TRAGIC LOVE

CHAPTER 1

It's during the Christmas season and the celebrations are at their peak, the town is bustling with activities, it's almost painted red and white, anyway it's the season of happiness, there's no difference between day and night since the nights are well lit and activities ongoing as usual. The theater is almost full with so many people present to watch the play, both young and old were present. Mary had come along with her brother and friends since they had booked their tickets earlier on. They sat at the back and waited while chatting, within a short while, the hall was full, as expected during the festive season. The play was great and everyone enjoyed it, some were laughing while others were crying, it was all happy when it came to an end. People started leaving in groups, squeezing at the exit. Mary and her friends were on the line going out. at the door when Marry was about to get out, she was knocked down by some guy, she screamed out, the guy was about to disappear before trouble begins but he was not lucky, Mary's brother, Fred caught up with him and threw a heavy punch which did not miss, it landed on his face and he fell on the ground. Mary knew her brother was so defensive of her and would not take it easy on anyone intending to cause harm to her, after she got up she realized she was not hurt that much, and she managed to walk up to them, though limping her brother had again grabbed the guy by the color of his shirt and was about to hit him again when Mary asked him not to. She asked him to let him go since she was not badly injured. Fred was mad at her, my lovely sister is at it again, always being soft-hearted but you are wrong this time I wouldn't let him go, if he had pulled you up and apologized when he knocked you down, l would consider, but the fact that he was trying to escape got me angered the most and so I'll have him taste a little bit of me and then let him apologize to you. Mary was not happy that someone was being beaten up because of her but then what Fred said made sense, if he was a nice guy, he would at least say sorry, so he deserved that. All this while they didn't realize that the guy was staring at Mary. When Fred realized that, he hit the guy again asking if was staring at how he had injured his sister, he asked what his name was and asked him to apologize, the guy was smiling instead of showing a pained expression, and he was quick to tell his name as Greg, he got up struggling and walked up to Mary and apologized, it was not in his habit to apologize, in fact, Greg was not as nice as he seemed, his prior action had shown that but then, he had to say sorry to the pretty girl in front of him, he was simply fascinated by her looks. Mary, her brother, and her friends left. Her brother was the driver. He dropped their friends one by one and then went home with his sister. They were driving swiftly for a while, and when they were almost home, Fred noticed a low-key car trailing behind them. He decided to slow down and see if the car was following them. The vehicle behind slowed down, Fred increased the speed and the car behind also sped up, he stopped abruptly and got out Mary had also realized the car behind, and when Fred got out, he locked the car and asked her to stay in the car. The other car also stopped. Greg got out smiling foolishly at Fred, who was so annoyed seeing the guy again, he asked him why he has been following them, preparing for another fight but then Greg told him to take it easy, he tried to look cool and asked what the problem was. Greg said that he had forgotten to collect Mary's number, this angered Fred the more he warned him to stay away from his sister, they had started on the wrong path and Fred didn't see anything good about this guy. Greg wasn't overly nice so when he realized Fred would not let him, he walked to their car where Mary was. He knocked on the window, and when she saw him, she shouted for him to go away, by then Fred had caught up with him and hit him on the head, he groaned in pain as he fell, Fred then got into the car and drove off leaving him there. It wasn't a long distance from where they were to their home, so Greg marked where the car had gone too, that was because he had plans of coming back later, he didn't believe in not getting what he wanted. Mary and Fred got home, they had dinner before leaving home so, they went to their separate rooms, freshened up, and went to sleep. On the other side, Greg stood up after some time and walked to their gate, he surveyed the area before going back to his car and leaving. He has to make things right with this guy if he has to get the girl he is interested in. That was one, he knew he was good at pretending, so he would play nice for a while, it won't hurt, and if it does it would not be much. He drove off and went back to his house, Greg was a young and successful businessman, his parents are both late, they were both involved in the real estate business and when they were no more, he took over their businesses and inheritance, he's not the only child, he has a younger sister but they don't get along well since she is a perfectionist while he's always on the wrong, he feels that she's too much whenever she's around, so he bought her a house far away and he always provides whatever she needs, her bank account is topped up every end month. It's not only his sister he finds troublesome but almost all women. He's less interested in them, they are always nagging and begging for attention, so this recent occurrence is new to him, he even doesn't understand why he is interested in that girl but that was it, no matter what, he has to get what his heart desires. When he got home, he freshened up and attended to his partly swollen face, and when he felt much better, he drank a glass of wine while pondering on how to go about this whole thing. After some time, he called his assistant, Moses, and asked him to do a background check on Mary and her family. He needed to know her better now that he had decided to pursue her.

