Ring! Ring! Ring!
Jayson groaned at the sound of his phone ringtone. Without opening his eyes, he stretched his hands over to the table trying to reach for the phone but just when his hand reached the phone; it fell off from the table to the floor.
"Oh f**King Jesus!" He groaned in annoyance as he was forced to open his eyes. He sighed and ran his hands over his face before he sat up on the bed. As he tried to move out of the bed to get his phone, a hand pulled him back.
"Where are you going baby?"
He frowned before he turned his side. His eyes travelled down to her hand clutching his and he frowned harder. "I hate getting all touchy." He said to her with the frown still plastered on his face.
She swallowed and slowly let go of his arm before she sat up.
He sighed and moved out of the bed before reaching down to pick the phone. The phone started ringing again and he sighed when he glanced at the caller.
Jayson rolled his eyes and placed his hand on his waist. "What is it, Eric?”
"Good morning sir.” Eric, his personal assistant greeted. “I just called to remind you about your date with Miss Ella.”
Jayson furrowed his brows in confusion. "Date? What date?”
"I told you about your date with Miss Ella yesterday, sir.” Eric pointed out.
It took Jayson a few more seconds before he recalled that his assistant had indeed told him about his so-called date with his to be fiancée. He could not even recall her name and it sounded strange to his ears when Eric called her name. It pissed him off the more he thought about getting married to a complete stranger. His father had forced him into this god damn forsaking contract marriage thing and he hated it so much. He had thought all he had to do was sign a contract with the unknown woman and seal the whole thing but his father wanted something different.
The only reason he agreed to this whole marriage thing was because his father threatened him with his inheritance and he could not afford to lose that. There was no way he could survive without money and comfort and if it took one contract marriage to prevent that, he would have to do it. That was how he agreed to the whole thing but it did not turn out to be as easy as he thought. His father kept pressuring him to make it look real so that the media would be convinced. It was not as if he was a celebrity so he saw no reason for all that, all that is needed was to sign a contract that showed he was legally married, wasn’t it? Well, his father being his father would not spare him a break. The man had never cared about anything but his own ambitions and gains.
Jayson sighed, “I forgot. What time is it?”
“It is by 4 pm sir.”
Jayson glanced at the wall clock and his eyes widened when he saw that the time was 3:30 already.
“Why didn’t you call me sooner, Eric?”
“Um, I did but you weren’t picking. I would I have come over to your house but I did not want to disturb you.”
Jayson rolled his eyes, “Well I have heard you, send me the location.”
“Um sir, your father said I should remind you to go with a ring.” Eric added on.
Jayson narrowed his eyes in confusion. “A ring? For what?”
“For proposal. You have to propose to her during the date. There would be people positioned there to take pictures of the scene.”
Jayson scoffed. He could not believe what his assistant was saying. He had to propose? What was the need for all that?
“Would that be necessary?” He asked with a frown on his face.
“According to your father sir, it would be very necessary.”
Jayson rolled his eyes. The man would never run out of ways to provoke him.
“Fine. You go get the ring Eric and bring it over to me before I finish getting ready.”
“What brand should I get sir?”
“Do I look like I care Eric? Just get whatever and bring it over!” He yelled at him through the phone.
“I am sorry sir; I will do that right away.”
Jayson hung up and threw the phone on the bed. As he stood there with his hand on his forehead and the other on his waist, he felt a hand slowly moving over his shoulder. He groaned in annoyance and shrugged her hands off with irritation.
“Get the f**k off me.” He growled at her. “What the hell are you still doing here? Don’t you know when to f**k off after a hook up?”
The girl gulped and moved away from him.
“Make sure you are out in the next five minutes.” He said to her and after he reached for his phone, he walked out of the room.
As he made his way down the stairs, his phone started to ring again and he glanced at it before he answered it.
“Hey man, what’s up.” He said to the caller.
“Yo man, are you still coming or is your schedule tight?” A deep masculine voice asked from the other end of the call.
Jayson sighed, “No man, I’m stuck with this marriage thing and now I have to a f**king date.”
“Oh man, that must really suck. Alright then, we could just postpone it since Dave would be busy with his shoot as well.”
Jayson nodded, “That’s great, see you later.” He hung up and continued his steps.
Some minutes later, he was already done and was dressed up. Just as he was putting on his wristwatch, his assistant walked into the room.
“Here is the ring sir.” He said as he stretched out the tiny box to him.
Jayson turned to him and took the box from him. “I hate this f**ked up shit.” He grumbled under his breath before he started walking out of his room with Eric following quickly.
“I saw a very pretty girl leaving the house, sir. I wonder who was.” Eric asked pretending not to know the girl was one of Jayson’s numerous women.
