17/18
~THE PACT~
-Chapter 17-
Lee and I are sitting across from each other
at Neelkanth Sarovar Premiere h0tel.
We have just finished our meal and the next step of the plan is about to commence.
Lee knows exactly what he is supposed to do and when. He has to make this night believable. I have my media team within, they will stream the engagement live on Facebook. Ap@rt from this being about convincing Mr. Sondashi about my engagement, this is a publicity stunt that will gain me millions of followers and b!ow up my br@nd.
Like a couple in love, Lee and i are staring at each other intently when Brian Nhira’s “here in this moment” begins to pla-y. Lee gets up from the chair, produces a tiny blue – velvet box . Then he bends down gallantly on one knee and opens the box to reveal a sparkling diamond ring that I chose earlier this afternoon.
“Babe!” I feign surprise & astonishment.
Holding out a ring to me he says , “ Will you marry me ?”
“Babe!” I say tears running down my face. I should win an oscar for this great performance.
Rising to my feet I say, loudly,
“Yes! I will marry you! i will marry you!”
He puts the ring on my f!nger and the people around us cl@p.
Standing up, Lee suddenly pu-lls me into his arms, k!ss!ngme before I have a chance to respond. Must I mention that this was not p@rt of the plan?
He k!sses me softly and gently.
And for a moment I’m frozen solid wondering what’s happening. But knowing that people are watching, I wra-p my arms around his n£¢k, dig my f!ngersinto his hair and k!sshim back. As the k!ssde-epens, a strange s-en-sation stirs in my che-st- goosebu-mps spre-ad. I still don’t know what’s happening but I can feel that something is happening within me.
When we finally pu-ll away from each other, breathless, he looks me right in the eyes and whispers, ” I love you!”
“I love you too,” I reply.
For a moment there I was lost in that k!ss, the k!sswas so full of warmth and pas-sion, i swear it didn’t feel like we were acting, for a moment there everything felt real. He too deserves an Oscar. I have no doubt everyone watching believes our story.
We drive back home in complete silence. When he pu-lls up in front of my house, he turns to look at me and asks, “are you okay?”
“Yes, why?”
“You have been unusually quiet.”
“Are you saying I am talkative?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“What did you say then?”
“Never mind, is there anything else you would like us to discuss tonight?”
“The wedding.”
“What wedding?”
“You know people are obviously going to be waiting for our wedding? Did you see how many people were watching the live video? My audience has tripled. We nee-d to make this as real as possible.“
“By faking a marriage?”
“Six months and we get divorced. I will pay more.”
“Kristian?”
“plea-se!”
“What happens when we get married?”
“We move in together and pretend to be a happily married couple when we are public.”
“And in pri-vate?”
“You do you, I do me but the first rule still stands you can’t be with anyone else for the six months you will be with me, I have a reputation to maintain.”
“Does this also apply to you?”
“Yes, I won’t be with anyone else for the six months we will be married.”
“And then how will we end this?”
“We will say you cheated on me and I decided to leave.”
“Why should I be the bad one in all this?”
“Because—”
“Let me guess,” I cut her off mid- s£ntence, “You have a reputation to maintain.”
“Exactly.”
“So you want your audience to crucify me for allegedly cheating on you?”
I shrug, “they will crucify you but not for long, you know Zambians easily move on.”
“I guess you have all this planned out.”
“Yes, what do you say?”
“I will have to think about it.”
“What’s there to think about?”
“Marriage is a big step.”
“It’s not even a real marriage. And you have nothing to lose but everything to gain! You will be famous too.”
“I didn’t say I want to be famous.”
“Well there’s nothing you can do about it now,you are alre-ady famous, your Ex- girlfriend must be fuming with anger at this point! I bet she has watched our live video.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I know.”
He rolls his eyes and I bur-st out laughing, I have no idea why I enjoy his outrage—but I do.
“Anyway, I will get the wedding preparations started, I will also transfer some money into your account, how’s that?”
“Whatever you say boss.”
“I am not your boss.”
“Alright my love.”
“Are you trying to annoy me?”
“Anything else you want to say before I leave?”
“Nop.”
