Chapter 24

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She was sleeping when her phone rang. She was too tired and equally too lazy to take anyone's call. She let it ring till it stopped then prepared to continue on her journey of sleep when it rang again. She tried her possible best to ignore it, but the caller was one persistent mosquito. She sat up in bed, angry about her disrupted sleep and took the call without staring at the caller ID.

'What is it?!' she barked into the phone, like an offended puppy.

'Did I interrupt something?' his voice had her fully awake in an instant. Her composure and cool demeanor returned so quickly, washing away her irritability.

'Clement,' she said, happiness in her voice. If Lotenne, her big sister was here, she would have called her a lovesick fool. Well, she was. She was not going to deny that Clement made her do silly things. It was a given, an unarguable fact.

'You sounded angry a while ago. Is someone pissing you out?' he asked her.

'No Clement, no one is. I was only sleeping before you called.'

'Oops! My bad! I'm sorry. Hope I didn't disturb you? Go back to sleep I will do well to call you back later.'

'No! No!' she instantly protested. 'Do not do that. I was just about to get out of bed when your call came in,' she lied through her teeth. She mentally cringed at the lie she had just told without batting an eyelid. 'Since I am awake, you might as well just talk to me,' she urged him. He seemed to think about it.

'Alright,' he said to her. 'So, how is my baby girl? Como estas mi querida? How is your day going my sweet?'

'Whatever are you saying?' she asked with a delighted giggle.

'You can ignore the Spanish ma Cheri and mind just the English.'

'Well, if you say so I'll-'

'I say so,' he imputed quickly. She smiled then sighed in resignation.

'Alright, I'm fine and my day is going pretty well. What about you? Are you okay? Is your day going very well?'

'Yes it is mi querida. It'll go much better since I have heard your selky voice,' he told her. She blushed lightly.

'Stop flattering me you. What do you want? Speak now or hold your peace for another two more hours,' she warned him. His light chuckle made tingles to tango sweetly in her ears, sending shivers through her tympanic chamber into her blood stream and thereby to all the part of her body. She wondered how his voice could do so to her, affect her so, make her alit with raw primal desire, unquenchable.

'I just wanted to have you check your schedule. I would like to take you somewhere nice,' he informed her. She heard the eager excitement in his voice. She sat straight up, her curiosity piqued by his enthusiasm.

'Where is that?' she asked him, curious. His soft laughter graced her ears, sounding like music, sweet melodies that only love could unravel. She sighed softly, almost inaudibly in pleasure.

'It's a surprise but let me see. There is a yacht, wine and dinner, a bridal-like king sized bed of roses in a room,' he said. Her eyes widened at his not so subtle revelation.

'You say?' she asked.

'Are you going to come?' he asked in return. She hissed softly under her breath, partly in embarrassment, partly in annoyance.

'No I will not do so,' was her straight very candid reply. He was silent for a moment.

'Why won't you my sweet? It took a lot to plan this outing Mon Soleil,' he said.

'I will not come because I would be having a headache that day.' His laughter came again, totally amused by her response.

'I haven't told you the day,' he stated.

'Whatever day it is Clement, I will be having headache.' When he laughed again, she noticed the mischief in his voice and realized that he might just be pulling her legs.

'Oh please Chloe,' he began, 'I will do nothing to you. Besides, it is not our wedding night,' he stated. 'Anyways, the date is minus the king sized bed with roses. Now, will you come?' he asked her. She hissed again, louder. He laughed, going into fits, unable to control himself.

'You knew that would get to me, didn't you? You did that on purpose you rogue,' she told him angrily. He laughed harder at her words. 'You rascal,' she sneered, 'Enjoy having a joke at my expense,' she snapped.

'Oh my-'

'I might as well keep the call since you see me as nothing but a joke.' His laughter seized instantly, his voice serious, rising.

'No! No! No!' he protested. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Pardon! I am very sorry my love,' he implored in a sweetly silky voice. 'You are not a joke mi querida. I was only pulling your legs.'

