by Keys, Sherie
Almasi didn’t bring up her marriage troubles immediately, but it was as they were fitting her into a light blue floral sun dress that she spoke up. “Yifeng,” she began, “is it okay if I confess something to you?”
The younger woman looked a little bit surprised, and then she beamed. “Absolutely,” she said. She came around to face Almasi. “Is it about the baby?” she asked eagerly.
“No,” said Almasi. She paused. “Well, yes and no.” She sighed. “It's a long story.”
“Well,” said Yifeng, “You can tell it to me while we fit you into these dresses! I’m all ears.” She smiled, and then went back to pinning the dress they were fitting. “So go on, tell me your confession!”
Where could she possibly begin? Almasi decided to start with the marriage. “Well, you know how Jacob and I got married very suddenly?” she asked.
Yifeng nodded. “Mrs. Nettle told me that he had been seeing you for a long time, but that he had only brought you to the penthouse, and then when you decided to get married, he insisted that you go live in the mansion, because this is a place for a family, not a bachelor.” She looked at Almasi. “Is that right?”
Damn. Jeremy had really gone to town on fleshing this story out complexly. “Well, that is what the staff here was told…” she said, “…but it didn’t actually happen that way. You see, when Jacob and I got married, I had only just met him the day before.”
Yifeng dropped the pin she was holding, and after scrambling to pick it up so it wouldn’t be stepped on later, she looked up at Almasi in astonishment. “You married him after knowing him for one day? Why?”
“Jacob had been advised that the Kumi Diamonds deal would go better if he had a wife,” Almasi explained. “And he needed a black woman who could keep the secret. He had bumped into me at the office that morning, and he and Jeremy took me out to lunch to interview me… And then before I really knew what was happening, I was signing a contract and being sent to go get a new wardrobe for the role.”
Yifeng tilted her head. “But why did you do it?” she asked. “I mean, of course Mr. Adamson is handsome, and you love him now, but why did you take that chance if you didn’t know him?”
“They offered me money,” Almasi explained. She felt a little embarrassed by this part in retrospect; that she had been bought so easily. “I was working an unpaid internship, and I have so many student loans to pay off, and he offered me a million dollars to play along and be his wife for a month while he closed the deal with Mr. Arko Kumi.”
Yifeng whistled low. “A million dollars?” she said. “That’s… Wow! I understand why you would have taken that offer.” She paused. “So, when you first came here with us and prepared for the wedding… you weren’t in love with Mr. Adamson?” she asked innocently.
“No,” said Almasi. “Well, not yet, anyway. He was charming, and handsome, but I think we both thought of it as a business contract at that point. I know I did, but after spending so much time together with him and playing the role… Well, you know. I’ve talked to you about it often enough. I fell in love with Jacob.”
“So why is there a problem, then?” asked Yifeng. “Forgive me, but I don’t understand. Is it that you’re afraid that he’ll make you leave at the end of the deal? Because surely he wouldn’t, if he knew that you are carrying his child inside you.” She looked at Almasi, who looked sad. “Wait… Does he not know?” she asked incredulously.
“No,” said Almasi. “And there’s more to the story that complicates things. You see, while Mr. Arko Kumi and Jacob were getting to know each other and discussing the diamond deal arrangement over the course of the month, the brother, Mr. Kofi Kumi… He… Well, he took an interest in me.” Almasi felt embarrassed.
Yifeng’s eyes widened. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “But surely… You did not reciprocate?”
“No, no,” said Almasi quickly. “I wasn’t interested in him, and I had a contract to uphold, and by that point, I had fallen in love with Jacob anyway, but you see, Mr. Kofi Kumi began to blackmail me. He found my diary, where I had written about the arrangement, and he used that information to threaten me and to try to make me be intimate with him. He said that he would tell his brother about the circumstances of my marriage to Jacob, and that Mr. Arko Kumi would cancel the deal and that Jacob would lose all of the money involved if he found out.”
