Ch. 6..10: The Wife I Never Met chapter 6-10
Chapter 6
Boity looked at the two and pretended to be surprised.
” owh great you guys know each other, Ciara care to tell me how you met?” she then let out a cunning smile.
Ciara looked very miserable, ‘ heck I knew getting in this car was a bad idea’
“We dated” that response came from the driver himself. Upon hearing that Ciara glared at Dex as is she would skin him alive if he did not zip his mouth the very moment.
As if rubbing salt in the wound, Boity continued ” is that so? Well honestly I don’t mind that all. Ciara don’t feel bad ok, I know Dex loves me the most. I trust him.”
Ciara only smiled at her. ” I see”.
It was as if the heavens were with her, as she noticed that they had arrived at the filming site, she took that as her que to leave that embarrassing moment.
She immediately got out of the car as soon as it entered the parking space, she did not even wait for the car to fully stop. Yep that’s how anxious she was to get out of that freaking embarrassing situation.
As soon as she got out she spotted the director that she had spoken to before coming to the site.
“Director”
“you are here, great let me introduce you to everyone here.” he led her to team, starting from the videographer or camera men then to props team not forgetting to explain the responsibilities of every one involved in the process of making her movie a reality. He the introduced all the cast members to her, from the male lead to the extras. Everyone welcomed her warmly. There wasn’t much to farce about as she was not going to be their competition as far as work is concerned. “unfortunately I introduce you to the female lead, as she hasn’t joined the cast yet. But don’t you worry she’ll arrive tomorrow and you will be able to see he tomorrow in the evening during the welcoming dinner party.”
Well to Ciara that did not really matter, as long as she’ll be there when filming starts. So they then started chatting for a while about not so important stuff.
When is was time for lunch, they went to the kitchen on wheels truck which was a contracted catering company which will be serving them meals for the duration of the shoot. While waiting for her turn to get her meal she heard a few of the ladies gossiping.
“guys did you hear who will be our female lead, Linda herself!!!”
“I really hope it’s not her, if it is we are going to be in trouble. I heard she’s a diva and likes thing to happen her way.”
” well there’s only one way to find out, tomorrow at the dinner party”.
This peaked Ciara’s interest, she wanted to see this Linda that they were afraid of. To be honest their gossip didn’t frighten her at all she felt that, even of Linda was a bully or a diva as they said she is, it wouldn’t affect her at all as she will not be acting, plus she’ll only be here for a couple of days.
Af
ter their meals, everyone started chatting in groups trying to get to know each other, in this industry connections are important to get ahead.
Director Sammie then came to Ciara again to check up her, to make sure she was settling in well.
“Ms Williams I forgot to introduce you to one of the the investors, he is here today to also inspect everything. Come with me”. He then pulled her towards the temporary office that were set up by the crew. When they entered she noticed that Dex was tnere, she immediately became gloomy. ‘ why the heck do i have to meet this guy everywhere, for heaven’s sake, can’t he give me a break’.
She went in, stifled her annoyance and forced a smile..
” so Ciara this is Mr Dexter, he’s one of our investors, you’ll be seeing more of him in the coming few day”
Hearing that she was so angry that she wanted to strangle Dexter right at that moment, but she was at work so she had to be professional. She tried hard to suppress what she was really feeling and greeted the fellow.
“Mr Dexter, thank you for investing”.
Dexter only looked at her with a smile and then nodded. Seeing that there wasn’t much going on plus she couldn’t stand Dexter’s presence, she decided to head back to the hotel.
” Director if there isn’t anything to do, I’d like to head back first.” the director was understanding so he let her leave without any hassle. She then went back, she was so angry that she failed to see the scenery outside through the window on her way to the hotel. All she could think of was that bastard who ruined her day. ‘what right does he have to just come here and ruin my day, he is nothing but a bastard, humpf’.
As soon as she reached her hotel, all she could think about was an antidote for her anger, something to relieve the stress, she headed straight to the wine cooler in her room.
“alcohol, alcohol, alcohol” this was all that came out of her mouth as she opened the wine and poured it in her glass, it was only after her first sip that she realized that it was dry wine that had opened. Heck as long as it could numb the pain, she didn’t care that it was bitter. She frowned as she drank her first two glasses, after that she that it was one of the smoothest wine she ever had.
