“Hey, it's been a while since I last heard from you,” Ida answered.
“I've been busy with work; how are you, by the way?” he inquired.
“I've been better; just a few meetings here and there. So tell me, Mr-secret-admirer, what have you been up to besides admiring me?” She asked as there was a knock on her door.
Her secretary entered the office and dropped off a bouquet of money—yeah, you read right—a bouquet of money instead of the normal flowers. That wasn't all; there was red velvet cake, a box of M&M's, and the latest iPhone 13 Pro Max. There was a small note pinned to the package, which read:
“Hope you enjoy your surprise."
From: Your Secret Admirer.
He waited at the end of the line as she asked him to do while she unboxed her present.
She was lost for words. No one had ever surprised her that way, and it wasn't even her birthday or an occasion worth celebrating.
“Cat got your tongue?” Mr. A asked, sipping from his coffee mug.
“I'm just overwhelmed; thank you so much for this. I am short of words,” she finally found her voice.
“You deserve all this and more, Ida. This is just the beginning, so enjoy it."
“Thanks, but it really feels weird accepting gifts from someone I barely know. You've refused to tell me your name or send your pictures, but you know everything about me,” she pouted.
“You can call me Mr. A, and I'm a business tycoon. As for my pictures or seeing me, you would. Pretty soon,” he said to her.
“Okay, Mr. A, thank you once again for these; I appreciate them. Don't get me wrong, I can afford them if I want to get them myself, but what's making me happy is someone remembering I exist and surprising me with gifts,” she said, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes.
She was happy and sad at the same time. Happy for being surprised and sad that no one had ever thought of surprising her; all she got were packages from perverts, and anytime she opened them, they were lingerie and contraceptives accompanied by weird notes.
On her birthdays, all she had were birthday messages and cakes from her workers, not that she didn't appreciate them, but she wanted to know how it felt being surprised or sent gifts genuinely, not because they needed to.
“The pleasure is all mine, and I'm happy that I made you feel that way, as I said earlier there's more to come, Mamacita.” he came up with a pet name for her.
“Oh, now I'm Mamacita aie?" she smiled.
“For now, it could change,” he flirted as a woman entered his office.
“I'd call you back, Mamacita; I need to take care of something,” he glared at the woman chewing gum loudly in his office.
“Okay, talk later.” Ida dropped the call.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He rubbed his temples.
“You haven't been taking my calls, so I decided to come to see you.” she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
“Bev,”
“Bevelyn, I already told you whatever we had going on was over; besides, you said you cannot be in a committed relationship with me, so we are done. I can't keep sleeping around with you.” he held up his hand in front of her, preventing her from coming closer.
“But,”
“You want money; I know that,” he said, writing a blank cheque for her.
“You can write the amount you want there."
“Gladly,” she said, taking the cheque and writing $1,000,000.00 on it.
“Good, I hope I never have to see you again. A piece of advice: invest the money in something lucrative and stop sleeping around for money; it's pathetic!' he spat as she happily walked out of his office with a smirk on her face.
“You're done taking care of business?” Ida said immediately after answering his call.
“Yes, I am, so where were we?” he asked.
“You calling me Mamacita; as much as I am enjoying this conversation, I have to go. I got a client waiting for me.”
“Oh, talk to you later. Have a nice day at work, Mama,” he added, dropping the call and going back to work.
“I came in right on time,” Ida's younger cousin, Khloe, announced while sitting on the chair. Ida had been taking care of her since her parents failed to do so. As stubborn as she was, she was an intelligent and smart kid.
“Hello to you too, Khloe. May I know what brings you here?” She glared at her cousin, who had taken some of her M&M's and was cutting herself a piece of cake.
“I need some cash, Ida," she grinned.
“You could have called Khloe,” she sighed.
“And miss out on this? Oh, Nah, besides, I missed you,” she confessed.
“How much do you need? How's school and Paul?" she teased.
