CHAPTER TWO
1958 Words
My lips twitched as Evelyn smeared lipstick on them. I hated the color red but I had to stick with it because that was a part of the plan.
"All his girlfriends had shiny red lipstick smeared on their lips." Evelyn explained without being asked to.
I rolled my eyes, "Let's get this done with."
"I promise you. You will love every bit of this plan, Lily."
I scoffed as I stood to my feet. Evelyn was done with my make-over.
"Preach on! Miss Evelyn." I glanced at the wall clock. "It's going to be 6pm in 23 minutes, I guess that with an Uber we can get there early enough?"
"Thanks for your calculative memory. I have already ordered us an Uber." I nodded to her words, trying to hide the nervousness building up in me. I felt jittery and incapable.
Evelyn's phone rang, she answered the call and pressed the device against her left ear, focusing her gray eyes on me.
"Hey mum?" She drawled and I felt air leave my lungs. f**k! I was too pumped up by this idea that I didn't think of mum finding out!
"I'm screwed" I whispered through gritted teeth as I leaned in to listen to their conversation.
"Umm, mum. They are asleep right now. We've had lunch…" She trailed off, creasing her forehead. "We are waiting for you to get home before we have dinner." She paused and listened for a while.
"No mum. The lunch was prepared by Brie. I only helped with the dishes… Uh, yes mum. She took good care of them, mum." She smiled then craned her neck in shock.
"What?! You're not coming home?!" She exclaimed then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for shouting, mum. Okay, okay, I will inform everybody." She nodded vigorously.
"All right mum, have a great time. I will let her know. All right, bye!" She chimed and dropped the phone back on the table.
"What did she say?" I asked in urgency, sweating from worry.
"There's good news and bad news." She began and I nodded my head, urging her on.
"Mum is going to be back pretty late and she said that she will check the CCTV footage."
"f**k!"
Evelyn placed her palm on my shoulder, making me look up at her. "I'm the big sister here. Let me sort this out. As for you, focus on getting ahead with our plan…"
The chiming of her phone distracted her. She picked it up and scrolled through it for a few seconds. Looking up at me, she arched a brow.
"It's time to act, Lily! Let's get this done!"
I furrowed my brow at her as she pushed me towards the door, "Your Uber is waiting for you outside." She informed, casually but I could only manage a smile.
Everything was happening too fast and my nerves were going on rampage. I tried to calm myself by taking deep breaths but I shivered instead. We stopped at the door of the car, it was a sleek Honda accord.
I smirked, fair enough.
Evelyn opened the car door for me and gently pushed me into the seat. Leaning into me, she whispered, "This is your chance, Lily. Look at what would happen if this works out. Cut out the fearful thoughts." She paused. "This is your chance, don't screw it up."
Even though I knew she had intended her words to be soothing, they only spiraled the nervous feeling in me and I felt my toes recoil in my shoes. The slamp of the door brought me out of my head and I gulped forcibly knowing that I sat between my future and my mother's wrath.
I turned to the window for safety but all I could see was Evelyn's retreating figure. I thought she had planned to follow me but I guess plans changed with the call from mum. I have never seen Evelyn on stage but this twist of events shows that she is really good at what she does.
I adjusted my view after Evelyn and our neighborhood were behind me. I glanced towards the driver to see that he was observing me quietly. On a normal day, I would have given him the stink eyes but I could use a dose of kindness now so, I flashed him an awkward smile instead and focused on the road.
"You're sweating , miss. Should I turn up the AC?" His manly voice came and I nodded
"I would appreciate that." I responded without looking at him.
He fiddled with some buttons in the car and I soon felt the cold gush of air on my body. I turned back to him and smiled broader.
The air conditioner was doing its job to calm my nerves and I decided to bask in this feeling before I'm mashed between a lot of rich, arrogant people in this so-called exclusive party.
"You seem tense, miss. Are you sure you are okay?" His voice came again.
I became pissed. Why was he suddenly acting all concerned about someone he didn't have any affiliations with?
"I'm fine and I'll be glad if you stopped with the questions already. Thank you." I mumbled, trying my best to keep my cool.
"You look beautiful, though!"
"What's your name?" I inquired, not having any more of his friendliness.
"I'm Austin." He responded with a broad grin but I wiped it off his face with my words.
"Austin, is this how you harass other young women that patronize you? Once I get down from this crappy thing you call a car, I will give you a bad review because I've been trying to be polite but you're taking my seeming kindness for granted" I vented my tension on him.
