IRENE

"How on earth do I have so much work during school period?" I groaned as I skimmed through my schedule for the month on Eugenia's work tablet.

We were seated in the living room of my house on Monday evening. "I can remember asking you before accepting those contracts." Eugenia said plopping beside me.

"But you're my manger, how could I have known that they were going to fall in one month?" I replied running my free hands through my hair lazily.

I made a mental note to send for my hair dresser the next day.

"I could cancel some of them if you want." Eugenia suggested after taking a long sip from her bottle of soft drink.

"No, no. Don't do that. It's fine." She nodded taking her bottle of soft drink back to her mouth. "If at all you were to cancel, which would it be? The commercial at Dubai, the shoot at South Korea or the fashion show at Paris."

I crossed my legs and turned to her.
"Or would it be the one at Dublin or New Jersey? None of them can be canceled, but please don't let this repeat itself. I take my education seriously and I don't want anything toying with that. Not even work."

She nodded with a large grin across her face. "Yes boss."

"Now that you have so much work, will Desmond still come with you?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. Desmond is going to be more busy. They're shooting a movie from the end of this month till December. He's going to be the lead actor and April the lead actress."

I watched as a scowl marred Eugenia's beautiful face for a second. "April Waje." She called out with an eye roll.

"The one and only." I added.

"That bitch!" Eugenia drawled out her voice laced with venom and her fist clenched.

Soft rolls of laughter left my mouth. "You still haven't forgotten? April was in a bad mood then, she's a really nice girl."

Snorting loudly Eugenia made her way to the kitchen probably to get more snacks for herself. That girl is a foodie.

Eugenia was mad at April Waje, a top teen models and actresses because she lashed out mean words to her angrily even when she was the one in the wrong. Ever since then, Eugenia had a dislike for poor April whom I think is just the sweetest and most positive person I've ever met.

"Enough about April Waje." Eugenia said walking back into the living room with a big pack of chips.

"Are you really going to eat all of that?" I asked pointing at the large pack of chips she held close to her boosom.

"Watch me." Was her reply as she sank into the space beside me on the couch.

"I need a shower!" Came a sonorous voice. I needed no soothsayer to tell me who it was. My head shot to the direction of the door and I sighted Mayowa walking towards us in all his buffed, beefy and well built glory.

Beads of perspiration stood on his face and well tanned arms. "Hey girls!" He rumbled as he sat on the coach opposite ours.

"Hello." I said in response but Eugenia said absolutely nothing. Turning to face her, I found out that she had zoned out as she was literally ogling my mum's boyfriend.

I nudged her harshly and she turned to me in a nanosecond wincing lowly.
"What was that?" She whispered.

I simply ignored her and turned to Mayowa who had successfully put on the television and was skimming through channels.

"Mayowa meet my manager, Eugenia." He turned to her and smiled, his dimples coming into full display.

I didn't need turn to Eugenia to know that she was flushed. I also was the first time I saw him that way.

"And Eugenia, meet Mayowa, my mum's boyfriend."

"Step-father to be, you mean." Mayowa corrected me a small but captivating smile playing on his lips.

"Whatever." Was my reply as I shrugged it off.

"Hello there Eugenia." He said stretching forth his hands for a handshake. She took his hand and returned his smile.

"Hey." Her voice came out lower than I expected it to be and I stifled a laugh.

"Go take a shower Mayowa, you stink." I said shooing him with my hands.

Snorting loudly, he headed up the stairs and I noticed Eugenia gaze followed him till he was out of sight.

Eugenia turned to me immediately he was out of eyeshot. "Where did your mum find this hottie?" She asked eyes boring into mine.

I simply shrugged and she muttered a 'damn' which got my attention causing me to turn to her. She had a lip in between her teeth.

"Stop whatever it is going on in your head. He's my mum's boyfriend." I said to her with a disgusted look on my face.

"I'll stay within my boundary but that doesn't mean I won't think about it. Is he good in bed?" She asked and my eyes almost shot out of its socket.

"What?!" I croaked out inaudibly. "How am I to know, have I had sex with him before?"

She shrugged lightly. "Your mum might have mentioned it to you one time."

I snickered.

Yeah right! When we barely talk.

"She hasn't." I responded to her instead.

"Okay then, will you ask her on my behalf."

I stared at her in disbelief. "Of course not!"

"Come on!" She whined with an eye roll.

"Eugenia Idara-Obong Mfoniso!" I called out her full name. "I am not doing that and it's final."

She frowned and sat quietly beside me not saying a word. She had probably given up.

"Irene." She called softly and I turned to her.

"You're still going to ask your mum right?" Who was I kidding? She hadn't given up on it.

