THE IDOL'S GIRL

CHAPTER FOUR

Kai had gone to the bedroom and locked himself there as soon as we got back to the hotel room.

"Let's go over the terms of your contract." Yeji said as she walked over to the small table that had two small arm chairs on either side, which were on one corner of the huge livingroom space. I sat in one chair as she sat on the other and I watched her take out a huge thick envelope from her classy leather briefcase.

"In here are two contracts, with two copies of each, one for the company and one is yours. One is the terms of your employment, while the other one is an NDA. I know I can trust you but it's protocol for all employees to sign an NDA for the sake of our clients." She said as she placed all four copies of the contracts on top the small table and two pens on top of the thick piles of paper. The way she arranged them, I could tell she was a sucker for order and perfection. I would have no problem dealing with it as I spent eighteen years dealing with it with my mum and ten more years of dealing with it cause of Ahlam.

I was the complete opposite though. I'd like to think that I thrived best in a messy situation. I knew how things were in a particular fashion that only I could understand. But I had managed to assimilate my ways into the professional way of doing things so anyone could understand my stuff when in a professional setting.

I took the terms of the employment contract first and looked through the contents.

"So your job is basically to handle any PR or communications for Eclipse as a whole and personally Kai even when in the group. Each of our idols on the wanted have their own PR and communications manager as part of their team, who are all a part of the PR team of Galaxy entertainment.

"This job is demanding and thus you'll be required to be on call almost every day apart from when you are on leave, which is granted thrice a year for two weeks, excluding holidays of course. You'll also be required to be on the road with your client and will be a part of the team that follows them all over while they tour. " She finished detailing a summary of the contract.

Coming from a family of lawyers on my paternal side, I knew a bit of the law and knew what most contracts entailed. Most contracts I signed on my own I always did so without the help of a lawyer. Unless it was too complicated for me to understand. Then I'd call one of my cousins. It also helps that I wasn't dumb.

I read through the contract, pointing out different clauses that I had an issue comprehending and Yeji was kind enough to explain. After I was satisfied with everything, mostly the pay with was a six figure amount that made me widen my eyes in excitement, astonishment and greed that I was sure my eyes were practically showing the dollar signs, I signed both copies of the contract and Yeji signed on behalf of Kai.

The NDA was pretty standard, with the main clauses being to maintain the secrets of my client or any private information that entailed their lives. Well in this case it was Kai, both companies and the wanted in general inclusive of the other members.

After signing all the contracts, I took a deep breath, knowing that I had signed over my life for a period of one year to Kai and the company, subject for renewal every year. For one year, I was under the mercy of Galaxy, Eclipse and Kai. Just the thought of having to deal with Kai made my heart sink but I kept reminding myself about my monthly salary and that frustration of dealing with Kai was thrown to the back of my mind.

"Welcome officially to the Galaxy/ Eclipse family." Yeji said as she smiled politely, as she stretched out her hand to shake mine.

"Thank you. I promise to give my best." I said smiling back at her politely, shaking her hand, basically sealing the deal.

"Oh I know you will. You already proved yourself back there." She said referring to the moment I stepped in during the conference.

"So I'll let you go as we don't have any more activities for the day. Plus we are all beat as we just landed earlier this morning. So you have the rest of the day off to prepare for tomorrow and essentially for the rest of the weekend." She said as she stood up and I followed suit taking the two copies of the contracts that were mine.

"See you tomorrow then." I said smiling as I took my bag from the couch. We exchanged numbers and she gave me Kai and C.M's numbers. She then told me to take the tablet I had used before as it was my work tablet and after bidding her goodbye, I left the hotel room.

I was giddy as I walked away from the room towards the elevators and the entire way as I walked out of the hotel. I took a cab, not minding that I had to dip into my small savings. I would make more anyway. Way way more. I had enough to last me through the month and a half for personal use. Though in the contract, it stated that the company would provide pocket money for their employees when on the road. And I had a feeling that I would be on the road alot. Just the thought of traveling around the world made me excited all over again. I had always wanted to tour the world. And although I knew I would be doing so while working, I had no doubt that Yeji would allow me to tour around when on the road during our free time.

While on my way back to my apartment in the Uber, I felt my phone buzz and I checked the screen to see Ahlam's name flash on the screen.

"Girl!!!" I said as soon as I picked up.

"From your excited tone, I know things went well." Ahlam said on the other end, with a chuckle.

