"Maya wake up. It's 7:30am" Keith said and I hummed as I pulled the comforter closer to keep the cold air from the AC from hitting my naked flesh. I could tell it was Keith because I knew his voice and his body scent but I was too disoriented to understand what he was saying.

"Come on. You have to get ready." he said and I turned onto my back and opened my tired eyes only to see them looking right back at me from the mirror on the ceiling. Yes, there was a large mirror attached to the mirror and it was the newest addition to the things in the room. Keith had decided that he wanted a mirror up there because watching us go at it will be better than watching a live interracial porn. His words not mine. I had been embarrassed at first but got used to the idea after a while.

Looking into the green eyes that were watching me with amusement in them, I rolled over and snuggled into my pillows some more.

"Maya you have to get ready."

I was too tired to talk so I just hummed and my eyes slid close again.

"For your last paper." he finally completed. I shot up immediately I heard him and suddenly felt lightheaded.

"Whoa. Slow down. You're not yet late." he said as I tried to calm my pounding heart. My exam was by 12noon.

"Are you okay now?" he asked and I nodded.

"No more fears?" He asked again and my face broke into a smile as I shook my head.

"No more fears. Thank you again, for last night." I said shyly. That night, I had an episode. The stress finally got to me. I was sleep-deprived and stressed and I felt I wasn't ready for that course even though I had read for it more than the other courses. I just broke down and started crying. It was supposed to be a silent crying session because I tried holding myself together but I just felt so overwhelmed I fell apart and the sound woke Keith up.

"What is it?" he asked sleepily.

"I'm going to fail. I already know I'm going to fail. I've never failed anything school related and now I'm going to have an extra year because of an outstanding course."

Pulling me into a hug, he asked if I had been reading and I nodded but said I couldn't remember what I read. He tugged at my hand and I stood up and followed him to the bed, a crying mess.

"When did you wake up from the short nap you took after dinner?"

"An hour later. That was 10pm."

"It's 4am now Maya. You need to sleep."

"I can't. There's just so much to read."

"No there isn't. Sleep and wake up and revise. Everything will come back to you at the much needed time. You can't remember now because you're tensed up. Now, sleep."

I sniffled and closed my eyes and after a whole one minute, my trembling fingers reached up to wipe the tears that snaked down my cheeks again. I was too scared to sleep. He sighed beside me before getting up to leave the room. I felt worse because I thought he just left his room for me since I was such a mess. About 5 minutes later, he came back up and gave me a glass of milk before reaching up to rub my tense shoulders.

"Pull off your shirt." he said as he reached into the bedside drawer for the body oil he usually keeps in there. I did as I was told and laid down and he gave me a massage that put me to sleep within thirty minutes since I was so tired. I had never felt such gratitude towards someone before.

Rolling out of bed, I ran into the bathroom to shower quickly and went back to my room to get something to wear. I dressed up within 10 minutes and went back to his room for the books on the table. I went downstairs and saw him putting the sandwiches he made in a ziplock bag.

"Here. Eat this on the way." he said as he handed it to me with a bottle of water. He buzzed around the house to collect the things he needed for work. You won't see him and know that he was still recovering from surgery.

"How's your stomach?" I asked and he said it was fine. He had been in a hurry to go back to his normal life and self and immediately he went for checkup and was told he could start work, he began immediately. Workaholic.

"Come-on. Let's go." he said and I followed him out, locking the door behind me.

"Do you want me to take you?" he asked and I replied with a yes as we walked to the garage. I couldn't find it in me to drive that day. I just didn't feel like it, plus Keith was pampering me and I liked it. I ate the sandwiches on the way and when we got to my school, he kissed me softly.

"You're going to do exceedingly well Maya. So good luck. No more fears alright?"

"Okay. Thanks again. Anything you want to eat or do? I'll be back to normal by the time you get back home."

"for food, surprise me. For something to do, have you forgotten there's a family dinner between our families today?"

Facepalming, I groaned. I had completely forgotten about that. "damn. That's true. I forgot. But it still doesn't mean we can't do stuff."

