This chapter is dedicated to ebodotxandria for being a loyal reader since Operation Falling first started. She was one of the people who also asked when I'll be starting again and I'm grateful for that. Thank you!

Picture of Grace in the media above 😘

Chapter Twelve

Warning: This Michael's POV contains a bit of mature scenes. If you're uncomfortable reading, skip to Cynthia's POV.

MICHAEL

"Michael, eat something."

Maggie says for the umpteenth time in my room, holding the tray of food in her hand like it's a trophy that is meant to be awarded to me.

"Maggie, I'm not hungry." I groan from where I'm lying on the bed, repeating the same answer I've told her for like the last ten time she has asked.

I had gotten home and immediately gone to shower, refusing to give Henry and Kunle who had tried to talk to me any audience.

I made sure the room was locked so I wouldn't be interrupted when I begin to watch American series on Netflix as it has become my solace but that was until Maggie had knocked on the door repeatedly, asking me to open it for her.

And since there was no way I could ignore her like the rest, I had opened the door and had immediately gone back to lie on my bed, only realizing she was even holding a tray when she had asked me to eat something for the first time.

"Did something happen in school?" She asks, finally dropping the tray of food on the table in my room and edging towards me on the bed.

I contemplate telling her that I beat a guy in school today but since it was nothing to be proud of, I decide against it.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Was it with the girl?"

I turn to look at her immediately, giving her a wary look.

How had she known?

"Oh, I guess she is. Why? Are you planning your revenge already?"

I scoff. As if.

"Maggie, I'm not answering your questions no matter what. Just leave me alone." I grumble and draw my laptop nearer to me.

She chuckles and clears her throat, "How about this then? You take two spoons of moimoi (bean cake) for every question I ask and you refuse to answer."

I give her a look of disbelief.

Is she really going to make me eat this way? By making a deal?

"I don't know."

She shakes her head and wags her finger at me, "You can't have both. Either answer my questions or eat the food."

"Fine. I'll eat the food." I reply, sitting up on the bed and she smiles triumphantly.

She walks towards the table to take the tray of food and come to place it on my lap then she gives me an expectant look.

I raise an eyebrow at her, "What?"

"You have to take two spoons for the last questions I ask you that you didn't answer and I think that's five."

My eyes widen in bewilderment, "Five? It isn't even up to that."

"Should we count?" She asks with a shrewd smile and I groan, knowing there's no way I can win against her.

"Fine. I'll take ten spoons."

She gives me a thumb up and gestures for me to start eating and I take the first spoon reluctantly but that's until I realize how tasty the moimoi actually is.

"Imagine having lunch by ten minutes past six." She says with disapproval as she glances at the clock.

"Just call it a late supper." I state indifferently, earning an unimpressed look from her.

I'm almost done eating the moimoi when I begin to hear distant voices from outside my bedroom. It sounds like two people in disagreement and the voices sound like it's a male's and female's.

As the voices get nearer, I immediately recognize the male's voice as Kunle and the female's voice as-

"Dorcas?" I ask incredulously as she opens the door to my room with a resigned-looking Kunle standing behind her.

"Sir, I tried to stop her but she insisted it was urgent she sees you because you need her. I wanted to call you to ask if you were expecting her but she didn't wait." He explains quickly but I can only stare speechlessly at Dorcas.

I thought she was annoyed me but now she is here, dressed sexily in a black skimpy gown that's hugging her curves and sexy sandals.

Maggie clears her throat and picks the tray of food from my laps, "I'll just take this to the kitchen." She says with a tight smile and immediately head for the door, totally disregarding Dorcas.

She doesn't really like Dorcas.

"Kunle, it's okay. You can go." I reassure Kunle who still looks like he is waiting for orders and he nods before turning around.

I stand from my bed and head to my table where a jug of water is sitting and pour myself a glass of water, using that opportunity to ponder on what to say to her.

Dorcas closes the door just then and walks towards me, more like sashays towards me in slow motion and I almost spit out the water in my mouth when she pulls down a sleeve of her gown to reveal part of her cleavage.

"What are you doing?" I ask as I put the glass of water down on the table, not understanding what is going on.

She plasters herself onto me, trailing a finger seductively on my bare shoulder as I'm putting on only a singlet.

"I know you need me so I made myself available." She shrugs and I almost nod in agreement. I do need her and I was actually thinking of calling her after I had finished eating.

Thoughts about the consequences of hitting the boy kept popping in my mind and I was beginning to get stressed. And getting stressed means there was a high chance of me having a nightmare, something I definitely don't want.

"Aren't you angry at me?" I find myself asking and her finger immediately stops the torturous work it was doing on my shoulder, her face growing serious.

I immediately berate myself. What am I doing trying to remind her of her annoyance?

