CHAPTER TEN
Nma walked back to her house feeling elated, joyous and wonderful, she closed the door, leaned back on it with a dreamy look on her face. There was no going back she thought. She couldn't deny it any longer; Uche was everything she wanted in a man and more. He was so handsome and huge she breathed and sat down on the arm chair he had sat on. His pure male scent still lingered in the cushions. Contented, she relaxed on the armchair, feeling and breathing in his scent as if he was still there. The share masculinity he exuded. The way he controlled his temper and the way he said serious things calmly but with firm authority all the time Ken tried to upset him. He never raised his voice; neither did he call him names when Ken called him names, ranging from bastard, blackmailer to womanizer. He only let Ken know of what he was going to do and how he was going to do it fearlessly.
How he jumped into her defense when Ken practically called her a money monger. Going ahead to applaud and describe her to the very fine tips. Truly he was everything she needed in man so what was she hesitating for? She asked herself. Well if at all she would give in to this temptation he would be her first true love affair. If she did give in, she would be going in with her whole heart and if she got hurt, she might never recover. But if she didn't, her heart would still be broken and the effect would still be as disastrous, she thought ruefully. The truth was that she was already in too deep. She had allowed herself to fall in love with a man she barely knew, a man everybody called a womanizer and a man women were always after, meaning she would be in constant competition with them. Being a man he might get attracted to one of them even for a fleeting moment even that would break her heart she thought.
But was she really into it? She asked herself, was she willing to take the final step which would lead to his bed. Was she ready to face the wrath of God? He was everything she wanted in a man and she was sure God had designed that both of them would spend the rest of their lives together because she was sure that their coming together was foreordained. There was a force greater than what the eyes could see and that force was drawing both of them together. If that be the case she reasoned, if truly God approved that both of them would be together. If that was the case, there was no need to fear that he would leave her because she said no to sex. She was sure that. As much as she tried to hold on that faith, she knew it was shaky, the guy could hardly keep his hands off her. He was used to a certain kind of life, he would never accept it. She could see him struggling to be celibate and failing at it miserably and worst of all hating her for demanding it. She shuddered at the word hate that was the last thing she wanted. She couldn't bear for him to hate her. She would rather set him free than have him hate her, she sighed. Why couldn't she just fall in love with Ken, with Ken she wouldn't spend time being afraid of losing him. She sighed and got up from the chair and saw his half drank juice; she couldn't resist feeling a taste of him again so she lifted the cup to her lips. She closed her eyes and drank from the cup, again feeling the taste of him on her lips. She savored the moment. She didn't realize she was crying till she felt the tears on cheeks. There was no need to shed tears about the hopelessness of her love for him, she thought. She dried her tears and picked up the cups and tray and carried it to the kitchen
"Oh, what a mess" she sighed as she rinsed the cups. Why at this time when she needed all her wit about her to forge ahead did this man choose to come and snatch her heart away without so much as by your leave? Then she said a single prayer "Help me dear Lord to live in thine own way" then she turned and left for her studio where she could forget him for a moment.
Nma worked till her back was almost breaking, tiredly she went off to bed. As her head hit the bed, she was up again excited, waiting for Uche to call. She waited for a long time and when the phone didn't ring, a fierce wave of disappointment washed over her.
"This is insanity" she muttered. "How can I expect him to call me every evening, he is a busy man and for that reason cannot be at my beck and call" she cautioned herself. He might not even be at home she thought, closing her eyes and willing herself to sleep.
It was dark when Uche got home from the office; he had spent a gruesome day with Star working. He didn't have lunch and he was very hungry. He went straight to the kitchen. What a day he thought as he prepared to eat. He laughed quietly remembering the scene with Ken, though he wasn't sure if the deal between him and Nma was still on but he was sure that she had seen the guy's true color and would soon give him back his engagement ring. Then he stopped as the magnitude of what he had done dawned on him. If he made her break off her engagement, what was he offering her in return? He asked himself. Wasn't he selfishly denying her a chance of settling down in exchange for one or two rumps in his bed that would be forgotten soon enough? Because he was sure that was all he wanted from her. Suddenly he felt like a big liar but surely he wanted nothing from the girl but a brief affair till his lust was sated. That had been the plan and he had better stick with the plan. Yes given he cared for her probably because she was younger than most women he had dated. He had never dated anyone that young before, so it was natural if he felt sorry for her but he wanted her, the thought of her sets him on fire. He was sure that if Star hadn't called with her troubles, he would never have left her and he would probably have brought her home with him. He wondered what she thought of him, wouldn't she rather be surprised that he had not taken any definite step in consummating their affair? Then he asked himself why he always gave in to the numerous excuses she gave. And why was she afraid of sleeping with him because he was also sure that she was. Then he remembered Ken. Was she really afraid of cheating on him, he doubted that after seeing the two of them together. There was no familiarity between them that showed that they were lovers. They were distant and almost gave out the impression that there was no love lost between them. It was obvious they didn't love each other. So at the long run he was doing her a big favor. She was better off alone than being with the wrong man and even a blind man could see that Ken was all kinds of wrong for her.
