Intoxicated Romance

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 10

Toni:

“are you still there?” i ask when the line is silent for too long

“umm yea, you took me by surprise that’s all. Lets meet at the address

I’ll send you, to discuss the details.”

“okay” i say and the line goes dead. Ok, this is it. My baby isn’t

really the only reason why i am agreeing to marrying Steven

. I feel

the chemistry between us and i want to explore it. If my plans to

capture his heart doesn’t go well, the 10million I’ll get at the end

will help me start a new life. I might open my dream restaurant. I

close my eyes for a while and pray for the best.

“so what made you change your mind?” Stevens asks. We are in a small

cozy restaurant at the end of my street. The place is dimly lit and

our table has two pink candles casting a romantic feel to our table. I

wonder why he chose this restaurant. Anyone looking at us would think

we are too lovers, hopelessly in love with each other. They wouldn’t

be able to fathom the kind of situation we are in right now.

“marrying you would be an adventure i cant miss” i say nonchalantly

and shrug my shoulders.

“an adventure” he muses. I have to be more convincing

. I cant let him

think i have an ulterior motive. He will surely doubt me if i come

straight out and tell him i am pregnant for him. He already thinks i

am a gold-digger.

“10million naira is alot of money” i say as a way of explanation. His

face falls for a sec then he smiles.

“then its a deal?. Marry me for a year and walk away with 10million naira?”

“i have some rules I’ll like to enforce during our sham marriage” i

say and steven’s brow rise.

“go on”

“before our marriage, you buy a house and i get the house after our

marriage” he raises his brows at me then gesture for me to continue.

“during our one year of marriage, there would be no sex between us” i continue

“i have no problem with that”

“no infidelity”

“i can do that”

“if anything happens, say you find out something you don’t like and it

breaks the marriage before the completion of the year, i still get my

money”

“what could that be?”

“just promise”

“okay i promise. I have my rules too.”

“i am listening”

“k, we have to behave like we are in love in public and in front of my

family.”he says and i nod at him. I can do that

“and by pretend, i mean holding hands, smiling at each other and

kissing if necessary” okay, that could work in my advantage.

“what else?” i ask

“we have to sleep in the same bed”

“but i said no se-“i say and he cuts me off

“its just for appearance. The maids could leak somethings to the press”

“then we live alone. No maids”

“even if there are no maids, we could have a surprise visitor”

“okay fine!” i say and pout at him and he laughs

“you were not against the idea of sex with me when you sneaked into my

room last month” he mumurs but i ignore him.

“so, are you ready?” he asks as he goes down on one knee then bring

out a ring from his pocket. Its beautiful.

“antonia, love of my life, do me the honour and marry me. I promise to

love you till i die” he says. This may be ake but my heart is beating

ten to the dozen. My hands are even shaking in nervousness.

“yes baby, I’ll marry you” i say and stretch my left hand towards him

and he puts the ring on finger then kisses it. This does ridiculous

things to my heart. I don’t remember feeling this way when Kacy

proposed. The lying cheat. His stupid ring is lying at the bottom of

my wardrobe. I cant believe i fell for him. I was so naive that i

didn’t see any signs that he was married. I push thoughts of kacy out

of my mind as Steven stands upright and hold my waist. He stares into

my eyes with a strange expression on his face. His head starts moving

towards me and i realise that he is going to kiss me. His scent

saturates my senses and my eyes flutter close. As soon as his lips

brush mine in a light caress, it feels like electricity is passing

from his lips to mine. I feel Steven stiffen and his hand on my waist

goes tighter like he felt the same. His kiss intensifies but then he

stops suddenly. I groan my disappointment then open my eyes when i

hear flashes. The press are here and they are taking pictures. He must

have alerted them. No wonder he chose this restaurant with a romantic

setting. I had thought the kiss was real.

. He was probably acting for

the camera. Steven pulls me to his side and kiss my temple then

whisper in my ears.

“that was amazing” and i blush

“i should have known that you are a great actress. I think we have them fooled”he says and my heart sinks.

I smile on the outside as our

pictures get taken.

An hour later, i am at home. I sit on the sofa and ponder how i am going to break the news of kacy’s betrayal and my new engagement to my

family.

My brother is beside me surfing through the tv. I see kacy’s

picture on a new channel and ask him to stop.

“he was found hanging from his ceiling fan few hours after his

pregnant wife was found dead.” the reporter says.

“Jesus!”i shout and my mom and dad come out of their room to inspect

the noise. I hear my brother tell them about the news.

“i knew something was up with that young man. Thank God you haven’t

married him.”my mom says to me but i just think about kacy’s wife.She

was probably getting kidnapped when i saw her.

“what is the meaning of this?!”my dad yells and point to the tv.I look

at the tv and behold its me and Steven with his hands around my waist.

The headline reads: most eligible bachelor getting married. Oh no.

“surprise” i say and grimace.

“you are getting married?. To your boss? How? when?”

“i love him dad” i half-lie

“when did you meet him that you are already in love with him?! I would

not be a party to this. This was how you rushed into courtship with

kacy and now see what it turned into.”

“dad, i am old enough to know what i want. I am marrying Steven and

that’s final”

“toni! Listen to your father!”

“mom, i thought you like him”

“i do, but this is too sudden”

“i am marrying Steven next month so dad, mom, you better accept it or

you’ll lose a daughter” i say and walk to my room.