She then took her phone and scrolled through the contact list and stopped on number before calling it. It wasn’t long before the call was connected. She didn’t even wait for the person on the other side to speak.
” you know what I hate the most?…. Its when the person I hate just shows up out of nowhere, stays at same hotel as me, the worst of it all i have to tolerate him cause guess what?, he is one of the freacken investors, I’m so livid right now you don’t know”.
The man on the other side of the phone frowned a little before asking, ” are you drunk?”.
Chapter 7
She lowered her head and murmured “yeah” but then that was not the point hence she felt aggrieved. She felt like she wasn’t able to get the message through.
“Hey, that’s not the point. Can’t you see that I am angry?”
But all she got from the man was.
“mhmm I see”
Hearing those words she was stunned for a moment, then immediately ended the call. ‘What did I think, I’ve only just met the dude, he doesn’t love me why would I expect him to care’. She felt wronged and poured herself another glass of wine, and then sent an SOS message to her girl’s group chat.
……
On the other side of the phone Liam was in a board room full of head staffs from each department, others were there to report the progress of their respective departments while the one who was currently speaking was pitching for their upcoming project. So when Ciara called he wasn’t able to speak freely hence he decided to cut the call short, what he didn’t know was that his response hurt Ciara.
……
Not even a minute after that her phone vibrated, showing that there was a group call coming in. So she connected, seeing the state she was in Stacey spoke first while pouring a glass of wine, trying to be the best “Drinking buddy” on the other side of the call. She was helping her drown her sorrows, well that’s what she thought.
“OH CiCi, what happened. You were doing well not so long ago, what’s wrong?”
Her voice was so soft and gentle, it was as if she was coaxing a baby, but that did do the trick as she felt that she’d finally received the attention she needed.
“Guys you have no idea how livid i am right now, guess who I bumped in to today?”
Lisa pretended that she was thinking very hard, not forgetting to put her hand on her chin, with her finger gently tapping on her nose.
” mhmm, it should be that scum Dex. What is he doing that side? ” well he’s the only person who can make her this angry.
” hey you were supposed to guess, anyway yeah it was him the worst of it all he’s here with Boity. I mean out out of every women in our city he chose my cousin…..”
She then went on to tell them about how they met and everything that happened that day.
The girls were so furious it was as if they had experienced all the humiliation themselves.
” That cunning fox, I bet she knew that you guys dated but still agreed to it”
“The way I see it, she must have been the one who seduced him first. You know friend your cousin can be loose at times” she shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t mean anything with her statement, s
he was just saying.
They continued chatting till Ciara forgot that she was in a bad mood to begin with. After the call she felt lighter and was even in a better mood so after washing up, she called it a night.
The next day she woke up in good spirits, she was even humming her favorite song ready to take the world. After cleaning up, she changed in to her outfit of the day. She had her breakfast delivered to her room, in that way, she wouldn’t have to bump in to Dexter and his knew girlfriend. Well luck was never on her side, she still saw them the minute she stepped out of elevator, they were already at the exit. Suddenly Boity her cousin wrapped her hand around Dexter’s waist just like how a couple would do, but soon after that action she turned her head to look at Ciara and smiled, it was more like a victory smile. It was like she was gloating, she had finally got the man that Ciara loved the most.
What she didn’t know was that Ciara had already made peace with how things ended. She wasn’t about to ruin her day by getting worked up because of people that didn’t matter to her, she had done enough of that the previous day.
Today wouldn’t be that busy as there was only a press conference to introduce the cast and a dinner party later that day, so she won’t be seeing much of them anyway. With that thought in mind she held her head up high with confidence and exited the hotel, her driver was already waiting for her outside.
They then drove to the venue of the press conference. She was only there just to show face as the screen writer and didn’t really put much effort in dressing up, as she felt that it was not necessary to do so.
When she got to the Venue and greeted everyone before going to director Sammie to check in with him, so they chatted for a while, he was just briefing her about what the conference will entail. At that moment Ciara spotted a very beautiful woman coming in the hall in a dramatic manner, she was wearing a silver long dress with a thigh high slit. Her face was meticulously done with her red lips to complete the look she was wearing shades even though they were indoors . Beside her was three people one holding her bag, the other was holding a stack of documents while the third was telling her something.
The director noticed her and then followed her gaze to where she was staring at.
