AMBER ROMANCE

EVERY WAKING MOMENT


CHAPTER TWO

Helen came out of her house. She was dressed for the day. She locked the door to her self contained apartment and stood, trying to steady herself. The nightmare shook her more than she cared to admit. She pated the long human hair Nma had given her for Christmas, adjusted the red, black and white low waist flay gown she wore. On her feet were red wage and nature tone over size purse to set it off. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she was ready for the day. She had a mission and she would get it done no matter what.

As she came down the short flight of stairs that led to her apartment, she found out that her land lady’s daughters were already out and getting their children ready for school. A more troublesome lot she was yet to see. As soon as they saw her, they started laughing and at what Helen couldn’t tell. She cared little for them today. She had come to the conclusion that their behavior is out of their own inferiority complex and envy. They were three of them and they each had like two children each for different men. What kind of a life was that to live, she asked herself ignoring them and walking on? A Painstaking cry and an equally violent beating of a child reached her ears and she turned around only to see one of the daughters flogging a child like the child was an inanimate object. The child wailed and rolled on the floor while the mother continued to flog him with gigantic cane. Helen’s heart went out to the child; it was even more painful that there was nothing she could do. The last time she tried to intervene had only made it worse. The child received an double dose of the flogging and she received a whole lot of insult for her trouble. She waved down a taxi, feeling very bad for the little boy. She wondered what would make a mother abuse her child that way. She wondered if the mother somehow blamed the kid for all the wrong choices she had made and the results too. Putting the ugly scene out of her mind, she took another breathe, getting ready.

 First of all she had to find out if Chuck was in town. He spent his last holiday abroad and had hardly been back since he started dating his white super model girl friend. She quickly pushed that unhappy thought out of her mind. Why she didn’t want to remember that Chuck was dating a white girl, she didn’t care to tell.  She wondered if he was settling down at last. He has been dating the girl longer than any other girl he had dated before. He flaunted her easily, posting pictures of the two of them on his instagram page. Their topic had been the hottest on all the gossip and celebrity blogs and magazines. It had hurt her real bad then but at last she was ready to get over her silly infatuation on him. She was moving on, taking back her life. She was taking the first step of recovering her memories, of finding out who she was. Seeing Chuck and taking back her purse was symbolic, she was not only taking her purse, she was taking back her life from him. She shook her head from side to side as if trying to clear it of the painful thought that Chuck might actually be settling down with another girl before she had her chance to show him…. Show him what she demanded. The man was out of her league; had she not told herself that. All she needed from him was her purse and nothing more. But she couldn’t help the thought that he might come back with his white girl friend.  And what if he does, she asked angrily, it was not any of her business what he did or who he came back with.  But she had to know how it would affect her mission, positively she answered firmly. With his girlfriend present he wouldn’t dream of playing any hanky panky with her. He would just hand it over if she asked just to avoid suspicion by his girl. She took another deep breath, she was over thinking it. She thought. First thing first, find out if he was coming for Nma’s son’s first birthday or not.

Arriving at the head quarters of NMA, Helen took a deep breath and walked forward unsteady and uncertain. But she couldn’t help the happy sense of achievement that overtook her each time she walked into NMA, to think that she was a part of this magnificent history, not just being part of it but a part of it from nearly level zero to this. After her marriage to Uche, Nma had expanded NMA. It now had 3 three boutiques and smaller shops in almost all the malls in the city. Nma had not done it alone; Helen had been there by her side. Doing all that was necessary to make the journey less painful and more successful. Now she was the co-owner and head designer of NMA lingerie line. She couldn’t be any happier. If only she had her memory of who she was, what she was, did she have a husband, children, fiancée, parents or siblings? Have they given her up for dead? It has been three years since she went missing. Would she easily give up a loved one for dead no matter how long it took without the proof the person’s death? She couldn’t tell. The truth was she didn’t know the kind of person she was, what she did, if she was loved or if she was even being missed.
Getting to the door of the building, she pushed the sad and confusing thoughts out of her mind even as she pushed the door open and entered into another world. A world of magic, magic created by the very best magicians in the field being headed by a woman whose creativity, decisions and personality she had come to respect and love so dearly.
Helen nodded to the greetings of some colleagues and sales executives and headed to the elevators. The work room and offices were located at the fifth floor and very private. Yes that was how big Nma had grown in less than two years. Uche had surprised his wife by buying her this ten story high rise to celebrate their one year anniversary and Nma being a tough and sensible business woman had put it in good use. The elevator door slide open and Helen walked into the Spartan hall way and walked straight to her office. She dropped her bag and sat down.
 Best I get it over it now, she told herself. She needed to know Chuck’s plan, to know if he was in town, though she was strongly expecting him to come back since Nma’s son is celebrating his first birthday in two days. Chuck being the doting uncle wouldn’t want to miss it for the world. He missed his church dedication, her mind reminded her. He couldn’t make it because it was in the middle of the season, she remembered someone making those excuses for him. So she was sure he wouldn’t miss this one.
You are just being a coward she said to herself and got up from her chair. With determined footsteps she went in search of Nma.