"We'll see. Now go and revise. It's almost 8:30am now. Bye."

Leaning in to kiss his cheek, I said bye and got down. I waved before he drove off and walked in hoping I'd remember everything I read like he said.

******

Sitting between Keith and my dad, I recalled how the exam had gone. It didn't feel like my best paper but I knew I wasn't going to fail it or get a low grade. A B+ hopefully.

Drinking the water in my glass because I suddenly felt nauseous, I looked at Keith's mum and my dad and wondered how and why they could be around each other and talk like nothing happened between them. You'd never see them relate and imagine that they had a history. Keith's phone rang and he stepped out to take the call because it would take a while. I took a deep breath and then summoned up the courage to ask "what exactly happened between you two?"

There was an awkward pause and my dad suddenly cleared his throat. When none of them said anything, I rephrased the question.

"I've been meaning to ask both of you this but now seems to be the best time since we're all together and Keith just stepped out to take a call."

My dad decided to answer after a moment. "We were supposed to get married. But it was a business arrangement, not love."

"Were you cheating on her with mum or..."

"I wasn't going to leave the woman I love alone knowing fully well she was carrying my child. It wasn't planned and it was an accident but I wasn't going to let her abort the baby or raise it alone, so I did the honourable thing, the right thing I was supposed to do all along and broke off my engagement with Amanda before marrying your mother."

Nodding, I cracked my knuckles before asking him the question that had been on my mind since that day at the hospital. "Did it ever occur to you that Amanda may hate me because I'm that baby that took you away from her?"

"Amanda and I parted on amicable terms." he said and Amanda snorted from where she sat. "That's not how I remember and you know it."

"It was just a business arrangement Amanda. There was nothing else between us asides that."

"I was in love with you. You are such an ass Gunther. You preyed on me when I was emotionally unstable. You knew what I needed at that moment was companionship and you pretended to give it to me only for me to find out you were cheating on me with your ex girlfriend. Amicable my ass. You're as much a liar now as you were back then."

Pressing my fingers against my temples and hoping to massage the headache that was forming in there behind my eyes, I interrupted whatever conversation they wanted to have for just one more question.

"If you hate my family this much why did you go on with the arrangement between Keith and I?" she just shrugged before saying "I always wanted to expand my telecommunications company and instead of just opening a new branch, I thought why not try and get your hands onto Gunther's? So I had you followed and when I found out that you want to study vet-med and wanted nothing to do with the company, I approached him with the idea of a merger and being the person he is, he accepted."

"but Keith didn't like someone like me. Why?"

"All he had to do was marry you and get you pregnant and keep you by the side. That way, I'll know I have Gunther's company and that his love child who ruined everything for me will die of neglect and heartbreak. But right now, I don't know what is going on between you and Keith but I want you to know that I will kill you and go to jail for it before I let you hurt him." She finished with a sneer.

"Amanda you know me. You know how I can be, and for that reason I advise you to not threaten my daughter before me or you will regret it." my father added.

"Oh now you care about her? When you signed her off to me as a broodmare did you think of her as your daughter or just a means to an end?"

"Will you both keep quiet and stop pointing fingers?—" I shouted and there was silence."—both of you are horrible parents. Amanda you keep going on and on about how much you live your golden boy but he's just a pawn in your little insignificant revenge scheme. And you dad, trying to secure my future my foot. You just wanted to expand your business. Both of you suck and you both deserve each other. I'm going home to my cats where I'm not a pawn in something I didn't ask for." I said in a shaky voice as I picked up my bag and walked out of the dining room.

As Amanda's words echoed through my head, I rushed into the bathroom downstairs and vomited the dinner I just had as I broke into full tears.

Broodmare.

Just a means to an end.

Pressing my palm against my mouth to hold the cries it, I pushed the flush bottom and rinsed my mouth and washed my face before leaving the bathroom.

My life sucks so much....

Have you ever had that sort of breakdown before exam? Sorry if you have. What I described above is exactly what happened to me last semester, so I know how bad it can be.

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