27

Keturah's POV

Flipping through the scripts given to me, I glanced through

my bag for my makeup kit as I tried to pick up some of the sentences into my mind.

Pamela, the new intern at the costume department entered shyly to look at my outfit and my hair.

She smiled and complimented me giving me a thumbs up. I breathed out some intros in the mirror making one last finishing touch on my face.

I prepped myself in the mirror for a minute and moved out to the studio to meet the producer for the evening news.

"I still can't believe Desire is giving us these wonderful dresses." Jordon said immediately he entered the studio with the director admiring the maroon attire on me.

"When is Mr. Walls coming in again, I need to properly thank him." he was referring to Darien who had told him to not call him that but Jordon never joked with his professionalism.

"I'll let him know when I see him in class." Jordon nodded and left to look at the set.

He started giving out orders to the technical crew giving me ample time to try my supervisor's number again.

It's been a month since I heard from him. Apparently, all students in their final year are to write a full thesis on their preferred topics before the end of the semester but, each thesis will be supervised by appointed lecturers.

Unfortunately for me, I was not in the same group as my friends but they helped me locate mine who has been making this work quite tedious for me.

I was able to meet him twice which went very smoothly but it's been difficult trying to get hold of him.

I shook my head and fixed my glasses well on my nose leaving another voicemail on his phone which I prayed he'd listen to and call back.

"Okay K, you ready?"

"Yes sir." I saluted and laughed at my director making my way to the set. The teleprompter started counting down and that always made me nervous but I still smiled immediately I started talking.

I thought of the Walls who were definitely not watching me tonight due to the gala they were attending and inhaled softly, evening my breath as I kept on reading from the teleprompter.

We went for breaks and was urged to take in my tea all thanks to my floor manager and wrapped up in an hour smiling at the camera before signing out.

"As always, great work K". I muttered a thanks and went back to the newsroom.

Not surprisingly at all, my coworkers were there watching the gala which was broadcasted after the evening news.

I walked quietly to my seat to see Wanzita already in the seat next to me. "what are you doing here?" she shrugged at my question and pointed to the screen,

"Watching the gala alone in my office is no fun." She justified smiling at her own response. I definitely understood what she was saying.

The newsroom was the perfect place to watch prime shows because this was where everything took place; the gossips, fantasies, lies, drama, everything.

"I didn't come here for only that, I've got some package for you." She handed over a branded bag which I was very familiar with. It was some gifts from the skincare company I wrote about two weeks ago.

"Wow, I wish the color of my skin was just like yours. I would have taken the products away from you." I stuck my tongue out smiling at her.

These products looked really good and this I wasn't sharing with anyone. Well, only with my family. I removed the last item from the bag which was a cute envelope filled with mini tickets. I give one to Wanzita as a token for always editing my features.

"Now this is what I'm talking about, I'm spending this weekend at their spa." We both giggled at her words putting all the products back into the bag.

We then fixed our attention back to the screen just in time to see Darien and his family on the red carpet.

They looked so good and steady which was not surprising at all. They'd been doing this for years.

I looked at Rosa on the screens as she had everyone in the newsroom including me admiring her dress when she spoke to Fort, who was one of our team from the entertainment desk.

I smiled at her answers and accent making me remember my first encounter with her.

Fort moved to Mr. Walls who also spoke shortly with a huge smile plastered on his face. And as they made their way into the building, the camera still followed them to the entrance.

"You look dashing tonight Darien." Fort walked to my friend who was still posing for the cameras.

"Tell us what..." I zoned out and stared at him. It was no doubt that he looked good, his team groomed him very well. If only we were in the right time or the right world, I would have told him that I had strong feelings for him, that I wanted to be with him but I can't.

He deserved more, better and I was definitely not the right person for him. I sighed inwardly thinking of the numbness I felt inside, I couldn't even take care of myself how I can make him happy.

He was the only person who made me understand what I was feeling and, it wouldn't be right for me to tell him to wait even if he felt same for me till I knew I was fully okay.

I snapped back to the night I slept in his balcony, I was thinking of ways to let him know that I had feelings for him.

Which is definitely not love.

Okay where did that come from? My palms started to sweat at my intrusive thought.

