*This one is completed guys, so no worries here*

Chapter One

Jeremy Blair sighed deeply as he stared into his reflection in front of his bathroom mirror, his almost white blonde hair was disheveled, bluish gray eyes stared back at him, a straight nose and lips he had always thought couldn't quite come to an agreement because the top lip was thin, and the bottom one much fuller, completed the features on a face he had always thought was average looking, but many a women would disagree with him. He couldn't count how many times he had been told he looked like Chris Hemsworth or Orlando Bloom when he played the elf on Lord of The Rings, only with shorter hair and a more defined jaw- whatever that meant, he snickered to himself.

He groggily brushed pristine white teeth, he wasn't quite ready to leave his bed yet, especially not for what he was leaving it for- the office Christmas party. It was bad enough it was Christmas, but he didn't need someone- no, people throwing a party to rub it all in his face. He had hated the season and the festivities associated with it since his mother died in a car accident seven years ago on Christmas eve..hell, he even hated the fact that it snowed, everything about Christmas sucked, especially that silly mistletoe tradition...whoever came up with that bullshit, must've been some geeky, out-of-luck loser looking to hit it up with a hot girl, what better way than to make it mandatory for people to kiss when they get under a freaking leaf, he thought.

He rolled his eyes as he thought of the tons of women at the office party that would scheme up some really goofy plan on how to get him under that darned thing...one too many times, he had been the scapegoat, and one too many times, he had damned the tradition and walked away without giving said girl so much as a peck, it wasn't like he'd have seven years bad luck if he didn't do it....hell, he didn't even believe that story. He stepped into his shower after making sure the water was as hot as it could get. The sprinkler was a lot higher than the average one to accommodate his 6ft 5" frame, he had made sure of that after he had bumped his head against his shower one too many times.

He stood in the shower, watching steaming hot water flow down his toned body. He hadn't always been this buff, but his mother's death led to a lot of changes in his life. In an attempt to rid himself of the memories, he had begun to spend more time than advised in the gym...it helped him forget even if for a while, but in the process he had built a body that would make David Beckham cringe with jealousy and send Tyson Beckford into retirement, but Jeremy didn't care to notice the difference, his mind was occupied with thoughts he found far more important.

Just as he finished his twenty minutes shower, he heard his phone ringing...he was in no hurry to answer it, only his father would be calling at this time—or Claire, but he wasn't interested in speaking to either of them, he just wanted to fast forward his day. Before he could reach his phone, it went into voicemail, sure enough it was his father's voice that came from the speaker

"Jeremy, it's me, I just called to remind you that the office party's today, and you know how important it is that you make it...and it would be nice if you smiled a little this year, I don't want to have to explain to Susan that you don't have a flu again"

Jeremy gave a lean smile on hearing Susan's name, she was an elderly lady who had been working as his father's secretary since the company had only been a dingy one-room apartment, after his mother, she had to be the only other woman he cherished, and she had actively played the role of mom to him since his mother's death...she could get very worried if she found him ill.

He opened his closet and smiled once his eyes caught the outfit Susan had picked out for him for the party, it was a well-tailored Armani suit and a nice white shirt, she hadn't gotten him a tie because he absolutely hated those, but had tucked in a red, silk handkerchief in the pocket of the suit to add to the mandatory touch of red, his mummy Susan always did have style.

He was ready for the party in ten minutes, staring again at his now put-together reflection from his vanity mirror, he found his reaction to his appearance quite indifferent. Perhaps the ladies would think otherwise when they saw the closest look-alike to Narcissus walking on the planet, but as he got into his 2010 Chevy and drove to the office, he hoped they saw the boring, uninteresting, douche bag he had been trying to sell himself as for the past seven years.

******

Kachi stared at the blood red four-ich stilettos that was to be her footwear for the entire evening and grimaced, oh if she were just five inches taller she'd happily slip on a pair of flat sandals and damn it all, but she wasn't exactly one of the tallest people in the world at 5ft 3", and her petite frame didn't help things much, heels seemed the only way to be noticed anywhere, but they would be off the minute they got too uncomfortable.

She slipped the heels on small feet and stood in them for a few minutes to test how comfortable they were knowing that she would be standing for the most part of the evening. How she hated formal gatherings, but she had to be present for this one, she had only begun working in the construction company a month ago, it was much too early to be making bad impressions by skipping social gatherings, besides, maybe she'd finally be able to find someone she got along with at work. Most times the office felt like some sort of headquarters for air-heads and bimbos, neither of whom made her list for favourite people to hang with.

She took one last look at her reflection and smiled at her blend of the West African green and red printed ankara material and a green chiffon shirt, she lived for those looks of admiration she got every time she wore the colorfully printed material. She particularly loved this skirt because it had been sewn by her aunt in Nigeria as a birthday gift, this would be her first time of wearing it since she got it, she preferred to show off her African style in her daily life, she couldn't stand the pretenses that went on in some of those town meetings where Africans would gather with the best African clothes they could think of, which they would never be caught dead in on a normal day.

As she grabbed her coat from her bed and looked around for any items she might be missing, she heard the sound of a car horning, followed closely by her best friend's deep, masculine voice, "Kachi, have you broken your ankles before you can even rock that shoe?" he asked, his tone one of amusement.

She smiled, Donald knew how much she loathed heels, and how awkward she felt in them and always made it a point of order to make fun of her concerning that. She hurried out of her apartment and locked up her door, "You will not get the pleasure of seeing me with broken ankles tonight" she replied as she made her way down her steps and to his 2007 Mercedes parked a few metres away. Her steps faltered just a little as she reached for the door handle, she righted herself hoping Donald didn't catch that small mistake, but going by the smirk on his face, he had.

"You sure I won't get that pleasure?" he asked as he started up the car

"Shut up and drive" she replied trying to sound angry, but unable to hide the smile that formed on her lips.

As he drove down the road, she summed up her time at the office party, show up at 9:00pm, greet a few people till 9:10, mingle till 9:35, watch others have fun till 9:45, make sure all the execs noted she had showed up, leave the party at 9:55pm with a sated mind, she might not do the whole till midnight thing, but no one would be able to deny she was there.

The party was starting to gain steam thirty minutes into it, the DJ was phenomenal, playing the right songs according to the mood, nothing less would be expected from the team that was put together to achieve this, making the infamous party animal of the office, Luke Herman, head of the planning department was definitely a good decision.

Jeremy took a swig of his rum, he swirled it a little in his mouth and swallowed. He raised his wrist and looked at his watch, he had to be here at least another hour and half, unlike the other employees, he didn't have the pleasure of just leaving whenever he got bored, he had special 'duties' as the vice president that couldn't be overlooked, besides his father would be highly pissed if he pulled the same stunt he did two years ago.

He sighed deeply as he thought of the best way to spend the next hour and half. He had barely picked up his glass to take another drink from it when someone bumped into him so that he almost spilled his drink all over his pants, he was all set to yell at the wasted bum that thought him the most deserving to crash into and probably slip in a threat to relieve him of his job, when he turned and saw Claire, he bit his tongue and held his harsh words, she was apparently far too wasted to even comprehend whatever it is he was going to say.

"What the hell Claire! The party's barely started" he said as he helped her to a seat next to him. He watched the pretty, green-eyed, blonde-haired woman as she stared at him blankly for a few minutes with hooded eyes, she was one more drink away from losing consciousness.

She waved his concern away, "I'm not drunk, I'm just a little unbalanced, must be these heels" she slurred.

"No more alcohol for you, you'll have to remain here for at least ten more minutes"

"Don't be a party pooper Jerry, I've not even had that much to drink" she replied, as she fell back into the chair.

Jeremy scoffed, "Yeah right" he murmured. He stood up and made his way to the temporary bar that was set up across the room to inform the bartender that Claire wouldn't be having any more alcohol, if he failed to do that, Claire would definitely be ordering more.

He got to the bar without having to push away any drunk partier- thankfully. He tapped the counter to get the bartender's attention and shouted over the loud music, "Hey, there's a lady here you shouldn't serve any more alcohol" he said when the bartender turned to him, "She's over there, she's over the limit so she shouldn't have any more drinks, alright?" the bartender nodded, "Thanks"

"So much for being the center of attention" he heard a sweet, velvety voice say as he turned to leave. Normally, he'd ignore such comments, but the voice of the speaker thrilled him in a way he hadn't experienced in years, it was what he had always imagined the voice of a phone intimacy operator would sound like. His curiosity won over after a while of debating whether he should return to his seat or see the speaker.

He turned to the speaker and grayish blue eyes met beautiful, dark brown ones, dang! He should have ignored the comment. He surely wasn't prepared to meet the most gorgeous little goddess he had ever laid eyes on, he gulped audibly at the sight of the little woman sitting next to him, her caramel skin looked almost edible, her head was topped by a mass of thick, dark brown hair which was in nice curls, brown eyes framed by long, full lashes looked like they could read his every thought, he bit his lips and groaned inwardly when his eyes fell on small, full, pink lips he ached to discover the softness of, he couldn't get a full view of her body because she was sitting, but the view of her upper body was good enough to stir his interest, suddenly loins he had previously termed docile came alive.