"More than well actually." I said with an excited giggle that made the Uber driver look at me through the rare view mirror with a raised eyebrow questioningly. And I calmed myself down a bit.

"Spill." She said.

"Later. We are still meeting up right?" I asked just to be sure that we were still on.

"At Joe's right?" She asked.

"I'm feeling celebratory today. So I'm thinking we go big tonight." I said with an excited smile.

"Well what do you have in mind?" She asked.

"You already know. It's TGIF baby!" I said then we both shouted at the same time, " Club XO!" Followed by a series of childish giggles and again the driver gave me a look and I apologized lowly while listening to Alham's giggles.

"Okay so we are we meeting up at mine or yours to get ready?" She asked.

"I have some stuff to do so I'm thinking we both get ready then I'll pick you up with an Uber. But you know I'll call you to guide me on make up." I suggested.

"Damn! You going all out tonight, huh? Okay. What time?" She asked.

"I'll let you know once I'm done sorting out my s**t on my end." I said just as the Uber pulled up to my apartment complex entrance.

"Okay. See you soon girly. And congratulations." She said.

"Thank you. And see you soon." I said then we ended the call after making air kisses sounds to each other.

*******

I began packing up my clothes and stuff into two large suitcases. After checking Kai's schedule for the entire summer from the work tablet, I figured two suitcases were more than enough for me while we were on the road. Which began on Monday.

We would be staying in Dubai until Monday evening when we were leaving for London, where he would begin his Europe summer tour. We would stay in Europe for two weeks, going to different major cities for conferences and his solo concerts, then head to Canada, The US, Brazil and Mexico for the America tours before we head back to Asia, briefly stopping in Korea for the Waterbomb festival then the rest of Asia for the Asian edition of the tours. My entire summer was booked and I had no complaints.

I decided that i would send a notification to my landlord while on the road and ask Ahlam to help me with the move and apartment clearance. She would also keep my personal belongings in their mansion of a house for me and send them over when I settle finally in Korea.

As I was closing my second suitcase, I heard my phone ring and I went to take the video call, immediately answering when I saw it was a video call from my mum.

"Pookie. Why do you look out of breath?" She asked as soon as my face came on the screen. She looked like she was in the kitchen, probably cooking and I could see my younger brother Jeremy in the background on his phone.

"Hi mum. How are you?" I asked in a teasing tone and she rolled her eyes as if annoyed by me for ignoring her question. In case you are wondering, yes I got my spanky "charming" personality from my mum. Jeremy was a bit more cool headed and calm in nature. I often felt sorry for him for having to deal with my mum and me, especially when we were having a heated moment. Whether we were angry, sad or happy, my mum and I were very expressive. Whereas Jeremy always managed to maintain his cool and rarely expressed his emotions. Unless of course pushed to the edge. He was the worst when pissed off.

"I'm quite well. Now why are you looking like you just came out of a Mjengo?" She asked. ( Mjengo is Swahili for a construction building. Jenga is to build so when someone refers to Mjengo it's a construction site.)

"Well I'm packing my stuff." I replied.

"Packing? Are you moving?" She asked.

"Well, you remember the job I was going to look for today?" I asked and she nodded while chopping some vegetables on the chopping board.

"Well, I got a better one." I said and she paused looking at the screen in shock. Then she suddenly burst out in an excited scream, dropping the knife on the board, making Jeremy jump from his seat in surprise while I burst out giggling excitedly.

"Oh mungu ni mwema. Mungu ni Mwema." She said, making the praying pose with her hands as she jumped up and down in joy. ( mungu ni mwema is Swahili for God is good.)

"Damn siz. Congratulations." Jeremy congratulated me with a small exited smile and I thanked him as we waited for my mum to calm down from her excited high.

"I'm so happy for you Pookie. I told you you'd do it. I knew my prayers would work. Oh baby. If you were here I'd hug you and kiss you all over your face." She said as she clapped her hands, her eyes brimming with tears making me get teary eyed.

"Oh mum. Don't start." Jeremy said groaning and mum wiped a few of the tears that managed to escape from her eyes.

"Yeah you'll make me cry." I said sniffing as a few tears slipped out of my eyes.

"You are allowed to. This is a happy day. In fact, Jeremy we are ordering take out tonight. We can have this coconut beans stew tomorrow." She said and Jeremy got working excited.

"Wait, that doesn't explain why you are packing though." She said pausing for a bit.