The festivities ended well, with the beginning of the new year and people got back to business and other respective jobs as well, Mary was an intern Doctor at the good cure hospital since she had recently graduated, but she still was under the financial support of her family, they did that without complaining, her brother would also give her money even without asking for it. The hospital was far and she was out of time and when her leave ended she had to travel back to work. She spend the whole morning packing, she had been home for a few days and she had such huge luggage, her brother would be driving her to the airport, she would be late if she drove all the way, it takes almost five hours, she wasn't ready for all the fatigue when she can spend much less time on the plane. When she was done, she bid her family goodbye and left with her brother. She liked being a doctor, but her father had tried to tell her to choose another career on the basis that medicine would be tiresome and she would not have time for herself, he also didn't want his baby girl to get so serious since she lacked nothing, she remembers him suggesting fashion design as a better option for her but she rejected the idea and stuck to being a doctor, that's why even when she has a bad day at work she doesn't dare complain to her father, he will always tell her that he warned her against it. She talks about it with Fred since he supports her in whatever she wants to do. They left, Fred was driving while listening to his favorite music from his favorite artist Otile Brown, Mary liked his music too. Sometimes she would sing along, they talked about random issues till they got to the airport. Fred did not forget to remind her to tell him of anyone who tries to Bully her. He always had a way of dealing with those bullies. Mary laughed at that reminder. She hugged her brother before they parted and he left. On the other hand, Greg asked Moses to check out on her, and when he came back he had all her information including her age and contact details, he sent her an email but she didn't reply. He wished to see her so in the evening he decided to pretend to be her friend and went looking for her when he got to the gate, he told the gate man to call her out that her long-time friend was looking for her. The gateman was in doubt, he told him that Mary had gone back to work. Greg had done a background check and he knew she had studied medicine. To indirectly ask which hospital she worked at, he asked if she had been transferred or was still working at the same place, the gate man told him that she was still working at the good cure hospital. Since it was a famous hospital, Greg didn't need to ask for more information less he gets discovered. It was then it dawned on him that she was out of town. He felt disappointed but could not show it. He left with a mood that wasn't pleasant. He had a lot to do at the company so it would not be easy to make time to travel but he would give it a trial. considering the way he was held up, he needed about a week before he could ease the load of work at his disposal. With that, he sent out one of his men to keep an eye on her, as he prepares to go and see her. GREG I have a lot to do and I need to get this girl no matter what, he said to himself. When Mary got to her apartment, she was so exhausted, she slumped on the sofa. The place was already dusty, she sneezed and jumped up from the sofa, it was evident she could not rest on the sofa, so she went straight to her bedroom, freshened up, changed her bedding then lay down for a while. She was later woken up by a phone call from Fred, who wanted to know if she arrived safely. Mary smiled sleepily before picking up the call, she was so lucky to have such a brother who doted on her that much. Hey bro, just got home a while ago and decided to have some rest before calling you, she said before he could ask why she did not inform him when she arrived. That tells you I am perfectly fine. You could not even wait for me to ask, he said. Well I knew what you would say so I just answered your question in advance she said and they both laughed.

Greg's guy has been following Mary to and fro for some time now without being noticed. He is good at what he is doing since he has been doing the job for years. Mary drives to work in the morning and comes back in the evening every day, she has a feeling that someone is following her around. Her immediate neighbor told her that there was a guy he saw a few days ago peeking at her door. Mary did not think much about it but as it is now she can feel some tension building up within her, the feeling is not good at all but whatever it is she is going to find out. She got home with a creepy feeling that day, from afar before she could get down from the car, she saw something at her doorstep, seemingly like a huge dog or so. She wasn't sure what it was so she walked out carefully and alert in case anything happens to her. When she got closer, she saw some movements from whatever it was, at a closer look, it did not seem like a dog but a human, this got her more worried, she got o