Leo and Chris were both leaning on the railings overlooking the crowded dance floor below when Leo suddenly froze in place. The words he was about to say got stuck in his throat because of who he saw.
It was the woman that was sent by his father's killers to infiltrate his family through him.
"Ayinke!" He unconsciously whispered her name to himself.
She was stunning! He couldn't help but noted that fact to himself. The simple black satin bodycon mini dress she wore hugged her curves to perfection. For some seconds, he was in awe of her beauty. Then he became filled with contempt as he watched her walked down the stairs, arm in arm with another man.
'Dave Arinze?' He glared with hatred at the man she was holding hand with. 'Is he another victim of hers or just a sex partner?' He jealously wondered to himself.
He didn't even spend up to two hours in her company yet for some reasons he couldn't explain, seeing her holding hands with another man hurts his heart. Jealousy and hatred rage through his veins like molten lava waiting to burst out.
Chris who wondered why Leo suddenly stop responding to their discussion looked up to find Leo's facial expression set in death glare. He followed his line of gaze and was also surprised by what he saw.
It was the call girl Leo picked last Friday night. He remembered her quite well enough because a man never forgets such beauty. Beautiful women have a way of living their impressions on men.
"I'll be right back" Leo suddenly said with a voice that had gone cold and deadly within minutes. He started walking down the stairs looking like he was about to go commit murder. Chris immediately follow him for damage control. He knew the extent his friend can go to whenever he's angry.
"Hey!..."
"Leo!..." Chris called forcefully to get Leo's attention that was completely focused on the girl he had murdered over and over in his his head.
"What!?.." Leo answered without stopping his descent down the stairs.
"What are you doing?... Where do you think you're going?"
"I need to talk to that bitch!..."
"You need to talk to her while she's with another man!?..." Chris asked incredulously. "Common man!"
"What's wrong with talking to her while she's with another man!? My business is with her not with the asshole she's with!" Leo answered with disdain.
"Common man, calm down! I'm sure you see that the asshole she's with is Dave Arinze!?"
"I don't give a flying fuck if she's with old man Arinze himself! Besides, why are you telling me to calm down, when I'm perfectly calm?" Leo asked like he had no idea he was fuming.
"No, you're not calm! You're practically emitting smoke from every orifice in your body and just barely keeping your temper in check...
Look I'm not saying you can't talk to her, I'm just saying it's not proper for you to talk to her while she's with Dave and in such temper!"
"Sorry, no can do!" Leo said without stopping his descent, now taking two steps at a time.
"Leo stop for a second and think for Pete's sake!..."
"I- am- thinking!?" Leo stopped and stressed his words, looking at his friend with eyes that were blazing with anger before calming himself down a little bit.
"Chris I have to talk to that girl right now!... In case you've forgotten. My life now hangs on a thread... Her thread!"
"I understand quite well what is at stake here man. What I want you to understand is that it's not proper for you to talk to her while she's with another man... What are you gonna tell him?... Excuse me, I need to talk to your girl because she put some kind of spell on me and I must marry her to save my life!?..."
"Yeah, something in that area..."
"And what if Dave took it the wrong way and things now escalates!? Look around you! Look at the crowd here, and imagine the headlines when people started taking pictures and videos of what transpires between the three of you...
The heir to the Salvadorian Empire went completely bonkers over a call girl!... The bloggers and newspaper houses would have a field day over that news Leo!
You've worked so hard in the past months after your grandfather's stroke man. I'm just concern for you cos you can't afford to have any negative attention drawn to yourself right now that your CEO position was about to be made official.
You can talk to her later. At least, now we know how to go about contacting her..."
Leo sighed deeply. He knew Chris was right about his concern for him. But there's something Chris doesn't understand about how he's feeling and he's not sure if he can make him see reason from his view.
How can he explain to his friend how he couldn't resist being drawn to the witch and how he's now feeling threatened by the man she is with. How can he explain that it felt to him as if Dr. Dave was about to steal some important part of him if he didn't act fast...
How can he made his friend understand how he's feeling towards a girl he's supposed to hate with passion? No! He would never understand.
"Chris you don't know how I'm feeling because you aren't in my shoes... And I honestly have no idea how I can make you understand..." Leo said with regret in his voice before continuing down the stairs,
"Leonard!" Chris called out in frustration. He hesitated just for a second before hurrying after his friend who he felt was clearly not thinking with his head at that very moment.
***
One moment they were talking and laughing. Emma was teasing Dave about his lack of concentration and how he almost lost the game for the whole team. The next moment, their laughter just kind of drifted off to silence as his eyes bored into hers.
There was a brief pause that was not longer than two seconds before his face started bearing down, slowly moving nearer and nearer towards hers.
Even though it was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, it's safe to say Emma saw it coming. She knew what was about to happen but still asked the unnecessary question that humans can't help asking when they find themselves in some kind of situation.
"What are you doing?" She whispered when she saw his face moving closer and his eyes fixated on her lips.
"Kissing you of course, or do you have a problem with that?" Dave whispered back praying in his heart that she didn't refuse his advance
'Do I have a problem with him kissing me?' Transfixed in place, Emma wondered to herself. What do you do when you're not committed to any man and a good-looking man was asking you for a kiss?
You kiss him back, of course, that's what you do... And that's exactly what Emma did. She kissed him back. She kissed him with the same fervor with which he was kissing her. She didn't know for how long the kiss lasted... But all through it, she was expecting sparks to fly and butterflies to start fluttering in her stomach.
The kiss was nice. Dave sure know how to kiss, no doubt about it. But it was missing chemistry. There were no sparks and she didn't feel any flutter in her stomach. It was just nice, nothing compared to the kiss with the asshole that took advantage of her.
The feelings were different for Dave though. He's been wanting to kiss her from that first time he saw her in his office. It's unethical yes, but doctors are humans too. They can't help how they feel sometimes.
Kissing her was exactly what he had envisioned it would be. It was fire! Just like her fiery nature. He felt the heat sensations all over his body and a stirring down in his loins.
***
With the top of Dave's car down, Leo clearly saw them kissing when he walked into the Night Owl's car park. He stood transfixed in place with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
His face was contorted in pain while watching them kiss fervently. Leo felt cheated on and betrayed. He couldn't for the life of him understand why seeing a woman he barely knows kissing another man hurt so much.
"Fuck!..." He whispered to himself in disappointment while still looking at them intently.
Chris was not the only person that noticed how hurt and heartbroken Leo was by that kiss. A tipsy man who was almost pushed down when Leo and Chris rushed past him walked up to them.
He initially wanted to demand they apologize for nearly knocking him down. He however changed his mind when he saw Leo looking painfully towards the couple making out in the car.
"I can also relate to that my man... Believe me, I know exactly how you're feeling." The man said and patted Leo on his back while they were all looking towards Dave's car.
"Women are scum!"