3. TAKING THE OFFER

Everyone rushed to welcome the man of the day, he indeed came to steal the show. No one needed to inform us that he was in another class, the outfit he had on and everything on him was of the elite class.

“Why is he here?” Monica rushed to us, heels cackling on the tiles.

Sharply, I responded “Exactly my question.”

His entrance was of respect to everyone there but it threw us into frenzy mode.

“Should I just go out before he recognizes me? How about I leave the party altogether?” I panicked, trying to figure out the best option.

Suddenly, Irene’s palms were glued to my cheeks as she turned my face to hers and declared

“You are going nowhere! You have to face this once and for all.”

Thick wads of spit rolled down my throat, my hands were filled with sweat every passing seconds.“What should I do?” that was the only question passing through my mind. It went totally blank.

The problem of job introduction stopped and that was a relief on another part, but his presence was the biggest problem. I didn’t think for long before I decided to slip out of the party. I have had enough.

My hand was about to touch the door when his voice cut through

“Don’t tell me you are leaving the party without saying hello” I heard him say, and my feet stopped right in the track.

How could he even be so bold to say that loudly in the middle of the party? What does he want from me? Does he not understand what the word ignore means?

I decided to pretend as if he wasn’t talking to me and proceeded to open the door but he boldly called out my name.

“Petals”

His approaching footstep increased my nervousness as I glued to the door, I couldn’t bring myself to take a step further. Whatever would happen should just happen at that point, it was either I faced my fear or continue running away like a coward.

“Am I obligated to greet you first?” I heard myself turn and say

That caught him off guard, his step seized for a while before he resumed walking towards me.

“It’s been seven years. Do you still hate me?” a sneaky smile lurking around his luscious lips.

Damn it! He had gotten more handsome over the years. His facial features were sharp and well defined, nothing was lacking from the neatly trimmed thick eyebrows and fairly pointed nose that was perfect for his broad face.

Convincing myself to get a grip, I straightened my back and scoffed

“Do I have a reason to like you?”

He chuckled “Come on, you don’t have to be this harsh, it’s been seven years after all.”

It was his audacity for me. How could he be so shameless?

“Fine, it has been seven years, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are a memory I want to dump in the gutter”. I snapped

He paused to look at me for some seconds. “It feels nice to still be in your memories. I hope you enjoy the party”, he responded, and turned back to catch up with the other guys.

What the fuck just happened? Did he just try to play the cool guy? That made me so mad that I decided to enjoy the party instead of running away.

Monica flashed a smile as I walked back to the seat before muttering “You did well” to me.

I blushed.

We moved to the center to dance when the music came on and I felt his eyes glued on me even though there were several people between us. His eyes raked through my body as I rocked with my friends, it was getting too uncomfortable even though I tried hard not to care and that made me lose interest in the dance.

As I picked up a glass of champagne, I walked back to have my seat on the sofa in the room and downed the entire glass without thinking twice.

“You sure didn’t forget me” I heard him say as he sat beside me, again

“Do you by chance want something from me?” I was forced to blurt out and he nodded.

“And what could that be?”

“You! I want you!” he declared.

My heart skipped a beat, I couldn’t close my parted mouth. How dare he talk about wanting me? I was about to raise an eyebrow when he cut in.

“Relax! I didn’t mean it that way. I know you are a journalist and I am in need of one” he declared, pulling out his business card.

He was the CEO of the news company and that was not surprising. He had always been the richest kid in school then, although he never boasted about it, which was one thing I liked about him.

Examining the card, I threw it back at him. “I decline and I won’t thank you for the offer”, folding my arms.

“Well, this offer will only last for tonight. How about you think carefully? I know you left your work a few days ago”

My neck turned, again. How did he know that? Was he spying on me? Why? What for?

“Relax” he declared once again as he sensed my protest.

 “Relax? How was I supposed to relax in this situation?” I argued.

“I own a news company, I am renowned in the industry. Do you think there’s anything going on that I don’t know?” he smirked.

My shoulders dropped. Why did he have to be in the same industry as mine? How could he even be so close to me all these years without me realizing it?

“If you take this offer, you get a welcome bonus of five thousand dollars and you are filling in for the position of the chief editor for team one. Think about it well and the offer lasts for tonight only. I will be waiting in my room upstairs. Don’t be surprised, I own this hotel too” he added, pride oozing from his attitude.

“Son of a bitch”, I slammed him and stood up to leave the party.

Monica and Irene had disappeared from the dance floor. I was left stranded. No one to talk to or go home with anymore. They had already declared that they would be hooking up with people, so they had no plans to return to the hotel that very night.

I dragged my tired self to the lobby for a fresh air before thinking about how I would get home. Almost an hour had passed when I was seated and a message dropped on my phone. It was from Mei, my sister.

“The landlady just locked our apartment and threatened to get us thrown out completely if we don’t pay in two days. I will be crashing at the sauna today”

Everything crashed down at that instant. I was expecting something like this, but not on a day like this. As if my mind had been waiting for it, it brought back Stanley’s offer immediately, but I swatted it aside, I would never get entangled with him.

“Your student loan is due, you will be blocked from having access to anything on your phone if you don’t pay it back in three days’ time”. Another message dropped as soon as I finished reading Mei’s

The world is really against me at this point. How could several things happen at the same time? I was forced to call my mom, whom I haven’t called for close to four months, but she didn’t pick up my call as expected. Who only calls whenever they need money? Me!

I kept glancing at my wristwatch as the time ticked till it was about ten minutes to twelve. Everywhere I turned to for help, I was met with disappointment, so there was nothing I could at that point do. I had just ten minutes to turn my life around.

Never in my life have I sprinted that hard. The elevator was filled to the brim. There was no time to waste, I had to use the stairs.

My heart almost popped out of my mouth as I panted like a dog on the stairs.

“Why did he have to stay on the topmost floor? That son of a bitch” I muttered, holding unto the rails for my dear life.

Just as the clock was about to strike twelve, I pressed the doorbell so hard and loud, since my life depended on it.

I was still trying to catch my breath, my hands on my knees for balance when the door opened to show Stanley looking at me with a smirk on his lips.

Glancing at my watch to see that I still had ten seconds left, I showed him the counting seconds.

“See, the day is not yet over” flew out of my mouth and his eyes raked my body as he stood there in silence.

I was about to ask if he had changed his mind when he said “Come in”.