'Well, you laugh at me as if I mean nothing to you,' she said smiling. She was going to give him a hard time and listen to him beg. She would shut her fragile heart and have no pity, none whatsoever towards him.

'Do not say that carino. I'm sure that you do not mean that which you say.'

'Well, I do.'

'Come on ma Cheri, je ne demande pas mieux que toi Mon Coeur et tu savoir,' he accused her. She did not understand a word.

'I know not French Clement,' she said.

'Well I do,' he replied in the same tone she had used for him earlier.

'Can I have the translations please?' she requested.

'Yes you can my darling?' he answered her. 'I said that I would like nothing better than you Mon Coeur and you know it,' he translated for her. It seemed like he loved to say honey sweet things to her in French or Spanish. She wondered just how many languages he could speak. She should ask him, shouldn't she? She mused over his words, feeling warm. Well, she was not going to tell him any of that for he had been a jerk earlier on. 'Oh please do not be offended by whatever I did,' he pleaded with her.

'Whatever,' she said nonchalantly in a way that had his heart on the high. 'How many languages do you speak?' she asked him.

'I speak three languages apart from English and Igbo my sweet,' he informed her.

'It includes?' she asked him.

'I speak French, Spanish and Italian,' he said to her. She absorbed the information, quiet for a moment just so she could keep him worried. He fell for her ploy, clearing his throat twice to remind her that he was still on the phone. 'Do you have a sore throat?' she asked in mockery.

'My sweet,' he implored, 'please do not be offended. I am very sorry. Would you please forgive me mon Amour?'

'Well,' she drawled after a moment, his plea touching her despite her barricade. 'Is there really a date?'

'Ummh yes?' was his confused reply. What was she getting at? Had she forgiven him already? Would she agree to it and say yes? He knew not the answer and it was quickly killing him.

'Let me check my schedule.' She logged into her Silver Fire profile to do so. Every pole dancer at the organization had one. It was used by the company to send varieties of information to their dancers. She went to her dance schedule for that week. She studied it. She had dance sections at one time or the other every other day from that time except on Thursday which was the sixteen of April. She heard him cough meaningfully and knew that he was getting impatient.

'Chloe, are you still on the line?' his voice came, worry sounding in them.

'Yes I am and I am done checking my schedule,' she informed him.

'Okay baby girl,' he said, 'shoot.'

'Three days from now, I will be completely free. I do not know if it will work well with you for it is a Thursday,' she expressed her opinion.

'It is Thursday then, call?' his swift reply made her smile. The man could never turn down a chance, suitable or not.

'It is a deal,' she said.

'Since that has been settled, I shall leave you to sleep. I'll call you in the evening at a time when you must have rested to your fill, alright?' he didn't allow her to answer the question, Speaking almost instantly. 'Goodbye my sweet, have a good rest munchkin and take very good care of you on my behalf,' he said in a lovey-dovey voice.

'Goodbye Clement, do same for me.'

'J'aimer vous Mon Coeur. Do rest well,' she hummed in reply and waited for him to keep the call. He always liked to be the one to do that.

Clement kept the call, chuckling rather happily in his office. He laid his phone on his work table and leaned back in his swivel chair, rolling left and right, satisfied with everything. He had wanted to see her, wanted to do something thoroughly special for her. He wanted to brand her, with himself. He wanted nothing more than to claim all of her. This date he was planning was going to achieve that. He hadn't had an idea if she would be free. Tada! She was going to be free on Thursday. Whoops! He would have her all to himself for a day, a whole day. Well, twenty four hours was quite enough for him to persuade, convince, coerce and seduce her into the wonderful ensnarement he had prepared for her. Oh! She'd have no idea at all, not even an iota. He smiled as he thought of her worrying about the date getting in the way of his work for she would be free on a Thursday which was a working day. Well, he loved her for caring, but she was totally wrong on that. She had no idea that he had told Sukanmi his secretary to make sure nothing was on his schedule for that week. That week was special. It was all hers, Chloe's.