Chapter Seven Nena and Dani

Nena and dani.

The alarm rang loud to wake the couple who were still wrapped up together in their bed sheets, both stressed up from the activities they engaged in the previous night.

“dani please put it off already” nena had ordered. 

Maestro stretched his arm out to put off the alarm since the noise had become clearly unbearable to his ears.

It was 6 am in the morning. The couple apparently didn’t want to get up this early even though maestro had ordered his driver to pick him up at that exact time.

Its been only 2 weeks since nena had made the trip to Abuja to represent Lucile in the rape lawsuit . two weeks being away from her lover but it felt like she had been away for ages. The way they both stared at each others eyes brought out a glare in both their faces.

As they both lay naked underneath the sheets, Nena felt the warmth she had not felt in a long time. Laying there , staring at his eyes, nena could finally agree that Dani possessed a charm in those burning eyes that she had never seen in any other guy. It was this charm that was able to magically turn an uptight hotshot lawyer like herself who never allowed any guy a shot at her, into this fragile lover girl. She really couldn’t believe herself ,but she did love what was going on here.

The love story of these two had been a very strange one indeed.. a tale of chance , so perfect that it could be said to have been written in the stars if only it weren't a charade.

Maestro rose to Nena's face by the support of his elbow and looked into her face. "Morning sunshine" 

"Morning baby" 

"So Last night was a blast" he said smiling

She nodded in accordance

"So have you met with your Dad yet?"

"No I haven't. I drove straight down here. You can see my box behind the closet over there. I haven't been to his place yet"

"So you haven't told him about the plans yet?"

"No she said. Looking away. I just want to be done with this Lucile's case first before I can focus on anything else."

"That's smart love. Just don't get all too worked up about it".

"Thank you dear." She smiled at him raising her palms over his face. " and don't worry, I'll talk to him about it as soon as I get the chance"

"Don't sweat it baby, it's cool". He pecked her lips then smiled back at her " look at us , talking marriage plans like we weren't just two strangers who couldn't get along six months ago"

"I know Right?."

"Remember the first time we met?"

"Yes I do." 

Nena smiled again , turning her face away from him ,now blushing. She remembered the story perfectly well. She had just driven to McCarty's, her favorite bar in the town after a long day at work on her birthday.

 She was in such a hurry to meet with her friends Mara and Clara ,who decided to celebrate with her there . Mara and Clara had been her closest friends from childhood and they were the only ones who were thoughful enough to invite her over for some shots on her to celebrate, considering how much of a workaholic loner she had honed herself to be.  

Mara was a light skinned brunette , with a height of 6ft2 and the perfect tan . She worked as an auditor for a small firm In the city. she was slim , a little busty and way too tall for a 28 year old . Clara her sister,was of a considerably appropriate height for her age, with a beautiful face that was perforated with two beautifully dotted dimples that illuminated her cheeks whenever she had a smile on. She was of darker skin , obviously more melanin, and possessd a waist curve that made all men above puberty to drool whenever she walked past. She was about completing her Masters program in the university of Lagos at the time. 

"What kept you so long" Clara asked as she saw Nena approach the bar table. They had been waiting on her to show up for a long time before they could begin ordering shots. Mara, on the other hand, was already drunk. Apparently she had got tired of waiting and thought every shot after the other would be her only one, till it got her ordering another "just one more"she says.

"I'm so sorry for keeping you guys waiting" Nena began upon approaching the table. " I was so caught up with work at the office, I lost track of time".

"Even on your birthday?" Clara asked cynically " girl you ready do need to get a life".

" I know , I know, I'm really trying. But my life is really evolved around work"

"Obviously , you are not trying hard enough. Cause you look like you are running out of life" Mara interjected, turning her eyes around Nena, looking all drunk and weird. " Look at your face, when was the last time you had a good night out to take care of yourself, or treat yourself at the spa, or even had good romance"

"Hey c'mon, you guys know I've got that romance part on check" Nena interjected. 

"Hmmm" Clara cried out sarcastically in a subtle tone.

"Girl, your ruthless one night stands with these your pimped out boys doesn't cut it" Mara continued . "You are getting way too old for that. Yes you may have the dick game on lock but your love life sucks . You need real romance in your life, like that kind of good romance. that taking you out on dates kind of romance. that taking you out on vacations kind of romance. That's what you need girl"

Nena threw a mocking smirk " you mean like, a man" 

"Yes dear. A man " Clara answered.

