Athena woke up in the night to find Frank’s side in the bed empty, “Frank?” She called but when she got no answer, she got out of the bed and went into the living room, “Frank?” she saw him sitting on the only couch in the living room and closed up their distance. “What is it?” She asked, placing her hand on his shoulder.
Frank sighed, “Nothing, just…thinking.”Athena sat beside him immediately, “what are you thinking about?”“My life, Athena, look at me, at twenty three I have no source of income, nothing, I can’t even look after you the way I want to, the way I promised your mother I would.”Athena smiled and placed her head on his shoulder, “but Frank, it’s not your fault, I am sure mom understands perfectly. You are trying your best to make things better for us, you go out every morning to return at night because you are looking for a better job, that’s already you trying.”“But I am not trying hard enough, take a look at me, Athena, I had promised you that on your twenty second birthday that I would throw you a party and your birthday is in three months time, I have no hope of even fulfilling my promise to you.”“But three months is still far, Frank, you never can tell what would happen tomorrow…”“Nothing is happening tomorrow, there would be no difference by then. Just face it Athena and tell it to my face, I am a complete failure.”“But you are not, you are the best designer I know and sooner than later the world would see that, you would go places Frank, I believe it, I believe in you. Tell me, which man in your age here ever had a contact with the top fashion industry? Tell me.”Frank sighed, she is right, no one has which made every man his age envious of him, but he doesn’t want to be envied by them, he doesn’t want to be envied by lowlifes who have no hope of a better future. Out there in the city, they are men his age who are top celebrities, even the designer of the dress Hillary Queen wore the day he received the best Actor award is only twenty two and people know him, many celebrities wants him to design a dress for them. Many people envy him, even he envies him, as well as many designers, now that’s the kind of people he would want to envy him, people of high classes, where he belongs.“Frank, someday and not even far anymore, you will find what you are looking for, you will have that life you have always dreamed of, I strongly believe that,” Athena encouraged.Frank let out a deep breath, “I know Athena but the thing is, I might be losing my chance.”“What do you mean?”“To win the contest of Fashionista, I need to produce my designer and a model has to wear it to show off at a fashion show that only the workers including their CEO would attend, the design with highest rating will be the winner and the designer would be hired and become one of their many designers,” he turned to her then, his green eyes twinkling with enthusiasm, “do you know what that means? Athena, if I win this, our lives would change forever. Have you heard of Augustus Hawke?”Athena shook her head, she never knows anything that happens in the city because she never cares, why should she waste her time studying people who doesn’t even know about her existence?Frank sighed at her lack of knowledge, she never knows important people only the lowlifes here, “he is the youngest designer now and possibly the best, everyone wants him to design a dress for them and Fashionista don’t joke with him and they had got him through this process two years ago when he was twenty. If I win this, I can be like him, even the manager, Mr. Bridgeton is impressed with my design and he also said to me that I have a shot at winning this.”“Isn’t that good? You don’t need to worry anymore,” Athena said, really happy for him.Frank shook his head, “not really, I don’t have money to buy the materials for my design and since it would be for a fashion show with their CEO present, I need to buy at least a better quality. Of course I can’t buy the ones of high quality and they also said that the winning design would be reproduced with a better quality before being sold. But in order to be considered a winner, I really need to buy something catchy that could attract people’s attention,” he heaved a deep sigh, “and it’s not really that cheap.”“How much is it?” She asked, she didn’t even know when she did but she would love to support him in a any way she could, since he believes so much that he could win, the least she could do is provide assistance.Frank looked at her immediately, his heart beating loudly in his chest, does she want to give him the money? He knew her parents left her their savings but he just doesn’t know how much or where she could be hiding it, he had searched so hard for it but never found it. “Three thousand dollars.”“Oh God,” Athena gasped, “so much?”Frank’s spirit died, seemed that the savings isn’t a big deal after all, “yes, I priced it on my way back.”“Oh, that’s really too much Frank.”