Nemesis' Visit

“I love you so much, Nora.” Phoebe Shane sighed. “But honestly, I am tired of all kinds of dates -blind dates and not.”

Nora pouted her lower lip at her girlfriend and roommate and tried to make puppy eyes at her but Phoebe was not done. 

“For starters, all the guys you pick out are just wrong. The last guy you set me up with was the Antichrist. He was rude, had bad eating manners and would not stop making nasty remarks about how I look. At the end of the torture, I still footed the bill.” Phoebe exclaimed gesturing angrily before slumping weakly on her bed while Nora bust out laughing. 

Despite how long ago it had happen, Phoebe felt the same humiliation again on realizing that her date was a broke man but had eaten half the restaurant. She glared at her friend till she stopped laughing and covered up her laughter with minute coughs. She had not found the situation funny, that unforgettable date had left a dent in her bank account. 

Of the two of them, Phoebe was the good girl, the responsible one, the easily embarrassed one and the girl who could not stand up for herself while Nora was the sass master, she was daring and lively. 

 “Okay. You have a point.” Nora Sanchez said trying to find another approach to get her friend on this particular date. “I am sorry. I got Billy from a dating site and he just seemed to be the perfect match for you. But I promise, you will love this guy. I know him personally, he is so cute and rich and he is not even an ex. He is not into me either and you two have a lot in common.” 

Phoebe had stopped to listening to her after the first sentence. “Did you just say you got Freddie from a dating site? You told me you knew him!”

Nora's eyes widened at her slipup and she slowly raised her hands in the air, “Billy. I didn’t say dating site per say… I’m pretty sure I said dating insight.” She started running around their room as Phoebe angrily launched half her wardrobe at her. “Okay. You caught me. I am so sorry. I lied. It is just you are very picky and you already do not like half of my friends.” She confessed and Phoebe stopped her projectile activities. 

“Apology not accepted. Have you seen half of the guys you move with? They all have criminal records.” She said with faux fury, eyeing her best friend. 

Nora rolled her eyes at her friend’s exaggeration but did not argue with her, “I am sorry, Pheobs. I just want you to be happy. And I can’t get married if you are still single. Please, meet this new guy. His name is Justus and you will love him, you both have a lot in common. I won’t ask you on another date ever if this one fails.” Nora promised. 

Phoebe considered the proposal and stared at Nora’s expression. Nora was never serious even in a matter of life and death, she was always frivolous but this time around, she actually looked serious. 

Before Nora could add more convincing speeches, Phoebe raised her hand to stop her. “Nothing you say would make me go on this date.” Although you retiring from being a pain in my bum is an attractive proposal, you are not quite there yet.

“Fine, I will be there with you the whole time. If I notice that he makes you uncomfortable, I will be your damsel in shining armor.” Nora tried to convince her stubborn best friend and received a blank stare in return. 

Tempting. Try again. 

“Okay. About the Billy guy. I will share half the expenses. It was partially my fault after all.” Nora suggested again. 

Bingo. 

“Wrong. It was totally your fault but I might have to take you up on that offer.” Phoebe said eventually and Nora broke into a short dance of victory. “So where are we going?”

… 

Night at Classy Fooders was the usual. Rihanna's latest song was playing softly in the background as a good looking waiter led Phoebe and Nora to their table. 

“We are early.” Phoebe remarked to her friend but Nora was not listening to her because she was busy trying to charm her way into the good looking waiter’s pants. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Phoebe asked herself before dismissing the waiter to Nora’s disappointment.

“Where is our date?” Phoebe asked again. 

“You mean your date. He should be here any minute.” Nora answered absent mindedly. Phoebe shook her head, just great, her friend was abandoning her at the cliff of nervousness to drool over a guy that was probably married. 

She didn’t hear Nora's “Here he comes.” as her eyes are locked on a pair of familiar blue eyes. You are kidding me. What is he doing here? Her eyes widened on realizing he was heading towards her table and she quickly offered a silent prayer to God. Please don’t let it be him. I will gladly take on another Billy but please not him. 

Her prayer was obviously not answered and a deep baritone greeted them, “Hi, ladies.” 

“Hi, Justus.” Nora greeted back making a show of gushing over how gorgeous he looked before winking at a stone cold but internally anxious Phoebe. “This is my friend, the one I told you about -Phoebe. And Phoebe, this is the Justus Hood. You know, the CEO of ArtHood. That’s right, he has no criminal record and he is a celebrity.” She said whispering the last part into Phoebe’s ears. 

“I am Justus.” Justus smiled and offered his hand for a handshake. 

