PRICELESS ONE
Priceless One - Episode 10
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Shalewa was the first to detect the smoke when she excused herself to use the restroom.
“ I need to use the restroom.” She said to Sandra who was sitting next to her by the pool, sipping from a glass of lemonade and stirring the water with her feet.
Sandra nodded her response.
“ Please help me bring a bottle of water when coming.” Sandra added.
Chioma on the other hand, had herself occupied with Tayo as they chatted gleefully, while Osasuyi and the others continued dancing.
Shalewa walked hurriedly and entered the sitting room. She had held the urine for too long and desperately needed to offload.
She opened the door and entered the sitting room but was greeted by smoke that pierced through her nose. This halted her steps. The smoke was beginning to choke her and she coughed.
She cleaned her eyes with the back of her palm to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. She blinked in disbelief at the sight she saw.
Everywhere was covered in sm0ke and the dinning section of the house was already in flames and was fast spreading into the sitting room.
Her mouth fell open in wonder, still trying to process what was happening and it’s implication, when her gaze fell on a figure lying down in the middle of the sitting room. Her anxiety grew, but she managed to move as close as she could.
“ Chima!!!..... Chima!!…..” She gasped suddenly.
The fire was spreading close to him already!!
“...Chima!!” She screamed continuously, but was unable to enter the fire.
Shalewa shivered in feār.
Panic had overtaken her at that moment that all she could do was to scream at the top of her voice and run out of the building towards the swimming pool.
Her screams were piercingly loud enough to be heard by the others at the pool.
“ What is it Shalewa?” Sandra yelled in agitation.
Everyone’s attention was now on Shalewa and the music was tuned down.
“ Shalewa what is it?” They each asked her, but Shalewa was disoriented already.
Pausing to catch her breath.
“ Fire!!..... Fire!!!..... There’s fire burning in the sitting room and Chima is trapped in the fire!” Shalewa announced, panting between her breath.
“ What!!.... Jesus!!!”
Everyone rushed into the building to confirm what Shalewa had said.
Chioma almost fainted on seeing the fire and realizing the damages it had caused.
She screamed at the top of her voice, further increasing the tension in the atmosphere.
“ My house keeper is upstairs!!” She announced.
They all began to panic more at what Chioma had said, and seeing Chima lying on the floor like a log of wood, totally surrounded by fire and looking unc0nscious was another reason to worry.
“ What do we do?” Osasuyi asked no one in particular in a shaky voice.
It was midnight already and even if they called the fire services, they might not get a quick response.
Sandra and the other girls began to cry, while Habib clasped his hands on his head as an indicator that they were in deep tr0uble and if Chima d!ed that night, all of them will be in a deeper ocean of trouble than they were already in.
Tayo saw everyone panicking and got agitated.
“ This is not the time to panic!!…… we all need to get a grip of ourselves and be in control of the situation….. we need to act fast as a team and put out the fire!!.” He said at the top of his voice.
Everyone turned their attention to him.
“ So where do we start from?” They asked him in fear.
Tayo bit his lower lip, trying to calculate the extent of the damage the fire had done.
Thankfully, it hadn’t gotten to the ceiling so there might be hope that they could put it out if they all worked together.
He ran a quick scan again and saw two fire extinguishers placed at the exit point of the sitting room. But the fire had covered that axis already.
“ Do you have more fire extinguishers?” He asked Chioma.
“ Yes…. Yes….. we have in the storage room…..” She replied hurriedly.
“let’s go and bring as many fire extinguishers as we can find….. and also alert the security men.”
They all rushed out of the building and gathered the fire extinguishers, while Chioma and Sandra ran to alert the gate man and the security men in the neighborhood.
The security men gathered together and wet their handkerchiefs, then tied it on their nose.
Thankfully, one of them was once a fire fighter….. he mobilized the rest of them and they were able to put out the fire and rescue Chima.
But Chima was already unconscious, he only survived the fire accident by whiskers.
“ What happened?” one of the security men questioned them.
It was Habib that replied.
“ We were having a party in the house by the pool side…. We didn’t know how the fire started inside…” Habib explained.
“ So who detected the fire?”
Everyone pointed their hands to Shalewa.
