PrudySara:
Lol.. I promise, i won't say anything to you

Treasure17:
#Introvert. Enjoying the chemistry between Pearl and Soma so far. Who's Tony abeg??.. We don't need any intruder to disorganise the flow of the relationship please.

Thanks for the update Kim Jong Un.

We seriously don't need an intruder.

You're welcome dear

izaray:
Who's Tony again?

Thanks for the update dear

One guy like that.

You're welcome dear.

Ann2012:
Tony should maintain his lane biko

Thanks for the update

Don't worry. If he doesn't, I will force him to maintain his lane

HORLADSTAR:
Wow! KimberlyWest have started a new story.
Tho I am late but I'm here anyway so let's ride together.

Longest time.

Thanks for joining the ride.

Hantonia:
Weldone bby happy ya back tanks for the update

Babe, longest time.

Lilly4endu:
Someone is with popcorn and am with groundnut. I hope there's still space for me oooh.

More than enough space dear.

I sha want groundnut too.

micskales:
Hi
Good evening.
I really enjoy your work �
Am a kind busy person, I don't know if it's possible for you to send me the complete work to my email because I do almost have a heart attack whenever I read any of the update.
I can pay for it.
Pls consider.
Thanks.

Good evening dear.

It's okay. The complete work, in PDF format, should be available for the who are interested in buying it tomorrow evening.

You can chat me up on whatsapp, 08120912480.

Thanks for taking out time from your busy schedule to read this story. I sincerely appreciate.

PrincessSheris:
awwwwwww wat a lovely story.Thanks for the update

You're welcome princess.

skubido:



Always gallant



Dey ya back oooo

Ride on

Thanks beau.

Noblejohn32:
Thrilling update
But i some how nursing some kind of fear for pearl and soma

yewande1234:
Babe am jz seeing dis nw ooooo. Sorry 4 joining late..... Hope i neva miss anything to much oooo

You never miss o, sis.

Thanks for coming.

Oremeyii:
This story makes me want to have another male bestie.
Like, Soma and Pearl are really okay as they are, most people want them to date, I ship them too, but just friends is less complicated, but they could also regret staying as friends when they could have been something more....

This new guy Tony, I don't like his vibes, "I got ur number from....."
If he's going to be good, then he's okay for Pearl, I don't want to start hearing dat he's jealous of Soma and Pearl's closeness.

B4 I forget, thanks for d update

Two sides of a coin.

Sometimes it's good to remain just friends. Sometimes it's good to take it further.

I want a male bestie too

EvaJael:
KimberlyWest, I'm so sorry. I didn't get your mention, that's why I'm late. Lovely one you have going on here

It's okay. Thanks a lot dear. Thanks for joining us here.

PrudySara:
Oga Tony, find one side and gaon sit down o...


Thanks for the update , Kim!

Seriously. You're welcome dear.

₹ollowing

KimberlyWest:
Chai All my favourite people are still here. Although, we never complete.

PrudySara, Kikiwendy, crislyn, Do4luv14, Noblejohn32, Queenitee, bigbauer, khriztarl, skubido, Asemark, Ann2012, Treasure17 I see y'all. Thanks for the massive support. I appreciate.

Ride on. I'm Gaseously behind you.

KimberlyWest:


We seriously don't need an intruder.

You're welcome dear

just leave am, if oga tony no take time, ah go arrange bois for am


BTW: you are no longer KIM JUNG UN ( you can't be a guy, in a ladys fashion)

you are now officially KIM NANA


welcome back

Thanks for the mention Just saw it. Nice story by the way

Who’s Tony and what do we need him for? Please shift Mr Tony

****************
"Hello,"

"Hi, it's me Tony. I got your number from Diane."

Tony from today's earlier hangout.
She became curious. Why would Diane give him her number?

"How may I help you, please?"

"I just want to be friend's with you. Give me a chance please."

She wasn't thrilled by the idea. And the guy was too loud, he didn't strike her like the friendship type.

"Alright."

No harm in agreeing to be just friends. After all, Soma also didn't strike her like the lets-just-be-friends type until they got talking.

They talked for another two minutes before they said goodnight.

She breathed in and out, heavily. Everybody now wants to be friends with her. It was as if she didn't exist until few days ago.

She said her night prayers and went to bed.

*CHAPTER THREE*

The next day, Pearl closed early from work and went to visit her parents.

It's been a while since she last saw them and she missed her younger ones also.

"Sister welcome," her younger sister ran to her, hugging her tightly.

This girl will never change. She grew up with her habit of hugging people so tightly. Even at 17, she would still hug you to the extent that your body would start to sore.

When she was younger, if anyone visited she would run and grab whoever it was by the leg, so tightly that some people would start to wonder if she was alright.

"Where's Joshua?"

"A footballer that's not bringing any money to the house. He's out again playing football while I'm here washing clothes like I'm allergic to having fun."