“that’s Laura the female leas, she can be a handful, so be careful and stay away from her”.
“Noted” she smiled politely showing that she appreciated the heads up.
Chapter 8
Soon the press conference started, relevant questions were asked, which was what the movie was about. This was supposed to entice the audience. The Journalists then shifted their focus to the male and female lead, just to find out a little about them. While all of this happened Ciara was sited with the other assistants and listened to the press.
She was much comfortable sitting there as they wouldn’t sometimes maake small talk, so she wasn’t that bored. After the press conference everyone relaxed a little, some helped themselves to the refreshments that were offered at the table.
Ciara took a few snacks as well, with a freshly brewed coffee and sat down while surfing the internet,. She noticed that there were already some trending hashtags about the movie, which meant that people were looking forward to watching it once it is released.
While still busy in her phone, she heard a woman screaming at someone ” hey you!! Come here, are you deaf or what.”
Ciara lifted her head curious to see who was the woman shouting and who was she shouting at, only to find that Laura was looking at her. She looked so angry that she wanted to walk over and slap Ciara there and then. She felt that Ciara didn’t respect her at all, she was just an assistant but dare not give her face. Mhm she had to teach her a lesson.
She was so ignorant, she saw Ciara in simple clothing and saw her with the other assistants during the press conference and assumed that she was one of the assistants.
Ciara stood up and smiled ” owh are you speaking to me? Sorry I didn’t notice”
“yeah right, cut the crap. Get up and go get me a bottle of water.”
Ciara maintained the smile on her face, but her eye were so cold that they could freeze them up by just glaring at them.
” Ms Laura I believe that your hands and legs are working perfectly fine, so why don’t you do it yourself”
With this Laura livid that she almost vomited b***d “do you know who i am, do you know that I can end your career just like that”
Seeing that things were starting to get out of hand the director came in, so he can defuse the situation. He pulled Ciara towards the corner as if he was going to reprimand her. Seeing this Laura laughed a little. ‘ How there she act all high around me, she’s nothing but an assistant’.
Right at that moment in a corner not far from the rest of the team, Director Sammie was talking with Ciara.
“what happened, I thought I told you to stay away from her, she’s trouble”
“owh well I guess trouble always find me, she came to me and demanded me to serve her”.
“OK, I see. Be careful next time, I heard she has a strong backing”.
“Got it, if there’s nothing else I’ll get going first”.
“Ok don’t be late for Dinner party “.
Ciara
only nodded to show that she heard what the director said and left the venue. She went straight to the mall, in hopes of buying a nice dress for the party. She went to a few different stores, trying out the dresses, in the end she left the mall with not only the dress she came to buy but with a couple more bags of dresses and shoes. She calls it a retail therapy.
After all the ‘retail therapy ‘ she was famished, so she decided to grab a salad as there will be proper food at the dinner party which was in less than 2 hours.
After her meal she went back to the hotel and freshend up, not forgetting to put on her light makeup. She was wearing a long black body hugging dress with a slit on the side, with a pair of red bottoms.
She went downstairs to the private dining hall that had booked, a few of the ladies were already there when she arrived. Some were seated in groups and gossiping so she chose the least visible seat in the hall but could still hear what they were saying.
“Hey I Heard Ms Laura has a strong background that’s why she’s so arrogant”
“No she’s not arrogant at all but she’s got class”
” Hehehe class my foot, that woman bosses every one around”
At that moment Laura came in the hall, but because the ladies were seated facing the entrance, they were able to see her before getting caught gossiping about her.
“Hey Ms Laura, over here” one of the ladies invited her to their table. To their surprise Laura accepted the invitation.
“Ms Laura you look beautiful today, I saw the news the other time that you were Mr Jones’ girlfriend, he must be lucky to have a beautiful girlfriend like you” this one actress was curry favoring her.
Hearing that Laura was embarrassed to say that, the scandal was actually caused by her for hype, so she went along with it.
” Owh yes Mr Jones is really a sweet guy, look this is the gift he sent me before I came here” she said this with a smile on her face while blushing. The gift that she was showing them as gold bracelet with diamonds on it.
At a corner some where in the room Ciara’s body had already stiffened, thinking this was all true. She vowed on her heart that she had to question Liam about all of this. ‘Men can be trash’.
