ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I can’t publish this book without acknowledging everyone who took part in one way or the other to
make this a success.
I will like to specially thank God for the wonderful gift of writing and how He has been my guide
throughout. I wouldn’t have done this without Him.
I will also like to specially thank my Friend and Web designer, Allen Boye-Doe, without him, I wouldn’t
have a website to upload my stories and he’s also been supportive through the journey of this book.
To all my friends who have been a huge support to this, I’m extremely grateful to you all. I couldn’t
have started this without you. Special thanks to my TAF friends who read my book. You are the best.
I can’t do this without appreciating my Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram family. You’ve
been the best, without you all, I wouldn’t have even continued this book. I’m really grateful to you all.
I love and appreciate everyone. God bless!
Chapter 1
Jessica was asleep and she was having a wonderful dream. In her dream, she
finally confessed her feelings to her best friend and he felt the same way about
her too.
“ I love you Dean”, she said to him.
“I know you do and I love you too Jess”, he said, wiggling his brows as her eyes
popped open.
He was on her bed, looking at her and he burst out laughing.
“Dean!” She said, widening her eyes when she realized that she it was all a dream.
She quickly sat up and pushed him off her bed.
“What are you doing in my room at this time of the morning?!” She asked, using
her sheets to cover herself.
“What are you hiding? You’re in a nightie”, he said to her.
“And so? The fact that we share an apartment doesn’t give you the right to walk
into my room anytime you like”, she said, glaring at him.
“I’m sorry. I should have left you to sleep and miss your job interview”, he said in
a sarcastic tone and she widened her eyes.
“What’s the time?!” She asked.
“All I know is that you’ve got exactly 30 minutes to get ready and set off”.
“Dean!!!”
“What?!”
“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier than this!!”
“Oh now you are cool with me stepping into your room wi…”
“You could have at least done that an hour ago!”
“I spent hours knocking on your door and blowing up your phone but you were
busy in dream land, professing your love for me”, he said, holding back his
laughter.
“What? I wasn’t referring to you. You know how much I’m crazy about Dean from
Supernaturals. Get over yourself”.
“Dean? Sure. What ever makes you sleep at night”.
“Don’t say his name like he isn’t the hottest guy on the planet”.
“Well, that’s debatable. But if you’re ready to argue on that instead of getting
ready for your interview, I’m all for that”.
“Oh my God! Time has actually passed. Dean get out of my room”, she exclaimed.
“I’m going”, he said, turning around to leave.
“And the next time you walk into my room without my notice, I’ll kick you out of
the house!
“It’s my house Jess”.
“I don’t care. I’ll do just that!”
“Fine! You better hurry though. Mike is coming to pick me up and I can ask him to
drop you off”.
“That’s nice of you”, she said, grinning. “Can you leave now?” She said to him.
“You’ve got 10 minutes”, he said, grinning and she threw her pillow at him.
“And I know you were talking to me in your dream”, he said, making a face.
“In your dreams!”
“Well, it did happen in yours”, he said smirking and he ran out of the room and
shut the door.
When he left, she quickly ran into her washroom and did her business in there.
Dean and Jessica have known each other ever since they were little and they’ve
been best friends since then.
They were both neighbors back at home and their families were really close.
They both went to the same school since nursery and they had their first split
when they went to different universities.
When Jessica graduated from the university, she moved out of her parents house
permanently to stay with her boyfriend.
The relationship ended months after and she didn’t want to move back in with
her parents, so she moved in with Dean who recently got a job and a new
apartment.
Jessica had a younger sister who was still in college and a younger brother who
was in high school. She was very close to her siblings and she loved being around
them.
She also loved being around Dean. She’s had a crush on him ever since they were
in Junior High school but she hid it from him because she didn’t want to ruin her
friendship with him and she was also scared of being rejected.
Dean on the other hand, had a girlfriend that he’s been dating for almost 6
months and he was really into her.
Jessica had other female friends but they were not that close. So, most of the time,
she was always at home alone. And sometimes she visited her family back at
home and her sister in school.
******
Ian’s friend dropped her off and she quickly ran into the building.
“You left your appointment letter!” Ian yelled but she didn’t hear him.