Happiness and love goes hand in hand and I can't give him that and as hurtful as it is. I was glad that he had someone in mind he wanted to be with.

I licked my lips absentmindedly fixing my attention back on the screen, Fort was speaking to another person.

"Is it true one of the Walls was in the building some time ago? Where was I?" I grossed out listening to Wanzita.

"Oh no Wanzita, he's younger than you." She smiled rolling her eyes, "Yeah by what? Six years. It doesn't matter, he's so delectable didn't you see him?" She guffawed at my horrified face and got out of her seat.

"Where are you going, the red carpet is still going on?" She shook her head picking up the ticket I gave her.

"I came here to see him, I guess I'm not the only one." She gestured at the other ladies who were walking out and stepped out with them. I looked around and saw very few people in the room making me chuckle.

K- Look at what you've done.

D- Oh my! What did I do now?

My mouth twitched at his instant dramatic reply making me think twice about what Wanzita said.

I secretly took a picture of the empty seats in the room and sent it to him.

K- The entire room is empty after you went inside.

My phone pings but I leave it to pack my stuff and made my way outside the building to wait for my Uber ride.

I got in shortly and decide to look at his response,

D- well what can I say, the show becomes boring when the king leaves.

I rolled my eyes at his silliness and decided to let it be for him to have fun.

My ride stopped at my driveway and I got out quickly after thanking the driver. I made my way inside to see the house empty which was quite unusual. Normally, I'd come home to see my sisters in the hall.

"Keisha!, Persis!, anyone home?" I shouted but received no response. I sent a quick text to Persis and immediately got a response; she took Keisha to the ice-cream shop nearby.

Picking my bags from the counter, I made my way to my room to take a quick shower thinking about my supervisor and released a frustrating sigh.

The man was becoming a pain in my ass, if necessary I might go all P.I on him to get this work done. The front door slammed and I quickly got out wrapping myself up with a towel to scold my sisters for the umpteenth time about slamming the door.

"Persis what did I say about slamming the door, What is-"

I shut my mouth when I realized it was my mom.

"Oh sorry, I thought it was Persis and Keisha, they went out for ice cream." I added and went back to my room to put some proper clothes on.

As always, I was expecting my mom to ask me about school  when I came down to help her with dinner, but she didn't.

We silently prepared dinner with a sort of tension in the room. I don't know why I didn't notice that earlier.

What made her angry this time?

I remained quiet, not wanting to be at the receiving end again. My sisters and I had come to understand that when our mom came home angry like this, it was two things. Either she ignores us the whole time or speaks harshly which sort of hurts sometimes but we understand so we just forget it.

My jaw clenched trying to stop myself from hissing when blood started oozing from my index finger.

"What is it this time?" My mom asked staring at my deeply cut finger.

"How did that happen, where is your glasses?" I pointed to my room and she scoffed turning to face me.

"Are you stupid? You can't see what you are doing too. Hell what do I take you to school for? This is why I always lash out on you, you can't do things, just one thing straight! This is what your sisters are learning from you. You three are so lazy, you do nothing in this house! I don't know why you're still under my roof!" I stare at her obviously hurt by her words.

"Mama, what happened has nothing to do with school or Persis and Keisha." Before I could blink, she was standing infront of me looking furious.

"What did you say? Say it one more time. Imbecile! Don't look at me with that useless face, they say you look like me but you look like your useless father!" I sighed tirelessly knowing where this was going. I turned to see my sisters already in looking at me with sadness in their eyes.

"Mama , I'm-"

Whack!

My eyes burned from the sharp pain planted on my right cheek. "I told not to open your damn mouth! Who told you to speak back, who taught you that!" I willed myself not to cry infront of my sisters.

"Is it because you are on tv that's why you're talking back, you are nothing! I dare you to do that again, fool!" She continued speaking but my thoughts were running wild in my head, just thinking of what I did for her to do that again.

Was it the cut on my finger or something else? Cause I never understood her problem. It was either Persis or I always at the receiving end every time she was angry.

"You hear me?" I snapped my attention back to her to see her still talking, "I regret taking you to school, you ugly empty headed girl! You should have come out last, that way, your sister would have been my first child. Empty headed fool! Always doing something to annoy me. Get out of my sight!"