“Ohw Mr Jones is caring, to buy you a gift that expensive. You should invite him to visit, see my Dex is here with me” yep that was Boity, Not wanting to be outdone, she had to show off.
Laura’s stiffened but soon relaxed when she realized that everyone in the room would never be in contact with Mr Jones. ” Yeah he’ll come when he’s not busy”.
All this while Dexter’s eyes were fixated on Ciara, captivated by her beauty. Noticing this Boity was so angry that she pulled him to the furthest table away from Ciara.
Chapter 9
Soon the party started and people were chatting among themselves. Dexter would from time to time steal glances at Ciara. Then it was now time to toast each other in appreciation for the role one had played in making the movie a reality.
After a couple of toasting, one of the directors stood up and made his toast. He looked in the direction of Dexter and said.
” I know that all our investors are busy, and most them weren’t able to make it here tonight, so I would like to toast Ms Boity, without you we wouldn’t be able to see Mr Dexter here.” he drank his glass of wine in one go and poured another glass then looked at Dexter and said.
“Mr Dexter this one is for you, thank you” and drank from the glass, with that he looked at Laura and said.
“Laura I heard the news about you and Mr Jones, when you get a chance, please do invite him”.
Not knowing how she should respond to the man in front of her, Laura only smiled half heartedly.
At the same time when Ciara heard all of this, she was so angry and annoyed that everyone kept bringing it up. She felt that every one knew about this scandal except for her, and it seemed to be true, she really needed to get to the bottom of this.
Since everyone was hung up on Laura’s scandal, she felt bored, so she took out her phone and started scrolling down on social media. She noticed that the movie press release from earlier that day was still high on the trending list.
The the Door suddenly opened, but Ciara was not bothered by that as she was still engrossed in reading the comments. When everyone saw the person who had just entered the room, they were first surprised then nervous. They moved their eyes from the figure at the door to Laura who was seated in one of the tables in the dining hall. One of the actresses was courageous enough to whisper in exclamation.
” It’s Mr Jones!!!”
Finally the head Director managed to gather himself to welcome the new guest. It was really difficult to approach Liam as he exuded an aura of superiority, was very aloof and looked arrogant.
” Mr Jones, it’s really an honor to have you here, please do seat down”
He said this while pointing at seat next to Laura. hearing the diretor’s words Laura looked at Liam in anticipation, hoping that he will really take the offer. This will give her a chance to finally talk to Liam and maybe she can leave a good impression, who knows maybe Liam would also fall inlove with her.
But, Alas, luck was not on her side that day. Ever since Liam entered that room, his eyes wondered around for a few seconds as if searching for someone, and when they landed on that person, they never left.
So when Liam heard the director, he only responded with a nod, and started moving, but instead of seating next to Laura, he walked passed as if he didn’t not even see her and headed straight to a seat at the corner where his wife was seated.
Everyone was dumbfounded by his actions. They also, somehow found it funny and started whispering amoung themselves.
“Didn’t Laura claim that Mr Jones was her boyfriend, what’s happening now”
“hehehe she dare use Mr Jones for hype”.
” did you notice that Mr Jones did not even spare her a glance, it was as if he did not know her at all.”
Hearing this Laura was infuriated and felt insulted and humiliated at the same time, sadly she couldn’t do anything about it. She felt that Even if she could leave the room to save face, doing so was not an option to her, she just couldn’t let Ciara snatch her man in front her and not do anything about it.
Similarly when Ciara saw Liam walking in the room she thought ‘ finally the rumor has been confirmed, so the boyfriend is here to see his mistress, probably Laura invited him’ but to her surprise Liam ignored Laura and even acted like he didn’t know her at all, what pleased her the most was the fact that he chose to sit right next to her.
Although she was happy about how Liam acted, she felt that she should not show him at least until she had cleared everything up with him. She was still angry at him ,plus she wanted to know about his relationship with Laura.
Once Liam was seated, the party continued. They decided to play a game as an ice breaker, hoping it will bring them closer. Which is actually beneficial to them as they will be shooting soon. They will be able to work harmoniously.
Among the games suggested, they unanimously chose truth or dare. And so it started!
They asked their questions and made their dares, soon it was Ciara’s turn. Boity took the opportunity to ask her. She felt that it was her turn to humiliate and rub salt on Ciara’s wound.
“Ciara, truth or dare, pick one”
“truth”
“If given a chance, would you ever get back with your ex?”.
