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(copied) Fake Love by AuthorEjoorking(m): 3:20pm On Feb 03, 2017 |
[ Episode 2
Jessica packed her hair up the way she always
did as she stood facing the mirror. The length of
her hair always made people envy her even when
the only thing she wanted to do recently was to
cut the hair off. Combing it was always a burden
for her and she had resorted to packing it. She
rarely made her hair due to the long waits she
was always subjected to at the salon, so she had
stuck with retouching and setting which was less
expensive and also time saving.
It has been two days after the exhausting
wedding and she hadn’t really left the beach
house. Andy had practically restricted her to the
building, saying that it would be awkward for the
bride to be seen outside alone without her
husband, immediately after the wedding. Jessica
had asked him to go out with her then but her
contract husband had so many things to sort out
on net and did not have the time to camouflage
with her.
If a prophet had prophesied that Jessica would
be married to a jerk like Andy, she would have
called him a joker but now that she faced the
reality, she really could not believe that she had
agreed to this marriage.
After putting on a long blue skirt and a white top,
she lay on the bed, feeling the pieces of her
shattered world the more. Jessica was someone
who loved and loved deeply but that proved to be
a very bad thing for her. She had been jilted by
three different guys who were practically sex
addicts. Her mother always told her before that
abominable day that she should hold on till she
was married before opening her legs for any guy.
Before the death of her entire family, she did not
really give the advice much thought but when
her family died; all she wanted to do was to
obey everything that her parents ever told her.
The first man she had fallen in love with several
years back, who was her first love had shattered
her world by sleeping with her best friend. When
she caught them in the act she almost ran mad.
Trusting another guy again had been almost
impossible but due to her nature, she moved on
and fell for another guy. He had been descent
enough to call it quit with the excuse that he
could not do without sex until marriage, after
several attempts to sleep with her. The third guy
had been the one that really hurt her. It had
taken a long time for her to get over the trauma
and even now, the remembrance always moved
her to tears and filled her with undiluted anger.
A knock interrupted her thoughts and she stood
up from the bed. She opened the door and
stared at Andy. He was in a grey suit. “Good
morning sir”
Andy muttered under his breath. “Would I have
to spend a lifetime explaining why I hate this ‘sir’
you use for me? It makes me look old”
She stared at him for some seconds then
swallowed. “Andrew, Andy, Drew; choose one”
she responded with an official look on her face;
not smiling and not frowning.
He looked on the verge of laughter, and then
raised his brow. “They all sound good but Drew;
it sounds very good” He looked surprised.
“Good morning Drew” she responded.
He looked at her with a frown on his face. “Do
you ever smile?”
“Do you respond to greetings?” she returned.
He shook his head slowly.
“Then I guess I should not bother greeting
again?”
Andy realized that she took the shake of his
head as the answer to the question she asked.
He thought of explaining but realized that he had
wasted a lot of time already. “Today is Monday, I
am off to the office” he said.
She blanched. “This is supposed to be our
honeymoon, however fake it might be. What
would people think when you return to work just
two days after the wedding? It is not like you
would be sacked if you don’t appear even for a
year.” It was after Jessica heard the echo of her
voice that she realized that she was shouting.
“Everyone can think whatever they want to think,
at least, you did not mind what the maids would
think, why should I mind what my employees
would think?” he challenged calmly.
“They would think that I don’t have the womanly
or feminine erm… expertise to keep you for at
least a week on our honeymoon. How would
people look at me?”
“I guess that is for you to worry about”
Jessica noticed that he was throwing her words
back at her and it made her even angrier. “This
is the worst marriage ever. No wonder you had
me sign a contract to marry you, no woman
would marry such a self-centered man”
Andy’s face transformed before her eyes and she
wanted to run but her stubborn nature made her
stand where she was, returning his glare with
equal measure. He grabbed her hand fiercely and
all her courage seeped out of her, leaving her
with dread. “I guess that makes us the same.
You also accepted this contract because of
personal gain so think twice about calling
someone else names”
He was gone before she could even blink and
she leaned against the door for support.
*********
Even as Andy alighted from the car about an
hour later, he was still boiling in anger. Jessica
had guts, he could give her that. No woman had
ever confronted him hands down the way Jessica
constantly did. She had the talent of getting him
angry whenever she felt like. The frustrating
thing was that he somehow felt that she was
right. Self-centered, he muttered to himself with
a grim face.
As he matched into the massive building, he did
not notice the intense surprise on the faces of
the security men; neither did he hear their
greetings. He entered the office like a soldier
instead of the calmly measured steps he was
used to. The surprised looks he got from his
employees made him aware of his environment.
He returned their gaze with a stern glare and
they all started pouring greetings and
congratulations on his just concluded wedding,
before returning to their duties.
Andy felt the eyes of staff on him as he entered
his office. Again, Jessica had been right; coming
to work was a stupid thing to do. However right
she was, he told himself that he ought to be at
work, if not, his workers would run the company
to the edge of bankrupsy.
He hadn’t even sat down when the door opened.
He was not surprised when he saw Tunji, his
best man and his assistant, standing at the
entrance with a bewildered look. “Hey man”
Andy called.
