Chapter 72: Chapter 72

"Camera rolling, character one in position, character two on standby, other characters in position, take 3...2...1... action!" the Director said

when it was time for Daisy to come in, I took a deep breath and went into the classroom, I saw the note and frowned. I took it up and turned to look for Blake, he made a "phone call" sign with his hand, I gave him an evil stare, squeezed the note and put it in my mouth and chewed it. I took out what was left of the note and placed it on his desk, cleaned my hands and went to my seat.

"cut! perfect, I love what you just did UK, you really portrayed how much Kyle annoys you. nice work. Next is scene 14, let's head to the school gym guys. You can go UK, I think you need to rest, you won't be having any shoot this week, go give your studies some of your time," the Director said.

"thank you Director," I said and moved to my dressing room

Blake blocked me on my way there, "UK please talk to me, what is going on?" he asked

"nothing, just leave me alone," I said to him

"but... but..."

"Blake please, I am begging you in the name of God, stay away from me. please... spare me," I said joining my hands together in a pleading way.

I turned to see Max standing right behind me, I went away and didn't say anything else to Blake.

I got home to see Elizabeth and Sandra doing their work with make up on their faces "are you guys going somewhere?" I asked them

"oh no Miss Udofia, Natalie was just displaying her makeup skills on us," Sandra said

"her what?"

"my makeup skills," Natalie said joining us, "I have been practicing even before we travelled and I'm getting better,"

"that's nice" I said to her

"wait UK, I need a favour"

"what is it?"

"can I be your assistant outside the house, I don't really have what to do here in the house when you are gone and you're usually gone for a long time. I want to be your assistant in your celebrity life, y'know... do things for you wherever you are. I am being paid a large amount of money every month and I feel I'm not doing enough work."

"I don't know, I didn't employ you and I don't think I have the power to choose the kind of work you have to do," I said

"fine, I'll talk to Mr Kale about it. By the way, Stones and more would like you to showcase their new sets of jewelries. I'm sorry for reading your email, I forgot to log out and lots of notifications were popping up." she said

"no problem,"I said leaving to my room. it looked a bit strange when I got in, turned out Natalie really did a lot of work here while I was away. she divided my reading table into two parts, labelled one side "school" and the other "work" there were colourful Post-It notes stuck on the wall, she arranged my entire week schedule and made it very simple to know what next to do, the time and place it would take place.

She talked to Jade about being my assistant outside the house and Jade said, "UK can do anything she wishes"

Natalie turned out to be very useful, I was glad she was still her normal self with me around.

We shot the movie for three months, those were the longest and saddest three months of my life. Jade gave me cold shoulders, and every other things seemed to be very tiring and stressful. I had poor scores in my continuous assessment.

The day we shot the last scene of the movie, the organizers threw a party to celebrate but I quietly went to my dressing room, cleaned my makeup and changed into my clothes and went home.

It was a party that brought all these on me, I wasn't going to another party. I thought.

I went to my room ready to shower, eat and sleep but then I saw a gift box on my bed. The note on it read "8pm. Max knows the place"

I opened the box to see a simple off-shoulder black dress and a pair of silver sandals.

And for the first time in months, I smiled, no... I laughed out of happiness. Jade bought me a gift and he was taking me out for dinner, this could only mean one thing...

Jade has forgiven me.

I couldn't believe my eyes, the handwriting on this note was clearly Jade's. I placed the box on my lap and caressed it smiling, after three horrifying months my life was going back to normal. few minutes ago I felt like I didn't have anything to live for, I was empty inside but now I was bubbling with excitement. Jade has forgiven me, I was smiling foolishly.

"UK can I... what is happening to you?" Natalie asked as she saw me smiling

"oh Natalie, you wouldn't believe what just happened, Jade has forgiven me" I said excitedly. it felt better saying it out

"oh my God that is good news, you must be happy," she said

"happy? do I look happy? I'm... I'm elated, I... I don't even know how to express this joy in me right now. This is the best day of my life Natalie, I have been waiting for this day for three months and now... it's here"

"I'm so happy for you," Natalie said hugging me.

she suggested that I eat and take a nap before leaving but I was too excited to eat or sleep, I did take a small portion of my lunch because she insisted and then I laid on my bed, checking the time on my phone every now and then.

6.23pm Natalie woke me up, I showered, dressed up in the clothes Jade gave me. Natalie did me a simple make up and styled my hair.

7.50pm someone knocked on the door of my room, Natalie went out to meet the person. "Is Miss Udofia ready for her 8 o'clock appointment?" I heard Max ask

"yes, she is ready. UK, Max is here to take you" Natalie said.

I picked up my purse and went out "let's go" I said and he moved aside for me to pass

"good luck and have fun" Natalie called out.

