'It takes grace to remain kind in a tough situation.'
As I stare myself in the mirror for the hundredth time, I still don't believe this is me now.
This is me that is going to be dressed by big names every time am going to be attending a big event like I am attending tonight.
This is my new life, an extraordinary new life. Where am cut out by my family. Which by the way doesn't keep me from feeling bitter every time I come around to it.
"You look gorgeous darling." I turn to smile at my man.
Kai is standing there in the door frame looking ironically handsome like he always looks. He is like a true Royal in a tux except this Royal has something different about others. Which is his unique radiating beauty.
"You look incredibly hot Kai." He smiles before he walks to me.
He kisses me on the cheek then the other too. He pulls back then sneaks his palm to hold on my cheek.
"Am going to leave." He says and I nod.
"I will follow you shortly." We are not going together because we don't want to create attention for me. The last thing I want is my family catching up on my life so as much as I want to be there on the arm of my man and cheer on him the whole world would know he only has eyes for me and only me.
I guess am going to have to do that in a distance but it's better than sitting here all alone with Theodore and not knowing how it's going down there.
"Remember to tell men to back off because first you are taken and second you are mine and only mine darling." He is looking into my eyes as he says that and I nod seriously but I realize as he has those worries they are there for me too.
"I want the same rules to apply to you too. Baby, I won't hold back to tear some bitches away from you if I have to?" He chuckles before he leans in to kiss me on the forehead.
"Please don't hold back." He says once he pulls away.
"Oh, am not kidding Kai."
"I know you are not."
"Great." I nod my head and he smiles.
"You are cute. Just don't be late and don't depart with Theodore." I nod and he kisses me one last time before he retreats and leaves the house.
It's Friday night, the night Kai is going to be announced as the inheritor of Dan's empire.
Am nervous as hell alternatively I also have a déjà vu feeling from the time when we were in Rwanda for the first time and we were going to my father's welcoming ceremony. Except things are different and so are reasons, places, people…. Everything it's just different but I can not help but feel like it's not different at the same time.
I also make my way from my room and head downstairs to the living room.
"Are you ready Samantha?" I turn to look at Theodore and I shake my head.
"Yes but didn't Kai just leave? Let's wait for like thirty minutes for us to leave too." He nods his head.
"Whatever you want." I nod my head. "Theodore," I call when he tries to walk past me.
"Can we be chatting if it's not a problem with you?" I realize this is the time I have to get to know the man we live together.
He comes and sits in front of me. He rests his arms on his lap. "Well, shoot whatever you want to know Sam."
I smile before I walk to sit opposite him.
"Okay, for starters. How long do you know of Kai, how did you meet? Why does he trust you so much? You know? everything." He smiles and I just stare at him. "I get it."
Theodore is a handsome man, he looks to be in his early forties but I think it's just his intimidating looks that make him much older than how he does. You would pen him as the man in his fifties.
He's got deep alluring grey eyes with short but not short hair like Kai's blonde hair. He has pepper brown hair but above all, he seems to be in great shape for his age.
I have noticed him and Kai talk secretly every once and a while. So it had raised a question in my head of how close they really are.
"Say less Sam, Kai is like a son to me but that's after my three real daughters that I was blessed with my beautiful wife. They live in London," I nod my head.
"Am long-term friend with Felix, if you know Kia's father."
"I know him." He nods with a comforting smile on his face.
"We have been ride-along friends for a long time but when he divorced his wife and it so happened for Kai to choose his mother, I was asked to come with Kai. The boy went through a lot in his young years but the whole time I was there with him so you could say that it's where our bond and trust was invented." I nod my head but before I interrupt he continues again.
"But if you don't mind me saying this, every other thing about the story. I feel like it's Kai's story to share. Let him be the one to say it to you."
Am nodding my head when my phone rings on my lap. I look at Theodore.
"I get it Theodore and thank you really for chatting with me about it." He nods. "Anytime." I nod before I slide an answer to Leila's call.
"Sammy." She calls making me which makes me roll my eyes.
"Hello Rwanda?" I say back and she snorts.
"Are you acting all mighty now Sam, that you are no longer here and living Hollywood life in Los Angeles?" I smile.
"What can I say? You figured it all out before I even said anything."
"Samantha?" She calls and I laugh. "What?"
"Is that Samantha? Let me talk to her too."
"Go away Lucas, don't you have her number? Call her yourself." I hear the siblings bickering in the back and it brings a bittersweet smile on my face thinking about mine too.
I wonder what Savannah would have said of my outfit tonight how Yarrow would have mocked my outfit or what kind of animal would he have named me after seeing my outfit.
"Listen, Samantha, I miss you." I feel like crying when I hear that because I miss Leila too.
"Leila, please don't make me cry."
"What? Cry because I am crying too. I miss having you at the embassy, I have no partner to race with in F1 cars anymore. Tony and Kabul they misses you so much."
"Please stop." I gulp down my pain.
"Are you not coming back anymore?" I shake my head but I know she can not see me.
I look up to at the ceiling to try and push back the tears that are threatening to fall from my eyes.
I did not want to mess up my makeup even Kai himself was timid about not messing with it while kissing me.
"I do not know Leila, but for what it's worth I also miss you so much, I miss having you whenever I would want to, I miss doing all the things we did."