"or a woman, as the case may be" mara interjected now drawing both other girls attention " you never know these days" she shrugged.

"And what the hell do I need a man for exactly?" Nena began "I'm very successful, I've got a wonderful career which pays much more than most men can ever dream of. I can afford to have anyone of them on my bed at any moment I wish for my nights to have this romance you both are always bugging me about. I mean, why stick with one guy when you can have them all. You both can sit here telling me about getting a guy but I'm sure deep down you still do want to fuck some other guys beside your said boyfriends, if only you could. And that's the thing, what's stopping you apart from a strange idea that this crazy society of ours has taught us to stick with one person forever. That a guy should have Influece, authority and ownership over you all for the sake of love. Obviously I'm not limited by that idea and I'm really happy about that"

" Are you really?" Clara asked

"Yes I am" she replied " I have freedom to do whatever the fuck I want, do whoever the fuck I want , whenever the fuck I want without feeling guilty about it . Something I know both you girls lowkey wished you still had." She drew the glass of tequila shot from Mara's hand and took a quick gulp.

"Well, I've had well enough of this talks with you already girlfriend. God knows I'm tired of it" Mara replied.

"And God knows, I'm beginning to feel like my mom has been putting you guys up to these weird conversations recently. " Nena said sarcastically.

"She did no such thing" Clara replied " you know what Nena, you do what you want, as long as you're happy"

"Yeah yeah. I know. Thank you for finally acknowledging that"

"Well today is all about you baby. I would like for us to finally have a toast here before mara passes out from having so many drinks "

Nena laughed hard and clara joined in too.

"You're so right sister" mara replied , turning her face to the barman " barman! oh my beautiful barman, can you be such a darling and pass up three more shots of that good tequila over here please. And that bottle of champagne too. "

"You've got it Mara " the barman replied turning his back to the wine bar to prepare the drinks that were just ordered.

"Oh Thank you love" she said throwing a kiss at him. Mara sure knew how to flirt.

"So how are things at work dear? " Clara asked Nena. Drawing her attention away from that bartender.

"Well . Work is great. I recently just landed a contract with the government".

"Wow. That's huge girl. Wow. We are gonna need another shot for that dear"

" Definitely" replied Nena.

"Here you go ladies " the bartender came with the drinks..

"Thank you honey " mara replied "Just keep them coming you hear?".

"Yes ma'am" said the bartender as he winked at her and walked back off to attend to other customers.

"Oooh. Mara!" Nena teased.

"Yeah I know. Baby girl still got it . Quit tripping" mara replied.

"I know you do sis" Clara began, now raising her glass up in preparation for a toast " now here's to Nena, the, baddest toughest barrister ever liveth. Here's to a new age sis, I pray for more grace upon your life, more cause to give out more smiles, higher steppings and may God guide those steppings as you make them. "

"And I pray she finds love" mara interjected, raising her glass as well "real genuine beautiful love , and finally quit all this bullshit about not meeting a man"

"Amen! " Clara quickly answered "cheers dear. We love you!"

"Cheers! " They all replied and took down the tequila shot all at once. Then each gave nena a Peck on both sides of her cheeks. At this time, Nena was now blushing hard , smiling at such wonderful friends she had.

"We had a cake for you, but I think the delivery is running late" Clara said.

"Well, don't worry I have a little idea to make up for that" mara said.

"How sis?" 

Mara threw a weird glance at both the girls and chuckled , making it hard to conceal how drunk she was now. 

She then stood up from the stool she was originally sitting on, climbed upon it and attempted to proceed to the bar table.

Mara and Nena tried to reach for her "mara what are you doing?" They both asked 

"Don't worry , I'm fine. " Mara said, now slurring on her words.

She proceeded and climbed up to the table with the bottle of champagne in in her hands. She now faced the rest of the members of the bar. Most of them now staring at the weird lady who looked like she had just taken one too many tequila shots into her system.

"Hey! Everybody!" She announced, now surely getting their attention " I know you all Don't know me and I don't know any of y'all either but my friend Nena here is having a birthday today".

"Oh my God" Nena screamed " mara get down here now" she whispered to her, feeling a little embarrassed, not being able to comprehend how this happened so fast and also how late it was to stop mara now. 

Mara of course, paid no attention to her as she continued her speech in her beautiful drunken state of ecstasy "we were supposed to get her a cake but I think the delivery lady is about to let us down and turn down our moods tonight. But that's okay, you guys are about to help me turn it back up. how are you gonna do that? you are gonna help me wish the beautiful Nena Daniels here a wonderful birthday everybody . Let's hear it " she said , now raising the bottle of champagne. 

