MEMOIRS OF PISCES (Episode 10)

DAREN

Daren got to the office by 10 am all the while regretting his decision of not accepting the official driver his Mom had assigned to him. He had had little sleep at night going through the resumes' and it hadn't been an easy feat because, his body had been weak but his mind kept urging him on. So when he entered the lobby he wasn't really surprised when he saw the applicants already seated in the second conference room with papers in their hands. His secretary saw him and rushed over to get his laptop bag. When he got  to his office he asked her,

"Neka, what's with the papers?" he asked referring to the papers he had seen with the applicants

Neka who's always business like and rarely smiles answered in her usual strict manner, "Sir, that's just a brief personality test Mrs. Danjuma instructed we administer to them"

Daren rolled his eyes before asking, "But I thought this was part of the previous process?"

Neka shifted uncomfortably. She always found herself caught in between this mother and son's decision making process and it wasn't always pleasant. She cleared her throat before responding.

"Well Sir, I had three personality tests before I was employed here. It's just part of the security measures we take here to ensure our staff is sane enough for the job"

Daren accepted that and then instructed her to send in the applicants one after the other for the interview when they were through with the test.

.................................

Daren drilled the applicants with questions. He wanted to ensure that whoever would end up being his personal assistant will not only be loyal to the company but most importantly will become his business confidante. He wanted someone that would answer to him instead of his Mom. He wanted someone that could put in extra hours and wouldn't mind travelling with him whenever he wanted. Preferably, he wanted a male personal assistant. Women were too complicated and emotional and having to deal with their universal drama as well as their hormonal shifts was the last thing on his mind so he found himself hoping he could get a male PA after this whole stress.

..............................

There were fifteen young men and four ladies. Eight of those men were married with kids and over thirty five while the rest were single and in their twenties and thirties. The ladies on the other hand were single. Thus the interview was intense and at some point, he wished that he could employ all of them but he only had to choose one. Then he noticed that one was missing. A female. He picked up her resume and scanned through it again. Then he did something out of the norm; he picked up his phone and dialed the number on the resume. It rang three times before she picked.

"Hello?" Daren said in his most professional voice
"Hello! Hello! Good morning! Please kindly call back. I can't talk right now. I'm on a bike" she was breathless
Daren was taken aback but he went ahead to say, " Well Miss Annie, you need to get here as soon as you can. I won't wait forever to interview you. Where are you at the moment?"
"Jesus! I'm sorry Sir. I had no idea. I'm approaching the Lekki Toll Gate now, I'll be there in 10 minutes. I'm so sorry Sir." she sounded far away
"Ok" Daren said and then hung up.

He was amused and furious at the same time because he couldn't understand why someone who's looking for a job could utterly lack seriousness. Why would she be on a bike by 11 am for an interview that was scheduled for 9 am? Out of curiosity, he picked up her resume again and checked her address to see where she lived. It was pointless because, even if he was able to use Google map to find her address, he had no idea where it was. So he decided to wait. For him, she had failed her own personality test.

.............................

At exactly 12 noon, Neka called Daren to inform him that the last applicant was around. Daren who was deeply engrossed in his work simply grunted. Almost immediately, the door opened and a breathless young woman walked in. Daren without looking up from his laptop signaled her to sit. He could hear her breathing even if she tried controlling it and it sort of distracted him from the figures he was studying. He sighed and paused on his work to attend to the late comer.

He looked up and found her staring at him then she started speaking immediately,

"Good morning Sir. I'm really sorry. I got stuck in traffic and I had to use a bike. I didn't know you were the one calling. I'm so sorry" she said all at once

Daren was studying her. She had on a white long sleeved chiffon shirt, her long black hair was pulled back in a neat pony tail, her face was bare off makeup but she had on a transparent gloss that gave her stressed oval shaped face a little lift. Something about her aura appealed to his senses and he felt his initial irritation at her lateness wear off. She sounded ruffled and unsettled but she looked calm. Then he cleared his throat before speaking.

"Where do you live Annie?"
"On the mainland Sir. Ajegunle precisely" she answered
"How did you get stuck in traffic? I believe that if this interview was important to you, you would have left home earlier"
"I did leave the house early Sir but there was an accident on the third mainland bridge which caused the traffic so I had to take a bike all the way."

Daren frowned at that. He had no idea where the Mainland was. He had never been there. He didn't even know about the third Mainland Bridge. So he shrugged it off and continued his questions.

