26 WAKE ME UP AFTER 15 MINUTES.

Jane was in her studio, painting another work for a client. She was painting a couple, I guess she never have a free time. She's always painting and never rests, even at home she still paints. She was mixing color on her palette with her palette knife.

She was busy mixing her colours together, lost in her own world of painting when she heard a knock on her door. She looked up and her heart skipped a bit when she saw who it was, she wasn't expecting to see him again. To ever lay her eyes on him after what transpired between them, she never believed he will come to her studio ever again.

She stared at Chris who wore a blue sweatshirt with a Naruto anime embroidered on it, he wore on his waist a black jeans with opening on both knees coupled with the white gucci sneakers on his feet. A white gucci face cup placed over his head. In as much as this guy has hurt her feelings many times, she can't help but fall in love with him all the time.

Has her love turned into an obsession?. She can't seem to take him over of her mind. He keeps clouding her sense of reasoning, he keeps distracting her with his smile. She watched him as that smile was still plastered on his face, a kind and genuine smile and her heart keeps racing fast at his smile.

She shook her head, clearing all the images of him. She ignored him, returning to her painting.

"Won't you tell me to come in?." He questioned, staring at her. She didn't even glance at him twice and to tell you the truth he was impressed with sketch on her mesh.

"Come in." She said, sarcastically or kinda rudely to him. Memories of him proposing to Cass came flooding back again into her head. How could she forget so easily?. How could she allow his smile to control her head?.

Chris walked in, sitting on a long bench. Watching her mix her colours, he watched her calm demeanor and she wasn't even looking at him. She was engrossed in what she was doing or moreover pretending not to notice his presence. He tried to read the expression on her when she raised her head with her palette knife, colours were smeared on it. She raised it up to her mesh to know if it will suit with the sketch on her mesh.

He stared at her but she wasn't returning his gaze and the expression on her face seemed unreadable. He knew she was mad at him for what he did and that's why he's here. He came to rectify what he did and he knew Jane as the understanding type.

"Jane, I need to speak to you." He began, trying to find the right words.

He didn't understand why he was battling with himself on what to say to her. He didn't want to hurt her feelings again and he was going against his wish because of his parents and Adam especially his Mom. He can't bear to see her mad at him, his father can stay angry at him for all he cares but when it comes to his mother. The case was different, she stood by him when he lost his older brother. When he thought his world has shattered but she helped him rise back on his feet even when the very first girl he ever truly loved hurt his feelings. He felt like dying but his Mom was there for him.

And he would forever be indebted to her, he will marry Jane for the sake of his Mom. All he got to now is to make Jane see reasons why he did that and not get the wrong impression of him.

"Go ahead I'm hearing you." Jane said, still mixing her colours to get the right color that will match what she wants to paint. But she never for glance up to look at him and he completely understood. She's mad at him.

"Jane I'm sure you saw the pictures and videos of me proposing to Cass?." He questioned, looking deeply at her to see her reaction but she never reacted. She kept on mixing her colours.

"Yeah, I saw it." She answered calmly, her eyes glued on the colours on her palette. "What about it?."

"Umm.….." He stuttered. He wondered why he was stuttering. "I want to talk to you about it?."

"Yeah, go on, I'm listening." She prompted.

"Actually I..." He was cut off by the ring of his phone. He looked at the screen of his phone, his manager was calling. He wondered why he was calling him now interrupting his words. He picked up the call, answering his manager.

"Hello?." He answered.

"Hello Chris, I need to you in the studio now." His manager said.

"Why, what happened?." Chris asked. "Why do you want me in the studio?."

"Nothing, just that I want us to work on a new song for the upcoming music gala next week. His manager implied. "So I need you now in the studio, let's work on a new song."

"But I haven't written any recent songs." Chris complained. "What song are we working on?."

"Don't worry about that, the ghost writers will take care of it." His manager said.

"Okay, I'm on my way." He said. "I will be there in 35 minutes."

He hung up the call, he looked up to her. She was already painting. "My manager called and wants to see me in the studio."

"Okay." She said, focused on her painting. You should go now, "I'm not stopping you."

"Actually I want you to come with me." He said, making her to raise her head up to look at him. "I know I'm disturbing you but can you follow me to the studio, we can discuss there."

"Won't you be busy?." She asked inquisitively, looking at him.

"Yes, I will." He admitted. "But I can still make time for you, I want us to have a healthy talk. Please I'm begging you, I know you're mad at me but I will tell you the reason behind those photos and videos of me with Cass."

She stared at him, she saw pleads in his eyes and for once she was convinced by his words. She found herself melting away in his eyes, she looked away from him. "Alright I will, let's go."

She wasn't in the mood to argue with him on why he wants her to follow him to the studio. And she wants to know the reason why he did what he did. She covered her palette with a cloth and since it was oil paints, leaving it exposed to the air will hardened them and once they are hardened. It's difficult to bring them back to their original forms. She washed her palette knife and brushes, he just watched her with keen interest as she went on with her business.

