“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
“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