Jesus Christ! There really was an Adonis! Kachi had to fight to swallow the drink she had in her mouth, she hadn't taken so much as a glance at him when he spoke to the bartender, but as her eyes moved away from the stoned woman, it landed on the man. He was hot personified. Her eyes performed the same survey on him as he did on her, only, from the bottom, she eyed his long legs, encased in a pair of well-tailored pants, she could imagine the toned, muscular calves that lay beneath those pants, she purposely ignored the slight bulge in the crotch area of his pants, letting her eyes move higher to his body, ooh la la, what a bod! Even in the jacket, you could trace the outline of his biceps, and his broad chest and broad shoulders made that suit look like it was straight off the runway, her eyes lingered on lips she wanted worshipping every spot on her skin, and then moved on to soulful eyes and hair so blonde he had to be German, in fact KGB.

She looked away when she realized she was more or less gawking at this Greek god who would never have the time of day for her if he was with the pretty woman; who despite being stoned, still looked worthy of the front cover of Vogue. But when she realized the man hadn't walked off like she thought he would, she did what she always did when she was around a gorgeous man- act goofy.

"You know if you stand close to a bar, there's a 90% chance someone will throw up on you"

He couldn't help the smile that came upon his face, it disappeared when he realized he was smiling, that was odd, he couldn't remember ever smiling at a complete stranger, even less, a comment from one- and a female?, "Is that so?"

She nodded her head as she took a sip of her drink and said, "mhm"

He smiled again, she looked so cute sipping on her drink and nodding, it wasn't one of those cheesy attempts to look sexy like he had gotten used to seeing, or a failed attempt at flirting, she probably didn't even realize how cute she looked, now that was a record in his books, two consecutive smiles?

"Wouldn't want to ruin your nice suit" she added, "Kachi" she said as she extended her hand for a shake.

The gesture looked so much like a 9 year old introducing herself to a new friend, she was too cute for her own good, "Jeremy" he replied as he took her small hand into his large one, he looked down to see the contrast between their hands, his totally enveloped hers, he had definitely never had such a small hand in his, thirteen-year olds had larger hands. He wanted to pull her off the seat and hold her small body in his larger one, and maybe taste those tempting lips , and run his hands over her pert, inviting brea....she was speaking.

"...call you Jerry?" he caught her last words

"What?"

"Jeremy, Jerry, you know"

"I really don't like being called Jerry"

She laughed, "Guessed so, big guy like you shouldn't be bearing the same name as a mouse"

He laughed at her insinuation, he never would admit it, but to an extent the cartoon had influenced his decision concerning the name, he took a free stool next to her, "So, Kachi, catchy name"

She rolled her eyes with a smile, "Was waiting for that" she had gotten used to people over here mispronouncing her name, and then using the word 'catchy' as an added touch.

"Were you?"

"Yes, I was, the name isn't pronounced 'catchy' like you all have changed it to, but there's no point making corrections your accent won't allow...the full name is Karachi, but when I got here some people thought I was Japanese, thinking of going back to my Japanese roots now" she joked

"When you got here...where are you from?"

"Most populous black nation in the world"

It took him a while to process that information and come up with an answer, "You're Nigerian?"

She looked surprised-no, she was surprised that he had gotten it right at his first try, "Congratulations, you're the first American to get that at your first try"

"Do I get a prize?" he asked with a grin, he was already imagining his prize- her pretty little body naked on his bed, he would play that game over and over again just for the prize.

She thought on it for a while, "Order whatever drink you please, bill's on me"

He chuckled, "Sweetheart, it's the office party, you're not paying for drinks"

She hit her hand on the table in mock anger, "Dang it! And I gave the bartender two dollars for this" she indicated the glass of what he guessed was guava juice in her hand

He laughed, "Really? You should get your money back"

She shook her head, "Nah, he earned it" a bit of silence reigned between them for a short while before she spoke up, "So have you heard about the vice president?"

Jeremy's ears perked up at that, "No, what's the news on him?"

"Oh, it's a he...the stories vary, I've been here a month and the stories are everywhere, he's like a ghost"

"Really? So what do you think of him?"

"I don't know, what am I supposed to think? Not everyone wants to be the office celeb, some people like their privacy, he could be one of them...the women here say he's hot though" she said with a twinkle in her pretty eyes, "..even some men"

He smiled, "Do they?"

"Yes, you ask a lot of questions"

"Do I?"

She laughed, "You're still doing it"

He laughed with her realizing she was right, "I am, aren't I?..." they exchanged knowing looks, "...still doing it"

She nodded in the affirmative.

There was another reign of silence between them, and after a while, she broke it again, "So why haven't you run off?"

"What?" he asked, she didn't sound like she was just playing this time, like she really thought he'd up and leave at something she said.

"You know, everyone who hears I'm Nigerian scoots away minutes later" she replied almost nonchalantly, but he could tell that fact disturbed her more than she wanted to show, she leaned closer to him, "I think it's got something to do with my country" she whispered as though they were sharing some kind of top secret information.

He smiled, she was back to her goofy self, he liked that, but what he really liked was the sight of those lips of hers up close, what he would do to have a mistletoe hanging above them...

"Well, I don't care about where people come from, I base my judgments on what I think of a person, and you, my dear, are a witty, interesting, beautiful woman, and that's all I care about"

She stared at him, did he just call her beautiful? Did Jeremy Adonis just call her beautiful? If she wasn't in a public place, she'd do one of those silly dances she had come up with, but without that option, she did the next thing that came to her just knowing her decision would come to haunt her sometime later- she kissed him. It was supposed to be somewhat of a peck, but Adonis didn't think so...

Jeremy couldn't believe his luck, she was kissing him? He'd be damned if he didn't grab this opportunity with both hands, he got off the stool as his arm came around her waist and he brought her little body flush against his chest and probed for something deeper, when she parted her lips and gave him entry, it was like an early Christmas gift for him, God! She tasted heavenly, his taste buds were attacked by the taste of guava and a hint of cherry.

Kachi froze momentarily, feeling his tongue invade her mouth, she placed her hands on his hard chest as he ravaged her lips in ways that moistened her panties. She could never have imagined in a million years that this would be happening to her, she definitely never thought herself the kind of girl that would attract a man like Jeremy, she was much too goofy, from the wrong race, and most importantly, the wrong country, all that was needed to complete this was the sound of her alarm waking her up from what had to be her best dream ever.

"Jeremy?"

And there goes the alarm!

Jeremy let go of Kachi reluctantly, his hazy eyes met hers and by the look she gave him he just knew she had felt the same thing he just did in that one kiss.

He turned around to meet Susan's questioning gaze, "Hey Susie" he said casually, as though his default mother hadn't just caught him kissing a lady for all he was worth.

Susan's eyes left Jeremy briefly to rest on the female he had just had in his arms. She was definitely small for a man his size, but she was undoubtedly very pretty. Her godson suddenly used his large frame to block her perusal of the lady and her eyes returned to his.

"Your father was looking for you" she said, though it was obvious she wanted to see more of Kachi.

"Okay, tell him I'll be with him in a few minutes"

Susan raised her brows, this was a side to Jeremy she hadn't seen in years, he would usually drop whatever he was doing, leave whoever he was with, whenever his father needed his attention; but that was a topic she thought would be suitable for a later discussion, she definitely wanted to know more of this female that was able to hold Jeremy's attention because God knows Claire had been trying to do same unsuccessfully for the past three years.

"Will do" she replied as she turned around and left, glancing back at them until she got on the elevator.

Jeremy only noticed that Claire had left the position she was sitting in when he had come to the bar when his eyes moved in that direction and found the seat empty, but he wasn't about to go hunting for Claire just yet. He heard the sound of what he knew to be the theme song for Total Drama Island right behind him and turned to see his little goddess reaching into her purse and then getting out her phone- her ringtone was the theme song of a cartoon? Her cute level just reached the ceiling.

Kachi took out her phone and looked at the ID, it was Donald, her one hour of partying was over, she had totally forgotten she asked him to come pick her up at 10:00pm, what with meeting her dream hunk and everything else that followed. She answered the call and put it to her ear, "Yes?...I'm coming, I'm coming...give me three minutes Donny, I'll be right down" she cut the line and shoved the phone in the purse.

She would be right down? She was leaving already? He had barely basked in the afterglow of their kiss, "What's going on?" he asked, hoping she wasn't about to leave him hanging.

"I have to go now Jeremy, my friend's waiting for me outside"

"What? Already? Stay a while, please" he sounded much more upset than he intended to.

She smiled at him, "I wish I could, but I can't, I'll see you at work Monday" she said as she walked away without giving him a chance to say anything more.

