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YoungBruzzy:
Not again 😭😭😭😭😭 this kiss again😫😫😫 who birthed these two fgs. The ending part is exciting tho. And I’ve always trust you Kayo80 to always deliver, finish what you started, and trust me, that is why I am always following your works. You are one of the best writers on this street. More grease to your elbow boss. How I wish I have enough funds, I would have send you a token, but anyways, we move.
Hoping to see more of your works on this platform. Remain blessed.

Thanks a lot. I appreciate this comment.

Chapter 6

Just two of them walked back into the room, the third less active guy was nowhere in sight. The leader grabbed Nnamdi by the collar, yanked him off the bed, dragged him to the reading table by the window, and dumped him on the chair. He inhaled, exhaled, and then started removing his wristwatch. He put the black rubber timepiece in his pocket, and then faced Nnamdi with a scowl on his face. “Let her go.” Nnamdi said. “You can do anything to me, but please let her go.”

The man smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Nobody is going anywhere till we get Mr. Yusuf his money.”
“I told you earlier, I don’t have the money.”
“Hmm…I gave you time, and privacy with your girlfriend, so you could come up with a solution, and you’re still talking none sense.” He cracked his knuckles, and said, “I think I have to go the hard way to get results.” He was about to punch Nnamdi in the mouth when his phone rang. He eased up, stood straight, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Sir, we’re still…” He was saying after picking the call, but stopped mid-sentence to listen to what the person on the other side of the line was saying. He squinted as if not believing what he was hearing, and then said, “Are you sure sir?” After a few more seconds of listening, he said, “Okay” and ended the call. He looked from Nnamdi to Sade, and then back to Nnamdi. A smirk appeared on his face. “You guys are really lucky.” He said before looking at his guy by his side and saying, “Remove the handcuffs.” The guy looked confused, but did as he was told.

Nnamdi sat there confused after being freed of the cuffs, looking at the man un-cuffing Sade and wondering what was happening. Without giving them a reason, the men walked out of the room. Just as they stepped out, Nnamdi heard the leader tell his partner in crime how the owner of the company Nnamdi worked for had been captured by the other team. He let out a sigh of relief. He and Sade looked at each other, but stayed in the position they were in, as if afraid the men would still come back. When he heard them close the entrance door to his apartment, he got off the couch and went to sit on the bed beside Sade. “Don’t worry. They’re not coming back.”
“Yeah, I heard their conversation.”
“Your wrists.” He said, looking down at her bruised wrists.
“Yeah, I tried to wiggle out of the cuffs while you were passed out.”
“Oh.” He said, looked up at her for a second and then looked back at her wrists. “Does it hurt?”
“Not really.”
He sighed before saying, “Sorry for getting you into this.”
“It’s okay.” She said and looked into space for a while before saying, “In a way, this was so exciting to me.”
“What.”
“I know it’s weird, but the whole thing feels like a movie.”
Nnamdi looked at her confused for a few seconds, and then smiled before saying, “Hmm...Well, at least it got you to confess your love for me.”
“Oh my God, Nnamdi, don’t do that.” She said and covered her face with her hands.

“Your hands…they are so beautiful.” He said and she slowly removed her hands from her face. “You’re…you’re so beautiful.” He said with a low voice and looked deep into her eyes. He leaned in; she closed her eyes slowly, and moved forward. They locked lips.

The End

Last chapter coming...as I said, this is just a short appetizer.

Chapter 5

After the men left, Nnamdi helped Sade up, and she sat next to him on the bed, with her back also on the headboard. A few minutes went by with each of them lost in thought, till Nnamdi decided to tell Sade about Mr. Yusuf, and how he had met him in Abu Dhabi last December. After sharing a few drinks at the lounge of the hotel they were both staying in, he had convinced the business man to invest with the company he worked for. Later on, he discovered the man was a rehabilitated thug that still had ties to the underworld.

