Once Upon A Century...

Tiara's mother-in-law rubbed her sweaty palms against her nightwear as she paced up and down the living room, gazing intently at her phone every so often.
She glanced at the huge wall clock hanging on the wall and her heart sank deeper than it had been sinking for the past few hours. She sunk into a couch and tapped her perfectly manicured wrinkled fingers impatiently on her thighs.

It was 12:43 am.

She wiped at the beads of sweat that seemed to be pouring out of every pore on her forehead. The fully air-conditioned room had become too hot for her.
She threw her phone on the couch in frustration and stood up to stare out the window. Her brows furrowed and lips pressed into a tight line, she elongated her neck in a bid to see beyond the fence, her eyes searching. She swallowed to relieve the tight feeling in her chest but it didn't help. She took a deep breath but it did little to ease the sense of dread that clawed at her entire being. She knew she needed to calm down and get her nerves together. She walked back to the couch and picked up her phone where she had abandoned it and typed in her passcode in a flash, with each key vibrating as she pressed. She dialed Tiara's number for the twenty-sixth time.

The number you dialed is switc-

The service provider was silenced as she ended the call. She had gotten the same response the last sixteen times she had tried. The fact that the phone had rang the first ten times she called, made her mind travel to places that weren't pleasant.

What could have happened to her?

Do I irritate her this much that she would abandon her her home to avoid me?

Where does she want me to start looking for her?

She hated the fact that she didn't have Kiki's contact. That would have been a good place to start.

She gasped as a thought hit her.

What if she has been kidnapped!

She took deep breaths to steady her heartbeat and decided to do the most difficult part she wished she could avoid.
She dialed her son's number and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor as it rang.

"Hello mom" Fikayo's rasp voice came to life and filled her ears.

"Hello, Fikayo... Egbami" worry seeped out of her voice and her son caught it and it made his heart race.

"Mummy, is everything okay? Ki ló ṣẹlẹ? This should be about 12:55 am back home so why are you still awake at this time?"

She caught the worry in his voice and wondered if she was doing the right thing by calling him. She wanted to tell him that his wife whom he treated like a precious jewel and carried as though she were a fragile egg, was not home yet since she left to see her friend. She wanted to tell him that the woman who had made him the happiest she had ever seen him, might be in danger. And it happened right under her watch.

"Wo, how are you my dear? I'm just checking on you." She said instead.

"I'm doing well, mummy. But you don't sound okay. What's going on? Are you alright? Is my wife okay?"

She let out a deep retired sigh. "Wo, let me not lie, I'm not okay..."

"What happened? Mummy please give Tiara the phone. Are you two okay?"

Her heart skipped, "that's what I've been trying to tell you ọkọ mi. She not here" her voice was gentle.

"What do you mean she's not there?"