He left the kitchen and slowly made his way to his bedroom and she followed him. She had sat at a corner watching him as he ate. She didn't feel inclined to hide because he hadn't bothered to turn on the light. He had been contented to eat in the darkness. But she observed that his mind was not in the meal because he would stop eating for while thinking then he would resume eating again and she wondered what he thought about. She hoped it was about work and not about a woman, especially the woman he had dinner with on the beach. If it was about work then she could help him by loving him but if it was about that woman, there was only one way of helping and that would be getting rid of the woman. She wondered why the thought of this particular woman bothered her so much more than the others. She wasn't the first woman he had brought to the house and most of the women ended up spending the nights, he had even gone steady with some of them, so why was she scared of this one? Even his girlfriend Angela didn't scare her, she could tell by watching them that he had no emotional attachment to Angela. Then she stopped shock, and then she knew why she was scared of the woman. She had watched them together, she had seen the light come to his eyes when he looked at her, she had seen him exhibit tenderness as he sought for excuses to touch her when they were together. She covered her mouth with her hands to stop herself from screaming. Uche was falling in love with another woman. No! She thought, she had to be mistaken, he couldn't. She wouldn't let him have another woman. She was his woman; the only one he was destined to have. No, it couldn't be true; he hadn't brought the woman home since then. If he was falling in love with the woman would he not prefer to spend the weekend with her. But he left since morning possibly to her house. She stopped as he closed the door behind him. She knew he would turn on the lights and television set to catch the late news especially business news then he would take his bath and go to bed; then she would creep in as usual to watch him and just before dawn she would sneak out. She laughed because she was nearly caught by his sister the last time she had sneaked in to watch him sleep but she had been smarter. She decided she wasn't going to think about his latest fling, she was not important, even if she was, she could very easily get rid of her like she had gotten rid of almost everything she disliked. She smiled and waited for the indication that he was sleeping. And one day, she knew she would get the courage to climb into his bed. She smiled and closed her eyes to day dream of all the wonderful things they could do together on his bed.
Uche woke up and looked around, he was sure something woke him; he heard his door opening and closing. He sighed and thought it was a dream. He had the most satisfying dream; of course he was with witch who had bewitched him. He picked up his phone and dialed her number. He was acting like love struck teenager and he knew it and yet there was nothing he could do to stop himself. He thought it was satisfying way to wake up on a Sunday morning. Just as the phone was ringing, his house keeper daughter entered, this morning she covered herself properly and he was glad only that he was still in bed and naked. He became angry but held on to temper. He motioned her to drop the glass of juice as Nma picked up the phone. "Hello beautiful!" "I thought I could tempt you to breakfast in my house, I will send my chauffeur and he would be at your place in thirty minutes.
Nma laughed, she was very tempted but she politely declined. She knew what breakfast in his house on a Sunday morning meant. She knew that he would expect that they spend the rest of the day together but the question was if he tried to make love to her would she honestly feel shocked. When a virile man like Uche who had done nothing to hide the fact that he wanted you asked to you to breakfast in his home on a weekend morning, you should possible pack a weekend bag because it would be inevitable that you spend the night in his bed.
"So you are saying no" he cut into her thoughts
"Yes I am, I have to go to church. I never miss church" she told him
"I hope you are not that religious"
"Oh! But I am" she told cheerfully.
"Well ok I will call you later"
"Do you know what time it is?" she asked him
"Yes 6 am, I guess the thought of you woke me up" he told her
"Oh! You were thinking of me that much; I thought you would have called before now"
"I came home late and I was quite tired, had a difficult day with Star" he paused
Nma felt a jolt of resentment at the mention of the woman's name.
"I swear that woman is a slave driver and she has the guts to accuse me of the very evil she is" he joked then he noticed that she was quiet.
"You are not jealous of Star are you?"
"No" she answered
"Very good because I like her very much and she understands me more than anybody I know" he said adding to Nma's already inflamed mind.
