Suspects: murder case

Chapter 47

Chapter 47

‘’Take photos with me for social media, go with me to the functions I go and present yourself as my fiancé. We will also need to fake an engagement where you put a ring on my finger.’’

‘’Oh.’’

‘’First things first, we need to change your wardrobe, no offence but you dress like a street adult.’’

‘’That’s insulting.’’

‘’I am not even sorry for saying that, have you taken a good look at yourself and the clothes you wear?’’ she laughs.

‘’You know I could say no.’’

‘’What’s your answer?’’

‘’When am I supposed to get this money?’’

‘’I could give you half today and you get the rest when we are done, there will also be allowances in between.’’

‘’How about you give me thirty now and the twenty later.’’

‘’It’s a deal.’’

‘’Yes it is.’’

‘’We will set some ground rules that will set the tone of this relationship.’’

‘’No problem.’’

‘’So let’s meet up tomorrow and get you some new clothes and then you can meet my mum in the evening.’’

‘’Your mum?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’We also have a function on Sunday evening. When I get the job I will give you one of my cars for easy movement.’’

‘’What about the job? Am I supposed to continue working for your father after you leave?’’

‘’Nop, you send me your papers, I will get you a better job.’’

‘’Great.’’

Saturday, I am sitting at a restaurant having lunch with Daniel, we are sitting by the window looking on to the rear porch at the end. Daniel and I spent the entire morning shopping, at least I have managed to get him some decent clothes, he just needs to get a haircut and we will be good to go.

‘’Like I said, we shall be together for six months- no s*x, no strings attached but you are not allowed to be with another woman during the duration that you will be pretending to be my fiancé, your duty will be to convince people in my social circle that we are madly in love, you will go to functions with me, we shall attend media interviews together as well as photo shoots.’’

He shoots me a questioning look then he opens his mouth as if to say something but quickly shuts it.

‘’Spit it out,’’ I say.

‘’Is this all worth it for a job? With your credentials you could a job at any company in fact with the money that you have, you don’t even need to work, you could live comfortably for the news few years without a job.’’

I smile, ‘’Sondashi Inc. is not just a not just any company, its one biggest advertising company in Africa- that will be an upgrade for me. But if I am being honest, at the moment the main reason I am doing this is to get back at my father. I can’t let him and his daughter win at this and you know what? Plus you know what makes all this exciting?’’

‘’What?’’

‘’Kenzie had a temporary fling with Jaden before he got married, my dearest step sister is bitter about this, imagine the anger on her face when she sees me posting photos of me and Jaden’s family.’’

‘’So this is about revenge?’’

‘’It’s more than that, can we continue?’’

‘’Sure.’’

‘’I am sure you know the basic things about me, I am Stella Msizi, I am my mother’s only child, my parents are divorced, Mr. Msizi is the man who fathered me and he has one child with his current wife. My mother and I are inseparable but I don’t get along with Mr. Msizi and his daughter,’’ I take a bite of my pie before I continue.

‘’I love writing and that is why I have been passionate about my job, away from work I love reading, shopping and traveling. I am also a huge fan of social media- I am a fashion/ lifestyle influencer on i********: and f*******:. I hate house chores plus I don’t cook, I usually eat out if not my maid caters for all meals, tell me about you.’’

‘’You already know my name and age but there’s also something I didn’t mention.’’

‘’Which is?’’

‘’I am a single father of one.’’

‘’What?’’ I exclaim.

‘’I have a daughter, her name is Joan, she is actually the reason I accepted to do this, I needed the money for her treatment.’’

‘’You said you are single.’’

‘’I am single, my child’s mother and I are not together.’’

‘’What happened?’’ I ask

He takes a couple of minutes to tell me his story and by the time he is done, I am moved- his baby mama must be a heartless woman, how could she walk away from a sick child? Now I understand why he dresses like that, he uses all his money for the sick child, I never thought I would get myself involved with someone who has a child but I could use this to my advantage.

‘’That’s a sad story, I would like to meet your daughter soon.’’

‘’I will arrange for that.’’

‘’Can we see her today? Before dinner at my mother’s?’’

‘’Today? What’s the hurry?’’

‘’Please?’’

‘’Okay.’’

‘’What do you do away from work?’’

He smiles, ‘’I am a loner, I don’t do much apart from reading, playing games and watching television. I must also mention that I love cooking, I used to make meals for Nkoli because she too hated cooking.’’

‘’You sound like the perfect gentleman.’’

‘’I try to,’’ he laughs.

‘’So how did we fall in love?’’

‘’Pardon?’’

‘’People will obviously ask how we met and we should come up with one story to convince them.’’

‘’It can’t obviously be love at first sight because people know how much you hate me,’’ he says and I shoot him daggers.

He shrugs, ‘’it’s true, you treat me like trash, what do you expect.’’

I roll my eyes, ‘’I hope you understand that nothing will change between us, this is business don’t expect me to try you like a king behind closed doors, I will do my part when we are in public though.’’

‘’Yes madam.’’

We spend the next hour coming up with a story of how we fell in love before I drive us back to my house then I give him the car keys for one of my cars and he leaves, promising to pick me up later in the evening. I managed to get Daniel another job as an administrative manager, he starts on Monday, I will hand over his resignation letter to Mr. Msizi.

Walking into the house, my phone rings, Jada is on the other end of the line.

‘’Baby girl!’’

‘’Hey, you.’’

‘’How are you?’’

‘’I am fine, how are you? What’s up?’’

‘’I managed to get someone to pose as my fiancé since Calvin refused.’’

‘’Tell me about it.’’

‘’Daniel, my P.A from the office.’’

She laughs, ‘’How is that even possible? You hate that guy, how did you convince him to even agree to this?’’

‘’It’s a long story babe, I will tell you all about it when we meet but we are on for dinner at my mother’s tonight then we shall be dinning at your father’s house for your sister in law’s birthday dinner.’’

‘’Okay, all the best, I will see you tomorrow.’’

‘’See you babes.’’

‘’What was that about?’’ Daniel angrily asks, we just left the Hospice where his daughter is admitted. I didn’t tell him but I invited my social media management team to come along so they could get some photos of us and the baby.

The photos will come in handy when Daniel and I officially announce our engagement to the world.

‘’I needed some photos for my social media accounts, if I claim to be in love with you, they should be some photos around to show that I know about your child and I love her too- this is just business sweetheart.’’

‘’That wasn’t part of the plan Stella, you can’t just come up with such decisions, you should talk to me about it. This is about my child and I am not happy that you want to drag her into this whole issue.’’

I shrug, ‘’this is just business Daniel, don’t worry your child will not be hurt.’’

‘’I don’t even know if I want to do this anymore.’’

I laugh, ‘’you signed a contract and paid part of the money we agreed on, don’t you dare threaten me with that shit.’’

His mouth twitches once as I stare at him waiting to hear what he will say next.

‘’Before you make decisions that involve Joan please talk to me first, I will really appreciate it.’’

‘’I will remember that.’’

‘’When are you likely to post those photos on social media?’’

‘’After our official engagement photos they will be sent to one of these gossip online media houses so they can be posted. We want to make it look like someone licked the photos without our knowledge- giving people something to talk.’’

‘’I guess you have it all figured out right?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Fine.’’