“That… That bastard!” exclaimed Yifeng. “Oh, Almasi, I’m so, so sorry you had to deal with that. What did you do? How did you deter him?” Her eyes were so sympathetic, and for once Almasi felt less responsible for the situation, recognizing that her own guilt in leaving her diary out was minor in comparison to Mr. Kofi Kumi’s emotional manipulation. She should’ve talked to Yifeng about this situation weeks ago.
“He told me he wanted to bring me back to Ghana with him, to live in a city called Accra. He promised me riches, but I refused. I love Jacob, and I thought… Well, I thought that Jacob loved me.” Her voice broke a little at the sadness, but she steeled herself and continued. “Well, as it happened, I was wrong. Jacob found out that Mr. Kofi Kumi knew, and this afternoon I overheard him telling Jeremy that he has decided to let Mr. Kofi Kumi take me with him.
So now… Now I know that my husband doesn’t love me, and the only way I can keep from betraying him is by going to Ghana with a man I despise.” The tears finally started coming to Almasi’s eyes, and she allowed Yifeng to hug her as she cried. After a few minutes, she pulled away. “So, that’s my situation,” she said, trying to breathe herself into calmness. “I'm sorry I didn’t tell you about these things sooner, but, well… It was all meant to be a secret. Technically, I’ve broken my contract just by telling you all this right now.”
“There, there,” said Yifeng. “Don't worry. I understand, and I won’t tell another soul about this. So how are you going to deal with this situation? Surely you can’t leave with Mr. Kofi Kumi.”
“I believe it’s my only choice,” said Almasi. “I don’t see how else I can make this situation work. If I don’t go, I’ll be betraying Jacob, and he’ll lose the diamond deal. And even if I did decide to stay, regardless of the cost it would be to Jacob… My marriage is planned to be annulled this weekend. So I would be out on my own, pregnant and without any sort of support for my baby.”
“That’s what I find confusing,” said Yifeng. “Mr. Adamson… I have seen the way in which he looks at you. No one who would be willing to give up his wife would look at her so passionately, with so much adoration. I know that it started out as a charade, but I don’t see how the way he so obviously loves you could possibly be anything other than real, true love.”
“Then why would he tell Jeremy that he wants me to leave?” asked Almasi, frustrated. “I overheard him saying it. He said ‘fine, let her go with him’. I’m no more an expert in matters of the heart than anybody else, but I know that a man who loves a woman wouldn’t give up on her like that. So you’re wrong, Yifeng. Jacob doesn’t love me. He couldn’t possibly love me if he plans to abandon me to Mr. Kofi Kumi like that.”
Yifeng furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. This still didn’t make sense to her. There was something that didn’t add up. “It still seems… off to me. Are you sure you heard him correctly? Did you stay for the entire conversation?”
Almasi shook her head. “No, I left after I heard him say that. I was going to go in and talk to him, but those words hurt too much. I had to get out of there.” She paused. “Why?” she asked. “Do you think that he meant something else when he said those things?”
“Well,” said Yifeng carefully, “I wasn’t there, so I don’t know for certain, but I think that, especially if he knew about your current state,” she gestured to Almasi’s belly, “he would never abandon you like that.”
“But see, that's another thing,” said Almasi. “I don’t want to use my pregnancy as leverage for getting him to stay with me. That would be just as manipulative as Mr. Kofi Kumi’s attempts to pressure me into going to Ghana with him. That’s n
ot the kind of person I am, and I don't think I could do that to Jacob. If he doesn’t love me, he shouldn’t feel obligated to stay with me.”
“But the pregnancy is half his!” exclaimed Yifeng. “You’re not just carrying your child, Almasi. You are carrying the child of the man you love, of a man who I’m certain, regardless of what you may think, loves you back just as much as you love him.”
