The big moment came and I was about to flood her heart with melodies of love.
I held her both hands from across the table and looked at her the way I looked at Ogechi the day I professed love to her. OH MY
GAWD!
Cynthia lost it. She knew what I was about to say. She probably had been in that position before. The look in her eyes depicted something like; “DREAM COME
TRUE”. She was smiling and couldn’t wait
for me to empty my heart of its content. I
had almost opened my mouth to speak the
words when a movie director she had
introduced me to at the movie premiere
walked in with his fiancée and met us on
our table holding hands.
“Look who we have here! The two love birds
in a Chinese restaurant. How romantic”
“Carl! Cynthia called out to the movie
director as she slowly withdrew her hand to
give him a handshake.
“What a coincidence” Carl said. “I’m out on
a date with my fiancée.” He drew his mouth
closer to Cynthia’s ear and whispered; “I’m
gonna propose to her”
Cynthia screamed with excitement. The
director turned to me and said; “I hope
you’re here to do the same?”
I just smiled and waved that away.
“By the way, how’s the movie thing going?”
the director asked me.
“What movie thing?” I asked. I had
forgotten that Cynthia introduced me to him
as an actor the night at the movie
premiere, so he expected me to have
featured in some movies already and
probably working on one as we spoke. So I
asked that silly question and he got
confused. Immediately, Cynthia jumped in.
“He’s been reluctant about the whole thing
because of the love he has for Nigerian
home videos. He has climbed up the larder
in the Nigerian movie industry and has
gotten used to it to an extent where his
desire to feature in foreign movies burns
with low flames. I have been trying to talk
some sense into him for a while now but
he’s been resistant. I know it’s because he
doesn’t know how it feels to feature in a
Hollywood movie. You can bring him in and
let him have a test of it can’t you? I’m sure
by then his view of the whole thing will
change for good”
Truth be told, Cynthia was simply
irresistible. The moment she dropped the
last word, Carl consented and gave me his
card and booked an appointment with me.
He was going to work with me on his next
movie. Only Cynthia can do this. After that
he left with his one in a million fiancée to
another table to propose to her.
Cynthia quickly reminded me that besides
Carl there were other people she introduced
me to at the movie premiere who all
thought of me to be a star, coupled with the
Italian girl at the premiere who called on
me to join her present the award to the
director of the movie that was premiered.
So we had to do something real quick for
me to have TV appearance and Carl was the
best starting point. I ended up not telling
Cynthia what I brought her out on a date to
tell. Instead, we started strategizing on how
to make me a star in the nearest possible
time and prevent shame. Was there
anything this Cynthia wouldn’t do for me?
Carl and I became allies and I was given
the role of the major actor to play in his
movie but got disqualified because I hadn’t
attained a white belt in martial arts and the
major actor had to do some karate stuff
with the bad men. Because of that I was
given the role of the major actor in the next
movie Carl was to produce, and that was a
long time away.
Nevertheless, I started appearing on set to
talk about the movie Carl was directing. I
was part of the team and fame started
coming my way little by little. I started
feeling funky, but then I remembered how
fame separated me from Ogechi and I
promised not to let it happen with Cynthia.
Whether it was real or not, I was
determined to love Cynthia. Wherever I
traveled to in the course of Carl’s movie,
Cynthia went with me. Of course she loved
such things so it wasn’t a problem for her.
Six months passed and the movie was not
even half way done. It had been one year
from the time I began my Masters’ Degree
Program and I only had six months left to
be through with it. I wasn’t in a hurry
anyway, because unlike before, I had no
special one to go home to except my
mother, so I wasn’t bothered since no one
was gonna steal her from me like I feared
for Ogechi.
It was I and Cynthia now rocking the United
States of America. Through Cynthia I had
gotten highly connected to the people that
would help me live my dreams. In addition
to the connection, I started making some
cool dollars, but nothing to be compared to
what Cynthia and Ogechi had made already.
