Beautiful Mask
By Ameh Juliet
Episode 3
Caroline
“Say what now?” I ask and she smile.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but i heard your brother make mention of your mother nee-ding the sum of N500,000 for surgery”
“oh” I mutter.
“I’ll take care of that and any other medical bill incured during your mother’s treatment here” she continues and i just mutter.
“oh” again because my br@in cannot seem to comprehend what she is saying. Maybe i hit my head on the floor when chinedu pushed me down and i am having a good dream
I pinch my nose just to be sure. “ouch” ok, that hurt. I am definitely not dreaming. The lady is just looking at me with a hvge smile on her face.
“you are not dreaming girl” she says
“am not?” I ask dumbly. A doctor walks out of the operating room and I stand up immediately.
“doctor how is my mother?” I ask and i see him cringe a little.
Probably because of my scar, but he regains his composure quic-kly.
“you are the daughter of the woman in the operating room?” he asks and i nod.
“well, in simple terms, your mother had a minor heart attack because an artery in her heart got blocked. We have cleared the artery that got blocked but you nee-d to deposit atleast N250,000 before we perform the main surgery.
. I suggest you do that immediately, because she could have another heart attack which would be more fatal” he says. I am about to beg him to perform the surgery while i go out and find the money when the lady speaks. I had forgotten about her.
“you can perform the surgery doctor. This is a cheque of N600,000. I hope it can take care of all the expenses.”she says while handing a check to the doctor who just adapted a big smile.
“yes ma’am. Come with me to my office” they both start walking away and i snap out of my daze. I walk fas-ter and follow them. At the office, the lady takes care of everything for me while i just stare at her.
I cant un-derstand anything that is happening. Why would she pay this kind of money for me?. People don’t usually like me but this stranger just gave out more than half a million to help me. I know Nothing is free in this world but there is nothing i can do for her. I wait till she settles all our bills before i confront her.
Atleast now, she would not be able to take her money back. We walk out of the doctor’s office before i st©p her.
“I don’t mean to be ungrateful but why are you helping me?” I ask her
“you saved me remember. This is just my way of thanking you. I just want to show my gratitude, but that’s all”
“no this is too much ma’am. Anyb©dy in my shoes would have done the same thing i did. And the money you just gave out is so insane. I don’t have any way to pay you back ma’am” I say
“okay, I may have something i want from you”she says and my heart skips a beat.”
“plea-s don’t tell me to do something illegal.”
“ofcourse not. I want you to come work for me”she says and my mouth falls open in shock.
“say what now?” i mutter and she laughs.
“are you serious?” i ask and she nod.
“you have spent more than half a million for me and what you want in return is to give me a job?” I ask and she nods again.
“am sorry but did that thief hit you on head?. Giving me a job would be in my favour. Wait, what kind of job? plea-se tell me its not prostitution? Who am i kidding. No one would want to sleep with me for free not to talk of paying money for it” i ramble on.
“that’s exactly the reason why i want you to work as my son’s secretary.” she says
“what reason?”
“he wouldn’t want to sleep with you” she says.
I should be offended but I know its true. If my scar is finally going to get me something good, I’ll take it.
“that isn’t the only reason. I want you to be my accomplice in shaping my son into a business man. Its getting late so i have to leave. Take this card and come to that address by 9am tomorrow”she says and walk away.
I just stare at the card in awe. In just a few hours, i have paid for mom’s medical bills and gotten a job. I will definitely go to this address tomorrow. Mother is taken to a pri-vate room minutes later and thankfully, chinedu isnt around to st©p me from taking care of her.
Father is so happy when i tell him i have settled mother’s bill.
The next day, i was in the woman’s house which is nothing short of a mansion. I was re-ady to be tossed out as soon as i got there but the gate man let me in as soon as i gave my name. I don’t even remember telling her my name but seems like she researched me.
I am supposed to start tomorrow and i am alre-ady nervous. My duties are more than an ordinary secretary. I hope i can fulfil my duties. This job is more than a dream come throu-gh and i don’t want to lose it.
Simon:
“Mom, leave me alone. nee-d. More. sleep.” I gr0@nsleepily. Yesterday’s p@rty was intense. I c@m£ back so late yesterday after getting so drun!k. I toss and turn in be-d as she keeps tapping me.
“mom, will you st©p it!” i yell then sit up to see a girl wearing an ugly scarf sitting on my be-d. The scarf is covering almost her whole
face and the only thing i can see of her face are her eyes. Its not only her scarf that is ugly, her shi-t is the ugliest i have ever seen. I look at her from head to toe with a puzzled look on my face.
She notices my appraisal of her.
“Hi, Am your new secretary”she waves shyly.
“what?! I don’t remember employing you. And if you are my secretary, shouldnt you be at the office. Not in my room?. By the way, what’s with the scarf?” i say and try to take her scarf off and she tries to fight me off but the more she does, the more i want am curious. I get off the be-d and gr-ab the scarf along with me.
As soon as the scarf is off, the sheets fall off my w@!st and that’s when i remember that i sleep n-ked. I cant even dwell on this for long as i see her face. She turns quic-kly. I don’t even know if its in embarras-sment of my n-kedness or to hide her face.
I quic-kly wra-p the sheets around my w@!st. I am about to say something when my phone rings. I pick it off the be-dside table. Its mother.
