Chapter Fifty-four

" You! " Eddie said with eyes bugged out at the realization of who the man was. 

" Yes it's me. " The man replied. A smile flickered across his face as he looked at Eddie who hasn't recovered from the shock. His face dimmed when he heard her call him, " Mr. Crazy Amusement park. "

" What? " The man said. He flashed her an angry look. " Hey, my name is Clifford, not Mr. Crazy... what? " Clifford said. He felt his heart boil when he heard that from Eddie.

" Let's not create a scene here. Let's go inside and have fun. " Clifford said to her. He stretched his hand to hold her hand but she flicked it off and walked away. Clifford was taken aback by her attitude. He began to follow her and kept on asking her to stop. He walked fast to catch up with her.

Eddie kept on increasing her pace. She kept on walking while Clifford followed behind. She stopped at some point and Clifford bumped into her back.

" Ouch! " He exclaimed in pains. Eddie hit his arm hard when he bumped into her back.

" You caused it! " The man bursted out and pouted his lips. 

Eddi found that, very silly. " You really look like a child when you do that. " Eddie told him and turned around to walk inside the club house. Clifford followed her as he complained behind her back. Eddie ignored him. Clifford snatched her purse and ran away. That was quite unexpecting to Eddie.

" Theif! Theif! " Eddie screamed pointing at the direction where Clifford ran to. Clifford stopped running, so that people wouldn't view him as a bad person. He stood distance away grimacing at Eddie, while Eddie kept on screaming for help. 

The bouncers at the clubhouse who saw them from inside till outside deafened their ears to her screams. They felt it was some pranks played by new found lovers. So, they looked it over, leaving Eddie helpless.  Eddie continued shouting till she got tired. It was then that Clifford walked to her and handed over the purse to her.  Eddie remained quiet when he gave her, her purse. She quietly walked inside the clubhouse and went back to the corner where she first sat. Clifford soon joined her oblivious of what was happening around him. 

Eddie furrowed her eyebrows when she saw a lot of people looking at her. She travelled her gaze to the direction where they kept their gaze on. It was then that she realized that Clifford had walked into the club unmasked.

She looked at Clifford and gestured him to cover his face. All of Clifford's attention was in her arrogant attitude as he thought of her. Before he could realize what Eddie was actually saying, some people had began taking pictures of him.

" Oh My. " Clifford quickly masked his face and stood up. He quickly headed towards the comfort rooms and locked himself up in there. 

Annie and her partner who was also one of Clifford's friends saw what happened. They remained silent and watched the remaining of the activity unfold. Before they knew what was happening, the crowd began shouting at him, ( Annie's partner, named Freddie ) and the other one named Harry. The crowd kept on shouting at them to also unmask their faces. When the duo saw that it was getting out of hand, they left the clubhouse. Clifford removed the overall mask that he wore and joined the crowd while they were pursuing Harry and Freddie. The bouncers swarmed into action as they tried to calm the crowd. The manager of the clubhouse saw what was happening from the surveillance footage and went down to calm down the crowd. He used the microphone to speak to the crowd but it was as if pouring water on a rock. 

Harry and Freddie got into the car but they were worried when they noticed that Clifford wasn't there with them. But they needed to leave the place immediately. As they were about to drive off, they saw Clifford running towards them. They opened the car for him to come in and he came in. Clifford was sweating profusely when he successfully entered the car. The drove off immediately. 

" Thank your stars that you successfully pulled through the crowd. But how did you do that? " Freddie asked him. He was sitting on the passengers seat while Harry drove the car.

" Their focus was on the both of you. It was much easier to escape. " Clifford answered still gasping for breath.

" Harry increased the volume of the air-conditioning system inside the car.

" Oh thank you. " Clifford said to him. The events that happened some minutes ago, replayed in Freddie's head and he bursted into laughter. 

" You didn't run a marathon. Did you? " Freddie asked Clifford who blew more air on himself using a book, despite the fact that the car was airy with the air-conditioning system in it.

Clifford flapped the paper on Freddie's body as he cursed him in anger.

It was only Eddie, Annie, Ella and her boyfriend that remained in the club house while others pursued the celebrities out of the restaurant. 