They were rich girls, but Cynthia was
richer. From all indications, I wasn’t going
to settle for any other girl than Cynthia and
she knew it, so she made everything she
had mine. I had access to all she had, even
her bank account that contained the
millions of dollars she had made over the
years. I wasn’t comfortable with it. I
wanted to make my own money, but it
wasn’t easy. Like they say; you don’t make
money overnight, you make money
overtime.
I was very careful not to take advantage of
Cynthia in anyway. I handled all she gave
me with extreme caution to prevent
anything that would lead to any kind of
misunderstanding in the future. Cynthia
didn’t care how I handled whatever she
made available for me. All she wanted was
my love. She would gladly pay all the bills
as long as I showed her love and care. But
as a Nigerian man, I didn’t want people at
home to say that a woman was the one
catering for me, upon all the gifts and
talents that I have. So I worked really hard
with that movie director and also with the
music producers I had gotten to know
through Cynthia.
The music thing wasn’t coming forth as the
movie thing was. Everything was flowing
well with Carl’s movie and I couldn’t wait
for him to be done with the present one and
get started with the one I was to star in.
I thought of traveling to Nigeria to visit my
mum and some other people. Of course I
wouldn’t go to Nigeria for any other reason
than to visit because everything I needed
was in the United States, especially now
that I had decided to make Cynthia a part of
my life. I wanted to make United States my
home because of her, so I only wanted to
come back home and spend some time with
my family and friends before heading back
abroad.
One evening we sat just outside Cynthia’s
house to catch some air. There I broke the
news of my plans to travel to Nigeria.
Cynthia wept like a baby at my breaking the
news of my journey to her. She didn’t want
me to leave. She was afraid I wasn’t going
to come back. But she couldn’t find any
strong reason to keep me from going home
to see my mother. We spent a lot of time
talking about my trip and the time of my
return to America. If not that Cynthia was
afraid of coming to Nigeria because of that
magazine saga, she would have come
along. But since she couldn’t come, she
suggested we solidify our bond with a blood
covenant before I left. She was really afraid
of losing me, even though I hadn’t opened
my mouth to ask her to be my girl yet.
Nawa o.
I wouldn’t enter into a blood covenant with
anyone, not even Ogechi. So I dismissed
the idea immediately she suggested it. She
thought and thought of what to do to glue us
together inseparably. “We have to solidify
our bond before you leave” she kept
saying. “And how are we supposed to do
that?” I asked. “Follow me” she replied,
taking me by the hand and leading me
inside the house. I just followed her like a
sheep being led to the slaughter, wondering
how she intended to solidify our bond.
Whatever it was, I was ready for it, so long
as it is not a blood covenant.
Cynthia lead me to her room gently, pushed
me to bed and made some kind of eye
catching and mind troubling display before
me. I knew what she was up to. That was
her idea of solidifying our bond. Honestly, I
wasn’t going to object this time, not for the
sake of solidifying our bond but for the
sake of the blood that was running through
my veins. I had resisted this beautiful
Cynthia long enough because of my fears
and conscience but at this point, her
charms made me overcome those fears.
The pressure I suddenly found myself in
made me ready for any consequence.
Cynthia excused herself and went into the
bathroom to get cleaned up while I lay on
her bed watching TV and anticipating the
return of the mummy. Three minutes
passed and Cynthia was still in the
bathroom. My phone beeped. I checked to
see what notification had come in. guess
what? It was a reminder about the live TV
broadcast featuring Ogechi and it was set
to begin in ten minutes. I had set a
reminder for the date and time for Ogechi’s
next live TV appearance the last time I
watched a replay of a TV broadcast
featuring TV stars, of which she was one.
Today was that day and the time had come.
But I and Cynthia had unfinished business.
What do I do now? If I miss this program, I
may have missed the best opportunity to
talk to Ogechi because the phone line was
going to be open to callers and fans and I
had planned to call in when the day came. I
even saved the number. And what about
Cynthia? She and I had come a long way
and I had made obvious to her that she had
a place in my heart. How do I bypass this
moment and watch Ogechi’s live broadcast?
Or do I just let that go since I had settled
in my mind to court Cynthia?
To be continued.
