Bro update us on Mikel bro ..

Wait now. Una no get patience?

opico24:
Bro update us on Mikel bro ..

What an update. I see Prince will getting desperate.

Thanks

Good morning sir. I hope you're fine? Please we need updates. Thanks and God bless.

Infinite Love 113

A Mother's Love

“Dear Michael, I just got a notification that the last messages I sent you weeks ago were delivered. You must have read them by now. Please call me back. I know Princewill, probably has everyone believing this whole marriage charade thing but trust me…it’s more business than personal.

Michael, it’s been months and still not a single word from you. I NEED YOU! Please call me back, as soon as you can.”

She dialed the send but and click…

*Message sending failed!*

*Sigh!*

It was going to about over twenty something messages that can came back with the same notification. Initially, she had thought maybe the number was lost or something but ever so often she would get a delivery notification on each one of them and then she knew that the number was good. Michael did receive her messages he just didn’t want to talk to her.

He must have been upset over her engagement to Princewill but if he just talked to her…if she could only find him to explain, she was sure that she could sort it all out. She had visited his old dry-cleaning but his landlady had rented it out to another tenant. It was now a business centre. And the landlady had no idea where he was and she directed her to his parents but she knew she couldn’t go there anymore. His grandmother and mother had made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t welcome.

She couldn’t explain his sudden disappearance. He had suddenly vanished into thin air. Even before the engagement he had been distant and a little annoyed with her. She still couldn’t explain that part. Everything had been going on so well then all of a sudden, he just got moody. She thought maybe he needed some space but he became even more withdrawn until the end of shoot party. She had invited him, she’d hoped but a part of her was prepared for him not showing until he finally did.

And it was great. He was his old self again in that brief moment when he was saying so many nice things about her until…Princewill ruined it and blindsided her with the proposal. She was yet to wrap her head around that night. It was the worst night of her life. It ruined everything for her. Thinking so much about it was only giving her a headache and so she decided to go out.

…

The phone rang only twice before she picked up.

“Hello, Mama?”

“Hello, my son. How…?”

“Mama, you have to fix this! And you have to fix this FAST!”

“Hey, my son. I am trying my best ehn? I have been talking to her myself all the time. Everyday. Every…day. I have been talking to her. Shouting and even begging her to use her head. To come back to her senses. But she is just too stubborn.”

“Mama, all I am hearing are excuses here. Listen, Mama. Everything I have is riding on your daughter coming back to her senses. Everything! If she doesn’t change her ways…I will lose everything! Mama, do you want me to lose everything I have worked so hard to achieve in the past few years?”

“No, of course not, my son. God forbid! That will never be your portion!”

“THEN TALK TO YOUR STUPID DAUGHTER NOW!”

“Ah, calm down now. And I don’t like that kind of language about my Angela. She is very very smart, brilliant sef, you know?”

“Oh, sorry, Mama.”

“It’s okay, my son. I know that you have also been under a lot of stress. The both of you have…”

“MAMA! Need I remind you that all of this was YOUR IDEA?”

“Well…no…”

“NO, WHAT? Wasn’t it YOU who came to ME?”

“No …er that wasn’t what I meant…”

“You told me. Oh, Angela is so successful, so beautiful and so nice. You two would make a beautiful couple. It is the perfect set up. Two soap opera actors who fell in love in real life. Think how much it would boost your careers.” He said mimicking her voice comically.

“Ehn…I was only thinking about you.”

“Me? Or wasn’t it that you just wanted to get rid of Michael from her life? Or you think I don’t remember? You just have to do it and fast before that never-do-well Michael, steals her away. He has already corrupted her mind.”

“My son. There’s no need to replay my tape now. I remember all that I said that day and listen…I was really just thinking about the both of you.”

“Mama…”

“And didn’t it work? Did your careers not balloon overnight?”

“Mama. That’s not the…”

“Did you not get all those endorsements after the announcement? Your modeling gigs. Your face in front of all those magazines. And those nice clothes from Yomi Casuals. Were they not free?”

“Erm…”

“And wasn’t it after the announcement that your contract got renewed? Even after critics called your performance subpar?”

“HEY, MAMA! Those old farts won’t know a good actor even if he fell on them!”

“Yes, of course dear but everyone immediately forgot about that and began singing your praise, didn’t they?”

“er…”

“Did my plan not help you become the number one heartthrob in the country…”

“erm…” he couldn’t deny that, his phone will filled with unknown women called boobies and hot buns.

“…despite your poor performance?”

“HEY!”

“I am just pointing out that I have helped you a lot. And you really should be more grateful.”

“Oh, is it gratitude that you want? No problem. Thank you, Mama. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, you’re welcome…”

“But now that your plan is backfiring and I’m about to lose everything, do you think I will go down alone?”

“ehn…what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, I will tell your precious daughter everything. Everything! That this was all your idea. And all those things you told me you did to poor Michael whenever he came over to look for her? All those nasty, awful and terrible things you said? *tsk* *tsk* Do you think that she would appreciate them?”

“Everything I did…I did for my daughter’s sake.”

“Is that right? Do you think she’ll see it that way? *tsk* *tsk* Those were some hot things you said to Michael, mama. Even I felt the heat from merely hearing about them. Poor Michael must have been burnt. I’ll bet when Angela hears about them, she’ll be so mad that she would never talk to you again.”

“Look here. All of that…was for Angela. Everything I did was for Angela.”

“Just get your daughter back to her senses or else you will lose your precious Angela.”

He hung up the phone and she carefully placed the phone back on the sitting room parlour with slightly trembling hands. Everything she had done was for Angela, and she didn’t regret doing any of it. Thanks to her own daughter is about…was about to marry the most eligible bachelor in the country instead of a ragamuffin gold digger from the ghetto. But would Angela see it that way?

She had only done what any good mother would do, after all. She should be awarded. Even Angela would come to appreciate her efforts, once she had finally settled down to her marriage life with all of its luxuries that she herself never got. She had tried to make her understand this but Angela had the same stubborn neck as her father and she wouldn’t listen and they only ended up fighting again and again.

