Spicy

Chapter 5

Raul took deep breathes, rolled his shoulders and wiggled his arms before he nodded at Henry who stood beside him, holding the handle of the door leading out of the room. Once he had opened the door, he walked out and tugged on the lapel of his leather jacket then adjusted his baseball cap on his head.

Jane and Kayla were trailing behind them, whispering to themselves as he walked towards the end of the hallway.

“Have you made up your mind?” Henry asked, anger still evident in his tone.

“This is a huge step, Henry. I'm confused right now. I have magazines shoots, ads and a new movie project to work on next month and all of these problems I put myself into, isn't going to make things easy for me.” Raul crossed his strong arms as soon as he paused in front of the swinging doors leading out into the main area of the club.

From the cracks of the design on the wooden doors, he could see the moving bodies of paparazzis outside the building. Some were glued to the glass windows, others were flashing their cameras at the building.

“Well, it's time to face the works of your hands,” Kayla said, patting his back.

Raul swallowed. “I just wish I could turn back the hands of time. What do I say to them and how did they know I was here?”

“Apparently, insiders tipped them. So, that came here like bees to honey. Look, you don't need to say anything, just keep quiet and Arnold will guard you to the car,” Henry said and pushed one side of the door open and a tall, well built man in a black suit rushed to them and opened the other side of the door.

Raul walked out and instantly, the cameras began to flash and the desperate voices of the media men and women, hungry for gossip began to yell at the top of their voices. As he neared the entrance to the club, he took a deep breath and nodded at his crew members.

The door was shoved open, and the blinding sun touched his cold skin, sending warmth into his body. He bowed his head as Arnold gripped onto his arm and pushed through the swamp of paparazzis reaching out to him.

“Raul, who is your wife?!”

“Are you really getting married?!”

“Raul, over here. Speak to us!”

“Who is the lucky lady?!”

“Your tweet last week was a tweet of lady and you on a beach. Is she the one?!”

“Raul are you still single?!”

“Raul, is she a celebrity like you?”

“Is she a model?”

The many questions made his head ache, as the confusion doubled within him. He kept his face downwards, his gaze focused on his shoes as he was directed out of the hoard of desperate men and women.

After a few minutes of struggles, they made it to his SUV, which he boarded in a haste, even with paparazzis swamming behind him and around the car. He took off his baseball cap when the door was closed and stared out the tinted window. He looked away when they crowded the window, making his heart pump extra fast.

Once Kayla and Jane had gotten into the backseat with him, Arnold started the engine and drove away.

“This is getting serious,” Kayla said, staring down at her tablet.

“What is it?” Raul asked, curiosity eating deep into his mind. Any alarming words from them had him walking on eggshells.

“Your sister just tweeted congratulations on your engagement,” she replied. “And it's getting massive retweets, likes and comments. She's currently trending on Twitter. s**t!”

Raul placed his hand on his pounding chest. His sister had always been praying for him to settle down, almost half of his family wanted him to settle down. From his mother, two young sisters and cousins. He wondered what his father thought of the whole thing, since his father was the only one who supported him and not the way his family wanted him to get tied down with someone for life.

“She should not have done that,” he said, running his finger through his hair. For a moment he thought he was going to get a lot of hair breakage from pulling at it and running his fingers through the damp locks.

“You can't blame her,” Henry said from the front seat beside Arnold. “This is very serious and it's the fact that a lot of magazines and newspapers have carried the news. How many papers or printing companies are we going to pay to bring down the news? This went overboard, and it would not have gone too far if you we're unknown or some C-list celebrity. But, no. You're a bloody A-lister, that is too popular around the whole world.”

Raul relaxed on the leather seat when he realized that he had been sitting too upright. He let out a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“s**t! Xander also tweeted that he's happy for you after retweeting your sister's tweet. These people think it's real,” Jane said, face palming. “God, this is getting extreme.”

“How are we going to tell the media that it was all a lie? You've been trending worldwide with different hashtags, and it's already over a million tweets under two hashtags,” Kayla said breathlessly.

Raul pressed the pads of his fingers on his throbbing temples and shut his eyes. He took shallow breathes as he began to have flashes of his life as a single man. The parties he had attended, the freedom he had without being tagged as someone's property. As the thoughts came to an end, he opened his eyes and exhaled.

“Raul, you really need to think about getting married under Cupid's Curse. You really don't need to fall for whoever they match you with. All of this will be for the public; the girl will be briefed on everything and even paid monthly if possible. After two years, you can get divorced and have your old life back,” Henry said grimly.

“I-” Raul groaned. “I don't know. I'll think about it.”

“There's no time to think about it when different toxic narratives are spread and affecting your brands and the brands you're signed to,” Jane reasoned and gripped her hair. “Your emails are buzzing with those brands trying to understand what is happening, some are even pitching ideas for you, million dollar ideas, some new brands wants to work with you and your wife and their pay is huge. For me, I feel like, we can milk this good.”

The idea of getting richer perked his interest, and his lips moved slightly into a smile before he frowned when a thought crossed his mind.

“If I sign up now, how am I going to get a wife instantly?” He eyed each and everyone of them in the car.

“Actually, the process takes three weeks. Matchmaking in Cupid's Curse isn't the ordinary kind. You have to give them what you want them to give you. Those specs or qualities of a partner. Once that's done, they'll respond after three weeks,” Kayla replied and he nodded.

“Can I read about this company later?” He asked and they nodded. “I just need to rest and prepare my mind on what step to take.”

~~~

The ticking sounds coming from the old wall clock on the fading grey colored wall of her room kept her wide awake. It was late and no amount of sleep was in her. Her mind was filled with the idea of her getting married. She had not placed getting married on her list of achievements, as she knew that if she finally got to study what she wanted, she would be forced to turn to a housewife.

With a deep sigh, she turned on her back and stared at the ceiling. Her eyes were glued to the rotating ceiling fan, counting the times it went round.

“How do I escape this marriage?” She whispered into the dim room and groaned. “How do I tell my family that I don't want this marriage? If I could run away, I would but where would I go when I don't even have enough money to leave this town, talk more of the state.”

Samonika covered her face with her hands and massaged softly. As she silently thought of ideas, she heard her door crack open, making her raise her head up to see Bambam at the door, smiling sheepishly.

“What do you want?”

“Ma said you were getting married, and you're getting married to that weirdo, Arman,” she replied and walked into the room with her phone between her hands.

“And what's your business? You know ? Ma and Pa don't care about me not accepting this,” she sat up and folded her legs under her thick blanket. “Honestly, if my husband to be wasn't Arman, I would happily accept. But Arman is toxic, he's a sexist, and someone who controls women cause he is rich. Pfft.”

Bambam smiled and sat on the bed. She exhaled and scooted closer.

“That's why I am here. Actually, when Ma told me you were marrying Arman, I said nah. It can't happen. I asked her if there wasn't any other man but she said men aren't willing to be tied down to you.”

“Ouch,” Samonika hissed.

Bambam shrugged. “She even said that if I could find a better man than Arman, she'll be happy.”

Samonika scoffed. “You don't have a choice. We don't have a choice. I don't even have any.”

“Actually, we do.”

Samonika frowned. “What is that?”

“Cupid's Curse.”