Chapter 2

With tired legs and a heavy head, I rushed up the stairs to the apartment I shared with the best person I could ask for — Amy. We normally split the bills equally, but on days when I couldn't pay the agreed price because of my financial lack, she covered up for me willingly without asking for the money back.

The door unlocked the moment I slipped the key into its lock. I found Amy sitting on the couch watching TV in an oversized t-shirt and a bowl of Chin's chin on her lap with the remote by her side. She tore her gaze from the screen the minute she was aware of my presence. Her favorite television series was flickering on the screen but that didn't stop her from interrogating me.

She removed the bowl from her lap and walked towards me, outstretching her arms, waiting for me to receive them. I hugged her, pressing my small frame into her thick fleshy body as we shared a comfortable silence for a while.

“How did it happen today? ” Amy enquired thoughtfully after we had shared our affectionate hug. We were now sitting on the couch, facing each other. I heaved a sigh, rubbing my forehead. “He implied that he didn't like the way I smiled at one guy. ” I answered.

Amy’s eyes widened in shock as she scratched her nose, blue acrylic nails brushing over her nose ring slightly. “That's the thing about abusive relationships — what causes the fights are silly. ” She whinged, observing my features.

“What did he do to you?” She asked and sighed.

“Forget about that,” I evaded the question because recalling the past events could make me cry. I just wanted to sleep and think about my life.

She held my gaze, reiterating the question. “What did he do to you?” At the sound of the question, the memories washed over me causing my eyes to brim with tears.

“The most painful part of everything was finding out that I'm not the only person he's  dating.”

Amy’s fingers adorned with rings balled into a fist. “How could he fucking do that to you?” She asked through gritted teeth in a frown.

Reaching out to uncurl her fingers, I sniffed as tears rolled down my cheeks. “Amy, don't do anything stupid.” I implored.

“If you view the situation, you’d see how he’s not benefiting anything from me. ” I said, staring at her cold eyes. “I’m the one always collecting money from him and I don’t give him anything back in return.”

“It doesn’t fucking matter!” She yelled, throwing a pillow on the floor out of anger. “I don’t care if he’s the one paying your mother’s health bills. You need to break up with him.”

Ever since my father died, mum was either affected by one sickness or the other and because of that, we’ve spent all the money dad left on her health. The doctor said she’s still yet to recover from the shock. Too bad there wasn’t health insurance covering us.

I had to work extra hard to cater to my mom and my kid sister and then, it began to affect my grades. Just then, Jake came into my life. It felt like a light at the end of the tunnel because he took the financial burden off me. It was probably the reason for his attitude.

“How do you want me to get the money to cater to my needs then?” I whispered to the raging girl and intertwined my fingers with her rs in a bid to calm her down.

“I could reach out to my dad to ask for help. ”

“No, you don’t have to do that. ”

Amy’s parents were divorced. Her wealthy father was a chronic cheat. Everyone knew about his unfaithfulness. Her mother couldn't bear it anymore, and that resulted in their painful separation. Their separation caused a strain on the lovely father-daughter relationship that was once shared between Amy and her father. She didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore because of the damage he caused to her mother’s mental health, even though she was too. It further affected how she viewed romantic relationships; it made her scared of commitment.

“Gosh!” She sighed, “What are you fucking going to do then?”

“I’ll try to get extra jobs by God’s grace and I’ll try not to let it affect my grades.” She reached further, patting my face with my handkerchief, and pulled me in for a hug.

“You won’t go back to him this time around.” She said with concern but it held a subtle tone of finality.

“Yes ma’am.”

“You know what. . . Let’s party today.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re too uptight, come and have fun at this house party my friend invited me to.”

“Honestly, I need to cheer up. I’ll go.”

“Are you serious?” I nodded.

She squealed.“Really!? thanks, baby!”

*

The cab pulled to a stop in front of a huge steel gate topped by barbed wire. “Here,” Amy had said, giving the driver the signal he needed to have stopped here. We got out of the car (after I had paid the driver) and took no more than two strides before we appeared directly in front of the gate. Amy leaned into one of them seductively and blew a kiss at him before he opened the gate that linked us to the new world that stretched out.