“You must have seen your new secretary by now”she says and i can hear her laughing.
“mom, this isn’t right”
“That girl is a sweetheart so you better not mess with her or else forget about going back to the states”she says and hang up on me. I can’t believe this. I turn to see the girl alre-ady has her scarf back on. I have to think of a way out of this.
****Beautiful Mask
Episode 4
Simon:
“So -” I say thinking of what to say to fill the awkward silence.
“Caroline. My name is Caroline”she says then stretch her hand out for a handshake. I reluctantly shake her and i feel the tiny electric current pas-sing throu-gh our joined hands. Her hands are so soft and delicate
My eyes moves from our joint hands to her face and that’s when i notice her eyes. They aren’t black. They are brownish and beautiful.
“Caroline” I breathe out. Trying her name on myl-ips. Why does saying her name make me feel so warm inside?.
Caroline g@sps as if my saying her name affected her just like it affects me. I look into her beautiful brown eyes until she flex her hand in my grip and that’s when i realise that am still holding her hand. I re-lease her hand and laugh awkwardly.
“Umm i th-ink yo-u umm should get dressed” She says silently and i cant resist teasing her.
“So are you saying you didn’t enjoy the show i gave you earlier?” I ask and she looks anywhere but me. She’s so cute. She’s behaving like she hasn’t seen a n-ked man before which is impossible.
She should be around the age of twenty three right?.
“plea-se get dressed. We are alre-ady late”she says while looking above my head.
“late? What time is it?” I ask
“it should be after 6 by now”
“and you woke me up?. Who wakes up by 6am in the morning?”
“a responsible business man”
“oh, no wonder. Well, am not a business man so goodbye” I say and fall back on the be-d.
“Come on, get up. I just got this job and i don’t want your mother to fire me” she says and start trying to pu-ll me off the be-d.
She doesn’t make any progress. How does she think she is going to lift me up with those fragile hands?. To put her off her misery, i reluctantly sit up and that’s when i realise just how close our faces are. Those brilliant brown eyes seem to sparkle in the light.
“you have beautiful eyes”
“what?!” she squeak out. Oops, did i say that out loud?. I must probably still be drun!k. Time to have that bath to clear my head before i start blurting out more ru-bbish. I get off the be-d quic-kly and rush into the shower. Why is this strange girl having an effect on me?
Yea, definitely still drun!k. After my shower, i finally feel human again. I wra-p a towel around my w@!st and walk back into the room.
Caroline shut her eyes immediately she sees me and i chuckle. She is just too cute. I really should St©p thinking of her as cute. I notice one of my suit, a purple longsleeved shi-t a tie and one of my bo-xer short layed perfectly on my be-d.
“you went throu-gh my un-derwear drawer?” i ask
“umm yea. To quic-ken your preparation”she says and i smile. I sl!pmy clothes on quic-kly.
“Okay, you can open your eyes now”
“are you decent?” she asks and i laugh. A de-ep belly laugh.
“yea, sure. am decent. So open those eyes and come help me with my tie” she opens her left eyes first probably to check if i am still n-ked before she finally opens her right eye. Yea, she is too cute.
She stands up from the be-d then walk up to where i am standing fumbling with my tie.
You cant knot a tie?”
“hey don’t judge me. I don’t wear ties. They make me feel stuffy” i pout and she shakes her head at me. Looking at her now, so close to me, she is so small. ba-rely up to my shoulders.
This is the kind of woman, men want to protect.
Okay, i did not just think that.
She takes control of tie knotting duty and in a few minutes, she’s done. “and that’s how to knot a tie”she teases then pat my che-st. I hold her hand to my che-st and she looks up into my eyes. Ok, what is this strange pu-ll i am feeling?.
Thankfully, the moment is broken by my rumbling stomach. We both bur-st out laughing.
“guess who made fried Yam and eggsauce?”she sings
“you made me breakfast?” i am stun.
“yea. So come on, before it gets cold”she turn and walk out of the room and i cant help but notice the sway of her as-s in her long Sk-irt.
An as-s that looks that fine even in an ugly Sk-irt must truly be divine. I walk out behind her and see that my big dining table is alre-ady set.
“isn’t this house too big for just you?. Don’t you get lonely?”she asks.
“are you offering to live with me?” I tease
“ofcourse not.” she says and that’s the last thing she says till the end of the delicious meal. Its been a while since i ate an home cooked meal.
We are in the car, minutes later on our way to the office.
“so you went to the market this morning? Because i am pretty sure i didn’t’t have any food items in the house” I say to fill the silence.
“yea. By the way, why don’t you have food items?. Your house is just so big with no personal t©uçhes. Not even a ph0to of your mother was in there. Its just like its temporary and you would be leaving soon”she ramble on.
She doesn’t know how right she is. I am nowhere to stay. We finally get to the office. As soon as we walk in, all eyes are on Caroline. I feel her steps start faltering beside me so i turn to her.
She looks like she is going to have a panic attack. I can hear some people snickering. Diana, our legal advisor walks up to me.
“who is the clown?” she asks motioning to Caroline and i cant help but get mad.
“the only clown here is you Diana. Isn’t this shi-t too ti-ght for the office? Can you even breathe in it?” she g@sp and walk away.
“Now guys, get back to work”i command and the murmuring dies down.
“come on Caroline, let’s-” I turn to see she is gone. Where could she have gone?
Tbc