The Hired Lover

Chapter 5~The Offer

Thursday, December 14th, 2014.
3:15 PM
Anthony was definitely not a dumb man. He knew his uncle was right, He knew he didn't have enough time to find love in Lagos. He thought about Olivia and how she would have been the perfect one. He also thought about what actually caused his break up with Olivia. His thoughts kept drifting but what sickened him the most was the thought of going to meet his uncle's secretary and ask her to accept Twenty million Naira to act as his wife. He was going to tell Emeka what his uncle had told him as soon as he was done with his phone call. Who knew which girl this time he was deceiving over the phone, Anthony once more drifted into thoughts ... He was now thinking of how easy it would've been for Emeka to pick one out of the numerous women in his life to come act of his wife, if Emeka was in his shoes. The thought alone made him laugh because to him none of the women in Emeka's life was smart enough to carry out such a task.

Friday, December 15th, 2014.
8:30 AM
"Good Morning oo... Mr Anthony, the only C.E.O in the house .... Rise and shine ...." Says Emeka delightfully as he opens the curtains to let light into the room Anthony was sleeping. "Today I took it upon myself to wake you up for the day you will finally find a solution to your problem. Oya stand up stand up quick !" "Ah Emeka is it not too early to wake me up ... you want me to dress quickly and go to disturb a lady who doesn't even like me with my problems... Eh .. Emeka" Anthony says while sitting up on the bed. "You see, Anthony I always knew you will make a smart move, how did you even come up with that brilliant idea you told me about last night. I was very impressed, I thought you would keep on looking for love in this Lagos till the 22nd, it would have ended in tears ... because you would regret it at some point because nothing good comes easy." "True , I am a smart man but I wasn't the one who came up with the idea... it was my uncle Baron... But this lady in question how am I going to start the convo?" "Anthony, Stand up and start preparing... No be everything you do formal formal, just be free and talk to her about it." "Okay, Whatever you say ..." Anthony says reluctantly and gets up from his bed to shower. Soon he was done and now it was time to get dressed, He had done a special shopping the previous day after he left his uncle's office, he bought a nice suit and nice pants and a shoe to match them, he was dressed in no time and decided to wear the cologne he also bought specially for the occasion. He looked into the mirror for the last time before leaving the bedroom for the living room where his best friend was sitting watching TV. Emeka's reaction when he saw his friend dressed to kill was not as expected, He didn't become noisy and over excited, rather he placed his palms on Anthony's shoulders and said "It takes a courageous man to take the step you are about to take now, so go and come back with good news now" "Thanks a lot my friend you have always been there for me to advice and encourage me ....... But let this be the last time you make me feel like my friend has become responsible." Anthony says and they both burst into laughter while leaving the house for the garage. Soon Anthony is driving to his Uncle's restaurant. He gets there in no time. Anthony was very aware he was going to see the chosen one (his Uncle's secretary) before he would see his uncle, so he tried to be well composed. In no time he was in the building and then the secretary's office. He didn't see anyone, so he went in to see his uncle and there she was, Julia, sitting pretty in a chair chatting with her boss, Uncle Baron. "Good morning, Uncle." Anthony greeted. "Good morning, my handsome nephew." Uncle Baron greeted back. They all exchanged greetings and Anthony sat down feeling so uncomfortable because he didn't even know how to start, nonetheless he was grateful to his uncle for being thoughtful enough to bring Julia into his office, that was a huge moral support on his side. "Julia my diligent secretary, I called you into my office for other reasons of which you may be wondering." He looked at her very closely. Now the room was silent and all of a sudden "Anto, Please tell her what you're here to say." Anthony was now looking at the scenario that had troubled him all through the night, dead in the eyes. "Uhh... Yeah... Julia, I just need you to listen to me and understand what I'm about to say ." "I'm all ears..." Julia replies him "Okay, I'm not the type to be so lowly..." "I know that you don't need to remind me" Julia says as she scoffs. "Good... Errrr.. I'm not saying this to make you feel good ... but to me you are the kind of woman I'd love to take home to see my mama." Anthony says as Julia bursts out into laughter. "Is this some kind of prank??" She says after having a good laugh. " Look, Julia, all he is trying to say is that he wants you to accompany him to a family function, he just wants to know if you are willing to go with him." Uncle Baron adds. "With all due respect sir , I respect you a lot, also, for your nephew to ask me this, in front of you, it would be rude for me to say no, sadly I am going to say no because, I must say I don't like your nephew enough to go out with him." "Look who is talking, I never said I wanted to go out with you, look I'm going to pay you a lot of cash to act as my wife at a family function... are you interested or not?!" "Do you think I want your money, I don't want your money, I don't want to go out with you either ... I'm just saying the honest truth." "Just leave here!" Anthony snaps at her. "Anto??!!" Uncle baron tries to scold him. "I said leave!!!" Anthony continues getting up from his seat with so much rage in his eyes that Julia fled leaving Anthony alone with his uncle. Uncle Baron who was now standing and looking in disappointment at Anthony who was sitting down trying to control himself said "Come on Anthony, you can do better !!!" Uncle Baron says as he seats slowly.