Chapter 118

Mike and Margaret got to the house, it was situated on a hilly part of the city. A magnificent edifice that could be mistaken as the Queen's palace. Mike could understand the reason for the kind of house and environment Margret chose to live in the US. It seemed she copied from family house. The driver had brought down the luggages, while the housekeeper was taking them inside, Mike took his time to observe the beautiful exterior of the building. It was the usual London kind of house. A storey building but larger that the normal. On the side of the door was boldly engraved 1500 being the house number. The building was sitting on about five to six plot of land, Mike was able to see a garden with where children could play, a standard size swimming pool, he was about to move around the other end, when Margaret asked that they move in as they were being expected inside. 

The housekeeper was already standing right after the door awaiting them so he would show them their apartment. It was while inside that Mike was astonished, what he felt was a huge house turned out to be bigger than he thought. Margaret and himself followed the housekeeper who led them through the long and well decorated corridor to the stair case and upstairs to the right wing of the house. There he opened one of the doors and got in, he put on the light and allowed them to enter, before moving in the luggages. When he had kept the luggages at the right place, he bowed to margaret and welcomed her officially before leaving the room. Mike and Margaret were left alone, with Mike admiring the room. It was well furnished with alot of decorations, paintings, and artworks on the walls. The bed was those types made for royalties, with rails and curtains covering whoever was to be inside. It had a very soft but quality mattress, a duvet, neatly folded blankets and many pillows on it. The entire room was neatly kept, that Mike wondered how, when no one stays there. He stood there watching one of the beautiful artworks of a black woman who was breastfeeding a baby, he was attracted to it because it was an original pencil artwork. Margaret couldn't help but interrupt him once again, she told him there was enough time to go around and see whatever needed to be seen. Meanwhile that she would have the time then to give him detailed information on all that were in the house. That was when Mike sat down for the first time since entering the house. 

Margaret kept busy unpacking their luggage and keeping their belongings in order. She pointed to Mike the bathroom and asked that he took his shower, as dinner would soon be ready. Mike understood what that meant, in that kind of house, everyone would gather at the dinning for every meal. It would be an avenue to reactivate the family bond as it used to be when they were little children in the house. He took off his clothes and opened the door that was supposedly leading to the bathroom. He was shocked to notice that there was a space that would be enough for a room and it was empty, he wondered what the space was for, even as he proceeded to the next door which he turned the knob and behold a shinning silver coated jacuzzi. Mike decided not to allow what he saw continue to absorb his time, he threw the towel on the hanging rail, and stepped into the jacuzzi. He was welcomed by the warmness of the water, which gave him a relaxed mind as it soothed his body. He had to keep his head cool for some minutes before having his bath. 

Margaret finished up what she was doing, she was surprise that Mike hadn't come out of the bathroom, so she took of her clothes, took her towel and opened the door to the bathroom where she saw him with his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the jacuzzi. She knew it was bound to happen, that had been her favourite place when she wanted to be alone and think. She stepped in and joined him. It was the ring tone of the phone that prompted them to Hasting up. Margaret had picked th call and the housekeeper informed her that dinner was being served while the rest of the family were already seated. 

By the time Margaret and Mike got to the dinning, almost all the family members had left the dinning to their various rooms, including grand pa. She was informed that th formal meeting and introduction would be held in the morning during breakfast. Mike was not feeling hungry, so he took a bottle of milk with some cookies, while Margaret took a cup of fruit juice, as they left the dinning back to their room. Mike once again marvelled at what he termed extravagant furnishings. The dinning could only be compared to that of Solomon the king as described  in the Christian bible. It could host more than 50 guests at a go, the plates and cups he saw there, though he was yet to confirm, looked gold plated. The seats and tables looked so too, even the hand rails on every side of the house. He made up his mind not to ask any questions yet, he would rather take a closer look the next day to be sure, when he wasn't able to ascertain the authenticity of them, he would then ask Margaret. 

While Mike was going through his various adventures, Olivia was beginning to have the feeling and experiences that accompanied the first few weeks of pregnancy in women. It was becoming evident to those who had experienced such and those who had the eyes to spot it out. The weakness or tiredness, the night fever and regular headaches were all evident. In all, Olivia held on strong, especial with the family and friends standing strong behind her. The next time they met with Kelly, he was suspicious of it, he asked Olivia why she looked the way she did, he also mentioned that she was gaining wait too. These were also signs of early pregnancy, but Olivia waved all that away with some smart answers. The story that day was not a funny one, it was more of the trying times of Kelly, as he went from grace to grass. He had to take a cleaning job in a shopping mall just to make sure he got money to eat. According to him, he did the job for one full month, before Pauline got back to him. 

He had come to the mall one faithful morning, and was cleaning and mopping the floor, when someone came to tell him that one miss Pauline was outside to see him. Kelly reluctantly left what he was doing and came out to see her. That was the last day he worked in the mall, as she asked that he got into the car and they drove off to a hotel in the city. She made sure he took his bath, and had a change of clothing which she got from the boutique in the hotel. When he was nicely dressed, she asked that they had food together. Kelly was watching her, she sounded so nice and calm, unlike her, he wondered what might have made her behave in such a manner towards him. He was sure there must be something going on in her mind that was yet to surface or be said out. All he did was to enjoy the moment of good life once again after one month and some weeks of hell. He had tasted what it meant to be poor which he assumed as a word not suitable to qualify what he went through, but for lack of words, it could be excused for usage. 

It was after the meal that the story of what happened was revealed to him. He remembered begging Pauline when he got to the office that day, she asked him to go as there was nothing she could do at the moment. He left almost in tears, the only consolation he could find was in some bottle of liquor which he was able to afford with the money Chamberlain squeezed into his hands earlier in the day. From Pauline's story, he understood that she wasn't responsible for his woes, rather the father. 

Dr Robert had earlier spotted Kelly right from the very start when he was transferred to New Zealand. It wasn't only because of his handsomeness, but his character. Being that he wanted such a person as not only a son-in-law, but also a heir to carry on his legacies. Every effort to get Kelly to come around and possibly begin the journey towards tying the knot with his daughter proved abortive. He had interviewed the daughter many times and found out that Kelly was not moved by the family wealth. Instead of searching for another man and allow him be even as the daughter suggested, Dr Robert insisted that Kelly must be the one, reason being that he was not moved by the wealth, so he wouldn't mess up when put in charge. Moreover, he wanted the best for his daughter.