This chapter is dedicated to Asha270 Chibyke080 emelda101 maarze emelda101 iam_tessy thanks to you all for sticking with me! 💓🙏🏾
Rachel up there guys! Enjoy!
"We're boarding a private jet?!" she screamed in shock.
"You sound surprised, why? Did you think we'd take a public flight when we had ours?" he asked confused.
"That's precisely the thing! I never knew the company had a private jet! Wow...it's so big!" she gasped at the sight of it which made Fai smile in amazement. "You know it's funny, I don't think I've ever had anyone give this kind of reaction to the private jet...well, not since Rachel"
"Oh My God! It's so big!...And so smooth, can I touch it?!" she looked at him and pouted in a very childish manner which sort of reminded him of Faura.
"Of course you can, but careful with the blades though" he said and walked away to go talk to the pilots and air hosts.
He returned after some minutes and was shocked to find her still gawking over the plane. "You know, if it means this much to you, I might just get your name written on it" he teased.
"Wha—really?" she gasped.
"No, but hurry, we need to get on board now" he said, guiding her to the plane stairs.
"We've been waiting all morning for you guys!" she heard a voice call out to her amidst the loud noise of the jet. When she looked up and saw it was Rachel, she smiled and hastened her steps.
"Heeeyyy, you don't know how happy I am that we're making this trip together...this jet is so big! Have you given it a 360 view?!"
"Trust me, you have no idea how crazy I went the first time I saw it myself!" Rachel chuckled as she walked with her to the seats the air hostess offered them.
"Oh my God! This has got to be the softest leather my black ass has caressed...probably beats the one in Fai's office" Maldives said as she got herself settled in the gold-colored leather seat which felt firm and soft.
"Fai huh? Are you guys now on first name basis?" she teased.
"Wha—no, of course not...I uh--I only used his first name cause..you know...that's what you use most of the time" she stuttered.
"Whatever, I just really hope you guys bond during this trip"
"Bond? Wh—why would we need to bond?" she asks, scared Rachel had somehow found out about their little moments.
"Come on, even a blind man can see that you don't like him"
"I don't? I don't...you're right, I don't" she cleared her throat. Pheeeww
"But he's your boss, and you guys are going to be working a lot together, especially on this trip, so you guys are going to have to make it work, whatever differences you have"
"Yeah sure, I understand I have a duty, and I must not let my feelings, whatsoever, get the best of me"
"Exactly...plus, I think it'll make me really happy if you two genuinely got along, you're both my friends and you both mean a lot to me" she pouted.
"Of course, don't worry so much, we'll be fine" she smiled.
"You ladies are doing well I assume" Fai said as he walked in on where they were seated.
"Yeah, we're doing good, thanks" Rachel responded.
"Yeah, although Rachel, you do seem a bit pale...seems my godson is giving you too much trouble" Maldives said as she spoke to the invisible bump on Rachels tummy.
"Godson? You're going to be the godmother of the baby?"
"Yes, Rachel asked me about a month ago" she smiled as she caressed Rachel's tummy.
"Oh, that's nice"
"I know right!" she chirped happily which made Fai confused. And so life's mysteries continue...
"Seriously, this morning sickness is killing me, it's got to be my least favorite part of the pregnancy"
"Don't worry, morning sicknesses are normal, they get better after the first semester. When I was pregnant, I used to—"
"Wait, you've been pregnant before?" Rachel asks.
"Umm...yeah.."she clears her throat uncomfortably, clearly tensed up about the situation that she found herself caught up in.
"So where's your chil—oh...I'm sorry..." she said in realization that she didn't have one. "I'm sorry I'm sorry, I shouldn't have--"
"No, it's okay"
"No, I mean it, I'm sorry, that was really insensitive of me"
"Seriously Rach, it's alright" she sighed as she gulped down the glass of champagnethe flight attendant had previously served them.
"Come on Rach, let's get you settled in one of the beds okay?" Fai said, breaking the awkward silence which now reigned in the air.
