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.
