MY BILLIONAIRE BIDDER

I am pregnant!!!" Evelyn blurted out amidst the sentence.

"Oh, you're so not getting...ehn you're what?" She splattered the water she was about to swallow on Evelyn's face. "Oh God, so sorry, let me clean that up for you" She moved to get the napkin. "Did I hear you right, Evie?"

They were in Marissa's room where Evelyn, the only close friend she had, barged in on her earlier.

Her friend had been going on and on with unimportant things since she entered and Marissa knew that she must have something on her mind.

So she waited for her to say whatever was on her mind while they continued their discussion.

"You...you are what?" Marissa asked in surprise after she spewed out the water she had just poured in her mouth before her friend dropped the bombshell on her.

She looked down at her chiffon top that had become see-through from the splash as Evelyn repeated what she said earlier.

"I am pregnant, Marissa! Oh my God, I am finally saying it out loud and it just got so real right now, I am pregnant and I don't know what to do, oh my, oh my, this is not in the plan at all and I am always so careful, I am so careful Marissa, what do I do?" She broke down in tears.

"First thing we're going to do... " Marissa calmly held her hand and lead her to the living room "...is to sit down, you calm down and we're going to rationalize this like the adults that we are, first I want you to know that you're not in this alone. You do know that right?"

Evelyn nodded vigorously.

"Breath girl, just breathe you've got this! This is Evie o, Evie my favourite area scatter!!!" Marissa laughed

"Oh please stop this is not funny" She playfully hit Marissa's arm while smiling.

"There you go, you're smiling already and there's a saying that "a smile is the beginning of problem-solving"

"Who on earth quipped that ridiculous saying?"

"Oh, I just did, " Marissa laughed and dodged Evelyn's mock blow

"Okay, Evie what did Mukhtar say when you informed him?" Marissa asked

"Informed him? I haven't informed him, you're the first person I am saying this to, babe. What if he's not ready for this? I am not ready for this! What if he leaves me? What if he asks me to abort? What if..."

"Ehn ehn, remember what I said about being calm? Hysteria will not help you nor the baby"

A ding sound came from Evelyn's phone and she checked it.

"Oh God, oh God oh God"

"Whaaaat?"

"Mukhtar is on his way here!"

Mukthar was Evelyn's boyfriend and the father of her unborn child.

***********************

"Just. Calm. Down" Marissa repeated while Evelyn moved in agitation from one spot to the other.

"Calm down? I cannot calm down Marissa, I cannot! How do I calm down? Oh, God! Marissa, this wasn't in the plans at all. We had a lot mapped out, a lot of things to do together, a lot of things to achieve, and his mom..."

She paused amidst pacing as if she just remembered something "Heeey, his mother! You know I told you the other day that that woman does not like me, I was still thinking of how to make her change her mind about me, and now this? I am dead, Marissa, that woman will never allow this" Evelyn bemoaned

"Just listen to yourself, listen to you talk" Marissa chided " You're talking as if it's his mother you're in a relationship with and not Mukhtar himself, why are you giving yourself so much stress when you've not even informed him at all? Don't you believe in his love for you again, don't you have any belief in him?"

"I believe, I sure do believe, you know; it's just that..."

"It's just that what? It's just that what na? Simply hold on to that belief and know for a fact that everything will be okay and I can assure you that it will, no matter what happens, babe, we're in this together. Just tell the dude first and let's see what's what?"

Marissa moves to enfold Evelyn in a semi-embrace.

"You're so right, babe. Look at me being a scaredy-cat and forgetting my trust in the man I love, it will be fine, it will be fine, it will, I just need to repeat it enough till it sinks in" she assured herself while taking in deep gulps of air.

" There you go! You're doing great already, now pick up your phone, it's been vibrating sin..."

Evelyn jumped up from her sitting posture" No no I can't pick it up, I really can't do this, I really can't" She pushed the phone towards Marissa

"You pick it up, tell him I am not around, tell him I went to visit my grandmother! Oh, he knows I don't have a grandmother, tell him that, that I went to join the convent or... or that I've joined the armed forces. Just tell him something, anything please Marissa!" She rambled on hysterically.

Marissa laughed " Now I know that you're fully crazy,yoh, the convent? Joined the armed forces indeed, see here goes his call again, I am sure when you're feeling better, you'll surely feel guilty for keeping him this long, he's probably at your place already, okay let's do it this way since you're not about to make any sane decision regarding this"

She placed the phone to her ear "Hello Mukhtar"

A distant inquiring voice could be heard on the other end "Marissa? Why are you the one picking up Evie's call, is she fine?"