“Oh Lord. This girl”, he said, face palming.
“I’ll be right back. Let me drop this off with her”, he said to his friend and he got
off the car.
On his way in, he met Jessica who was panting like she had gone for a long run.
“I guess you’re here for this”, he said, handing it over to her.
“Thank you! I’m so late. I don’t even know if I’ll be permitted to have this
interview”.
“Jess! Stop the talking and go!” He said to her and she quickly ran off.
She quickly took the elevator and when she arrived on the right floor, she
stormed out and ran off to the room in which the interview was being held.
She met other people there and she took her seat. She was really nervous and
tensed.
“Breathe!” She said to herself as she tried to calm down.
She quickly said a word of prayer and waited patiently.
A lady stepped out of a room and called out a name which wasn’t hers. This made
her uncomfortable because she knew that her allocated time had passed.
The lady who was called didn’t respond.
“Lydia Bannerman”, the lady called out and Jessica looked around and no one
responded. The lady was about to walk back into the room and Jessica stood up
quickly.
“Uhm excuse me”, she said and the lady turned around.
“Are you Lydia Bannerman?” The lady asked.
“No, but I’m Jessica Thompson. I think uhm, my time has passed and I was
wondering if I could still do it and fill up the time for Lydia”, she said and they
lady gave her a weird look.
“Do you think we are running a charity here? If you really wanted this job, you
would have been here an hour before your allocated time. Your first impression
already sucks and I don’t think we’ll want someone who can’t stick to the time
given to her”.
“I know that but please just let me have the interview atleast. If I don’t get picked,
I’ll understand that it was because of my lateness. Please???”
“If you don’t get picked? There’s no way you’ll get picked when she realizes that
you were late”.
“I’m willing to take that risk. Please??”
“Fine, wait here”, she said and she walked back into the room.
Jess was so worried. She began to pray and she asked God to let it work out for
her. As she was busy praying silently, the lady stepped out of the room.
“You should thank your God that she’s in a good mood to even hear you out. You
can go in”, the lady said to her and she walked into the room.
“Good morning”, she said to her.
“Good morning. Kindly take a seat”, she said to her and she sat opposite her.
She was so nervous and she just had to look around to make herself comfortable.
The office was really huge and the interior was beautiful. After observing the
room, she focused her gaze on the lady seated opposite her.
She couldn’t believe that she was sitting across Erica Day, one of the most famous
designers in the country.
Ever since Jessica was in high school, she’s always had the dream of being a
fashion designer although her friends spoke so little of it. They always teased her
of wanting to be a seamstress.
Her parents were also not in support of her career choices but that didn’t stop
her from applying for the job when she came across it.
Erica Day owned a huge fashion design company and it was really surprising to
everyone when she decided to carry out the interview herself.
She needed a new personal assistant and she wasn’t satisfied with the choices
made by her Human Resource team in the past years. So , she decided to conduct
this herself.
“Jessica Thomson. Right?”
“Yeah”.
“You were late! And normally, I wouldn’t want to interview you because I don’t
play with my time but I’m in a good mood today and I just want to hear what you
have to say considering the fact that you have a your bachelor’s degree in
physics”.
“Thank you so much ma’am”.
“I’m just in my late 30s. Please don’t call me that. Just Erica would be fine”.
“Okay ma’am. Sorry Erica”.
“Hmmm. I was really surprised when I came across your application. You’re a
physics degree holder and you’ve never been to a fashion design school. Am I
right?”
“Yes ma…Erica. But I’ve read a lot concerning fashion and I’ve taken a couple of
online courses”.
“Everyone has definitely read something and watched a couple of videos. That
isn’t enough but I’m going to give you the opportunity to tell me why you should
be hired. Your CV and cover letter doesn’t say enough. The pictures of your work
caught my eye but it still isn’t enough. So Jessica, why should I pick you out of all
the qualified people out there who studied fashion design”.
“Okay, I…..”, she said, stuttering.
“God please be with me”, she said to herself and she took a deep breathe.
“My parents have always been against me each time I spoke about being a
fashion designer and each time I sewed something for my mum, she always
looked down on it and didn’t appreciate it. Sometimes, it made me doubt myself
but one day, she had a huge occasion to attend and she didn’t have any outfit for
that”.