I know. She made that clear and I am not dumb. 

“Pleased to meet you, Justus.” She said with a plastic smile. 

Nora smiled, seemingly pleased with herself before excusing herself to obviously go and bother the unsuspecting waiter for the rest of the night. 

“I am so glad that we could meet again.” Justus said as soon as Nora was out of earshot. He could not have forgotten her if he tried, her pained glare had haunted him in his sleep and he knew what she was thinking but what excuse could he give? He had not been on his best behavior. 

Phoebe wanted to ask him, “Is bad mouth, rudeness and superciliousness something that CEO mothers teach their babies in the womb? Like you know your baby is going to grow up to become a company’s CEO and so…” 

“You probably hate me now.” Justus said at her silence. 

She rewarded him with her signature blank stare, “Hate is a strong word.” But you are not farfetched.

He nodded in understanding, “I want to apologize for what happened the other day. I am so sorry and I have no excuse.” He said making Phoebe look at him in surprise. 

He had bumped into her at his biggest rival company, All Things Art, after a meeting that had not ended in his favor. She had dropped her files at the impact and due to his horrible mood, he had insulted and embarrassed her in the presence of everybody present.  

“I guess we can start over.” Phoebe answered with a small smile after a while and they waved over a waitress to take their orders. 

… 

“What do you want?” Andy asked with a sinister smile. She was not over what had happened forty years ago and she certainly did not want to start her day with a trip to the past. “What are you doing here? What do you want?” she screamed. 

Barbara smiled like she had all the time in the world, “Even at age sixty, you still throw tantrums like a spoilt child.”

Andy’s eyes darkened. “Do you expect me to welcome you with open arms. It has been more than forty years. Forty. Forty years since you and your good-for-nothing husband threw me out of your house and killed my baby.”

“Oh pish posh! You should have known better when you were bed-warming with my husband.” Barbara retorted. “Anyway, I am not here to reminisce old days with you either.” She continued as calmly as ever, “I have come to tell you to tell your grandson to stay away from my grand daughter.” 

For the first time in her life, her grand daughter had refused to listen to her. She had told Phoebe over and again to stay clear of the Justus boy but she was adamant. She had tried to threaten Justus but it all fell on deaf ears. They were happy together but she knew their happiness had a dead end. Andy was her measure of last resort and it was easier than facing the truth. She was not ready to face the truth. Not yet.

Andy eyed her, one thing she hated about Barbara was her calm and unaffected composure. She had never seen her lose her calm once and she did the evilest things without shouting or batting an eyelid… like how she threw her out of her house. 

“How is your grand daughter any of my concern? My Justus is a grown man, capable of making his own decisions. I am not going to meddle in his affairs for you.”

“You know their relationship is not right, Andy. He is the son of the child you had for my late husband. We have to stop them.” Barbara tried again feeling desperate. 

“Don’t patronize me, Barb. We are not in this together, I don’t care about their relationship. If you do not want them together, tell them the truth and stop them yourself. Tell them you are a murder and you killed my daughter.”arbara thought. 

… 

“You are wrong, girlfriend. Cole is exactly the kind of man you need. He is a great cook, you are a terrible cook, he is not in jail and he has no criminal record like all your exes. He is just the perfect change you need.” Phoebe advised Nora as they arranged her dining table. 

Phoebe had invited Justus over and he was bound to arrive any minute. They had been at it for months now and she was convinced he was the one. In the first few months of their relationship, she had opened her own PR Agency and ArtHood had been her first client. He made her happy and it was not just about the money. He brought out the best in her and… there was also the other thing. 

“Cole is too uptight, girl.” Nora and the waiter from Classy Fooders had been going out and he was the first of Nora’s boyfriends that Phoebe approved of. 

Before Phoebe can say what’s on her mind, her doorbell rings. “Whatever, you will figure it out.” She said quickly before rushing into her room to powder her face and rushing back out, “How do I look? Good? Cool? Okay? What?” 

Andy rolled her eyes, “You look like Phoebe. Now open the damn door and let the Greek god in.” 

Phoebe giggled and took in a shaky breath before opening the door. 

Instead of Justus, her grandmother- Barbara walked in, followed by her mother- Jane, Justus mother- Kelly, a woman that looked like Kelly’s elder sister and then a confused Justus trailed behind them. 

Phoebe quietly shut the door behind them and followed them into her sitting room. She and Nora shared a look of confusion and surprise. She studied her mother and Justus’ mother, was it her or did they look so much alike? She wondered what other prank her grandmother was about to pull because she was the only one against their relationship and for no good reason. 