“Goodnight,” he leans in and quic-kly brushes hisl-ips against mine.
“You sure do have guts, ” I say before I get out of the car.
“Goodnight babe, think of me as you lie n-ked in your be-d tonight,” he calls after me.
“fv¢k you Lee.”
“It takes two to fv¢k and I am up for it if you are re-ady.”
I smile before I quic-kly walk into the house and gently close the door behind my back
I walk into my room and I am about to take off my clothes when my phone rings. My phone has been b!owing up with messages and calls this evening, I have been ignoring them all, I am not responding to anyone until I go for my television interview. These online media publications have a tendency to twist stories.
I pu-ll my phone from my bag and stare at the screen, when I notice who is calling, I quic-kly press answer.
“Mummy P.”
“Hey love, how are you?”
“I am fine, thanks , how are you?”
“I am okay, congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thank you Ma.”
“Sorry for calling this late, I am sure you are tired..”
“It’s okay Ma, you don’t have to apologize.”
“I wanted to congratulate you for scooping the Marketing Director position at Sondashi Inc, you can come throu-gh for orientations tomorrow afternoon. You start work on Tuesday.”
“Wow! Thank you so much!”
“I hope you don’t disappoint us, I am putting my money on you girl.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome and good night.”
“Good night.”
As soon as I hang up, I dial Lee’s number and he picks up almost immediately.
“Hello!”
“I got the job! We did it,” I excitedly say.
“Really?”
“Yes, this calls for a celebr@tion.”
“I am so happy for you.”
“Are you home yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay drive back, let’s pop some wine and celebr@te this great achievement.”
“You are sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, see you soon.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
THE PACT
-CHAPTER 18-
unedited
For Helen Banda! Happy Birthday love! Blessings upon you! Admin Ella loves and appreciates you!!! Enjoy…
I change into a blue flower-print flare dress and sl!pmy feet into a pair of fluffy pink be-droom sli-ppers. Walking into the living room, I turn on the radio, gr-ab a bottle of wine and two glas-ses, place them on the table and wait for Lee.
When a knock sounds at the door a couple of minutes of later, I say merely, ‘’come in.’’
The door is pushed open and Lee slides into the room.
‘’Hey, you,’’ I nervously smile, I am beginning to think calling him back was a bad idea.
‘’Hey!’’ he says, he re-moves his jacket and dr@p£s it over the back of one of the chairs before he rolls up his sleeves and sits down.
‘’I got the job, madam Palesa just called me, we did it.’’
‘’Congratulations! I am so happy for you, I know how much this means to you.’’
‘’Thank you, I wouldn’t have done this without your input.’’
‘’Is this the time we pop the Champagne and get the p@rty rolling.’’
‘’Yes boss,’’ I reply and he rolls his eyes.
He gr-abs the bottle of Champagne and opens it with a pop, pours two glas-ses and hands me one.
‘’Can I propose a toast?’’ I ask before he takes a sip of his drink.
‘’Sure, what are we toasting to?’’
‘’To new beginnings.’’
‘’I have a better one.’’
‘’Let’s hear it.’’
‘’To marriage and love, to an amazing six months.’’
I roll my eyes, ‘’don’t get ahead of yourself, there’s no love between us.’’
‘’Cheers!’’ he wi-nks. We clink our glas-ses and sip the drink before sitting down.
‘’So what exactly are we supposed to be doing? Drowning our sorrows in alcohol?’’
I laugh, ‘’I don’t know, what do you want us to do?’’
‘’We can pl@ya game for an hour before I leave or maybe you want me to spend the night?’’
I shoot him daggers with my eyes, ‘’Dude! You are pushing it.’’
‘’You know if we are getting married and will be living together for six months we nee-d to find a way of getting along?’’
‘’I have no issue pretending we are cool for the sake of the c@m£ras.’’
‘’Why can’t we pretend to be cool with each other behind closed doors?’’
‘’Because we are not cool and I hate you.’’
‘’The feeling is mutual, I hate you too.’’
‘’Whatever, what game do you want us to pla-y?’’
‘’Truth or drink.’’
‘’You want to get me drun!kso you can r@p£ me?’’