Minutes after, someone announced via the speakers that they get seated and fastened their seat belts as they were about to take off into air.
Pheeeww...okay, you can do this Mal! This is the part you hate about flying, but you're not going to be a chicken and tremble because of some turbulence! She thought as she tried to gather enough courage to keep herself together to endure the turbulence.
'Failure' was all that she was, even as her hands trembled while she tried to fasten her belts.
"Either your light-head couldn't handle the one glass of champagne you gulped down a while ago or you just suck at buckling belts ...cause you're sure on your way to getting your trembling fingers stuck in there" he said from behind her.
"I'm not drunk...and I can perfectly manage on my own, thank you" she scoffed. I said it before...my demise= his happiness!
"Alright" he said plainly as he took the seat in front of hers and played blind to the disaster her trembling hands were currently making. He got himself settled, with his laptop on his thighs, while he pretended to be busy on his laptop.
They hit the first turbulence the moment they got in air, and Maldives who had not yet even gotten her belts under control, found herself wanting to throw up at the rough movements the plane was making.
"Scheiß drauf!" he cursed in German as he unfastened his belts and walked over to assist her with hers.
"I told you I was fine on my own!" she tried to stop him.
"Would you hold on still?! It wouldn't kill you to admit you don't handle turbulences well you know, it's not such a big deal. A lot of people experience it, Faura does too" he said as he began fixing her belts properly.
"Why should I tell you when I'm not alright?...when it seems like me being in any form of trouble always makes you happy!"
"What?" he stopped in his tracks. "...is that really what you think of me?" he asked with a face that showed he was genuinely hurt by her words. Suddenly, she felt guilty.
"I don"t know...I just sometimes feel like you don't really like me" she said as she stared back at him, God, just one kiss wouldn't hurt right?! She thought to herself and bit her lip. That single action seemed to cause shivers for him as he found himself freeing the now red lip with his thumb "Gott, du bist so schon!" (God, you're so beautiful!)he mumbled as stared into her eyes.
"I—I don't...I don't speak German" she stuttered as she felt herself hot with desire. God, he just has to kiss me! Just place your lips on mine, it's not that hard dummy!
"You don't need to..." he whispered to her, his lips barely inches from hers, "...I don't hate you...but I made promise to you" he said as he painfully pulled himself away from her. "...I'll stay on my own, keep to myself....and I won't ever touch you...unless you ask me to" he concluded, before he stood up, walked back to his seat and typed away on his computer...like nothing happened.
~~~~~
"Miss Coleman...wake up!" Maldivesshe heard someone say to her. This a dream, right?...Fai..doctor...baby..South Africa...
"Hey, I'm here...wake up now"
"Mmhm??? What's wrong? Take me to South Africa" she mumbled in her sleep as she struggled to keep her eyes open. When she eventually did, she saw him chuckling, not sure why, but she was grateful for the heavenly sight that was before her. God... You do grant wishes...I wished for him, and here he is...sweet blue eyes!
"We're here Maldives"
"We're here? Wait, where?" she asked as she opened her eyes fully.
"We're in SA" he smiled as he guided her up. When he was sure she was fine on her own, he walked away to go check on Rachel who slept through most of the 19-hour flight.
"God, my jet-lag right now has no limits!" Rachel yawned as she got out of the mini bed where she had lay down all the while.
"It's okay, you'll be fine Maldives said as she took over from Fai and helped her out the plane. "...are you even supposed to be taking trips like this? I mean with your condition, isn't this a little dangerous for you and the baby?" she asked and looked to Fai a response.
"Don't look at me, I did ask her to stay back, but she insisted" he shuddered.
"Guys, please! Quit fussing over me like a mother hen! I'm only in my first trimester, yet you guys act like the baby is gonna slide right through me any moment. Maldives, I'll be fine, trust me...and Fai, I am your personal assistant, not the other way around. I appreciate the familiarity between the both of us, but please don't pamper me too much" she joked.
"I'm not pampering you, I'm pampering the baby...you can faint all day for all I care" he said sarcastically and made his way to speak to the pilots while their awaiting car loaded their luggage into the trunk.
