A conflict
Dexter
I held the bag of chocolates and cookies that I bought for Lilly tightly then knocked at the door. Surprisingly, the door gave way and then I observed that it wasn’t closed.
My eyes caught the sight of a black bralette hanging on the knob of the door, then a rumpled dress on the floor. Irritation swelled within me when I found a black lace thong at the edge of her armchair.
I sighed in annoyance and marched to her room. How could she have brought someone into her house while Lilly was around?
Even though I lived alone, I never brought a woman into my house. Each time the urge came to mess around, I either went to a bar or a hotel, so this was unacceptable.
I banged furiously on her door and heard cusses flying out from her mouth. The sound of her footsteps scurrying towards the door told me that she had detangled with her lover.
She opened the door slightly and stretched out her head which I observed to be disheveled from the moment of passion. “What are you doing here?” She moaned as whoever was behind her slapped her ass.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust and turned away, not after telling her to meet me immediately in the living room.
Ten minutes later, she joined me downstairs, wearing a white robe. Her hair wasn’t tousled as roughly as I saw it earlier and she looked like she had taken a quick bath.
“What’s wrong with you, Emilia? How could you bring a man over with Lilly around?” I scolded her harshly.
She shrugged and plopped down on her couch with a nonchalant expression. “First of all, Dexter, I won’t have you dictate to me how to live my life, alright? I’m a woman and I deserve good sex, and since you weren’t ready to give me what I wanted I had no choice but to get it somewhere else.”
“You are not getting the point, Emilia. I know how loose you are, and I’m sure that this isn’t the first time men are trooping into your house just to have a taste of you. Lilly is too little to witness such scenes and I don’t want her to grow up without morals just like you.” I spat and her eyes grew red as she sprang to her feet.
“And you think you have morals, huh?” She fired back, glaring hard at me. “Who leaves his baby mama for a model he doesn’t know anything about? Don’t you bring women over?”
A furious chuckle erupted from my throat as I folded my arms. “You were at fault for hitting her and I suppose you have learned your lesson already. And I’d like to let you know that I don’t bring women into my house. If I want it, I’ll get it outside.”
The young man she just had an intense session with strolled down the stairs leisurely, his hands tucked into his pocket as he headed for the door with a casual gait.
Fortunately, I didn’t feel jealous; just disgusted.
He left without a word then I resumed scolding Emilia who was already pouting her lips.
“Where’s Lilly? I’ve not seen her since I came in,”
She looked around as if she was searching for her. “I left her with my neighbor’s kid. I’ll go get her now.” She ran out of the house while I did nothing but sigh.
One of these days, I’d have to bring Lilly over to my house. I knew that watching over her would be hard because of how hectic my work was, but I’d find a way around it.
I waited patiently to hear my daughter’s happy shrieks on hearing footsteps approaching, but I was disappointed as Emilia rushed in, her face pale and her lips trembling.
“What’s wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost.” I asked carefully.
She pointed at the house adjacent to hers, blinking incessantly without making a proper sentence. “They… They c-can’t find her…” She managed to say.
My heart thudded faster as I sprang to my feet. “Lilly? My Lilly?”
She nodded vehemently, breaking into a fitful sob. “Oh God. How could I have been so careless?”
Her tears irritated me, and I was at the edge of apportioning blame on her, but I held back as we both had to work together to find her. “What happened? Tell me everything!” I thundered.
Her lips kept trembling, but when she saw the murderous glare on my face, she began to talk. “Like I said before, the children of my neighbor came over and since I was busy, I let them take her. I didn’t know that she had strayed off…”
She raked through her hair, her face puffy and red while I reached for my phone and tried to make some calls. Emilia leaned on the wall, whimpering.
I tried to make a call but it didn’t go through which heightened my agitation, then I realized that there was an incoming call with Melissa’s name blaring on the screen.
I swiped to the red button as I wasn’t ready to talk to her in such a mood, but she didn’t give up as she called again.
I clicked the accept button. “Can you stop calling already?” I seethed.
“Don’t hang up, Dexter, I have something really important to tell you.” Her voice had a note of urgency I couldn’t ignore.
“What is it?” I snarled.
“Are you looking for your daughter?”
My eyes widened as I glanced at Emilia who was pacing to and fro in the room. “Yes, I am. I came to visit her but we couldn’t find her.”© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
Knowing that I was talking about Lilly, Emilia gazed at me with anticipation.
“Ummm, I’m with her presently. You can come and pick her up.” She said and waves of relief gushed through me.
I didn’t even know what to say to her. My mouth was heavy, but I knew that I’d have to thank her properly for saving my daughter. I couldn’t even imagine what would have happened if she had fallen into the hands of unscrupulous people.
“Thank you so much, Melissa. Text me your location and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
The line went dead immediately and I stormed out of the house with Emilia behind me.
“Has she been found?”
“Yes,” I replied flatly.
“I want to come with you.” She pleaded, clasping her hands together.
“You can, but that’s because I want you to see her one last time before I take her. She’ll stay with me for some weeks until you return to your senses.” I informed her.
The woman I thought was broken and repentant became furious immediately. “No, Dexter, you can’t do that to me!” She disagreed. “You can’t take my daughter away from me.”
“Our daughter, Emilia.” I corrected her. “And let me remind you that I’m capable of taking her away when you begin to slack on your responsibilities. Don’t even bother dragging this issue with me because you will lose.” I headed to the driver’s seat and started the car, while she stood quietly.
She could come along if she wanted.