"Are you sure you don't want to come over?" he asked yet again
"I am sure" she answered
"Alright, see you later" and he rang off, wondering why he thought it necessary for her to have breakfast with him. He shook his head in self pity and got up from the bed,
Monday mornings were usually the worst mornings of Uche's life. He had numerous meeting with the various vice presidents of his companies around the globe. Mostly they discussed via video conference. It was tiring talking to men and women when they were not there with you. He held his head, he could feel the beginning of a dull headache. This would be the fifth meeting of the day and he still had about four meetings to get through with those he could see and touch. His door opened and Star came bearing a glass of water and some analgesic. He looked at her like she was an angel. He swallowed the drugs.
"Is there no way I can postpone the remaining meetings. Gush! My head is buzzing already"
"When you spend the weekend moonlighting instead of resting that's what you get" she smiled at him
"Slave driver" he called her and she laughed
"But if you are not feeling too good, we can postpone after all you are the boss"
"No let me get this over and done with and I pity anyone of them who dares to annoy me"
"I will just let it slip that the boss is not in a good mood, they are here already, I will give you five minutes and will let them in"
"Ten" he told her, she winked at him, sashaying to the door but the door was opened by another person, Angela. She waited for the door to close behind Star. She threw a magazine on his table.
Uche looked at the magazine; on the front page was a picture of him and Nma outside her house. At least the picture looked good, he thought. He had his hands around her waist. He was towering over her smiling at down her while she was smiling up at him. It looked as if they had posed for the photo. The caption got his attention
BILLIONAIRE UCHE OKOHA IN HOT SECRET ROMANCE WITH FASHION ICON NMA.
But he didn't care to understand was why Angela was confronting him with it
"Uche what is the meaning of this?" she screamed and he held his head
Uche was angry he could barely contain it but for her sake and for old time sake he decided to be calm.
"What is the meaning of what?
"You and the designer are all over the tabloids and blogs; I cannot believe you would be so callous and disrespect me before the whole world"
He wondered what was wrong with the woman, if anybody should be feeling bad presently that would be Nma who had him to thank for flashing her face in every gossip magazine and all over social media.
"I told you I was seeing Nma, I told you Angela it was no secret"
"But I thought she was a passing fancy" she cried
"Yes you did but I remember I tried to correct that impression Angela and now I am a bit irritated by this drama"
"You call this a drama? Do you know how many reporters have called me to find out if I was still seeing you and what I thought about this?"
He didn't know that and he felt sorry for her
"I see how you might feel awkward answering them but why not just tell them the truth; there was nothing serious between us to begin with in first place"
She gasped "Nothing serious to begin with? Uche I can't believe this, what are you talking about? We were going out!"
"As mere friends Angela honestly I believed you were matured enough to understand the difference"
"I understand that you might be sleeping with her and not with me but you were the one who chose to live that way" she screamed at him
"For obvious reasons that I wasn't interested enough" he told her quietly "Angela, please stop this, it is really childish and besides I have some of my VPs waiting. I am sorry if I caused you any embarrassment but I told you about Nma before now"
She wiped tears from her eyes, "This is hardly the end of this Uche and as for that silly tart, I hope you told her whose business she is messing in" she turned and left.
He heaved a sigh. He picked up his phone and dialed his security never to allow Angela into his office or home ever again. He was about to dial the intercom to ask the VPs in when he remembered Nma. She could be feeling bad he thought and dialed her. He dialed several times and couldn't get to her. This feeling was new to him. He never used to worry about the women he dated just for the simple reason that most of them were women who could take care of themselves but Nma was different. She was still naïve in some certain aspects of life. The reporters must be hounding her.
He wanted to go to her and comfort her. He wanted to protect her from the sharks that would use every means possible to get to her. But he had work to do. So he did the next best thing. He asked his security to head over to her store and protect her till he could get there.
Nma was irritated and angry; the next call she got after Uche's was a reporter who wanted to know what was happening between her and Uche. At first when she heard the ringing of her phone, her heart had lurched with excitement she thought it was Uche but the person at the other end turned out to be an unexpected nightmare. And then it began call after call, every reporter wanted a bit of the news. They wanted to know how long she has been going out with Uche, some wanted to know if she knew of Angela. Others wanted to know how they met and if they are planning anything as serious as marriage soon. Really it was a nightmare and after she had managed to rebuff them by telling them there was nothing serious between herself and Uche Okoha, the call ceased for a while but every once in a while she got one. Stepping out of her house was another story and she grew more irritated. There were some men in a car with camera waiting for her thinking that was the easiest way to get an exclusive interview from her. When she ignored them and got into her car, they began to shout questions at her.
"Is it true you have set a date for your marriage?" she reversed furiously
"We have it on good authority that Angela Ojo said that you are nothing but a filthy rat and passing fling?"