"I'm sorry miss." He apologized in a small voice but I hissed and adjusted myself in the seat ignoring his words.
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"We are here!" He announced and I jumped back into the present. I unbuckled my seatbelt and asked him if he's been paid by my sister and he answered in the affirmative.
I waved him goodbye and stepped out of the car. The gush of air that rushed at my face was soothing and I was prepared for this.
All I needed to do was to dance and that's what I've been upto since I was five.
I made my way to the entrance of the huge building where the party was being held. The bouncers stopped me as I tried to get into the hall and I quickly flashed my invitation card in their faces and they made way for me to get into the hall.
Plastering a beautiful smile on my face, I walked into the party. Flashing grins at the well-dressed young men and nodding in response to the faux smiles from the ladies. The party wasn't crowded with sweaty people as I had envisioned. It was instead scanty and had a handful of the elite men in the society.
No wonder! Evelyn had spent hours on my face. I immediately felt grateful to her. If not for her calculated efforts despite my whining, I would have been feeling lost in this room due to below-the-standard dressing.
I felt a presence loom over me and I impulsively looked up. It was a handsome young man with a smirk that turned me on.
"Can I have this dance?" His sonorous voice had me vibrating. I gulped nothing
"No, I don't dance the salsa."
My response seemed to surprise him because he stepped back to take a scrutinizing look at me. His gaze made me uncomfortable as much as it teased me.
"That's new coming from a finely dressed lady like you." His jaw creased, "What dance do you do?"
I placed my palm on his shoulder and rotated my waist, giving him an answer to his question. His face turned blue as he stepped away from me, acting like he'd seen a ghost.
"I'm sorry but I can't accept dancing with you." He concluded and dashed away before I could form a protest in my head.
"Urgh!" I yelled as I began scanning the room, looking for my target. The reason I was here in the first place.
My eyes soon fell on him. He hasn't changed much except that his beards were all white and some part of the hair on his head too.
I smiled in satisfaction as I glided to the dance floor, my body balanced on the tip of my toes and my waist vibrating. At the dance floor, I swung into full action which drew everybody's attention to me.
My hands collaborated with my waist to create a seamless rhythm. The cheers and claps were like music to my ears as I showcased the different techniques I had learned and mastered from years of practice.
The music paused and I took the opportunity to saunter to the young man from earlier who was standing afar with his mouth agape. Pulling him by his tie, I brought him onto the dance floor. As if on cue, the slow music began to seep from the speakers into the room and our bodies glided smoothly to its tune.
I could tell that the man was an expert dancer because he didn't miss any steps as I performed a mixture of salsa and waist breaking to the awe of the audience.
The beat became faster and so did my waist. We twisted and turned and ended the dance with my knee pushed forward to the torso while he held me in a slanting position.
The cheers were painful for my ear drums as we came down the stage and he walked away to a table. I suppressed the urge to follow him as that was the second point of the big plan we had.
I saw a waiter coming towards me with a tray with glasses of curtail, balanced on his left hand and I straightened my face, picked a cup of wine and made my way to my next target.
"May I?" I asked, referring to the seat opposite him and got an approving nod from him.
Perfect!
"You are the girl who had just performed with my son, right?" The older man asked, smiling at me and I returned the gesture.
"Yessir, I am the one."
"What's your name, young lady?"
"I am Lillian McClure, Sir." I responded, avoiding his eyes just like I have been told to do by Evelyn.
"One of my business associates has the same surname." He spoke , thoughtfully.
"Oh really? I know my mum has done some kind of business with your company before."
"Hmm? Really? What's your mother's name, then?"
"She's Justina McClure." The surprised look on his face had me dancing inwardly.
"She's a good friend of mine. I never knew that she has such a talented dancer for a daughter. " He shook his head briefly "What a small world we live in." I nodded in agreement with his words.
He scanned me for some seconds before leaning on the table that way, his face was closer to mine and I impulsively looked down at my shoes.
"Look at me, Lillian." He instructed in a calm tone and I turned my face to him. He jerked his head sideways and I looked to see what he was trying to show me.
I spotted his son's tall figure amongst the group of youths who surrounded him. He laughed at a joke that someone made and I relished the view of his dimples. I was still feeding my eyes when he cleared his throat suggestively.
"You like him?" He questioned and my pupils dilated in shock.
What did he just say?!
- Writer