“I need about $5000; school is tiring and boring as hell, and Paul is meh,” she answered the three-in-one question while licking frosting off her fingers.
“What do you mean Paul is, ‘Meh’” she quoted.
“It means Paul is history, done, done, and dusted. Enough about me; who brought all these? Who's the lucky dude?” She changed the topic.
“My secret admirer,” she smiled.
“Excuse me, say what now?” her eyes bulging out of her sockets in shock.
“You heard me. My secret admirer just surprised me this morning with these,” she replied.
“Lucky you, but be careful as well. People may not be people," she advised, taking the money from her cousin.
“I -I know Khloe; as much as I am enjoying this, I am extra careful as well. We are getting to know each other as well, so we'll see where this goes.”
“What about Elon? What happened? I thought you loved him.” She crossed her legs, relaxing on the chair.
“Elon is fine.”
"So, about the money..." Khloe grinned, reminding Ida of their earlier conversation.
" Oh yeah, how much was it again?"
Giada and Brynn had begun their modeling career with one of the biggest fashion houses in Brooklyn. King was their costume designer and had an assistant to fill in for him each time he was caught up with school. Aly was their manager and styled them as well, since that was the same fashion house she was employed at. Balancing both jobs was hectic, but she had the hang of it and was doing a great job. Both girls were getting the hype both on social media and at school as well. “That's a wrap,” their photographer added after the photoshoot. Giada was done with her session and was waiting for Brynn in their trailer. “ That's it for today; we will see you on Friday,” Helen told them as Brynn and Alyona walked towards their trailer. It had been a stressful day for all of them. All they wanted was to get some food and rest. “ Is that all for today?" Giada asked her sister as she walked into the trailer with her friend. “ Yes, it is,” Brynn answered, gulping down a bottle of water. Alyona
“ So how's your love life going? Have you found whom you're looking for?” Elon asked Ida over lunch. “ I'm still searching, though I've been talking to someone,” she blushed while sipping her juice. “ Tell me more. Who's the lucky guy?" He winked at her. He loved the way her eyes lit up while she spoke about her secret admirer. At a point in time, he just wanted to blurt out that he was her secret admirer, but, hey, where was the fun in that? “ Seems like a great guy. He's lucky to have a wonderful woman like you. It's good he found what he wanted and went for it, unlike me, who didn't cherish love and lost it," he confessed. “ I-um, so what about you? Anyone yet?” She asked, trying to change the topic at hand. “ The woman I want wants another man, as usual, but I'd be fine and hope to find another.” “ You will; you're a nice person with a great sense of humor. Not forgetting a wonderful personality. Your partner is out there somewhere. Don't stop searching.” she advised. “ I w
“ So why are you still with her?” Raelyn turned on her side to face Zac. He had been cheating on Alyona with Raelyn for the past month, with the excuse that she rarely had time for him. “ I just need some time to finally break things off with her; just a little more time, babe,” he said to her. “ Whatever you say,” she shrugged. So far as she was getting the money and some d*ck, she was fine for now. Zac stopped trying to get in contact with Alyona. He claimed she had changed and become too arrogant because she was now managing models. Instead of managing her dad's company, she decided to manage models?! How pathetic! He thought to himself. “ Babe, I need some money,” she said, running her hands over his chest. “ Rae, what happened to the $2000 I gave you last week?” he asked, getting irritated by her constant demand for money. With the way she's going, I'm going to be bankrupt in a few months. I need to abort this mission and find someone who can get me some more money, perh