He felt so sorry for her being in the mess with him, and told her he would ask them to let her go when they came back, as she had nothing to do with the mess he had gotten himself into. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, “What are they? They don’t look like regular thugs.”
“They’re not. They are a new arm of the police?”
“The police?” Sade asked, with a puzzled look on her face.
“Yea; It’s a new secret unit formed to blend with criminals and get the job done within.”
“Hmm…”
“People like Yusuf that have Government ties sometimes use them for their dirty work.”
“Hmm…I was wondering why they had handcuffs. It makes sense now.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. You’ll be okay. They won’t do anything to you.” He turned to look at her before adding, “They’ll let you go. Don’t worry.”
She looked at him, and he could tell she didn’t believe him. “What would they do to you since you don’t have the money?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” He said and looked into space.

The room grew really quiet; graveyard silence. After minutes went by with both of them sitting still, staring into space, she turned to look at him, and smiled. He was shocked she could smile at a time like this, and also smiled. “Why are you smiling?” He asked.
“Last month, I read a book…” She was saying and stopped to move a little bit closer to him on the bed. “It’s titled the Power of the Subconscious Mind, by Joseph Murphy.”
“Okay…” Nnamdi said, wondering why she was telling him about a book she read in the situation they were currently in.
“So, basically, the theory is that we all have the power to bring to life whatever we visualize.”
“That’s that law of attraction thing?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah. So, anyway, I decided to test the theory.”
“Okay. On what?”
She was smiling now as she said, “I constantly visualized lying in bed with you.”
“Wait, what?” Nnamdi said and turned to look at her.
“Well…Umm…since we don’t know how today’s going to end I might as well tell you. I’ve always had a crush on you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I guess you can say I’m very good at hiding my feelings.” She said, and he was now lost in thought, thinking how interesting it was that they had both been hiding their feelings towards each other. “So, after reading the book, I started visualizing being next to you in bed, and…and here I am.” She turned to look at him, and then she turned and looked the other way. “I can’t believe I just told you all that.”
“It’s okay.”
“Now I’m stuck here with you, it’s so embarrassing.”
He looked into space for a few seconds before saying, “Well, I…I actually feel the same way about you.” She turned to look at him, and he added, “I like you too. “
“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better Nnamdi.”
“No. I’m serious. I’ve always liked you. I just didn’t know how my sister would feel, that’s why I never made a move.”
“Hmm… I find this very hard to believe.”
“Why?”
“I…I don’t know, maybe I just felt I wasn’t your type.”
“My type? Do you know my type?”
“No. I guess not. I just felt you would be into big booty girls.”
“Big booty girls?” He repeated what she had said and laughed. For a second he forgot he was being held captive in his own home by rogue policemen.
“You know what I mean.” She said with a little laugh.
“Well, I’m into slim, tall girls…like you.” He said and the room got quiet again. She turned to look at him, as if trying to find out if he was telling the truth. The stare lingered, and just as she felt him leaning forward for what she felt would be a kiss, they heard footsteps approaching. The guys were back.

Chapter 4

Nnamdi woke up on his guestroom bed with a ringing in his head. Was it all a dream, he thought to himself as he slowly regained consciousness. On the bed with him was Sade; they were face to face, only separated by a few inches. Her eyes lit up when she saw him move. She was trying to say something with her lips without making a sound, but the pains he felt all over his body made it hard to understand her.

When he tried to move his hands, he noticed he was restricted. He looked down, and saw his hands were cuffed. He noticed Sade was also cuffed, and then he went into panic mode, and started struggling on the bed. She tried to get him to stop by making the shush sound with her lips, but stopped when the room door swung open, and one of the men in black came in. He was the youngest of the three, and was the one that Sade had bit earlier. He was just as buff as the other two, but was light skin, and had a baby face. He looked down at them for a few seconds, and then went back out the room. After a few seconds, he came back with the rest of his crew. The man that had gotten into the scuffle with Nnamdi earlier on seemed to be the leader, as he came in and sat by the couch that was opposite the bed. “Good to see you’re awake.” He said with his eyes on Nnamdi. “What’s your name?” The man asked, and Nnamdi looked puzzled. “What’s your name? It’s a simple question.
“Nnamdi.”

