False Pretenses 22

Chief Mrs Omotunde Sarah Williams was troubled, she’d always taken so much pride in her family being one of the wealthiest and powerful in the country. She was well respected wherever she stepped into, everyone vied for her attention, she’d even graced countless magazine covers and television shows as the wife of business mogul Oyewole Stephen Williams. Close friends with the first lady of the country and wives of some state governors, she was known to grace only the topmost events and was invited to every charity event and gala in and outside of the country. She was known to mingle with only people whose net worth ranged in similarity to her family’s.

Family came first for her, she loved her two kids more than life itself, that was why rather than stay with her husband on their sprawling family estate in New York, she’d chosen to stay back in Nigeria where she knew her two kids needed her presence more. Kids, even when they were grown adults still tended to make some wrong decisions concerning their lives, they needed a mature and firm person to guide and prevent them from giving in to frivolities but instead following the part that was right for them.

Her son was the reason for her concern at this time, red flags should have gone up that morning when she’d seen him having breakfast with that strange girl but she’d thought it had been a casual fling. He was entitled to flings with whoever but now she could see it was more than that.

The way his eyes had been on the girl the short period she’d come in and then left, closing the door behind her, Mrs Williams had seen seen something in there. She was no fool, one minute they were having breakfast, the next she was working on the same floor he was, something definitely had to be going on. She wouldn’t let it continue, she had to find a way to get Ise’s attention off the girl and it had to be done as soon as possible.
She was surprised at her son, of all the girls he had to choose from, he had to go for a nobody. She didn’t care if it was even just a fling, her son could never be seen with a girl like that, how would their family friends look at her, more so the girl was definitely after his money, nothing else. Ise was a very smart boy, why didn’t he see that? The girl must be really crafty, and must have hooked her tentacles deep into him, she could see no other reason why he’d go for a nobody like her.

Her mobile phone which was by her side began ringing and she picked it up glancing at the caller I.D. It was her darling husband. She managed to smile through her unhappiness.

“ Hello dear.” She said

“My sweetheart,” repied her husband of thirty six years “How are you today? You didn’t call me at all today?”

She smiled as she shook her head at the old man whining like a kid. “Sweetheart, I call you every day. Just one day that I didn’t call and you want to cry?”

“You know how much I’m missing you over here, Omotunde mi. You don’t want to be here with me so at least grace me with your voice everyday.”

She smiled, she missed him too. “Alright, my love, alright, I’m sorry about today, I was sort of distracted and forgot to call, it wont happen again.”

“Distracted, why? Is everything okay? The Kids? You?”

“Everyone is fine, its just…” Her voice trailed as she wasn’t sure how to tell her husband the challenge she was facing at the moment. “ Its Ise.”

“What about Ise? Did anything happen to him?”

She remembered his heart problem and tried to calm him down “No, nothing happened to him. It just that I suspect he’s dating a girl that isn’t good enough for him. He’s not confirmed it but I’m sure there’s something there.”

“Omotunde, is that the problem? I thought Ise had been diagonised with cancer or something. You need to leave these kids alone Tunde! Ise is a grown man of thirty four years, he has a right to date whoever he wants to. He’s running a multinational corporation on his own for goodness sake, you should have more faith in the son you brought up.”

She rolled her eyes, Wole always took the side of the kids, he didn’t understand that these kids made bad decisions sometimes.

“Wole, this girl is…is not the kind of girl our family should be associated with, she’s from no where. When my friends ask about her background, what am I supposed to say? No o, I wont let him waste his time dating someone like that.”

“Omotunde, these are the same friends you prefer staying back in Nigeria with than here with me your husband, abi?”

“ah ahn, sweetheart, ki n se be yen, its not like that, I’m here for the kids, not friends. I can’t just leave them like this without direction, look at Ise now, about to make a mistake, they need me here.”

“And how about me?” Her husband asked.

“Sweetheart, okay I promise to come down for a visit after I’ve sorted this thing out with Ise. Is that okay?”

“I don’t have a choice but to accept it like that, do I? Just let me know when to send down the jet for you and please don’t be too hard on Ise, I still suggest you leave him to do what he wants. How’s jeje doing, last I heard, she’d begun preparations for her birthday bash.”

“Yes, that’s what she’s always about these days, I hardly hear anything else. She’s very good, we’re all good here. How about you, I hope you are not doing anything stressful and you’re being well taken care of?”

“Other than missing my darling wife, I’m fine.”

“awww, I miss you too dear.”

“Okay, I’m happy to have heard your voice, I’ll leave you to your scheming and plotting.” He joked

She laughed “Wole, call it whatever, in the end its all for the best.”