"Well, my new job entails me traveling around with my client..." I started and went on to detail the events of the day and who I was working for. Even though she didn't know who I was talking about, with the help of Jeremy, she managed to Google information of Kai and the wanted and it's like she was even more excited than before making both me and Jeremy chuckle as we watched her.

"So now you'll be touring around the world? And you'll have to live in Korea?" She asked.

"Basically." I said shrugging.

"Damn Jazzy. I'm starting to get jealous." Jeremy teased with a smirk and I rolled my eyes with a chuckle.

"Lucky for you, once I settle down there, you can visit me. In fact you both can visit me." I said with an excited smile. I could already imagine just seeing my family face to face for the first time in two years. Just the thought of it made me want to tear up all over again.

With what I would be earning, I would be able to pay for their tickets and accommodate them for an entire month if possible. And I couldn't wait.

In case you haven't noticed, our family is very close. Even before dad died when I was fourteen and Jeremy was five, the four of us had always been close. And especially closer after dad passed away. We made it our mission to make sure that mum never felt lonely after loosing dad. Which was why Jeremy chose to stay home for his university, despite getting funding from our paternal uncle to go to any university in the world. And we also happened to be close to our extended family on both sides too.

Our mum was the last born of three daughters, while my dad came from a much larger family, being the fifth born out of seven siblings, three girls and four boys. All of my dad's siblings and my dad himself had followed the family route careerwise and were all lawyers, with only two of his sisters choosing to head the humanitarian activism way. Five of them and some of my cousins were part of the Sibuor Law Firm while the other two worked for Amnesty international and an environmental NGO in Kenya respectively.

My mum's family was a bit more diverse. Her eldest sister was a pediatrician in the biggest private hospital back home and the second born had established a successful tours company in Italy where she and her family lived. My mum took HR and was currently the HR manager for the family law firm.



Maya Akinyi Sibuor ( the mum)



Jeremy Sibuor...

Mum looked way younger than her age. In fact most people thought she was in her thirties when in reality she was forty nine. Her and dad met while in university and she had me when she was twenty while dad was two years older than her. They got married when I was two after she had graduated university and nine years later after they were both settled careerwise, had Jeremy. But four years later, my dad was diagnosed with stage three brain cancer. He got to make it for my fourteenth birthday and Jeremy's fifth birthday before he passed away.

I always felt bad for Jeremy because he could barely remember our dad and how much he loved us whereas I was lucky enough to experience all of it till the final moments. I was a daddy's girl through and through, mainly because I was closer to him and a little because my mum and I clashed a lot growing up. Dad always said it was cause we were so alike that's why we clashed whereas , me and him were complete opposites. The same applied to Jeremy and mum. It was no secret that mum loved her last born a lot more than me. And I learnt to live with that as I got plenty of love as an only child for nine years. So we never once competed for love. And even after dad passed, mum always tried to love us equally.

So I had no childhood traumas as I came from a loving home. But I still felt the burden of being the first born and older sibling. I often found myself having to take care of Jeremy and try to shield him from seeing the pressures our mum faced all alone as the sole bread winner of the family. And I stepped up to help whenever I could, especially when she had to work late or go on work trips and I had to take care of us even for a month.

But I guess I didn't shield him as much as I thought because Jeremy happened to be very observant and perceptive of everything going on around him. And I noted this when I was seventeen and he was eight, on one of the weeks mum had left us for a work trip. He had been subtly helping out around the house making things easier for me and mum when she was around. I guess that's why he felt that he had to stay back and take care of mum and I always felt a bit guilty that I was miles way from them, leaving him the majority of the responsibility. I did chip in financially though, with the some of the bills and their upkeep, mostly being his pocket money. Luckily there weren't a lot of bills to pay as we not only owned our home and the land, but also the fact that mum earned quite enough. Jeremy's fees were catered for mostly by the family trust fund which was like a huge savings account for the Sibuor family made specifically to cater for the education of the Sibuor children.

Jeremy was now in his third year of university, pursuing law like our dad. He however wanted to focus on sports law when he finally got into the bar as a high court advocate.

We talked for a bit, with my mum mostly filling me in on the latest gossip on our family, her friends and the neighborhood. I promised to call them before I left on Monday for London and just as their takeout arrived, we hang up.

Still high in spirits, I looked around my small bedroom, already missing the small space where I conjured up many of my dreams for the last seven years with nostalgia. Then I looked at the time and noted it was getting way late and I had to get ready if I didn't want Ahlam calling impatiently as she waited for me.