“Okay. I just had to make sure you still had your full senses.” He said and dialed a number on the phone in his hand. “He is awake now sir.” He said into the phone, and listened, nodding his head every now and then. When he ended the call, he turned to the light skin guy and said, “John, sit him up, and remove the handcuffs.” The guy looked at him for a second before acting. There was an evident frown on Nnamdi’s face as he was sat up and his back put up against the bed’s headboard. Sade look from where she lay as the key was turned in the cuffs, wondering what was going on. “Mr. Yusuf sent us.” The leader said.
“Shi…” Nnamdi cursed under his breath as his head went low.
“He said you have been unreachable for a couple of days now.”
“I’ve been…I’ve been very busy, but I…”
“No need for the long story. He just needs his money back.”
“I told him…I told him I’m not in charge of that.”
“Mr. Yusuf needs his money, and Mr. Yusuf always gets what he wants.” When Nnamdi didn’t say anything back, the man said, “get your phone out your pocket and call your boss.”

Nnamdi was quiet for a few minutes, head still low, thinking, and then he looked up and said, “The truth is, I was just an agent. The owners of the company are on the run. There is really nothing I can do.”

He looked at Nnamdi for a while and then turned to his guy, “put the cuffs back on him and take his phone.” The light skin goon did it swiftly. The man got up from the couch after a while, and on his way out the room said, “It’s going to be a long night, so we’re going to get something to eat. Use that time to think of a way out this.” He was out the door, then he came back in to say, “Don’t try anything stupid. We know where your mom lives.”

Salahdin:
I really must commend you for what you do here in the literature section for writers, sir. Like, you're always profuse with your admiration of their work and giving them the right incentive to do better. I only wish half the readers here on NL are like you.

You're so right.

A lot of readers don't know it is their comments/likes that keep writers writing. But they are always quick to come out of ghost mode to complain when the writer stops posting.

I don't think as a reader you will like everything a writer writes, but whenever you do read something you like, leave a comment... Or at least hit the "like" button. It won't take you more than a second do the latter.

Chapter 3

They walked into the kitchen without another word exchanged, and the last man closed the door behind them. Nnamdi was in front and as he stepped into the dark corridor, Sade said out loud, “What’s up with the Generator?” The man with the gun to the side of Nnamdi stopped, and held him back by the arm. “Aren’t you turning it on any longer?” Sade added.

“How many people are in the house with you?” The man whispered to Nnamdi.
“Just one; It’s just her.” Nnamdi said. The man waited a few seconds to think things through, and then poked Nnamdi’s back with the gun as a signal for him to keep walking.

“Nnamdi, I think I should get going anyway.” Sade said in a low voice. When they came into view, her head was bowed, oblivious of what was going on. There was a little streak of moonlight in the house, and he could see her head come up slowly, probably wondering why he wasn’t responding to her. His brain went into overdrive. Armed robbers were notorious for rapping girls, and he started thinking of what they would do to her. When she finally looked up and took in what was happening, she froze and stared at them. Just then, without thinking it through, Nnamdi swung around swiftly, and used his elbow to knock the gun out of the leader's hand, and followed that with a punch to his jaw. The man staggered into the two goons behind him. Nnamdi quickly turned to face Sade and shouted out, “run into the room, and lock the door!” Sade quickly snapped out of it, flung her phone to the side and attempted to run to the room. She stumbled in the dark as she collided with the glass table in the center of the living room, exclaimed out loud in pain as she tumbled to the floor. Adrenaline pumping in her system had her back on her feet immediately.

Nnamdi turned back around to face the three men trying to get their balance. It was dark, and they were all dressed in black, so he couldn’t see them properly. His eyes went to the corner of the room where the stainless steel pistol lay idle, he was about to make a move to grab it, when one of the guys dove into him, and they collided with the water dispenser by the wall. Water from the container spilled all over the place as they tussled on the floor. The other two assailants ran towards Sade.