“Alright, if you say so. I’ll talk to you later dear, take care.”

“You too dear.”

He hung up. She stared at the dead phone smiling. This was the type of relationship she wanted for her children, thirty six years and still going strong, there was no way she would let one nobody from nowhere come and destroy the perfect plan she had for her son.
*********

Kite was on a bubble, the day had gone really well today. There had been no fight today between her and the P.A from hell because she’d been out with the boss all day and Kite had the office all to herself, taking down messages and attending some minor meetings to take down the reports for Williams. She was working a bit late that evening, it was a Friday and she wanted some reports completed before the following week, also she had to plan William’s calendar for the next week, schedule his appointments and meetings then send them to him via email.

The time was already six thirty p.m, and the office was empty as everyone had left already. She had to start rounding up also as she was expecting her boyfriend in about thirty minutes.

She was spending so much time with him these days and the girls were beginning to suspect her, she’d still not been able to tell them that they were back together. It had to be done that weekend, she couldn’t keep it away from them forever, she might as well tell them and then face the consequences.

They would say she was making a mistake, that Izu was trouble but Kite loved him and couldn’t see herself without him. They were good together, they understood each other so well, she was sure he was the one for her.

Although if she was true to herself, she knew there was someone else who occupied her thoughts when she wasn’t thinking about her boyfriend. Ise Williams, the guy although equipped with a bad mouth and arrogant and mean wasn’t really so bad after all. Not after all he’d done for her, her mother was scheduled for surgery in the coming week and was doing really well, she owed him gratitude for that.

Apart from the gratitude she felt for him, she knew there were other feelings for him which she was suppressing. She found herself watching him whenever she sat at a meeting with him. Her eyes always found its way toward him, he was really smart and she guessed that was what attracted her to him. She didn’t like thinking about him a lot and consciously had to put him out of her mind whenever thoughts of him wandered in because she was afraid if she allowed it, he might wind his way into her system.

She had Izu, she loved him and whatever she felt for Williams was just a foolish fantansy.

“Miss Omoh,” The object of her thoughts walked into the office looking quite angry, ‘uh oh’ what had she done now?

“Sir?” She asked.

He stopped at her desk. “What the hell did you do to my calendar?”

She frowned “Sir? What do you mean?”

“I was still at Cybertech, thinking I had all the time in the world because my meeting with Orient construction was at five only to be called by four thirty and told the meeting had been scheduled for four. I was an hour late for my meeting with Orient and to compound matters, the report you sent to my email was crap, filled with errors, what was that about?”

He was angry and Kite was confused, she was quite sure she’d scheduled that meeting for four pm and how could the report be crap? She’d stayed up late to work on it and had gone over it a lot of times.

“Sir, I really don’t understand…”

“You don’t understand what, Kite? Is this your way of getting back at me because I put you under Princess?”

She gasped, shocked at the accusation. “Sir, I would never!”

“Oh please, save it Kite, save the hurt look, I know you’re a hell of an actress and a liar, I can’t believe anything you say. You did this on purpose, I hope you’re happy? I got to the meeting looking like a jackass, you’re happy now, right?” He pointed at her “I’ll let it go, but this is the last time Kite. One more strike and you’re out.”
Kite felt the tears pooling at the back of her eyes. She willed herself to be strong and not say a word. How could he say these hurtful things when she’d been putting her all into this damn job? He didn’t even want to listen to anything she had to say, he’d branded her a liar just like that.
She knew this was Princess’s work, she wasn’t sure how she’d pulled it off but Kite knew she was responsible for it.

“Are you going to even let me tell you….”

“Tell me what? Lies? That’s all you tell Kite.”

His words stung her heart “Then I quit! I quit! I’m tired of being labelled a liar. I have feelings , Mr Williams and I can’t take any more of your tongue lashing, if I cant air an opinion because you believe I’m a liar, I quit!” The tears were very close now “I need this job badly but I’m sorry, I can’t work like this, with your P.A, constantly up to one trick or the other and you giving me a lashing everyday, making me feel inadequate and silly.
I’m really sorry about the mix up of your meetings but I swear to you I had nothing to do with it and the reports too. I just can’t work like this, Sir. I’m sorry.” The tears were coming now but she didn’t want him to see her cry. She hurried out of his presence into the rest room, where she let loose the water works.

Damn him, damn Princess, damn all of them!
********

Ise believed her, she’d not been lying this time and it wasn’t an act, but who would have done this, Princess? Was their feud that bad? He wondered, maybe they really shouldn’t be working together before one of them went to the extent of taking out a hit on the other one. Kite had constantly told him she didn’t want to be working under princess but he’d never listened. Maybe it was time he did.

