Relay my message.

That same day after the discussion with Gary and Jeffrey, Mark called Rita on phone and told her he had something to tell her. They decided to meet at the 'Alinea restaurant' the next day for the discussion, that was the same restaurant where they had a little disagreement regarding Mark's music career.

*********

Mark didn't keep Rita waiting as he did the last time when they discussed at the Alinea restaurant. He arrived at the restaurant even before the scheduled time. He waited some minutes more before he sighted Rita entering the restaurant, she arrived exactly at the scheduled time. He waved at her to draw her attention so she could see where he was sitting. Due to his hand waving, she sighted where he was sitting and sauntered over there.

She took a seat at the other side of the table where Mark was sitting. No one uttered a single word to each other for some seconds before Mark triggered a conversation,

"It's been a while".

"Yeah, it's been a while. You know, I don't know if you are still holding on to a grudge against me. You didn't even reply to the message of apology I sent to you, whether you saw the message or not, I don't know". Rita expressed.

"I'm not holding on to a grudge against you, that has been long forgotten, you're my sister. And as for the text message you sent to me, I saw it, sorry for not replying to you. That message was enough for me to forget about our little disagreement and let go of it". Mark stated, all he said now was the absolute truth.

Rita smiled a little, her heart was free now, her thinking was that Mark was still holding on to a grudge against her 'cause he didn't reply to her message of apology. With that little smile still plastered to her face, she said to Mark,

"I wanna apologize once again, I'm sorry for persuading you to quit music and accept mummy's offer of starting a lucrative business. It isn't easy to quit what you have passion for even though it's not working out for you that much. And I just want to tell you this, you're a really talented artiste, you really have passion for music-making. I listened to your latest song, and damn! it was so nice and pleasant to the ears. Like you rapped and sang at the same time and in the same song, like, that's super dope,

Not only that, I also watched the music video, and it was even much better to watch the music video than to listen to the song. You were so cool in the video, from the time when you rapped and sang, you killed it all. Not to talk of the chains you wore on your neck and the rings on your fingers, it added more sauce to the music video. All these show the passion you have for music, especially those verses where you rapped, it sounded like your main style of music was rapping, the song was just too vibeful,

But the song isn't receiving the type of attention it's supposed to be receiving. The YouTube views are supposed to be more than that, the streaming numbers are supposed to be massive".

Mark breathed in and out before saying, "That has always been my predicament as an artiste, you know, putting much effort into my craft, but it's not yielding great results. What I want to discuss with you right now is related to this".

"What is it? tell me". Rita asked curiously.

"Before I tell you anything, at least, let's order something to drink". Mark uttered disrupting Rita's inquisitiveness.

Mark ordered a cup of whipped cream, Rita wasn't in the mood to drink beer right now, and she doesn't have anything great in mind to order, so she ordered the same as Mark. Their cups of whipped cream were placed on their table with straws in them. They didn't waste time as they began sipping immediately, they sipped their whipped cream for some minutes before Rita asked once again,

"So, what is it that you want to tell me? at least, we've ordered something to drink".

Mark glanced directly at Rita and said, "I am gonna be traveling to South Africa soon".

"South Africa? why?".

"To achieve my topmost heart desire".

"Your topmost heart desire? what's your topmost heart desire?". Rita questioned.

"Attaining fame as an artiste, that's my topmost heart desire, you should know that. I wanna tour South Africa, I wanna experience something different, I wanna promote myself as an artiste, I wanna meet and collaborate with their artistes, I wanna move from being an upcoming artiste to a famous artiste. It's been four years now, and my music career has been dangling on the same spot, no progress, but am ain't gonna give it up even though am tired and fed up, am gonna keep striving. Am not gonna be traveling to South Africa alone though, two other guys are coming with me". Mark stated.

"Who and who? Do I know them?". Rita inquired.

"Most likely, you won't, both of them are music producers and they have been of great help to me. One of them has been my favorite music producer for the past three years now, while the other I met not too long ago. My label boss has granted full permission for the travel".

"Ain't you gonna tell mum this? ain't you gonna tell her that you'll be traveling to South Africa?". Rita inquired of Mark.

Mark's facial expression changed immediately the moment Rita asked that question, the expression on his face went a bit gloomy,

"I am not ready to face mum right now, she's not interested in my music career, so telling her would just be a waste. I'm not even sure if she wants to see my face. So please, I want you to relay the message to her".

"I'll do just that, but I feel mum doesn't despise your craft as much as she does back then. After the both of us had that little misunderstanding about your music career in this restaurant, I realized that I did wrong by persuading you to accept mum's offer and quit music, that's when I sent that message of apology to you. After some weeks, mum invited me over to her house for some discussion 'cause of the interview she watched about you on TV. She said that she doesn't like the fact that you blabbed about the slow progress of your music career, how tired and frustrated you were about it, she doesn't like the fact that you exposed all that on TV. But why were you still holding on to such an unprogressive music career? that's the question she kept asking, she couldn't fathom why,

Then she asked me if I wasn't able to convince you to quit music, then I told her to leave you to continue with what you have passion for. She should stop persuading you to accept her offer of starting a lucrative business, she should let you be. She didn't take it lightly at first, but after convincing her some more, she consented to it. She said that she would let you be, she wouldn't drag it anymore, she would let you continue with your music career without any disturbance from her. So maybe, she doesn't despise your career as much as she does back then". Rita explained.

"She might say that, but I'm sure she still despises my music career, as far as it is still unprogressive, men, her contempt for it isn't changing". Mark expressed.

"Yeah, maybe, when she was saying it, there was dissatisfaction in her tone of voice".

"That says it all, she isn't gonna disturb me anymore about quitting my music career, but inside her heart, she still despises that I'm into music-making 'cause it isn't successful. Well, I just want you to relay the message to her that I'm gonna be traveling to South Africa".

"Sure, I'll do that, I wish you the best of luck over there. I wish your hope of rising to stardom as an artiste comes to pass, you deserve it". Rita uttered with a smile on her face.

Mark smiled also before saying, "Thanks, and also, when I get to South Africa, I'll surely have to change my sim cards, that's another country, their mobile number is different. After changing my sims, I am gonna send my South African number to you through text message so we could discuss from time to time".

"Okay, I'll be expecting the text message from you". Said Rita.

Both of them quickly emptied their cups of whipped cream, then Mark settled the bills even though Rita insisted on doing so. As the both of them strolled out of the restaurant, Mark said,

"Stay safe and cool, and please, don't forget to inform mum about my upcoming travel".

"I won't".

With that, Mark hastened his pace as he walked out of the restaurant leaving Rita behind.