“So, she gave me some money to buy a dress from your collection. So I went to a
boutique to purchase it. I saw a very beautiful dress of yours and then a crazy
thought crossed my mind. I quickly took off and went back home. Luckily, she
wasn’t at home. So, I spent the whole day and night, sewing something similar to
the dress and I added my own touch to it”.
“The following day, I handed over the dress to her and she spoke so high of it and
spent the day talking about how creative you were. It made me so happy and
since then I knew that I was made for this”, she said, forcing a smile but Erica
didn’t seem to be impressed.
Chapter 2
“Mmm, and do you have a picture of this dress?” She asked her.
“Yeah, it’s on my phone”.
“You know I can sue you for the story you just narrated”.
“So you do believe me”, she said, smiling.
“Hmmm, can I see the picture first and why didn’t you add it the portfolio you
submitted?”
“I was scared that you’d see me as a fraud for creating something similar to your
work”, she said, handing over the phone to her.
“It’s my lock screen”, she said to her and Erica looked at the dress.
“Mmm, this is beautiful. I love the changes that you added to it. You’re good and
naughty at the same time”, she said, giving back the phone to her.
“Thanks?” She said to her in a confused manner as she didn’t know if she was
supposed to say thank you to the naughty part.
“You can take your leave now. You’ll hear from us soon”.
“And if you want to sue, I suggest you sue my mum. That way she’ll realize that I
created the dress that she adores so much and she’ll see that I’m good”, Jessica
said smiling and Erica smiled.
“No problem”.
“Thank you so much for hearing me out”, She said to her and she left.
She stepped out of the room, smiling and the lady who gave her a tough time
earlier on, looked at her in a weird manner.
“Thank you so much for letting me have this interview. May God bless you”, she
said to the lady.
“Whatever, just go and say your prayers and Amen to that”, the lady said to her
and she smiled.
“Alright bye”, she said and she left.
As she was on her way home, she was so excited about the interview and she had
a feeling that she was going to get picked.
She walked down the street and jumped in excitement. When she saw how the
others were staring at her, she composed herself.
She walked towards the nearest bustop and took a bus home.
When she got home, she jumped onto her bed and video called Dean but he didn’t
pick up.
“I guess he’s busy”, she said to herself and she put her phone away.
*Later at night*
Dean was in the living room with Mike, playing a video game when Jessica
walked in with a sleepy face.
“Finally, sleeping beauty is up”, he said to her and she rolled her eyes and sat on
the couch next to them.
“I called you earlier on and you couldn’t even call back”, she said to him.
“I called you twice and you didn’t pick up. You should atleast check your phone
before throwing subs at me”.
“Whatever. Hey Mike, I didn’t get to say thank you earlier on. I’m so sorry about
that, I was in such a hurry. Thank you so much for dropping me off. If I had taken
the bus, I would have missed my interview”.
“Oh don’t worry about that. I’m happy to help”.
“Goal!!!!” Dean exclaimed, wiggling his brows.
“What? That’s unfair! I was distracted”, Mike said to him.
“How does your mouth movement affect your hands. That’s not an excuse, I
scored you!” Dean said, smirking.
“Whatever man, we still got more time. I can do something with that”.
As they were talking, Jess got off the couch and she went to the kitchen.
She was about to prepare some noodles to eat but then she saw a bowl filled with
food. She opened it and the aroma of the food lured her in”.
“Dean!!! Thank you for the food!” She exclaimed.
“Okay, since I’m not getting a repose, I guess it’s indeed mine”, she said and she
dished the food out onto a plate and she placed it in the microwave.
She was done heating the food, she took it out and walked back into the hall and
walked towards the direction of her room.
Dean was focused on the game but the aroma of the food hit his nose, his eyes lit
up.
“Jess!!” He yelled and he ran to her room.
“Is that my food?” He asked.
“How many times to I have to tell you to stop walking into my room without my
notice”.
“Just hand over my food to me and I’ll be out of your hair”.
“But you agreed to let me eat it”.
“Me? When?”
“I thanked you for the food and you acknowledged it”, she said, eating the food
and she chuckled when she saw the look on his face.