Then what was it about him tongue lashing her everyday? Yeah, he’d rebuked her a few times but it had all been to help her not make her feel silly. She was a very intelligent person, she should know that and nothing he said would ever change that fact. Yeah, maybe he never censored his words before he spoke them but he assumed she could take it, she seemed to have a tough exterior, he’d never known he’d been killing her inside.

He sighed.

She’d been holed up in the toilet for a little over five minutes now which was quite a while. His intention had never been to hurt her but to help groom her.

Walking over to the door of the restroom, he knocked.

“Kite.” He called.

“Go away,” was the sobbing reply.

“Please come out.” He said.

“No, I quit. You can go into your office, when I’m done I’ll leave.”

“I don’t want you to quit.” He said.

“Its not about you wanting it or not. I have to, I can’t work like this.”

“I’m sorry” He told her.

“Wh-what?”

“I said I’m sorry, I didn’t realise my words were seriously getting to you. It was never my intention to make you feel
silly.” He said.

The door opened and she appeared behind it, her tear stricken eyes looking surprised “It wasn’t?” she asked.

“Of course it wasn’t. What joy would I derive doing that? I was saying those things to help you, I just felt you needed to know some truths. Please don’t quit, you’re a smart young woman and I like having you here. If you want a transfer, you can have it, I’ll talk to HR, when there’s an available position you’ll be moved there but you’ll have to endure with Princess for a while first, is that okay?”

She smiled immediately and he felt his insides melt from how transformed her beautiful face was. Her catty eyes filled with such joy at the news, she was so pretty he thought as his gaze travelled down to those lips and he wondered what it would be like to have a taste of them.

“Thankyou sir.” She said

He wished she’d cut out the sir crap, he didn’t want to be a ‘sir’ to her, he wanted her the way a man wanted a woman and her calling him sir put him in a place he didn’t want to be. He wanted to know what it felt like to hold her to himself, breathe in her lovely scent, kiss those luscious lips until she begged him to stop.

“Kite.” He said looking into her eyes, his hands on the door frame while she was still standing in the doorway of the restroom, looking up at him. He closed the distance between them holding her eyes, she didn’t move.

“Sir?” She replied.

“Could you cut the sir? My name is Ise, can you call me that?”

“Umm….but sir,” she licked her lips nervous, she shouldn’t have. He lost hold of the last of his self control and took
her lips in his. She didn’t fight him, he could sense that she wanted it too, he wasn’t too surprised, the chemistry
between them was crazy.

Seeing her everyday, wanting to have her in his arms just like he did now but unable to, had been pure torture. He was glad to know she’d wanted it too, there wasn’t a hint of a fight, instead her lips felt soft and welcoming against his, her hands came up against him, tightening around his arms. That was all the encouragement he needed, his hands went around her slim waist pulling her roughly against him as he deepened the kiss teasing her lips open as he lightly ran a tongue over her lower lip.

She moaned lightly, her mouth opening just a fraction, she was lost to his touch and that was his invitation to go in, he slipped the tip of his tongue through her parted lips, needing to know the taste of her mouth.

He wasn’t disappointed, he found the tip of her tongue and had a feel of it for a just a second before he felt her pulling away.

Reluctantly he released her, opening his eyes to see her opening hers too. She was excited, it must have taken all her will power to break the kiss.

He released a ragged breath, realising it had been a bad idea kissing her because now he couldn’t get enough of her, he would even be more tortured than he was before the kiss.

They stared at each other and he realised he should say something, but what? She saved him the trouble of thinking too much about it.

“I’m sorry.” She said “That shouldn’t have happened.” Then she made to leave but he held her back.

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry, I should never have done that but I don’t regret it. You’ve always known how I feel about you, its not something I’ve hidden from you, I had a moment of weakness and gave in to what I’ve been desiring for a while now.”

“Sir, we work together and I have a boyfriend, I don’t want things to become awkward between us. Maybe its best I leave if my presence is….”

“you are not leaving anywhere, I’m the one who should curb my desires. It won’t happen again, I promise and once again, I’m really sorry.” He told her turning to go into his office not waiting to listen to her reply.

There was no way she was going to leave because he couldn’t control his raging hormones whenever he saw her. She needed this job and he knew it so it was time he found a way to get over her.

She wanted him too but obviously she also loved and preferred her boyfriend as she’d chosen the guy over him. He would find a way to get over her, the kiss had been a mistake on his part, it had just made things more difficult for him. He would have to get over it one way or another if he didn’t want to push her away.
***********