"Yeah, I'm angry at you." She confirms and I feel disappointment creep in at the thought of her leaving. "But I also love you and as expected, love wins over anger." She adds nonchalantly but in place of disappointment is now unease so I begin to pull back.

Why does she have to put me in a tight spot by suddenly confessing her love to me?

"Dorcas, I already explained to you. We can never become a thing and I can never return your feelings." I remind her but she doesn't let me remove myself completely from her as she puts her hands around my neck instead and pulls me down for a kiss.

My lips meet her demanding ones as she immediately takes control, kissing me like her life depends on it but I stay slack, refusing to kiss her back.

She notices my reluctance and breaks from the kiss, a disappointed look on her face, "I know you can't love me but does that mean you can't kiss me too?"

"It's not that. You are ignoring what I just told you." I reply, trying to make her understand.

"Yeah, I'm ignoring it but that's because you've told me so many times already and I've learnt to not be too hurt by it." She says sadly, her eyes cast downward and I only stare down at her, at loss of what to say.

Then like a switch has been flipped, she looks up at me with a seductive smile. "Now, will you kiss me or not?"

She doesn't wait for my reply as she brings her lips up to meet mine again, kissing me impatiently, sucking and nibbling at my lips, breaking through all my resistance until I go all fuck it and pull her closer, returning her kiss with as much intensity.

"I don't need your apology."

Anger blazes through me as I remember those words Cynthia had said to me and the kiss grows even more demanding as I plunge my tongue into her mouth, kissing her fiercely and brutally, pouring all the annoyance into the kiss.

I grab her waist, pulling her closer if it was even possible and she moans, fisting her hand on the light fabric on my body. I then lift her up so she's now on the table with me standing in between her legs, making sure to not break the kiss as we continue to kiss hungrily.

She puts her hand under my singlet and runs her hands through my chest and stomach and I suck in a breath, enjoying the feel of her palm on my body. She breaks the kiss, both of us gasping for air then she takes my bottom lip in between her teeth, biting it softly then swiping her tongue slowly and sensually at it making me shudder.

With one swift movement, she removes my singlet and breaks the kiss only to continue on my chest, leaving trail of kisses till she gets to my navel.

I groan out as her mouth continues to do wonders to my body but then I realize that the least I can do is tell her that I'm using her because of my nightmares, nothing more.

She at least deserves to know that.

I raise her head up to look at me and I notice her eyes are dilated with passion as I'm sure mine are too, "Dorcas..." I murmur breathlessly and she moans an 'hmm' in response, dipping her head to kiss my stomach again.

I grab her head to stop her from doing whatever she was doing so we can have a serious conversation but she continues.

"This... you know why we're doing t-this, right?" I ask incoherently as her mouth continues to pleasure me.

She breaks the kiss herself to look at me this time and she smiles, a teasing smile, "So I can help you sleep at night?"

I don't know what surprises me the most.

The fact that she already knows why I sleep with her or the face that she looks unbothered for someone who knows I'm only using her because of my nightmares.

"And you're okay with that?" I ask, my voice coming out husky.

She shrugs and slips her hands into the band of my boxers, "It's a win-win situation. I want you and you need me." She replies mischievously and makes a show of biting her bottom lip. "So what do you say? Nay or yay?"

I put her legs around me and carry her up from the table, heading straight for my bed.

"I say yay." I reply before capturing her lips with mine again.

***

CYNTHIA

We arrive at the hospital and I quickly call the attention of the first nurse I see. Together with some other nurses and a doctor, we bring out the injured boy from the car on a stretcher and he is wheeled into the hospital's emergency unit.

The doctor begins to examine him while another doctor comes to me, holding a jotter and pen.

"What's his name?" The doctor asks.

"I think it's Frank Matthew." I reply, trying to remember what is written on his name badge.

"You think?" He asks with a note of skepticism and I nod, ignoring his tone.

"Are you his relative?"

"No, we only attend the same school."

"What happened to him?"

I wonder if I should tell him what actually happened or make them find out by themselves.

"Look, Miss...

"Cynthia Williams."

"Miss Williams, you have to tell us what happened to him and where you think he might hurt so we can know where to begin treatment." He explains.

"He got beaten."

"What do you mean by he got beaten?"

I give him a dead look, "You don't even know what being beaten means?"

The doctor raises an eyebrow and I realize I said that out loud.

"I mean, he was punched in the face and kicked in the chest." I respond with a small smile while the doctor just gives me a wary look.

The doctor that is examining him comes over to where we are and calls the other doctor to the side. They begin to talk and from what I can hear, the other doctor thinks he has sustained some internal injuries and would have to be operated on.

When they are done talking, the doctor that was asking me questions calls me over.

"Miss Williams, apparently, your friend here seems to have sustained some internal injuries but we can't be sure until some tests have been carried out. If it turns out that he indeed has internal injuries, then he would need to be operated upon and that won't be possible without his parent's agreement. Do you know how we can contact them?"