Jeremy stared on at the path she had taken long after she was out of sight. He took his seat and buried his face in his hands, he so was not expecting this at a Christmas party, he sighed deeply as he shoved his hands in his hair. Kachi. He would go through every file containing the information on the company's employees until he found hers, there could only be one person bearing that name.

The sound of the alarm sent Kachi flying off her bed. She groaned when she turned to her phone which was kept on the bed-side cupboard, maybe using Davido's 'Dami Duro' as the alarm tone wasn't as smart an idea as she had thought...knowing the kind of deep sleeper she was though, it was the most appropriate song she could get in terms of loudness, either that or metallic rock, and she would rather hit her head on the wall repeatedly than wake up to that.

She drug herself to the bathroom and stared into the mirror as her mind replayed the events of two nights ago, even now she couldn't believe all that had happened, it seemed like some sort of weird dream... she could bet when she got to work, she'd discover that 'Thor' neither worked in the office nor even existed to begin with...yes, by the end of today she'd be flipping through another GQ or Cosmopolitan Men magazine and wishing she had someone who looked like any of the men that graced the covers or the pages of those magazines fawning over her....okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly fawning, but still, it was nice to think he was.

She had barely stepped out of the bathroom when she heard her phone ringing, she rushed to it and picked it up to see the caller ID, it was Phumi, her closest friend after Donald, she clicked the answer button, "Hey Phi, how are you?"

"I'm okay, so how did the party go?"

Kachi shook her head, she should have known Phumi would be calling for that, it was a wonder she hadn't called much earlier, "Really Phi? Over the phone? On a Monday morning? Don't you have a certain work place to be?"

"Ooh, something happened, didn't it?" the mischief in Phi's voice was pronounced over her yet to be lost South African accent, Kachi was glad Phi had no problems speaking in her accent, one she swore never to get rid of, that was something they both had in common. Though she had to admit, hers wasn't as pronounced as she would like it to be.

"What are you? Sherlock Phi searching for clues in a mystery?"

"Sweetie, there's no mystery here, I KNOW something happened, else you'd have been rambling on about how much the party sucked by now, so spill it"

Kachi smiled, she always knew, "When did you say you were travelling to SA?"

"Changing the subject? Really Kachi?" she asked, using the exact tone Kachi had used on her minutes ago.

"How about lunch this afternoon at that café....what's the name?"

"The one close to your office or mine?" Phi joked, they both worked in offices located on the same street and there was only one café in that vicinity

"Haha, very funny Phi"

"I love to make you laugh. So, I'm guessing Donny isn't invited"

"Of course he is" she put the phone on speaker and went about preparing for work knowing if she didn't begin now, she would never get off the phone with Phi

"Are you sure about that? We are going to talk about the guy you met at the office party right?"

Kachi paused at that comment as her eyes flew to the phone which was sitting on her dresser, "Guy? What guy?" She asked after two minutes of silence

She heard Phi scoff over the phone, "I was hoping to hear more about him from you" she replied, "Donny will freak if he hears you met someone" Phi laughed.

Kachi snorted, "He would do no such thing, Donny and I are cool" she said, but even she didn't believe that. She had been friends with Donald since she touched down on American soil, literally. He was the first person she had met at the airport who was her mate- technically, that had been friendly towards her, it had helped that they were both immigrants, though his family came from Monaco. She considered what they had a platonic friendship, but Phi constantly made it clear to her that Donald wanted more- she disagreed, but sometimes she couldn't stop that feeling....

Phi scoffed again, "Yeah right, even you don't believe that"

Eager to speak no further about whatever it was she and Donny had, she decided to bring an end to the call generally, "Phi, we'll talk later. I have to prepare for work, and you too. Can't believe I have to go back to that place, if not for this rent..."

"I know, I know, you would've been a gypsy" Phi finished.

Kachi laughed, "I wasn't going to say that Phi, later abeg" she said and immediately disconnected the phone to avoid any more attempts to continue the conversation

She was thankfully through in twenty minutes, a quick look at her wrist watch as she slipped it on revealed that she had about ten minutes until Donny came by to pick her up. They had a working agreement, that had him take her to work thrice a week, and social events on the weekends. He ran his father's supermarket and a carwash, it afforded him some time to himself, especially as he had a few employees to look after the place in his absence. It was one of those things she had always wished she had, but no, little Kachi would rather be someone's employee just to show her big brothers that she could do fine by herself, God! she really needed to think through some of the decisions she took before jumping right into them blindfolded.

As she walked out of her apartment, she spotted Donny's car on the driveway, and her best friend waving to her, his million dollar smile on display and coal dark, wavy hair with more hair products in them than she could say for hers, he was a sight alright. She had always wondered why he didn't have any girlfriends after Matilda, a girl he had dated for a few months in their freshman year in college, he definitely wasn't short of admirers. Her thoughts briefly touched on Phi's comment, could there be some truth in it? As she exchanged greetings and a customary hug with Donny and she took her place in the passengers' seat of his car, she dismissed the thought; Donny had no ulterior motives towards her, they were just really cool with each other.

*****

Jeremy stared absent-mindedly at his computer screen. He was supposed to be going through the end-of-the year financial records of the company, but his thoughts were far from that, he was committing a crime he absolutely loathed- cheating on the job.

All because of her.

He licked his lips unconsciously as he thought of that mind-blowing kiss they had shared for what had to be the thousandth time since it occurred. He shook his head to clear it of thoughts of his little vixen, but that had no effect whatsoever, bringing him to question how possible it was for one's thoughts to be held hostage so by a mere woman, a small one at that, was that normal or was he coming down with some illness?

Kachi.

Jeez! Even her name awoke his sleeping member...that hadn't felt warmth in a while, but still, his lack of some action couldn't possibly be the reason of his infatuation with the woman.

He picked up the slip he had printed out that contained her full name, basic information like her date of birth, and place of origin, and the position she held in the office. She had only begun working here last month, why he hadn't noticed her...okay, maybe he would've taken a year to notice her if it wasn't for the party, he was more than a little detached with the staff of this establishment, only dealing with those he absolutely had to deal with; he would never have had to deal with the position she currently occupied, except she was promoted, even then, he doubted he would have noticed how good a company she made. He was sure he would have dismissed her as just another pretty face- much prettier than he was used to though.

He looked at the intercom which was just a few inches within his reach, he had refrained from asking that she report to his office for the past 3 hours, postponing the inevitable mostly because he didn't want to seem too eager, but the urge to see her was eating so deeply into him, he felt like in a couple of minutes, his life would depend on her presence.

He clicked on the intercom before he could stop himself and asked his secretary, Lee-Anne, to ask Kachi to his office.

Will continue tomorrow guys

No need for more sister cos i cant even read the one u've written. Thank you and God bless u as u stop.

simplemach:
No need for more sister cos i cant even read the one u've written. Thank you and God bless u as u stop.

lol...thanks

Safarigirl,I honestly admire ur writing skills...pls come and update dearie

missviva:
Safarigirl,I honestly admire ur writing skills...pls come and update dearie

dem say make I no write again

simplemach:
No need for more sister cos i cant even read the one u've written. Thank you and God bless u as u stop.

OThers can read it. And they are also enjoying it

safarigirl:
dem say make I no write again

Who said? Please come and update.Nice job here

Update ooooooo. I guess he said dt due to ur other stories that has nt been updated. I started this because u said it was complete. Would u allow 1 person mak u lose all ur fans?

Pls dnt mind dem jare,come and update

Hot hot hot.... safarigal is on fire... Thanks dear..#TeamLaJa# Lanre and Jaiya#

Safigal,I know you are good and will make news soon but I think its about time you determine in your heart to complete a work.It will give you more value cos your twists are out of this realm.You think like a great person who will go far in life,again don't be detered o.Grace

safarigirl:
dem say make I no write again

Can't stop loving your stories. Always soooo real. Please keep writing dear. That is her own opinion. Still i follow

Kachi stared at her sweaty palms, if she didn't calm her nerves she was going to have a freaking seizure right in front of the Vice President's office...oh no, wrong thought! Her nervousness had just tripled.

What was she doing here? Why did the VP summon her? A thousand thoughts ran through her mind when she was told that the VP wanted her in her office, what did he want with her? She didn't even know the guy, she had barely been here a month and the demigod of the office wanted her as the sacrificial lamb for what had to be the dumb mistake of one of her colleagues who she planned to cuss out and even cause bodily harm to if she was fired because of said person. She had checked up every single report and document in her possession for any shortcomings before she got here- twice! She knew she had been delaying the VP, but hell! She wanted to be ready for anything he threw at her.

She found no faults on her part, so it had to be one of those bitchy women she worked with who would do anything to sabotage her job here-despite her not offending them in any way- framing her up.

"Are you sure it's me he asked to see?" she asked Lee-Anne for what was definitely the fourth time since she got here. The secretary had on a smile; she seemed to be enjoying her nervousness.