" They sat with Eddie as they poured her a lot of questions. Eddie kept on answering till she got tired. They were amazed to find out who the man was and they began chitchatting about the celebrities. 

The crowd became calm only after the men left. Some went inside the club house to continue the fun while others dispersed to their various destinations. The incident took the topic for the night in the mouths of those who witnessed it.

Eddie, Annie, Ella and her boyfriend, decided to go home as it was getting very late in the night. Eddie and Annie bade the other two goodbye as they entered their car. Eddie felt the chills as they drove back home. She wasn't used to late night outings. She summoned courage because of Annie's presence. The duo arrived home successfully. They also phoned Ella to know if she had returned home but to their astonishment, she had followed her boyfriend to another club that night. 

" Ooohhh. " Eddie yawned as she fell on the bed. " What is wrong with your friend? " Eddie asked Annie. 

" She's a crazy type. I'm not surprised at all. " Annie said to her. " I'm sleeping here tonight. " Annie told Eddie.

" Oh no you can't. You know that i love sleeping alone. Moreover, I don't want to feel indebted to someone because I'd almost sent him or her to an early grave because of my sleeping postures. "

" I don't care. " Annie said. " We're staying together this night. " She persisted. Eddie gave up persuading her and began to undress. She went into the bathroom and had a cold shower as she felt hot after going to the club. Annie also took her bath when Eddie had finished hers. After that, she brought out a chilled packet of yoghurt and two drinking glasses. She also got some snacks in Eddie's cupboard and put it into the tray.

" Tell me more. "  Annie enquired of Eddie.

" Nothing. Apart from the fact that i find him amusing, though very stupid. " Eddie said.

Annie stood up and got her purse where she kept it on a chair. She returned to the bed and opened it. Then she brought out a complimentary card and showed it to Eddie.

" What's this? " Eddie took it from Annie's hand and took a look at it.

" Wow. He gave you this? " Eddie asked her and she nodded. Eddie smiled and handed it over to Annie. " At least, i can also tease you. " Eddie said chuckling.

Annie smiled at her and said, " Silly. But, i think i like him. " Annie revealed.

" Really? Then go for it. " Eddie told her and took her hand as she began to sway it.

" Can we eat now? " Annie asked. " I'm tired. " Annie said and Eddie released her hands. They began eating and also discussing simultaneously.

********************

SMITHS RESIDENCE.

Smith was dining with Albert and Valerie that morning, when he told them of Clifford's coming.

" You mean today? " Albert asked him.

" Yes today. " Smith affirmed. " You both must be there to welcome him. " He told them. While they were discussing about Clifford, Valerie was thinking about the Master.

" How am i going to cope? " She thought to herself.

She needed to be very careful. Else, she get noticed by the people around her.

" Valerie? " Smith called Valerie who looked distracted.

Valerie was jolted back to reality when Smith called her the second time. " D.. Daddy? " Valerie stuttered. Dark lines crowned her forehead when Albert and Smith looked at her strangely.

" Are you here with us? " Smith asked her and she nodded in affirmation.

" Y...Yes. " She said again. " Please excuse me. " Valerie said and left the duo wondering what happened to her. They continued eating and also chatting as well.

...

...

" She is ok as you said. " Eva was speaking to Sarah, she was peeking at the trio in the dining room, from a distance. 

" Can we go now? " Sarah pleaded. She didn't want to stay, peeking at people enjoying their meals.

" Let's go and check on Ma'am Sofia. " Eva initiated.

" Better. " Sarah answered. The duo went straight to Lady Lily and Mira's room. They knocked at the door and Mira opened it. 

" Wow. " Sarah and Eva exclaimed as they looked at the entire room. They were mesmerized by the dazzling beauty of the room. And the shocker, they saw a lady dressed elegantly with make-up.

" Ma'am Sofia? " Eva said, mouth agape. She looked at Lady Lily and Mira who smiled at her. 

" Hello. " Sofia said to them.

" Cinderella's God mother. " Eva said as she felt like she was in a fairy world. Mira pulled Eva and Sarah to the sofa.

" Look from now, the new Sofia. " Sofia said to them all.