Yifeng put her hands on her hips. “And what will happen when you raise the child? Will you forever lie to your baby about his or her father, even though it will be clear as the color of the child’s skin that he or she is a mixed race?” She looked Almasi directly in the eyes with an intensity that Almasi had never previously seen in her normally friendly stylist. “If you want to punish yourself for something that isn’t your fault, fine. If you want to punish Jacob for it too, that’s less reasonable, but still understandable, but how could you punish your own unborn baby by denying him or her the truth of his or her parentage? That, Almasi, is cruel, and you’re pragmatic, but I don’t think you’re a cruel person.”
Almasi was dumbstruck. She hadn’t expected this outburst from Yifeng. Yifeng was right, though, she realized. How could she do that to her child? How could she raise her own son or daughter with these ridiculous secrets? She’d felt like her yearning to stay was selfish before, but this was not only for her sake.
She needed to do it for her child. The lies had to end now. “You're right,” she said finally, looking back at Yifeng. “No matter how much it hurts, and even if it turns out that Jacob truly doesn’t love me back, I have to do the right thing and dismantle these lies.”
“I absolutely believe that you can do it,” said Yifeng. “Now, let’s get this dress finished. You need to look fabulous for this confrontation.”
Almasi smiled. She really did have the best stylist in the world.
When Almasi had said goodbye to Yifeng and emerged from the dressing room, she felt like she was on a mission. She made her way down the stairs, figuring that Mr. Kofi Kumi wouldn’t be too hard to find. Jacob was nowhere to be seen, which was unfortunate, since she would have preferred to talk to him first, if he would listen, but her most important task at the moment was to find Mr. Kofi Kumi and to reject him.
She was almost shaking in excitement, and no small amount of nervousness. She would show him. She would tell that horrible man just what she thought of him, and she would emerge with a clean slate. No more lies. It was time for it all to end.
When she finally came across Mr. Kofi Kumi, he was sitting in the living room next to the foyer, smoking a cigar and reading a book. Almasi frowned. She didn't think that he’d been given permission to smoke indoors. Then again, she remembered, he was part of the important pair of brothers who had to be satisfied to save the diamond deal. Well, diamond deal be damned, thought Almasi. She was going to straighten out these lies once and for all and give her child a better future than this whirlpool of deception. She cleared her throat, and Mr. Kofi Kumi looked up and saw her standing in the doorway.
He smiled, charm oozing out of his every pore. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” asked Mr. Kofi Kumi. “I was under the impression that you were packing. It’s a long way to Accra, my dear, and you’ll want to bring all of your favorite possessions with you. You won’t be back here in the United States of America for a long, long time.” His smile was conniving. Almasi marveled at how she had ever trusted him in those first few weeks of his visit.
“I have no packing to do,” said Almasi calming. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here with Jacob.”
Mr. Kofi Kumi put out his cigar and stood up. “You’ve said that before, but you know it’s not true. Why are you lying to yourself? You know that the end of the week will come, and you will be off to Ghana with me, or else dear Mr. Adamson will suffer greatly and the diamond deal will not go through. Is that really what you want?”
Almasi stood her ground defiantly. “It’s not what I want, but I know that Jacob will support me, no matter what, and the only person who has been lying to me is you, Mr. Kofi Kumi.” She spat his name as if it tasted bitter on her tongue. “And I’m finished with your lies.”
“My darling,” said Mr. Kofi Kumi, still trying to work his charms. “Dear, dear Almasi. Think about my offer still. You could have everything you’ve ever dreamed of wanting. Riches, power, glory. A husband who dotes on your every whim.”
“What I want is here,” she said plainly. “And I already have it. I’m not giving it up. Go ahead, tell your brother about the circumstances of my marriage to Jacob. Tell him it was all contrived, tell him it was a farce to make money off of your diamond company. Go ahead. See if I care.”
Mr. Kofi Kumi’s expression darkened. “Don’t do this, Almasi,” he said. “Don’t test me like this. I know you’re strong willed, feisty even, and I can relate to that. I too am strong willed, but this is not the battle to choose.” He walked up closer to her, looking down, his gaze hard on her eyes. “I have tried being nice, and I have tried being sweet, but if you don’t comply with my wishes, I will destroy you.”