A colossal edifice stood firmly; it was monstrous and intricately designed. Needless to say, it reeked of class and elegance. Such that it made me instantly conscious of my outfit, causing my eyes to involuntarily rake through my outfit once more because I feared that I may look out of place.

Amy had forced me to wear a mini red body con gown that accentuated my tiny hips. My hair was packed in a loose bun with few strands left out on the front stylishly. I had a mild make-up on to compliment my overall look and partly to cover the red patches that Jake’s slap had imprinted.

Amy, herself, was wearing a strapless body con dress that hugged her overly visible curves and showed off her full firm breasts.

The atmosphere was loud and jolly. The loud music blaring from the speakers was vibrating through my body. It made me want to dance. In my mind, I was already throwing some dance steps that I knew I couldn’t pull off in reality. Amy disappeared with the claim of wanting to see her friend who had invited her to the party. Her friend was a side chick of the celebrant and the main girlfriend was the one who hosted the party in the celebrant’s house. Weird.

I found myself on a couch that wasn’t currently occupied by inebriated bodies and horny couples making out and hoarded the space to myself. I was currently sprawled on the couch when I began to question myself on why I had come. I suddenly felt left out. Like I didn’t fit in.

Then, my eyes caught a pair of sexy and attractive honey-brown eyes trailing on me. My heart skipped a beat because I was startled; I had never seen a guy as handsome as this before. Jake wasn’t even handsome, in fact; Amy always insulted him saying he had the face of a monkey and teeth as yellow as the color of butter. I quickly averted my gaze that held admiration because he had the kind of gaze that would wordlessly command you to halt in your tracks and fix your eyes on just him. He was strikingly handsome.

The handsome guy and a few other guys (which I presumed to be his friends) sat directly opposite me. There was a clear distinction between both spaces. It was as if there was a VIP section. The men there exuded class. Everything about them attested to that: from their bespoke suits, expensive-looking polished brogues e. t. c. Desperate girls hovered around them, begging for attention and stretching phones for selfies. Beside him was a blondie vying for his attention and it reminded me of the one I had seen earlier on. My stomach twisted but I managed to shake off the feeling.

“Bitchh!” Amy squealed over the music. “You should be having a good time!” She sashayed towards me, her wide hips swaying to the rhythm of the music. She had flawless skin that shone brightly under the disco lights.

She tugged at my elbow and shouted. “I see how you are gawking at Lorenzo Henshaw.” I didn't notice that my lips were slightly parted.

Immediately she drew it to my attention, I closed them leaving no space in between. “Earth to Leila.” She snapped her fingers on my face.

“Uh. . .huh? Who is he?”

“He’s one of the youngest CEOs in California and he’s a founder of a tech startup amongst other businesses.”

“Wow. . .how come I haven’t heard of him? ”

“Your social life, girl. Work on it.” She laughed, revealing her set of pearly white teeth.

“But come to think of it, he's mostly pushing his company forward, not himself.” She shrugged.

“Is he dating anyone?”  I asked, stealing another glance at the dazzling handsome man.

“Are you fucking falling for him or what? If you’re into Journalism, you should walk over to him and interview him. ”

She joked, pointing in his direction. I felt his intense gaze on me and I quickly lowered my gaze.

Amy understood. “I think he’s attracted to you. Don’t blow this up.” She said and blew a kiss, sashaying into the crowd.

Don’t blow this up. What did she mean by that?

Determined to stop stealing glances at the man, because at that point it wasn’t seeming impossible, I walked towards the bar, away from his sight.

Getting there, I sat on the fancy bar stool, clutching my purse. I waved at the sexy dark-haired bartender as he strolled over to me, smiling.

“What can I get you?” He asked, still beaming.  I hadn’t taken alcohol in a long time, my mom had forbidden me from taking it. “I’ll take anything moderate, not too strong, not too soft.”

“I’ll take what she’s having,” a firm voice instructed, taking a seat by my side. The bartender gave us thumbs up and went ahead to start mixing and swirling different liquors together.

“I would have died by now if looks could kill.”