Max pulled up in an open field and came down to open the door for me, "where are we?" I asked him

"this way," he said and I followed him,

we bent a corner and I saw a pathway lined with candles, "follow the candles," Max said and turned towards the car. The place was quiet except for the sounds of nocturnal insects, the pathway led to a beautifully decorated tent.

It looked like Christmas except there was no tree, there was a table at the center of the tent covered with food, drink. Jade was pacing when I got in.

"Jade?" I called

"UK, you came, I was scared that after everything I said to to you, you'll hate me and reject my invitation" he said walking up to me

"don't be silly, I was sad but I could never hate you neither will I reject your invitation," I said to him

"oh UK, would you ever forgive me? I am so sorry for all the horrible things I said to you, please I'm so sorry," he said hugging me.

I held him tight and took a deep breath, inhaling his cologne. I felt alive, like an asthmatic person who just used his inhaler after a terrible attack.

"I am sorry too, I shouldn't have paid more attention to my rehearsals and forget about you and Juliet," I said

"don't apologise, I got jealous of you and Blake spending time together and I lost my cool, God I have missed you so much. These three months have been the worst period of my life because you weren't with me. Seeing you looking all sick and frail because of what I said was the worst punishment I could ever have. I took away the brightness in your eyes and the smile on your face. I've missed running with you, eating with you and doing things with you. I almost lost you because of my blind jealousy, please forgive me UK. I swear I'll never hurt you anymore," he said

my eyes swelled with tears, I have turned to a very emotional person because of Jade, I couldn't control my tears anymore.

"why are you crying?" he asked

"I'm just so happy Jade, I'm scared this is a dream and when I wake up, you'll still be very angry with me," I said

"then this should prove that everything happening now is real" he said and kissed me passionately.

Yes, definitely real. Dream Jade can never kiss like this.

"I have missed you so much," I said as we broke the kiss

"I missed you too, look how skinny you've become. and do you know that those makeup you wear doesn't cover the dark circles under your eyes? I'm sorry I made you go through all this." Jade said.

my stomach rumbled loudly and I wrapped my arms around it. "come on, let's eat. I'm so glad the shoot is over, I'll spoil you with all the best thing I could provide, to get you back to the real UK you've always been." he said

"I'm still not done with school this semester," I told him

"it doesn't matter, I want to take care of you, I want to make up for those three sad months I made you go through," he said

I took a fork full of pasta, "hmmm... tasty," I said "you really need to taste this Jade," I said to him.

"if only you'll feed me," he said

"I'd be happy to," I said and fed him

"delicious indeed," he said

"allow me" I said and wiped off tomato sauce on his lips and licked it off.

"please stop," he groaned

"stop what?" I asked looking innocent

"nothing, never mind. tell me, what kind of jobs did Natalie choose for you?"

"she didn't choose them, she thought they were better and I thought that way too. Anyway the first is a runway dress showcase and the other is an advert for skin care products,"

"hmm... interesting, no movies?" he asked

"not till next year, I told Natalie that I really didn't want to take another acting job Immediately. I need to pay more attention to my school work, and these two jobs would give me time to focus on school."

"Natalie is really working well as your assistant huh?"

"you," I said smiling "she's perfect for the position and she really enjoys doing it, I can't remember the last time I was able to carefully arrange my schedule accordingly. Natalie sorts them in their order of urgency, imporooooo9optance and so on. she is my right hand person, my PA."

After eating, we took a stroll in the open field, kerosene lanterns lit the area we strolled, casting eerie shadows everywhere. I held on to Jade's arms just in case something or someone came out behind the shadows to scare us, I pushed the scary thought away.

As I walked, the heels of my shoes drove into the grass making it difficult to walk with ease. "what's wrong?" Jade asked

"my shoes, they keep punching holes in the ground, making it hard to walk," I said

"I'm sorry I didn't realize this isn't the right shoes for this environment, I should have gotten you something better," he said

"don't worry, I'll just take them off. no biggie," I said shrugging

"you sure?" I nodded "alright, let me," he said and bent to get them off. the cool grass felt so nice under my feet, "you okay?" he asked

"yeah" I said smiling.

We walked quietly swinging our hands gently, a gush of wind blew at us and I shivered. jade must have noticed because he took out his jacket and placed it over my shoulders, "thanks" I said wearing it well.

"anything for you honey," he said. He cupped my cheeks and kissed me on the lips.

It seems Heaven approved of this love because right there under the starless sky, with Jade's hands on my cheeks and his lips on mine, the first snow fell. I don't know if the belief is true or I've been watching a lot of K-dramas but it is said that if you are with the person you like when the first snow falls, both of you will end up together. myth or not, I believed it and I prayed silently that it should be true.