She was already on the other side of the room, and with shaky hands, she was trying to turn the key to lock the door when they pushed the door open. She let out a scream, out of fear and disappointment in herself. She struggled, with all her might to keep them back, but they eventually barged in, and she fell to the room floor, screaming, and shaking. One of the guys grabbed her off the ground in one swooping move, and kept his hand around her mouth. She bit deep into his hand; he let out a low grunt, before throwing her on the bed. She bounced around a bit before getting her composure. In a sort of cat woman pose, she looked around for anything she could use to defend herself; but froze when the one by the entrance pulled out his gun and pointed it at her.

In the living room, Nnamdi had overpowered the man he was fighting, and was now on top of him, punching him continuously. The man was like a professional UFC fighter the way he put his two hands up to block the punches. Nnamdi was about to throw the hardest punch to the side of the man’s head when he felt a metal hit his head hard. He heard a ringing in his head before falling sideways.

I don't know what's up with Nairaland. I created this second post because after creating the first, I couldn't see it in Literature section, and I also couldn't/can't see it in my profile (unless when I click on view my topics). I can't see the post in literature section, but my friend can see it on her on Nairaland account. I don't know what's going on.

Anyway, this is the link to the original post...I already posted two chapters. https://www.nairaland.com/7842854/oh-no-oh-yes-short

Chapter 2

As he walked in through the kitchen entrance of his apartment, he heard a sound coming from further inside the house. "Damn rat." He cursed under his breath. He always kept his house pristine clean, but a rat had gained access into his apartment earlier on in the week, and he hadn't been able to catch it with the rat gum he placed in strategic corners of his house.

Nnamdi dropped the paper bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and picked out a red apple from it. He rinsed it thorough at the tap, took a quick bite and put it back in the paper bag before proceeding to walking out of the kitchen. It was dusk, and there was power outage, but there was still enough daylight for him to navigate through the corridor that led straight to his living room. He tiptoed, hoping to catch the rat unaware. As he got closer to the living room, he heard another noise; like the sound of a biscuit wrapper. He picked up the plastic long handle broom leaning on the wall next to him and continued to walk quietly.

His living room was simple; 2 three seater couches, a glass center table, and a TV hanging on the wall. The curtains were drawn apart, and tired in knots. He didn't remember doing that when he was leaving in the morning, and that threw him off guard. When he got close to the couch backing his bedroom door, he saw someone hunched over, sitting on the floor by the glass table, scrolling through a phone. It was a light skin girl with cornrows. She was listening to loud music and didn't hear him approaching. Just when he realized who it was and started to let down the broomstick, she turned around and shouted, “Jesus!”
“Hey Sade, what…” He was saying and stopped to put the broomstick down. She had been so frightened that you could see her chest heaving under the red blouse she had on.

She took a few deep breaths as she removed the ear phones. “Jesus! Nnamdi, you scared the hell out of me."
"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" Nnamdi said as he walked around the couch to get to her. She was still hyperventilating, and her head was bowed "Are you okay?" He asked as he went down in a crouching position to get a proper look of her.
"I'm fine." She said still looking at the floor. "I dropped the cookie I was eating."
"Sorry." He said and sat next to her. "How did you get in?"
"I came over with Angela. She wanted to pick up some of her stuff she had here.” "Oh, yeah, she has the keys to front entrance." He said.
She picked up a half-eaten chocolate chipped cookie from the rug, held it in the air for a second like she didn't know what to do with it, and then put it in the empty cookie wrapper. "That was my last cookie." She said disappointed.
Nnamdi laughed lightly before asking, "Where is Angela?"
"She said she wanted to go get some bigger plastic bags to fit all her things in." She said. Her legs were stretched forward in front of her. The jeans skirt she had on ended just before the knee, revealing spotless, bare legs.

