It’s okay Toke, you’ve done more than enough for me. I can take care of myself.’ Emma tried to calm her.
‘No Ems, I love you and I want the best for you. I promise to cook once I
am back home.’ Toke moved next to her, she dropped a light kiss on her
sister’s cheeks.
‘No you won’t, because you are not coming home tonight.’ Emma shook her head.
‘What makes you think so? You have psychic powers now?’ Toke pulled her
side of the door open, throwing in her briefcase and her proposal.
‘You are extremely beautiful today, I doubt Dean would let go of you easy.’ Emma replied.
‘Well, I don’t think that’s going to be possible now his grandmother is
back.’ Toke jumped into the car, she dug the key into the ignition
immediately, she could not’t afford to go late for this meeting, it was
really important to her.
She missed Dean and had to see him, so she could apologize for her
behaviour the other night; only one thing plagued her mind, the angry
looking face of his grandmother.
She hurried down from her car towards the conference hall where the
meeting was to be held. The hall was a bit scanty as a good number of
the executive board members had not turned up.
She searched the room thoroughly, her heart racing as she searched for him, but to her utmost disappointment, he was not there.
‘Good morning’ she murmured to some of the board members as she trotted towards a seat reserved for her in front row.
She took a deep breath and settled in, she took out the file containing
her proposal and ran her eyes through the document, to be sure that all
her ideas had been welled penned down.
After a careful and painstaking scrutiny, she decided the paper was
alright; Toke rose to her feet and took out photocopies of her proposal
from her briefcase, she needed to distribute this to the members of the
board.
‘Have this sir…’ she murmured to Vice President of the board, in the person of Barrister Lawson Idemudia.
‘Your proposal I guess?’ The middle aged man ran his eyes lustfully over
her, which made her slightly uncomfortable; maybe the red was too much.
‘Yes sir…’ she smiled politely.
‘I think you should begin, because we have a lot of things to consider
and Dean is not yet here.’ The man pulled his shirt backward revealing a
fine gold wristwatch.
Toke’s heart sank; she had expected Dean to be on time to see her
proposal. They never spoke about work during pleasure time, this was one
of the reasons she did not tell him about the proposal she’d been
working on.
‘But sir, as the Chief Executive Officer and president of this board, he
needs to be here. He has to be present to hear my idea.’ Toke’s eyes
were stern as she stared at the bald man.
‘I understand you Ms. Melaye, I don’t know how much work you put into
this, but we cannot wait for Dean forever…’ the man’s fingers clutched
tightly to the proposal paper as he waved it into the air while
speaking.
Anger shot through Toke as she continued to stare at the bald spot on
the man’s head. She was not pleased about this. She had spent two months
working and carrying out research only to be faced by Dean’s absence.
She was about to suggest to the Vice president that they cancel her
presentation or shift it to another day when she spotted Dean’s
secretary walking towards them.
‘Shola…’ she called to the girl.
‘Good morning Ms. Melaye.’ Shola offered her a smile, before dropping a note with the vice president.
‘Wait…’ Toke followed her as she made to leave the hall.
‘Where is he?’
‘Um, at the office, with someone.’ Shola paused to answer.
Toke could see from the look on the girl’s face that she was not
prepared to entertain more questions, so she spun on her heel and moved
towards her seat.
Whoever Dean was meeting with had to be really important. She felt hurt
that he was not here with her; she felt she needed to cancel the
presentation and reschedule it for another day.
‘Ms. Melaye.’ The Vice President walked briskly towards her.
‘Sir?’ She turned and faced him.
‘You must go ahead with your presentation, Dean is around and he promises to join us shortly.’ The man said to her.
All her ache disappeared as respite welcomed her with open arms. She had
the strength and focus that she needed, now that she knew he was
coming, she had to put in her best.
‘Alright then, I am ready.’ She drew a deep breath to calm her worked up nerves.
‘Can you start now?’ The man asked.
‘Yes.’ Toke nodded.
Immediately, the stage was set, the technicians worked on all the
equipments, at the same time, the door to the conference hall was shut.
Toke took her file and mounted on the elevated platform of the hall, she
had spoken to a crowd of people before; she had presented seminars and
read papers in front of a large number of people, so she was not nervous
at all.
She was dedicated to her work and she hoped the board would understand
that her presentation was to move the company forward by creating means
of increasing profits.
All eyes were hooked on her as she took the microphone, a lot of people
stared at her with admiration, knowing who she was and how much she had
contributed to the growth of Flames.
TokeMelaye was a force to reckon with. She was known by her co-workers
and marketing team as “Miss Independent”. She was strong, resilient,
filled with vision and she was always open to new ideas.