"She also said that she would be fighting for his love because flings like you always comes"
Nma knew she would never be more furious in her life. She drove away leaving the silly reporters behind her. It was even worse because only few tenacious reporters could find out where she lived but everyone knew where her boutique was. She had help in the person of Felix and few police men he had called. Once inside the boutique, she breathed a sigh of relief but a look around her place told her what her staff were thinking.
"Is there no work today?" she asked
"All the customers who came in today had nothing but question for them, I was afraid one of them will let her mouth run" Felix answered her leading her to his office
"So we are going to be closed today?" she asked highly irritated
"Well for the time being till things calm down a bit" he told her closing the door behind them
"I don't like that Felix; I am not going to close down my business just because of some lousy reporters who have nothing better to do"
"You know it is right thing to do honey"
"I know it makes me look like a coward. Let them be the one sneaking in, let them write what they will I have resolved to be unaffected by whatever they write. Besides the more we avoid them the more mystery we create"
"Okay I see your point but I have one question for you, what were you thinking inviting Okoha to your house"
She smiled at him and gave him hug "Right now I have no answer to that but later I guess I will"
"That's not going to work so answer me now!"
"Felix really I can't explain, it is complicated and right now I need to catch up on some work, see you later" she said leaving
"And please tell those girls to open shop" she said
Nma sat down on her seat and glanced through her schedule. She looked at her phone and wondered if Uche had seen the papers and the internet. She was sure he had and she wondered why he hadn't called to find out how she was doing. After all it was entirely his fault that she was being hounded by reporters. Maybe he didn't care or thought everyone was used to it like he was. She knew that the reporters were always after him but he should know it would all be new to her. She sighed and thought about calling but changed her mind if he was not going to call her then she wouldn't call him, he was the one owing her an apology for disrupting her peaceful life and not the other way round. She got up and decided to do some work at the studio; she knew that working while the phone stared at her could offer a temptation she would find hard to resist. Without wasting any more time she left her office to her studio. First of all she went into the larger studio to see how her head cutter was doing. The man was good, she had employed him from a local fashion school and he has been with her for four years and she was afraid she might lose him soon.
She opened the door to her studio where the more tedious work were done, here she and Helen created exotic wears for only the rich, people who wanted to remain exclusive in their style. People like Uche Okoha, the upper class men and women. Her assistant Helen was standing by the cutting table eyeing a material like she was wondering what to do with it. Helen turned as she closed the door and smiled easily at her.
"Now if this isn't the latest celebrity"
Nma smiled and walked in "How I wish I feel like one" she laughed
"But what is the difference?" Helen asked innocently
"A celebrity doesn't have to be linked with a man to get known, they get known and are then linked to men" Nma said
"Same difference" Helen answered "Most celebrities might not be linked with the opposite sex to get to the papers but they link themselves to them to get into lime light" Helen explained
Nma was trying to make sense out of what Helen was saying when her phone rang and her heart skipped a bit
"Hello" she spoke.
"Hello, this is Eva, remember me?" Eva laughed easily
"What a surprise, of course I remember you" Nma said politely. "How are you?"
"Oh! I am fine; just a bit busy you with everything, the wedding and the bank"
"I understand, it has been pretty much the same for me with the exception of a wedding of course" she laughed
"Oh! But I tend to disagree with that, I know my brother is a hand full so if it is not wedding, it could be handling him"
At that point Nma didn't know what to say to her because she was absolutely right. Handling Uche Okoha was a full time job and one she didn't want. She was contemplating on setting the record straight with Eva that she was not in a relationship with her brother but Eva was speaking again.
"I was thinking we could meet for lunch this afternoon that is if you are not too busy" she added quickly.
Nma heaved a sigh, she was sure she knew why Eva wanted to have lunch with her; she wanted to get the full gist of the whole buzz. Then again a little girly gossip was probably all she needed to feel fine since Uche was being so insensitive and had not thought of knowing how she was coping.
"Actually I was supposed to meet a client for lunch but she canceled at the last minute, so I am free"
"Alright, very well, it's no problem then?"
"It's no problem, in fact you have added a sparkle to my day" Nma revealed
"Really, you are going to enjoy it more when we meet, meet me at Lawrence by one if that's okay"
"Its fine with me, see you then"
"Wait a minute have you seen the papers, you and Uche are looking really hot" Eva cued.
So she was right after all Eva wanted first hand gist. Where was the harm in telling her Nma thought?
"Actually I have not rested from bloggers; I was going to switch off my phone before you called" Nma told her.
