Chapter 1: One
For people who do not understand pidgin English, the translation will be bracketed after the statement.
Enjoy!
††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
Simi's POV
"Why would mummy suddenly call me when she knows how busy I am." I asked myself as I drove to my parents' mansion.
I drove my car through the gates and parked right in front of the front door. I got out of my car and straightened my red blazer that I wore on top my tight black dress that hugged my curves perfectly.
As a Nigerian girl i was blessed with hips too wide for my young age,a very slim waist and a moderate round butt. My boobs weren't small or big they were okay and fit my body perfectly. People still stare in awe at my gifted body. My parents' compound was really big and so was the house. I looked around at the different cars parked around and shook my head as I walked through the door.
"Good morning mummy." I greeted her as I sat on the sofa across her. Mrs Kikiope Afolabi was a classy and beautiful Nigerian woman.
"Good morning to you too." She answered with a wide smile across her face.
My mother was a very beautiful woman with brown skin that glowed.
"I am surprised that you no longer greet me in yoruba." She said jokingly and I shrugged. I looked around and didn't see any of my siblings.
"Where are Tunde and Tishe?" I asked my mom about the twins. I had four siblings. Tunji who was the oldest and still single, Tolu who was married to a Nigerian man and then the twins.
"Tolu took them out." She replied and I nodded.
"What of daddy?"
"He went out with someone." She started."How was work?" She asked smiling.
"The day neva reach any where. Na there I dey when u call me."(The day has not gone far. That was where I was when you called me). I replied her in pigin.
"I called you to tell you that your father and I have been asked unnecessary and unnerving questions about your marriage to Jack." She said.
"I am very sure they have been asking you too."
"Yes I have been asked questions but which questions exactly?" I asked.
"Your marriage." She said and I rolled my eyes. "They ask why you don't attend red carpet and award shows together, and why you don't stay close to each other and hardly talked to or about each other." She finished.
"Why would they be worried about that I don't think it concerns them."
"I don't know but all I am trying to say is that you and Jack behave a little more real. Even if you have to pretend then please do even if it is only on screen or in public. We can not let them start getting any ideas or even worse find out the basis of your marriage. It could ruin everything both our families have ever worked for especially you and Jack's reputation."
I closed my eyes as I felt bile rise in my throat. I was extremely angry at my mom. But I could not blame her I know it is not her fault and she is only trying to help me but I really can't help it. I opened my eyes and glared at her
"What do you really mean by I should pretend to be happy with Jack I clearly am not." I said through gritted teeth.
"I do not love Jack. I only ever loved one person. I can't believe that you're saying this. I always knew that you had so much hatred for me and now you just proved it."
"No, I do not hate you. Your dad and I only did this to fulfill a promise that we made." She said.
They told me that I was promised to Jack before i was even born on the request of his parents. They said they did it because when they first arrived in America, they had no money and that Jack's parents helped them and raised them to the level they are currently. I was married before I was even born.
When they told me about their promise,I was devastated because I had to leave my first love and highschool sweetheart Michael Dewale for a guy I knew nothing about. The day I got married was the worst day of my life. Looking back now i feel so broken and useless and my mom's silence wasn't helping either. It only fueled my anger.
"A stupid promise was all you exchanged my life for. Did you ever think of how I would feel about it?" I croaked.
"And you call me your daughter. " I quickly picked my bag and started walking away.
"I'm really sorry." I heard her say before I slammed the door shut. I don't usually talk to my mum like that because where I come from respect is placed high but I was really angry and she knew she was wrong that is why she didn't say anything.
I entered into my car and closed the door I rested my head on the steering wheel and calmed my breathing. I had really bad anger issues which I inherited from my grandfather.
I drove home and didn't bother to go back to work. I pressed down on the gas's pedal and drove home at high speed. I got home in less than an hour for a journey that took nearly two hours. They live on the country side where there are a few people. I also lived in a deserted area with a view of the sea.
I drove and parked in the middle of the compound. I opened the door and staggered out. I looked around and the maids were already leaving. I removed my shoes and dropped my bag and left them by the door.
I looked around the house before staggering on. I stopped at a photo of Jack and I on our wedding. I moved closer to it and took it down from where it was hung. Neither of us were smiling. I was looking away while Jack was staring blankly at the camera. I let out a bitter laughter.
"I hate you." I said looking directly at Jack in the picture.
"I hate you." I repeated.
"I hate you so much." I screamed and slammed the picture on the ground with so much force that it broke into a million pieces.
Some pieces of the glass flew to my face and my arms and gave me so many tiny cuts but I didn't care. I just crawled behind a sofa, curled myself into a ball and stayed there until I fell into thick darkness.
********************************
I opened my eyes and instantly closed them back because I was facing the only source of light in the room which was a bedside lamp. I turned to the other side and opened my eyes. I looked around the room and it did not look familiar.
It was then I realised that I was on a bed. The sheets were a different color from mine and my walls were painted white not grey. I was really confused.
"You're finally awake." A voice I hardly recognized said from a dark corner in the room. The person that owned the voice was leaning in the wall and drinking something from a cup. The person stood up straight and walked into the dim light. Then I saw the cause of my nightmare called a life.