"No." I reply with a simple shake of my head and both doctors give me a confused look, making me quite uncomfortable.

"Look, miss. If that boy isn't operated on soon, his condition might become critical. We have to contact his parents now so we can get their permission to perform surgery on him." The doctor that examined him declares sternly.

I think for a second on what to do and then remember his school bag. His phone can be in there with some other things that can contain some information about him.

"Excuse me for a minute." I say to them and head to the car where his bag is. I remove it and begin to search through it. I see his phone but I can't open it because it requires a password so I continue to search until I see a small notebook that looks like a diary. I don't want to look through it but I realize it could contain his parents contact information and it is needed urgently.

I open it and glance through it. His name is written boldly on the first page and is designed in a boyish sort of way. The next pages contain mostly drawings. There are also some notes and quotes. I continue to open page by page, checking closely if I can see any number or any information about him but there isn't any. I'm about to give up, deciding to return it into his bag when I see the name of a familiar law firm written on the last page cover.

I bring out my phone from my pocket to search for it on Google and as I scroll through the results, I see that it is a law firm belonging to one of the prominent lawyers in the country. I look through the lawyers that work in the firm and no one seems to be related to him. It leaves me wondering why he wrote the name of the firm in his notebook.

I decide it won't hurt to call the number written on the website and so I dial it. The line is busy the first two times I tried then rings on my third attempt before it is finally answered.

"Good day, office of Mr. Matthew Adebayo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria. May I know who I'm speaking with?" A young lady answers.

"Good afternoon, I'm a friend of Frank Matthew and he is currently admitted in a hospital. His parent's presence is urgently needed in the hospital." I try to explain.

"I'm sorry but there is no way we can be of help to you."

"Please, this is my only hope of contacting his parent. I saw the name of your law firm written at the back of his notebook and that's why I decided to call you. He attends Dreamers High School. You may know of someone who works there and whose relative attends that school, please, I really need your assistance." I plead.

I know I sound desperate but I can't lose what could be the only chance of getting Frank's parents.

"Did you say Frank Matthew of Dreamers High School?" She asks again and I begin to get hopeful.

"Yes."

"Isn't that the boss's son?" She says quietly, almost as if she is musing to herself.

The boss's son? But none of the lawyers' name matches his.

"What hospital is he admitted to?" She questions with a note of urgency.

"Light Hospital. I can text you the address."

"Okay, thank you very much." She replies and hangs up.

I sigh with relief, glad that I'm able to contact his parents and hoping they arrive soon. I take his bag into the hospital and call the attention of the doctor that was attending to him.

"This is his school bag and I already called his parents. They are probably on their way." I say, handing it over to the doctor.

He glances at the bag with confusion and then at me, "Okay, but why are you giving me his bag?"

"Because I have to go. I believe I have helped him to the best of my ability."

The doctor returns his bag to me, "I'm sorry but you can't leave until his parents arrive."

Oh, no. I'd rather the parents don't meet me here.

"And that's exactly the problem. I can't be here when his parents arrive. It will lead to a whole lot of complications and honestly, I'm just being a Good Samaritan. I really do not want them to see me here." I beg but the doctor only gives me a skeptical look.

"At the moment, you are the only person who can be associated with this boy and if you leave, he won't have any guardian. I'm sure you understand that." He explains and without waiting for a response, walks away.

I groan and slump on the nearest chair, wondering what to do. I watch as they wheel another man who seems badly injured into the emergency room. After looking around for what felt like an hour - which turned out to be just few minutes - a pretty middle-aged woman rushes into the hospital, looking frantic and repeating that she wants to know how Frank is doing. Following behind her, a familiar man walks inside the hospital. I can't quite recall where I must have met him but I'm sure I had seen him somewhere. He is calm compared to the woman and I realize then that he is probably Frank's father and the woman is his mother.

Amidst the frenzy of trying to calm Frank's mother down and the others trying to explain to his father what Frank's situation is, I quietly stand up from where I'm sitting and place Frank's bag on the chair before walking out as fast as I can. I literally jump into the car and tell Lanre to drive off immediately.

When I get home, Nanny asks about my after-school practical and I tell her it was okay. She tells me to get changed and then come back to the dining room to eat. I sigh with relief as I climb upstairs, thankful that my cover isn't blown.

I go to my room to take a shower and while showering, I begin to think that I shouldn't have left the way I did. After all, I wasn't the one who beat him up but the one who took him to the hospital and might have even helped save his life.

The one at fault was no other than Michael.

After showering, I wrap a towel around my body and decide to lie down to rest for a while. But I end up falling asleep, only waking up when Nanny comes to get me for dinner.

"I didn't want to disturb you earlier so I didn't wake you up but I can't allow you sleep on an empty stomach." She says gently and I murmur incoherently in response, still feeling sleepy. She smiles and tells me to hurry downstairs.

