Rita's POV

For reasons best known to him, Cameron cancelled his trip. I didn't know how to feel about it honestly. I was fairly certain that he still didn't know my reason for getting upset about him wanting travel and I wasn't about to tell him either.

Our anniversary fell on a Monday. That morning wasn't much different than usual except, I paid a little more attention to the way I set breakfast for my man. I woke up in a good mood which I was grateful for because I didn't want to be upset on today of all days.

I mentally made evening plans for Cameron and I as I prepared a huge breakfast of pancakes for Cam, French toast, bacon, eggs, and waffles for myself. By the time everything was set on the table, it almost looked like a feast.

Cameron came down the stairs in his corporate wear which consisted of a white dress shirt and office slacks. He held his jacket across his arm, his briefcase in hand.

His face held a frown which was opposite to the grin that I had on my face. Regardless, it didn't falter as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, babe." Cam greeted as he immediately made his way to the coffee maker.

"Heyyy." I walked to him and gave him a kiss. What started out as a small kiss deepened and soon we were full on making out in the kitchen, his big hands settled on my ass as he kneaded it softly in his palms. Finally, I pulled away, biting my lips as I stared into his dark brown eyes.

"Damn, baby." Cam said before his gaze flitted behind me. "Is all that food for us?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

I made an affirmative hum, nodding as I pulled away from him to move to the sink. "It is."

Cam squinted his eyes at me before asking, "What's the occasion?"

The question made me stiffen as I looked away from him. I was determined to not be in a sour mood today so I ignored it altogether, instead gesturing for him to join me as we went to the table.

Breakfast was nice, and once we were both stuffed full, I stood up to clear the plates and pack up the leftover food. Soon after, Cameron left for work.

While he was gone, I went ahead to pull out my laptop deciding to be productive and get some work done.

Six months ago, ever since the first branch of Haus Fashion was opened to the public, it was an instant success. So much so that now, Temi and I have plans to open a new branch. The plan would become a reality in two weeks time when the second official site of Haus Fashion will be opened in Ikeja, the mainland.

The set up had me busy and this time, instead of my best friend who had a lot going on in her life to balance at the moment, I was in charge of dealing with the suppliers and the manufacturers abroad and everything so I had to make sure it was all perfect and ready before the opening date. It's not an easy feat but I am determined to pull through.

I was nose deep in work when my phone rang with a call from Chichi. "Hey girl! What's good?" I said, putting the phone between my ear and my shoulder blades as I lifted up my laptop and the papers on Cameron's study desk where I settled to work.

"Nothing much, babe. I was wondering if you would like to go to the gym with me?" She asks. "The doctor suggested that I get some exercise in occasionally so I'll be strong for the D day."

"Of course. How about you come by my place and we use my home gym?" I suggest and shortly after she agrees, we end the call.

Forty five minutes later, Chichi arrives with the driver her boyfriend, David, had assigned her because he doesn't want her driving in her condition.

"Girl!" I exclaim as I take in Chichi's slightly out of breath form. "You good?"

"Omo, I'm tired of this pregnancy abeg! This boy should be fast and come out cause I can't take this anymore." She grumbles making me giggle. I take her hand to help her up the short stairs and we make our way into the house.

Once we get into the living room, Chioma immediately goes to seat down, propping her legs up on a low stool.

With raised eyebrows, I ask her, "This one you're getting comfortable, are you sure you still want to exercise?"

She gives me soft look before replying in a small voice, "No?"

I burst into laughter at that. "Lazy ass, I should've known. Are you hungry?"

"Not really, I ate before coming here. But can I get a glass of water, or juice. I'm so dehydrated." She requests.

With a nod, I go into the kitchen and pour chill water in a jug, coming out with a cup, the jug and a bottle of chivita orange juice.

"You spoil me." Chichi gushes with a laugh as she watches me walk back into the living room before carefully dropping the liquids on a serving stool next to her. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome." I tell her as I take a seat next to her.