His phone started ringing and he pulled it out of his pants pocket. It was Angela, his sister calling. "What’s up?" He said and cleared his throat.
"What’s up bro? How are you doing?"
"Fine."
"Are you home?"
"Yeah."
"Sade is still there, right?"
"Yeah."
"I've been trying her line, it's not going through. Please tell her something came up."
"Oh."
“Yeah, umm…just tell her I might not be able to come back over there.”
"Oh. Hope it’s nothing really serious?"
"Not so serious. Can you please drive her to your estate gate for me, please? You know Ubers are not allowed in."
"Okay. No problem."
"Thanks. Please give her the phone." Nnamdi handed Sade the phone and got up. It was dark now, and he wanted to switch on the generator. He heard them argue on the phone as he walked off.

Sade was his sister’s closest friend; the only one of her friends he knew. He had been attracted to her right from the first time Angela came over with her from their campus for a weekend two years ago. He had a thing for tall and athletic girls. To top it off, she was naturally funny. Dating his sister’s friend was something he never thought was proper, but he had seriously been thinking of breaking that rule lately.
His generator was outside by the wall, opposite his kitchen entrance. As soon as he stepped out, he heard footsteps approaching. He took a quick glance at the gate but it was too dark to make out who was there. He was halfway to the wall when the footsteps quickened and he decided to stop and see what was going on. He froze when he saw three unfamiliar men walking towards him. They were all in black Tee's and looked muscular like club bouncers.

"Please, who are you looking for?" He asked, with his eyes on the one closest to him. The man had a big keloid scar that ran from the corner of his mouth to his ear on the right side of his face. He was really dark skinned, with big bulging red eyes.

"We're looking for you, Nnamdi." He said, and walked up close. Nnamdi felt uneasy and was about to step back when he felt something poke him in the side. His heart skipped a beat and his mind went through a million outcomes of this encounter in a split second. “Don’t try anything funny.” The man said. His voice was raspy and resembled that of a thug, but his command of English was impeccable.
“Relax. I won’t. What do you want?”
“Let’s go in and discuss.” The man said, still with the pistol by Nnamdi’s side.
“Okay.” He said, turned to face the entrance and walked reluctantly to his kitchen door entrance with the men behind him.

This is a short story...very short story (4,000 words), with very short chapters.

I'll post all the chapters within 48 hours.

Oh No, Oh Yes!

By

Kayode Odusanya

Chapter 1

It was a bright sunny day in the city of Ibadan. There was traffic on the major road leading to Nnamdi’s gated community, and he could see a little gathering of people at the intersection up ahead. He had the AC on in his black Hyundai Sonata, lost in thought, but he was tempted to lower his driver side window to get a gist of what was going on.

A lot of people were running towards the scene, and the few people walking away from the place looked really disturbed. Car horns were blasting as every car that got to the intersection stopped to view what was going on. As his car approached the scene, he let his driver side window down a notch, and the noise from outside drowned his car; horns blaring, loud murmurs, rapid feet tap on concrete.

At first, he thought it was some sort of animal sacrifice, because he could see blood, and flesh. A man was pouring shovels of sawdust on it, probably to enable him pack the mess. When Nnandi saw the white set of teeth, and the skull, he looked away. Just before he wound up his glass and drove off, he heard someone say in Yoruba that the man had jumped from the high voltage mast because his wife left him. In his 27 years on earth, Nnamdi had never seen anything so gruesome. He felt a ‘shock-like’ feeling go through his whole 6 foot, 200 pound body. Even though the inside of the car was cold, he unfastened the first two buttons of the black long sleeve shirt he had on.

On the rest of the drive home, he wondered if anything could make him take his own life. He was currently dealing with heartbreak himself, and even though he was hurting bad, he would never resort to suicide. Even with his boss on the run, and some of their clients constantly calling him for their money, he still didn’t think he would ever consider suicide.

His phone beeped on the car center console and brought his mind back to reality. He was on his street now, and could comfortably pick up the phone to check who was calling. It was Mr. Yusuf, one of his clients. The investment company Nnamdi worked for had gone down, and Mr. Yusuf was one of the clients that had big money invested in the company. He looked at the phone for a few seconds before putting it in sleep mode an dropping it back on the center console.