‘Good morning ladies and gentlemen, my name is Toke Melaye and I am the
Marketing Strategist for Flames as well as the head of the advertising
arm.’ She paused and ran her eyes over the audience once more trying to
see if they were connecting with her.
Deeply satisfied with the look on their faces, she turned back to her
paper, ‘Something odd has been happening in the perfume industry of
late, something which I think would be perfect for Flames. The focal
point of my work is “Hyper-diversification”. I think it would be a
lovely idea for Flames to diversify into other sections of the business
world other than fragrance.
We have a lot of products to in our line- perfumes, deodorants, body
sprays and body creams, but we can create more, and be be different. A
lot of fragrance brands are doing very well like us, they are equally
into diversification and that is the reason we must surpass them.’ She
paused another time, poking her head to one side so she could assess the
faces of the people in the room.
Where was he? She wondered,Toke was distraught as her eyes went to the
clock. It had been thirty minutes since she started and Dean was yet to
be here.
EPISODE 5
‘How do we achieve this?’ A question from the floor brought her back to consciousness.
‘Um, to achieve hyper-diversification, we must be open minded and ready
for serious innovation. I propose that Flames should go into Fabric
business, social networking, and crypto currency and lots more! There’s
so much opportunities out there, if others could tap in successfully, we
must outrun them.’ Toke answered sharply.
‘But Ms. Melaye, you must remember that each company has their strength
and their weakness. What worked for “Erina” may not work for “Flames”’
Another person contributed.
‘You are right Madam, we all have our strengths and weaknesses; we all
have individual differences and so it is in the business world. But we
must not forget one of the cardinal points in marketing; completion; it
is not healthy to assume one would fail when one has not tried something
out.’ Toke answered, before she would finish, there was another hand.
‘So, you’re saying we should try something out? Let us say Flames as a
fragrance empire dives into Fabric, do you think that would fare well
with us? We have a trademark, one that has been maintained more than a
hundred years now, what makes you so sure that this
“hyper-diversification” would work out?’
‘Thank you for that lovely question Mr. Ucheze.’ A smile played on
Toke’s lips, if she had any doubts about the success of her proposal,
they were now gone as she was filled with a new surge of confidence and
pride in her work.
She was not just a dreamer, but a woman with tact and purpose. She knew
when a dream was feasible and when it was merely a pipe dream.
This proposal she had worked on was feasible, it could battle well with
reality; it was important and she had carefully prepared herself for all
the questions she was being fired with.
‘If Flames chooses to dive into Fabric business, we need cotton plants;
we need farmers and processors; we need dyers; we need logo creators. It
does not take ten years to achieve all these, if we start now, it
wouldn’t be too late. But I promise you, the results are very
rewarding.’ Toke replied with a radiant face.
She felt even more confident as she read her proposal.
‘Any more questions please?’ She smiled politely to her audience.
There were no hands, instead the board members murmured within themselves. Toke had lit a fire that would help them see the way.
‘Personally, I would love to have all Flames products within my reach. I
think is beautiful to have different things but from the same owner.
Imagine if the clothes I am wearing today are made of Flames or my
shoes…’ she paused and grabbed her blazer by the tail.
This provoked laughter from her audience.
‘What if my lipstick was Flames?’ She licked her lips now, she was seducing her listeners.
‘What if we were all Flames?’ She asked.
Slowly she parked all the things she had carried to the stage, her time
was up, she felt fulfilled that she had dropped the questions that had
troubledher to the rest of the employees.
The board members clapped her as she climbed down the platform toward her seat.
‘That was a mind blowing one Ms. Melaye, the board of executives would
dwell on it. Now, let us move to the next Item on our agenda…’ the Vice
president’s voice drifted across the large hall.
‘Now what?’Toke rolled her eyes as she felt her phone buzz. She felt
really disappointed that Dean had not come to hear her proposal.
She took out her phone and noticed he was the one calling. That meant only one thing; he was through with his visitor.
Toke cleared her table and took on her briefcase, slowly she tip toed
out of the conference hall, her heart pounding all the way as she rushed
to meet her lover.
Her footsteps were a matching tempo of her heart, ‘Can I go in?’ she questioned his secretary.
‘Yes’ Shola nodded.
She took a deep breath to calm her down; she had missed him so much. She
had a lot of explaining to do and apologizing too. She could not’t wait
to set her eyes on him.
She pushed the door open slowly; a strange fragrance hit her nostril, that was when she realized he was not alone.
Her heart thudded faster as she caught sight of the woman in Dean’s
office. He wore a smile on his face, she could tell whatever this woman
was telling him was really funny. Though the woman’s face was unclear,
she surprisingly felt intimidated by the British accented English that
flowed from her lips.
