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
“Can you see that? He attacked him! That nobody dared to attack my boyfriend!”With Susan’s shrieks ringing in their ears, they were led out of the restaurant through the back door.Ayo swore under his breath when he saw that a few reporters who must have realised that they were leaving rushed towards them. But before they could get to them, Tanya’s car arrived and they quickly entered the car.The driver peeled out with speed and Ayo looked back to see Tanya’s men stopping the reporters from following them.He was already blaming himself for his rash action as he turned back to Tanya.Her face was turned away, and he couldn’t see her expression in the tinted window.“Tanya, I…”He turned sharply when he saw her shoulders shaking.Was she crying? Oh shit!He held her shoulder, “Tanya, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t…”He gaped at her when she turned to him, and he could see that her face was brilliant with silent laughter.Her shoulder was shaking because she was holding it in.She could l
The closer they got, the more tense he got.Tanya felt the need to tell him that she had not been living in a bubble over the years.She wanted to let him know that she had been in the rundown part of the city before.Though she had never been to any of them without her entourage, nor had she actually come to the Bariga part of the city before, she knew it couldn’t be worse than some of the areas she had been to visit orphanages and give relief to those in need.They rode in silence since he gave the cab man his address. She had kept her eyes closed as she felt he wasn’t in the mood for conversation.She wondered why a man who had been so confident even under the scrutiny of the media would seem nervous just because she wanted to see where he stayed.Was he ashamed?“What is there to be ashamed of?” she wondered as she opened her eyes and turned to look at him.His head was turned to the other side and the hard features of his face made her rethink what she was about to say.Words mig
“You can’t blame me, bro,” Barechested with a hammer in his hand, Gbade scratched his head with the hammer.“I can. You should have said something when we entered instead of staying in the wardrobe like a fool,” Ayo said tersely.Behind him, Tanya buttoned her shirt and put on her glasses and cap.“Can I turn around now?” Gbade asked in a whiny tone.Ayo looked at Tanya and she nodded jerkily.She still wished the floor would just open up and swallow her.Gbade’s big belly jiggled as he turned around and said, “You really can’t blame me, bro. You know how this area can be. I just got back from my trip and I suddenly heard someone opening the door. I couldn’t take any chances.”Ayo gave him a scathing look before shaking his head. He looked at the hammer in his hand, “So you were going to brain them with that?”“Wasn’t ready to let them take my hard-earned money just like that, you know. One of us would have met our creator today.” he boasted as he lifted the hammer like he wanted to
She received the news with more calmness than he had expected.While he was fuming that her damn ex had struck again, she simply collected the newspaper from her assistant, collected her coffee and calmly sat down to read it.Then she went through the posts online before switching on the TV set to watch the morning news.The segment that followed the news programme was Glamour Gaze.She stayed glued to the TV as the two journalists on what was apparently a gossip show showed the graphic image of Martinez’s bruised face.Ayo couldn’t believe that a single punch had caused such a bruise, but the picture was enlarged so much that it was hard to miss.The presenters talked gleefully about Martinez’s new claim that Tanya was the one who had actually cheated on him while he had been enduring it because of his love for her. Even though they kept their faces professionally respectful, the disdain was clear in their tone when discussing how Tanya asked Ayo to beat Martinez up because he promi
Ayo had never been so proud of standing beside anyone.She read him her speech after she was done with it, and he was so impressed that he couldn’t find the right words.He just grabbed and kissed her before declaring, “You’ve got this.”Meg complimented how well they looked together when they came down the stairs and even Christianah bobbed her head in agreement.Ayo was sure that Ruffs would have the “I told you so” look on his face if he could see how well his two-piece suit fitted him.Thankfully, Ruffs had not found any reason to come disturb him that morning about how he should act at the event.If for nothing else, Ayo was glad about Tanya’s important announcement about the conference.“They are waiting for you,” Meg said before she led the way to the massive ballroom they were using for the conference.Sudden nerves fluttered in Ayo’s stomach just as they got closer. As if she sensed it, she linked her hand with his and gave him a reassuring look.This woman.Ayo didn’t have t
“So, you are a coward?”The simple, accepting way she asked was the last straw for him.“What did you just call me?” he asked in a dangerously soft tone as he narrowed his gaze on her.Still with her legs crossed, she shrugged and said, “It is a question. Are you a coward?”When he did not answer, she added “I would have thought you are not. I guess I was wrong.”She stood up and turned to her vanity to remove her earrings. “Chicken” she added casually.She was trying to rile him up. She was doing it on purpose.Ayo knew that, but still, he couldn’t stop himself from walking over to grab and turn her around.“When you insult me, you look at me. Say that to my face,” he said harshly with racing breath.She looked at him innocently like she was going to back down, then suddenly she raised her arms like a flapping bird and let out a cackling, “Bawk bawk bawk,"Ayo growled in frustration, wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her closer while his harsh breathing filled the room.In