This story sweet. More ink to your pen

jayboy:
This story sweet. More ink to your pen

Thanks so much my brother
Glad you're enjoying it

Crestaria:
Hmmm... Catherine

Well done

Catherine don move on 1000 miles

Episode 11

I thought I was going to miss Alex these three days that he was going away but for wia?

This guy has his way of keeping you on your toes throughout the day.

My eyes were constantly fixed on my computer screen all day long as I had to check my email every other five minutes for a new correspondence from Alex.

I did a ton of typing, filing, scanning and running around from office to office while Alex was probably chilling somewhere in a conference room.

Thank God it's just a matter of weeks left for me to complete this nonsense secretarial arrangement so I can jejely return to the sales department where I rightfully belong.

On Friday, my joy knew no bounds as the hectic week was finally coming to an end and Alex will be back here.
Because it's like my work load tripled the second that guy found his way out of Lekki.

Just as I was prepping my desk and getting ready to leave for the day, the HR came in and handed me a quarto sized envelope which I was supposed to deliver to Alex at his house tomorrow morning.

Which kind wahala be this again now? Why can't she just deliver this thing to him because verily, verily it won't just end with ordinary delivery. Another errand must surely follow. Why can't this girl just allow me to enjoy my weekend in peace eh? Who did I offend?

Alex's address and phone number were boldly inscribed on the envelope which she handed to me and walked off just like that. Yeye girl! She doesn't want to go to her ex boyfriend's house.

I rolled my eyes as I held the sealed envelope inspecting the address like I was trying to visualize the directions in my head.

Helplessly, I made my way downstairs and found myself in a taxi heading straight home. Now I have to call Ama and Promise and cancel the plans we made to go hangout tonight as we'd gotten our salaries for the month.

I need a sound sleep tonight so I can wake up as early as possible tomorrow morning and hit the road.

***

The most annoying part of the whole issue is that Alex wasn't picking any of my calls throughout that evening and the following morning and neither did he respond to my text on WhatsApp leaving me clueless on how to get to his place and make the delivery.

Getting a good headstart from Google maps, it was a whole lot easier to get to the address which was located in one of the most expensive estates in Lekki.

How does he afford to get a house in a place like this? How on earth does he fund such a lavish lifestyle?

The taxi fare to this place was in no way cheap and I just might need a refund for crying out loud.

"Plot 108" I kept muttering to myself as my eyes scanned the buildings restlessly clutching my bag tight like it was going to disappear from my shoulder.

If someone just told me that such an area like this existed in Lekki, I would have doubted at first. I'm sure this is where some of this low budget celebrities normally come to take photos for their Instagram and later they'll be telling us that they're abroad. Mtchew!

Standing at the gate of plot 108, the gateman who saw me wandering around took notice and walked over to talk to me. Probably coming to warn me for loitering and trespassing.

"Good morning sir." I greeted respectfully as he opened the gate and I'm sure that he was surprised to hear me refer to him as 'sir' this early morning.

"Morning. Are you looking for someone or are you lost?" He queried rather gruffly as he folded his arms around his chest.

"I'm not lost. My name is Folake. Is this the residence of Mr Alex Oluwoye?" I asked as I started getting nervous.

"And who are you?" He asked again thinning my patience a great deal.

Sha, na him job e dey do so I no fit just blame am.

"My name is Folake and I'm his secretary." I responded in annoyance eyeballing him.

He didn't say anything further as he just pulled out his phone from his pocket and made a call supposedly to Alex repeating everything I'd just told him to whoever was on the other end of the line.

After spending like two minutes on the phone with whoever it was, the yeye gateman finally opened the gate and let me into the residence which was a replica of all the other buildings in this luxury estate.

The house was two storeys high, everywhere was interlocked, with flowers and lawns on both sides of the driveway. On the far end of the building, there was the garage with three cars parked. The flashy Mercedes he comes to work in, the blue Chevrolet that Wahab drove the other day and a convertible Audi. I shook my head in awe as I kept looking around like a villager taking it all in.

The gateman led the way to the front door of the main building. As soon as he knocked on the front door, I heard a loud bark from a dog that made me jump in fright. I mean nobody has to tell you that the dog would be one of those huge and scary looking breeds.