"Of course. You really should go in now, you've wasted over ten minutes of his time and Mr. Blair doesn't like being kept waiting"

Kachi rolled her eyes, great, one more thing to add to the list of reasons she should be shaking in her pumps.

With one heavy sigh and a mental talking-to, she braced herself for impact as her small hand turned the door knob and she pushed the door open. She took another minute to finally gather up her wits to step into the office, and the sight that greeted her kept her feet rooted to the spot they were in for what she assumed was at least two minutes.

Him? Jeremy Thor Adonis Narcissus the Sixteenth was the VP? This had to be one of those prank shows on MTV. Really? They were now taking those to peoples' places of work? Phi had to be somewhere hiding by the corner...or was it Donny? They both had a thing for really expensive pranks.

As though to assure herself she wasn't a victim of one of those extremely annoying pranks, she did a double take and stepped out of the office to look at the sign she had been too nervous to notice at the door previously, and it read much to her shock: Jeremy A. Blair, VP.

She walked back into the office, slowly this time as it dawned on her that she had been fantasizing about the Vice President of her office, her employer, even more importantly...oh my God! She had said something about him that day, thinking back on it and confirming that it was nothing insulting, she gave an inward sigh of relief.

She stared at him for a while, without moving, waiting for him to give the go-ahead as she studied his still brilliant features. The lights at the party had definitely not done justice to him, and she thought he couldn't get any hotter than he had been that Saturday, shame on her! He looked every bit the executive hard-at work, the sleeves of his grey shirt were rolled up to his elbows, showing off strong hands she didn't doubt had done their own share of manual labor, he was leaning against his desk, arms crossed, and his long, athletic legs were crossed at his ankles, just the sight of him in that position made her all kinds of Hot, the room suddenly seemed much too hot to be habitable.

A small smile crossed Jeremy's features when he noticed how shocked she was at seeing him here, and then the way she ran out of the office to assure herself that she was in the right place, got him grinning, only until she came back in- she wasn't smiling. He had pictured this differently, he had thought she'd have on a large grin when she realized he was the Vice President, and probably even give him another complimentary taste of her intoxicating lips, not stand there and stare at him like a child who was being scolded.

Seeing that she wasn't going to make any move to approach him, or even speak to him, he figured he'd break the ice.

"Hey" he said softly. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Hey" she replied. She wasn't sure what to do or even, if she was in trouble, she hadn't exactly familiarized herself with all the rules of this company, so she chose to take his lead.

Jeremy knew this wasn't the same care-free, witty woman he had met at the party, she seemed withdrawn all of a sudden, had his being the VP shocked her that much? Maybe he needed to do something to revive her.

With that thought in mind, he was inches away from her in four powerful strides, his arm took what had to be its rightful position around her small waist and he pulled her to him slowly, "It is me Kachi" he breathed just before his lips claimed hers as though to certify his claim. She went still in his arms only briefly and then loosened up. With the letting down of her guard, came access to what was presently the favorite coven of his wanton tongue until it was granted access to a part of her it desperately wanted to taste.

Kachi's mouth welcomed the warmth of Jeremy's tongue, an amazing reminder that she hadn't been in one of her many silly dreams on Saturday, this was real, the way he kissed her, how good she felt when he held her-and the fact that HE wanted her. Her tongue dueled with his as her hands slid up his broad chest and came together in a knot behind his neck, thank God for these pumps, else she'd have been stretching like hell to reach that high.

He ended what had to be the most passionate kiss he had given anyone in years with a playful tug on her swollen bottom lip which he had between his teeth, "God! I missed you" he confessed as he pulled her closer in a hug.

Kachi said nothing in reply, her brain was too busy manufacturing questions she planned to ask him later. She couldn't deny she missed him too, hell! He had been the only thought in her head the entire weekend and most of the morning, but how come it never occurred to her that he was the Vice President? She had to admit, she wasn't one to look closer at anything, but it should have hit her that he bore somewhat of a resemblance to Jonathan Blair, the President.

She thought no further on the matter, not wanting to ruin this wonderful feeling of being in his arms, or the afterglow of having his lips on hers and his tongue in her mouth, she could only imagine Phumi's reaction when she gave her the news.

The harsh, cold wind provided the right excuse for a steaming hot cup of coffee in the late hours of the morning that was lunch break for Kachi and Phumi.

The two women sat across from each other inside the café, their usual position was out in the sunlight, but they retreated inside during winter, nine and seven years respectively in the States hadn't quite change their dislike for the weather, while Kachi had a valid reason for hating the season, she was yet to wrap her head around Phumi's considering the fact that it snowed occasionally in SA as opposed to Nigeria where this time of the year was escorted by dry, cold wind that got people's skins as dry as sunned fish and provided the best time for those who sold body creams and lip balms. It had taken her two years to decide which she preferred between snow and harmattan, but considering the fact that there weren't as much road accidents during harmattan period as she saw here when it snowed, and she definitely didn't have to go out looking like a stuffed toy to avoid getting the flu or worse still, pneumonia, back in Nigeria, she had come up with her preferred weather.

Phumi's black eyes studied Kachi, they had met at one of the meetings organized for African Students in Diaspora, five years ago while in college at University of Columbus. She had been a freshie and Kachi was a junior, they had hit it off after Kachi had made one of her many jokes to loosen her up. It was her first time at the meeting and she didn't want to do leave a bad impression by doing something silly, thereby single-handedly ruining whatever social life she expected to have while in college. Once she had left that meeting with one new friend, she didn't feel like she needed any more, and her being introduced to Donald had increased the number of people she could be herself with outside of her family members, the three had been inseparable since then- except for when Kachi and Donald had graduated.

She considered Kachi her sister, even though they didn't exactly look alike; while Kachi was small and curvy, and had caramel skin, an aquiline nose and small, full lips, Phumi was much bigger, she was taller at 5 ft9", she wasn't exactly fat, just thick, especially around her hips and ass as was the nature of most women of Southern African descent, she had mahogany skin, a small, button nose that Kachi sometimes teased was almost non-existent, and fuller lips, it was undeniable that both were beautiful in their own way- but when they walked down the street together, Phi's rump earned her more cat calls than Kachi's smaller one. In fact if one wasn't told, he'd think Phi was the older of the two, when she was actually younger by two years.

"So, are you going to spill the beans already or you're saving it for when Donny comes to achieve the desired effect?" Phi asked apparently talking about the guy Kachi had met at the party. They had been here for ten minutes now, and Kachi had spoken on everything but the party, they had only twenty minutes till they had to return to work, and she expected Donny here fifteen minutes into this, and he was sure to take up ten of what would be their remaining fifteen minutes, doting on Kachi like she was the next Monalisa, Phi had nothing against that, but it was now getting boring; the whole thing with Donald and his subtle messages and Kachi's total inability to grasp them. She more often than not felt like an intruder in their conversations.

Kachi rolled her eyes, "What desired effect Phi?"

Phi smiled, now thinking of the frown Donny would sport once he heard of Kachi meeting a man, and imagining how it would grow into a large scowl when Kachi gave details, and then the way he would dramatically leave their table to 'use the restroom', she missed that show, she hadn't seen it in up to a year since the last time Kachi had met a new guy...maybe lunch would be worth it.

"I shall speak no further, just get ready for at least a whole week of grouchy Donny, and if you and Mr. Perfect begin a relationship, Donny will do EVERYTHING within his power to make sure you and him break up"

Kachi frowned, "Stop it Phi, I've told you, Donny doesn't like me like that, and he isn't as scheming as you're making him seem, he would freak if he knew you said all this about him" she scolded. Phi had a wild imagination, and for the past three years, she had her mind made up that there was more to Donny's friendship than there really was, she made it a priority to analyze everything Donny did as an act to please Kachi, recently though, her suspicions had been getting to Kachi more than she wanted them to. She couldn't bring herself to think that Donny liked her like 'that', there couldn't be any romantic relations between them, that would totally upset the balance of the entire universe.

Just as Phi was set to give a reply, there was the clinking of the bell which was hung by the door to signify the entrance of a new customer, Phi, who was sitting in the perfect position to see who was coming through and going out the door, smiled, "Speak of the lover-boy" she said.

Phi turned to look over her shoulder to see Donny's light brown eyes searching for them, he gave a lean smile and a small wave when his eyes caught them. They watched with interest as he got his coffee, totally ignoring every attempt by the lady at the counter to flirt with him.

"Give it up already hoochie, that dude is sprung on a certain lady friend of his" Phi said as she sipped on her coffee.

Kachi glared at her, but said nothing, she wasn't about to go at it with Phi again.

Donny and indicated for Kachi to scoot over while he sat beside her- too close for comfort.

She purposely kept her eyes away from Phi knowing the 'I told you so' look she'd be sporting by now.

"Hey guys" Donny began enthusiastically, just before he pecked Kachi's cheek and squeezed Phi's hand across the table.

