HI my lovely NL readers. am posting my latest fictional work for your reading pleasure. as usual i will appreciate your comments, critics and encouragements. thanks thanks thanks.

i will send in the work in chapters....
NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS.
BY AKPEM TERESE SHADRACH.
CHAPTER ONE
My name is Frank and I am a free thinker. In order not to you with the leave you with the assumption that I am one of those guys that don’t believe in the existence of God, I will put it straight to you that I am a free thinker with a high regard for supremacy, a core naturalist who believes that things should be done the way they ought to be not minding who is involved.
My story won’t be complete unless I start it from where it all began…
I work for a Publishing company as a writer and from one point or the other, I am required to move about or shift base to be able to concentrate and get my “work” done so this moment required such an attention so I had to move.
As I dropped my bags in the boot of my car, I gave a snap gaze on the area I had know all my life; nothing had changed: the slums, “area boys”, rusted roof tops; even the inhabitants and their attitudes. I knew I was going to take me a long time before I set foot in this area again. This job was unlike the others, I had been briefed about the basics but I knew more was yet to be unraveled.
I had grown up in quite a harsh and exposed area yet my nature had been unconventional to the kind of life style that dominated the place. I was a core introvert so if I wasn’t busy with work, I was playing my Harmonica or online chess which seemed to be the hobbies that I dedicated my leisure time to.
Stepping into my car, I turned on the ignition and turned on my stereo but since there wasn’t anything on the news that interested me, I slut in a music CD done by One Direction; a soft rock band I had come to love a lot. Taking in a deep breath, I drove out of the street and headed for my new destination.
I had arranged a place through my housing agent up North because it was the place my job pointed me to. I hadn’t seen the place yet but I was confident he would do a good job because he had done so in the past.
After 1:30minutes of peaceful driving, I arrived my new destination. The house was standing alone just like I had requested. It practically overlooked every other house in the vicinity. But as I came closer to the building, I saw a building about 20meters away from my house. I had given a distance specification of at least 100meters. Looking at it, I decided it wasn’t going to be much of a problem.
Ascending the stairs that led to my front door, I admired the work on the building. It was a fine job. The side garden was finely trimmed in place and even the wild vegetation surrounding the area was beautiful. Taking in a deep sigh of relief, I fixed in the key and opened the front door. I couldn’t ignore the fresh air of reception that welcomed its new occupant with an unseen arm of reception. The wall was beautifully overlaid with sculptures that sent a quiet message to the observer, the chairs, center table, windows; everything was in its rightful place but there was one place I wanted to see before passing my final judgment: that was my bedroom. It was one place I was very religious about, it displayed my personality. I had a thing about my bed, the wooden frames properly anchored with poles and overlaid with a translucent pink or purple curtain and illuminated with a central matching light bulb. Oh! He had done a nice job.
I dropped my bags and went to bring in the rest of my stuff. Stepping out of my door, my attention was directed to a creature that in time changed my orientation about the women folks.
CHAPTER TWO:
She seemed to have been attracted to the noise I made while opening my door so she looked in my direction with an inquisitive gaze.
She wore a blue jeans and a fitting purple top that fitted well on her fair slim body. Her fair and delicate skin was the type you would imagine came from the ferry-tales. She was tall and elegant, having a perfectly slim body that could engage a man for a long time; the kind that leaves you with little or no words to describe her other than to say she was entirely beautiful.
Obviously lost at the sight of her, she had waved at me but I realized it when she had walked past and I hated myself for not returning her gesture in time. I had seen girls before now, really beautiful ones but this one was different. There was something about her I couldn’t quite place my finger on.
Her name is Dinah and she is responsible for the conclusion I came to make about the women folk.
It had been 5minutes since she walked past me. One thing was for certain, she came from the house that was next to mine. I told myself I was thinking too much about her but I knew better than that.
I used roughly one hour to set up the house to my taste then I took a shower and came back to my parlor to listen to the news.