Jayson glared at him. “Shut the f**k up.”
Eric kept quiet immediately and quickly moved his eyes to the tab in his hand. He started scrolling through it before turning too Jayson.
“I will reschedule your schedule for tomorrow sir.” Eric said.
“Just add them to my afternoon schedules, I will handle them together.”
Erica nodded. He knew his boss might play around a lot but when it came to business, he always took it seriously.
Meanwhile, Ella was already at the venue waiting for Jayson but there was no sign of him and she was already starting to get impatient.
“What sort of man would keep a lady waiting for almost an hour?” She rolled her eyes as she glanced at her wristwatch again. It was almost five already. She took out her phone and was ready to call her father when she heard footsteps approaching. She turned to the direction and saw him walking towards the table. If her mother hadn’t shown her his picture the night before, she would have known it was him. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew he was very good looking.
He reached the table and took his seat without saying a word to her.
“We were supposed to meet by four.” She said as she stared at him. She was already pissed that he kept her waiting for almost an hour and he just sat down without even saying anything?
He shrugged, “Traffic.” He replied curtly.
She stared at him in awe. Traffic? That was all he had to say?
“You should at least apologize for keeping me waiting.” She frowned at him but he didn’t even say anything. It was as if she was talking t herself.
She sighed and nodded her head. And then a waitress walked over carrying a tray which contained a bottle of wine and two glasses. The waitress poured the wine into the two glasses before walking away. Ella immediately reached for hers and took a sip from it while Jayson stared at her. There was something familiar about her but he couldn’t put his finger to where he had seen her before. This was their first time of meeting each other so it confused him the more as to where he had met her.
Ella placed her glass back on the table and looked at Jayson who was staring intently at her as if trying to figure out something. She wondered why he was staring so deeply at her but she didn’t ask and simply sighed.
“So, let’s be clear about something…” She started to say. “I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this, getting married to a total stranger…” She shook her head. “I am only here because my father wouldn’t get off my back if I didn’t go with this.”
Jayson didn’t say anything but simply kept staring at her. It was as if he was not even listening to her.
“Are you even listening to me?” Ella asked with a frown. He was annoying the hell out of her.
“Have we met before?” He asked instead of answering her.
She paused and furrowed her brows in confusion. “We? And where could that be?”
Jayson pursed his lips and looked away from her.
“Did you listen to anything I said?” She asked him.
He didn’t look at her but simply reached for the glass of wine on the table. Maybe he was just mistaking.
“I heard what you said and it should be obvious that the feeling is mutual right?” He asked with a shrug before he took a sip from the wine. “And besides, you are not my type.”
Ella scoffed, “And what makes you think that you are my type?”
Jayson shrugged, “I am every woman’s type.”
Ella shook her head, “Who is filling your head with that bullshit?”
Jayson didn’t say anything and simply looked around. He was trying to find the people his assistant had told him about but he couldn’t find any. His father must have positioned them in hidden places.
“Let’s get this whole thing done with, I don’t have all day. My father asked me to propose to you here.” He said trying hard not to roll his eyes.
Ella wasn’t surprised; her father had told her about it too.
“Alright”
Jayson stood up from where he sat and walked over to where she sat. He sighed before he reluctantly brought out the ring box. He went down on one knee and without wasting time, he took out the ring.
Ella stretched out her finger to him and forced a smile on her face. He wore a fake smile also and slid the ring into her finger. Immediately, what was heard were sounds from cameras and claps from some of the people present in the restaurant. Jayson rose up to his feet and walked back to sit down.
“Congratulations.” Jayson turned his head to the direction of his voice and he held himself from rolling his eyes when he saw a reporter standing in front of them alongside the rest of his crew. Jayson had no idea where they all popped out from and he only stared at them.
“Thank you.” Ella said with a smile and quickly reached for Jayson’s hand. “I am really happy.”
“We are happy for you both. Congratulations Mr. Jayson Abiola.” The reporter said.
Jayson feigned a smile, “Thank you very much.”
After a while, they all left and the two of them were left alone.
“You are a really good actress…” Jayson started to say. “One would think that we are actually a couple.”
Ella rolled her eyes.
“So you were saying you didn’t want this? Are you actually doing this because your father won’t get off your back or is it because you are scared of going broke? Which is it, Elsa?”
Ella clenched her fist in anger. “It’s actually Ella and not Elsa.”
Jayson scoffed and stood up. “I have done what is needed so there is no need for me to remain here. Have a good day, Elsa.” He smiled and turned around to walk away but she held him back.
“If we are going to do this then we better act properly until the end. We should leave together.”
Jayson sighed, “Alright, let me just assume I’m giving you a ride." He said flatly.
Xoxo