Angela came out of her room in that moment. After spending yet another day hiding from her mother.

“Oh, my dear. You are awake?” she asked fully aware of the avoidance.

“Yes, Mama, good afternoon.” She said heading straight for the door.

“Oh, Angela? Before you go out again can we have a little talk first?”

She stopped but she never let go of the door handle.

“Oh, Mama. I’m so tired of fighting. Honestly, I don’t have the energy for it tonight.”

“No, no, I don’t want to fight. I only want to talk.” She pleaded.

“Is it about Princewill and me?”

“Yes, now.”

“Then it’s a fight, Mama. I’m going out please.” Then she twisted the door handle and left. Leaving her mother in deep thought.

“So she is really set in this decision of hers? And Princewill will not take that. He wants to ruin me with Angela and I can’t let that happen. What do I do? She is tired of listening to me. How can I make her listen she’s just as stubborn as her father?” she thought and that’s when she had her next nefarious idea.

Thanks for the update. And please don't bring any diabolical things into this beautiful story so it won't turn out to be like a nollywood movie.

No boss. Nothing like that.

Does anyone know a Pilot I can talk to? It's just for research. Thanks.

Hello, good morning. How are you? I hope you're doing fine?

I'm fine boss. Thanks for asking. I'm really sorry about the hiatus but I'm back now.

Carterj007:
Hello, good morning. How are you? I hope you're doing fine?

Infinite Love 114

A Long Way To Lose

She couldn’t figure out why she was getting so much mean looks at first.

Yes, it had been a few days since she last left the house. She did it to avoid some of the stubborn paparazzi.

The ones who would boldly barge onto her front door to knock and blare the glare of their camera flashes into her face, it irritated her pupils and her temper. Ever since her little blow out break up of their engagement, she had been getting a few of those at her home at odd hours.

But she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. So, she had been hiding to avoid any further blow out to the press. That never helps. But she needed to get out. She needed fresh air, to breathe. And space too, any place away from the constant badgering of her mum and the press. So, she took her hooded sweat shirt, hid her hair with a NY base cap and covered her eyes with big sunglasses, out the back door as she headed for the mall.

The looks started almost straightaway. After taking down the hood of her shirt, the first few women she saw after the initial frowning look of curiosity which she used to call; the-I-know-this-person’ look, the look came. But they weren’t the usual, star struck stares that she usually received after the-I-know-person look. These were different these looks seemed…hostile.

She covered up again and got to the mall still trying to figure it out. It couldn’t be about the break up, could it? Celebrities break up all the time and people were used to that. In the yoghurt isle, almost immediately after she took off her hood again, two women were there and upon recognition they put no effort in hiding their contempt of her.

All the way from their end they watched her with their judgmental eyes and made it no secret that they were talking about her as they rolled their eyes and pointed in their heated discussion about it.

“Why are these people mad at me?” she thought.

Their open disdain prompted her to leave and at the cashier developed an attitude as soon as she peaked under her cap. Angela immediately put her glasses back on and paid her. As she went out of the mall, she heard someone hurriedly push them open the doors behind her.

“GO BACK TO PRINCEWILL!” She froze and slowly turned around to find one of the women at the youghurt aisle who added “Shameless woman!”

And an ugly scene was instantly created as everyone outside froze in their step and stopped whatever they were doing and turned to stare at her. A few covered their mouths in realization of her identity and some pointed at her but most just looked at her with…contempt, eyeballing her terribly.

“Mtcheew!” one person hissed

“Na so dem dey do.”

“Dem go dey form holy for camera but everything na fake life.” Another said and she quickly hopped into her car and drove away to the studio completely confused about what was going on.

…

She put the earlier events out of her head as she arrived at the studio. Studio 55 west side of the bar beach, Lagos Island had been her home for more than five years now and of all the places and locations she had worked, studio 55 was the first one to make her at home. It was in very few times that one gets a find a film cast and crew members who worked as a family. She knew the names of everyone there from the stage director Mr Bami to the security man Sunday. And they knew her too!

When she started there all those years ago as an actress with mostly theatre background and little TV experience, the crew took her in gave her time to adjust. They were patient with her whenever her was two dimensional as it was expected on a theatre stage as opposed to the multiple cameras found on a TV stage.

“Cut! Angela please, can we do that scene again but this time, make sure to deliver to cameras two to five and not just seven and ten.” The director would often correct her kindly. The amazing Mr Bamidele, he was in a lot of ways the reason for her big break. Him and Uchechi.

It was Mr Bamidele, who allowed her to audition for her breakthrough role all those years ago, even after realizing that her name wasn’t on the list. But it was Uchechi, who had convinced her to gate crash the audition in the first place.

“But I wasn’t called for this audition?” she had protested as Uchechi dragged them along to the audition.

“It doesn’t matter, we’re here now. We might as well do it.”

“Na wa o! But Uchechi, this is for TV now. And you know we are majorly theatre actors?”

“Eh hen? And so? Acting na acting now. All na action, cut, action, cut! Let’s go jor!”

“Hey, Uchechi. Me I am too shy to gatecrash anything o! I don’t know how to do this o!”

“Babe! It’s okay now. Just act like you belong that’s all! You na good actress now, so act like you were called to audition.”

“Okay, and when they here my name and check their list they will know that I lied to them.”

“And so? Babe, forget dat one. Just tell them that you got the sms nonetheless.”

“And what if they want to see the sms?”

“Tell dem your phone don die!”

“AH! They will know I lied now!”

“Babe, leave that one. This is Nigeria. Everyone is lying about something. They just haven’t been caught yet.”

“Ha ha.”

“Babe, this one is even small. I used to go the Akokia Town Hall every Saturday for food.”

“Really? How do you get food there, that is an event centre now?”

“I know, which is why it is the perfect place to get free food. I just pretended to be a guest and they will feed me like everyone else?”

“Wow! Really?”

“Yes now! One time, they even put me on the high table because the bride and I looked alike. She was a very fair complexioned Fulani. I still remember her name; Salma.”