Almasi’s pulse was racing and her hands were shaking in fear, but she laughed. Mr. Kofi Kumi looked disconcerted. “See?” she said. “You’re so easy to read. You disguise yourself as a charming man, a considerate friend and a good ally, but the moment your wishes are not adhered to, you threaten violence and show your true nature.”
She had gone too far, as Mr. Kofi Kumi had suddenly grabbed her hard by the shoulders and brought his face down close to hers. “Maybe I just know how to get what I want,” he said. “Maybe I, unlike some people, don’t waste my time sitting around and playing dumb while the person I want to be with becomes distant.” He squeezed her shoulders hard.
Almasi looked directly into his eyes and said, “There is a difference between being strong willed and being a bully, and that is why you and I, Mr. Kofi Kumi, could never be together. Because I refuse to be bullied by you.” And with that, she kneed him in the crotch, and when he let go of her shoulders in surprise, she ran.
He cried out in pain and doubled over. He didn’t follow her as she ran, but he called down the hall, “My brother will hear of this!”
She stopped and turned. “Let him!” she shouted back. “Let him find out that his brother is a manipulative, two-faced, greedy, good for nothing pig of a man who tries to force himself on married women!” Then she turned away and continued to run, heading all the way out and down the path to the garden.
Chapter10
Almasi walked around in the garden, trying to catch her breath. That confrontation had taken a lot of guts, and although she had shown plenty of bravado while talking to Mr. Kofi Kumi, she wasn’t so sure that she felt very brave. The satisfaction of having kicked Mr. Kofi Kumi in the groin was one thing, but the consequences of her decision would be another thing entirely.
She knew she’d done the right thing. Even if this would cost them the diamond deal, she would explain everything to Jacob, and he would hopefully understand. She had done it for the sake of their unborn child, and for the sake of her love. She just hoped that love was worth more than diamonds.
Eventually, Almasi exhausted herself walking around. She sat down on a bench near the lavender patch, and eventually the soft smell of the flowers combined with the warm late afternoon sunlight had her feeling calmer and sleepier. She stretched herself across the bench, laying on her back with her hands on her belly, and she quickly found herself falling asleep.
When Almasi woke up, she opened her eyes and saw a man standing about twenty feet away, by the zinnias. She blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. When she sat up, the man turned around. It was Mr. Arko Kumi.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Adamson,” he said, walking toward her. “I hope my presence did not alarm you. I saw that you were sleeping, and I was hesitant to awaken you, so I have been waiting for you to wake up on your own.” He stopped at a respectful distance. “I came out here because I know it’s one of your favorite
refuges.”
He noted the expression of surprise on her face. “Don’t be so alarmed. Just because I don’t talk much doesn’t mean that I haven’t been paying attention, but in any case, that’s not what I’m here to discuss. I’m here because I believe that we need to talk,” he said.
Almasi sighed. Well, here it was. “Have you told Jacob yet?” she asked.
Mr. Arko Kumi’s expression remained neutral. “Told him what?” he asked.
“That you’re out of the deal,” she said. “That he will be losing your business partnership.”
Mr. Arko Kumi gestured to the space on the bench next to her. “May I?” he asked. Almasi nodded, so he moved to sit down. He didn’t stare too intensely at her, deciding instead to set his gaze into the distance. “I have told Jacob nothing of the sort, because I have not come to that decision yet,” he said seriously. “I wanted to talk to you first before jumping to conclusions based on minimal evidence.”
“Then…” Almasi paused. She turned to look at the man sitting next to her. “What is it you want to ask me?”
“I would like to hear your side of the story,” he said, sounding detached as always. “My brother made some rather harsh accusations about the nature of your marriage to Mr. Adamson.”
“Well,” said Almasi. “I will admit, some of those accusations are true.” He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing, so she continued. “You see, I was an intern at Jacob’s office, and he approached me with a proposition. He said he needed a wife in order for this diamond deal, explaining that the owner of the company he was partnering with would be more in favor of signing with him if he were married.”
