It was getting to dawn when Elaine woke up and put her head on his chest, nibbled his earlobe tenderly, and spoke gently.

“What is it, Tiger?” she asked softly. “What is this thing that has been bothering you since last evening when I saw you?”

Chris’ hand moved slowly across her silky back.

“Are you in trouble?” he asked softly. “Is there something I must know?”

She stiffened for a moment, then sat up in bed, reached over, and switched on the bedside lamp. She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“Chrissy? What question was that? Of course not, I’m not in trouble, and you know more about me than myself. Why? What’s going on?”

Slowly, Chris told her what had happened to Sisi.

“Jesus!” Elaine cried with horror and fell across his chest again. “One of them pulled a gun on you and warned you to stay away from me?”

“Yeah,” Chris said and turned her over so that he could look at her face. “Of course, I did not tell the police chief inspector about that. I wanted to speak to you first, find out if you’re in any trouble. Or had a previous relationship I don’t know about, you know, some exes can be crazy sometimes.”

Elaine shook her head dazedly, and tears came to her eyes.

“No, my love, my darling,” she cried tragically. “I had partners, sexual, yes, but none of them was important enough. Just fleeting acquaintances. A few proposed, but I did not fancy marriage, or think I could not live without them. Until I met you, Chris, no man could tie me down. I love only you, and that’s why I want to marry you. No, my love. The description of the man isn’t anyone I know! Why is this happening? I just had one shot at life, a chance to be happy with a man I adore, and now this happens to your daughter, to you? Oh, Lord!”

“It’s okay, my love,” Chris said gently and kissed her. “Of course it shocked me, yeah. But with your assurance, I don’t have to worry about anything. Let’s hope the cops get to the bottom of this and apprehend them. Just want you to be careful from now, love. Take all precautions until this is wrapped up.”

She nodded and looked at him helplessly.

“I love you, Chrissy,” she whispered tremulously. “I can’t live without you. I’m not ashamed to admit that now, and my heart will cease beating if you leave me.”

He kissed her – longer and lingeringly this time – and smiled down lovingly at her.

“I’ve waited an eternity to hear you pour your heart out like that, my love,” he said tenderly. “I love you too, with my soul and all, and want you with me for eternity. Don’t worry, darling. We’ll get over this together.”

They held each other, and eventually, he drifted off into deep sleep.

Elaine held him, but she could not sleep again.

Her face had a very worried and horrified expression.

***

Saturday.

The Children’s Park.

Elaine had left for Takoradi on Friday afternoon for her fashion show. She had parted from Chris all sentimental and teary because she hated being apart from him. The truth was, Chris also felt the same – or used to feel the same.

He had been appalled that he had to feign a sad demeanour for the very first time in their relationship. That had bothered him; it had bothered him a whole lot. And it had been scary, a bit, that he would find so much excitement about meeting that teacher again.

He was an upright guy who had made it a principle early in life never to date more than one woman at a time. That choice had been hard to keep, even precarious at times because women were always attracted to him, and it had been very hard to say no to some of them. Chris knew that he would not like it if a woman cheated on him, so he loathed to do the same to any woman he was in a relationship with.

He was also always truthful, apart from being faithful.

And yet, surprisingly – well, shockingly, perhaps – he had not told Elaine that he was seeing Effe again that Saturday and that he was going to the park with her and Sisi. Somehow, by intuition or innocent guile, Sisi had also not informed Elaine of their plans.

Effe had chosen to wait for them at the park, and they found her in the garden sitting quietly and reading a book. She had chosen dark jeans with a pink T-shirt that enhanced her clear skin and once again her sheer beauty, the rhythmic sense of her movements, and struck a severe chord of the sublime in Chris’ heart.

She was an ethereal beauty, and she took his breath away.

It was that simple.

And that scary.

When she put her book away and stood up with a radiant smile on her face, opening her arms to embrace the happy, shrieking Sisi, Chris admitted to himself that he had never seen a more beautiful woman. Her hair was braided into a long, silky delight behind her. Her face was set in a perfect symmetry that once more made the breath catch in his throat.

She looked up at him and then looked away quickly, but not before he noticed a startled look in the depths of her clear eyes. It seemed to him that Miss Effe Kedem was not as immune to him as he had thought, and the realization pleased him secretly.

“A hug for me too?” Chris asked, startling himself because it was an angle he would never have pursued with any other woman.