“What?! Can you speak Fulani??” Angela asked shocked.

“Mtcheew!” she hissed “I can’t even speak Hausa not to talk of Fulani.”

“So how did you manage to…get in and out of those kinds of situations now?” she asked perplexed.

“Angela, it is by acting. Plain and simple. The job naturally trains us on becoming conmen. Acting na 419 now. You deceive people and they pay you for it. Just act and be confident and you can do anything.”

And that was where she got her acting ego boost from, Uchechi. They both auditioned that by simply acting their way in past the security until they got to the waiting room. All the others’ names were called except theirs. The jig was up. But instead Uchechi made a performance about how they both came all the way from Kaduna to Portharcourt for the audition and now they were not even called to at least audition. It was not fair. They spent a lot of money to get there. They weren’t sure of how they would get back home. But they just wanted to audition first of all before finding their way.

The usher just had to let them in to audition as he was powerless to deal with two crying women. Uchechi auditioned first and her performance was golden. Angela never thought her performance would be up to par. But when it was her turn and they called her name the then director Mr Bamidele realized that her name as well as Uchechi’s name wasn’t on the list. Uchechi nodded, giving her to signal to lie her way around it. But, Angela simply told the truth. And Uchechi’s face fell as if to say ‘Oh my God’.

But Mr Bamidele merely shook his head and asked her to go on and do the audition. Afterall, they were already there. So, she performed and they merely sat there watching her without any reaction at all. Angela thought she blew it. They were very agitated, very alive during Uchechi’s performance and they even clapped for her. So, she thought it was best to forget the whole thing. Nevertheless, they both wrote down their names when directed before leaving the place.

“Did you see my performance? I had so much energy in that part. It was really fun.”

“Um…yeah. You did great!” Angela said trying to mask her disappointment in her own performance. She went on to forget about the audition and continue with her stage acting career. She got rejections and discouragements, many times. But she kept at it. It was part of the job. And she loved it. Every part of it. It was what she was meant to do. So, she accepted the good, the bad and the ugly sides of it.

She accepted that she would have to pay her dues. And so those many years she spent on training as an extra or a backup, getting her feet wet and doing many of the stage setup without getting paid and living off of popcorn and biscuits and butter. She never complained. Even when she missed a lot of roles due to her refraining from naked scenes and sex scenes, she still didn’t complain. Even all those years that she was referred to as ‘Mrs. No!’ because she would always say ‘No’ and never allow any male actor touch or grab her inappropriately.

And all those years that she couldn’t get any top roles in Lagos because she refused the advances of many of the top producers who requested private auditions in hotels or in their houses, she still didn’t complain. It was all part of the job. She just concentrated on doing her job. It was her baby. And besides she didn’t mind having to travel far to the South or East for roles. She liked travelling. It allowed to see the country. And befriend people like Uchechi.

Although, they had graduated the same school and the same year, they had never been close until a stingy producer booked them in a cheap hotel in Port Harcourt called ‘Hotel Sharp Sharp!’ Angela had found the name funny and never caught on the meaning until, her and Uchechi who had been booked in the same room began hearing moaning noises from the next rooms. It was a brothel! And when they went outside to get away from all the noises, one of the male patrons requested to book her and Uchechi together for the night. They ran to their room laughing and bolted their door with a lock and chair before they could fall asleep that night. Adventures like that were also part of the job and she enjoyed them too.

But months later, when Mr Bamidele later called her, not Uchechi for the role. She was shocked. She called Uchechi about it, she good-naturedly congratulated her and wished her the best. Uchechi by then had given up acting after falling for the usher at their audition in PortHarcourt. She was living happily with her husband and two kids.

That was how she became part of the Studio 55 family. As an unknown actress with a theatre background and no fanbase, working her way up from a supporting cast member to the main event with sheer hard work.

Mr Bamidele always said; “No other actor can pickup as many lines as Angela. She was always the first to memorise her script lines. She could cram a two-page monologue under ten minutes.” Her hard work paid off in the end. She became close to Mr Bami and many others at the studio.

As she entered the studio, she greeted everyone from the gateman to the cameraman as was her custom but when she got to Mr. Bamidele’s office, he didn’t look happy to see her.

“Good afternoon, sir.”

“Good afternoon, Angela. How are you?”

“Fine, sir. Hope you’re well?”

“Oh, sure. Thank you.”

“Erm…is, is everything alright, sir?”

“No…Angela. Everything is not alright. Not at all.”

“What is it, sir?”

“It’s you, Angela. We have to let you go!”

Spices for you

Thanks for the update. More please

Infinite Love 115

Blacklisted

“What...? Sir…I don’t understand. You’re letting me go…why?”

“Well…” he adjusted in his seat “…it just means that…for now, not entirely we have to erm…pause any ongoing production and future projects that the company has with…you.”


“WHAT!?” she panicked. “Okay, now. Calm down.”

“…ongoing and future projects? That means I’m fired. ARE YOU FIRING ME?”

“NO…I mean, yes…but it’s just temporary.”

She couldn’t believe this. She came out of her house for air only to be humiliated at
the mall and now she was fired. There was suddenly no air left in the large
airconditioned office to fill her lungs. She couldn’t breathe.

“I don’t understand. Why? What…what have I done to warrant this? I…I’ve never missed work, I’m hardly ever late. I have a good working relationship with the cast and crew. Hell, I get along with everyone so well that I’m even friends with the security men downstairs, unlike some people I know…” then it occurred to her.

“…wait a minute. DID PRINCEWILL DO THIS? HE DID, DIDN’T HE?”

“Oh, no. Princewill has already been let go as well. We let him go a few days ago. I was only waiting to see you in person. Out of respect, I didn’t want to say this over the phone.”

She was shocked. She couldn’t imagine Princewill surviving without his job. He was the most self-absorbed actor she had ever worked with but he sincerely loved his job.

“Wh…why is this happening, Mr Dele? What’s going on?”

“Don’t you know? Do you really have no idea, Angela?”

“No…” she whispered too afraid she might have done something to cause this to herself.