"How would you cope with the traffic when you get this job?"
"It won't be a problem Sir. I can handle it" she answered now looking nervous

Daren paused. He narrowed his eyes and asked her the ultimate question he had also asked the other applicants.

"I believe you've met my Mom; Mrs. Danjuma. She also runs this company. What would you do if she asked you to keep tabs on me and report to her daily?"

She adjusted herself nervously on her seat before answering "I believe my loyalty is to you just as your loyalty is to her Sir. My JD is centered around confidentiality and I wouldn't compromise on that. Not even for your Mom except you say so Sir. Thus, I wouldn't keep tabs on you if your Mom instructed me to"

Daren was impressed and sort of amused because she had a blank expression on her face as she spoke. Then he asked the final question.

"If I wanted you to travel with me occasionally, unannounced, would you do it even if your spouse disagreed?"

"I'm under no obligation to anyone at the moment Sir. Thus, I'm ready to go wherever my job takes me." she answered and exhaled slowly as if she had been holding her breath all along.

Daren was intrigued. The other applicants had been scared to answer the question about his Mom but this girl had guts and that was exactly what he needed. He looked her over for the last time and then he surprised himself when he said;

"When can you start?"

BURNT (EPISODE 10)

Mila tried getting up from the bed and realized that she was stuck. She tried reaching for her bedside alarm clock but it wasn't there. She tried reaching for her phone as well but it wasn't there. She almost panicked when she felt warm breath on the back of her neck, strong arms and legs wrapped around her and she had to turn around to figure out her environment. She sighed with relief when she saw the familiar handsome face of Tunji sleeping peacefully. Then she recalled the events of the previous night and felt her face go hot. She raised her hand and touched his face, trailing his rich full arched brows to his eyes, his straight nose, and then his peach colored lips. She leaned in, planted a light kiss on his lips and then gently untangled herself from his embrace.

She removed her phone from her hand bag to check the time. It was 7 am. They had slept late cos they couldn't have enough of each other. She smiled at the thought of the things they had done. Tunji had exposed her to some parts of her body she never knew had existing nerves that could be triggered into ecstasy. She saw 10 missed calls from her parents and immediately sent a text saying that she took a night cap at a friend's place then she took Tunji's shirt from the couch where he had dropped it, put it to her nose and inhaled his sent. She felt intoxicated by his scent then she wore it and left the room to tour the house. She moved towards the window which started from the floor and went all the way up, opened the curtains slightly so as not to wake Tunji, then she took in the beautiful view of her environment. Does this place really exist in Nigeria? she asked herself. Where were they? she wondered as she left the room.

She went into the hall way and was struck by the 3D wall designs. They looked like tall trees and when she traced the designs down the stairs, she discovered that it was the concept of a garden except that everything was white. The living room was spacious like a dance studio save for the massive 170 inch flat screen TV that looked like it was built into the wall, a red and white 7 sitter sectional sofa with some comfy foot rests in front of the TV, a glossy gold chandelier hanging high from the ceiling, there were so many other black and golden little ornaments that were placed here and there, giving the room the feel of sophistication.

Mila stared open mouthed. She hadn't noticed all of these the previous night. There were two doors on each side of the room. She opened the first and saw that it led to a pool side. Gosh! the pool was massive with about 4 white curtained tents like those she had seen in one of those Dubai pictures. Then she went back inside to look for the kitchen. She found it and was amazed by the simplicity that defined the richness of it. It was white as well but everything from the the cooker to the cabinets, the huge standing refrigerator and the appliances, were a golden brown. How did he do all these? she wondered aloud. Everything looked so classy and neat.

She left the kitchen and went back to the living room but then, something shiny caught her attention from one of the fancy half wall shelves. She moved towards it and saw that it was a gold plated photo album with Tunji's name inscribed on the cover. She opened it and saw a brief note about the owner written in italics, on the first page. The contents of the note made her smile. It read;

"Although, Tj doesn't like photos, I'm sure that's because he knows that he's a handsome devil" 😉

Mila was about flipping to the next page of the album when she felt Tunji's hands come up to her breasts from behind. She was startled at first but smiled when he kissed one of her ears. 

"Good morning" she said shyly as she put her hands on her neck.

"Good morning my Mila. Did you sleep well?" he asked with his rich baritone voice while nuzzling her neck.