"Hey Donny, how's the supermarket?" Phi asked, the smug smile, which was directed at Kachi, not leaving her lips.

"It's doing well, so what's up with you both?" Donny asked, he was vaguely aware of the looks they were exchanging, he was going to ask, but on second thought, he figured they would tell him when they wanted.

"Nothing" Phi replied, stirring her cup of tea absent mindedly, she paused and smiled mischievously, "I think Kachi has something to tell us"

"Really? What is it?" He turned to Kachi, just the sight of her did things to his body...things he wanted to acknowledge, but would rather keep mum about to prevent any rifts between them, he definitely didn't want to lose his best friend to something like that.

Kachi hesitated to speak, seeing that glow in Donny's eyes made her re-think the whole idea of talking about Jeremy in his presence...but doing that would mean she believed Phi, and she didn't...right?

"Kachi met this guy at their office party" Phi spoke up seeing that Kachi wasn't about to.

Just as she predicted, Donny's smile faded almost as quickly as the words had left Phi's lips, his demeanor changed and one could literally feel the disapproval oozing from him.

"Really? Who's he?" He asked drily as he picked up his cup of coffee and drank it, it soothed his throat and cleared it of the dryness that he wasn't aware was there. He just couldn't stand the thought of Kachi with another man, at least when she was single, there was a glimmer of hope that he could still make his move on her, but with the presence of another man...

"His name's Jeremy" Kachi replied, she didn't sound as enthusiastic as she wanted to be, she had just met a really successful, ambitious, good-looking guy, who liked her as much as she did him, stuff like this rarely ever happened to her. Being so small, she had lived in the shadows of the bigger girls, those who were taller, with more pronounced curves, not to say she wasn't curvy, but considering her small frame, she was definitely no Nicki Minaj, hence, the attention from boys and men was minimal. Finally, she had what he had always envisioned as her dream man, and her best friend's lack of enthusiasm had totally dampened hers.

"And?" Phi asked with a large smile, she was apparently oblivious to the fact that she was the only one really interested in knowing anything concerning a new man in Kachi's life.

"He's my boss"

Phi stared at her wide-eyed, "He's what?" the story was definitely getting interesting

"My boss"

"Boss as in supervising officer, manager..."

"Boss as in the Vice President of the company I work in"

There was a brief silence among all three of them, Phi stared at her like she thought her friend had just hit a gold mine. Kachi didn't quite think so, she knew to an extent, a man's financial status ought to be a factor in a relationship, but that was the least on her mind.

"So he must have a lot of money" Donny said coldly. He knew the company Kachi worked for was one of the biggest in the state and the entire country in fact, hence he expected the Vice President to earn nothing less than a six figure sum yearly, that was definitely more than his yearly income, so his rival- that was the position this Jeremy guy was taking as of today- definitely had the upper hand in the wealth section.

"I don't know" Kachi replied softly, she could guess Jeremy was worth a sizeable fortune, his father owned a company that ranked eighth in the richest in the country, so he should own an impressive amount...but what good would that information do her...or Donny?

Phi, the only excited person at their table presently, continued her interrogation, "How do you mean you don't know? You work in the finance department..."

"I've been there for a month Phi, it's not like I'm a walking ledger for the company's finances"

Phi shrugged, Kachi didn't sound like she wanted to continue that train of conversation, she didn't get the tension...okay, so she got Donny's, but she couldn't understand why Kachi was so. She knew Kachi had no romantic feelings towards Donny, it sucked when you really liked someone and the person wasn't as into you, but she wouldn't be mulling over that if she were in Kachi's shoes.

Not quite done, she flung in one last question, "Have you kissed him?"

Twice! Kachi screamed in her head, and each was as mind-blowing and arousing as she had always imagined kisses should be. She noticed both her friend's staring expectantly at her, though for different purposes, while Phi was more interested in knowing as a girl to girl thing, Donny wanted to soothe his restless mind...she kept quiet much too long, thereby relaying the reply.

Donny was speechless, she had kissed him, and this wasn't just some random 'it doesn't mean anything' kiss, she had had those, and had come to them rambling on about how terribly the guy kissed, or how his breath smelt like tobacco or garlic, he had reeled in laughter from every episode of 'Date Gone Wrong' from Kachi, partly because she really did have a humorous perspective to even the worst dates, but mostly because he was glad there was still a chance for him to take his rightful place as her man, but now, her silence...she had NEVER remained silent at any of these questions, it spoke more than she probably intended to divulge; she really liked this guy.

He suddenly felt very hot, his lips were in a tight frown, his strong jaw clenched and his light brown eyes suddenly turned dark.

"I need to use the restroom ladies, 'be back in a few" he said as he stood up and headed straight for the restroom without waiting for either of them to acknowledge his comment. He couldn't stay here and listen to this, if he knew Phi well-and he did, she'd be asking for further details, how it felt, if he was a good kisser...information that would have a few glass cups shattered and in the bin when he got home if he listened to them. Kachi was HIS, he may not have claimed her yet, or even called dibs, but there were some things he needn't do to get that across to every man-including this Jeremy person.

Phumi gave Kachi a knowing look; she knew this was going to happen, but she wasn't about to stop getting under Donald's skin concerning his feelings for Kachi if he wouldn't spill it out already. While he was busy living in lala land and thinking Kachi would always be there for him to move in on when he finally grew the balls to, real men were noticing the gem that was his best friend, and it was only a matter of time before he was permanently fired from his voluntary post of Assistant Boyfriend.

Thanks dear. . loving this...o tried sending u an email dear.. Just wanted to encourage u not to give up.. Please continue cause u are good with this.. Still Team LaJa.Lanre and Jaiya... Waiting for an update there..

Thank you dear. I appreciate. You are going places with this you know.

Spellbound!

Wow....safarigirl ‎​you too much...tnx a lot bt oliver wants some moreeee....*winks

The sun was shining, bringing some warmth to the usual cold, the roads had been cleared of last night's snow and the streets were crowded with people hurrying to make their final purchases before Christmas.

Christmas was literally in the air, the aromas of everything from ginger bread men to apple pie and baked turkey filled the air, it was enough to make anyone hungry.

Jeremy and Susan were sitting inside a coffee shop, which boasted not just the best coffee in the area, but the best confectionary too. It was a simple place, not the over decorated restaurants he was used to. Only Susan could make him come into such a place, when having business meetings or the likes, the place of choice would be some five star restaurant with overpriced dishes that tasted as bland as the price tags on them and an interior that looked like Michel Angelo and Da vinci vomited in the place.

As he ate a very crisp croissant to go with his cappuccino, he relaxed in the ambience of the place, he could definitely get used to eating here

Susan studied her godson, from his birth, she had always known he'd grow into an attractive and smart man, but he had by far surpassed what she had imagined both in looks and success. She knew how much the death of his mother had destroyed him, and seeing him so broken all those years had made her pray to God that some day he would find peace and happiness. When Claire had come into his life three years after the unfortunate incident, she had thought a woman would sooth him and lighten him up, unfortunately, Claire's presence did little to help his situation. He remained in that little shell he had crafted to keep him away from the world, he paid her no mind, and even when he did, it wasn't in the way she knew Claire wanted, he just wasn't attracted to her despite her glaring beauty, but this new woman...

"Do you like her?" she asked with her eyes fixed on Jeremy, the question had an obvious answer, but she wanted to hear it from his lips.

Jeremy's eyes left the window through which he had been watching pedestrians go by, "what?"

"This lady, Kachi, do you like her?"

He dropped the croissant in his hand and swallowed the bite he had been chewing, "Maybe" he shrugged. He wasn't willing to admit he liked Kachi, it seemed too...easy. He who had been beyond an introvert was suddenly growing feelings for a woman he had met only a week ago? And why? Because she was funny, witty, beautiful and had the body to ensure World peace? That definitely wasn't enough to bring down the multiple steel barriers he had built around him...but what if it was?

Susan smiled at his hesitance to admit his feelings, "Maybe? You're having wet dreams about a woman and ignoring you father's call and you're still on a 'maybe' with your feelings for her? Come on Jeremy, don't lie to me"

Susan's ability to read through his façade was both a blessing and a curse depending on the situation on ground, "I don't know Susie, I can't say" he admitted

"But you're attracted to her"

He nodded, "That I am"

Susan smiled at that admission, "Well, that's a start" she was just glad there was a light at the end of the tunnel for her baby's love life, no matter how dim. This girl was definitely a good addition to Jeremy's life, and she planned to do some investigation concerning her, what kind of godmother would she be if she allowed her godson walk into a trap?

There was a dearth of conversation between them, during which neither noticed the entrance of Claire.

"My,my, who do we have here?" she began with a pleasant smile as her emerald eyes gleamed in excitement. She had only come here to get a sub sandwich and some donuts for her father who loved the snacks this restaurant offered. She didn't like this place much, because she found it a bit low-class, but her father's likes came above hers when she wanted a favor from him.

