"You're live in ten, nine, eight ..." It was when the director's countdown had gotten to 'five', that Muna felt her phone vibrate between her legs on the chair she sat on. She forgot to set it on 'DND' so no sounds would be made at all, not even a vibration. She quickly did that and was about to turn off her phone's data when she got a message that made her smile.
"Break a leg at your show today. I'll be watching. xxx"
She was still smiling so hard after reading Audrina's message, and when the director's countdown reached 'one', she still had the smile on her face.
She introduced the show in her presenter's voice, which Dave had told her one day sounded a lot like Olivia Pope's voice.
He wasn't the only one who had told her.
"Hello, beautiful people! You're welcome to yet another episode of "Shade Corner." I am Muna Anosike, aka your mother's favourite daughter-in-law and I've got my fellow shade partner here. What's up, Abiodun?"
She turned to her co-anchor, and the camera frame went to him.
"Muna ma nigga! Waguan gee?"
She smiled after the last word and went on to banter a bit with him, introduce the episode, and make some remarks about her co-anchor's outfit, which she referred to as 'color-blocking'.
After nearly an hour had passed, she wrapped up the show but gave a shoutout to Audrina, but it was an indirect shoutout, and she hoped Audrina had picked it. Well, assuming she had watched till the end of the show.
"... and we're off."
The director announced, and the channel switched to a musical video, Shakara by Ckay ft Ice Prince.
It was a really cool song, which Muna loved and had added to the playlist for her show's ending credits. When it came to music selection, Muna's prowess was astonishing. Her colleagues wondered why she wasn't a DJ at this point.
Anyways, Muna knew she was one day going to do something that required her good taste in music and the finesse with which her musical handling is displayed whenever she has the aux cord.
She took some pictures with her co-anchor and the guest they had on the show, who eventually exchanged numbers with her.
They also gave each other their Instagram and Twitter handles and just like that, Muna had another verified artist added to her social media following.
Social networking.
She did it with ease and her work made her really accessible to a lot of celebrities. Networking has never been easier since applications have been developed to foster this phenomenon, and people can access social media through many channels.
All the numbers are saying that social networking is becoming popular in the modern day and social networking is the most profitable way to reach a wider range of audiences with a limited budget. In other words, one might say that social media is the most effective marketing strategy. However, people tend to forget a more important matter: global poverty.
To make a difference, a person only needs to make a 30-second phone call to his or her local government representative in the area, and it only takes less than two minutes to post a link and express concern about international affairs issues, but having that contact is quite a luxury.
To do literally anything in Nigeria, you need to have long legs. In other words, you will have an excruciatingly hard time getting something, no matter how deserving you are of it, if you do not know the right people in the system.
The system is fucked. It's rigged to the detriment of the average man and that is why many people resonate deeply with any grass-to-grace story that goes viral. A good one was the time Laycon and Efe won the popular and controversial reality TV show, Big Brother Naija.
Muna wasn't a fan of that show but every Saturday, she joined her siblings in the sitting room as they watched the Big Brother Naija Saturday night party. It was always ending with a truth or dare game that caused wahala for every ship in the house.
The cameraman on duty removed the microphone on her as well as the talkback receiver in her ear, then told her he was done.
"Thank you, Mr. Tomiwa."
He smiled at her and headed out of the studio.
She was pressing her phone all the while, smiling and replying to messages from her friends who had tuned in to watch her.
She never admitted it to herself, but she was gradually becoming a popular face in the media industry and her friends, both online and in real life, were slowly gearing up a following to that effect.
She was now swiping through some pictures she had taken after the show when she received a WhatsApp message.
- Can I call?
It was from Audrina.
She read the message, looked around to be sure she was alone in the studio and then sent a reply, which was read immediately.
Seconds later, Audrina called her, and she connected her airpods, then answered the call.
"Hi star girl."
Muna chuckled before responding.
"Hey there. You watched, right?"
"Yes, princess, I did. You did really well and damn, you're so pretty."
She stopped talking as she saw Muna blush and look away from her phone.