Pearl could clearly see that she's angry. She made a mental note to tell her mum to schedule house chores among the two kids. No one born was born to slave for the other.

"Sorry baby, I bought you chocolates."

Her eyes widened as she grabbed Pearl's handbag. "thanks big sis."

"You're welcome. Take only chocolate o." she warned.

Her sister turned to her with a smile that instantly turned devilish.

She knew she was never going to heed to her warning.

Rachael was not just her sister but also her close friend. Her level of wisdom amazed Pearl. In times when she didn't feel like talking to anyone or doing anything, Rachael would always be the one to brighten up her day. Just one phone call was all it takes.

She went in and met her mum lying peacefully on her couch.

"Mummy good afternoon." she greeted.

"Nwa Oma. You're looking fresh o. Is there something I need to know before you leave?" her mum said, giving her an inquisitive stare.

She didn't need a soothsayer to tell her what her mum was talking about. Since she finished her NYSC the previous year, her mum has been on her neck with her marriage issue.

No time would she visit without hearing 'When are you bringing my son in-law?'

Initially it started playfully, but now, she has realized that her mum was being serious about it.

"Where's dad?" she asked, dismissing the thousands of thoughts running through her mind.

Her mum hesitated for few seconds before answering, "He is somewhere."

She quietly left. She didn't want another banter with her mum. She had tried times without number to explain to her mum that gone are the days when ladies just graduate and get married straight. Now, nobody wants a liability anymore, every sensible person wants a woman who is independent to an extent. The current economic situations or the cost of goods and services isn't helping matters either.

And she, it wasn't in her agenda to get married until she had atleast became more successful than her parents.

She stayed for a while and when her dad didn't show up and wasn't picking his calls, she left.

She tried to find out from Rachael if their parents were quarreling again, but even Rachael had no idea.

She was halfway down the street when her phone rang.

"Tony," she said, the moment she picked and then placed the phone on loudspeaker.

"Are you free?" he asked.

"Not really," she said, she hesitated for a second.

"I'm on my way home."

She didn't want to start the friendship with a lie or make him feel so comfortable or make it look like she's jobless or anticipating his call or visit.

"Can we see?

When she didn't answer, he continued.

Only for a moment."

"I had a busy day but I can spare one or two minutes." she finally uttered, after thinking thoroughly for a while.

"A minute is okay for me."

She nodded and they made arrangement before she cut the call.

She quickly flagged down a taxi and headed straight to where they planned on meeting. She didn't even bother about changing her work cloth. After all, he didn't inform her before time.

*******************************************
Diane wasn't having the best moment of her life. The interior designer she hired, did a very horrible job.

"God, why can't some people just do their job very well. For God's sake, what the hell did this lady do here?" she lamented, frowning deeply.

She had met the lady at a party and they became friends, not too close though because they've only seen twice after the first time they met, other times have been online. She had purposely hired the lady because she was always complaining about how her boyfriend treated her badly and how she can't find a job even with her certificates. And how nobody is giving her contract despite that she's a good interior designer.

Diane should have known.

Even she that did not do anything relating to interior design could do a better design than this.
She immediately placed a call to another interior designer she knew and the one she wanted to hire if not for this other lady's sympathetic stories.

No way in the world would she let an interior designer mess with her opening day.

"Why can't people just learn something and learn it well?" she murmured.

Honestly, she was expecting to see a marvelous job but she was totally disappointed.

Well, she had no plans of hoarding the lady's payment or denying her her payment, she blamed herself for not asking for samples before committing the job to her.

****************************
Pearl was so uncomfortable. She almost choked on her drink.

She didn't like the way Tony was staring at her.
Since she arrived. They barely had any conversation. Even the ones they had, she had being the ones initiating them. The first time she had seen him. She noticed he was the quiet type but she didn't realize he was this quiet. A boring kind of quiet.

She was quiet but she always knew when to talk, when not to and when to keep somebody company.

"I like your intonation." she said, after wracking her brain for what to say.

"Thank you." he replied

Then, another fifty seconds of quietness.
She was becoming irritated. "Did you school abroad?"

"Yes. Leed City University Manchester." he supplied. She held her breath for a while, finally he was saying something more than yes or no or okay.

How she hated that word, okay. If she was chatting with someone and the person replied her with 'okay' that signified the end of the conversation.

If he didn't know Diane, she would have long walked away. What's beauty when you can't hold a simple conversation? She personally found such guys extremely boring no matter their looks or the size of their pockets.

"What did you study and how long did you stay there?"

"Business management and it was just for two years."

"Oh," not what she expected though. He looked like a hot doctor from one of her medical romance movies. "You have your own business?"

"Yes. Built from the scratch by me." she smelt pride in his words but a good kind of pride.

"That's really nice. So, what kind of business and how did you start?" she was curious. Her sister liked business and she needed to get tips from a pro in the field so she could properly advice her sister.

"It's a clothing business. Ever heard of MT enterprise?"