After taking a long drink of her water, she lets out a wistful sigh that makes me turn to her. "It's just us. Temi is all under Tosin, Mimi is on her honeymoon getting properly fucked which makes one of us because I can't even get my man to touch me without him saying 'Is this safe for the baby? Are you sure we aren't gonna hurt him?'" She complains, mimicking David's raspy voice spot on as I laugh silently behind my hand.

"I can imagine."

"Guy, the thing is so annoying! Even after the doctor said we are still in the clear to have sex, at least until next week or so." Chichi hisses lowly, shaking her head as if David were actually here.

"Well, it's expected. Men can be so extra when it comes to such things."

"Tell me about it." She says with a scoff. It's quiet for a bit and Chichi looks to be in her thoughts before she turns to me and asks. "Do you and Cameron want kids?"

The question puts me in a somber mood. I didn't know if there was a definite answer. If I was asked this question six months ago I would've said he wants a baby and I didn't want any at that moment. But now, I feel like the reverse is the case —I want a baby, but he doesn't. Although he hasn't outrightly said that to me, it's how I feel. With all that has been going on between the two of us however, I don't feel like we are in the right place for that. But that isn't a decision for me alone to make.

"I don't know." I reply honestly. "These days I'm honestly questioning a lot of things between us. I do see myself having kids though."

"But not with him?" Chichi asks bluntly, the question shocking me into silence.

Do I want kids with someone other than my husband? That's a crazy line of thinking because I would have to divorced to do that. Cheating is not something I will ever allow myself engage in.

Fortunately, Chichi doesn't badger me for an answer because I don't think I even have one anyway.

Deciding to change the top slightly, I tell her with a grin. "You know, it's our anniversary tonight. I honestly can't believe it's been a year."

"How time flies! Any special plans for today?" She asks.

I shake my head. "Nothing too special. I plan on making a nice meal and making love to my man all night."

"That definitely sounds like a plan." Chichi jokes making us both laugh.

"It is! I really just want something chill and intimate." I tell her excitedly before a sudden thought dampens my mood. "He doesn't even know what today is though."

"What?" I nod my head as my friend stares at me in surprise, a stern look on her face. "That's crazy. How do you know he doesn't remember? Maybe he wants to surprise you."

I give her a light shrug, deciding to remain quiet at that because maybe she's right. Maybe Cam has been pretending to have forgotten so he'll plan something special for us.

We end up doing a mini movie marathon and after some hours pass by, Chichi has to leave and once again I'm home alone.

I head to my room to take a quick nap after setting an alarm for myself. When I wake up I feel much better so I head to the kitchen to get started on dinner. For some reason I feel like a full time housewife, the thought occurring to me and causing me to smile although I know that I am not. It's just a rare day for me.

Instead of making his favorite, I decide to do something different —sheat pan steak with basmati rice. Thankfully I had the forethought to go to the market yesterday so I just get started cooking. I'm halfway in when the shrill iPhone ringtone pauses my music which was playing over the speaker.

When I look at my phone and see an unknown caller, I have a mind to ignore it but I decide against it. It could be a business call.

"Hello?" I say.

The line is quiet for a bit which causes me to pull my phone away and look at it in mild confusion.

"Hey, it's Idris." I hear his voice say over the line. For some reason I find myself reacting to it in an almost juvenile manner, my stomach forming into knots.

"Oh, hey." I was going to call, I wanted to add but I know that is a lie. Although I collected the man's number, I had no plan to call him. Idris to me was like a walking temptation and I don't really need that at this point in my life, if ever.

"How did I know you weren't gonna call?" He jokes making me chuckle lightly.

"You know why I wasn't going to." I correct.

He hums slightly, the sound sending chills down my body. The whole thing is strange to me. I never reacted to Idris like I am now. Although, in my defense, I hadn't encountered this version of Idris before. The one I was familiar with young, scrawny, and extremely shy —at least in my presence.