Mr Bamidele regarded her sadly for a moment and then proceeded to open his desk drawer to pull out a newspaper, he got and gave it to her.

“Our producer, Mr Segun, brought this to me a while back.”

The newspaper was an old copy of The Insider. She had seen it before. Her mother had brought it home and waved it in her face during the many times that they argued.

“Dream Couple Wakes Up & Split” was the headline. She regarded the paper for a bit.

“But sir…this shouldn’t warrant…”

“Oh, I agree! I totally agree with you and I said that to Segun myself when he came here with this a long time ago. The lives of our actors are theirs to live. We can’t dictate how they live their lives. We simply can’t.”

“Alright, sir. But…I still don’t understand. If you told him that then this…” she waved the paper “…shouldn’t be an issue and I shouldn’t be dismissed.”

“Yes, you would think that but then this…” he brought out another paper from the drawer, and gave it to her “…this happened.”

The paper was still another of The Insider but this time it was a more
recent copy, only a few days old and it’s headline was…

“Cheating Scandal! Angela, No Angel!”

She broke out in sweats. She hadn’t seen this one before. Such a scathing headline and what do they mean by ‘cheating’? She browsed through the article and it was even more scathing than the headline. It mentioned she was having an affair, despite being engaged, how she paraded her lover in front of her fiancé without
shame and cited many unknown sources. All lies!

“Oh my God!”

“I know.”
“Mr. Dele…this isn’t true!”

“Mr. Dele…this isn’t true!”

“I know.”

“It’s
all lies!”

“I know.”

“They’re only tarnishing my image!”

“Angela? I KNOW! I’ve been working with you for years remember? I know you better than anyone. Even Princewill vouches for you.”

She sank in her seat. “I can’t believe this! I’m going to sue!”

“Yeah, you can do that but with tabloids and our legal system, even if you win you have already lost so much time, money and energy. And it's everywhere so how many papers will you sue?"

“But then…what do I do? I…I’m innocent. This is…THIS IS WRONG!”

He looked at her sympathetically and said slowly.

“Angel? I know. But unfortunately, nobody cares what I believe. This is show business and what makes it great is also what makes it awful, the story. The more sensational the story, the more people will believe it. People are more willing to believe that you two broke up over your cheating than simply the truth, which is you two just not making a good fit. And this story has spread like wild fire! It’s everywhere; in the news on TV, the radio, everywhere and public
opinion is against. It has gotten to our producers and our financiers, even
studio executives are talking about you. Imagine that. You would think that people who make fantasy would know better than to believe in fiction.”

“Wow.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Angel. But unfortunately, we had a meeting and they are not willing to back someone that the public has dubbed a Jezebel. It’s bad for business. They are our customers and right now they hate you and they don’t want to see you on their screen. Nobody is bigger than the public. Not you, not me and not even Princewill.”

“So
that’s it. We’re both out of jobs.”

“Yes,
but in the case of Princewill, he may be able to walk away from this a rebuild
since he is seen as the victim here. He would have lost all the promotion and
exposure from our current and future projects, which is a lot because we had
big plans for you both. But he would still be able to rebuild his career after
this. But, as for you…you have been …blacklisted.”

“Oh…I
see.” She said sadly. “So, that’s it? Afterall these years, I’m out? I’m done?”
He looked at her sadly.

“Angel?
I know that…its unfair to you. But even the studio has suffered a huge loss.
All that time and money gone into production and development, lost! Wasted!”

“I’m…sorry.”

“No,
don’t be. I’m sorry. I know more than anyone how you have thrown yourself into
your work. I was there from the beginning. I saw you transitioning and how hard
it was back then. I know all the many years that you spent solely focused on
developing yourself as an actress, I was there. I encouraged you to it. I can’t
imagine how many relationships you must have sacrificed; friends, boyfriends. I
was the one who promised you that it will all be worth it in the end. I
mentored you through it all and I failed. I am sorry, Angela.”

She
was close to tears “There must…there must be something I can do. This has been
my home for many years. I don’t want to leave. Where will I go?”

He
regarded her sadly again and after a beat he said; “Angel? The last thing I
want to do is tell you how to live your life but, if you and Princewill could
just…get together and talk...? That’s all it has to be, just talk. Maybe you
both would be able to work something out. Because quite frankly, both your
public images have essentially been tied to your careers. More so than any
other actors after the engagement and its subsequent publicity. Another actor
or actress may have been able to get away with infidelity in the public eye.
Hell, most of them do, but Mr. Segun was right about something. Both your
careers have been boosted by your love lives. And if that dies now, I’m afraid
your careers may not be far behind.”

“I
see…” was all she could say to keep from crying.

“So,
please. Talk to him? He has everything to gain from it and nothing to lose.”

“Talk
to Princewill?”

“Yes,
Angel. Talk to him.”

This
was the worst. She didn’t regret calling off their sham of an engagement one
bit and she had basically blacklisted his calls after he kept on
badgering her and now, she had to talk to him or her career was
effectively over right there at the very peak of it. She thanked him and left
his office quietly. In a daze she went to her studio office to pick up a few
things but when Sunday the security guy came and stationed himself at her door
which was protocol for terminated employees, it dawned on her that she was
effectively fired. And the tears came flooding out and she sank in her chair.



“Madam,
no vex abeg. Just company policy.” He said trying to console her. She knew him well. A shy taciturn fellow who
only smiled and hardly spoke unless spoken to. His brother had promised him a
better life in Lagos so he left his mechanic practice and came over. Only to
find his brother needed someone to man his pepper shop so that he could open
another one. He had toiled for many years grinding and selling pepper until he
got a connection to work in security before he had a chance to start his life
and get married. She knew them all very well.

She
could see how uncomfortable he was at the task at hand and knew that he had no
choice so she decided to make things easier for him.

“It’s
alright, Sunday. I’m coming just…give me a second.” And with characteristic
shyness he quietly grabbed the box and held it as she put in the few things she
wanted.