" Oh believe me she's dandy, she's just..." she looked back at Evelyn who is frantically mouthing no to her and making crazy gestures that made Marissa laugh " Weeell, I'll just let you come see for yourself, she's at my place, you can come over" she disconnected the call and turn to Evelyn.

"Well, the deed is done now, there's no going back because he will be here at any minute"

Evelyn moaned "Just kill me now because I don't know how to say this to him, he just started his new job, Mariiii"

"What about you start with, hello lover, you're going to be a father, yay, congratulations!!!" Marissa laughed when she saw the way Evelyn widen her eyes in horror at that suggestion

"Okay, I guess that suggestion is ruled out. Goodness, you make it so easy for me to tease you with this priceless reaction, I can't believe my fearless Evie would ever react like this to anything! God, I should be recording this right now so I could tease you mercilessly with it when this is all over, oh what a loss!"

With a sober tone "For the tenth time, babe, you'll be..." A knock at the door "Well here goes nothing" Coming!" She called out to him

"He's here and no, I am not repeating myself so chin up and let's get this done and over with so we'll get on to the next step in this" She moved to pick up her jacket and put on her slippers.

"Let me just excuse you two so you can take your time to do this right, I'll be right outside if you need me, honey"

"Thank you so much for this, Marissa" Evelyn replied in a subdued tone

"You're welcome darling, now put on that brilliant smile of yours" She opens the door to a pacing Mukhtar who was just raising his hand to knock again.

"Oh hey, Mukhtar" she greeted brightly "How are you doing today?"

"I've been doing fine but now am not so sure anymore, where's Evelyn? Why isn't she coming out? Is she busy? What's wrong?" He asked frantically

"Calm down, calm down, which of these questions do you want me to answer first?" She asked with a laugh. "Evie is fine and all is well with her, she's just been, you know; Evieish as usual, with a good cause this time though" She shrugged then clapped her hand on his shoulder and said in a whisper "Don't mess this up, man, don't"

In a louder tone, she said brightly " I'll be right outside so take your time," said as she passed by leaving Mukhtar to look at her departing form with confusion before entering the room.

Marissa was amused by how anxious she was about the news Evelyn was about to give her boyfriend.

"One would think that you are the one who is pregnant" she scoffed at herself in amusement as she opened her front door.

She looked back towards the room and wondered why she couldn't hear anything.

She decided to move away and do something with herself before she barged in there like a mother hen demanding that Mukhtar should give Evelyn a favourable answer.

She decided to take a walk or even go as far as the convenience store down the street to get soft drinks.

Marissa knew why Evelyn was so anxious and she couldn't blame the girl. If it was just about Mukhtar alone, she was sure that the couple would gave no issue sorting out what they should do next.

The main problem was Mukhtar's mother. The woman had been vehemently against Evelyn and her son's relationship that Marissa once advised Evelyn to let the guy go but her girl was already in love with the Muslim guy, whose mother not only hated Evelyn because she was not a Muslim but also because she was an Igbo girl while Mukhtar was Yoruba.

Marissa decidedly ignored the apprehension she felt at how the woman would take the news of Evelyn's pregnancy but then she shrugged it off with the thought that Mukhtar should be able to handle his mother's extreme behaviours.

Evelyn did not have any relatives truly but she was not about to allow anybody to railroad the girl even if she had to fight with everything in her!

"Stop getting ahead of yourself," she thought to herself with a smile as she rubbed her temple to ward off the mild headache she was feeling. Even though the sun was setting already, the weather was still warm enough for her to feel a film of sweat on her forehead.

No sun burns brighter than the Naija sun. She thought to herself as she felt her blue, chiffon top clung to her skin. She raised her head to see that she was almost at the convenience store.

"Better to get back to those two," she thought to herself.

A car honk jolted her out of her reverie and she wondered what the driver was causing a racket for even though she was not even in the middle of the road.

The honk got louder and its sound ricocheted long and sharp in the quiet neighbourhood.

Marissa whipped her head back in annoyance at the same time that someone shouted "Hey, can't you hear that I was trying to get your attention? "

Marissa couldn't believe her ears and she looked at her front as if to be certain that the driver was talking to her. Nobody else was there!