"happy birthday nena" the whole crowd joined in chorus, lifting their glasses as well

"hip hip" she shouted 

"hurray" the whole crowd echoed 

" drinks on us guys" mara declared "thank you very much"

Nena had a hard time concealing how flattered she was by now "would you get down from there now" she said smiling "before you hurt yourself"

Mara gently came down the stool. she watched her steps with prudence considering how tipsy she was from having so much to drink. she made it to her seat and Nena gave her a hug. "i love you sis" she went ahead to order another shot from the bartender.

"are you sure you havent had enough yet" nena asked

"nonsense!" she answered , waving for the bartender to come her way again .

Nena smiled 

"so whats the government work you were earlier talking " clara asked, drawing Nena's attention to her side of the table.

"well , it's a little bit complicated. it's not ever really something i've done before in my career as a prosecutor. it's more of an investigative case than a prosecutive one. it's called a RICO"

"Wow. that's huge. so what happens in this RICO " clara asked

"its a government top secret dear" Nena replied , throwing a wink at clara "if i told you , i'll have to kill you " 

"come on now , you really gonna be like that?"

"hmmm" Nena now took another sip from her drink at the table.

 the bar man brought over another drink of tequila to the table. this came as a suprise because they didn't remember ordering any other. they looked over at mara who they thought may have placed the order but suprisingly, she had passed out on the table.

"its about time" nena said laughing

"who ordered this then?" clara asked the barman, suprised.

"its courtsey of that young lad over there" he replied her as he pointed over at a distinct gentleman who was sitted at the long end of the table.

he had a blue suit on with a very decent haircut. He possed a well defined body of an athelete that made it obvious he dedicated a good time and routine to his body building. his suit made a perfect fit. he had a goatee the made him look like royalty, just like an egyptian pharoah. 

clara's eyes locked with his and he raised a glass at the girls, winking his eyes. clara winked back but Nena quickly turned her face away from him, back to clara.

 " i don't think we should accept this clara" 

" what do you mean Nena, it's just a drink"

" i know, but first it's a drink and next thing these cheap boys begin to feel like you owe them something. i'm just not cut out for their bullshit tonight."

clara stared at Nena for a moment in disbelief at what she just heard from her " girl, you really are tripping. i think your ego is begining to get the best of you . the guy is just trying to be a gentleman, possibly even start a conversation with you. that's how things work here, why are you acting like a scared little teen"

"cmon now, you know it's nothing like that. i just feel like he should take his drinks to some other table. i'm not interested" said nena , as she brought out her phone and quickly dived her attention to the little device

"well if you really do feel that way, " clara began with a reply " you can tell it to him yourself. he is now coming over"

Nena raised her head from her phone in disbelief of clara's last statement " what! where" she asked, but her questions were asked rather too late for the young man was already there.

"hello ladies" he began as he finally approached them , smilling " how are you all doing tonight" 

" oh we are good sugar" clara replied " and you"

"i'm fine" 

"oh, yes you are baby" clara continued as she threw a lustful stare at his outfit to compliment with her flirtings " oooh boy! you are very fine. goddamn!"

"well, thank you very much" the young man smiled before them, bowing his head as he felt a little embarrased " i just came over to say hi to you beautiful ladies and hopefully wish the lovely birthday celebrant here, a happy birthday personally " he said , now turning his direction to nena.

"oh thank you" nena replied, barely shifting her attention away from her device.

"my name is Dani" the young man continued " Dani cross"

"damn" clara interjected " that almost sounds like something out of an 007 movie. hi , i'm bond, james bond"

the young man then laughed " well, james bond has got nothing on me dear"

" okay cowboy" clara smiled at him " well, i'm clara nice to meet you" she stretched her hand to shake him as did he. 

" the pleasure is all mine miss"

"this is my friend Nena" she continued as she gestured her arm towards nena.

Dani turned to Nena and offered his hands to her. this was the first time Nena actually rose her head up from her device to have a good look at this fine young man.

her eyes caught his gaze for a moment and she was lost in them. they were very blue when viewed from up close.  

not bad she thought to herself as she offered her hands to dani

"nice to meet you Nena" Dani started " well actually i do know you. you are the Nena daniels. i do see you on the media and i have to say i am a huge fan of you work. you are a true luminary for those who have careers in the judiciary. you are really impressive".