“ we need to take him to the hospital….” One of the security men suggested.
The head of the security men placed his hands on Chima’s nose and discovered that he was still breathing heavily.
“ Please get me water…” He instructed.
Water was brought and sprinkled on Chima. He gasped and opened his eyes slowly.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
“ Where am I?” He asked slowly.
But got no response.
The head of the security men turned to them once again.
“ Take him home.” He instructed them.
Sandra volunteered to take him home, while the rest slowly exited the building one after the other, leaving only Chioma who sat crying profusely and thinking of the best explanation to give her father to cover up the fire incidence.
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Shalewa grabbed her phone from her bag hurriedly.
“ What?..... 15 missed calls!!”
She checked the caller ID.
It was her sister.
Why was her sister calling her continuously?
She dialled her sister’s number but there was no response.
“Tayo please let’s get out of here!..... I just saw 15 missed calls on my phone now….. and it’s from my sister!!..... I don’t know why she was calling me.” Shalewa said in anxiety.
“ Calm down Shalewa…. Why don’t you find out by calling her?” Tayo replied.
“ I’ve called her but she isn’t picking up.”
“ Ok…. Let’s get out of here.” He said.
Tayo started the car engine hurriedly, in an haste to leave the building, with Shalewa sitting beside him. He reversed the car and drove out of the compound, still trying to process the fire incident that happened earlier.
He thanked God in his heart that Chima survived.
If that guy had d!ed, they would have been in a serious trouble.
“ we shouldn’t have come to this party….” Shalewa whispered in emotions.
Tayo nodded slowly in agreement to what Shalewa had said.
“ Yes….. now we are all in deep trouble….. because there is no how Chioma would not implicate us when her father returns.” Tayo replied sadly.
“ I’m scared Tayo….. I hope everything is alright at home…… ”
“ That’s what we are going to find out.” He suddenly checked the time.
“ Jeez!! ……It’s almost 2am!!!..... If I don’t get this car home before 2:15, I am done for!!” Tayo exclaimed and turned to Shalewa.
“... I’m sorry I can’t drop you at home because time has elapsed…..I will drop you along the way, then you will find your way.” Tayo added anxiously.
Shalewa became nervous.
“ Tayo please I beg you…..just take me straight home,…… it’s really late out here…. If you drop me along, how will I find my way back home…… please Tayo…. Please!..... I don’t want to get k!dnapped on the way.” Shalewa begged.
Tayo ran his hands on his head fustratedly.
“ Fine!!..... I’ll drive fast so I can drop you home and meet up.”
Tayo manouvered his way through the express way with speed.
He sped through the round about and drove as fast as he could, until they got to Shalewa’s house. He parked the car carelessly so she could get down.
“ Thank you so much Tayo….. thank you….I know undoubtedly that this would be the last time I will ever go out for such a party….. I really regret going to the party.” Shalewa said.
But Tayo was impatient.
“ We will talk about this tomorrow…..I need to take this car home.” Tayo replied.
She nodded and got out of the car.
“ Thanks once again.” She said.
“ You are welcomed.” He muttered impatiently, fixing his gaze on the time.
It was 2:40am already.
Tayo reversed the car and sped anxiously across the bad road, calculating how long it will take him to get home in his mind. Turning a bend, he didn’t see clearly the nearness of the car in front of him, and before he could slow down, it was too late.
The SUV clashed into the red Toyota Camry in front of it with a forceful impact, still on full speed. Tayo battled to stay in control of the steering until he finally was able to slow down and pull the brake.
It was only by a miracle that he was still conscious, nevertheless, he sustained an injury on his head and his panic grew.
Tayo was afraid to step out the car to see the level of damage he had done to the other car. He wondered if the driver of the car was even still alive.
He bit his lower lip in regret as adrenaline rushed through him.
“ What do I do?…. What do I do?” he asked himself in panic. But managed to calm down a bit. It was 3:15am already and most cars just sped past them.
His instincts told him to run away from the scene as fast as he can or he will get into a deeper trouble.
He reversed the smashed car quickly and sped home with tears in his eyes.
(Do not take credit or Plagiarize AMAH'S HEART stories)
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