Still in my towel, I reluctantly stand up and open my wardrobe to see what I can wear. There are lots of clothes in there, some that I haven't even worn in my entire life, and it is all thanks to Grace and her mum. Her mum owns a large boutique and she and Grace makes it their hobby to supply me with clothes because they feel it is their 'responsibility' since my mum isn't around to go clothes shopping with me.

I decide to wear my pajamas since I will be sleeping soon anyway and quickly head downstairs after that. After eating dinner with Sam and Nanny, I help with the dishes and clean up the dining room and kitchen. Sam is busy with his assignments and Nanny tells me she will help him with it. With nothing left for me to do anymore, I wish the both of them goodnight and head finally to the bedroom.

I slump on the bed and since coming home from the hospital, decide to finally go through my phone. There are missed calls from Grace and John, which wasn't surprising. And there aren't any missed calls from my parents, again, not surprising.

I know I should have gotten used to the fact that they never call but I usually just convince myself that they are probably too busy and couldn't find the right time to call that day and so they might call the next day.

Only for the next day to come and for me to convince myself that they will call the day after.

It has always been that way and Nanny would try to cheer me up by saying they always call her to ask after us but I wonder why they can't just call me since I have a cell phone.

I decide to move on from thinking about my parents and to check my WhatsApp messages. I only log in once in a while, since I really don't have a social life and I'm greeted with over a thousand messages from our school's group chat.

The messages include ones about the incident between me and Michael since the cafeteria up till the one when I confront him today. It even includes my encounter with Dorcas, and I must say some of the comments are ridiculous. I roll my eyes at the absurd ones and it's still shocking to see just how dumb some of my classmates are.

I'm not really feeling sleepy and since there is nothing else to do, I drop my phone and pick the novel I was reading so I can continue from where I stopped. It is one that I have read before but I can read over and over again.

If Grace were here, she would have teased me on how she is sure I can recite most of the spells in the Harry Potter series offhand and she isn't wrong. I can totally recite most conversations in the Harry Potter books offhand because they are my favorite novels of all time.

And somewhere between reading the book and recalling some funny memories I had with Grace and John, I fall asleep again.

***

MICHAEL

I can't sleep.

I glance at the clock and it's just 3:25am.

Dorcas is snoring lightly next to me, her hands and legs splayed on my body and she looks exhausted and blissful. I notice the slight smile on her lips even in her sleep and I realize she must really love me.

Should I just go out with her?

I shake my head immediately, knowing that will be a very bad decision. We aren't exclusive yet and she is already so possessive, thinking of how she will be when we actually begin to date is a total discouragement.

There's also the fact that I'm not in the least bit in love with her and I don't do commitment.

I pull her hands and legs gently from me and stand from the bed, heading towards the table where the jug of water is. I pour myself a glass and sit on the chair, staring into nothing.

I still couldn't stop thinking about the guy I had beaten in school today. I had been tempted more than once to tell Henry to find out what had happened to the boy but if Henry should know what actually happened, it will only make things worse.

And then there's that coffee-eyed girl.

I just can't stop seeing her face. The distaste in her eyes when she was rejecting my apology.

How she had told me she totally disgusts me after I had hit the boy.

Was that all pretense? Most likely not.

I take a sip from the water and swirl it in the cup as I try to think of what might be the reason for her dislike towards me but I just can't get it.

It's just weird that she is acting like she doesn't like me when she had tried to kiss me two years ago. She had announced to everyone that I wasn't her type, called me arrogant but yet, I just can't seem to believe that it's true.

Is two years really enough time for one's feeling to change that drastically?

Maybe.

But why do I feel like what she said isn't true? Why do I feel the urge to prove her wrong? Why do I really want her feelings to be wrong?

Well, all those questions don't really matter now. I'm already on a mission to reveal her true feelings for me and I need a new plan to get closer to her.

The apology had failed woefully which is kind of surprising but it just shows to tell that I need to up my game. If I want to prove to everyone that she indeed has feelings for me, I need to do something that will leave her no choice than to admit it.

I need to get closer to her and make her remember. If she knows I'm the one who rescued her two years ago, my chances might become high. Right?

But being in different classes is already a huge disadvantage if I want to get close to her, unless...

A thought suddenly comes to mind just then and I can't help smiling proudly at my thinking genius again.

I think I've got a very good idea and now, she will be left with no choice but to accept me.

***

'Another one!' *In DJ Khalid's voice*

Lol, hopefully his plan will work this time around.

Thoughts on the chapter anyone.

And sorry for the late update, guys. School work ni o. Expect another update tomorrow to make up for it.

Vote, comment and share. Thank you! 😌❣️.

Until the next update... Which is tomorrow 😂❤️.

Love you guys 😘.