"Ok. i appreciate that.. thank you"

Clara tried to excuse herself from their company "excuse me a moment" she said " i have to use the restroom"

nena tried to stop her but before she could say anything, clara had scurried off with her drink into the crowd .

she knew th trick clara had just played on her. leaving her alone with the handsome stranger in a suit so as to forcefully accept an indulgence in a conversation with him. she felt insulted at first, but after taking another look at the dashingly handsome dani, she knew she could make an exemption and tolerate this attitude from clara this one time. she wouldn't mind sparing some time to chit chat with him. his looks, countenance and parlance had presented him to be a man of class and decorum . he was doing well so far in impressing Nena, at least she thought so.

" so how is your birthday going so far" dani asked , pressing his arm to the bar table to have a more comfortable look at the young lady " having any much fun yet"

"well, a little. it was blurry at first when i came in with not much peoople in the bar, but it's begining to lighten up"

"of course it is. people are begining to turn up especially after that little announcement your friend gave minutes ago" Dani replied

"yeah, mara. she is fond of messing around like that" nena replied buring her head to get another drink.

"you should be proud to have friends like that" dani began " friends that are never shy to celebrate their friends publicly"

"okay man, whatever you say" Nena replied.

"are you always this reserved in conversations?"dani asked

"excuse me? " nena was having a hard time believing the questions. she felt insulted by it " how do you mean reserved?"

"well, i was expecting you to be chatty, at least as you are a lawyer and all. this was not exactly how i saw this conversation going in my head" dani had replied

"so because i'm a lawyer, you expect me to be a blabber mouth or what?"

"no , not at all" dani replied with a subtle tone, now obviously figuring out that he had made the lady a little upset " i didn't mean it like that love. i am not just generally comfortable when a conversation isn't going as i envisioned in my head. i'm actually sorry if i had offended you with my prior statement".

Nena didn't bother to reply as she just took another sip of the champagne from her glass.

"ok dear , why don't we just start over " dani offered.

" why don't we just pretend this conversation never happened and you just scram, vamoos! like you were never here" Nena replied

"come on now love. don't be like that. okay, how about this. i'll scram or vamooos! like you just said and then reappear in a minute so we could start over properly" dani said to her.

again, Nena was silent, still sipping from her glass drink .

The young man then excused himself from her prescence and for a minute nena though she had successfully scared him off. well,as he had earlier promised, a minute it was befor he re-emerged in front of her again with his had stretched forth to her" hello love, my name is Dani cross"

nena was startled as well as suprised that the young man actually went her ahead with his plan on insisting the started their conversation over.

"you fluked this time" she said

dani looked confused " how do you mean?"

"i thought it was meant to be 'excuse me love , my name is dani, dani cross' like the james bond from the 007 movie" nena replied

Dani gave a good laugh at her humour " oh i see you picked up something from our previous conversation. so it wasn't that bad after all"

Nena smiled " i noted that line because i thought it was stupidly funny. i almost spilled my drink out of my mouth from laughter. it really cracked me up"

"i'm sure"

"and then you went on with the 'james bond ain't got nothing on me' damn" nena said now laughing " it was really funny to watch trust me"

dani joined her in the laughter as well " well, i'm glad i was able to make you laugh at least"

there was a pause for a moment . Nena kept throwing unconscious glances at his eyes . she was trying to fight this compulsive action but it something about those eyes kept on stealing her attention.

"so, Mr dani.." she began

"oh please" dani interjected " i'm not that old am i? please call me dani"

"okay Dani, so what do you do for a living? " nena asked

Dani took another sip from his drink and answered " i'm into automobiles. sales, repairs and maintenance. i've got a workshop just around the corner not too far from here. i just opened it last week since i decided to branch out from the original company i have in abuja. here's my card if you may be needing our services someday." he said , handing a complimentary card over to Nena " you never can tell when you might be stuck with some car trouble. you never know with these cars. you never know this days. please don't hesitate to give me a call"

nena accepted the card from him and stared at it in awe " you really don't strike me like an automobille guy , let alone one who repairs and does maintenance"

"ouch!" dani said, raising his arm to his chest " you just hurt my feelings nena. so you telling me , i don't look the part?"

" that is not what i'm saying. i mean, you look to clean to be into that sort of job i guess. i was expecting you to be some kind of model actually, or an actor or something"

"okay. so good. now i'm not the only one assuming things about someone i've never had a discusssion with" he said smiling 

Nena smilled too at the comment and then shrugged.