“Jess, that food was specially made for me by Anastasia!”
“Oh, no wonder it taste so good”, she said, licking her lips.
“Jess!!!”
“Fine! Go for a spoon and join me”.
“You’re so annoying”, he said, walking out.
“And you still love me like that”, she said, teasing him.
“In your dreams”, he said to her in a joking manner but it affected her feelings.
“You can take the food,” she said, handing it over to him.
“You don’t want to eat again?”
“Yeahhh. I’m fine,” she said to him but he saw the look on her face and knew that
something was wrong.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I am,” she said, forcing a smile.
“I don’t believe you. You were just excited, eating the food and now there’s no
form of excitement and you’re giving the food back. C’mon Jess, did I do or say
something wrong?”
“No silly, I’m just being nice. You better take it or I’ll eat it all,” she said to him.
He observed her for a while and he quickly ran off and got back again.
“I’ll be back to talk about your interview. I don’t know why you didn’t tell me how
it went but anyway, I’ll be back”, he said and he ran off.
She rolled her eyes and laid back on her bed.
*******
Jessica woke up the following morning and she took out her phone to see if she
got a text, missed call or an email from the job interview but there was nothing
about it in her notifications.
“Ughhh!!!” She said to herself and she got off her bed and went to the kitchen to
grab something to eat.
As she was walking into the kitchen, she bumped into someone who wasn’t
Dean.
“Oh, I’m so sorry”, the lady said to her and she looked up and saw that it was
Anastasia, Dean’s girlfriend.
“It’s fine. And I didn’t know that you were in the house. Did you come in this
morning?” She asked, accessing her outfit. She was wearing Dean’s shorts and Tshirt.
“Oh no, I came in last night. I’m sure you were probably asleep”.
“Yeah yeah. I hope you’re good”.
“Yeah, I am. I was just preparing breakfast for Dean and he’s also getting ready
for work”.
“Oh okay”.
“Do you want some?” She asked.
“Oh no, it’s fine. I was just coming to grab an apple,” she said to her and she
walked to the fridge and grabbed one.
“I’ll see you later”, she said to Anastasia and she left to the kitchen.
As she was walking into her room, Dean hugged her from behind.
“Good morning Sunshine”, he said to her and she pushed him off.
“Take your hands off me, you fornicator”, she said to him.
“What?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” she said, whispering.
“Oh Anastasia??? C’mon, are you going to keep calling me that?” He asked,
chuckling.
“Yeah, till it sinks in”.
“You know I’ve tried to cut it out but it’s freaking difficult and we didn’t even
have sex tonight. She’s on her period, we just..”
“What makes you think I want to hear the details. Keep that to yourself”, she said
to him and he laughed.
“It’s not everyone who’s a firewood like you”, he said, teasing her.
“What? Who says I’m a fire wood. It’s called discipline, if that’s the word you were
looking for. Pray for a gift like that!” She said to him and she walked into her
room.
She sat on her bed and pondered on what happened. The hug she received from
behind, lasted for just a few seconds but it gave her goosebumps.
“Oh God, how do I continue like this?” She said to herself and she ate her apple.
Her feelings for Dean were growing and it annoyed her because she didn’t want
someone like him.
She decided to wave off he thoughts and she took out her phone and scrolled
through her Instagram page.
Few minutes later, Dean knocked on her door.
“Come in”, she said to him and walked in.
“I’m off to work. Let me know if you get a call from work”.
“Sure. Be safe”.
“I will. Take care of yourself and don’t miss me too much”, he said, winking.
“Sure,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Wait! Is she staying here?”
“Nope. She’s taking her bath. When she’s done, she’ll leave”.
“Oh okay”.
“Bye Jess”, he said to her and he left.
******
Later in the day, Jess stepped out of her room to get something to eat and she was
surprised to still see that Anastasia was still around.
She was seated in the living room, watching tv.
“Anastasia! i didn’t know that you were still here. I thought you left”.
“Nope. I..uhm. I kind of want to stay here”.
“Till he gets back?”
“No, I want to uhmm.. live with him for a while. Do you think he would be cool
with that?” She asked.
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