She looked at him, as startled as he was, and shook her head quickly with a faint scowl.

“Definitely no, Mr Bawa!” she said quickly.

“Thought we agreed on Chris and Effe,” he said calmly.

“Did we? Oh,” she said with a giggle and held Sisi’s hand. “Well, where shall we begin, my dear darling?”

Sisi looked at her reproachfully.

“But Daddy needed a hug!” she said in a displeased voice. “You have to hug daddy!”

“Your maths teacher wicked,” Chris said softly. “She’s not as sweet as you say, princess.”

“Oh, she is sweeeet, daddy!” Sisi threw back quickly.

“Would you stop that, Chris?” Effe asked, almost breathless. “Please, don’t!”

“Why?” Chris insisted. “What’s so wrong with giving me a hug?”

“Yes, Aunty Effe!” Sisi shot at her. “Why are you doing this to my daddy?”

When Effe’s expression became troubled, Chris smiled broadly to himself.

“I told you, princess. Your madam is wicked.”

“Oh, you’re so mean, so mean!” Effe cried and stepped forward quickly. “Alright. Go ahead!”

She was standing very close to him, as beautiful as the first rainbow that crossed the virgin sky, as fresh and delightful as the morning’s fresh dew. He slipped his arms around her and drew her close, and he could feel his own heart yammering away within his chest.

Her arms were loose around his neck, and her face was straight opposite his chest, but she refused to look up at his face. Her figure melted into him, and for a brief moment, his arms almost tightened around her.

He could hear her heart thudding too in tandem with his, and it startled him so much that he held her longer than he was supposed to. Sisi was looking up at them with a goofy, guilt-blasted face.

“You should marry her, daddy!” she said softly. “She’s beautiful. I want her for a mommy!”

Effe gasped and stepped quickly out of Chris Bawa’s arms.

“Enough!” she whispered desperately, took Sisi’s hand, and led her into the throng of people. She looked back at him and saw him staring intently at her. Effe dropped her eyes quickly with a demure smile on her face.

“Dear Lord,” Chris whispered tightly, and for a moment there was a look of anxiety on his face.

The next two hours flew by in a blur.

Once again, Chris was struck by how well Sisi got on with Effe. They were a natural pair, nothing feigned, enjoying each other’s company, anticipating each other’s preferences. They used the carousel, swung on the swings, slid down the slides, meandered through the inflated castles, soared on the bouncing trampolines, raced in the cars and rode the tracks on the fun trains.

Chris had never seen Sisi that happy. Most importantly, Effe seemed to be enjoying herself tremendously, almost like a child. Once, whilst bouncing, she slipped and landed splayed out on her back. As Sisi laughed at her gaily, Effe scrambled back to her feet, turned around, saw Chris giggling, and stuck her tongue out at him. It was a lovely child-like gesture, but filled with poignant meaning, and the smile slowly disappeared from Chris’ face as he watched her with bated breath.

They eventually found themselves on the Digital Walkway. It was not too high but designed with three-dimensional effects. They had to wear 3D helmets and select their preferred scenes. Sisi selected a garden, and she walked with wonder as she admired the various animals. When they reached the apex, however, the 3d effects were uniform for all of them. The walkway simulated a bottomless pit so that it felt as if they were walking on nothing with a sheer drop below them. The sight was so dizzying that Sisi screamed and dropped to her hands and knees.

Effe gasped and instinctively drew close to Chris, holding on tightly.

As it turned out, Chris had to shuffle along with both of them pressed against him. Sisi walked sideways, refusing to look down, with her face almost hidden in Chris’ thighs, whilst Effe held his arm tightly with her face half-hidden against his arm.

When they descended, she let go of his arm with a lovely, embarrassed smile on her face.

“Stop gloating, Chris!” she said with mock reproach. “I’m scared of heights!”

“A simple thank you would have sufficed,” he said.

She immediately gave him an elaborate curtsey with crooked knees and spread arms.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said, and this made Chris Bawa burst into laughter, scaring himself because it suddenly dawned on him that Effe was a problem.

As they walked off the walkway stand, he took her hand expecting her to resist, as she always did. But her fingers curled around his and squeezed a bit tighter. He looked down at her, and she sighed softly as her eyes met his.

And, for a beat of time, for an infinitesimal second that seemed like a lifetime, it seemed to they were the only people left on earth. She turned away quickly from him, but she did not let go of his hand.