Chapter seven

"Nothing hurts more than being disappointed by the one person you thought would never hurt you. " -Unknown

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It was all a new experience for her. Being married. Living with four more occupants in a house. Sleeping on same bed with a man. All these she was recently exposed to because of Dorine. Regardless, it would seem the changes in her life were not going away anytime soon.

For the first time in her life, she was travelling as one of the first class passengers on an airplane. She never travelled by one because it was just too expensive for her to afford, now she was currently taking advantage of the services which has been paid for, by her new husband.

It never occurred to them that they would be going on their honeymoon soon. Matthew had initially planned that they would leave when his parents returned to their own house in Osun, but after the after-party, plans changed. They were going through all the presents they received from their guests, when they tumbled upon a gift by Mr Sanchez Pius.

Sanchez Pius was currently the general manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore. His hotel owned one share of the profits from Mr Udochi's Restaurant. He was their family's business partner and sadly, could not make it to the wedding. But he had sent them tickets to Singapore, also stating that they were free to stay at his hotel, in any room of their choice for two weeks. Ruth literally squealed and began to dance after they all heard the good news.

Matthew tried to convince his parents that it would be better to leave only after they have stayed to their hearts' content, but Ruth would not hear of it. She persuaded, more like pressurized them to take the offer while it was still fresh. ' Strike while the iron's hot', was her motto.

Everything resulted in the fact that they were now in the plane headed to Singapore.

Doris stared out the window, at the frost-like cloud. Although she was nervous about what would happen in Singapore, she was internally happy that they were heading towards Dorine. If her twin sister thought she could escape from this, then she had no idea what was arriving her way. Doris planned to take her unaware, then have them switch places again. She goes back to her old life and work, while her sister comes into this new life.

She ran her hand over her neck, which was a habit of hers whenever she became nervous. Her hand suddenly came in contact with the cold metal chain on her neck. She trailed her fingers down to the diamond stone.

Matthew had given her this piece of necklace as a marriage gift. It brought back memories of months ago.

She walked into the clothing accessories store. She needed to buy herself a jacket, trousers and socks, to protect her body and skin from the harmattan. The change in the weather is proportional to change in her body too. During this period, her skin becomes dry and scaly despite the numerous creams she applied. Her face too turns white if she does not apply moisturizer, and her hair literally looks unkempt. She always had to plait it to keep looking good and sane.

To top it all, in her line of work, it would mean that she was being non-chalant and hardly taking care of herself. In order for you to pass up a chance to play as a major character, some things have to be put into consideration. The crew would not choose anyone to play the role of Cinderella, when there were more beautiful girls they could select from.

Taking care of herself, from top to bottom, became a necessity. She would do and sacrifice anything to become a star. Which led to her stroll in the mall.

While she was walking through the rows, glancing at the shelves if she could spot her favourite soap, her eyes caught on a simple, yet beautiful diamond pendant. It was hung out on the sample rack amongst others, it wasn't the most beautiful or expensive but there was something about it that stood out to her.

Perhaps it was how simple and unique it seemed.

Or that it reminded her of herself.

Despite acting and seeming all badass and strong, inside, Doris was just a simple girl who craved for attention. She always longed to be cherished and appreciated like her twin. She was unique, she always knew but it seemed the reverse was the case to the people around her.

Her situation was similar to this diamond. Anyone who does not appreciate simple things will never value the pendant. Her heart was immediately drawn to that pendant.

She stared for a while and decided to buy it.

"How much for this pendant, Nne?" She asked the slender average-height dark complexioned lady, the sales girl.

"It's...," she paused to look at the price tag "... Seven thousand, six hundred and fifty-five naira Ma,"  the sales girl replied.

"Ohhh," she didn't realized when the word left her mouth. She had not expected something so simple to be so expensive.

"Thank you. Maybe sometime in the future, I'll get it"

The clerk offered her a smile that showed that she understood her predicament, before she turned to continue her work.

Doris made to continue with her journey when she bumped into a hard surface. Her eyes which closed as a result of the jolt, opened to see a tall guy who's dark skinned with broad shoulders looking down at her. Amusement was written all over his face.

He held her waist with both hands, in order to keep her steady.

"You know you can always get the necklace, I know you want it that bad. You just have to let us have a little fun with each other,"

He was now trailing circles on her waist, in an utterly despicable and shameless way.

"Thanks, but no." She tried to get out of his hold.

His grip tightened instead.

"Now, now, don't play too hard to get. I know you want it just as much as I do, so don't make things difficult for the both of us." He pulled her further into him, trying to grind her body against his hard one.

Doris was mortified. She looked around the mall, maybe someone somewhere was looking at them.

But no one was looking in their direction.

She continued wriggling her body from his hold but his grip was too tight.

Internally, she made up her mind to give him a resounding slap on both his cheeks should he continue harassing her like that. It did not matter that she has an image she should uphold, she wouldn't hold back to teach him a lesson of his life.

She raised her leg to shove him where the sun doesn't shine, but suddenly a voice spoke up, interrupting her actions.

"Let her go man, this clearly isn't the right way to do that," His voice spelt power and courage.

"She's my girlfriend man, mind your business!" The disgusting man retorted.

"Even at that, let her go or I will have you arrested for harrasment. I can show you the DPO's number if you want to see it." Her rescuer had spoken.

At the mention of DPO, he let go of Doris' waist and pulled away without a backward glance.

"Thought he said he was your boyfriend." His voice came up again. This time, sounding even closer to her.

She scoffed.

"I could never have a prick like him as one. I'd break up with him like the snap of the finger"

He chuckled at her comment.

She looked back at the necklace and he caught her gaze.

"So all these, because of a simple diamond pendant. Which is so bland at that," he stated.

She looked up at him. He was tall and dark in complexion as well.

But his facial hair looked unkempt and he was dressed in bland casual shirt and faded jeans. She doubted what he said about having the DPO's number.

It was just a trick to get that stranger away from her, and for that, she was grateful.

She looked back at the necklace and replied "Sometimes the most important things in life are the things we see as irrelevant."

"Thanks for helping me earlier. Ciao!" She walked away and didn't bother to look at him again.

"Why are you crying?"

That voice belonged to Matthew. He has managed to pull her out from the land of flashback with that one question.

She touched her left cheek and truly found a tear there. She wiped it out.

"It's nothing. I guess this whole thing is making me emotional and tired."

"Then lay your head on my chest, you can sleep before we arrive. We have a long way to go."

She did so without delay.

He rubbed her back slowly from up to down.

She looked at his face. She was still stunned that the man she was looking at now, was the same man who intervened in her matter six months ago.

That man was bland like he said, and looked unkempt and poor. This man before her screamed wealth, power and beauty. Now he was clean-shaven and she could easily spot the dimple-mark on his cheeks, which deepened whenever he smiled.

"I know I'm handsome. But you should get some sleep while you can, cause you won't be getting any when we land in Singapore." His gruff voice indicated that he was tired as well.

Having nothing to say to that, she gave in and snuggled closer to him. She did not know why, but she felt safe and relaxed around him. Especially after she remembered that she had an encounter with him before.