‘’You are not all that bosses, nothing about you turns me on.’’
‘’Ouch!’’ I frown.
‘’Let’s get started.’’
‘’Bring it on.’’
Lee: What’s your longest relationsh!p?’’ he asks.
Kristy: I have never really been in any serious relationsh!pbut I had fling with someone for a year or so, I guess that counts.’’
Lee: A fling that lasted longer than a year
Kristy: You are not supposed to question me over my responses, it’s my turn to ask.’’
Lee: Shoot
Kristy: Have you S-xted anyone? If so re-ad me one of the S-xts.’’
He rolls his eyes, gr-abs his glas-s and gulps the liquid down.
‘’Okay,’’ I laugh.
Lee: Have you ever tried getting la-id with someone of the same S-x?
Kristy: Hell no
He laughs
Kristy: Have you ever taken someone’s vir-ginity?
Lee: Yes! A couple of beautiful ladies
Kristy: Man-who-re
Lee: Whatever
Lee: Have you ever fantasized about a teacher?
Kristy: Yes
Lee: per-vert
For the next two hours we are engrossed in the game that we lose track of time.
‘’Midnight!’’ Lee exclaims staring at the clock on the wall.
‘’Opps!’’ I feel a bit lightheaded, maybe I have had so much to drink.
‘’I have to go,’’ he stands up.
‘’I should walk you to the door,’’ I try to stand upon my feet but I stumble but Lee’s grip sustains me.
I turn to look at him, ‘’maybe you should stay, isn’t it a bit late?’’
He doesn’t respond instead he intently stares at me before he whispers, ‘’you are beautiful,’’ and before I can react, he is k!ss!ngme de-eply. And instead of pushing him away, I move against him and k!sshim back. The k!sslingers there for a moment before he pu-lls away, I breathe out heavily. I never imagined his k!ssbeing that enjoyable.
‘’You could spend the night you know,’’ I whisper, I don’t know what’s with me but I have been lonely for some time and I miss lying next to someone and having to wake up to them in the morning and God, I miss having S-x.
His f!ngerscome up and stro-ke my cheek then he leans in and k!sses me again. We are both breathing ha-rd when he pu-lls away. Resting his forehead against mine he says, ‘’I should get going, you nee-d to rest tomorrow is a busy day.’’
‘’Oh,’’ I disappointedly respond.
He picks his jacket and the car keys then be k!sses me again before leaving, allowing hisl-ips linger on mine for a moment longer than they had earlier, when he finally leaves a wave of loneliness sweeps throu-gh me and I am almost tem-pted to call Calvin so he can come over, after giving it a second thought I decide to call it a night and head to be-d.
The next morning I wake up, get re-ady and leave for work. Upon arrival I head straight to Mr. Msizi’s office.
I find him and his daughter having breakfast while talking and laughing, I stare at them for a moment jealous of the bond that they share. If this man didn’t walk away from my mother and I, this could be me and him, brushing away the thoughts I clear my throat and they both turn to stare at me.
‘’My child!’’ he says.
‘’Good morning sir.’’
‘’plea-se take a seat.’’
‘’I won’t even be taking much of your time, I just c@m£ to hand over my resignation letter,’’ I place the paper on the table and he picks it and unfolds it before re-ading its content then he looks up at me with a shocked look on his face.
‘’You are resigning?’’
‘’Yes.’’
‘’But why?’’
‘’I can’t work un-der the same environment as Kenzie and I can’t be in a place where I am not promoted, I am sorry this is nothing personal, I just nee-d a change of environment.’’
‘’So it’s true?’’ Kenzie points an accusing f!nger at me. ‘’you got a job at Sondashi Inc.? You are such a disappointment you know?’’
‘’Is that true?’’ Mr. Msizi asks.
‘’Yes.’’
‘’You have broken my heart child.’’
‘’Well I am not even sorry, you broke my heart long before anyone else did.’’
‘’Will you ever forgive me?’’
‘’I will get my stuff from the office and leave, thank you for the opportunity you gave me to work for you, I sure learnt a lot here, good bye,’’ I say. And with that I walk out and close the door behind my back. I have no regrets at all, here’s to new beginnings.
*
Tbc