"Hey Mal, you're not mad at me, are you?" Rachel asked Maldives.
"Mad at you? Why would I be?"
"You know..with what I said before, back on the plane"
"Oh, that...no, I'm fine, trust me. I was never mad about it, I know you didn't know about it...plus, I think I sometimes talk way too much hahaha" she chuckled.
"No you don't, but I'm happy we're good now...and if you ever feel like you want to talk to someone about it, I just want you to know I'm always here" she smiled.
"Of course, I know that...now come on, we've got to get going cause I'm starving!" she said and they chuckled as they made their way to the hotel they had booked.
On their way, they saw a lot of side attractions that caught their attention, particularly Maldives' .
"Damn! So much has changed since the last time I came here" she said as she took photos of the nice views they passed through.
"When was the last time you came here?" Fai asked her from the fronts passengers seat.
"About six years ago"
"Nice, what did you come for?"
"Nothing really...it was just a trip Brenda, Christian and I had saved up for for many years. We made the trip after high school" she smiled at the memory.
"Christian? Who's Christian?" he asked with a voice that sounded deeper than he intended.
"You don't remember Christian? My dark-haired friend, tall, really cute, Latino?"
"Oh, that one..."
"Yeah"
"Hold on, how do you know her friend? Did he visit the office sometime, or do you guys somehow know each other from the past?" Rachel asks confused.
"Well we—" Fai was saying when Maldives cut him off.
"We met during the convocation ceremony...that was where he met my friend too" she said and Fai stared at her, confused. What the hell is she trying to hide? That we've got history? he thought, as he faced his head back in front and began talking to the driver.
"You know Maldives, I have a feeling you two are hiding something" Rachel whispered in her ears before smirking and returning to rest her head on the headrest.
The rest of the journey went on pretty much uneventful. It mostly involved Rachel and Maldives taking photos of side attractions while Fai kept himself busy on his phone. In about an hour, they arrived at the Houghton hotel, Johannesburg, where they were ushered in by the Lodge employees.
"Hello Mr. Regan! You're most welcome to the Houghton Hotel, the Penthouse and Twin suites have been prepared for you on your reservations. Are you ready to be settled in now?" asked the hotel attendant who looked to be in his early thirties.
"Yes please, and they're with me"
"Misses, you're also highly welcome. Please, if you ever find yourself needing something that we haven't yet provided, feel free to ring us via the intercoms provided in your suites"
"Ooooh thanks" Maldives said as one of the many people tending to them, helped her with her luggage. "...are they always this nice?" she whispered to Rachel.
"Yeah, you have no idea. Is this your first time in a five star hotel?"
"Uh-huh" she nodded.
"Wow girl, wait till you feel the sheets, it's nearly impossible to have nightmares in them" she chuckled
They made their way through the glass entrance of the hotel and found that the outer appearance of the hotel didn't do justice to how beautiful the hotel was inside. If there was such a thing as heaven, it was definitely it and Maldives felt like a princess walking the insides of her castle as her heels clicked through the surface of the smooth gold tiles.
The ceilings looked as high as the heavenly canopies, the glasses on the windows looked too transparent to be real and the architecture looked like one that had taken the architect decades to design. Maldives found herself in a state of self comparison as even though her navy blue blazers and work pants appeared good in the eyes, she was pretty sure the fabric was nothing compared to the ones the majority of the guests wore.
They all screamed money. Money and class, like items out of a Forbes magazine, five star restaurants really were a no-joke when it came to the caliber of people that lodged in them.
Like altered clones of Fai, everyone of them seemed to either be involved in the movie or music business, or any other money-spilling venture, like gold mining, technology, real estate and what-not.
"So here are the key cards to your rooms, I asked them to reserve us the suites that are most connected to each other" Fai said as he handed their key cards over to them.
"Oh, I thought we were both gonna be staying in the same room?" Maldives said.
"The same room? Fai asks confused. Did she really expect me to book the same room for the two of us?