"Thank you. I just try sha." Muna was fond of not taking credit when it was due and Audrina wasn't going to let her belittle her talent, even though she had just watched Muna's show once.
"Oh please, don't say that, princess. You're so smart! For real, you sounded so composed and articulated. Like that time your guest asked you whether it was wrong for men to prefer having baby mamas over having wives, your answer was spot on."
"I know, right? I mean not everybody wants to get married and be somebody's wife or husband but in the same vein, not everybody is cut out to be a parent."
"Yeah! Absolutely. Folks just wanna fuck around and not get what's coming." She smiled and unconsciously scratched her head.
Muna smiled too. She realised Audrina had actually listened to the conversations on the show, and she didn't just watch the show.
It delighted her so much because she genuinely loved to share her little knowledge on debatable topics with the world and get feedback from viewers about their own thoughts on the matter as well.
Mordecai never paid attention to her whenever she tried to talk to him about her work, much less watch the show itself.
"I'm really happy you actually watched my show and you were legit listening too. Did you enjoy it? Got any criticism to give me?" Muna laughed after saying the last word, hoping Audrina wouldn't see her as being weird for asking for criticism.
"Well ..."
She laid down on a sofa and put her hand behind her head, then used her other hand to hold her phone up to her face.
She had her glasses on, and Muna noticed someone walk past behind her but didn't mention it.
"For starters, I did enjoy the show, but most of all, watching you speak was something. I'm sapiosexual, and listening to you and how you broke down points and enunciated every word you said, gosh. It was mesmerizing. Oh, and not to mention, your smile."
Muna smiled and shook her head.
"For real, Muna. I like your face and I like it when you smile. I'm not trying to flatter you, though."
"Yeah right. Your face says something different but thank you." She was still smiling as she brushed some braids out of her face and over her ear, then stood up. She walked to the far corner of the studio, where the remote to the AC was and pointed the remote in the AC's direction while pressing a button on the remote repeatedly.
The AC hummed as it's cooling decreased, then Muna went back to where she sat. Audrina was talking all the while.
"Well, as for the show, I think it's a nice programme, but your co-anchor really needs to chill. He kept interjecting when you were saying something and wouldn't let you make your point. What's that his name again?"
She scratched her head unconsciously as she stared at Muna, who was smiling.
"My supervisor has spoken to him about the interjections. Don't worry, he'll change. And his name is Abiodun."
"He had better change. And soon."
Muna shook her head and giggled. Audrina was making a face that looked funny to her.
"I gave you a shoutout. Well, not directly, but did you pick it?" Muna asked with anxious excitement.
"Yeah, I did. It was towards the end where you said, 'There's one person watching for the first time today; here's a special song for you." Then y'all went on a break and played that Hayley Kiyoko song. Yes, I picked it. Thank you." She laughed when she finished talking and Muna's jaw dropped.
"Wow," Muna said.
"Damn. You're so pretty. I can bet that your guest hit on you after the show."
Muna's eyebrow's went up in a cringe and her mouth opened but words didn't come out; she laughed hard instead.
"Why do you think so? Gosh." Muna tried to hide a smile that was forming on her lips.
"You see, you're not even denying it. I'm just saying sha. I could tell from the way he was looking you up and down." She adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose.
"Okay, you're right. He did hit on me, but that isn't unusual. Guys are almost always like that."
"I think we should see tomorrow." Audrina stated, rather than asked. She waited for Muna to say something and when she didn't, she continued.
"Uhm, I think I should rephrase that. Would you like for us to meet tomorrow? Tomorrow is Friday yeah, and I mean, I don't know if you had planned on coming for cds but Muna, I'll really love to meet you."
"Okay."
Audrina smiled. They spoke for more than half an hour. Then Muna had to get back to work so she ended the call with a promise to meet with Audrina at the lga, the next day.
That was going to be their first time meeting officially. Well, Muna knew what she looked like in person already, so it was actually going to be Audrina's first time seeing her. In real life.
Anxiety!
***
New chapter will be up on Monday. 💜
Thank you guys sm for upvoting!! 🥺
**was listening to SAINt JHN's Monica Lewinsky a while ago.