Ciara was stunned by the question, she then glanced at Dexter and answered without hesitation.
Chapter 10
“Not even on my death bed, NO, I would not”. Her answer was so resolute that not a single person in the room was able to refute her. Even Dexter himself looked so miserable upon hearing those words. Perhaps he was starting to regret his decision of breaking up with her. Sadly for him, he was in no position to question her . He hated Boity for putting him in that embarrassing situation.
Noticing the awkwardness looming, one of the crew members decided to continue with the game, so they played on until it was Liam’s turn. Laura Decided to take the opportunity to make an impression on Liam, she believed that Liam chose to sit near Ciara by pure coincidence and not because he liked her. Anyway who would fall in love with an assistant. This was her only chance and would use it wisely. Which ever way Liam chose to participate in the game, whether he chose truth or chose a dare, she had to make both favor her.
So she asked him “Mr Jones, truth or dare”, with out even thinking about it, he answered.
“Dare”
Laura smiled at him and said “pick one a lady of your choice, and k**s her”. Everyone was so shocked by Laura’s bravery but still looked at Liam in anticipation, all of them hoping that he’d choose them.
Mean while, Laura was looking at Ciara with a smirk on her face. ‘I bet he can’t wait to come to me, why wouldn’t he, right! I’m better than everyone in this room. She was very confident in her ability to attract any man that she wanted.
Unfortunately for her, Liam was a married man and would choose his wife any day. So immediately after Laura’s words fell, he stood up and pulled Ciara in to his embrace and gave her a very passionate k**s.
Upon withness the scene unfold before them, everyone was so shocked that their mouths were left opened forming an o. They were so envious of the basic looking Ciara, who had scored herself a k**s from the most eligible bachelor from their city. They all felt that it was nothing but pure luck, nothing to gloat about.
Unlike the rest, Laura was fuming and if one would look closely, they’d realize that smoke was coming out from her ears, figuratively off cause. She was so angry that she hated Ciara even more. That was her chance, her on and only chance that she had created for herself. But Ciara had to ruin it for her, why?.
With all the injustices and humiliation she felt she had suffered from Ciara, she felt that it would be best for her to leave the banquet while her dignity was still intact. Plus she just couldn’t stand seeing Ciara so close to the man she believed belonged to her.
The party soon came to an end and everyone said their goodbyes and returned to their respective rooms. Ciara also took the chance to return to her own room. It was not until she reached her door when she realized that someone was following her. Liam has been by her side since he arrived at the dinner party earlier.
She open the door, went in her room but still letf the door opened for him to enter. Liam closed the door behind him.
“Why are you here?” those were the words he heard from his wife the minute he entered the door.
“is that how how you welcome your husband?” he looked at Ciara with a raised eyebrow, seemingly annoyed by her question.
“I’ll give you a second chance to express yourself, sweetheart.” he the ln looked at her expectedly.
“What do you mean? I called you last night but you acted liked I was bothering you and did not to care about what I was saying. Anyway what’s your relationship with Laura, everyone seems to know that you are an item but I’m the fool here, huh.”
“What do you mean? I called you last night but you acted liked I was bothering you and did not to care about what I was saying. Anyway what’s your relationship with Laura, everyone seems to know that you are an item but I’m the fool here, huh.”
Liam listened to her carefully while she was shouting. But soon started smiling, it was as if he had only taken in the last sentence of whatever it was that Ciara was shouting about. ‘is she jealous, mhmm look how adorable she is when angry’.
Seeing that Liam was not defending himself but only smiled, Ciara was even more enraged. She figured that, that was his way of confirming the rumors.
“so you’re going to just stand there and not say a thing? Liam, don’t you think that I deserve an explanation?”.
Looking at the angry Ciara, he pulled her closer to him trying to comfort her. But she tried to pull herself out of his arms, she needed to stay as far as possible from this man.
Noticing her reaction, Liam the man who never explained his actions to anyone felt that at this very moment he needed to at least say something. He looked straight in to her eyes.
” firstly I don’t know the person you are talking about and I don’t think I’ve ever met her before. So now you can see that there is no relationship between me and that person”.
“well you did see her today, and there was a report about you two being an item. Can you explain that?”
“Do you know how many reports are written about me each month, so will you believe everything?, I will say this for the last time sweetheart, I do not know that woman.”