After three knocks, the door swung open and Alex's tired but handsome face popped out. I let out a big sigh of relief followed by a smile and then a little chuckle while he just stood there watching me like a movie. He was really surprised to see me at his doorstep I guess.

"Good morning Sir." I greeted with my smile still lingering while the gateman turned around and walked away.

"Morning. Come on in." He finally said stepping away from the door way as he opened it wider for me to enter.

The cold air from the Aircon hit me and the fresh scent of the same fruity smelling air freshener from the office hung strong in the air and without knowing it, I inhaled the sweet fragrance as my eyes roamed through the expansive living room.
Money sweet oh!

Everything in this room was just golden. The sofas, the tables, the grandfather clock, all the frames of the large portraits on the wall, the flower vases, the gigantic chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, even the door handles all had gold on them. Na wao!

Alex actually let me take my time to scan the room before he finally spoke up.

"I was having breakfast in the kitchen. Care to join?" He said calmly running his fingers through his well shaved head.

"Sure thing Boss." I responded as I followed him towards the direction of the kitchen.

I kept slapping myself mentally as I was drooling over his moving figure. He wore shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. Man got a body from the gym for real. Omo come see well built muscles and those fresh,hairy yam legs got me swallowing hard. How can one man have all these good looks and money to himself alone? His girlfriend is definitely a very lucky lady.

We got into the kitchen which was so neat and sparkling. No cooking is ever done here for sure. Even the faucet and sink here were also golden.

"Wow!" I mouthed as I took a seat on one of the kitchen stools running my fingers along the polished surface of the kitchen table.

"What? Really? Biscuits, butter and fruit juice for breakfast?" I said with a snicker.

"Why? It's nice. You can try some." He offered as he pushed the plate full of biscuits to me also doubling in fits of laughter.

"So is this what you eat every morning?"

"Kinda. Other days, I normally have bread and some bananas in the house. In the afternoon, I go for lunch and on my way home from work, I eat dinner before coming back and the cycle continues." Alex said with a casual shrug.

"You should also eat some home cooked food sometime."

"Yeah! Whenever I'm at my aunt's place, I eat whatever I want to."

"Why not get a cook or something?" I suggested.

"Can't trust em. Kebari's is serving me well." He scoffed earning an eye roll from me. I just rolled my eyes at my boss whoa!

"So Catherine sent you here?" He queried with a hint of sarcasm in his tone changing the subject as he picked up another glass and filled it with the juice before placing it before me.

That was how he reminded me of why I came to his house in the first place.

"Yeah." I managed to voice out having stuffed a mouthful of the delicious crackers.

I pulled the envelope out of my handbag which was on the kitchen table and handed it to him.

He opened and inspected the contents of the envelope with little or no interest before placing it back on the table.

"Is everything okay?" I asked as he had a rather neutral expression on his face after reading whatever it was.

"It's all good." He said with a flat smile. That was a clear indicator that something was not right.

We cleared the table and returned the remaining biscuits back to the pack and the juice straight back to the fridge.

"I could help you know. I can come cook for you on the weekends." I spoke before thinking. Realizing that I just said that out loud, I bit my lips real hard to shut myself up.

"But nevermind." I tried dismissing it as Alex looked at me in absolute surprise. He was never in a million years expecting such a suggestion.

"You say wetin?" Alex asked earning a chuckle from me. That sounded so cool to hear him address me in pidgin for the very first time. I wonder what his Yoruba would sound like.

"I mean I could come cook for you on Saturdays only if you want me to." I stated shyly rubbing my already moist palms together.

"You know my aunt really spoiled me when it comes to food. I love the traditional, time consuming stuff." He said in a bit to brace me up.

"Yeah. I've seen your orders at Kebari's. My mom's like that too and being the only girl in the house, I learned everything while my lazy brothers played football in the yard.

"Okay. I'd love to see you try something. Next week?"

"Yeah. Next week would be great."

"But for today, let's go to Kebari's because I'm starving." He said yawning and stretching.

After lunch at Kebari's, he offered to drop me off at home which was a big relief for me.

