The fill-in wife - Episode 1

 

Derrick

"Yes baby. I know you miss me. Few more months and I'll be through with my degree and back in Nigeria." I say into the phone with a big smirk on my face.
"So you ain't coming back anytime soon right?" Rose's voice says from the other end of the line.
"No baby. I still have a few months." I explain . I can just picture the pout on her pretty face. My beautiful baby. I can't wait to go back to Nigeria and give her the biggest surprise ever. I roll the diamond ring I had picked out weeks ago between my thumb and forefinger as I imagine the look of surprise and happiness on her face when I show up at her house two days from now with flowers, a ring and a proposal.
"Have it your way Derrick. I need to hang up now." She says before the line goes dead. There's that temper that has always turned me on. I remember the first day we met seven years ago. I had been frustrated as usual about being at grandmother's mansion. I was just eighteen and mother had just died. Imagine my shock to find an SUV parked right outside our house a day after mom's burial with a sophisticated old lady standing beside it. It was obvious by what she was wearing that she wasn't just any ordinary old lady.
"You don't need your old things. Get in the car." Those words were responsible for the drastic turn that shaped my life

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/the-fill-in-wife

. I remember looking to Bright, mom's live in boyfriend but the bastard had already been paid off to sell me out. The first few weeks had been hell. Turned out I had a step brother and sister. My father must have been a real manwhore when he was alive because the three of us have different mothers and none of them was the wife. We were just eighteen but Grandma Catherine was already 'prepping' us to take over her chains of companies.
Don't associate with strangers.
Don't go anywhere without your bodyguards.
Treat everyone as a rival including family.
Those were the rules. I was just a kid from the slumps who missed his dead mother but they kept badgering me with various lessons on etiquettes and business. The worse thing was I wasn't even allowed to associate normally with my step siblings, Deana and Nelson.
  I met Rose in the adjoining compound beside grandma's mansion. She was and still is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. It was mother's birthday and I only wanted to visit her grave. Grandma wouldn't let me so I had outran my bodyguards and jumped over our fence to the adjoining compound only to crash into Rose. She was damn angry. Yelling and scratching me with her nails. At first I was just staring at her beautiful face until she started yelling for my bodyguards to come get me. That pushed me into action. I remember having to beg before she let me hide in her room. We hit it from there and I never tried to run away again. I had my Rose just next door and she made me realise how lucky I am to be who I am. She is my first crush, first kiss, first everything and it's about time I made her my wife. She has always wanted what we share to remain a secret but I am ready to show the world our love. Plus side is, her family's also rich so grandma would certainly approve. There would be no hindrance.
I gently place the ring inside it's box and stash it inside my suitcase.
I am coming to make you my wife Rose.

********
Maya:
"Stop daydreaming and help me bring the cake out of the oven Maya!" Beatrice's voice penetrates my daydream and I remember the cake in the oven. I quickly pick up the gloves and retrieve the cake just in time. I release the breath I didn't even know I was holding. Ruining this cake will mean losing my job and I just can't have that. Grandma Lola would not be so pissed. But Tom? He'll make sure to punish me for that and you don't want to know how he punishes me when I go wrong.
"You are damn lucky girl!" Beatrice chuckle and I wipe my brows dramatically.
"Tom would have ended me." I say with all seriousness because when Tom's angry, he hurts me. When he's drunk? A worse kind of hurt. But when I do something wrong, like get fired and cut his money supply for his daily dose of alcohol? Complete annihilation. Losing my last job wasn't pretty and I still have scars to remind me never to get fired again. Grandma Lola took a favour from her old time friend who's some hotshot business woman from the city and I won't mess it up, seeing that she's the only family I have. I can't exactly call Tom my family. Even though he's her son and my stepfather, he doesn't deserve that privilege. After all when mother ran away, leaving me with him, the whole community knew he traded me for a bottle of vodka before Grandma Lola saved me. So when I say I owe her my life, I mean it. She's the reason I am still in this town, taking Tom's hateful beatings and his vicious daughter's hateful rantings. Grandma Lola is sick and she needs me. She needs this job so I better focus.
"Earth to Maya!" Beatrice snaps her fingers in my face and I realize I have spaced out again. I growl, completely annoyed with myself.
"Come on girl! Dreaming of Prince charming again? Or another character for your book." She tease and I slap her shoulder lightly.
"Okay. Okay. I shouldn't mock your book. It's going to be a blockbuster once you find a way to get it published." She says and we both burst into laughter.
"Yea. That would happen. Maybe in 100 years time." I joke and Beatrice snot out her laughter while clutching her stomach from how hard she's laughing.
"But seriously girl. I've read that book. It is the bomb. Only thing is, in this shitty town, nothing good happens." She says once our laughter's calmed down and I nod my assent. She's so right. People like me don't dream in this town. We only do Landry and clean up after the few rich people here, just to get by. You see, Beatrice has it better. She's just working for extra money. Her mother owns a grocery shop and her father is a Navy officer. They are a close knit family and they get by pretty well. But me? The town's people call me trash. Maybe because that's where Grandma Lola found me after Tom exchanged me for vodka. Or it might be because I put on ratty clothes Angy (Tom's daughter) throw out. I am taller so the clothes look smaller on me but I have to wear them. It's either that or walk around naked. God forbid,  I use the money I make to buy some clothes. Instead, my money is used to buy drinks for Tom and slutty clothes for Angy.
"Hey, I don't like that look on your face." Beatrice's hand on my shoulder soothe me a little.
"Things will get better Cinderella. Your prince charming is just on his way. You wanna bet? He's probably just held up trying to choose the kind of gun he'll use to end Tom and Angy when he arrives. Poof! The end." She makes an impression of pulling the trigger of an imaginary gun and I can't help but laugh.
"You are one crazy woman Bea."
"Crazy for you. Just like your prince charming. We're crazy for you." She sings and dance an awful version of zanku legwork and I nearly piss my pant because of how hard I am laughing.
"That's awful!"
"Impossible. I did learn from zlatan. In the dream!" She snot out loudly.
"Everything going well in there?" The snotty voice of the house chef reaches our ears before the door bursts open and we both straighten up our expressions.
"What's going on here?" Madame Sophia spits out and I gulp down saliva. Please don't fire me. Please.

Read " Make You Mine(Redemption 2) " by the same author ( Ameh juliet )

. Please. Please. I chant in my head.
"Oh. We were just baking. Why ma'am did you hear something else?" Beatrice speaks up with all seriousness and innocence. I am even beginning to believe her myself. Madame Sophia eyes the both of us and I fidget a little.
"Enough delay! Madam's son is getting married tomorrow and guests from all walks of life will be attending. So you both better get that cake ready ASAP."
"Yes ma'am." Bea and I chorus at the same time.
"Don't be late tomorrow." She says and finally leaves.
"My God! I thought I was going to get fired! You are going to be the death of me you evil friend." I whisper yell while going back to decorate the cake.
"You know I got your back Maya. I'll rather I get fired than you." Bea says and I nod.
"Let's finish this up. I still have Angy's laundry to finish up at home so I need to be fast." I say, carefully spreading icing sugar on just the right places on the cake.
I hear Bea mutter something about fucking Angy up but I don't speak up again.

So we have met our hero and heroine. What are your takes on their characters?

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