Jeremy looked up at her, his expression flat, mostly because he thought it would be rude to frown at her- which was what he really wanted to do. He had been so pissed at her since her little show during the office party, not only had she thrown up on one of the office directors, but she had gone on to dance uninhibitedly on the bar. He found her actions unbefitting of a lady and disappointing...and to think she passed herself off as some prim, proper lady..well, she was all of that- when her system wasn't overloaded with alcohol.

"Hello, Claire. How are you?" Susan spoke up with a bright smile when she saw that Jeremy was in no mood for a conversation with Claire.

"I'm fine Susie, may I join you both?"

"Of course" Susan replied, Claire sat on a vacant seat between Susan and Jeremy.

"Are you still mad at me because of the party Jerry? I apologized" Claire began staring at Jeremy with puppy-dog eyes.

"You really should stop calling me Jerry, Claire, you know how it pisses me off" he said coldly.

"I'm sorry" she said softly, "Hey, I was thinking, there's going to be this New Year's eve party at my friend's place..."

"I'm not interested" he cut her off before she could even finish, it was just like Claire to go for more social functions than a sitting President, and then get wasted at such events, and he would only follow her to make sure she got home safely. He was sure he could find better things to do on New Year's eve- like fantasize about Kachi.

"But it'll be fun"

He said nothing in reply, just downed the rest of his cappuccino and looked at Susie, "You ready to leave Susie?" He stood up without waiting for her reply, "It was nice to see you Claire, my regards to your parents" he gave a lean smile and walked out of the coffee shop as both Claire and Susan watched him in shock.

How dare he treat her like that?!

Claire seethed in her car as she drove to a high-and jewelry store where she planned to get herself a nice Christmas present courtesy of her mother's credit card. He had no right to walk out on her like she was nothing, she deserved more from Jeremy, why di he always have to treat her like trash and act like she was the one chasing him...but wasn't she?

Claire Gareth had always gotten everything she wanted. The daughter of a Texan oil magnate and a heiress worth millions, it was safe to say she had NEVER lacked, all she had to do was ask- verbally or non-verbally, and people would literally be falling over themselves to please her...until now.

In all of Claire's life she had never met a man that could resist her feminine charms, she was trained in the art of seduction- hell! She took an eight hundred dollar per month class just to learn how to attract and keep a man. It irked her to no end that the one man she wanted to put all her training to use on was totally immune to her charms.

There was nothing humanly possible she hadn't tried to capture Jeremy Blaire's attention, but she could have as well been a speck of dirt on his $12,000 Italian leather shoes by the way he treated her. She was fully aware that her family wanted her to reign as queen in the heart of the most eligible bachelor in all of Ohio, not only did the title come with prestige, but it strengthened both families and made them an invincible force in the state, but she was starting to think Jeremy might not possess a heart after all. He was so cold to her, if he had to warm up, it was nothing more than a passive glance of acknowledgement, or a few words- of advice.

Every time he spoke to her, she felt more like his rebellious teenage sister than a twenty-five year old woman who was vying for his heart. She didn't get him. She knew losing a parent cou;d be gut-wrenching, but Jeremy gave that word a whole new meaning, how could a man who was 6ft 5" of pure sex and carnal desires shut himself down as far as women were concerned? At first, she had thought him a closet homosexual, but she couldn't even name one man he related with after his father, there was Lee, his high school friend, but he was married and Claire could swear Lee was as straight as Ricky Martin was gay.

As she parked her 2011 Bentley- a Christmas gift from her unclem in the parking lot reserved for the jewellrt store, her phone rang.

She fished the diamond-studded gadget from her purse and rolled her eyes with a grunt when she saw the caller ID- it was Lee-Anne, that girl could snitch on her own family with the right 'motivation', hence she had been the best candidate to plant as a spy in Jeremy's office to 'infiltrate; his dealings. It had only been a minor push to get her the job as his secretary, and she had been her diligent informant since then.

She contemplated ignoring the call, it's not like Lee-Anne ever had any useful information for her concerning Jeremy, all she ever got was a schedule that included business meetings and lunch with Susan and Dillan- Jeremy's father- nothing that interested Claire.

She answered the call after further thought, "What is it?" she began, her tone icy, making it clear to Lee-Anne that she was in no mood for her blabbering.

"Good afternoon, Miss Gareth, how has your day been?" Lee-Anne began pleasantly, like she hadn't just been spoken to like some pesky servant.

"Do you have anything for me, Lee-Anne?" Claire asked totally ignoring her question.

"Ye...yes ma'am, I do have something to tell you"

"So? Spill it already!" Claire said. Her tone dripping with impatience.

"He asked one of the employees to his office some days ago, a female"

"And? Is she the first female to be asked into his office?"

"No ma'am..but, this one is different, she's the lady he was talking to at the office part, and when she walked out of the office, he gave her a peck on her forehead"

Claire's eyes widened, "He did what?!" she asked in disbelief, Jeremy wouldn't even touch her purposely in private and he was openly pecking this...this...intruder! In the presence of someone else? What the Bleep?!

"I was as shocked as you are ma'am" Lee-Anne said sincerely. After working as Jeremy's secretary for eight months, she had peggen him as one of those really hot guys who preferred to let women imagine what could have been, a tease. Not intentionally though, but he was still one.

Claire comported herself as her mind worked on overdrive thinking of all the things she'd do to the little slut who had the nerve to step into her territory, by the time she was through with the twit, she'd wish she had never entered Ohio, even less met Jeremy Blaire, "Do you know this woman?"

"Not really ma'am, she just began working here a little over a month ago"

Claire bit her thumb in thought, "Is she pretty?" perhaps some women would find that information irrelevant, a rival was a rival, right? But Claire needed to know if she was going to have an easy fight or a hard one.

Lee-Anne hesitated before answering, "Not as pretty as you are ma'am"

Claire was no fool, her hesitation and consequent reply only meant one thing; this woman was just as pretty, if not prettier than she was.

"Get close to this...woman, and find out EVERYTHING you can about her and get back to me, you understand?"

"Yes ma'am"

Claire disconnected the call at that, how could he? Virtually everyone in that office knew she and him were supposed to be an item, and he had the guts to even touch another woman romantically- an employee at his office! Was he trying to mock her? No worries, she was going to kill off this seed before it could germinate.

Donald 'Donny' Iliamson had always been self conscious. Since his childhood, he had never quite fit in with the crowd. While in elementary school, he had been one of the dullest students in class, and whatever he lacked in academics, he definitely didn't make up for in sports, he sucked at everything he tried his hands on so much so that he constantly felt the word 'SUCKER' was stamped on his forehead for all to see.

He had been taunted, bullied and damn near abused due to his then scrawny figure, somewhere between all of that psychological and emotional abuse, he had learned to shut everything out, he numbed himself to the taunts, thereby becoming an introvert. All through Junior high and High school he had barricaded himself from every form of socialization, despite the changes he went through during puberty from a scrawny little boy to a tall, broad-shouldered hunk of a man, he hadn't let it affect his attitude. He paid no mind to the many advances of Hot teenage girls who viewed him as just another stud whose virility ought to go through rigorous testing and consequent approval or otherwise. It was quite amusing that the same girls who were drooling over him in High school had been part of the bane of his existence all through Elementary and Junior High, laughing at and mocking him at every chance they got. His being a defender in the school's soccer team- and an extremely reliable one at that, had made him more popular than he wished to be, and with steady grades, he had managed to extricate himself from the roll-call of the dumbest students in class.

He had graduated as the fifth best student of his class, a feat that not only excited, but shocked some of his many relatives who had always envisioned a miserable, wretched life for him, or at most, a life as a trader in the fish market.

A month after his graduation, his father came home with the news that the entire family would be immigrating to the U.S.A, after he won a visa lottery.

Suffice it to say, it was with a large grin and a glad heart that Donny waved goodbye to his homeland and the source of all his psychological torture for seventeen years of his life as he, his father, mother, and little sister boarded the plane to the land of the free.

When he had first set eyes on /Kachi at baggage claim in the airport, his breath had hitched in his throat, she was only fifteen at the time, but damn it if he didn't think her the most beautiful creature upon the earth. He had watched her intently, noting the fact that she was trudging behind a man he assumed to be her father, and two huge guys he later discovered were her brothers.

She had looked so cute with them, her small frame dwarfed by their much bigger ones. He had admired her nice ass which was accentuated in a pair of blue, form-fitting jeans, and had ogled at her perfect breasts, which as at then hadn't reached their present size, and he had gotten a 'stiff' reminder that he was a man.