Hell yeah. Who hasn't? It's among the leading clothing line in the country. A wedding dress there could sell for half a billion and people would still patronize them.

"Yes, yes. I have." she finally answered, after having a 60 second conversation with herself.

"Do you own it?"

"Yes...

"Wow," she didn't even let him finish. She was beyond surprised. In her mind, the owner probably lives in Canada with his family. "when did you start?"

"Before I got into the University. I noticed that people in my area went far to buy their clothes and I was really broke at that point. That's how I started to sell to them and being a honest person. I soon had a large number of people patronizing me. When I gained admission into the University. I continued selling to female students and because the number of people that still requested for it at home were much, I soon asked one of my friend to assist me. That's it. Two branches, one at home and one in school. I only sold quality clothes, that's how I also got customers in school before you know it, lecturers wives and lecturers, their kids and that's it. I started making thousands but I wasn't satisfied, I kept thinking of expansion and I got expansion. I did a five years course, Soil Science in Nigeria, then a two years course abroad. You know where my business is now."

Pearl was amazed, amazed at the fact that he was finally talking and also amazed that she was sitting with a young billionaire who dressed as simple as a school teacher. "I'm short of words. That's amazing."

He nodded in acknowledgement and smiled. "But, it wasn't a smooth journey though. Even now, it's still not all that smooth but at least I'm close to the height where I want to reach."

Is he normal, pearl asked inwardly. What other height would someone as accomplished as he want again?

"In case you are wondering what the height is, it's called global visibility. I want to go global."

"Wow. If I reached your height, I would just go abroad and eat my money somewhere on an island." Pearl joked.

"That's where you got it wrong. If you were in my shoes, you would be aiming for the same thing I'm aiming for now."

Pearl gave him her You don't know me yet kind of look. "Nah."

"Wealth is never enough. Even Bill Gates is still in business and why is that so? Because he wants more money."

"You have a point." Pearl had lots of questions she wanted to ask. Thank God he was finally talking. "How come I don't see you on TV?"

"Six years ago. You would have seen me. But now, I live a quiet life. I have people who represent me in such things."

Awesome, she thought. 6 years ago though, she was still busy watching cartoons and someone as young as her was doing exploits and earning millions. Call it envy or whatever but she wished it was her, living his life now.

Now, she understood what they say about success having so many friends.

"Wait," she started and he looked up at her. "How did your dress become this expensive? I saw a wedding dress that cost 13 million and the label was none other than MT enterprise."

"Give us a picture or a sketch and we make you whatever you want, if you can pay. That's what the bride asked for."

"Wow."

OK, I've wowed enough. She chided herself. I need to ask other questions.

"How did you meet Diane."

"She came to get a dress for a friend from one of our branches. We had issues with the dress and she let hell loose that day. Luckily, I was in that particular branch. I addressed the issue and realized that she's not actually as mad as she pretended to be, she was so cool and all that. So I collected her number. That was a year ago. Since then, we have become really good friends even though we don't get to hang out a lot."
The conversation started to flow and Pearl couldn't be more happy.

She realized that everyone has a particular topic that they really loved to talk about.

********

Things were going really well between Pearl and Soma. They've become so close over the last few days as they were both helping Diane with setting up her work space.

This particular day, Soma had urgent matters he needed to handle, so it was just she and Diane.

"So, tell me about Tony."

She smiled. Gist time because she wouldn't call it gossip. "You still haven't told me why you gave him my number."

Diane widened her eyes, feigning surprise. "So, if a billionaire asks for my friend's number, I should refuse? Okwa ya(is it so)?"

"You know I'm not money...

Diane cut her off with a hand of her shoulder. "I never said so. He is a really cool guy. It's hard to find a self made billionaire at his age who would still be humble."

Diane had a point, pearl acknowledged with a shake of her head. "But, I don't like him even though I still appreciate the fact that he's rich at least if I had it in mind to ever consider dating, I won't be dating a pest."

"Who likes to date a pest kwanu? It's a two way thingy." Diane laughed.


Tbc

Ah, Lucky Pearl

queenitee:
Ah, Lucky Pearl

You don't mean it

nanadeeva01:
Thanks for the mention Just saw it. Nice story by the way

Thanks dear.

I'm wowed by this story. If you can't wait for updates, contact KimberlyWest and buy the pdf. The story is worth the time, and much more than the price.

� KimberlyWest

Thanks for the update

I just hope this doesn't cause ish between Soma and Tony

@Kimberlywest you are killing this story, you are an amazing writer, i love this piece, please drop more updates. thanks

KimberlyWest:


Thanks dear.

you don't remember to mention me, let me read up to catch up

Na dem dey rush pearl now. Don't settle for pest sha.
Thanks for the update Kim jong Un.

I had a dream and in my dream, I finished the story. Enjoy people for it was a smooth ride in my dream and I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want to wake up from it Our Kim Jong Un is bae

Pearl, pearl.. them just dey rush you. I want to be like you when I grow up
Thanks Kimberly