"Yeah, it's very worth to know it's not one-sided." I chuckle and she laughs with me.
"Listen talk to this boy for a second. He can't let me talk to you freely so am lending my phone for a millisecond."
"Samantha."
"Lucas."
"How would you leave like you did without even saying bye?" I smile sadly remembering not being able to face them.
On the day of leaving, I only sent them a message letting them know that meant my family had a fallout and that I was moving with Kai to Los Angeles.
So I gave them my new number that day.
"How are you, Lucas?"
"What do you think?" He shoots back.
"Guys, am taking the phone if you don't have something serious to talk about like I do."
"Samantha, are you ready to leave?" I turn to look at Theodore and nod my head at him.
"Let's go then." I stand up with my phone still on the call.
"Lucas, am going."
"What? We haven't even talked much yet." I laugh at how sweet he is being. I do not remember this guy being this sweet but regardless of how he was I still loved him and I still cherish the time we spent together.
"Listen I will talk to you later, can you get me Leila again?" I walk out of the house and get into the back seat of the Bentley we are going in.
"What?"
"Leila, am going but I will call you later," I say to her.
"And you only wanted to say that?" I shrug my shoulders because I know what I asked her for but I don't thing I am brave enough to say it with my own lips.
"Listen, your dad is doing just fine but they moved into the embassy here because your mother is about to have an early labor but your sister and brother still live at your house."
"Is mom okay?" I whisper the question, I don't know if am hiding from Theodore or myself yet but I feel like I don't want people or myself to know I check on my family. I want to act like I don't care like they don't.
"Yes, she is fine. I met her today walking around looking good."
I sigh in relief. "Thank you, Leila."
"Don't thank me, girl, am here for you always."
After everything, Leila is the only one I opened up about what my family did to me, and even though she argued that I gave them time before I went back to apologize to them because they are my family and I could not just cut them off like that. I didn't.
It's not because I do not want to make things up with them but again if they are capable of believing the first bad thing being said to me just like that, then I believe they have not known me all of the time we lived together.
I didn't do my family injustice instead they did it to me.
So am just waiting for the time to come for them to realize what they did to me. Not the other way around.
"Leila listen I will talk to you later, because now I have some big issues to focus on but again, thank you for being there for me?"
"Big issues uh? Oh, so the night is tonight. What are wearing?"
"A red dress."
"I can imagine your fantastic well built body in a red dress baby." I smile but I can't help it from blushing.
Jesus, Rwema's kids are something that I will never get used to my whole life.
"Shut up Leila."
"I bet you are blushing."
"Leila shut up, am hanging up for real," I say and she laughs at me which makes me laugh too.
"Girl bye," I say and hang the phone up before I stare outside at the view and streets of Los Angeles.
I feel so good after my talk with Leila, it's like it just reminded me exactly who I am.
I look ahead at Theodore as he drives.
"Theo, will there be so many people?" He looks at me in the rearview mirror. "You don't mind me calling you like that, right?"
"It's alright Samantha." He smiles.
"And yes it's an exclusive party you know, only those that work in the Dan's empire but only those with big names in the company. Family and friends. I think it's only those." I nod my head.
"Kai told me to stay close to you." He smiles again.
"Yes, do not worry Samantha. I will be by your side the whole night." I nod again but as I stare outside again I realize that I might be heading into the world I don't know. A foreign territory.
But I have to do this for me, and Kai.
I did once in Rwanda, with a lot of hardships and difficulties than now, I don't doubt this, Los Angeles, Dan's empire, the new me and everything here will fail me at all.
I sit right back with a million thoughts roaming in my head but they stop once the car stops and Theodore walks around to open the door for me.
He gives me his hand for me to take to get out of the car which I take.
I get out and look at him as he smiles at me.
"Are you ready?" I nod my head.
"Yes I am," I say to him and he smiles once more. I did not feel ready but if he was going to wait for me till I felt ready that might take a lot of time.
Theodore is a good man who makes it easier for people to be in his presence, he always makes sure that everyone being in his presence gets the feeling of comfort and safety radiating from him.
And as I walk with my arm tugged in his, I feel the nervous feeling slowly leaving my body.
We walk into a big mansion that has beautiful classic music playing in the background.
The party was hosted at the inside and the back of the house which I can praise, it looks as beautiful as the inside.
We reach inside and my eyes meet Theodore's as he smiles at me.
I smile back trying to ease the tension in my body through the smile. I avert my gaze away from him and try to see if they can meet Kai's anywhere in the room but I don't see him anywhere.
A caterer walks past us but Theodore grabs two glasses for us.
He gives one to me and I pass him a grateful smile. "Thank you."
"Oh, that's the only glass you will be drinking for the whole night, Samantha. Better hold on to it wisely." He says to me with the same cheerful smile on his face. I just shake my head because I know exactly who those orders might have come from. But I guess it's progress, the last time I checked I was not even allowed a single glass.
I look at the side to take a sip on my drink but I feel like choking on it when I catch two figures walking our way. One is a man walking over smiling at us and the other is the woman.
I gulp the drink down quickly before I turn to Theodore. "Is that who I think it is?"
"I guess you saw right." I can't believe it.
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