You don't look good; what's going on?” Jaxon asked casually, walking to his big sister's room. She had spent almost two weeks at her parent's house with the excuse that she missed them, and they all knew it was a lie because she always came home when something was bothering her. “ I'm fine, Jax," she said, trying to dry her eyes. "Aly, I know you more than anyone else in this family. What did Zac do this time around? Does he need some ass-whooping?” Jaxon clenched his fists. “ We broke things off; I left him.” She swallowed hard, recalling how messy the conversation between herself and Zac went and the harsh words he used on her. How did I end up with someone like that? “ That's good news, Aly; he didn't deserve you; he doesn't deserve you, and he will never deserve you. It was best that you ended things before the verbal abuse turned physical.” He consoled her. “ Jax I loved him, and I think I still do," she trailed off. “ I know you do, but Aly, you've got to move on. I'll be
"You're still crying over spilled milk?" Zeke asked, barging into her room, putting a bag of junk food in front of her. Aly had moved back to her apartment a few days ago. She still had lots of work to do and couldn't let that go because she was heartbroken. Man's got to eat. " Hello to you too; I see Ida filled you on everything," she asked, opening the bag to see the goodies he had brought for her. " She did, and believe it or not, we are happy you finally dumped his ass. He never did care about you; all he wanted was your family's wealth and nothing more, and when he found out you wanted something else, he couldn't cope and had to find other ways to rid you," he told the gospel truth. " He might not have cared, but I did. I loved him despite everything. In the end, I got heartbroken. RIP my mental health, yaay." She tried holding in a sob. " Enough of him; I brought your favorites, and don't dare say you're not hungry; otherwise, it's war." He fake threatened. " On the contrary
“ So what time and when do we meet?” Ida asked Mr. A on the phone. They had been talking for a while now, and she suggested they meet in person. Certainly, Elon couldn't go as himself, so he hired someone else to go in his stead. Had he thought about the consequences? Of course, he had. But he was willing to go through what he had started until the end. What if she fell for the guy who posed as her secret admirer? What if the guy falls for her and starts pursuing her? What if? Just what if? Amidst all these questions and doubts, he had made up his mind and was going to stick by it. " I was thinking tomorrow night." He asked. Initially, she had made plans with Elon to meet tomorrow night with Aly and Zeke, and there was no way she was bailing on them because of him. " Sorry, but tomorrow night doesn't cut it; how about Saturday night?" She also suggested "Do you have other plans tomorrow?" " Yeah, and sorry, but I can't bail on them. So Saturday?" she asked as he went mute on
“ You're still here? I thought you had a date tonight." Elon asked Ida, descending the staircase. “ I do, but I just couldn't leave you all by yourself throughout the night. What if you needed something?" she quizzed. “ Well, thank goodness I didn't need anything; you've got to go prepare for the date. It's almost 4 p.m.," he cautioned. “ Hey, take a chill pill. Aly would---- talk of the devil, and she appears. What took you long enough?” Ida asked Aly, who lazily walked towards her. “Hello to you too. I'm sorry I woke up late, and that's why I am late. I'm here now, so you can go get ready for your date. Don't forget to gist me on that later.” “ I won't." " I gotta go and take care of this big baby. I'd be back tomorrow to check up on you. Please do not burn the house." she said before leaving the house. Her Uber driver was already waiting outside for her. " I'm sorry for the delay; we can go now." The ride home was a short and quiet one. She paid off the driver and hurried
"So, how did the date go?" Elon asked his substitute, Adrian. He has been acting fishy ever since he got back yesterday from the date. I hope this dude isn't planning on stealing my girl. I really, really hope so. " It went well; she had fun; in fact, we all did. She's a keeper; hold tight to her before someone else steals her. Candid advice from a friend." He winked at Elon. " Sure, will do; nowadays, homies aren't supposed to be trusted. Anyway, your balance will be credited into your account in a few hours. See you later." Elon dismissed him. Watch your back, Elon Maximilian. Ida won't be yours in a few weeks. Adrian thought to himself while driving out of Elon's house. Ida couldn't help but reminisce about how the day went. It was 1 a.m., and she was wide awake with a huge grin on her face. “ I guess he should be asleep by now." She put her phone by her bedpost, pulling her duvet to cover herself. In a few hours, she had to go check on her best friend to know how he was