"How lucky for me, anyway the caption read Billionaire, Uche Okoha in hot romance with Nma and they called you a fashion icon"
Nma was grateful that at least they gave her an identity; she was not lost in his shadow as one unknown girl who was lucky enough to attract the attention of a billionaire. But what did Uche think? She wondered. She wanted to know and she knew that only Eva was close enough to tell her the truth.
"What did Uche think?" Nma asked tentatively.
"Oh, I don't know really, I am waiting to taunt him when I would have enough time to savor it but he's used to it, he would only be worried about you. You know they might start digging about you. And I assure you he is going to be very rattled, because this time they are telling the truth." Eva laughed
"I don't know what you are talking about " Nma complained.
"Let's not waste our entire gist on the phone" Eva suggested
"Okay but it is quite scary when I remember my run in with them twice I shudder to think that they would be digging about me"
"Don't worry, maybe another story will come up and they will forget about you."
"I hope so" Nma murmured worriedly.
"I'll see you this afternoon right?"
"Certainly" Nma replied.
"Bye then" Eva rang off.
Nma heaved a sigh, what was her life turning into? What was happening to her once stable life? All of a sudden a man appeared and turned it upside down.
Was this how the rich lived, always in a continuous run from the media? Was this the type of life she would be expected to live with Uche? She thought shocked. Followed about by men with cameras, she was not going to succumb to that lifestyle no not at all.
"Hello! I am still here" Helen waved a hand in front of her"
Nma smiled "I was just thinking about..." she trailed because she couldn't just start telling Helen about her private life. "Anyway have you finished that gown what's the name of that actress that wanted it for her movie premiere?"
"Right over there" Helen pointed and Nma went to inspect.
Nma inspected the evening gown that she herself had cut and sown but had given her assistant to finish up. Impressed by the work Helen had done, she turned and went to stand beside her.
"It will be sent off tomorrow morning, I have something for you, remember those Bubu we showcased sometime ago, this new boutique wants them, I hope you can cope with it" Nma said seriously.
"Certainly" Helen agreed.
"What about the damask and silk material we ordered, were they not supposed to arrive today?" Nma asked
"I've called them; it's on its way."
"Good, I'll like to see them when they arrive" Nma instructed turning towards the door.
Nma wanted to escape to her office; she didn't want Helen asking her questions about the gossip in the papers and on the internet., was it really gossip? She asked herself. After all they were telling the truth but they were wrong when they said she was in a hot romance with Uche. She heaved sigh, she didn't think she wanted to go into that with Helen or with Eva, not when she didn't understand it herself.
"Okay we are done with business, you were all over social media this morning" Helen said smiling and Nma heaved a sigh "I was thinking you would take the hint that I don't want to talk about him" she smiled at Helen.
"But why" Helen cued unrepentant "oh! But that guy is so gorgeous, what woman wouldn't give her right arm to be noticed by him"
"This woman didn't and wouldn't" Nma laughed, pointing at herself. It was really hard to be stern or angry with Helen, the girl was always in a good mood and Nma could never tell why she was always happy.
"Really, well there is not a man who wouldn't look at you twice"
Nma laughed. "All men look at women twice"
" But geez! Girl! Uche Okoha, Rich, tall, dark and handsome'
Nma smiled, "you are funny Helen, don't let what you see deceive you, men are not always good as they look" she advised.
"I know the real thing when I see one. That guy is for real; don't let the publicity snatch this away from you. He could be your stepping stone and you should utilize all opportunity darling. This is earth and one must survive one way or the other"
Nma was astonished by Helen's advice so she remained silent for a few moment "I'll think about that Helen, but sometimes one way or the other sounds illegal" Nma finished.
Helen laughed. "You are smart, it is just like that, nothing illegal" Helen replied.
Nma shook her finger at her playfully and walked out.
As she walked back to her office, she recalled when she had first employed Helen. She was reluctant to employ her because she did her apprenticeship in a very local tailoring shop and had no experience in design even though the tailoring she did her apprenticeship at had the name fashion and designing. She also had no experience or an idea of what it took to work in a fashion house like Nma much less as her assistant. Compared to the other resumes she had gotten from other girls she was a flop. But to her greatest astonishment, hers was the best with a very unique idea from the little practical she had given out to all the girls. She had employed her immediately recognizing that her talent could be improved and enhanced with time and little training and she was yet to regret that decision. Months after employing her she had improved and was almost perfect. She laughed as she remembered Helen's advice, it was not as if they didn't talk and joke but it had never been about a man before. She knew nothing about Helen's love or personal life at all. All she knew about her were written on her resume. she must have been talking from her experience. Nma laughed quietly going into her office.