"Aarghh!" I groaned out loud and her loud giggles filled the air.

Way to irk me.

                            ☞︎︎︎☞︎︎︎☞︎︎︎☞︎︎︎☞︎︎︎

I was seated in my bed, back against the headboard as I typed into my phone. I was replying DM's on Instagram. The ones I deemed important though.

Sighing softly when I was done, I scrolled through my feed. A picture brought a smile to my lips, it was Kosi one of the top models in the country, in all her melanin glory draped in a designer two piece crop top and shorts. Kosi was very beautiful and I just seemed to love her bubbly personality.

Scrolling past many other post and liking the ones I found good enough, I transported myself to WhatsApp and started viewing statuses. The amount of unread messages I had on WhatsApp, I couldn't dare replying.

Never had I ever had no unread messages on WhatsApp. It seemed surreal to me even when I see Kiki's WhatsApp clear.

After viewing Sophia Williams status, the next was Theodore. It was a picture of him dressed in white inner shirt, black leather jacket and black trousers. His black converse sealed the deal. And his hair, I could almost imagine running my hands through those curls.

He looked so good I couldn't help but stare a little longer. My hands typed incoherent words and just as I was about to hit the send button, the words made sense and I cringed at what I had written.

Hey Theodore! You look so hot 😍

I quickly cleared it and typed a simpler and less creepy one. One that didn't make me seem desperate. One that wouldn't give him a clue about my silly but very real crush on him.

You look nice.

That was what I sent in the end. Still going through other statuses, a message from Theodore popped in and I quickly tapped on it and landed in his thread.

Thanks.

Came his short reply. I wanted to keep the conversation going so I typed back.

How are you?

He was typing. And in less than ten seconds, his reply came in.

Good enough. How about you?

I stopped for a while to think. How was I really faring? How do I feel? I decided on a simple answer and I typed.

Not bad.

A knock at the door to my room jolted me back to reality as I was so engrossed in my conversation with Theodore.

I checked the time and it was already some minutes to ten. I hadn't even realized that I had spent that long talking to him. I could remember viewing his status by eight thirty and it was almost ten. Oh wow!

"Come in." I called out and Mayowa poked his head into my room. "Someone's here to see you."

I frowned. Who wouldn't want to see me by ten in the night?

"Tell them I'm busy." I replied.

I was busy, wasn't I?

Of course I was. I was busy talking to Theodore.

"I already did. She said she's from Kendall." He responded and I got out of bed with my phone in my hands. Kendall was in charge of getting my outfits and I remembered I had called for her immediately I got the invite to the Triple J party and that was on Friday, four days ago. She was four days late.

I was aware Kendall just took pity on the girl as she had no parents and she seemed eager to work for her just to get three square meal. Even without knowing the girl, I already did not like her because of how unprofessional she had proven to be.

I slid into my fluffy shoe and made my way downstairs to meet her. Getting to the spacious living room, I sighted the tiny looking lady seating on the couch so cautiously as though she didn't want to stain it.

She was oblivious to my presence and I decided to make myself known. "You're late." My voice came out stern and she whipped her head in my direction.

"Good...good evening." She greeted as she got up. I simply ignored her greeting and sank into the opposite couch.

"Why are you late?"

She had her head bowed as she said nothing. For some reason, I didn't seem to like her. She was too sluggish for my liking. Heaven knows I wouldn't have called for her but her boss Kendall who happened to be my designer was out of town and would only be back by Wednesday.

"I only asked to get the styles and you're four days late. That's not professional at all." I said eyes still trained on her. She seemed nervous as she fiddled with her fingers avoiding my gaze.

"I'm sorry." Her tiny voice which complemented her tiny frame came out shakily.

"Where are the samples?" I asked her and she handed a small bag to me before walking back to her position.

"So why are you late?" I asked again.

"I was going to come on Saturday but my younger brother got involved in an accident and I had to rush him to the hospital. I had been looking  for money to settle the hospital bills since then. He has to be operated and that is why I'm just coming here. I'm sorry."

I nodded and urged her to sit.

"I'm fine standing." Was her brisk reply.

"Sit." My stern voice ordered with a look that warned her not to do otherwise. She gently sat down but didn't relax. That wasn't my business anyway.

"Have you raised the money for your brother's treatment?" I asked taking my phone.

"No ma." She replied gently and I looked up.

"Have you told your boss about it?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Kendall Ma'am is occupied and I didn't want to burden her with my problem."

Too bad.

"You can leave now." I said dismissively as I grabbed the package she handed to me. I watched her walk towards the door yet I felt unsettled.

It didn't feel right.