He came to a halt in front of his house and sat still with the car engine off as he drifted off in thought. Just last month, he was on top of the world. He had millions in his account, was in love, and had just completed his first house. He didn't blame Julie for leaving him; he transferred a lot of aggression on her when things started falling apart at work. His life was crumbling, and he took out a lot of the frustration he was feeling on her, till she couldn’t take it anymore.

He had built his empire under a year; all he had was his charm and gift of gab. The flexibility of his work hours was something he had always dreamed off all his life. He was able to get rich men to invest in the company he worked for, and the commission he got for that was more than any amount he had ever thought he would be making legitimately. Life was good. Life was fantastic. Now, every day felt like hell.
Two teenagers, a boy and girl were approaching on their bicycles. They were in jeans shots, and white t shirt. The smile on their faces when they rode past his car caught his attention. What a sweet sight of puppy love, he thought to himself. Nnamdi sighed, grabbed the bunch of keys in the storage compartment of the center console, and got out of his car.

What's up guys. I'm getting back into the groove slowly, so I decided to write something short...just a short story of 4,000 words. It has very short chapters, and I plan on posting all the chapters within 2-3 days.

Please note it is a very short story, with very short chapters. I just want to stress that so you know what you're getting.

I'll get back to the uncompleted story I started early this year. But just take this for now.

bimberry1307:
@kayo80 just left us hanging. It's been months, bro.

Life happened. I didn't want to comment all this while cos what's the use when I know I can't give the people what they want.

Someday soon though, I'll be back, but I can't say when.

[quote author=YoungBruzzy post=123120584]Thanks for the update boss Man
Biko drop us long update next oh baba


Btw, It’s been a while tho, hope you good?[/quote]

I'm cool

Chapter 6

Kola ended up dressing up in white Guinea Brocade cultural attire. It was simple and classy at the same time. He drove her home, and waited in the car for her to get ready. She had no plans inviting him into her house just yet and was happy he didn't mind waiting in the car.

Standing in front of her room mirror now, fully dressed and applying the last touch of makeup, she let out a slight laugh, thinking of how ridiculous this whole thing was. Never in a million years would she have thought she would be going to an event with a fake boyfriend. Just get through today first then you think about what happens afterwards, she thought to herself. “It’s all about getting through today”, she said in a low voice.

Her aunt's 50th birthday was holding at a small event hall, with just close friends and family. She could have worn an English dress, but dressing corporate every day for work made her want something different today. She had on a fitted blue Ankara gown, with yellow flowering patterns here and there on it. It was a mono-strap design, but not too revealing. Her braids were parked properly to the back, and she had her most expensive gold jewelries on; gold necklace, wrist watch, and drop earrings. The black pumps she had on gave her a few inches in height. She needed that boost if she was going to be by Kola's side all day.

After standing still in front of the mirror for a couple of minutes, going through everything in her head, she grabbed her bag from the dressing table and headed out.

On the way down the stairs, she bumped into one of her neighbors coming up the stairs with a girl on his arm. The guy was on jeans shots and a white t shirt, while the plump girl was in a tight fitted white mini gown she greeted them with a smile and head nod, and as she walked past them the girl said, “I love your dress.” Angela was caught off guard and had to catch her breath before saying, “Thank you.” After taking a few steps down the stairs, she turned around to look at them again and smiled. It’s interesting how an unexpected compliment from a stranger can go a long way in making a person’s day, she thought to herself.

It was a sunny day and when she walked out the gate, she noticed Kola's car engine was on. He probably got tired and uncomfortable sitting in the hot car for too long, she thought to herself. She could see as she approached the car that he was talking to someone on the phone. He unlocked the car when she got to the passenger's side. The change of atmospheric temperature as she got into the car was so soothing.