They
walked together, past the other rooms, past Princewill’s locked door that now
had an empty slide where his name was under the star sticker on the door. Past
the writers’ common room, where the few of them present mumbled their farewells
and the others nodded their heads in goodbye. Past the executives’ offices and
then downstairs past the staging area and finally at the security gate, where
Sunday finally handed her her box and said.

“Good
bye, madam. I will really miss you.”

“Thank
you, Sunday. Good bye.”

“Good
bye, madam.” The rest of the security men said from inside their box as she
drove past the gate and out of the only building that she had ever felt safe
and good about herself. She drove out a few blocks before she parked the car, hugged her shoulders and allowed herself to cry.

I feel so sorry for Angela. Thanks for the update.

Please have mercy on my girl.

@op where are you. More update.

OP you're really doing great. Infinite love has a strong aura around it which can grab a reader's infinite attention.

And the OP disappearED

I didn't disappear. I got stuck on how to move the story forward so I had to step away for a while to really think.

Sorry about the delay.

efeteb:
And the OP disappearED

MY IDEA
Angel travels to get away frm it all, but jams Micheal at the airport on his way 2 Zaria. Take it from there

Longest time bro.. please give us more than 4 update this month on ur blog

adeabdul2 just like efeteb said U jus abandon this tory. I respect that you're doing this 4 free but I'm getting tired.

adeabdul2, I don't mean to criticise you but I'm just saying try post update. Its been long (oct 25) since we had any.

Infinite Love 116

Prodigal

She had dried her face of tears by the
time she got home. She wasn’t interested in her mother telling her ‘I told you so’, it was the very last thing she wanted to hear. She was going to hear it eventually but not just today. Any other day but today. It was a false hope however, because as soon as she opened the door, she was accosted by her.


“My daughter, welcome. Please we need to
talk.”

“Oh, Mama. I’m begging you not today. Any
day but today please.”

“Angela, I think…”

“MAMA, I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO ANYONE
PLEASE!”

“And what about your father? Would you
please talk to me?”

She had walked in such a hurry that she
never saw the man sitting at the dinning area that her mother had just left to
meet her. It was her father. She had not seen him in years. After he left them
in her youth, she saw him only once or twice since then.

“Dad?”

“Yes, my child. I’m here.” He got up and
walked towards her. His face had grown a little sallow and his hair had streaks
of grew in them and his eyes sagged a little but surely it was her father. They
embraced. She remembered the last time she saw him. She had arrived home from
school to find him with talking with her mom.

“Papa? Good afternoon, sir.”

“Good afternoon, my child. How was
school?”

“It was fine, Papa. Shall…I get you
something to drink?” back then they hard even a little to eat.

“No, erm…that’s okay. I was just
leaving.” And he stood and embraced her.

“But, you just came…”

“Oh, I have been around for a while. It’s
time to go.”

“Won’t you stay for even a little while
longer?” she protested but her mom cut in.

“Angela? Your father needs to go. Let him
go!” her mother was visibly shaken and upset and looking like a shell of
herself and so kept quiet on moved aside for him to pass.

Later that day at dinner she’d asked...

“I hope Papa comes to visit us again
soon.”

“He will not be coming back to this house
again.”

“But…I miss him.” She’d said innocently
but her mom snapped.

“Do you also want to leave me and go live
with him and his concubine?”

Her mother made it clear that day that
she had to choose, either her mother or her father and she choose her mother
out of loyalty and sympathy.

“Are you happy to see me?” He asked. He
still smelt the same and his hug felt the same.

“Of course. How are you and your…” she
wanted to ask about his other family but nervously gazed at her mom’s face and
decided against it. “So, how are you?”

“I’ll go and check on dinner.” Her mother
said leaving them alone to talk in private and as she walked out, they both
felt instantly relieved to talk freely.

“Oh, I’m fine, old age has caught up to
me, though.”

“You’re not that old.”

“Are you sure. My back hurts all the
time.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. You’re not that old.”

“It takes me about forty-five minutes to
get out of bed in the morning. You should see me. I’m like a tortoise on its
back.” And he demonstrated it for her, making her laugh.

“I don’t believe you, Papa. You’re not
that old.” She said laughing.

“Are you sure, I tried running a race
with Rachel the other day and I nearly pulled my leg out of socket.”

“Who’s Rachel?”

“Oh, erm…sorry I forgot you two haven’t
met yet. Rachel is my second daughter. She’s your sister. She’s seventeen years
old.” A silence fell upon them. There were so many things that they hadn’t
talked about. So, many that they both didn’t know about each other’s lives and
so many issues left to iron out.

“Well, that will teach you to race with a
sixteen-year-old.” She said still leaving them unsaid. “Even I won’t dare try
that.”

“Remember, how we used to race?”

“I remember, how you used to
pretend to have an injury and let me win.”

“You were so young back then. And now
look at you, my little girl is now a famous superstar! I am so proud!”

“Thank you, Papa. But I may not be a
superstar for long. I was having some problems for a while and now…I just got
fired.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am, Papa.”

“Wow. Your mother told me things were bad
but I didn’t know it was that bad. I’m so sorry dear.”

“It’s not your fault, Papa. Everything is
just not making sense right now. Wait…! What did Mama tell you? Did Mama call
you?”

“Yes, she did. She’s worried about you.
She says that you’re not thinking clearly right now, dear.”

“Papa, Mama just thinks that all my problems
will just go away if I get back with Princewill.”

"So
tell me about this Princewill. Don't you like him?"

"He's a little self absorbed but, he's a hardworking actor so I respect
him."

"Respect, is good. But I wanted to know of you liked him. As a man."

"Who...Princewill?"

"Uh huh."

"He's very handsome, Papa. And it is very hard not to be attracted to him.
Especially, with that face and those eyes but...I honestly can't say that I like
him, at least not anymore."

"Really? And why not?"

"Have I told you he's self absorbed?"

"Yes, yes you have."

"Papa, I was not joking. This guy likes himself like nobody else I have
ever known. I have seen him blow kisses to himself in the mirror."

"No! You're lying!"

"Papa, I swear. I am not lying. There are people who have a big ego and
then there is Princewill who is something else entirely. He cares all about
himself."

