Nonso told Afoma he would be coming to the office today for the signing of the contract. Since she headed the contract, Afoma was supposed to be present in the signing. Since the signing of the contract will be happening by 11 am, she was ashamed to admit she was a bit restless, and keep on checking the time continuously. Apparently, time is shy when you are looking at her because she does not want to move faster so that this can be over. Thankfully, Afoma ends up being buried in another project, and she grins at just how much money the company will get if we get this project. Sure, it is not as big as Nonso's own, but it is far from a small company. She scribbles some ideas and plans to sway the people on their side because the meeting will be happening next week on Monday.
She becomes so engrossed in work until her personal assistant informs her that Nonso and his team are here for the signing. Thanking her for the heads up, Afoma heads to the meeting room. She sees Evans first, and he says, "Afoma, it is nice to see you again."
She gives him a polite smile, and says, "I know, I should also lie and say same, but..."
He grins, "I understand. Forgive us, but we did get feedback from people who had worked under Trace firms, and it was nothing but good news. I know you think Nonso picked your firm because-"
She raises an eyebrow, and says, "Evans, we are both lawyers. Don't patronize me. We both know the main reason he picked this firm."
He laughs, and says, "You are right." she goes to greet the rest of the people, and even survives shaking Nonso's hand, although it seemed like he did not want to let go. He says, "Hey Afoma." She greets him back, and they all take their seats, finalize what will be done, and it is confirmed, Nonso picked the firm. Her bosses' faces are filled with broad smiles, and it takes everything in her not to scream. They all shake hands one more time until Nonso decides to talk to her again. She wonders why he must do this. Once they are in her office, he turns to her, and says, "How are you?"
She folds her arms, tilts her head, and says, "Was the book bouquet really needed?"
He grins, and replies, "Yup. Knowing you, I would have been insulted for getting you a money bouquet. I'm sure you would have said, 'I am not poor. I work, and I'm very comfortable.' I had to pick the one bouquet that would have been hard for you to give out."
She feels a smile creeping in, and tries to conceal it, but she notices the victorious look on his face when he notices it. She sits down, and he does the same, and she says, "Thank you though. How did you know the exact books that I don't have in my library?"
"Well, I remember how you subscribed to your favorite authors, and I know you usually get alerted when the book is coming. While we were together, I subscribed to nothing less than thirty authors. So, I got their newsletters, and knew when they would be sold, and I bought them."
She melts inwardly. That is literally sweet, and she forgot he was monitoring the arrival of some books because he usually bought books for her a lot. She also made it a mission to always tell him about her new book. Especially when she had finished it. She clears her throat, and says, "I forgot you were still subscribed to their newsletters."
"I could not unsubscribe. I know it will be hard to forgive me, but I am willing to try. You are worth it, and more. I know I have a lot of making up to do so, I am working on it."
She sighs and asks, "So, what did you want to tell me?"
"That you look beautiful."
She leans back on her chair, face-palms herself, and says, "You mean to tell me that you wanted to speak to me to tell me I look beautiful?"
He nods. She rolls her eyes, and says, "Be for real."
He says, "I did not tell you that you look beautiful for three years. I have some making to do babe."
Her heart beats when he calls her babe, and she has to remind herself of just how they broke up. When he notices that she is glaring at him, he adds "I also wanted to be sure you had not gotten cold feet about the date."
"I definitely have thought about bailing, but we got the contract so,I will see to it that my end of the bargain is met.I do feel like ten dates are much. Why not two?"
He replies, "I have some groveling to do, and two will definitely not be enough."
She raises her eyebrows, and asks, "And the groveling will be enough in ten dates?"
He replies, "Nah." "I know that after two dates, you will want us to go our separate ways, and honestly I am not sure if I can. I asked for ten dates because it was on the tenth day that I realized I was in love with you. I am hoping..."
She whispers, "That I will remember how that feels." She pauses, and her heart beats faster. They do not say anything for a while, looking at each other. He breaks the silence, and asks, "Did you like the other gifts though?"
"If I didn't ?"
"I will return it, and get another one." When she notices he is dead serious, she laughs a little, and says, "They were beautiful, but please reduce the buying of expensive things."
He smiles, and says, "I have not even started. You have to get used to it love. I did not give you gifts for three years so, I am trying to cover up for that." She rolls her eyes knowing that he is very serious, and he will never stop with the gifts. If anything, he will give her more gifts. He was always like that. It was the one love language he loved. Funny how he did not like her getting gifts for him. It was usually hard because what do you give a billionaire's son who was on his way to becoming a billionaire? Nonso used to tell her he needed nothing from her aside from her time. He always loved quality time, and physical touch, but he tried to reject her gifts, and he spoilt me so, I tried my best even though I cringed, knowing just how rich he was, and still is.