After she was done making sure everything was intact and in their right position, she dusts any dirt on her clothes although she wore an apron over them, are removed the apron. She wore a red turtle neck tucked in the black trouser on her waist. She looked around, making sure her studio was intact before going with him.

"Alright, I'm ready, let's go." She inserted, taking her black purse in her hands. She followed behind him out of her studio, she waited when most of her next door neighbors in the building took photos with him and even made him sign autographs on whenever they wanted his autograph to be. She wondered if he passed through this when coming to her studio and she was amazed that he still remembered her studio.

He didn't even tell her he was coming to her studio, he just showed up unannounced and she knew the reason why he was here. After taking pictures with bizarre fans and signing their autographs, she left with him to where he parked his car. She swore to God that she saw questions in the eyes of the people in that building including the sellers in the kiosks and shops. Some even gave her death glares, she wondered what's wrong with fans. Can't a celebrity have normal life, like date someone or get married to someone?. Can't a celebrity have a girlfriend?. They never react this way when they see him with Cass, why then was hers different?.

She remembered the last time she had a fight with him, thinking he was married. Her neighbors and some fans nearly skinned her alive for what she did but thank goodness he cleared all those doubts in the minds of his fans when he was interviewed over it.

She entered his car as they drove off into the busy roads to the direction of his studio. Through out their ride to the studio, she never for once opened her mouth to speak, she only looked out of the side window of where she sat in the front passenger's seat beside him. She lets the gentle breeze caress her face, she lets the wind to crash in on her face, letting it mess up her hair as she watched rolled up houses that almost touch the sky. She met beautiful buildings and the roads they took, she never saw a bungalow houses, only houses that looked like skyscrapers and glass houses. She was just drowning herself with the beautiful views before her including mother nature. Beautiful trees, leveled and tended grasses over the other part of the roads.

One will mistake it for a garden and also the way the trees opposite each others bent their leaves entwining with each other to create a beautiful pleasant greenery. Wow mother nature is such a beauty, seriously she always wonder how everything came to be, I mean how did the creator knew what color will suit this or that. God must be an artist cause in everything he created, she saw beauty in them.

Lost in her thoughts of nature and Chris never for once interrupted her thoughts to speak to her. He lets her drown in her thoughts, after like 30 minutes drive. They stopped in front of a building, a glass house that looked more like an apartment building to her. She stepped down, marvelled by the view in front of her but he didn't let her admire the house for long.

"Let's go in." He said, walking in front of her as she followed behind him like a sheep following its Shepherd. They entered the elevator, he pressed the 4th button and the elevator started moving. To be sincere this was the first time she's entering an elevator so when the elevator started moving, she almost lost her balance out of fear. But Chris was there to prevent her from falling, he held her arm. Staring into her eyes, she hoped that he didn't find out that this was the first time of her being in an elevator.

"Are you okay?." He asked, steading her.

"Yes, I'm fine." She forced a smile on her face. "I must have twisted my ankle." She lied.

"But not to worry, I'm fine." She smiled. They were the only people in the elevator and she felt her cheeks burning at his closeness and touch. She won't let his closeness or touch cloud her sense of reasoning. Sometimes their arms or hands would graze each other slightly and that alone sent hot bloods down her spine, she wondered if he was feeling what she's feeling now. She stole a glance at him but he wasn't looking at her, in fact he kept a calm and cool expression on his face.

After what seemed like 5 minutes, the elevator opened, they stepped out and he led the way to a door on the left hand side, they walked in and to be honest, she was marvelled by the interior of the studio. I can't possibly tell how beautiful a studio is, just imagine it if you have been to one.

She sat down on sofa at the right side of the room. She watched as Chris talked with his crew. One man kept staring at her direction and it felt like she has met his face somewhere.

Chris signaled her to come over to where the he stood with a man, she guessed that's his manager. She walked nervously up to them, wearing a nervous smile on her face. She doesn't like when all attention is on her but because of Chris she managed to compose herself and made her way to them.

"Manager?." Chris called. "I'm guessing you have met her before?."

His manager scrutinizes with his eyes all over her, she really felt uncomfortable with the way he stared and all she could was smile even though it was a forced nervous smile. After what seemed like an hour of examining her.

"Yes, she's the one who came to your concert months ago and the one you had a fight with." His manager answered. "But why is she here?."

Jane shut her eyes close, tightening them. Why must his manager be so blunt?. Well she guessed she left an impression on everyone who's ever close to him.

"Yup but that's past tense." Chris smiled, noticing the way she squinted her eyes closed. "I asked her to come, I was with her when you called so I thought of bringing her here too." He responded.

"But why?." His manager asked him, still giving Jane a thorough look.

"Some personal matter." He answered. His manager gave them both a weird look before introducing himself to Jane.