"Please give me a minute." Kola said to Angela while covering his phone mouthpiece with his hand, and then continued the conversation on the phone. Angela couldn’t follow the conversation as a lot of tech world words were used. She got restless after a while and started tapping her right knee with her hand. It was something she did unconsciously when she was uneasy.

"Sorry about that." He said when he finally ended the call.

"It's okay." Angela said with a smile. "By the way, what exactly do you do?"

"Umm..." He started to say and stopped to fasten his seat belt and put the car in drive. "Basically, I design apps."

"Okay."

"I used to get jobs online, from all over the world. I sometimes design websites too."

"That's cool."

"But when a lot of people started getting into the business, the price for that went down."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so earlier this year I decided to do something of my own."

"Hmm..."

"It's a content based app, sort of like tiktok, but with content for older more serious minded people."

"Okay."

"So, I pay people to create content for me, and I also create content of my own. Like what we did this morning."

"Oh. So, you pay people up-front for the content they put on the app?"

"Well, for now, to build up traction, I pay well known content creators, skit makers, and celebrities money to create exclusive content for my app."

"So… something like Only Fans?"

"Yeah, the exclusivity part, not the...you know." He said and they both laughed. "I found this to be the fastest way to build the app."

"But it must cost a lot of money, right?" She asked and turned to face him for his response.

"Sheesh! You can say that again. But you have to spend money to make money."

"True."

"I have two partners...basically, they're the financiers." He was at a road intersection now, and he looked left and right before joining the road. "They're taking a risk, but when it blows up, they're going to be richer than they've ever been."

Angela noticed he used the word ‘when,’ and not ‘if’ in describing the future of his app. She liked the belief he had in the project. "So, what's the monetizing plan?"

"Ads, sponsored posts, and monthly subscription."

"Hmm..."

"The monthly subscription is our real banker. It's 500 naira a month. A million monthly subscriptions equal 50 million naira."

"Wow. That's a lot of money."

"Yeah, but getting a million monthly subscribers is not easy. So far, our highest was February, three months ago, with a thousand two hundred subs."

"That's quite impressive."

"Well, the way we get people to subscribe is...we partner with some big name celebrities, like for example Basketmouth the comedian. Get him to do an exclusive live show on our app."

"Cool."

"His fans sign up for the show. We pay him an amount up-front, and also a percentage out of what we see in subscription money, and he's happy, we're happy."

"And those fans add to your subscriber base."

"Exactly; But it doesn't mean they'll be renewing their subscription the following month. We have to work on them. So far, we have a 40% conversation rate on that."

"That's cool."

"Yeah, that's just one of the ways we get subscribers anyway. It goes back to spending money to get money." He said and smiled. There was a prolonged silence in the car, and it was clear his mind had wondered off on his dreams and how he could build it up. "Well, enough about me, tell me about your work."

"My job is boring; I help people collect thousands of dollars every day, while I have just 50 dollars in my dorm account"

He laughed a little before saying, "You're funny. You're funny. But I'm not talking about your bank job. I mean the fashion thing."

"Oh. I...I forgot you knew about that." She was smiling now, from ear to ear. "Umm...yeah, it's cool. I think I told you guys the basics at Divine's place the other day."

"I want to hear more."
“Okay. Umm…”

Angela went on to talk about her love for color combination, which fuels her love for dresses. She talked passionately about how she couldn’t wait to start making dresses with her brand tag on them. Kola would say something every now and then, but he just let her talk, and he couldn’t explain the feeling, but he knew he wanted to see her more often. He wanted to be more than a fake boyfriend to her.

Chapter 5

On the day of the movie podcast, Angela got to Kola’s apartment as early as possible because she planned on leaving before noon. The other co-hosts didn’t show up, so it was just Kola, Angela, and Tola. The movie of the day, The Artifice Girl, was about a digital girl created to catch predators online. Over the years, the AI advanced to a point where it wanted to be autonomous. It had become sentient; it had the ability to think, feel, and perceive the physical world just like humans do. The AI later took the form of a humanoid robot, and wanted to live a human life.