“I know, which is why I told you that I am missing my chance, there is no purpose going back to the city tomorrow anyway. What will I be doing there?” He sighed, “just go and sleep, you have work tomorrow, I can always sleep later in the day.”Seeing the look on his face, Athena felt her heart weighing down, all his life he has only talked about making it big and taking care of them, then this contest came up, giving him something to look forward to, something to hope on and now, he was just going to give up? She bit her lower lip and looked away from him, her thoughts running wild, she has two thousand dollars, it was her parents’ savings and it was all they left for her to be surviving on. If she should offer to give it to him, it still won’t be enough, where would they get extra one thousand dollars? She could always borrow from her employers but what if Frank doesn’t win? How could she pay back? She is not even talking about her parents’ saving; she could always endure losing that but what of the one they borrowed? Should she do this?Frank looked at her, he could see that she was lost in thought and his hope revived again, maybe she really has such amount and only considering giving it to him, no, he can’t miss this opportunity, “the worst part is that the deadline is in a month’s time, how can I raise three thousand dollars in a month and still buy the materials to sow the dress so that I can meet the deadline? Just forget it Athena, this is not my chance, in fact, I doubt if I would be getting another chance. I’m a complete failure; I won’t be able to look after you Athena, so if you find any guy better than me, just go with him, okay?”Athena glanced at him sharply, “how can you say that, Frank? We are meant to be, we have been together for six years now.”“Exactly Athena, but what have I offered you since then? What have I done for you?”“You have been there for me, Frank, during my most trial times, that’s the most important thing, things will get better, you will see.”“This is the only chance for me, Athena, if I lose this, I don’t think I will ever get another, don’t you understand? I have no future if I don’t win this.”Athena closed her eyes, seeing him degrading himself so much was hurting her, besides, this is for both of them, if this become a success, she would benefit from it right? She bit her lip, taking the decision was so hard for her but she doesn’t like seeing him like that. At the very end, she relented, “I have two thousand dollars.”“What?” Frank shouted, although it’s not up to three thousand but it was something, “really? Please Athena, this would be changing our lives, if I win this, we can finally move out of here and we would live in the city, see beautiful people every day, invited to luxurious parties. We would even be counting in millions.”“But it’s not enough, you said you need three thousand.”“That’s true, but we will find a way, you know almost everybody here, can’t we borrow from them?”“But Frank, what if you don’t win? How can we pay back?”“I will win and even if I don’t, we can always sell the dress and use the money.”Athena nodded, “well, I can ask all of my employers, see if I can be able to raise it.”“Oh Athena, you are really going to do that for me?”“If it makes you happy.”“Oh it does, it does so much. Oh thank you, thank you so much Athena, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he pulled her into a hug and soon he was kissing her, “thank you,” he murmured in between the kisses.“You are welcome.”“Now, let me drain a little of your strength before you leave for work.”“Oh Frank, no,” she giggled as he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.Frank ran through the dirty streets he had always hate walking on, he stepped into many puddles but he didn’t bother to curse as always nor was he worried at the dirt on his pants. A bright smile was clear on his face and his green eyes were shining like never before. When he finally saw their building, he increased his space as he spotted his girlfriend talking with their elderly neighbor, “Athena, Athena,” he shouted.Athena turned at the sound of her name, she was shocked when she saw him running and how dirty he looked and for the first time, he doesn’t have a deadly scowl on his face for being dirty, what is going on? She wondered before excusing herself from the woman and walking to his direction, “Frank?”When Frank got closer to her, he picked her up and swirled around, Athena gasped and wrapped her hands round his neck to keep her from falling, “oh Athena, my life has changed, my life has changed!”Athena pressed her hand on her chest when he finally put her back o
The elevator chimed and the man from earlier came out, he stopped, frozen when he saw her sleeping, what the hell? He wondered, he approached her and wiped away the hair from her face, she didn’t even flinch and he guessed she was really tired and she should be, it has been ten hours since they got into the elevator together. He fetched his phone from his pocket and dialed a number, when the line connected, he sighed, “em, Frank, I’m usually good at minding my business but there is a lady waiting for you in front of your door and it’s been hours, you think you can come attend to her?”“Shit, she came today?” Frank asked.“Em, am I supposed to answer that?”“Listen Fred, I am in a party right now and I can’t come out, you think you can take her in with you till I am back?”“Frank, I called you to tell you that someone is waiting for you not for you to ask me to babysit,” Fred replied.“Then there is nothing I can do, let her stay there, nothing is going to happen to he