Nothing on the headlines seemed to interest me so I decided I would fix diner. It was one thing I loved doing: cooking. But on getting there I noticed that my kitchen was almost empty so I got some cash and headed out to a mall which was about 20minutes drive from my house. I bought the things I needed and drove back home. I fixed dinner and ate to my fill then played some tones and slept off.
3days had passed without laying my eyes on Dinah so I concluded she wasn’t from the area and regretted why I hadn’t done more than wave behind her back.
I wanted to eat toasted bread but the bread in my fridge had gone stale so I headed for the shopping Mall which I had developed a cordially relationship with. I went to the snacks section and picked Oceanic bread plus a bar of chocolate and then headed for the cashier desk.
“Hi there, how much is my bill?” I asked placing the things on the cashier table.
I saw a figure backing me. She was probably fixing something behind the drawer. I looked closely and discovered it was her standing there. So she works here after all…but I didn’t say it out loud.
Turning around to face me, she greeted me with a warm smile, a smile that exposed her finely packed white set of teeth as i watched her as she talked to me.
“We’ve met before right”? I asked quite aware of the answer I will get.
“Sure; but briefly though. I leave at the block next to your house”. She said.
“Here is your bill sir”. She produced a white pay slip which I gave her the money for it.
“We hope to see you again sir” she said handing me my package.
“I hope to see you too”. I responded wondering if that was the right thing to say.
I drove back home that evening and for the rest of the evening, I discovered I was brimming with excitement for an unknown reason.
I had rounded up my routine for the night and was about to head to my bed room when I heard a knock on my door. I was yet to make any friends in the area so I was wondering who the person would be.
“Hold on a sec”. I said as I walked towards my door. Opening the door cautiously, I saw her standing on my balcony. She looked more beautiful that night; so I thought. Her hair was no longer packed so it flew freely in the direction of the wind behind her back. She was putting on a pink night dress. I was surprised at her presence and calling myself back to order, I invited her in.
“I closed from work and felt a little bored so I felt I should check on you, hope it’s not an….”
“No worries, it’s a pleasant surprise”. I cut her before she said inconvenience. You can even pass the night if you want to. But it didn’t go pass my lips.
I went to my kitchen a brought out a can of apple juice with two glasses and serve it for both of us. She wanted to refuse it but I insisted so she had it my way. We talked along while about “everything” and almost lost track of time when she called my attention to the fact that she needed to go home so she can rest and prepare for work the next day. I felt the urge to ask her to sleep over but I realized it would have been the dumbest thing to do if I really wanted things to play my way.
We both stood up and I was wondering what to do, she hugged me and bided me good night behind my back. The hug felt nice, yes; that nice, I smelt the perfume in her hair and it was nice. A seed had been sown that night and I knew for sure it was going to grow. Whether it turned out bitter or sweet was something else entirely but I was determined to follow it through.
Remember I told you in the beginning that I had to throw away a lot of rules for her sake? My job specifications didn’t warrant me having “affairs” and as a matter of personal policy I had a thing about dating “non tribes”. But now, I realized that what I felt for her was worth giving up all that. The days were rolling by and I knew for sure that I was falling in love with her and I wanted to tell her so badly.
The moment presented itself. We sat in front of my balcony gazing at the moon and stars, admiring the works of nature. When I got fed up with gazing up, I started gazing at her. She was adorable; without all the makeup to hide behind she was a creature to behold. She turned and looked at me with a look of inquiry. “what’s on your mind?” she asked.
I was going to tell her now. And I did.
“It’s a beautiful night and having you here makes it more beautiful”. I said to her. I wasn’t going to beat around the bush so I told her what I felt about her and my intentions too.
She had been listening to me quietly. I wished she said something; told me she felt the same way I did about her. But she didn’t. She just stared quietly at me.
CHAPTER THREE
“You are a nice guy Frank and I really like the fact that you have been really good to me these few weeks. But I wish you give me a little time to think it over. Can you do that for me Frank”? She asked with her eyes fixed on mine.
“Sure! Why not? Take your time but please don’t take forever”. I said.
But I wasn’t okay with her words. She had called me a nice guy. Girls keep nice guys as “just friends” and nothing more. They want you to me more than nice to make it on the dating list. But I waved away the thought deciding it didn’t matter in this case.