By the time we got back to my place, Eddy my annoying neighbor who wanted to toast me on the very first day he saw me was outside taking photos and videos of a cute little dog.

He practically ran to greet us as soon as he saw Alex get down from the car after I'd vigorously convinced him to come inside and see what I'd done with the place.

"My boss, I dey loyal." He said respectfully with a bow as they both shook hands and got talking.

So they're comrades? That means he lived here while Alex was also here.

"Boss this fine kele na who she be?" Eddy asked referring to me as I rested on the car watching them with lazy eye rolls.

"Na my main babe be this one. Anybody wey wan touch am go juh lose their hands." Alex bragged and my eyes went wide in shock. He just introduced me as his girlfriend? That's insane.

I couldn't control myself from laughing as I simply covered my mouth and walked away to the front door which I hurriedly unlocked and rushed in just to laugh out loud.

Read episode 12 here>>
https://beat.com.ng/couldnt-pretend-episode-12/

Episode 12

I couldn't control myself from laughing as I simply covered my mouth and walked away to the front door which I hurriedly unlocked and rushed in just to laugh out loud.

A few seconds later, I heard a knock on the door and I went to open up. Obviously it's Alex.

"Na my main babe be this one. Really?" I said resuming my laughing all over again as I kept remembering how brazy he sounded when he said those words.

"It's just for your protection Folake." He said instead in a serious sounding tone.

"How do you mean?" I questioned in amazement.

"Eddy is bad news and I wouldn't want you or any other girl for that matter to have anything to do with him for your own good." On hearing these words, my eyes widened in shock.

"When I was still living here, he got arrested twice for beating up his girlfriend till she passed out. And he couldn't control his anger and his fists on each of these two occasions because he was under the influence of hard drugs." Alex explained sending chills through my entire body.

"Oh! I had no idea. Thank you so much." I said in a shaky voice taking a seat beside him on the two seater.

"You're welcome. And I'd actually cut off his hands if he lays it on you." He threatened leaving me speechless.

Why does he even care about me so much?

***

"So she's suddenly scared of visiting her old bobo?" Ama asked almost in a whisper and I burst out laughing.

"Exactly my thoughts girl. It's as if you were there. It was so annoying as she just scattered my plans like that with a foolish errand." I said drinking from my glass of water.

It's Monday and I was explaining to Ama and Promise during lunch break why I had to cancel last minute on Friday to run errands for The HR.

"And you're yet to tell us what GM's house looks like." Promise inputted which led me to describing the heavenly destination leaving them in awe.

"Three cars and a two storey building in that very luxury estate? But where does this guy get all that money from?" Promise asked in shock.

"This guy must be laundering money or doing rituals." Ama stated like it was some sort of obvious fact.

"My dear, if you ask me, na who I go ask? This guy must have another source of income apart from this day job."

"That's what I'm thinking also. He looks like a rich kid not someone who came up from the trenches." Promise seconded my motion.

Let's just say I skipped the part where we had crackers dipped in butter and fruit juice, lunch at Kebari's and him finally bringing me home only to claim me as his girlfriend before my neighbor and the part he threatened to cut off his hands. That was the real juicy gist but dem no go hear am from my mouth.

This week was equally a busy one and I barely had any room to breathe.

Alex was in and out of meetings with department heads everyday and I had tons of typing to do on a daily that I rarely had time for lunch.

***

On Thursday afternoon, a beautiful lady holding a baby came to the office looking for Alex. She introduced herself as Rita the official and original secretary I was covering for.

It was so nice to finally put a face to the name. Alex had mentioned her a couple times showering praises on her for being reliable and super good at her job.

She's here to see Alex. I quickly notified him and he asked me to let her in.

About an hour later, Alex emerged from the office holding the baby with Rita following behind.

"Your things were moved down to storage. I'll have Wahab bring them to your place later." That was all I overheard Alex say as they walked past my cubicle.

It was so nice to see him playing happily with the adorable little baby who he finally handed back to the mother and said goodbye.

"My office." He ordered as he strutted past my cubicle back into his office.

"Rita is quitting. She just handed in her resignation letter." Alex announced relaxing in his seat pointing to an envelope on his desk the moment I walked into his office.