“What is the meaning of this Andy?” Tunji
asked, closing the door.
“The meaning of what? Andy sat down feigning
ignorance.
“What are you doing here? You ought to be with
your wife, this is your honeymoon man; the
company is not running anywhere”
“My wife and I decided to use this time wisely
instead of wasting it on a leisure beach. You
know the challenges we have been confronted
with by our competitors, staying back would just
be useless”
Tunji was glaring at him. “So you could not trust
me enough to know that I would handle the
company properly till you are back?”
“Come off it man, I trust you; still it is
scientifically proven that two heads are better
than one. My being here gives us more chances.
I don’t want to have another lengthy meeting
with displeased shareholders” he powered his
desktop and centered his attention on it.
Tunji shook his head. “If I were a woman, I
surely would not envy Jessica.” With that, Tunji
left, leaving Andy with a measured level of
anger.
*******
Jessica walked barefooted on the beach sands
that same evening as the breeze blew at her
packed hair. She wanted to remove the bond and
have the breeze blow her hair into disarray but
she quenched the wild feeling. She had long ago
stopped leaving her hair. In fact, she had
stopped everything that could make her look
attractive to the opposite sex long time ago. She
wore oversized clothes, packed her head tightly
upwards and used almost no jewelry at all
except the occasional stud she had resorted to.
Men had made her life a living hell and she had
resorted to living her life alone with only her
family and friends, until Andy asked her for a
contract wedding.
Why Andy had decided to pick her, of all the
women in the world still remained a mystery.
Even at that, the thought that she could be
bought with money, no matter the amount would
have made her laugh but here she was, in an
agreement to stick with a rich handsome
workaholic for the sum of 20 million naira. Tears
stung her eyes but she blinked them away. She
had stopped crying a long time ago, she wasn’t
about to start now.
“Hey lady” she heard a guy call and she turned.
He walked up to her. “I am not lying when I say
you are the most beautiful woman I have ever
set my eyes on”.
From the physical outlook of the guy, he looked
like someone within her age bracket. He was
very slim but handsome, nonetheless. “Should I
say thank you?” she asked.
He smiled. “I am Jack. You look vaguely
familiar”
She took his hand. “Jessica”
“Cool. J.J; Jessica Jack. We are a perfect
match” he murmured grinning.
“You dream a lot” She responded.
“Every reality started with a dream in mind”
Jessie seemed to think about that. “Not every
dream sees the limelight”
“What are you doing dressed like this on the
beach? You should be in shorts” he asked,
changing the subject.
“What are you doing talking to me then? There
are a lot of women here in shorts”
“Well, it is very easy to notice an outstanding
woman”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“Do you ever smile?”
Jessica noticed that she had heard that question
for the second time that day. Andy had asked
her that same question but she hadn’t given him
an answer. She was about to give an answer
when she heard a voice behind her.
“Hey sweetheart”. She did not have to turn to
know that it was Andy. His voice was far
different from every other guy’s. She swallowed
and turned. He had a smile on his face but she
sensed the anger beneath. “I have been looking
for you” he said with his eyes on Jack who had
become rigid.
“I came for a walk on the beach” Jessica
responded sweetly as he stunningly placed his
arm around her waist.
“I knew I had seen you before. Your wedding was
carried by almost all the TV stations” Jack’s
eyes were on arm Andy put around Jessica’s
waist until he forced them upwards with a frozen
smile. “Congrats” he murmured.
“Thanks” Andy said stiffly.
This struck Jessica as awkward as she
swallowed bile that formed in her throat. The
silence that followed was so uncomfortable and
Jessica decided to put an end to the
awkwardness. “Drew” she called, turning to him
and placing her slender palm on his chest the
way only a woman could. “Why don’t you walk
with me?”
Andy felt a great sense of victory that stunned
him. He looked into her eyes and quickly looked
away. She was dressed in an unappealing way
but the shabby dress looked to him like a
challenge. He wanted to see what she was hiding
underneath. But the idea vanished immediately
it came and he mentally made a note of never
allowing his mind to go astray. He kissed her
forehead. “As your ladyship pleases” he gave a
slight bow which had her grinning.
“It was nice meeting you” she murmured to Jack.
She would have mentioned his name but she
realized that she could not even remember his
name. Andy’s arm around her waist was
disturbing. Both of them walked for a long time
without speaking. “That was an excellent drama
you displayed back there. You could make it in
the movie industry” she stated.
“Uhn?” Andy could not understand what she was
saying
“I don’t suppose you were genuinely jealous, or
were you?”
“Who is that guy?”
“You met him too, right? You know him just as
much as I do” she said with faint amusement.
The response did not satisfy Andy but he said
nothing. “We are far from prying eyes so you can
remove your hand from my waist now” Jessica
said.
Andy extracted his hand instantly, like her body
suddenly caught fire. He had forgotten his hand
around her. He swallowed hard as he stared at
the beach, wanting to dive inside for a swim. He
ran his hand through the tiny waves of his hair
as he got back to the beach house. He marched
into his room without looking back. |
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