‘Oh you’re here Ms. Melaye, come on in, I’d like you to meet someone
very important.’ Dean Legacy rose to his feet; he’d spotted her out of
the corner of his eyes.
An air of familiarity hung between the two, it seemed Dean knew this woman from somewhere.
Toke’s eyes fell on the woman hurriedly and her heart stopped beating as
she found the beauty of the woman too rare to be real. She was a living
revelation of the nymphs and mermaids she had heard about in stories.
It did not’t take this woman great effort to look beautiful, and yet in
her simplicity, she was astonishing, smashing every little thing that
stood in the face of her beauty.
Toke felt jealous for no reason, this even surprised her. Jealousy
wouldn’t let go of her mind, it stung her to the deepest depths of her
heart.
The other woman could feel Toke’s eyes on her, she smiled to herself
knowing she had achieved her purpose. She knew how beautiful she was and
her looks had opened up doors when there weren’t any.
Bellena Agwadike was the owner of “Mildred” one of the most popular
fashion houses in Nigeria and she had come to pay an old friend a visit.
Bellena was a tall woman, she was slightly taller than Dean. Born to a
German mother and a Nigerian father, which made her biracial and her
physical features non comparable.
Her skin was very light and flawless with freckles at some spots, like
her neck. Bellena had long black hair which she tied into a bun; her
eyelashes were long and thick, almost covering the better part of her
eyes. She had a straight nose and adorable pink lips which she adorned
with red.
She was shapely, she had a large pair of boobs which shot out in the
tight tank top that she wore; she had strong and firm hips which were
very sexy to look out; her legs were full and fleshy. She was the true
definition of beauty.
Toke could not’t deny this woman was far more prettier than she was, she
suddenly felt insecure, what if Emma had been right? What if Dean was
only using her for the good of his company?
‘You must be Toke Melaye, I enjoyed listening to your proposal.’ Bellena rose to her feet, offering Toke a handshake.
‘Good morning…’ Toke’s eyes widened in surprise, how had this lady known about the proposal?
‘We watched it.’ Dean pointed at the huge Plasma Television that hung on his wall.
‘Oh, I understand…’ Toke felt happy as she realized he’d been watching her the whole time.
‘So, I want you to meet BellenaAgwadike, daughter of Chief Agwadike and
the owner of “Mildred” fashion house, Nigeria.’ Dean stepped in to make
the introductions.
‘She is my childhood friend.’ He added.
That did it, her heart beat dropped; her feelings flew from jealousy to
despair once Dean was done with his introduction. Bellena unlike her,
was a highborn and this would make Dean’s interest in her justified.
EPISODE 6
Nice to meet you Madam.’ Toke pushed a smile that really hurt her features.
‘Call me Bellena please.’ Bellena received her hand.
‘I must take my leave now sir, I have other things to attend to.’ Toke drew her hands swiftly away from Bellena’s strong grip.
‘You really made me proud today Ms. Melaye, you are a deep thinker.’ Dean showered her with praise.
‘Thank you sir.’Toke nodded.
‘It was nice to meet you.’ She turned to Bellena before walking out of the office.
Dean’s eyes were on her back all the way till she walked past the door.
He loved her dressing, she was perfect and classy and that was enough
for him. He loved the swing of her neat little a-s, her slender legs and
her lovely eyes.
He was still hurt by the way she had run out on him; he wouldn’t give up
on her, even if she felt nothing for him. He cared for her deeply and
that was all that mattered.
‘You’re sleeping with her.’ Bellena stated flatly.
Dean’s eyes darkened as he stared at his childhood friend whom he’d feelings for in the past.
He had wanted to deny having feelings for Toke, but he thought the act stupid and cowardly, ‘I do love her.’
‘I am not surprised, you have good eyes.’ Bellena winked at him.
‘Grandmother May does not feel the same about her.’ Dean sighed and slacked against his swivel chair.
Bellena’s soft and plump lips parted and gave her way as she burst into laughter.
‘I can’t wait to meet her, after such a long time.’ Bellena said.
‘She has not changed one bit, she does not approve of Toke. What do you
think about her?’ Dean sat up, he had a serious look splattered all over
his face.
The laughter in her eyes died immediately as she stared at him. Dean was
so handsome, his beauty seemed to grow as the days passed. The last she
had seen him was three years back at conference in Beijing.
He still looked the same, his eyes were dark as coal and they blazed
when he was passionate about something. His hair was black and woolly;
he had the whitest set of teeth; a body every man could kill for. His
chin SAS covered with neatly trimmed facial hair, and she had a thing
for bearded men.