"That can't be true. He proposed to you so he must at least care for
you?"

"Well...yes. He did propose but... I still don't understand that because
it was out of the blue and a little...strange."

"How do you mean? Didn't you two used to date?"

"Well, yes Papa. We dated but it was at the beginning of the show, it and
it ended very quickly plus it was a long time ago."

"And you don't think that he must have developed feelings for you during
that time or since then?"

"Princewill? Papa, no no no no. You don't understand. I don't believe he
can develop feelings for another person. He doesn't even see me as a person. He
treats me only as an accessory, just something pretty to match his outfit. He
only shows care to what I'll be wearing whenever we go out. If my look or
outfit doesn't match his in my little way, he throws a tantrum like a baby
until I change."

"Ha ha ha. Alright but he still proposed to you though, and you said
yes."

"Ugh, don't remind me Papa, that was actually mama's doing. Princewill
proposed to me so suddenly and in front of everyone and I was so shocked and
confused that I didn't even know what to say for a moment. That's when Mama
standing beside me said yes and everyone thought it was me.
It's...complicated."

"Uh hmm. Yeah, that sounds like something your mother would do."

"Yeah she totally gave everyone the wrong impression even ...even Michael
and now he won't call me back."

"Michael? You mean your friend from school?"

"Yes, but...how did you know about him?"

"Like I said. Your mother told me everything."

She rolled her eyes "Oh, Papa. Don't believe her. She doesn't understand
as well as she thinks she does."

"Oh believe me I know your mother and her antics well. Erm...did she ever
tell you how we met?" She shook her head, no.

Sorry boss. Please be patient with me

Eddysilver:
adeabdul2, I don't mean to criticise you but I'm just saying try post update. Its been long (oct 25) since we had any.

Infinite Love 117

“It was after I graduated from school and I had been looking for work for a very long time.

A friend of mine got me a connection at the ports at Apapa. And as a young man who had been poverty stricken for a long time you have to understand getting a job like that watching consignments was everything to me. I could finally stop going hungry and stop begging my family and friends for money to eat. And dear, it was the very worst time of my life. Seeing all my friends going on to make names forthemselves while I had to beg my own father for money and hear him tell me how
much of a disappointment, I was. So, when I got that job; I thought I had
finally made it, even though it was contract work. But I was glad I finally had
something because it meant that my life was finally starting. But then
something happened.”

“Wha…what was it, papa?”

“Some consignments of from China went
missing.”

“Oh. What kind of consignments?”

“It was a container filled with old TVs and
radios, basically a bunch of scrap electronics but they were still worth money
and so the owner came for them and he was raising hell. And as one on the night
shift at the time I was called in for questioning but I didn’t know anything
about the TVs or radios. My boss wasn’t satisfied nor did he believe me but he
gave me an ultimatum to find out where those electronics were. And
unfortunately, the very next week another thing got stolen. This time it was
car parts and I was stunned. I had no idea what or how it happened. I didn’t
see anybody and nobody came in to sign the parts and this time the owners
wanted me to pay for the cars. But my dear, I was still in the process of
paying back my father for all the money I owed how was I going to pay for car
parts.”

“So, what happened papa?”

“Well, once they realized that I had no
money and I was going to get their goods back for them the owners wanted me
arrested but my boss promised to get to them with answers and instead fired me,
on the spot.”

“Oh.”

“And I was devastated. My life was just
starting and suddenly I had ended again. I had no job and my father was no
longer going to support me. He kept saying at my age he already had a family he
was taking care of and he was not going to keep wasting his time and money on
me. He didn’t even believe me. He thought I had sold the TVs and the car parts
and went out drinking with the money instead of paying him.”

“Papa, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”

“Yes, it was. Nobody believed me, no one.
Except, your mother.”

“Oh. Were you too dating back then?”

“No, there was nothing between us. Back
then, I couldn’t feed myself how was I going to keep a girlfriend? No, we were
friends because we had a lot in common, we both came from the same town in Imo.
And she was a food hawker back then in Apapa, Wharf. She was popular too
because her food was good and she gave us new and workers food on credit
sometimes. I couldn’t stay at home because my father was making life miserable
and so I would still hang around the port to plead and beg my boss or even
anybody to please get me my job back. I would hang around the port from morning
till night to catch a glimpse of anyone I could beg but no one would listen to
me. It was only your mother who kept encouraging to stick around and try to
prove my innocence. She kept telling me that all sorts of things happened in
the port and that the truth would eventually come out and that I would get my
job back. She would even talk to people about my case so that I wasn’t
forgotten and appealed to them on my behalf.”

“Wow!”

“Yes, that’s your mother. When she gets on
your team, she would make sure to do whatever she can to make sure you win.
Back then she would even feed me for free.”

“Nice. That’s mama, alright.”

“Almost about five weeks after I was fired,
they caught the real thieves. Some boys from one of the islands in Apapa would
park their canoe close to the barge at midnight and cut through the fence and
smuggle whatever they could. After I was fired they installed security cameras
around the wharf and that’s how they caught them.”

“Thank God!”

“I got my job back the very next day after
they were caught.”

“Oh, thank God.”

“But if your mother hadn’t been encouraging
me to keep hanging around, I wouldn’t have gotten the job back. They would have
given it to someone else. As I got to the port that day she told me the news
and stood beside me at the gate as we waited for my boss who met us there and gave me my job back.”

Infinite Love 118

Distorted Revelations

“And then everything was fine. I finallypaid my father back his money and I even helped take care of his medical bills anytime his was sick. I moved out and rented a place for myself and I was also given a promotion at work. Life was good again. Or so I thought it was, until your mother started giving me trouble.”


“Trouble? What do you mean trouble, Papa?”

“After I got my job back, I paid her
whatever it was that I owed her and I gave her all of my salary for the third
month when I got promoted as a thank you. I wanted her to use it to boost her
food business. I suggested she tried selling frozen fish on a large scale and
she seemed to appreciate it. After that, I moved on with my life and focused on
my job. I wouldn’t see her for a couple of days as I was busy and sometimes
weeks. Whenever I did see her she would complain about me forgetting all about
her and such but I always kindly brushed it off as to mean that she was missing
me and I would beg her forgiveness, blame on the job, give her some and promise
to see her again real soon.”