He temporarily left his family and went to introduce himself, with every step he took toward her, he marveled at the confidence that seemed to pop out of nowhere, back in Monaco, he would never have even considered walking up to a girl, but here he was doing something he hadn't thought himself capable of. He had stopped in his tracks, a few feet away from where she was when she turned and her eyes fell on him, he had suddenly panicked, wondering if that dorky part of him that was a constant repellant as far as other humans were concerned had resurfaced, in a tumultuous fit, he had considered turning around and recoiling into his shell, his earlier confidence gone like smoke, but his doubts were cleared when she gave him one of her heart-warming smiles and looked away, her angelic face was a sight to behold, trumping all other females within a mile. From that moment on, it was a done deal- Donald Iliamson was head over heels in love with Karachi Iloh .

That night, for the first time ever, he had masturbated to thoughts of Kachi and promised himself that some day, she would bear his last name.

Fast forward nine years later and he was nowhere near fulfilling that promise, time and time again, he had considered asking her out on a formal date, but he had allowed fears and uncertainty deter him from doing so. All through college he had gone everywhere with her, he had dam near stalked her, making known to every potential suitor that she was taken in a non-verbal manner, only two guys had been able to infiltrate his fortress, and he hadn't had to bother himself concerning them, they were out the door once they realized that Kachi didn't plan on giving up the 'goods' anytime soon, and he was a phone call away from giving them the bruise if they dared to try anything funny with her.

He had been by her side those four years, protected her when she felt threatened, cared for her when she was ill, comforted her when she was sad, laughed with her when she was happy, sacrificed his time just to help her complete a report before the deadline for submission, but most importantly, he had loved her even when there were no assurances that she would reciprocate the feeling.

Even while he was dating Matilda, he had felt like he was cheating on Kachi, the fact that his best friend was happy he had found some girl to occupy his time with instead of hounding her every chance he got had annoyed him. He had expected a different reaction, he had WANTED her to be jealous, make several tantrums to carry that message, he had wanted her to fight for him...

But who was he to want such from her when he never made any attempts to fight for her? What other way was there to prove that one was a true man apart from fighting for what or who he loved?

For seventeen years of his life, he had been given the emotional beat down by others, but for the past nine years, he had been the reason for his heart-break, his inability to voice out his feelings to Kachi for fear of rejection had resulted in constant self-pity, and Phi's poking had done nothing to ease that feeling...despite being grown, he couldn't help but think that all the emotional abuse he had faced from his peers when he was younger had contributed to his lack of confidence and his fear of rejection. It didn't matter how much money he made, how buffed he was, how handsome he was, he just would never be able to take away that feeling of not being up to par.

He looked at his reflection from his side-view mirror once more, he knew he looked smashing, but for Kachi- smashing was never good enough. It was their usual Christmas day get-togther, and by get-together, he meant a time for just himself, Kachi and Phi to eat a nice meal, dance to good music, call loved ones, goof off, watch the funniest comedies they could lay their hands on, and bid each other goodbye- or stay over, depending on how intoxicated they were at the end of the day.

With the outfit of choice ranging from casual to formal, depending on the preference of the 'host' for that year, they made it seem like some high-end party of the year...with friends, even the smallest things were viewed in a larger perspective.

This year's gathering was at Kachi's place, and the agreed upon outfit was formal. Dressed up in a suit Kachi had gotten him for his birthday, a white shirt and a red, slim tie to celebrate the season.

Satisfied with his appearance and with a large bowl of Brandamincium, a traditional Monegasque dish, in hand, he walked up to Kachi's apartment and gave a slight knock. It was the highlight of their get-together that each person share a traditional dish with the others, not only did it help them reminisce about the good times of their home country, but it also educated them on the foods of their different nations, so far, Donny could mention at least five different Nigerian and South African dishes, and confidently cook two from each list, but he had promised himself he'd learn more of Nigerian dishes to surprise and please Kachi when they were married...oh, the many unfulfilled dreams of Donald Iliamson.

The door was opened by Phi who had on one of Kachi's shirts and a pair of shorts, there was an apron tied around her waist to signify that they were still preparing the meals for the day.

She looked him over, noting how nice he looked in his suit in contrast to her under-dressed self, "Na wa o, na you dress pass." she commented in Nigerian pidgin, hanging with Kachi had taught her more than a few things...Donny too.

"I thought the agreement was formal, it's already ten, you guys should be dressed by now"

"We're women, we have to cook and do a lot of things in the kitchen before getting dressed. My Valentino dress won't look good with tomato splashed all over it" she replied as she made her way to the kitchen, "Kachi he's here."

"Finally, give him an apron, we'll need an extra hand to get this finished in less than an hour." Kachi said from the kitchen.

"Apron? I don't think aprons and suits go together." Phi replied

"Suit? What su..." Kachi didn't finish her sentence as she came out to see Donny looking suave and every bit a heart-breaker in the suit she had bought him, but never thought he'd ever wear. Donny didn't exactly like suits- or ties, or anything that had to do with an office, but she had gotten him one for 'emergency' purposes, some day he was going to upgrade his father's business to a million dollar venture, and he needed to look the part on the way to the top.

"I'm sorry sir, we aren't holding auditions for the part of James Bond here, you sure you're in the right place?" she asked with a serious expression, which grew into a smile.

Donny grinned, genuinely happy that she found his appearance good enough for a James Bond role, he was flattered, ecstatic, over the freaking moon...funny what the right compliments from the right woman could do to a man's ego, "Hey" he greeted.

She walked up to him and gave him a small hug, "Merry Christmas bestie."

"Merry Christmas, love." he inhaled the scent of her perfume mixed with the aroma of the food she was cooking in the kitchen, having her so close did things to him, he would kiss her right here if Phi wasn't present- and if he didn't fear the repercussions, 'fear' being the operative word here. He held on to her much longer than normal, reveling in how good her small body felt in his, he could hold her like this forever.

Kachi left his embrace when it got a bit uncomfortable, "Let me not spoil your nice get up here, with all of this..." she indicated the various stains on her apron, she needn't give an explanation as to why she moved away, but it somehow appeased her feeling of guilt when she saw the disappointed expression on his face- Donny was no master in the arts of hiding one's feelings, "...you can sit out the whole cooking thing, I and Phi will finish up soon." she said, "thanks for this." she took the bowl from his hand and leaned up to him, placing a light peck on his cheek.

That small gesture returned the smile to Donny's face, "You're welcome."

She smiled and returned to the kitchen, "Smells lovely, what's it called?" she asked from the kitchen, apparently referring to Donny's dish.

"We'll save that for the show and tell." Phi replied, she walked up to Donny, "I hope this is the Christmas you tell her how you feel." she said to him, making sure to lower her voice so that Kachi wouldn't hear her. She didn't wait to hear his reply as she joined Kachi in the kitchen before the expression of shock left his face.

Okay... Loving this tempo... Hmn team who now?? I will keep my fingers crossed...jeremy vs donny... Safarigirl i love you...no homo...thanks for this. How about 'in memory only'?...waiting for u..

Dear donny,so sorry to let you know you've been friendzoned/brotherzoned all these while. I love Jeremy.*in kachi's voice*

Lolz...welldone safarigirl. You write well and brilliantly.

Some guys sef....comment reserved anyway.....tnx safarigirl and good morning

"Okay, Merry Christmas again. Love you"

Kachi got off the phone with her immediate elder brother, I.K and gave a deep sigh. She missed her family. Since she moved to Ohio for college, she only saw them six times each year, her father had tried talking her into moving back to New York to help in running the family's restaurant- one that offered the best of Nigerian cuisine, but living in the shadows of her men was not what she visualized herself doing for the rest of her life.

Being the only female of four kids, it was no surprise that Kachi received 'special' attention from her family, and her mother's death eleven years ago had only worsened matters for her, as the only female left of her family, her father and brothers rarely let her out of their sights, it was only by the grace of God- and the presence of Donny, that they let her go to college in a different state.

"So, that's the last call." Phi said.

"And what an earful it was." Donny added, I'K had read him the riot act on why he was giving in to Kachi's whims and hiding 'important' information from them, and by important information he meant Kachi's new job. So they hadn't called to break the news, but it was only because Kachi wanted to give it some time. He would admit to giving in to Kachi's whims, her brothers didn't know it yet, but he would literally move mountains for their baby sister.

"Don't be a sissy." Phi joked, "You shouldn't be hiding stuff if you don't want repercussions"

"So, what's next?" Donny asked.

"Show and tell." Phi replied, having already eaten some hours ago, it was time to bring out the traditional dishes. Kachi went into the kitchen to get the dishes just as there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Phi shouted. She opened the door to see a deliveryman with two large bouquets, "ooh, flowers"

"Good afternoon ma'am, are you Miss Iloh?" he asked

"No, but this is her apartment" Phi replied, "Kachi, it's for you" she called as her eyes roamed the flowers, and her mind did a roll-call on who could be sending Kachi flowers. The first name that came to mind was Donny, maybe he had finally fished out his balls from the red sea and decided to make his move this year, what a way to start!

Kachi was at the door in minutes, "What is...?" she stared at the bouquets in the deliveryman's hands, they were a compilation of her favorite flowers, red roses, violets, and lilies. It was a beautiful sight.

"Miss Iloh?"

