Chapter 301 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Will it make any difference if I tell you that I wasn’t in support of the press release the agency made?” Jeff asked, and Bryan sighed.

“I asked them not to. Mia did too. We both tried to convince him otherwise, especially since we know how things have progressed between you and Sonia. But you know how Paul can be when he is set on doing something. He threatened to fire us if either of us called to inform you about the press release. I’m sorry we couldn’t stop him,” Jeff said apologetically. He would have called the previous evening after watching the interview, but he had wanted to give Bryan enough time to cool off before talking to him.

“So why are you talking to me now? Aren’t you scared of losing your job?” Bryan asked calmly.

“You will still need a manager…”

“You work for the agency. Paul employed you,” Bryan reminded him.

“I already handed him my resignation letter yesterday after you announced that you were ending your contract with the agency. I would still like to work for you,” Jeff said, and Bryan smiled when Sonia came up behind him and hugged him from the side as she leaned on the edge of his seat.

“I don’t have any plans yet,” Bryan said even as his mind drifted to the conversation he had with Benne the previous evening. He knew that he was going to have to talk with Sonia about it first since she was an important part of his life now.

“Then we could put our heads together and come up with something. I know that sometimes you’re not very easy to work with, but I’d like to keep working with you,” Jeff offered.

“What about Mia?” Bryan asked without responding to what Jeff had just said.

“She handed him her resignation letter even before I did,” Jeff said, and Bryan felt a wave of guilt at ever being suspicious of those two.

“Thanks for your loyalty. I will think about what to do and get back to you,” Bryan said and disconnected the call.

“What did he want?” Sonia asked curiously.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Bryan asked as he stood up, and turned to look at her.

“Because I want to sleep beside you. So are you going to tell me about the call?” Sonia asked once again.

“They both quit their jobs. He wants to keep working with me,” Bryan explained.

“By they, I suppose you mean Jeff and Mia?” Sonia asked just to be sure.

“Yeah.”

“Aww. That’s so sweet. He must respect you a lot to still want to work for you. What about Mia?”

“I’m yet to hear from her. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep anymore now. I will just join them for breakfast. You can sleep in,” Bryan suggested since he suspected that sleep was far from him now that his sleep had been interrupted. He was going to need medicine for the headache he knew was going to come soon.

“Let’s clean up and go down together instead,” Sonia said as they both returned inside the bedroom.

“Benne wants me to work for him,” Bryan informed Sonia as he took off his boxers, and she turned to look at him.

“In his company? You’re going to abandon your career to work in the company?” She asked in confusion.

“He wants to start up an entertainment agency. He wants me to be the first star he signs,” Bryan explained, and Sonia looked at him thoughtfully.

“And what did you tell him?”

“I told him I would think about it and get back to him. I don’t think it’s a bad idea. Benne is a really good businessman and I’m sure he would help me maximize my potential to the best of his ability while also looking out for me,” Bryan said with a shrug as he leaned against the bathroom door and watched as she let her silk robe drop to her feet.

“If you know that already why didn’t you just agree to it when he asked you?” Sonia asked, and Bryan raised a brow.

“I wanted to first tell you about it and hear your opinion,” Bryan said making her smile as she moved closer to where he stood.

“You asked me to trust you, and I do. I’m okay with whatever you decide,” she said as she leaned in and kissed him, “And thanks for first telling me about this,” she added before pulling him inside the bathroom.

Meanwhile, inside Benne’s bedroom some feet away from there, Benne and Celsie were getting ready to join the others downstairs. Benne eyed Celsie as she tied her hair in a ponytail and took out her glasses, “You agreed to the bet because you knew you weren’t going to be wearing a dress, didn’t you?” He asked, eyeing the matching mint green palazzo pant and crop top she was wearing.

“I’m learning from the best,” Celsie said with a grin as she applied lip gloss on her lips, and stood back to check her reflection in the mirror.

“Well, unfortunately, you didn’t learn well. I said no panties, and what you are wearing right now is a pant,” Benne pointed out with a scowl.

“No, it’s different. Panties are undies, and I’m not wearing any,”

“I didn’t say no undies, babe. No pants,” Benne insisted.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any dress, so you’ll have to make do with this unless you’d rather I go down in my birthday suit,” Celsie said dryly, and Benne narrowed his eyes.

“We will correct that soon enough. Let’s go downstairs,” Benne said as he led the way out of the room.

As they approached the dining table they heard their parents talking and laughing like they had been friends for a long time, “Good morning,” Benne and Celsie greeted in unison as he pulled out a seat for her beside Lucas, and she sat down, while he sat down between her and his mother.

“Good morning, you two. You look very different this morning,” Benne’s mother observed with a smile of approval, and they could all tell she was referring to Celsie’s clothes.

Celsie gave her a small smile as she turned to look at her parents. Her mother had a beaming smile on her face as she looked at her daughter who seemed relaxed and happy this morning. What more could she ask for? Her daughter was not just beautiful and intelligent, but she was doing well for herself and was finally in a healthy relationship.

“I thought you weren’t going to join us for breakfast,” Benne’s father said as he ate.

“I didn’t want to. Some of us still need to rest,” Benne said as he served some pancake into two plates and passed one to Celsie before taking the other.

“What about Jasmine and Alicia?” Celsie asked Lucas who was seated beside her eating quietly.

“They left a while ago, they said they had to go somewhere,” Lucas said without turning to look at her.

“Did you cry?” Celsie whispered to him, and Lucas chuckled softly as he turned to look at her, his eyes looked bloodshot and he looked tired.

“I didn’t. My heart feels like it’s going to explode out of my chest, but I haven’t been able to cry, and I didn’t even sleep well,” Lucas said quietly, and Celsie patted his arm.

“I’m sorry you’re going through this, Luc.”

“It’s okay. I will be leaving later in the day. I need to take care of things quickly,” Lucas said before returning his attention to his food which he was mostly pushover around his plate without really eating much. He just wanted to be alone.

“Are you leaving too?” Celsie asked her parents curiously.

“No. We will be here for some time and go back together with Evelyn and Desmond in some days,” Celsie’s mother responded, and Benne’s mother smiled in agreement.

“Our parents are getting along so well,” Benne whispered to Celsie.

“Yeah. What about Sonia and Bryan? They’re not coming down?” Celsie asked, and both her father and Benne’s father chuckled knowingly.

“Adolf said they were kind of busy when he went to get them,” Benne’s mother said rushed to explain before either men would say it. Heaven knew that she was tired of being around both men. They seemed to joke about everything.

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