Helen knocked slightly and entered the beautifully furnished office. Nma was talking on the phone but smiled at her when she came in and waved her to a seat.
‘I love you darling but have to go now’ Nma said to the phone and blew a kiss.
‘Didn’t you guys wake up together this morning…’ Helen joked
‘What makes you think I was talking to Uche’ Nma rejoined and smiled and walked over to give Helen a hug
‘Who else would you be saying I love you to and then the kiss’
Nma laughed ‘when you love someone you would understand, right now it wouldn’t make sense to you’
‘You look radiant, I love that frock’ Nma complimented
‘As well you should, it is one of yours’
‘We are good, aren’t we?’
‘Better than that, we are the best’ Helen said
Nma laughed ‘your hubris is comforting’
Helen smiled; it was time to launch into the agenda of her coming here.
‘How is the birthday boy doing?’
‘He is destructive; I don’t know where he got that from’
Helen laughed
‘let’s see he broke his grandmother very rare and very expensive urn, what else, painted on his father very important merger documents’ Nma laughed ‘I have never seen my husband quite mad, confused and amused that way before’
‘He is a darling’
‘Luckily for him we love him more than all earthly possession so he can get away with all that for now’
‘my boy… does he miss me”
‘Does he miss ta hinhin’ they both laughed
‘Of course he does. He is only quite agreeable and quiet when you are around’
‘So how the party is plans coming up?’
‘We have decided that tomorrow night there will be barbecue with friends and family, since Uche wants to show off his newly acquired grilling skills’
‘Wow! So family and friends are…’
‘You know the usual bunch’
Helen was a bit frustrated; Nma wasn’t forth coming with information. She needed her to say if Chuck was coming or not.
‘You just looked a bit worried now’ Nma observed
Helen quickly smiled ‘me I am fine’
‘Helen I know you and I know you are not fine. So come on out with it’
Helen thought about it, she felt like a criminal taking advantage of Nma’s concern but there was no way she could really tell her that she had had amnesia for three years and didn’t have the guts to tell her after all they have been through. And now she only came to see her because she needed information on Chuck to get back her red purse which was her only connection to her past which could be the only means to her remembering her past. When put like that Helen thought, it didn’t look criminal it sounded downright diabolical.
‘Helen you know you can talk to me about anything’ Nma said jolting out of her thoughts
There was no choice for it, Helen thought and smiled at Nma.
‘It’s just that, everyone coming would be paired up, you know you and Uche, IJ and Stanley, Chuck and Star or the super model who knows. I seem to be the only who would be alone’
‘And maybe Star… she never had a chance before that white girl sank her claws on Chuck’
‘Wow’ was all Helen said
‘But on the bright side I am inviting our doctor’s son; he is a surgeon abroad so there will be someone you can pair up with’
‘Me and Star both, funny how the two of us will appear desperate vying for his attention’ Helen smiled. ‘Forget about me, I am just being my foolish insecure self.’
‘On the bright side there is still Stanley, we are looking for a way to save him from Ij, you could be his savior’
‘No not interested in handsome billionaires who think they walk on water and women should worship them’
‘Ouch! That was exactly my husband but look at him today, in love and loving every minute of it’
Helen smiled; ‘you are worth ten million of him darling’ Helen gave up trying to get information from Nma. This one she concluded, she was going to solve on her own.
‘Or Chuck’ Nma said suddenly
‘Chuck has a girl friend and he might not even come back?’
‘He wouldn’t miss it for the world, besides he is on break and we could always devise a means to keep him separated from his girl friend and…’
‘Stop please’ Helen laughed ‘we sound like two wicked step sisters’
‘Your call darling, his plane would touch down tonight, and you know I would do anything for you.’
Helen heaved a sigh of relief. she had just the information she needed but try as much as she could she couldn’t hide her sadness that Chuck wasn’t coming alone.
‘Helen you don’t have to worry about being alone, work with it and when the right person comes along, you will know it’
‘I am sure of it, and its okay. So enough with the heavy stuff, have we the time and date for the launch of the lingerie line’
‘not yet, but let’s talk about it later today, you own twenty five percent of it so it is not a decision I can make alone, you, me, Amber and Rose need to come together and discuss it first’
‘Fine then’ Helen got up ‘I had better head back to my department, have a piled up table’
Helen closed the door behind her and all thoughts of work cleared; she needed to get her purse tonight if possible.