When the movie was done, they moved from the living room, to the room that had been reserved for shooting the actual podcast. It was painted powder blue, and it had in it four wooden armchairs, three microphone stands with all black microphones attached to them, and two cameras. Two arm chairs were placed on one side of the room, with a stool in between; same two arm chair setting was also on the other side of the room. Both sides of the room had separate cameras on tripods covering it. It was a simple but professional setup.

Angela and Tola sat on one side, while Kola was on the other side of the room. The twins were dressed casual; Kola in jeans and a white t shirt, and Tola in roll-up denim shorts and a black sweatshirt. Angela was in a black body fitting spaghetti gown. Her makeup was light; just red lipstick on her luscious lips. Her braids was packed to the back in a bun.

As they discussed the movie, the three of them came to the conclusion that the human race was on a dangerous path with the rapid advancement of AI. They all feared for a time, like the movie The Terminator, where robots would take over the world, and humans would become endangered species.

When the podcast ended, and the cameras were turned off, Angela sat in her seat, deep in thought, till she was brought back to reality by Kola’s question, “Do you think humans and AI would fall in love?”
“What?” She asked, and sat up in her seat.
“Humans and humanoid robots, do you think they could fall in love?”
“Well…with all I’ve learnt today, I believe that would be very possible in the future.”
“That would be a wild time.” Tola said as she walked back into the room carrying a red tray. There was a glass jar filled with orange juice and empty glass cups on it. She dropped it on the stool between her and Angela’s chairs, picked up one of the glass cups and the jar, and headed towards where Kola was seated.
“They would be AI and human love advocates, fighting for the rights of humanoids and humans to fall in love.” Kola said as he collected the cup from his sister and kept his hand steady as she filled up his cup. “Technology would be so advanced at this time that it will be almost impossible to tell the difference between humanoid robots and real humans.”
“That would be scary.” Tola said as she walked back to her side of the room. She sat and proceeded to fill up two glass cups with orange juice. “Do you have a boyfriend?” She asked Angela as she handed her a glass of orange juice.
“Umm…No.” Angela answered and was about wondering off into deep thought again and when she remembered something. “Oh, shoot. What’s the time?” She asked and picked up her phone from the stool beside her.
“Why?” Kola asked.
“I have to be at an event.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember you mentioned that.” He said.
“It’s still like 11:30. I’m sure whatever party you have won’t start till afternoon.” Tola said.
“She probably has to stop over at a guy’s house before heading over to the party.” Kola said with a smile.
“I wish.” Angela said under her breath as she sat back in her seat. No need to rush anywhere, I have no date, she thought to herself.
“Boyfriend was the trigger word, so…is there an ex you’re meant to see today.” Tola asked, looking at Angela. When Angela shook her head, she added, “Or maybe someone you just started seeing but not so sure of?” Angela shook her head again. Tola sat down, took a sip of her drink, looked into space and as if something hit her, she turned to face Angela again and said, “I got it. You’re going for a family event and you're not eager to face the aunties that'd be asking about your relationship status?” Angela didn’t say anything, she just smiled. “I’m right, right?” Angela just nodded. “I understand that totally.” Tola said with a little laugh.

“Let me go with you to the party. I’ll be your fake boyfriend.” Kola said and Angela almost spat out the drink in her mouth.
Tola had a smile on her face as she turned to face Angela, “That could actually solve your problem.”
“No.” Angela said shaking her head.
“Well, at least temporally.”
“Do you want me to wear a suit, or dress culturally like a Yoruba demon?” Kola said, and it made Angela laugh.
“This is a great idea. At least, it will ease off the tension you’re feeling right now.” Tola said to her.
“So, what do you say? Should I go and start getting ready?” Kola said and she realized he was actually serious about the proposal. It was crazy idea, but in a way, it was the only solution to her problem right now.
“What do you say Angela?” Tola said, looking at her with excitement written all over her face. Angela looked at her for a while. Her enthusiasm for the plan was so infectious Angela eventually smiled, and then she nodded in approval.