I called her back before I could think it through. She turned hastily and I gave her a once over.

"How much do you need?" I didn't know when I spewed out those words. Seemed like Theodore's good habits were gently rubbing off on me.

"Ma?" I creased my brows.

"I said how much do you need for your brother's treatment?"

"One hundred and fifty thousand naira." She replied shaking at the harsh tone I had used on her the second time.

"One hundred and fifty thousand Naira." I muttered inaudibly. "Call out your account number." I said punching into my phone.

"I don't have one." She replied and I looked up at her.

"Do you perhaps have a phone?" I asked yet another question but she shook her head.

"Give me a minute."

I didn't have that much cash with me because I didn't move around with cash. Instead, I went around with my credit card.

I rushed up the stairs to my mum's room and knocked lightly. Mayowa came out. My mum was still not back from work. I thought she was going to change after getting herself a boyfriend but I guess I was wrong.

"Hey, do you perhaps have two hundred thousand naira in cash?" I asked as he came into view. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"I'm going to pay you back." I said and he chuckled and walked into the room. He came out moments later with a bundle of cash which he handed to me.

"Punch in your account number so I can pay you back." I said handing him my phone. He chuckled lightly and relaxed on the door frame.

"That wouldn't be necessary sweetheart." I gave him a long stare.

"Why?"

"Because I won't be needing it." He said immediately and I bobbed my head to the side still watching him.

"Do you have a job?"

His laughter went higher a notch as those words left my lips. "Of course I do. Do you think I'm jobless just because you see me around here a lot?"

I nodded my head and he smiled. "I work. I'm staying with you both because I'm aware it's more comfortable than you two moving to my house. "

Remembering that I kept someone waiting, I nodded and walked away and down the stairs with the bundle of money in my hands after I had gotten little cash from my drawer in the room.

"Here." I said stretching my hand to give the scrawny girl. "That's two hundred thousand naira."

Her eyes went wide like saucers. "I only need one hundred and fifty thousand naira ma."

"I know but you'll need to handle a few things after paying for the  surgery. That's what the extra fifty thousand is for. And this twenty thousand," I said handing to her a smaller bundle of cash.

"Get yourself a phone, some food and decent clothes."

She knelt down immediately and was thanking me as tears flowed down her eyes.

Poor poor girl. I thought.

"Thank you so much ma,I really appreciate. Thank you." She said in between sobs.

"It's no problem." I said and helped her up. "Make sure you keep the money well and stop crying." She nodded wiping her tears away.

She looked really malnourished but that didn't hide the fact that she was pretty. She was pretty in a delicate way. Not the kind of pretty one would notice when they first we their eyes on her.

"How old are you?" I asked the girl.

"Fifteen." She immediately replied.

"And your brother?"

"He's eight." She responded and I immediately took pity on them. A fifteen year old girl trying to fend for herself and her little brother.

"What's your name?"

"Ivy." Her mellow voice called out.

Ivy.

When I was way younger, I used to call Ivory Ivy and hearing this girl's name, I immediately felt something for her. Some sort of connection and the need to help her.

"When you get the phone, call me." I said to her and handed her my complimentary card. Handing her the bag she had brought with her to put all she had on her, I watched her as she walked out the door.

She thanked me till I got a bit irritated. How she thanked me that much because of two hundred and twenty thousand naira made me decide that she was a well trained girl and I wouldn't regret helping her.

Heaven knows I would have liked Mr Sunday to take her to the hospital but it was late and the poor man would be resting. Taking one last look at the entrance, I made my way up the stairs.

Instead of heading to the east wing where all the bedrooms were located, I found my legs taking me to the west wing.

My legs only stopped when I got to the door. I wanted to go back yet I couldn't. Turning the door knob, the door opened and made a howling sound. Apparently, it was not locked.

Walking further into the stuffy room, I looked around. The once busy room, that was full of life was now deserted and abandoned.

Staring at the rows of pictures of my dad, myself and Ivory lined on the wall and the few awards Ivory had received, I sat on the cold floor and let those tears out.

Those tears I didn't shed when Ivory died so as to seem strong to everyone, I let them out not minding what time it was or who could be watching. I wasn't sure how long I spent there crying but the last thing I saw before everything went blank was the large clock on the wall as it struck twelve midnight.

*

Phew 😪

What do y'all think about this chapter? Please let me know in the comments section.

April Waje is a character from Tequila by UjuritaElliana. We might or might not be doing a collab soon.

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So when I started this book, my plan was for this book to end at the fiftieth chapter but with the way things are going, I'm not so sure anymore but anyhow it goes, it'll be for the best.

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See y'all in the next chapter 👋.

Word count: 2962