All through the day, she did nothing but devise and discard one plan after the other. She needed an angle, a believable one to get her into Chuck’s house. She could just meet him at Nma’s son’s birthday and ask him for it, she decided. He asked you to come get it yourself. Her mind whispered. Yes and that was eons ago so he may have forgotten her. Forgotten the purse, forgotten their kiss. She looked down on her table feeling somehow sad that he could forget the kiss that was still on her mind every of her waking moment. No she would go get it herself if for nothing to get a closure. Her crush on him was something that she should have gotten over before this time. To prove if not to everybody but to herself that she was finally over him. Why she continued to moon over him she couldn’t say.  The man hardly knew she existed and hadn’t done anything to encourage her feelings yet the feeling seemed to grow even as his knowledge of her faded from his mind.
She would go maybe seeing him with the woman he loved would bring it home to her that this man wasn’t for her, would confirm to her foolish heart that the man was taken and no longer available.
All that day in her office Helen rehearsed in her mind what she would say to him, how sophisticated she would behave and the  nonchalant way she would sound. As she rode home in a taxi she tried to build a forte around her heart, her feelings, her body and all parts of her that seemed to lose control whenever he was near. It was rather a long list because it seemed every part of her was aware of him in their different capacity. This is not working Helen said to herself, as she walked into her modest house. She wished she had someone to talk to. Another woman who would understand how she felt and why what she was doing was beyond difficult. Nma would happily and eagerly play that role but then she would have to tell her about her amnesia. Nma would see it as a betrayal of trust that she would hide something so huge from her, when her own life was an open book for Helen. No she wasn’t going to tell Nma yet, she wasn’t ready to lose the friendship of the only woman who gave a hoot about her. She was going to do this on her own. If it back fired then she would live with.