He stood with his tall figure hovering over me on the bed. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that exposed his muscles and abs. I knew that Jack was a very gorgeous man but I would only admit that on the day of my death.
I quickly looked away before he caught me staring. I sat up from the bed and my head spun.
"How did I get here?" I asked with my eyes closed.
"I did." He said and I tried to stand up from the bed buy my head spun and I staggered. He made a move to help me but stopped.
He didn't even ask what happened to me. Ode Oshi. (stupid fool).
"What time is it?" I asked him.
"It's 3:15. You've been sleeping since 12 o clock when I came back. I didn't see the keys to your room so I brought you to mine." He said folding his arms.
"Didn't have to do that." I said and started my walk across the large room to the door. I staggered a lot as I walked.
"Do you need help?" Jack asked with the poker face he always kept when he was around me as I bent down to pick my bag and my shoes.
"No." I said and I walked out and closed the door behind me.
I let out a heavy sigh and decided to rest a little before I took the long walk to my room. It took me more than ten minutes to get there. My room was at the other end of the long hallway.
I entered my room and I felt relieved. I loved the peace I felt within the four wall of my room. I switched on the lights and they shone brightly into every corner of the room. I looked around my room and compared it to Jack's which I was seeing for the first time.
Almost everything in my room was colored white while in Jack's was either black or grey. I dropped my shoes on the floor and my bag on the king sized bed. I walked over to the ceiling to floor mirrors and looked at myself. I looked a mess.
My hair was scattered, my eyes were swollen a bit,I had cuts on my face,and my clothes were stained. I just shook my head and let out a small laugh.
I went into my walk in closet and went to the place where I kept the clothes that I wore at home. I had enough clothes to fill a boutique. I picked out a white tipped denim,a black crop top and a patterned long sleeved shirt.
I went over to my dressing mirror, cleaned my old make up,removed my work clothes,put them in my laundry basket. I put my clothes on and didn't really bother about the cuts because they didn't mean anything to me. I put away my bag and shoes, picked up my phone and went into my studio.
I opened the door if my studio and stepped inside. I looked around at all the clothes hug on hangers and mannequins and all my tools and materials and sewing machines. I then walked up to my work table and picked up my first and oldest design book. I opened it and the first design in it brought back a lot of memories.
There were two sketches on the page. One was a lot better than the other. The first was an eye sore that was meant to be a sketch of an a line dress. The other was also a sketch of the same dress. This one looker way better and beautiful.
It reminded me of the day before my graduation from junior secondary school when I was back in Nigeria. I was sitting alone in front of the school building. We had just had a talk on different career prospectives and I was confused and didn't know what to pick. I was thinking and Michael walked up to me. He asked me what the problem was and I told him. He brought out a book from his bag and a pencil and tried to sketch a dress. That didn't go well at all.
Then he gave me the book and pencil and told me to draw and I did which brought about the better looking one. He explained to me that I didn't need to go to school to become a successful person.
In Nigeria, people don't see fashion as a profession and often take it for granted. He encouraged me to follow my dreams and not listen to anyone's opinion. I grew to like Michael from that day.
Our relationship grew stronger by each passing day. After our senior secondary school, he followed me to America saying that he didn't want to be separated from me. I thought we were going to get married. I had already planned our wedding in my head before my life was ruined.
After I was told about me being promised to Jack and the upcoming wedding I was furious. I was so angry that my parents wanted to give me away and also at the very young age of nineteen. I ran away to Michael and stayed at his house for a few weeks. Michael consoled me and told me that we could still be together. He told we that we could still continue seeing each other after my marriage and that after the two industries have been successfully joined, I could file for a divorce. I was happy with that and I went home and agreed to get married.
I only met with Jack once before our marriage. I didn't know shit about him and he seemed fine with it so I just went with it. After the wedding I moved into Jack's house. I was scared at first because he could have been a racist for all I knew.
Days passed and turned into weeks and weeks into years and Jack didn't say shit to me. He never spoke directly to me and he was never home mostly out of the country for some business that had to do with the industry. I was the one that always handled things with our industries in the country. After all this I knew that he wasn't harmless so I was no longer afraid of him.
As for the plan with Michael, it didn't work. I am a christian and it is against my religion to commit adultery so I called him and told him that I couldn't do it. I still loved him but I couldn't go against my religion. He thought that I was joking and told me that my husband was also committing adultery but I really was serious and didn't care.
After weeks of avoiding him and making it clear that we couldn't be together, he disappeared totally. Nobody knew where he was not even his friends. I contacted his family in Nigeria but they also had no idea where he was. The police tried looking for him but all to no avail. Until one of his friends received a call from him. He said he wasn't missing that he left on his own. I was relieved that he was okay but also sad that I was the cause of him going away.
I closed my eyes to clear out every thought of Michael and walked to the window. I opened it and the cool sea breeze rushed in. The view from my my studio was amazing. I breathed in the scent of the sea and stayed there for a while before closing the door and heading out of my studio.
I walked around the house while I chatted with some of my friends on my phone. I went back to my room and fell on my bed. I really was exhausted after all that thinking. I dropped my phone on my bed and closed my eyes and I was pulled into darkness.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone