By midday, Ayo already felt like he would go crazy soon.The continuous talk of Ruffs and the constant buzzing around by the assistant was getting on his nerves.What more? Ruffs wouldn’t go away despite Ayo’s protests.“Princess needs me to teach you all you need to know before the end of the day” had been his constant mantra.For a moment, Ayo had almost despised Tanya for all of this. Almost.He tried to call her to get her dog off his back, but it was useless.Meg had picked up the call and told him in that frosty tone that Tanya was not available to pick up calls.“Please, focus on your training, Mr Taiwo. You will need it sooner than we thought,” she said before disconnecting the call.“That woman!” Ayo had gritted out before going back to his punishment. Ruffs was showing him the proper ways to use certain weird-looking utensils then.Why the hell did he need to remove the snail from its shell when the cook could have done that? He wondered in frustration.Apparently, it was su
Ayo knew what that tone meant.The scathing look on the lady’s face was not necessary for him to know what she meant by that single question.He was not welcome here.Oh, he knew that, but then the premium card in his pocket beg to differ.He was already feeling like shit and having it slammed on his face that he was an impostor was not sitting well with him.Still, he managed a thin smile as he said, “I am here to get some clothes. Thought that was what this place was meant for?” The lady’s nose flared in contempt as she gave him a once-over and said; “We don't have something you can get.”“Really?” Ayo asked innocently, then he pointed at a shirt on the rack behind her. “I think I would like to take that.”“It is not for sale” she said immediately without looking back.“You mean it is not for sale for me, don’t you, sweetheart?” he asked with a wink.Even as a blush tinted the lady’s cheek, she cleared her throat and looked pointedly at the door. “Please, leave before I call the co
“I can’t believe this. It is one thing after the other with you,” Meg fumed as she paced the patio.Ayo hung his head in a show of embarrassment.In truth, he wouldn’t mind returning to that store to punch that man’s face all over again.At least, he would be satisfied that it had been worth the trouble after all.He only got in two punches and wiped the floor with one of the security guards.His flying kick had done that while the other guard had stayed back.Ayo had not realised that the coward was calling the cop.He was surprised when they got there within minutes.In this part of the world where the cops can arrive at a robbery scene hours after the incident, he was shocked to realise that they would rush over for such a trivial thing.The manager’s nose was bleeding badly when they got there and it didn’t take much before the cops held his arms behind him and cuffed him.Within the blink of an eye, Ayo was pushed into their vehicle before he could even explain himself.The manag
“This has to stop.”“Explanation, please,” Ayo said in a deceptively soft voice.He had watched her pace to and fro since they entered her bedroom.The fact that the gesture resembled what her manager was doing earlier annoyed him enough that he turned his mind to something more interesting.How much were they paying those bastards for them to risk their lives that way?Climbing a tree to take pictures? As much as it annoyed him at the time, he couldn’t help but be amused.Maybe being a paparazzo paid a lot.Why didn’t he think of that before settling for working at a car wash?His initial anger seemed to have seeped out of him somewhere between her soft lips pressing against his and the ridiculous sight of grown men up in the trees.In the wake of his anger was a sudden weariness that made him want to stick his middle finger at the world at large.And now, she had to say that. She turned to look at him, and something shifted inside him.She really was beautiful in an ethereal way. T
“I don’t like spending your money, I don’t need Ruffs breathing down my neck, I don’t need your manager scolding me like a child and I definitely don’t need a thousand and one designer wears. What more? Who cares how I hold my fork? I just want to eat. You agree with me that all those aren’t necessary, don’t you?” he said with a bit of frustration.For the first time since they entered the room, she gave him an easy smile, “You need them,” she said apologetically. “If you really want to do this, then all these things are needed. They will tear you down anyway, but then if you are equipped in the right way, the sting will be less,” she said sincerely.Ayo considered that, and he liked the sound of it, “I don’t want to go about with your card,”“We will get you your own,” she said smoothly.“It will still be your money.”“We can consider it a sort of payment for doing this,”His look darkened before he said, “Don’t insult me,” “I am sorry. What about we count it as a loan? You can pay
“Why do I feel like you can let go of all this and produce your own movie? It will be less painful.” Ayo hesitated as the driver parked in front of The Karina.Tanya shook her head with a smile, “Only you would think that having dinner with the James Harvey is painful.”Ayo grinned before he asked with fake innocence, “Who is this guy again?”Tanya played along and touched her hand to her forehead with a groan, “I think I need to fire Ruffs after all. How can he not explain this to you?”“Yeah, that is a very good idea,” Ayo agreed readily. “I tell you that guy is not good at his job. Fire him, please. I can do fine on my own. See? I even managed to dress myself without the babysitter.”Tanya hid her smile as she gave him a considering look. “You are right,” she said solemnly.Then she tugged at the lapels of the blue custom suit that fitted him to a tee. She patted it into place before rolling her eyes at him “You are not getting out of this that easily, you know. Ruffs is staying an
Melinda!” James' curt tone was sharper this time, and he looked directly at his fuming wife, who seemed like she had more to say, but she thought better of it and picked up her wineglass again.Tanya smiled sweetly and said, “Shall we order?”James shook his head, “Actually, I have lost my appetite. We all know why you are here. Let’s get it out of the way. I have somewhere else to be.”Tanya’s smile disappeared as she said, “Fine. I find it unfair that you decide not to launch Tainted Desires because of an unrelated event.”“Unrelated?” James asked with a raised brow, “You are the lead actress. The main face of the movie, and pardon me for calling a spade a spade, but most of your fans hate you right now. I can’t take that risk.”“I won’t go as far as to say hate. And why should that matter, really? I put my sweat and blood into that movie. I gave four months of my life for it too. You know my rule of not taking on two projects at a time. I did my very best for that movie, and now you
Ayo thought the night was over but soon realised it was just beginning.After the producer left with his thin-rail wife, he had the best dinner ever with Tanya, where she gave him the juicy details of how she had beaten Melinda in two contests and how Melinda’s poor acting skills made her lose a role.The director gave the role to Tanya, and she only found out later that it was taken from Melinda.Soon enough, Melinda became engaged to the widowed producer and announced that she was leaving her career to focus on her home.Many gossiped behind Melinda that she was just a trophy wife, who passed up her flopping career for a ring, but Tanya had never joined them.She and Melinda had always been polite to each other though Meg had always told her that the lady did not mean well for her.With her snide comments that night, Ayo could see what Meg meant.Gradually, their conversation moved from the woman to other things.Ayo couldn’t remember the last time he had had such an enjoyable time