Marissa forgot her worries in an instant as she fully turned back to look at the young lady behind the wheel of the red Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392.

She did not pay any heed to the person in the passenger's seat as the Jeep moved closer to her and stopped a few paces away.

"Excuse me? " she asked in a disbelieving tone at the lady's rudeness.

"No, you are not excused!" the last said haughtily as she flung her red human hair behind her, the texture of the hair blended well with her red, slinky, spaghetti straps gown. She glared at Marissa as she said.

"How can you pretend not to hear me despite how much I was pressing the horn? Is this how backwater girls, like you, behave? Back in the States, we..."

"Ehn, look here!" Marissa snapped, interrupting the girl's tirade." I don't know who you think you are and I don't care to know but if you think you can just...."

"Let's just go, Nat"

Marissa's head swerved toward the direction where she just heard the voice and she was amazed that she had not paid the man there any attention before.

Not that Marissa gets moved by things like that of course but the man was very handsome with his tousled hair, chiselled features, and....

Marissa snapped off the train of her thought as her anger doubled at herself and these two idiots who dated to disturb her evening.

"I just wanted her to tell us... " The lady called Nat started but she was interrupted by the man.

"I don't care, I am done with all this. Let's go" he said firmly but the girl pouted.

"Babe, how can you be so.... "

Marissa rolled her eyes as she wondered why she was still standing there as if she was expecting more insults from the insensitive couple who seemed to be in their world.

She turned away and headed towards where she was coming from, suddenly losing the penchant for the soft drinks she wanted to get.

"Hey! " she heard behind her and she shook her head.

"Is that girl stupid?" she thought in anger as she knew that she wouldn't hesitate to deal with the rude thing if she dared followed her.

She heard the car engine start again and it continued its journey in the direction of the convenience store.

She was still seething when she got back home and she hoped that Mukhtar wouldn't give her a reason to lash out at him.

She opened the door, a little too sharply and the couple who were in the middle of an embrace in the room looked at her in surprise.

Then Evelyn started laughing out loud as she bent over trying to control her mirth.

"Oh my God, Mari... You... You... look like a ferocious lioness out to save her cub! " she said amidst laughter.

Marissa reluctantly smiled when she saw her friend laughing with such gaiety and Mukthar was positively beaming as well.

She knew that he must have received the news well if the two of them were tightly locked together as she met them earlier. She finally relaxed as the smile fully engulfed her face.

Everything would be fine. She said to herself.

As she congratulated Mukhtar and they proceeded to have fun, she couldn't firmly rid her mind of a sharp, piercing gaze she had felt from an unforgettable face.

Idiots! She thought to herself even as she wondered" Who are those two and what were they looking for in that area? "

Marissa might not have a car of her own but she knew about cars and that type was not the type you see on her street daily.

Where were they from?

Little did she know what fate had in store for her.

"Push, miss, you need to push," the doctor said anxiously as she looked at the pallid woman on the bed.

" I am trying!" Evelyn snapped

"Doctor, maybe she should rest a while, don't you think? She has been trying her best since and I think she is getting tired" Marissa implored in concern

"Of course, I can see her effort but she needs to try more, the baby is close now and she needed to apply more strength so as not to affect the baby or herself" the doctor explained

To Evelyn"Miss, please try harder, I commend your effort so far but you need to do this, think of your baby. He is ready to be born but he needed more effort on your part"

"I am trying, I am trying, I am..." she bursted into tears

"Come on, Evelyn, I believe everything will be fine, you have been doing well so far" Marissa assured her but her tears only increased.

Marissa sighed as she signalled the nurse to hold on a bit because she knew that it would be a while before Evelyn could get her emotions in check.

These had been the routine for them for months now as Evelyn grew more melancholic as the months passed by. First, she stopped smiling, and then she started growing more and more reserved. It did not help that all the vacancies she applied for after losing her job, none it was fruitful. Only a few of them called her for an interview and none called her back for resumption though they were unsure of the exact reason; Evelyn believed firmly that it had to do with her pregnancy. Hence she sunk more into herself and refused to be cheered, zoon enough, she had drained most of her savings and she stubbornly refused Marissa's offer to pay for the baby's necessities expenses she had to accept the payment for the antenatal because Marissa had signed her up before telling her.

All of Marissa's efforts to bring her out of her shell proved abortive as she sunk more into what the doctors describe as prenatal depression though rare in women not unlikely especially if the woman had issues she was dealing with before.