"Yes."

"These are for you." he said as he handed her the bouquet.

Phi grabbed them.

"Sign here please." the deliveryman said, genuinely amused by Phi's action

Kachi signed, her thoughts racing on who could be responsible for this, it was definitely a nice gesture, "Thank you."

The deliveryman nodded in reply and turned around and walked off to his next destination. Kachi had barely closed the door when she heard Phi speaking

"There's a note."

She came into the sitting room to see Phi and Donny standing over the bouquets which were sitting on a table. Their postures reminded her of a scene from CSI when the officers found a dead body.

Donny was scowling, he looked deep in thought...well, that struck him off the list as a possible sender. As she moved closer, her thoughts suddenly fell on Jeremy, could he be the one? It gladdened her to no end that he had actually thought of her on Christmas day, it was a good sign, maybe they could actually go somewhere...assuming this was from him of course.

"Come over here and open the note already." Phi said, she was about to burst out of curiosity, she needed to know this mystery man.

Kachi picked up the note and opened it. Inside was a poem written calligraphically. It read:

" Jingle bells, Christmas cheers

Lovely flowers for a lovely girl

It's kinda cheesy sending a poem

But never so, if to a gem

Lilies, roses and violets I've sent

Hoping to my lady, I make a perfect gent".



Merry Christmas,

Jeremy.

Kachi's smile grew wider with every line she read, he was no Shakespeare, but considering the effort, she found it the best poem she had ever read, much better than whatever John Donne or Andrew Marvell could have ever come up with.

Phi snatched the note from her seeing that Kachi wasn't about to share the info, her eyes widened in disbelief at the name, of course in Phi style, she read the name of the sender before she did the poem, "Ooh, Mr. Vice President is a poet."

Donny's frown deepened. HIM. He sat on the couch, his eyes briefly caught the tray of food, there would be no eating for him, hell, his entire Christmas was ruined already. Here he was, trying to think up a way to make known his feelings to Kachi before the end of the day, and Mr. Smooth-talking, lover-boy, executive had more or less stolen the show before it even started. Why hadn't he thought of a poem and flowers? Whatever he couldn't utter with his lips, he could have written down, it would have saved him the humiliation- or at least made it a lot easier to deal with, if Kachi turned him down.

If Donny thought the flowers were a dent on his plans, the following hours proved that they were nothing but a mere scratch. First, it was five boxes of chocolate at the stroke of 1:00pm, then what had to be the most beautiful pair of platform shoes any of them had ever seen- Christian Louboutin, an hour later, came an emerald green dress that was nothing short of breath-taking- Vivienne Westwood, the next hour, a jewelry box arrived, containing a diamond bracelet, and then another came, inside lay an elegant, diamond necklace with the pendant being Kachi's birthstone- topaz.

The final gift was another bouquet of flowers, this time it was a monotonous affair- white roses, with another note attached to it.

"Open it, open it, open it!" Phi urged, jumping around like a hyperactive toddler. The entire scene that had played out for the past five hours felt to her like something ripped out of a romance novel, who knew romantic men still existed on this planet? The men she usually encountered were only interested in hitting it and quitting it, none was interested in the art of wooing a woman, none cared for the thrills that came with chasing a woman, those were just antics of a pussy-whipped man as far as they were concerned, 'real men don't beat around the bush, they zone in on what they want, and take it', those were their lines for defense, well right now, she was craving a 'fake' man, one who bothered to make her smile before making her scream, one who cared what she thought of him out of the sheets as well as between them, one who wanted to please her heart, before pleasing her pussy. Her definition of a real man. And it seemed to her that Kachi had snagged one out of a handful. Was she jealous? Hell yeah! What woman wouldn't envy the good luck of another for finding the perfect gentleman? But the happiness she felt far outweighed the feelings of jealousy she harbored.

Donny's eyes drifted from Kachi to Phi and back again, neither had acknowledged him since this festival of gifts began. He assumed Jeremy was wealthy, but to send this many gifts- whose combined worth could pay the salaries of everyone in his employ for at least four months, to someone he had met just over a week ago, had to be one of the most extravagant action Donny could think of, never in a million years could he have been able to get Kachi all of this in one day. His jaw ticked as he struggled to keep his temper on a leash, this was definitely not a level playing ground by any standards.

Kachi opened the note, it contained another poem:

" If milady finds my gifts pleasing. Let it be known, this gent means no teasing If willing you are, to simply take part A date with you, would gladden my heart."

This one seemed more like a really corny version of Shakespeare, but it was all the more heart-warming. Kachi felt so much like a teenager being asked out on a date by her crush- no, much better, she couldn't even think up a word to describe how she felt.

She bit her bottom lip as she thought of Jeremy, who knew he could be so sweet? He was so reserved and quiet, she never assumed he was a hopeless romantic...and he was asking her on a date? Oh, it was a Merry Christmas alright.

"He asked her on a date, he asked her on a date" Phi sang and danced around the sitting room like a six year old who was promised a trip to Disneyland.

What the phuck?! A date? He was going to ask her out today! Who did this guy think he was making moves on a woman who was spoken for? Donny seethed, his brown eyes had turned dark with rage, his hands were balled up into fists, if Jeremy had been within his sight, he would have given him a punch to rival that of Mike Tyson's, in the absence of the object of his anger though, he could do nothing but glare at the purchased items with an intensity that could set them ablaze.

Suddenly anger turned to hurt, and pain, this wasn't about the fact that this Jeremy was rich enough to buy Kachi these expensive things, it was all about the fact that she liked him, she REALLY liked him.

Kachi had never been the materialistic type, he had seen her turn down expensive gifts from potential suitors, he had seen her cuss out guys who thought they could buy her affections. The fact that she hadn't returned these gifts or said an ill word concerning the aim behind the gifts, the fact that she had been grinning since the plethora of gifts began arriving, that she found his poems lovely despite the fact that she absolutely hated poems, and found his flowers beautiful, irrespective of the countless times she had made fun of actresses in chick flicks who found flowers romantic, said more than he wanted to accept...she was probably falling for this guy.

He had seen- and heard enough.

He stood up and regarded the two women again, "Um, guys, I have to go." he said coldly.

Phi, who had been too busy thinking up the right hair and make-up that would go with Kachi's dress, finally focused her attention on Donny, without having to ask, she already knew the reason for his wanting to leave.

"Why? It's barely six, I thought you were going to stay over." Kachi said, Donny had slept in her home the past two Christmases, she had gotten used to having him somewhere around the house in the middle of the night, after Christmas.

Donny shook his head no, he wasn't going to go through that torture this year, having her within his reach, but not quite, drove him crazy, he was sick of it. He didn't want to be her 'best friend' anymore, he wanted to be more than that, he wanted to mean more to her than a friend to hang out with when she was bored, one to escort her to the cinemas when she didn't want to go alone, he was tired of being the guy who was a shoulder to cry on when another numbskull with more sper::m than sense broke her heart...but in Phi's terms, he lacked the balls to just spill his heart out to her and damn the consequences.

"No, I have to compile the total earnings of the businesses for the year before it comes to an end, and I'm not even half-way through" he lied through his teeth.

"Mm hmm" Phi said, making it clear that she didn't believe a word he said.

Donny really didn't care what she thought, she wasn't the one he had to convince.

Kachi could detect Donny's lie, he wasn't exactly a good liar. She wanted to press the matter, but on second thought, decided to let it go. If he didn't want to tell her his true reason, it would be wrong to force it out of him, "Fine then. Good night, send my greetings to pops." she went to him and gave him a hug, this time, she didn't withdraw immediately, she wanted him to know that she knew something was up with him, and he could tell her whatever it was.

When she finally withdrew, she leaned in and pecked his cheek, "Merry Christmas Donny" she said with a small smile.

He managed to smile back despite the pain he felt, he didn't get her, if she didn't like him the way he liked her, then why did she do these things? Why the pecks and the warm smiles? Was she not aware how those made him feel? How much hope they gave him, only to have them crushed when he got home and realized that another day had ended and he still hadn't officially made her his girl?

"Merry Christmas Kachi." he replied, he wanted so much to return that peck with a passionate kiss on those full lips that would have her swooning, to touch her just a bit more intimately than those friendly hugs, to fill his hands with her ample bottom while he held her so close she could feel the hard-on he was getting from holding her, to bury himself so deeply inside her that she would have no doubts who she belonged to and would never have to look twice at another man- especially Jeremy, and claim her in the way every man wished to claim the woman whose mere gaze could turn their once confident selves to blubbering messes.

But instead of doing all of this, he stepped back, hugged Phi only briefly, and walked out the door without a second look. Christmas sucked!

Christmas sucked? Naaaaaaaa. It is the other way round, Donny's life sucks. Hmmmm, na wa for Donny, chicken livered. Thanx Safarigal

Hahaaaa... Nice one dear... Thanks a bunch..

Serves Donny right!
Ride on dearie