She was in love with Dean Legacy and she hated herself for turning him
down many years back when he had approached her. She had turned him down
for a man who had only camouflaged his way to her bed. Now she
regretted it, now she had sought a way out, this was the reason she had
paid Dean a visit after such a long time.
‘Bells? Be honest, I wouldn’t be mad, just tell me what you think about
her.’ Dean waited eagerly for the result of her assessment.
‘She is very beautiful…I think she is okay. Follow what your heart says and not what Grandmother May thinks.’ Bellena replied.
It was too early to play the bad cards, she needed Dean to trust her,
she desired to be in his good books as this was the only way to gain his
trust and attention.
‘Thank you, you speak my mind Bellena’ Dean was grateful for this.
‘You’re welcome, I must leave now.’ She rose to her feet.
‘When do we get to see again, it has really been a long time.’ Dean walked her to the door.
‘Anytime you want, but weekends are good for me. I am mostly free during the weekends.’ She informed him.
‘Nice, we could hang out one of these days, just you and me.’ Dean said.
‘I can hardly wait.’ She grinned.
They hugged and kissed each other, before Bellena walked out of the door.
A smile played on his lips now that he was alone, he was more certain
than ever that Toke was his wife. Bellena had been one of his closest
friends and she always read him like a book.
He loved Bellena’s answer especially, she knew the sort of woman that would suit him.
‘I need to see her..
Back in her office she found it difficult to focus on the numerous files
she had to work on. The advertising arm of the marketing department had
been assigned by the head of the department to come up with a new logo
for the body cream products.
Her mind was not in her work, it was far off, it was elsewhere.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the elegant woman in Dean’s office.
She threw the pen she had been holding across the table as different
kinds of imagination presented themselves to the eyes of her mind.
She cringed in pain and jealousy as she imagined Dean dropping kisses on Bellena’s beautiful lips.
What if his grandmother sanctioned Bellena for him?
She struggled with the tears as she remembered what Emma had said to
her. What if Emma was right? What if Dean was only using her to whirl
away time?
‘No, Emma cannot always be right.’ She thought.
‘I must stop this before I get hurt’ Toke decided in her heart to back out before things got worse.
She had been the one that started their relationship, and she had to end
it now. She could not’t take it anymore, she could not’t live in self
denial.
She loved Dean Legacy for sure, but what if her love was not enough for
him? What if he wanted more than love? What if he needed someone with a
powerful surname just like his’?
‘I must let you go…’ a tear escaped from her eye, trickling down her
cheeks, her door fell wide open shortly after that, Dean stopped at the
entrance as he spotted her crying.
His heart was torn into pieces, ‘My love, why are you crying?’ He shut the door firmly behind him as he rushed toward her side.
At the sound of his voice, all the pain that she felt fled away and she
was left with the seducing darkness of his broody eyes as he cupped her
face in his palms.
‘I…’ words failed to pass through her parted lips.
She had planned to let him go, to end everything but she did not’t have the courage to abandon where her heart truly belonged.
‘I am sorry for the way my grandmother walked in on us last night; I am
sorry for telling you about my feelings that way. I know I shocked you
and made you really nervous. It’s okay if you do not feel the same way
about me, just take all the time that you need.’ Dean was really gentle
with his words.
Pride coursed through her as she stared right back at him, pride that he
confessed his love. Pride, that he was hers for the moment.
She was suddenly filled with so much passion, a trainload of desire for
him. She wanted him to take her right there and then, but first things
first, she needed to confess her feelings.
‘Dean…’ she ran her tongue over her lips.
‘Yes darling’ he replied.
‘I feel the same way about you too, I am in love with you.’
‘I can’t believe this, why did you not tell me?’ Dean’s voice was husky with emotion.
‘I was just scared…I thought you did not feel the same way.’ She answered.
He simply stared at her with wonder, not knowing what else to say in return.
‘Say something, your silence is not welcome.’ Toke shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
His eyes were bound with hers; her lips were meant for his and their souls were made to be one for all eternity.
‘I want to make love to you, I want to spoil you with kisses and love bites.’ Dean released her face.
Her heart jolted, ‘I want to make love to you too…’
So, there was a mutual understanding and agreement between the lovers.
They were hungry for each other; they were passionate and could not wait
to unleash the bind passion.
Dean fell on his knees next to her, his large hands were on her purple skirt.
‘Say it like you mean it.’ His eyes darkened with pent up desire.
‘Please make love to me…’ Toke’s voice was below a whisper, he was tormenting her already with his large hands.
Slowly, he rubbed her slender legs, pulling off one shoe and then the
other; his hands caressed the soft and silky skin of her
legs…slowly…rising till his right hand was underneath her skirt,
brushing past a slender and creamy thigh.
