Chapter 49: Chapter 49

"Ling?" I called out and she turned, she was grinning when she saw me, "hey there, superstar," she said to me as she got in. I drew her close to me and hugged her, "you don't know how much I've missed you, you're always with Darren and not me,"

"serves you right, you'll be staying in a different faculty quite far away from me, I am just getting used to being away from you." she replied "And you must be UK's new friend," she said to Ariel

"Yes, Ariel, nice to meet you and thank you for permitting me to join you." Ariel said shaking Xiao Ling's hand "wow, nice grip," Xiao Ling said

"sorry, I squeeze a lot of stress balls" Ariel replied

"okay, it's good we now know ourselves..." I started but Xiao Ling interrupted me

"Ariel, how long have you known UK?"

"I first knew her on the launch of Night Dream..."

"obviously" Xiao Ling muttered but either Ariel didn't hear it or she pretended not to.

"... we had pizza and milk shake together yesterday but we didn't officially meet until this morning,"

"you are confusing me, you said you had pizza and milk shake with UK yesterday but you officially meet her this morning, how is that possible?" Xiao Ling asked                                                                               "Actually the pizza was for students in my department who were happy to see the face of Night Dream in their midst, we all had it together while getting to know ourselves," I said saving Ariel the strength of having to explain.

"Really? I wasn't aware" Xiao Ling said

"so how are things going with you and Darren?" I asked changing the subject of discussion, just as Max pulled up at the parking lot in front of DANIES PLACE, the diner we were having lunch.

"oh my God, I love the food here at DANIES PLACE," Xiao Ling said in excitement. " I know, now answer my question,"

"Darren and I are cool," she said shrugging

"Miss Udofia, welcome, may I take you and your company to your usual spot or you would eat elsewhere?" Remi, the waitress who often attend to Jade and I when we eat here, asked me. "my usual spot, Remi" I told her and she led us upstairs.

"you and Darren are just cool?" I asked as we waited for Remi to serve the food we ordered

"you don't understand, I really really like Darren but I'm not sure he feels the same way about me," she said

"aww, don't be sad I'm sure he'll come around," Ariel said

"I understand how you feel,'' I told her.

"is that what your Prince charming is doing to you?" she asked me

"you can say that, he acts so sweet and loving but I don't know if I should get my hopes up, but one thing I'm sure of, is that his behavior has changed towards me, he always create time to be me, even if it means missing work the whole day." I said and my mind drifted to the moment we had in the yacht. I could swear that was love

"so what special thing did he do?" Xiao Ling asked

"he took me out on a date on Monday evening, on his yacht" I told her

"GET OUT!" Xiao Ling exclaimed "you mean he tough looking prince charming can be so sweet? So how was it?"

"The best thing that has ever happened to me" I closed my eyes and said dreamingly. We parted ways after lunch, I was on my way to the car when Jade called, "hey honey," I greeted. "Someone seems happy to hear from me," he said "nope, not you. I just had lunch with Xiao Ling and my new friend, Ariel at DANIES PLACE, that's why I'm feeling happy" I told him

"you backstabbing brat, you went to DANIES PLACE without me, and you took your friends with you, I'm never going to take you to my special meal places again," he said

"stop acting like a grumpy old man, if you've not yet had lunch I could get something here for you" I told him

"grumpy old man? girl you have some nerves. Anyway I called to say that there are some people coming to my office in an hour and they would like to meet the face of Night Dream, so you can come with my favourite food at DANIES PLACE," he said.

"alright, I'll be there in few minutes," I said and hung up.

I rushed back in and asked Remi to pack Jade's food for me. 10 minutes later, Max pulled up in front of Jade's office and I went in, I didn't need directions this time to locate his office, I went straight without being confronted by anyone. Hallie was behind the counter, typing furiously, I didn't say anything to her so that I won't interrupt her work. I knocked on the door of Jade's office "come in" he said in a commanding tone, I opened the door and went in "what do you want?" he barked without looking up from the screen of his laptop

"I want you to drop what you're doing and give me a warm welcome" I said. He looked at me and a broad smile covered his face, "I'm sorry darling, I didn't notice it was you, hold on" he said and pressed a buzzer "Hallie, I'm on my lunch break, I don't want to be disturbed for an hour, if anyone asks for me, tell them I'm not around."