She folds her arms, stares at him, and says,"But it does not make sense getting me that many gifts. I am not your girlfriend. It is making me feel indebted to you."
He rolls his eyes, and replies, "Even when you were my girlfriend, you still felt indebted to me. Just relax. We both know I will not stop gifting."
He smiles while noticing how she was looking at him, and as if he can hear my thoughts, he just keeps on looking at me. "I have something to say though."
She asks, "What?"
"Well, since you will be going out with me for ten dates, we will not be dating anyone until the ten dates are over."
She stands, glaring daggers at him, and says, "No."
He looks ticked, and asks, "Did you really think we will be going out on ten dates, and you will be dating people who are not me, while going out with me?"
"Well, we are not exclusive, so I was not, and will not tie myself down to a guy who could not fight for me when we were together. A guy who could not trust me, when I was embarrassed, and called a cheat. A guy who believed the evidence shown instead of believing his own girlfriend. So, if you really think I am going to be dating you exclusively until this is over, you are joking."
He immediately comes to stand in front of her, and she has to look up to look him in the eye, but it does not deter her. Instead, it makes her hold eye contact. He looks at her, and many emotions flood his eyes, and he says, "If I have to crawl to apologize to you, I will. I was dumb, but the evidence shown against you was just too much so, I found it hard to believe you even though I had my doubts. I regret it every single day of my life. I will always apologize for my stupidity because I was so blinded by the betrayal, that I forgot just who was framed. I will kneel, and beg in front of you now if you will forgive me, but I know it will only make matters worse." They both look at each other while she has to steel herself so she will not tear up. "I regret that day every single day of my life Afoma. I am sorry, but I will not let you date anyone while you will be dating me."
She smiles sadistically, and asks, "What will you do?"
He smirks, and says, "You forget that my father is a governor love."
They are standing too close to each other, and she licks her lips, and says, "Well, I will not be exclusive, and there is nothing, I repeat nothing you can do about it. You are the one who ended things, and you will not tell me how things will be. I am a single woman so if you think I will be exclusive for you, then you do not know who I am. If you really think I will be exclusive to you, then you are mistaken. I am not twenty-one year old again, I am twenty six. My frontal lobe is well developed so, there is nothing you can do. I will be dating other people while dating you so that, I can know who I want to be my boyfriend. It is about time I get another."
His eye twitches, and he backs her up on the wall, pushes his face close to hers to the extent that she could feel his breath on her face. "Do not try me Afoma. You are mine."
Immediately, she replies, "God forbid."
He struggles to control himself, and he moves closer to her, feels him on her, and she realizes that Nonso is demented because how can he be angry at what she is saying, and also turned on?She guesses there is a thin line between lust and anger.
Feeling even more ballsy than when she was younger, she says, "I am not yours, and I will not be again. I know you assume you are the main male character in my story, but you are the trash I will be taking out before I even think about being yours. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some work to do, and you have to get out."
She leaves his arms while trying to steady herself, and almost immediately, he drags her back, and brushes his lips against hers which causes her to take a sharp intake of breath. He then says, "Deny it all you want love, but you are mine. Just date me exclusively without any other person in the picture, and if you decide you do not want to be with me, I will let you go."
She looks at him, and says, "You are lying. You will still continue fighting to see if I will ever let it go, so you will not let me go so, I might as well date other people so that I can have a boyfriend, and reject you which will cause you to leave me alone."
His hold her tightens, and immediately he crushes his lips on hers. She forgets where they are, and how much she hates him. She kisses him back fervently. He grabs her back, and she moans in his mouth, and they don't break the kiss. They continue kissing, and her brain goes blank. Why did she hate him? What were they? He presses her lightly, and she see stars. They continue kissing and break it only to take a breath, and she swears under her breath.
She moves away from him, and he lets her, and she says, "That was a mistake."
He looks at her intently, and says, "No, it wasn't. You are mine. This only proves it."
"Get out of my office."
He goes but pauses, comes back to her table, and drops a box, and he says, "I will be in touch about the date."
She sees yet another gift, and says, "I don't want it."
His hands in his pockets, he shrugs, and says, "Throw it away if you want, but it is yours." He leaves the office, and she flops on her chair, and puts her hands on her face.
She looks at the gift on her table, opens it, and sees the most beautiful bracelet she has ever seen. She notices the charms on it. She sighs, knowing there is no way she will be throwing this away.
She was supposed to be over him, not kissing him like she has no ounce of self-control.
Oh God.