a situation she had found herself in; she could only marry someone that was already into what she was into and someone that would be able to understand her very well. She kept sitting there and wondering if he had something else to say but then she suddenly realized she was the one to now make a reply to him. She looked about her and blinking severally she smiled and said, "You came as a surprise to me Ken, as I'm talking I'm wondering in my heart if you are going to be the man I have always wanted, a man who doesn't beat me, who is patient with me, who will pamper me and allow me make my mistakes and not kill me for them. I am wondering if this is what destiny had for me all these years, weighing this moment and all the prophetic moments of my life which must align with this occurrence to inspire me to carry on with accepting you to be the father of my unborn children"
"Does this mean yes from you?" he asked and waited to hear her. She smiled and nodded and presented her left hand for the ring he was holding in his right hand. He smiled brightly and with joy leaping in his heart inserted the ring in her finger and happily held her hand and lifted her up from where she was seated.
That night they both slept on the bed of Ken.
******
Days have passed and Veronica was back to the office and wanted to see the boss.
"I can't be stupid not to open the door to his office" it was Sarah saying before she led the way. The workers, those ones that were aware of the hidden operations of the company were proud of Veronica.
"That was a great move babe" This was Emeka saying as he went on typing on the laptop infront of him on his desk.
Veronica entered the office and met Charles sleeping on the desk and she sighed. Sarah had already left and Veronica sat on one of the seats infront of Charles and waited for him to wake up. She waited until she decided to rest a bit and she placed her head on the desk and before long she too fell asleep. Having fallen asleep Charles woke up a moment later and seeing a lady sleeping before him he was confused, not comprehending what had happened and who it was. On a closer look he saw it was Veronica and he stared at her for a while before he stood up to get himself a coffee. While serving himself she woke up.
"Are you okay?" he asked and she wiped her eyes and yawned.
"Good day boss" she said.
"Good day Veronica, you look tired" he said.
"Sorry Sir, I didn't know when I slept off and..." she wanted to apologise.
"It's okay, I should apologize for keeping you busy knowing you needed all the rest you could get. Well, you are welcome to the office and welcome back to your position. You are still who you are, what I bestowed on you. Believe me, those who matter most (and I know you understand what I mean) they respect you more than ever before for your bravery in killing that betrayal" he said and sipped the coffee, "You want some coffee?" he asked but she shook her head. "Okay, here is the thing Veronica, I understand what love is all about, I know what it means to have genuine love for someone and suddenly nature is against what you stand for with that person. Here we need you and he doesn't need you more than we need you. Well, also you meet Ken and he will be glad to show you a video he made of the young man you are dying for and how he betrayed the love you have for him and collected a huge amount of money in rejected your love. You still want such man whose love for you can be bought or you want a man who is ready to love you for who you are?" Charles asked while staring at her face.