Athena got up in the morning, she heaved a deep sigh and remembering she was not in her house nor in Frank’s, she sat up immediately and looked around the room, she was lying in the bed and it was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in. She had fallen asleep immediately her head touched the pillow. Fred had been kind enough to give her the bed and took the couch, even though she was the intruder.She climbed out of the bed and readied her things; Franks should be back from wherever he went to, right? She thought and walked out of the bedroom to find Fred still sleeping on the couch. She approached him gently and didn’t know if he would be angry that she woke him up from his sleep but she really has to go and it would be wrong if she left without telling him, he was a kind soul and she would never forget that. After staring at him for a few minutes, she finally cleared her throat and his eyelid flickered before he opened them to stare at her. “I-I-I’m sorry to wake you, is
A week later, Frank was talking with some models outside the hall that the fashion show was taking place, when one of them scowled in disgust, “who the hell is that? That dress is so outdated, in fact, I don’t think I have ever seen such.”“My goodness, you don’t think she is attending the show, do you? I mean, dress in that?” Another said, her face and tone no different from the first model.Hearing the ladies’ words, Frank was forced to turn around and he froze when he saw the brunette who just got down from a cab and was looking around the place. She was dressed in a pitch pink dress which he recognized as her mother’s, her hair was let down on her shoulders and she was putting on a white two inches heels, he was with her the day she had bought the shoes but he never realized how ugly the thing looked until now. She smiled and waved when she saw him and he woke up at that moment as he heard one of the model’s words, “my gracious, is she waving at us?”“It can’t be, where
Athena gulped, staring at the man beside her, he had deep brown hair in a slicked back style, his face was oval with sexy cheekbones, his nose was perfectly pointed. His lips so succulent with the lower lip fuller than the upper and light red in color, his eyes, a beautiful shade of hazel and his lashes so long that she would have been jealous if she wasn’t a little tipsy. A sexy line of bears graced his cheeks and jaw and for some reason, she wanted to run her fingers through them.Her eyes trailed from his face to his fair neck and his body, he was dressed in a navy blue blazer with white shirt underneath and white pants. He had broad shoulders and his athletic body complimented his blazer making him look godly sexy, she gulped once more, her eyes going back to his face to meet with his smiling eyes.“Like what you see?” he asked with a soft chuckle, “I’m beautiful, I know,” he winked and pulled the stool next to her, sitting on it, he looked back at her, “you don’t mi
Athena glanced at him with a frown, “in your world, are you an alien?”“What?” He asked shocked and they both laughed, “why would you think that?” He asked, still laughing.“You kept mentioning your world, forgive me if I had to think so far,” she giggled.“Ah, to be honest, those in my circle often classifies themselves as a different world, a bigger world and more.”“Wow, I will like to be in that world.”He looked at her, for once since talking to her, he didn’t smile, “I wouldn’t want you to, it would stain you, take away that innocence that makes you different and soon, you would be just like them, with nothing to differentiate you.”“That’s not true, nothing can change me.”He smiled then, “ah my dear, you don’t understand, it changed your darling Frank, and it will change you too. It changes anyone who finds themselves in its midst.”“What about you, it didn’t change you?”He didn’t answer for a while, then he whispered, “it did, I think I am the mo
It’s been two weeks since the day Frank pushed her away and the night with the mysterious gentle stranger, Athena had tried not to think about it but even though she had tried to live like it never happened, he had haunted her dreams, his face, his hazel eyes, the feel of his hand on her body, the taste of his lips. One might say that as it has been fourteen days and she was drunk when it happened that she shouldn’t have so much detail of it, but that wasn’t how it was, every single night, she dreamt of it and the more she dreamt of it, the clearer and more detailed it became.She had downed herself in alcohol during the first few days to forget about both the man and his touch but it was never possible, it had also been her reason for not going after Frank since then, although she had wished that he would miss her and would come for her, telling her that he didn’t mean what he said but that wasn’t the case, she didn’t see neither heard from him and coupled with her guiltiness fo
Athena stood in front of the biggest house she had ever seen, her eyes had widened when the cab had stopped in front of the house, people were going inside but they always stopped in front of the door to hand something to a very huge man. She gulped, taking in her surrounding, never in her life had she dreamt of stepping into a house that big, there were different types of cars parked around and everyone going into the house all dressed so beautifully that she had taken another look at herself, but having decided to come over, she wasn’t going to let anything discourage her. She entered through the big open gate and walked straight to the line which has thinned down by then.Soon it was her turn and she stood face to face to the big man who was dressed in black suit, with dark eyeshades, something like an earphone with a white wire was attached into his ear and the wire inside his suit. She gulped and stood straight, trying not to look intimidated by him, even though she was scar