"Her husband is a pastor and has been transferred to another branch of their church in Delta State so she can no longer work for me." He continued before pausing briefly like he wanted me to properly digest the information.

"It's just a few weeks left before our arrangement will be concluded. I want you to carefully consider taking over as my secretary permanently. I'm not forcing you to do it. This time around, it's totally up to you to decide." He concluded and I nodded as I knew that was exactly where the conversation was going to end up.

"I'm glad you're giving me a choice in this matter Sir. I'll give it careful thought and let you know what I decide." I responded in my most respectful voice.

With that being said, Alex talked about a few other things before finally letting me go.

***

"So are you going to consider staying under him?" Ama asked during lunch break on Friday as I'd just filled her in on what happened yesterday.

"I'm still thinking about it." I said sounding confused and overwhelmed.

"But I thought you had dreams to rise and become one of the top dogs? There's nothing like promotion for someone's secretary except for the little pay raise. And I don't consider being a secretary as a career." Promise quipped in.

"Plus someone like Alex can just frustrate you till you quit your job." Ama added overwhelming me the more.

"I know all this but it's better than wiping the noses of everyone in the sales department. Promotion no go show overnight oh, you gats sweat like tomorrow no dey oh." I reminded them and that only earned me an eye roll from Ama.

"It's your choice and you should think carefully before deciding on anything. It's just that we had hopes of seeing you back in our department."

The thing is that Alex has been really kind to me even though we started off on the wrong foot.
Even all the boyfriends I had all my life have never added money for me to rent a house not to talk of giving me a whole furnished three bedroom flat. And he's never for once asked for anything in return. Staying as his secretary would be a great way to show that I appreciate all he's done for me.

Ama and Promise didn't know the good sides of Alex Oluwoye like I did. They only saw him as an authority figure who was conceited and vainglorious.

That same day before the close of work, I made my decision to keep working as his secretary known to Alex and he just couldn't hold back his joy.

"We should celebrate." He said happily. This was not the reaction I'd expected from him though.

He got up and started searching for something among his collection of vinyls and picked out one which he placed on the gramophone and a powerful male voice was heard belting his heart out.

"That's James Brown." He said proudly and returned to his seat as he observed the confused look on my face.

"I've never heard this song in my entire life." I said with a laugh while he pulled out two wine glasses from a drawer in his desk followed by a bottle of red wine.

He decanted little quantities into each glass before passing one to me.

"Looking forward to a great time working together. Cheers!" He said and we raised our glasses before gulping down our drinks in one go.

"So are we still on for tomorrow?" Alex asked as dropped his now empty glass.

Oops! I totally forgot that tomorrow is Saturday and I'd promised to assist in cooking for him. Geez! My sharp mouth will never put me trouble. Kai!

"Yes sure." I responded with a nod even though my eyes had gone wide in shock.

I had set an appointment with a hairstylist now I have to call her and cancel.

"Great! I'd come over to your place and pick you up so you'll go and buy whatever is needed at the market deal?" He said extending his hand for a handshake.

"Deal!" I simply replied shaking his hand slowly as fireworks went off inside me.

This would be the very first time in my life I get to touch Alex y'know. Except for that one time that my arm brushed his on the staircase and one other time like that when I handed him a pen and his finger touched mine.

I relished the handshake like it was my favorite soup served with a mountain of semo. How delicious!

His hand was so soft and I didn't want to let go. We shook hands close to thirty seconds not wanting to break the handshake before we finally disengaged laughing at each other.

Wow! Just see confam man with good looks, better brain and a hand softer than my pillow and he's totally out of my reach. Nawao!

Suddenly my mind flashes back to cooking for him. Omo, no be small something oh! The almighty Alex Oluwoye will be tasting my food tomorrow. So wetin baba God no fit do?


Read Episode 13 here>>
https://beat.com.ng/couldnt-pretend-episode-13/

Please girl, don't disappoint me
And the boss is happy for accepting to be his permanent secretary. I understand,the joy is overwhelming

Well done Lipstick

Crestaria:
Please girl, don't disappoint me
And the boss is happy for accepting to be his permanent secretary. I understand,the joy is overwhelming

Well done Lipstick

I love it for them

Folake>>>>>