Evelyn's sunny disposition was the first thing to go as she grew more surly over time, not finding joy in anything except when they were discussing her unborn child and those moments are rare indeed as times she would just break down in tears amidst conversation and as time goes on, the break down increased so much that Evelyn could cry because of anything even a bite from a mosquito.

Marissa tried all she could to support her friend during those periods and most of the time when she wanted to tell her to snap out of whatever deep well she had sunk into that did it make her see the joy in anything anymore, she just couldn't do it, not even when Evelyn snapped at her and said unkind words to her to leave her alone. She never wavers.

One thing that was the constant source of their quarrel recently was their total disinterest in Evelyn in going anywhere or even doing anything, she had rather sat down from morning till night in one spot staring with a vacant look in her eyes. At times Marissa would go to work and still come back to meet her at the same spot. She forced her to pack, get her things and come stay with her when it became apparent that she did not even care about food anymore.

Marissa had to put her feet down when the doctor proclaimed that she was malnourished and lack of a good diet could affect the baby. Most times Evelyn would grow belligerent and refuse to listen when Marissa was scolding her for letting herself go and affecting her baby but atimes she would just break down in tears whispering "I am so sorry" and "I just can not help it" over and over to Marissa that the latter would have no choice but to embrace her and reassured her that all would be well. They were in the middle of such an altercation again that fateful day when her water broke and her contraction started.

"Hush now, Evelyn, you need to push now, think of your child, babe," Marissa said a bit more sternly than intended when she saw that her tears were not abating "You can do this"

"Yes, I can" Evelyn sniffled, then she held on to Marissa's hand and pushed as she had been doing for the past hour.

"Yes, miss, we are getting close. Keep going, I can see the head now"

Evelyn pushed a bit more and she sagged as she got tired again.

The doctor looked at her worriedly and realised that the lady might not be able to do this on her own as she appeared to be so weak and if this continued the baby could be affected.

She motioned to Marissa to step aside with her. Marissa wiped Evelyn's brow and promised to be back in a jiffy.

"I am saying this to you because I realised you are the one she noted in her form as her family," the doctor said hurriedly"She does not have enough strength to give birth to that kind on her own so we would need to quickly operate on her before that child is affected. I would need to sign a consent form so we can get started with the procedure. This delay is not good for the child at all" the doctor explain urgently

" I understand you, doctor but I still need to get consent as well before signing on anything, just give me a moment" Marissa replied anxiously on

"That's okay, just be fast about it"

They both return to the labour room just as the nurse was about to click on the doctor.

When they were having the conversation, Evelyn had given an unprecedented push and now the baby's head could be seen.

"My God! The doctor rushed to her side, gave directions to the nurses and gave more encouragement to Evelyn to "push"

Evelyn held in tightly to Marissa's hand so that her fingers almost snapped and gave one last hefty push as her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.

Silence

Then a shrill cry rented the air. The baby was okay indeed.

Evelyn was swiftly revived and the baby was taken care of. The umbilical cord was cut and he was cleaned up.

"My baby, may I see my baby?" Was the first thing Evelyn whispered as she woke up.

The nurse who was taking care of him placed the baby in her arms just as the other nurse who was cleaning up the mother signalled to the doctor.

"Oh he is a boy, oh my precious, precious baby" she sighed "Emmanuel, you are my precious Emmanuel, he is Emmanuel," she said to Marissa

"Of course, he is. That is a beautiful name, Evelyn and he looked so much like you already" Marissa smiled holding the baby's first that he was waving, " I think he wants to feed, here, let me help settle him"

"You are the best, Marissa. The best thing that ever happened to me, and I am so sorry, I am so sorry" Evelyn whispered

"What do you have to be sorry about? Girl, you are silly. I am just so happy that you are fine" she said just as she glanced over to see that there was a frenzied activity going on at the other end of the bed.

"Doctor, what is going on?" She panicked.

"The blood, the blood is gushing so much, it just won't stop. Keep talking to her, keep her awake, okay? " the doctor implored her.

Marissa looked back at her friend when she realised that she was quiet and Evelyn motioned for her to move closer.

"Please Marissa, please, never let him go"

Then she sighed and Marissa couldn't believe her eyes because right there and then while she held the newborn to his mother's breast to suck.

Her best friend breathed for the last time.

Marissa's anguished wail mixed with the baby's piercing cry could be heard throughout the hospital that sunny afternoon.