21:00 MSK time
I was instantly filled with fear and shock. Was someone watching me? How did the person get to slip the note into my bag? I had been with my bag all day. The only time I left it was when I went to the toilet at the restaurant, but Fred was there, and I am sure he would not have allowed someone to put a note in my bag. Something was not adding up. It made more sense to call Janet now. She was the one who had told me about Fred during the conference. I needed to ask her for more details.
I eventually managed to pull out my phone from my bag and I saw that I had gotten a message from Fred on WhatsApp;
“It was really fun hanging out with you. You are extraordinary, my Lady. I really wish you did not have to travel tomorrow. I am going to miss you.”
I immediately forgot about all the thoughts that troubled my mind earlier. His message made me smile. I wasn’t sure how to reply to him. He was such a caring man. He had driven me back to church to get my car, and then followed me home in my car. he later took a taxi back to church to go pick up his car. With all that stress, he still remembered to send me a message. What else could be cuter than this? As I started typing a reply to his message, my phone rang. It was him.
“Sir, why are you calling me by this time of the night, and didn’t we just part ways like a few minutes ago?”
“My Lady, I am so sorry. I could not help myself. As I lay on my bed, I realized that it had been a very long time since I had so much fun. Spending time with you was beautiful,” he replied.
I had expected some sarcastic answer from him since I had asked him a sarcastic question, but there he was, melting my heart with his amazing voice dripping with sincerity.
“I also had a fantastic day. How did you get home so fast? You stay close to my side?” I asked because I would have guessed he was still on the road.
“Well, I do not stay too far, plus there was no traffic. So it was easy to get home fast,” he said.
“Home?” I asked. I thought he lived in a hotel since he said he did not stay in the city.
“Yes, home. Where I live… or you don’t know what home means?” he asked, laughing.
Apparently, he doesn’t remember telling me that he wasn’t a resident of the city.
“Well, someone told me that he doesn’t live in the city, so I wasn’t expecting to hear anything about home. I was expecting more of hotels or guesthouses,” I said with a very sharp tone. He knew that he had to explain himself.
“My Lady,” he began, his tone had dropped, “I do live here technically, but I always travel round it almost seems like I don’t live here.”
I remembered the message on the note that was just beside me. Fred had lied to me.
“So you lied to me?” I asked. I was extremely hurt.
“Lady, I was definitely going to tell you. You were going to end up finding out. I did not lie just because I wanted to lie but because I wanted to spend time with you. That was the only thing I could think of at that point. I really like you. From that moment I saw you, I just knew that you are one woman any man would be lucky to have. But you don’t deserve just any man, you deserve the best, and I just wanted an opportunity to prove it to you. I am really sorry. Please forgive me. I am not a liar,”
The note said he was a liar, and it was probably from someone who did not know that he told me he did not live in the city. But his reason for lying seemed to make sense. I only agreed to see him because I thought it would be my last chance. If I knew that he lived in my city, I probably would have asked to see him another time.
“Lady, are you listening to me?” he asked with a very soft voice.
“Yes, I am,” I replied.
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
“I think I do,” I said.
“But there is no excitement in your voice any longer. I am really sorry, my Lady. Let my mistake not ruin the experience of a beautiful day,” he said in a pleading tone.
“It’s fine. I understand.” I said as I smiled.
“Thank you so much, Linda. You don’t know how scared I was. I cannot bear to lose you,” he said.
“Lose me? But you don’t have me. How can you lose me?” I asked. Of course, I knew what he was driving at. And truthfully, it got me excited. I knew it was not a rational decision, but I liked him.
“Linda, I really like you, and I want to have you,” he said.
“Firstly, I am not a property, so you cannot have me. You need to learn better ways to construct your sentences. Secondly, liking me is not all that qualifies you. It is the least,” I said.
I jumped on the inside, but I could not let that show.
“My Lady, I am very well aware of that. In fact, I am more than aware, but I just wanted you to know my intentions. And of course, you are definitely not a property. Your value is worth more than that,” he said.
I looked at the clock in my room. It was 10:05pm. I remembered that I needed to pack and wake up early for my trip.
“We will talk later. I need to pack up and get enough rest. I have to wake up early so that I won’t miss my flight. And you also have to wake up early too for your journey,” I said, trying to conclude the conversation.
“Well, about that. I don’t have to travel tomorrow. It was just a little white lie to make sure you went out with me,” he said.
“Oh really. Okay then,” I said. I did not want to think of how many lies he told so quickly to make sure he went out with me. It made me wonder how easily he would lie to have his way.
“Can I come to pick you tomorrow to take you to the airport, so you don’t have to stress finding a taxi and all?” he asked.
I had not even considered that. My flight was for 8 am, which meant I had to leave the house by 6 am. I could find a taxi at that time, but it would be expensive.
“You don’t have to stress yourself. I can handle myself. Thank you,” I said.
“It is not stressful for me, and I want to do it for my Lady,” he said, sounding like he was on his knees begging. There was no point going back and forth. Truthfully, it was wiser for me to agree.
“Alright then. I have to leave my house by 6 am. If it’s not too early for you,” I said.
“No time is too early for you. It would help if you went to sleep now. You need rest. I will see you tomorrow, my Lady,” he said.
“Alright then. See you tomorrow. Goodnight.” With that, I hung up.
08:30 am MSK time
Everything had happened so fast – from midnight packing to getting just four hours of sleep, to having Fred show up at my house at 5:30 am. I wondered why he came that early when I had told him 6:00 am. It was cute to see that he cared to come early, but at the same time I wasn’t happy he met me unprepared. I had planned to use the final 30mins to do the clean-up, but then he caught me unawares. He found it funny that I was without the official aura he was used to. He made fun of it and laughed at me, and I could not help but laugh too. He then helped me finish up my packing and clean up. He is indeed an adorable man.
We left the house by 6:15 and made it right in time for me to board and check-in. I don’t know what I would have done if he had not come to help. I smiled as I relieved the memory from the morning.
I had not paid so much attention to my phone since yesterday morning, and I knew that I had a ton of messages to reply to. I did not even reach my secretary to inform her of my plans. My family must also be concerned, seeing that I did not call them like I usually did every Sunday. I finally opened my WhatsApp to see that not many people had missed me. I had only gotten messages yesterday from my family like I expected, Janet and some church groups.
Janet must be in the spirit because I planned to call her as soon as I landed to inform her of how things turned out between Fred and I. She was not aware of anything. She did not even know that he had spoken to me that evening during the conference. I opened her message, and it read: “Remember the guy you asked about; apparently he has a woman, so stop asking about him”
She had sent me a picture of Fred and another woman in a very intimate position. Then she wrote under that, “Don’t mind me, just decided to send it to you as I saw it on one of his friend’s Instagram pages. So sad he is not available.”
I did not know exactly what my heart was feeling, but I knew it was not good. Of course, Janet just shared this because she wanted to share the gist with me, but this was the last thing I was expecting.
“Why exactly was Fred trying to be with me if he already had someone?” this thought burdened me throughout my flight.