A week after I had talked with her, I was in my house working on my PC when she walked in. by now I was used to her not knocking before entering inside. She was obviously the only guest I had. She walked in and headed straight to my kitchen and came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses on a tray. It wasn’t her that caught my attention but what she was wearing. She hadn’t dressed this way to my place before. Her dress was almost transparent and it completely exposed her cleavages. She looked beautiful alright but the kinky part was more pronounced. I took in a deep breath at the sight of her.
“You need a break, have a drink with me”. She said handing me the glass of wine spiced with her seductive smile.
I collected the glass and joined her where she sat. indeed she took my mind off work and I began to think about her. Why had she shown up this way? But wasn’t it obvious? The whole thing seemed rather too easy for me but I knew better than to assume anything was free in life. I told myself I wasn’t going to give in to her advances, after all she was yet to give me an answer to my proposal. My chat become boring and we both knew that. Maybe it was time for something else but I wasn’t going to find out yet. After a brief session of silence, she broke it by telling me she wanted to go home and sleep. I saw the disappointment in her tone but I was impressed the cards were still in my hands.
The next three nights continued in the same fashion; even more because she had kissed me when she saw me still sleeping in bed that evening. But I wasn’t actually sleeping. I had faked the mood to see her reaction and I got a kiss for it.
The message was clear: she wanted me but I didn’t understand why she was having a hard time giving me a decisive answer. I decided I was going to talk to her about it the next day she came.
“You have made a lot of passes at me lately but why haven’t you given me a decisive answer?” I asked thinking of no better way to bare my mind.
“I need some time. I told you that; didn’t I?” She said trying to fake a sincere tone that wasn’t there.
“Then why are your actions contradicting your words? You act all ready yet say something different”. I said almost regretting why I let them come out.
“Oh really! My bad. I am really sorry if it looks that way”. She said fighting hard to hide her frustration at my level of awareness and headed for the door.
I felt the urge to stop her and kiss her but I prevailed over my emotions and let her walk out without saying a word.
But while she had gone, I felt like I have done everything wrong to her. How could I be so rude? I said to myself. Can’t you see she needs time to decide?
Three days passed and I had not laid eyes on Dinah. I felt like I had blown it all away but I rejected the temptation to call her. I had not annoyed her so why should I call her? I just bared my mind. Is there harm in that?
The boredom at home was almost unbearable so I decided to take a meal in an eatery in town.
I walked into the neatly arranged customer section and headed for the side that occluded me from the rest of the place but gave me a clear view of everybody entering the place.
A waitress walked to where I sat; well dressed in a red shirt and black skirt all tucked in and wore a very inviting smile that made her look beautiful while she smiled. I made my order and she dashed into their inner room to get me my request. As I waited for my food I saw her walk in.
As I sat there waiting for my food, I saw Dinah walk in with a guy that looked more like a DJ. He wore a lot of chains on his neck and assorted rings on both hands also covered a P-cap. They were holding each very tightly and the expression on their faces said they were happy too. They occupied the center table in the building and that sent a clear message about the guy: he took pleasure in showing off.
I felt an urge to go and punch him in the nose but I knew better than to just start a fight with a loser. Sitting there, I realized I had lost appetite for the food which was now in front of me. I wasn’t sure if it was anger or jealousy which was having the better part of me but one of them sure was.
Why didn’t she tell me about him? Was she planning on playing me? Was that the reason for all those passes? Nothing is what it seems after all. I said to myself.
I was glad I found out now. She had been on top of her game until now but the rules were about to change. I finally had her where I wanted her to be. I just found out what she wouldn’t have wanted me to know. I have thrown away a lot of rules for her sake but I guess we weren’t on the same page after all.
I had thought about a lot of things within the brief moment I sat down as I watched them play Romeo and Juliet. I got up and left the building through the back exit and headed for my car. As I opened the door, I got a E-mail alert and when I opened it, I was a visual confirmation of the job I had come to this part of the world to do.

the last two chapters will come in 24 hours from now. happy REading. [color=#006600][/color]