“But the real problem started when I
started seeing somebody after a few months; Ronke. She was a corper who was
serving at the Wharf and we were starting to get friendly. I still don’t know
how your mom found out about it then but whenever I would see her, she would
snob me and give me a bad attitude. I didn’t understand it at first. I thought
she was playing with me. And then when it started getting to much for me, I
began ignoring her totally and I thought that was the end of it. But I got the
shock of my life when my boss called me to his office to ask me why I was
dumping your mother after all she had done for me.”

“…dump..?” Angela asked.

“That’s what my reaction as well. I was
shocked!”

“So, you guys haven’t been dating?”

“No, not at all! And I tried to tell my
boss that but he wouldn’t believe mem. He said that he had seen us together
many times and he knew she was the one taking care of me when I got fired and
he knew just how close we were. But I told him that it was all plutonic. We
were just friends and there was never any dating. She helped me out in my need
but I had already repaid her for it and we were still good friends.”

“Ok…”

“But he wouldn’t listen. He told me, in
fact, he ordered me to get back to her that she was a good girl who didn’t
deserve the way I was treating her. I left his office in a daze, surely there
must be some kind of mistake? Agatha would never lie to anyone about our
relationship like that. We were friends, just friends and she knew that. I made
up my mind to talk to her about it after work to clear up the whole
misunderstanding which I thought would be easy enough, but when I met her that
evening, I found out a whole different story.”

“I got to her and she started crying almost
immediately. She accused of dating another person and leaving her after
everything we’d been through and after everything she’d done for me. She acted
like I ditched her and I just kept watching her in shock of it all.”

“Wait! I don’t understand, how do you
mean?”

“I didn’t understand it earlier dear. But I
begged your mother to stop her nonsense and start making sense. We were never a
couple we never dated. But she didn’t and I got angry with her and started
yelling at her. She needed to stop acting like a crazy person and stop lying to
people but losing my temper didn’t help at all. So, I walked away thinking that
she would come around eventually but not at all. Everyone at work started blaming
me and calling me names. Some people would meet me to shout at me to get back
to her. They all believed that I truly used her and only dumped her after I
found someone else. And Ronke the lady I was dating at the time also suffered a
lot. During that time your mother would meet her to yell at for stealing her
boyfriend and do all sorts.”

“Eventually she got tired of it all and she
broke up with me just after we were getting serious. And after it was made
clear to me at work that I would lose my job over the issue, I got tired of it
too. And I gave up. I cut all ties with Ronke and I promised my boss and
everyone else she had turned against me that everything was right between your
mom and I.”

“Wow!” she sighed.

“Yeah, I met her and promised her that she
didn’t have to worry about me anymore. I was all hers and that’s how we started
dating, officially even though everyone else thought that we had been dating
for months before then.”

“Just…wow”

“I know. It took a while but eventually I
managed to forgive her for all the lies and deceit and we got married when she
got pregnant with you. She tried everything to make me happy though, I would
give her that. She did everything she could to make me happy. But it didn’t
work. I always had that thought at the back of my mind that she wasn’t the
woman I wanted to marry. And years later after you were born I met Ronke again
and we started picking things up from where we left it. I didn’t want a broken
home for you. I tried to stop myself and your mother didn’t everything humanly
possible to please me but it just…didn’t work.”

“That’s when you left us.”

“Yes, that’s when I left you, dear. And I
am so sorry that I haven’t been there for you all these years. But the marriage
wasn’t working for me. It just wasn’t what I wanted for myself. And believe me
the only reason it lasted as long as it did, was only because of you. You were
the one who kept me here for as long as I did.”

“Oh, papa!” And she hugged her father.

“Listen to me, Angel. I am telling you all
this now because I wanted you to know that married doesn’t work by forcing a
man. And your mom tells me that you are giving up your career and even breaking
up your engagement because of some guy who has dumped you. Why, is that
Angela?”

She disengaged from him “Listen, Papa, it
wasn’t like that. I lost my job because I dumped Princewill and I dumped
Princewill because he is just not the person I want to marry. I don’t…I doubt
he even wants to marry me, he acts like a buffoon most of the time.”

“And what of this guy that you want to
marry, this…Michael that your mother told me about?”

“Well…Michael is a good friend.”

“Friend? I thought he was your boyfriend?”

“Well…”

“Did he propose to you?”

“No…but…”

“So, he didn’t propose and he is probably
not even your boyfriend? Angela, you are a smart girl but what you are doing
has no wisdom to it all. Can you explain it to me please?”

“Papa, the truth is; I love Michael. I mean
I really love him.”

“That’s wonderful, my daughter but does he
love you?”

“I…I think…so.”

“Wha…you mean you don’t know?”

“Well…I mean I think he does. I can feel
it, Papa.”

“But he hasn’t told you, has he?”

“No.”

“Can you ask him?”

“Ehn?”

“Yes, tell him somebody else has proposed
to you and you want to know how he feels about you. Call him now.”

“I can’t, Papa.”

“Why not?”

“…because he hasn’t been returning my calls
I mean my messages. His phone is switched off most times but I keep sending him
messages but he hasn’t yet replied. I think he is upset that I got engaged.”

Her father was rubbing his temples and the
confusing messages he was getting from his daughter.

“My dear, this is all so confusing to me
but let me get this straight. One man proposed to you in front of another man,
who you think might be in love with you but never declared it to you and you
broke up the engagement because you are in love with the other guy, who was
there at the engagement and left you, and has never spoken to you since despite
you calling him multiple times. Did I get that correctly, my dear?”

Angela heard the sharp condemnation in his
tone and couldn’t bring herself to respond.

“Angela, please don’t do this to yourself.
I have watched with such pride at how much you have achieved even without me
and it would break my heart to watch you throw away everything you’ve ever worked
for, for nothing.”

