Onita finished her lunch at the pace of a snail while Neil gobbled his.She could not help but stare at the amount of food he packed away...Just where did he put all that food!His metabolism must be really strong to eat so much and not gain weight.Neil looked at Onita who had yet to finish her stir fried vegetables and added some more meat to her bowl."You have the appet.i.te of a bird,Ms Onita..You will need this food,trust me!We have to continue our discussion soon.."
Reminded of the purpose of today"s visit,Onita could only sigh and finish her food faster.In the last twenty four hours,they had shared three meals and she understood Neil enough that he would not discuss anything until he was satisfied that she had eaten her fill.
Once the meal was over,instead of concentrating on the continuation of the past,Onita was feeling antsy to see her daughter.She had hardly ever stayed away from her for so long and now with that threat hanging,she felt even more antsy.As always,nothing skipped Neil"e eyes and without a word,he opened an app on his phone and pa.s.sed it to Onita.Turning her eyes to the screen,Onita saw that her little daughter was fast asleep in a small bed.She was hugging her pillow in sleep and her mouth was a bit open letting drool escape.She looked way too sweet and cute.Smiling,she mistakely pressed the home b.u.t.ton and a pair of grey eyes stared back at her from the screen.Puzzled at Neil"s wallpaper,her face showed confusion,prompting Neil to come forward.When he realized what Onita had done mistakenly,he said nothing but taking the phone away from her and said,"Onita,you have yet to tell me how you came to be stuck here and why is Hu Ge now interested in Alicia after two years."
The phone"s wallpaper forgotten,Onita looked at Neil and said,"I don"t know why they are suddenly interested in Alicia.In fact,I did not even know who Alicia"s father was until I got the notice from court.That year when I came to know about what Omaya had done,I brought Alicia here.From there I rolled with time as I answered police questions and questions from the emba.s.sy.In the end it was declared that Omaya had come here not to meet someone but to escape the fact that she had become a single mother.They said she was suffering from depression and was unaware of what she had been doing.The emba.s.sy informed my parents and they came here for the funeral.That is when they saw Alicia.I tried to convince them and plead with them but they would not budge.Finally like Omaya,they gave me an ultimatum,leave the child here and go back with them or they would not let me come back.And like my sister,I chose to be a mother rather than abandon her.All my credit cards were cancelled and what little money I had,had been used up for funeral expenses.Finally,I became a financial journalist for the newspapers here.I had been getting decent work until last week when suddenly my work permit visa was cancelled and I was forced to leave my job.They even covertly threatened me that my visa would also be cancelled if I did not go back soon.
But I did not dare to go back without Alicia and the courts had barred me from taking her back.Finally,I was able to secure a lawyer who was willing to take my case but he was an imposter.Taking more than a quarter of my savings as retainer fees,the man just disappeared on the morning of the hearing."
Neil had been patiently jotting down everything that Onita mentioned and the questions he wanted the answers to.Seeing that she was now emotionally stable,Neil started his questions,"Onita,how old was Omaya when she got pregnant?"
Onita looked at Neil in surprise and there she could see that he already knew and was not judging her sister,she unhesitatingly answered,"16 years."
Nodding,he asked,"Do you know how they met and how the relation progressed?"
"I don"t know many details but I think they met on some online gaming site.And about the progress,Omaya had not been out of the country as she had air sickness so she has only ever travelled by cruise and that would take a lot of time so I think that Hu Ge was the one came to Country A..The only time she travelled by air was when she came here to confront that man.And you know how that ended up."
Neil made another point and typed something in the laptop in front of him.
Onita,I have one last question,"Apart from the fact that you heve raised Alicia like your own child,do you have any objection to Alicia seeing her father?"
"I would have been happy to let Alicia visit her family if they had told me or approached me.But they are straightaway trying to take my baby away.."
"No Onita,that is the wrong answer.From now on,whatever I tell you remember it word for word and for anything else take my cue.
Now,"Onita,would you be willing to share custody?"
Onita looked at Neil with perplexion and though her first reaction was to stubbornly say a resounding no,she paused and looked at Neil.Pleased with her understanding,he nodded a subtle yes...