"Yes, why not?" she shuddered like nothing happened, but then opened her eyes in realization of what he probably thought she meant. "...oh no, I didn't mean you and I, I meant she and I, Rachel...do you think she needs to be staying alone in her condition?
"Hey, I'll be fine on my own. I don't even have a roommate back at home, I can handle myself"
"Yeah, and our rooms are closely linked to each other, so if she needs us, we'll only be steps away" he said as he bid them farewell.
When Fai got to his suite, he was more than thankful for the chilled glass of cocktail they had left for him on the table. He gulped all its contents down in one rush as he had been feeling seriously jet-lagged from day-long flight that he was not sure he had the strength to figure out his next point of action.
"Shower...I need a goddamn warm shower!" he said to himself as he stretched to release the tension in his tight muscles.
~~~~~
"Coming!" Maldives called out from her room as she sprayed some more of her Kiss-Beauty makeup fix spray and smiled at herself in pleasure of her overall look.
When she walked out to open the door, she saw Rachel who was also all-dressed up and ready to go.
"Did you sleep well? Well, who am I kidding, of course you did, right?"
"Yes, I did in fact sleep well..and you were right about the sheets, those babies feel like baby's bum! she chuckled.
"See? I told you didn't I? Do you have all the documents we need?"
"Yes I do, we're all ready to go" she said and they both walked out her door.
"You both look good" she heard a voice say when they approached the exit of the hotel and when she looked up, she saw Fai, all clad-up in his full business attire. He had a blue-black Armani suit on that hugged his muscular body perfectly, just the way I wanna...
"You look good too" she said, perhaps, too good, but she wasn't going to say that part out loud.
"Thanks, nice curls" he said with a smile that disappeared as soon as it came.
"Oh.." was all that came out of her mouth as she touched the tresses with her fingers. Seems big boy over there is a fan of em 'frols'...if only I could wear them more often at work...
The journey which they expected would take about forty minutes ended up taking them less than thirty five as they were really lucky not to have encountered traffic.
Their destination was the new site which they had recently discovered and their goal was to get the South African government to grant them the mining permit they had been applying for over the past two months.
The minister of Power, Housing and works had requested that they send representatives to discuss what exactly their intentions were with their lands, so they could see if a deal was feasible.
"Wowww...the lands are really beautiful" Maldives said as they made their way through the green pastures.
"Yeah they are, and beneath them lay millions of dollars" Fai added.
"...dollars that we hope to be cashing in on very soon" said a voice from behind them.
"Oh my God, it is you!" said Fai, when he recognized who it was. "...Mr. Lethabo! I didn't think you'd make it!" he said as he hugged and exchanged pleasantries with him.
"I didn't too! You know, when I received that call from you two weeks ago saying that you wanted me to be the prospector for your upcoming project in South Africa, I couldn't believe it, I didn't think you'd remember me after all those years" he smiled.
"Of course I would, how could I forget?! Come, I have to introduce you...this is Miss Coleman and this Rachel, they both work in the company. Maldives, Rachel, this is Mr. Lethabo, an old friend of mine I met during my first trip here some years ago, he saved me from a snake bite back then and he'll be the prospector for this project" he said as he introduced them to him.
He offered Rachel a friendly handshake which she took, then he paused in his tracks when he saw Maldives, "...and who's this pretty one?" he asked as he held her hand firmly, perhaps too firmly, and his change in tone and countenance didn't go unnoticed by all of them, especially Fai.
"I'm Maldives" she responded with slight discomfort in the way he held her hand and especially looked at her.
"You are very pretty...are you also American?" he asked as he scanned her body from head to toe, enraging Fai whose control was hanging by a very thin thread.
"No—no I'm Nigerian" she cleared her throat.
"Ohh, my African lady, that explains why—"
"Alright Lethabo, we have a meeting with the Minister in about ten minutes, so we better get going" he cut him off. Before I rip your fucking bald head off! He unhooked her palm from his and pulled her in front of him as they trailed back to their cars to drive to the minister's quarters.
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