"well" dani began "what can i say . i clean up nice"

"yeah. you clean up real nice" Nena said, still smiling at him. 

at this point Nena could not help herself anymore but get lost in his eyes as they kept conversing at lenghts. Nena could feel a sensation rising inside her as they kept on talking.

she could remember all she felt that night staring at dani's eyes as she was doing now still wrapped in their bedsheets. she could remember how those stares began the tale of a beatiful lovestory . Even now , whilst laying on those sheets with her lover Dani, she still wished she could take back the hands of time and relive all those moments once more. they were so precious to her memories.

"i could remember you were tough on giving me a chance at first" Dani said, now drawing Nena's attention back to him as he stroked her hair in admiration.

" i remember you making me have to start the conversation over again " he continued 

" well, i don't remember ever asking you to do that " nena gave a quick reply.

"i remember you were a particularly difficult lady to woo. it hadn't gone too well that night" dani remarked .

" yeah, i know. i wasn't about making it easy for you. what kind of woman would that make me if i did"

dani laughed "if i hadn't called you at the following day when you told me you were having some car troubles, maybe we would'nt have ever been together". 

"yeah, i admit that. i had completely forgotten about the last night. it was a miracle you called at the exact moment when i needed you most. it was so romantic how you drove out immediately to the spot and save a damsel in distress"

"i remember you were having srious doubts when i told you i was an automobile specialist. you could'nt believe me until i came to the spot where you had your car troubles that day and proved it to you"

" yes. i admit that as well darling. it's just so beautiful how fate worked in our story. we were working with way less odds than fate permitted and yet, we worked out anyways. that is why i truly believe we were meant to be, baby."

"yes love . i do believe that too. i so can't wait for us to get married" dani replied

"me too dear darling. me too".

dani's phone kept buzzing up . he could hear it even after he had hidden it beneath his pillow right before he had begun his early morning pillow talk , just so he could avoid any sort of interruption , more precisely the exact kind of interruption he was getting now from the said phone.

he reached for it to know what actually was the cause for the disturbance.

he looked at the caller id with a bit of shock. it was the driver marcus. he picked the call.

"hello boss" marcus began 

" hello, whats going on"

there was a pause on the line for a moment . Marcus was suprised at the question

"boss i'm downstairs with the SUV. You said to come pick you up this morning sometime around 6am. i have been trying to reach your line since then"

Dani knew he had to thread carefully now. he could not risk Nena knowing about his identity as Maestro when he prepared for work, nor was he ready to blow his cover with his conversation with marcus on this phone call.

"i won't be making it to the workshop today " dani began " i'm currently in the middle of something"

"so what are my orders now boss?" marcos asked

"go to zeke. pick him up, i'll forward my instructions to him. you know the drill"

"ok boss"

Maestro hung up the phone now , dropping it underneath his pillow again . he turned back at nena , awaiting a funny question from her.

" that work?" she asked

"yes love" 

" so you really ditching work for me today?"

"of course i am. why would i want to be anywhere else than here" dani replied

"are you sure that's wise" nena asked

"darling" Dani began " i am an enterpreneur who has worked his ass off to create a very stable business. if i say i'm staying home to be with you, it is because i've earned it. so don't trip. it's fine".

Nena kept staring at him, stroking his hair gently backwards "that's cute dear. but i don't think i can spend the day with you today. i have to meet with my dad at the office today"

"what! " dani responded " you mean i just ditched work for nothing?"

"well , i did'nt ask you to do that. besides i shouldn't spend much time over there. it's just for a brief meeting . something about a new supervisor on a case i'm working on, wanting to have debrief with the staffs. i should be back before you know it" 

Dani's eyes opened in shock " you mean the maestro case" he asked

Nena stared at him for a moment then gave a reply "yes. the maestro case" 

"so detective wallace isn't handling the case anymore" 

Nena now sat up to his face " you know i don't like talking about work at home , even if your sexy ass always makes me feel very comfortable with it , but this time... " she adjusted her robe then continued " i have to go honey" she went ahead to give him a kiss on his forehead then turned around and climbed out off the bed".

Dani sat back on the bed and watched as the beautiful Nena daniels walked her shiny legs up her way to the bathroom.

she turned back at him halfway there and spoke aloud " you can either sit back there and watch all day, or you can come join me"

"oh i'm coming " he replied, jumping out of his bed to go join her in the shower like a happy little dog that was offered a bone, or should i say in this case , a boner.