"Well I guess you have no choice but to speak to me now. So I'm only in Lagos for the next three or so months which isn't a very long time and I would love to take you out for drinks sometime, maybe this week. Let's catch up, it's been so long time."

I nod at that, a smile on my face. "It has. But drinks though? I'm not sure how my husband will feel about that."

"Lunch then? Or breakfast? Whichever suits you best, and whichever you feel comfortable with." He suggests.

"How about I sleep on it and call you later?" I ask. Some part of me thought it wrong to go out for drinks with a male friend alone, it just didn't sit right with me and I don't want Cam to feel like I'm disrespecting him.

"Of course, sure. As long as you actually call this time." Idris says.

I chuckle at that before promising. "I will."

"Okay then. I'll talk to you later." He says in a low tone.

"Bye." And with that I hang up.

I shake my head, a small smile still present on my face as I go back to cooking. In less than half an hour, everything is ready and I begin to set up. I previously had an idea to invite all our close friends over for dinner but most of them are not going to be available with Cameron's best friend Brandon being out of the country right now, Amina as well, Temi busy with her boo, and Chioma having already been here.

Or maybe that was just an excuse cause I really want some alone time with my husband, something we don't get a lot lately. Although Cameron didn't go to his aforementioned trip, he was still constantly busy and even though sometimes his workaholic nature gets on my everlasting nerves, I try to be understanding about it.

After cooking I head up to take a long bath before moisturizing myself in a lavender scented oil I recently got and getting dressed in a peach silk slip on dress and doing a really light make up. I already had a weave-in done earlier so I just brush it out, the bouncy curls encompassing my face in a nice way. After admiring myself in the mirror a bit, I head downstairs

I wait for some time and by nine PM when Cameron isn't home, I begin to get bothered. I know for sure that he leaves work by eight or eight-thirty PM and when he plans on working overtime, he'll call ahead so I'm a bit worried that he hasn't called. Before negative thought begin invading my head, I decide to call him myself with the mentality that there's a reasonable explanation for all this.

He doesn't pick on the first call, neither does he pick on the third and by the fifth I'm upset.

With a scoff, I go to his assistant, Jemima's contact. She picks on the third ring and her ever bubbly voice is immediately heard over the line, "Hello, Mrs Collins. I hope everything is fine."

I've always liked Jemima and in the past I would begin with a few pleasantries but right now, I'm too heated for that. "Yes, it is, Jemima. I'm just calling to find out if my husband is still in?"

"Oh. Mr Collins left about an hour ago. It seemed like he had a family emergency he had to attend to. I thought you were ill or something." She says worriedly.

What? With a humorless smile, I reply, "I'm fine. Thanks for the concern. You have a goodnight."

"You too, ma." She greets before I hang up.

I quickly go to my messages to make sure I didn't miss anything, a message perhaps saying that something had happened to someone in the family. Nothing.

"Mr Collins left an hour ago" Jemimah's voice rings in my head causing my chest to tighten in a painful way. My mind is already formulating ideas that are backed up by Cameron's recent actions and in a frenzy, in an effort to dismiss those ideas before they turn into something vicious, I call his cell again.

"The number you've dialed is not-" An automated voice says after sometime of it ringing to no response causing me to quickly hang up.

Before I realize what I'm doing, my hands are violently pushing the well placed food and ceramic utensils on the table to the ground, the sound of glass shattering echoing in the empty house.

This can't be possible, I think to myself, feeling crazed as tears slowly begin making their way down my cheeks causing my head to hurt. I'm just imagining things. Right?

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It's been a whileeee! So much has been going on but I promise you guys I haven't forgotten this book and I will try to update more often.

On another note, what did you think of this chapter?

Is Cameron really that dense to not remember his own wedding anniversary or was he too occupied with other thoughts?

Do you think that Rita is finally noticing the pattern in his behavior and becoming wary of Cam?

And what do you think the big emergency that he had was?

Please don't forget to vote, comment your thoughts and also share this book!

Until next time, stay safe!❤️