“Your grandma is ready to come clean. You might want to sit down for this.” The lady who looked like Kelly’s elder sister spoke in her thick American accent. Justus introduced her as his grand mother and Phoebe marveled, she looked younger and she had beautiful skin. But something about that statement did not sit right with Phoebe. She glanced at Barbara briefly and she noticed her grandmother looked uncomfortable. 

“This better be good. Y’all are ruining our dinner for this.” Justus said. 

Barbara knew they were all clueless on why they were here. She had only told them it was urgent because she knew she had to tell the truth now that she had the courage.

“What are you waiting for, Barb? Tell your precious grand daughter why you are against her relationship. Tell her what you and your husband did to me.” Andy mocked. 

“You knew my grandmother?” Justus asked the question everyone else was dying to ask. 

“Andy and I go way back. I met her when she was just an orphan that escaped from Juvie. I really loved you, Andy. I took you as my own, I cared for you and gave you shelter and so you can imagine my shock when I caught you in bed with my late husband. I was disappointed in you and heartbroken.” Everybody in the room turned to give Andy looks of prejudice. 

“You don’t really believe that, do you? It doesn’t change anything, whatever I say isn’t going to change anything. You would believe only what you want to believe. But for the record, the truth is your dumb husband molested me and threatened me for years. I’m sure you knew it too but you decided to live in denial.” Andy defended herself. The hurt she had felt when Barbara had refused to believe her shimmered underneath her anger. She had been in her early twenties, abandoned with an unwanted pregnancy and with nowhere to go.

“After I kicked her out, I found out that she was carrying my late husband’s child and I was pregnant with Jane.”

“… with your late husband’s children.” Andy corrected. “But then because of the stress your family had put me through, I lost Diane at birth.”

Phoebe looked at her grandmother as though she was a stranger, “So you two are saying?”

“You and Justus are relatives connected by the same grandfather. That makes your relationship inappropriate.” Andy answered.

Justus had a distant look in his eyes, the new development was making him feel sick. Phoebe felt helpless, she convinced herself that everything was a lie her grandmother plotted to separate her and Justus. If it is really true, what then am I supposed to do? 

Nora, on the other hand, concluded that it had to be an hidden camera prank show, “I am going to use the bathroom.” She announced trying to diffuse the tension in the room.

Phoebe looked at her best friend in hope that she had figured something out, “Why?” 

“Why? Because I drank liquids.”

Phoebe turned away from her friend, not in the mood to address her friend’s unseriousness. She felt as though everybody was waiting for her or Justus to say something but she had no idea how to put what was currently on her mind.

“Actually.” Barbara said hesitantly. She saw the look of disdain on her granddaughter's face and she knew she deserved it. If only she had faced the truth from the very beginning, this situation wouldn’t be happening. Years later, her selfishness was breaking her granddaughter’s heart and would possibly wreck the whole family. 

“Diane is alive.” She said to Andy. Andy looked at her with pity, wondering if the poor woman had lost her mind. 

Barbara looked at Jane and then at Andy. 

Andy’s eyes widened at the realization of the message Barbara was trying to pass across. “Don’t be silly, Barb. The doctor said Diane was a still birth.”

“The doctor lied.” Barbara confessed. “I paid the doctor to lie.”

“You knew how much I longed for a child, Andy. When I finally became pregnant, I was so happy thinking it could save my marriage. I was not supposed to be due for two more months when I went into labor but she was a still birth. It was probably providence that we birthed at the same day and in the same hospital. I don’t know what came over me but I was desperate, Andy. I made the doctor exchange my Jane for your Diane. I am so sorry.” Barbara composure finally crumpled and she broke down crying but Andy was raging. 

“You mad woman. You took my baby away from me for forty years! You are a crazy person!” Andy shouted struggling to reach Barbara but was being held back by Kelly. 

Jane… or now Diane looked at her new found sister with pain in her eyes, “My whole life has been a lie.” The two women had gotten along like sisters over the past few months. She wondered what her husband would say when he found out. When he had pointed out that the two were similar in so many ways, she had waved him off telling him it was called friendship. Although there had been a lingering doubt at the back of her mind, this was way beyond her imagination. 

Justus shook his head, stood up abruptly and walked unsteadily out of the apartment. The first news was unbelievable but this one was madness. 

Andy still felt like everything was a hidden camera prank show but she no longer considered it hilarious. Phoebe, however, burst into uncontrollable laughter. There was nothing genuine about it, it was sad and defeated. 

“Do you know what this means? That Justus and I are first cousins. You had the chance to tell me this from the very beginning but you are telling me now? Now that I am carrying my cousin’s child?”