“But dad, what if he loves me too? I…I just
need to find out and know…”

“Angela. It’s been how long since you got
engaged? Months, right?”

“Yes sir.” She said weakly.

“If he loved you. He would have told you by
now. Men who love women don’t just sit idle and watch them get snatched up.
They stay and fight for their love.”

She could feel the tears brimming at the
edges of her eyelids. His words stung. They stung more because they were coming
from her father and because she was starting to believe what she feared all
along. Michael didn’t love her.

“Dear, he doesn’t love you.”

And the tears fell.

“You have to move on. Don’t make your
mother’s mistake by trying to force a man onto yourself. Rather, focus on the
man that you have now. He is the one who is with you. He is the one who shows
up. He is the one who comes here for you every day. He is the one who loves
you. Maybe he doesn’t show it or maybe he shows it in the wrong ways but when a
man shows up, he is showing that he cares. Please think about it.”

He said and hugged her again as she cried
until he could feel his shoulders wet with her tears.

Infinite Love 119

THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING


“You have to get to the top of this
mountain OR YOU’RE OUT!” he said shouting.

He was a short man that barely reached Michael’s height but he was definitely the scariest man he had ever seen. He had a thick build with thick arm layered in arm hair. Michael no without a doubt that he had a bushy beard that he must shave three times a day to keep him scruff chin bare. With thick bushy eyebrows that seemed to be permanently fixed in a frown and he seemed to be frowning at Michael and the rest of the candidates all at the same time.

He was a short man that barely reached Michael’s height but he was definitely the scariest man he had ever seen. He had a thick build with thick arm layered in arm hair. Michael no without a doubt that he had a bushy beard that he must shave three times a day to keep him scruff chin bare. With thick bushy eyebrows that seemed to be permanently fixed in a frown and he seemed to be frowning at Michael and the rest of the candidates all at the same time.


“DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” he yelled again
for the umpteenth time.

“YES SIR!”

Michael and the rest responded in the
affirmative but he still didn’t believe an ounce of what was going on. On
minute he had been in Zaria, Kaduna State registering for flight and the next
minute he was being dragged interstate to the hills of Plateau, Jos State where
some short scary man was yelling at him and the rest of the fellow candidates
to climb up a highly steep mountain or else they would be out.

“Out of what? The program?” he thought.

But he had just registered for the program
a few hours ago he had even started it yet.

“Alright, ladies. MOVE!!!” the short scary
man yelled and started leaping up on the mountain easily as if it was merely a
bouncy castle at a children’s party. In a few seconds he was already high up
and they barely saw his figure up there in the sky.

“Woah! Look at him go!” the guy with the
small afro and cool sunglasses beside him said. Michael tried to remember his
name; was it Femi or Funmi? He wasn’t sure.

“Well, boss. I’m going to be the first to
scale this rock. See you at the top!” he bounded along with the rest of the
candidates forwards and upwards after the army guy. He stood there for a moment
trying to remember the events of the last few hours before joining the rest of
his new compadres.

…

He had been so happy happier than he had
been in a very long time aside from the other thing that he was refusing to
that about, about the only person who made him feel happy or even alive. But he
was going to make something of himself. Finally! According to how his father
had wanted. He was going to make his father, who was dead, proud. He was going
to make his mother, mama and his brother John, who were very much alive, very
proud. And that was all that was really important at the moment. If he was
being honest with himself, he wanted more, but maybe in life or his life for
that matter, who don’t get it all.

He practically bounded up the stairs of the
admin hall of the spacious institution. He had never seen so much space in his
life. The Federal Aviation College, Zaria was something of a mystique. While
most federal institutions in Nigeria, like UNILAG, LASU etc, had big ginormous
pillars and banners with bold gigantic scripts announcing their name to the
world in great deference to ignorance. FACO just had a tiny banner that one
could hardly see less than a few meters away. While the gates of even the most
local or irrelevant schools had huge gates decked with all manner of Greek
designs and sometimes sculptures and pristine works of art at their entrance,
FACO had a humble gate too simple for even the fancy secondary schools in
Lagos. He was shocked. He had imagined coming here would feel like entering the
huge gates of heaven with all manner of bells and whistles and not at such a
placid reception. He was directed to the administrative building by the simply
but neatly clad security men but once he entered those gates, his mind was
blown away by what he saw.

It was a mixture of walking into an army
base, a hazard university and Aso rock. FACO’s buildings themselves were not
big, in fact, they were quite small with a few administrative quarters, lecture
halls, staff residence and student halls. All the main buildings could be
circled by a fast runner in less than ten minutes giving anyone the idea of it
like a small school. But the buildings were unlike any he had ever seen. They
were made with simple but elegant design resembling stonehenges that were
carved out of the ground by the winds after years of divine carving and not by
mortal men.

The peoples were also a sight to behold.
They were dressed from military, to pilots’ uniforms and beautiful native
attires. He saw two men; one dressed in air force pilot uniform and the other
in a commercial pilots uniform walking together towards their cars. Magnificent
cars, there were everywhere from brand new jeeps to futuristic looking
automobiles that weren’t in the market yet. The place gave the impression that
even a common gatekeeper had an awesome car there.

But what blew his mind away was neither the
spell binding buildings, the ornately dressed staff or even the expensive cars;
it was the planes.

The size of the buildings compared to the
open space allotted to the planes alone was incomparable. There acres and acres
of land allotted the mammoth beauties and even their smaller counterparts lying
in their hangars. While bounding up the admin block stairs he actually froze as
he saw a small private plane in the distant horizon approach and curve
downwards majestically before taxiing to a stop in one of the distant runways.
The feeling he had was nothing short of euphoria and he went into the building
confident of the brighter future that his father had always envisaged for him
and was finally within his grasp.

But all that changed when he entered that
building.

If you like poetry, you can order my collection on Okadabooks.

https://okadabooks.com/book/about/silhouettes_of_love_life/45856

Thanks for the back to back update. You finally did justice to why Angela should go ahead and marry Prince will. Kudos bro.