The next morning Helen sat in front of her mirror and stared at herself. She had this uncertain feeling about the action she had decided to take. Was it the right one, would it be misunderstood? Would he think it was all a ploy on her part to get him to notice her? Yes he might see her like another desperate girl looking for his favors. But shouldn’t he be used to that, after all he was Chuks Obi voted world’s sexiest man alive and added to it, he was stinking rich and highly talented and then when he realized that she wasn’t there to jump him like he would think at first, he would be thoroughly disappointed. Helen smiled; maybe there was some enjoyment to be had in this mission impossible of hers.
She got up from the chair. If only she didn’t need her purse so desperately. It was her only connection to her past. A past that seemed so dark and foggy, she didn’t know if she would ever penetrate through it and find out what secret it held. Helen sighed as she did always whenever she thought of her past.
Her mind was made up; she was going to do it. She was going to Chuck Obi’s house. Thanks to her very best friend and boss Nma, she got to know that Chuck’s was expected back last night for his annual holiday. Some might question why she had to go this early in the morning but she had only one good reason. Tomorrow was Nma’s son’s birthday party and there was that barbecue party and she wanted to carry her red purse. She didn’t care if she was believed or not. She didn’t need to justify to anybody why she wanted her purse back even if her timing was way off.  It was the man’s fault that her purse ended up in his house. If he hadn’t stolen a kiss from her which got her so spooked that she ran out from the car forgetting her purse, she wouldn’t be here in her room afraid and at the same time excited to go. Try as much as she could to understand why she was so spooked by simple touching of lips, she never could.
She heaved a sigh and looked around the scantily furnished room. There was just a bed and an arm chair, her dresser at one corner. She used white lace cotton to separate the bedroom from the sitting room, that was even less furnished she had her television, music system and nothing else. music was a major part of her life. It inspired her creativity and helped her somehow to reach within herself. So she had that and a rug. She had never felt the need to add more furniture and never cared. She put that to not knowing where she was coming from. And she had to know where she was coming from before she could understand where she wanted to go. She didn’t want to put down roots or become too attached only to wake one morning and remember.
Dragging herself back to the present, it was no use, she chided herself. Thinking about it would never make it any easier. She just had to live with it the best way she could and wait and hope the she would hit her head and remember.
Then she turned to look at herself in the mirror, she was still half dressed, she took some steps back and looked at herself. She became a bit irritated. She was skinny and didn’t have all the curves that Nma was so proud of. Try as much as she could, she could never add an ounce. It just was not fair, she cried. Nma was so beautiful, that was why a man as handsome and powerful as Uche Okoha couldn’t resist her, saw her once and fell head over heels in love with her. Helen sighed, on the other hand she was plain, dark or cinnamon like Nma kept telling her. Ok she had wide beautiful eyes that only Nma had complimented. She had full lips that were too wide for her face. Her best features were her smile. The sun seemed to shine brighter when she smiled; okay for that one she had received compliments. But then again, she didn’t smile always. What did she have to smile about? Then she chided herself, she had her job, she was the head designer and co owner of Nma’s new lingerie line. She was talented and she looked back at the mirror and gave herself a once over. At least every body says she was talented, and tall. Standing at five feet seven, she was tall and she didn’t care what people said. But she was skinny, maybe she should be grateful that she wasn’t fat, she was curvy enough for a slim girl. Her breast should be tiny going by her size but it wasn’t and she wasn’t flat behind either. She had long shapely legs which she hardly exposed and she had nice eyes and million dollar smile.
Then she stopped “million dollar smile?”  Sounded like something someone had said to her before. She sat down and tried to remember but all she met was dark nothingness. With frustration she marched to her closet and threw it open. It was all Chuck’s fault if he didn’t make her forget her purse or if he had agreed to bring it to her at Nma shop like she asked him or if he had the good sense to spend his Christmas holiday in the country then she wouldn’t be in this mess. She wouldn’t be standing before her mirror trying to figure out what to wear. She didn’t want to look desperate or intimidated or defeated. She knew as much as she knew that Helen was probably not her name that clothes could have any of those effects on a person. She wanted to look classy, with an air of nonchalance but with a very simple sophistication. So she withdrew a soft yellow and chocolate sundress and marched to her mirror wearing the dress as she went. By the time she got to the mirror she only had to do up the short side zip. She smoothened the dress on her body. And stared at it, the gown stopped at her knee, it was cut like a tube  and clung to her bust except that it had short flay sleeves and  clung to her tiny waist and flayed out around her hips. She was impressed, she wondered what Chuck would think when he saw her. She wondered if he would be impressed.
“Come on Helen” she scolded herself. The guy only dated beauty queens and super models. That was correct she agreed and started on her makeup.  Making up was not her thing even though Nma always encouraged her and had even given her a few pointers. So she sat down and applied a soft pink lip gloss and outlined her eyebrows, and applied light eye shadow. She found out that it made her huge eyes appear dreamy and mysterious; she also added mascara to emphasize her long lashes. Then she brushed out her long waist length hair,. She smiled at the effect and took out her chocolate wage heels and a chocolate bag to match.
Helen stared at herself one more time, she was impressed.
“I look good” she told her reflection. Took out her brown sun glasses incase the sun became unbearable.
But she stopped as she was about to go, she heaved a sigh. Suddenly she was nervous. Okay she was attracted to the man best she accepted that and deal with it now before it came out the wrong time to bite her. But who wouldn’t be, No hot blooded woman with two good eyes wouldn’t be attracted to him but that wasn’t why she was going there today. She was going to get her purse because she needed it to compliment the dress she was wearing to the barbecue this evening. At least that was the angle she was pitching to Chuck as her reason for coming to his house. And she was going this early…she wasn’t sure why but she guessed she was going early because she might never have the time or the courage to go again. So she told herself through gritted teeth to stop being excited. Having said that she took a few minutes to calm down then she left her house with an over night bag she had packed in case she couldn’t leave Nma’s Eden Castles at a descent hour. It was no big deal, she had slept over number times there since Nma and Uche moved over there.


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Have a splendid day
Chioma