"Well, I'm prince Okoye, his manager." He introduced.

"I'm Jane." She smiled and introduced. "Nice to meet you."

"And there is Micah William a.k.a DJ Miko." Chris introduced the man who has been staring at her when she walked in with Chris.

Yes, she told herself she knew him and she has watched his shows, she loved the way he organizes beats. She was a crazy fan of his and he had appeared in one or two music videos of Chris.

"Yes, I know you." She smiled at him. "But I didn't know you as Micah William but as DJ Miko. I'm a fan of your beats and I always want to meet you in person, the way you organize beats and sounds I just love them. They're amazing." She fangirled not minding that Chris was there.

"Wow, I'm flattered." Micah smiled. "I didn't know someone appreciates my talents, I'm blessed."

"No really, I love them." She went on to speak. "I told myself if I eventually become a musician, you will be the one to make beats for me." She joked.

"Chris, your girlfriend really have a sense of humor." Micah laughed.

Girlfriend?. Jane mumbled to herself. "I'm not his girlfriend but his frie...." She was cut short by Chris.

"Actually she's not my girlfriend but my fianceé." He answered, taking her and the two men by surprise.

"What?." His manager exclaimed. "You never told us about her talk more of telling us you're getting married."

"It's a long story, I will tell you later." He inserted. "Well let's get down to why we are here. What song am I working on?."

"This?." A lady who has been watching the drama said, she looks like she's in her late thirties. She walked up to him, handing the music script to him. "This is what you will be working on, it was written by some ghost writer Prince recruited."

"I'm sorry not to have acknowledged you." Chris apologized. "Jane meet Fiona, she's in charge of how far my music goes, how many views, the streaming and the marketing. She's like an elder sister to me."

"Nice to meet you." Jane smiled, still baffled that Chris called her his fianceé in front of this people.

"And Fiona, this is Jane." He introduced.

"Nice to meet you too."

They seem to be nice people, no one was giving her weird looks expect his manager some minutes ago. And they never for once talked rudely at her. They are well cultured.

"So you will be working on this song titled LIFT ME UP." His manager prompted.

"Okay." Chris answered. "Am I performing with another artist on this song?."

"No, you're going solo." His manager answered. "If you're going perform with another artist, you will see him or her here but you're going solo."

"Oh okay." Chris replied.

"You're going to perform this at the music gala next week at Floris garden, other artists will perform but I want you to come up on the top, the more fans you create for yourself, the more we flourish in our entertainment and I want out music to come first in weekly magazines. Like be first in the music charts and I know you won't disappoint me."

"Enough of the chitchat." Fiona said, handing the sheet to to Chris. "Let's get to work."

Jane went back to sit down at where she sat before. Chris collected the sheet from Fiona, walking into the recording room which was transparent. Jane could see him as he stood before the standing microphone, wearing headphones over his head. Micah took his place on the chair where the music keyboard and recording devices are. He went to work, creating beats and sounds as Chris starts singing.

"Salt on your skin

and stars in your eyes

You're close in the darkness and I'm all

out of lies

taken my heart and made it your own."

Chris continued singing as Micah tried to find the suitable beat for the song, Jane had to admit that he has a very nice voice, when he was singing. She felt like he was directing the lyrics to her. She couldn't help but smile at him and he smiled back. After what seemed like two hours of singing, cutting off some parts they don't want in the song and Micah trying to get the right beat and tune for the song. They ended the song, although they weren't done with the song yet, that song needs more time and attention.

He walked out of the recording room, this was the first she's seeing him perform in a studio and he allowed her see him. She felt her heart melting at what he did, he let her see him perform. While he was singing he felt like a different person totally.

"I'm tired, I should take a nap." He said to his crew. They nodded their head as a go ahead order. He signaled Jane to come with him which she complied to, she followed him into a room that looks like a seat out, there's a long sofa with a table

in the middle.

He made her seat on sofa, lying down on the sofa too, resting his head on her laps with his eyes closed which baffled Jane. She was surprise with his behavior, what's he doing?. He had been acting weird today.

"What are you doing?." She asked, surprise written over her face. She can't understand what has gotten into him and why he was behaving this way. She followed him to this studio to hear his reason behind those photos and videos of him with Cass. But here he was resting his head on her laps, pretending to sleep.

He folded his arms, adjusting his head on her laps. Eyes still closed. "I'm trying to take a nap, wake me up after 15 minutes. I feel exhausted."

What?. She screamed inwardly. Why would she serve as a pillow for him but somehow she feels happy that he was using her laps as a pillow. She stared at his long eyebrows and his kinda long eyelashes that looks like that of a girl. She took in his beauty as she watched him sleep on her laps.

God…..why can't I seem to let go of this man?. Why do you have to torture me using him?. She mumbled to herself. Why do you allow him to cloud my vision and sense of reasoning that I can't seem to get him off my head.