"Sure thing Mr Kale," Hallie's voice sounded from the buzzer.

Jade stood up and closed the Venetian blinds in his office and locked the door.

"Now where were we?" Jade asked rubbing his hands together

"you were about to have lunch," I said and handed the take out bag to him

"would you feed me?" he asked

"no, I will not feed you," I replied

"that's not fair," he cried

"life isn't fair dude, so live with it. Eat your food right now or else I'll finish it for you," I told him.

He took out his jacket, loosened his neck tie and rolled the sleeves of his shirt, "wow, all these just for a plate of tomatoes mushroom tortellini," I said.

"In case you have forgotten, this food can be really messy, I refuse to soil my custom made clothes, even if the food is super delicious," he said and tucked a napkin into the front part of his shirt and then he started eating.

"these people that want to see me, who are they exactly?" I asked                                                                   "Ever heard of Emy's Fashion House?" he asked

"No, what is it?"

"They deal on bridal attires, they design wedding dresses, veil and most of the accessories a bride uses on her wedding day. They are having a runway show next week Saturday to show their new designs,"

"I hope it is not what I think it is?" I asked

"It is, they want you to be among the ladies modeling for the new designs."

"You've got to be kidding me?""I'm being honest with you right now" Jade said

"No, I'm not going to do it, I can't do it, I would not do it, Jade. You better call them now that what they asked for can't be done," I said

He pushed his food away and walked up to me, "why can't you do it?" he asked in a gentle tone

"I'm surprised you are asking me this question Jade, you know the answer but you are still asking me why I don't want to do it?" I said

"I seriously don't know what your reasons are, and I'd like to know" he said

"there are so many reasons I won't accept this offer or whatever you may call it. First, I am not a model. Second, school is resuming next week Monday, which means I won't even be able to concentrate on the job when I'll be studying."

"This is a real job UK, you will be paid huge amount of money and stop saying you are not a model, I have earned close to 2 million dollars from Night Dream just because of you, people love you because you are different from the popular celebrities in the country. You are young, beautiful, and the way you talk and walk, even if it was few minutes, people love you. And if you thought that what you did yesterday, buying lunch for those students, ended on that field, you are clearly mistaken. True they might act normal around you but your fan base is increasing even though you are not doing anything spectacular." Jade said

"Don't you get it Jade, none of these matter to me as my education," I cried

"And your studies, aren't you learning to be a model?"

"An actress actually, it doesn't matter, if I get millions of dollars from modelling companies' products, I can't compromise my education for anything or anyone. Please Jade, I can't do this," I told him

"Do it for my sake, please. Emy is a very good friend of mine and I promised her that you would be happy to model her new designs, so please, for my sake do it." He said and went on his knees.

How could I say no to him, he was right, my education is preparing me for this and starting now would help me understand what I'm learning and also increase my popularity when I'm done with my studies.

"fine but I'm begging you, don't take these kind of decisions without my knowledge, I know you are helping me but this concerns me," I told him

"Oh UK," he said hugging me "thank you very much. Emy would be here in an hour, all you need to do is sign the contract she'll present. And please put a smile on your face, I love seeing you smile,"

" Of course, but right now, I really need to rest, that is if you don't want me to fall unconscious due to tiredness."

"you sleep a lot," he said

"come Monday, I will be so busy that I won't have time to sleep sometimes, so now that I have a chance to be sleeping, do stop me,"

" As you wish, your highness, you have an hour to rest, I hope that should be enough," he said

"that should do, only if you let me use your thighs as my pillow,"

"you can use it right now,"

I laid down on the couch with my head on his thigh, I still couldn't believe that I have a job as a model, Night Dream was just a warm up, this one was the real deal. I hope my parents would be proud of me if they see my modeling photos.