"Yes" she managed a whisper cos his lips on her neck was sending delicious tingles all over her. She threw back her head to rest on his chest so she could feel him more but then, she remembered she still had questions. She just couldn't let him off the hook that easily. So she gently detached herself from him and because she was still standing by the half wall shelf with Tunji really close, there was little room for her to make more space between them so instead, she turned and faced him. He had on just his little boxer with the rest of him bare. She looked away not to be distracted before asking;

"Tunji, I really need to know why you left for that long without contacting me"

Still surprised that she had detached herself from him, he sighed before answering,

"I've called my cook to come over and prepare breakfast. What would you like to drink first?"

Mila was dumbfounded. Did he just openly ignore her question? She tried again,

"Tunji, I asked a question. Please answer me"

Seeing that she wouldn't let it go, he answered "Mila, I'm sorry I left for that long and didn't contact you. I was caught in the middle of a work crisis. I thought I could resolve it in a week but it took that long"

Mila didn't understand how such a crisis could prevent someone from calling. She wasn't satisfied with that and she probed on.

"First of, you told me you were into finance and I discovered that you are the CEO of an oil and gas company with branches in Lagos, Abuja and America. You should have mentioned that Tunji. And second, I don't see how a crisis could have prevented you from calling or texting me for the whole three months and one week"

Tunji looked trapped but he hid it by going on his knees and looking up to her submissively. That weakened Mila's resolve and she felt defeated. She couldn't win this she admitted to herself. Tunji however made another attempt to redeem himself.

"Mila, remember I told you of how guarded I was with people, especially women coming too close to me. I'm a very private person that's why I didn't mention my occupation in details. If we had had several more dates, I would have mentioned it eventually. As for not calling you, I'm sorry. Thoughts of you tormented me but , circumstances wouldn't allow me contact you. I had to come look for you immediately I returned yesterday"

"hmm...I was wondering how you knew where I would be at that time" Mila said already giving in to his plea

"I had gone to your place straight from the airport but your mom told me you hadn't returned from work. I decided to check you at work. I'm so sorry Mila. Please, punish me as you wish for my crime" he pleaded

Mila looked down at his face and smiled. Oh Tunji, what do I do with you now. She tried pulling him up but he got up himself and gave her a look that said that he was awaiting her instructions. That cracked her up and she started laughing. He smiled and said with a mischievous look; 

"I'm waiting Mademoiselle Mila. Anything, just name it" 

Coyly, Mila tiptoed and whispered in his ears

Tunji smiled knowingly and lifted her from the floor. She giggled happily as he carried her up the stairs and into the bedroom. He put her on the couch and winked at her before disappearing into the bathroom. It was a huge bathroom with a large tub. He turned on the heater and the tap, added some drops of Jo Malone Orange Blossom bath oil and one ball of lush sex bomb bath bomb for bubbles and to set the mood. When he saw that all was set, he went back into the room and gently undressed Mila. He led her into the bathroom and into the tub. The aromatic fragrance that had filled the bathroom had a strong effect on her senses and she found herself dizzy with want. Tunji seeing that he had successfully executed her request for a soothing bath, undressed and joined her in the tub for the twist she had requested to go with the bath.

He got in behind her and using circular motions with a foam sponge, he washed her body. Mila had rested her head on his chest with her eyes closed and was enjoying every touch. Then she felt something in between her thighs, something she had come to grow familiar with. She let out a soft cry of pleasure as she felt Tunji's fully hard maleness slip into her slowly. She held on to the sides of the tub for support as she felt a first thrust that shook her entire being. Tunji too, lost in the moment and the wetness of her female, held her close to him and slowly continued his trip to discovering her essence. Together, they found their release but stayed on in the tub, whispering sweet nothings to each other and forgetting about their growling stomachs.

.........................

That weekend was the best weekend in Mila's adult life. They had gone out later for breakfast, movies, shopping, and then the beach. In the evening, they had gone to Radisson Blu hotel to eat at the water side and listen to the live band play. Sunday was better as they had stayed indoors, cooked together with Tunji's chef around, they had done a make shift cinema in the house and then danced to some cool jazz music.

She still left the album open on the shelve in the living room as they had been too occupied with each other for her to remember going back to close it. Thus,  Tunji dropped her off at work on Monday morning. He had bought her work clothes and shoes to change into as he didn't want her to leave that weekend. And so, Mila kept thanking her stars for bringing Tunji back to her.