Chapter 14

Chapter 14:- Best Friend?

The study room was extremely quiet, Richard stared at Damilola coldly for a while, then stormed out of the study room once again, finally giving Damilola a chance to breathe.

Damilola slumped to her chair, as her heart thumped wildly.

Thank goodness today was her last day, but what exactly did he mean by saying she will be staying over. Was he trying to send her to an early grave?

Damilola felt suffocated at this thought. She found it hard to breathe. With her hands clunged to her chest. She ran out of the hotel room, straight to the reception. She really needed to see Clara right now. She was the only one capable of putting her at ease.

On getting to the reception, Clara was no where to be found. Joseph informed her though that she went to the rest room. Damilola grabbed her seat and sat quietly waiting for Clara.

While waiting, a phone rang. Damilola looked around searching for the phone and when she finally saw it, the phone has already stopped ringing.

Damilola stared at the phone which turned out to be Clara's phone, speechless for a while. Just what the heck was going on? How come she never noticed it?

She had known Clara since she started working here, six months ago. How come she never knew Clara was in a relationship? Why didn't she ever tell her?

Damilola kept starring at the picture Clara used as her wallpaper, she couldn't get a clear view of the face of the guy Clara was kissing in the picture, neither could she see Clara's face clearly, she only recognized her side profile.

If Clara claims she loves Ray, why was she kissing another guy?

This was all too weird and Damilola had to get to the bottom of it all.

It's been two minutes Clara left and she would be back soon, Damilola knew immediately that there won't be a chance for a proper investigation.

Since Clara could keep this from her all this while, she definitely wouldn't tell her the truth if she asked.

Finally, Damilola swiped Clara's phone screen up, and there was a password on it.

Thinking of what the password could be, Damilola typed Clara's birthday, it was wrong, she typed hers, it was still wrong.

Seeing that, she became confused.

It was neither hers nor Clara's birthday, whose is it then?

It was definitely going to be that of the guy she was kissing.

Thinking of that, Damilola gritted her teeth. She just couldn't believe why Clara hid this from her. Weren't they supposed to be friends?

Damilola went on to think about what the password could possibly be.

After a while, she remembered something.

There was a time Clara came to her house for a sleep over and all Clara talked about that day, was Ray. Damilola was so pissed that she asked Clara "Isn't there any other thing you think about apart from Ray?"

Clara replied, "it's not my fault I love him so much, that I can use everything about him for all that matters to me."

Damilola never understood what she meant, she didn't ask because she was bored. Clara talked a whole lot about Ray and it didn't interest her to listen to more talks about him.

Could she have meant to use everything about him for her things, such as her password? Could her password be Ray's birthday?

Damilola had heard Clara talk about Ray's birthday every year. She even sent him anonymous gifts.

Even if Clara has another guy, she was so sure Clara loved Ray. That other guy was probably just a fling.

Damilola typed Ray's date of birth, as the phone unlocked. Though she didn't feel right invading Clara's privacy, she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Immediately Clara's phone unlocked, Damilola went straight to Clara's gallery.

Ninety percent of Clara's pictures were all of the guy. She took pictures of him eating, cooking, working etc. All of which were obviously taken to tease him, but none of them, showed his face.

Damilola grabbed her own phone and sent all the pictures and videos on Clara's phone to hers, in case time won't allow her check it all.

Immediately she dropped Clara's phone and looked up, she saw Clara walk towards the desk. Hups! Saved.

"Hey, Alex, how long have you been here?"

"Not long."

"You don't look good, what's wrong?" Clara said as she sat beside Damilola.

Damilola forced a smile and said, "It's nothing." How could she possibly tell Clara anything now, when she keeps a lot from her.

"You do know you can always tell me anything, right? I am your best friend and I know you aren't happy."

For real? Best friends? She just had to say that.

If she didn't know Clara was hiding something from her, she would have been touched.

"It's nothing, really." Damilola said.

"I would have loved to stay here with you till it is time to clock out, but manager will definitely not like me to be here." Damilola continued.

"You will stay right here. If he doesn't like it, it's his loss, my friend stays with me."

Damilola stared at her, mockery screaming in her mind.

"Oh! Please, give me a break from all this pretence." She thought.

"Funny you, Clara, I can't let you have a fight with the manager because of me. You can lose your job."

"Please just leave me alone. Let me leave before i explode with anger." Damilola thought.

"And you think my job matters to me than the well being of my bestie?"

"Okay, fine, but don't blame me for the outcome."

"Of course, I won't."

Damilola accompanied Clara for the rest of the day till it was time to clock out. She allowed Clara take her car home, since she would be staying till the next day here.

Clara knew Damilola wasn't in a good mood, so, she really wanted Damilola to go home with her. Why on earth was Richard torturing her this much? She was sure that the reason for Damilola's foul mood was Richard. Why then did he have to worsen her mood by having her stay? Was this really fun for him?

She knew Damilola like the back of her hand and she didn't want to leave Damilola all by herself on a day like this, a day where her mood was unstable, she could hurt herself. This had happened on many occasions.

After calming Clara down and assuring her that she would be fine, Clara made her way home? What could possibly happen to Damilola under Richard's roof? Damilola wouldn't dare to hurt herself around him. It would definitely not end well.

Damilola turned around and walked straight to Richard's suite slowly.

Why on earth was she staying the night?

She wasn't comfortable around him at all.

Finally she was right in front of his suite. After calming herself down, she walked in.

There was no sign of Richard anywhere, but something felt really strange. The suite was bustling with activities.

Various people here and there. People she had never met before.

While she way staring in confusion, a very handsome man stood right in front of her. He was dressed fashionably and expensively. He was so damn handsome. Seeing her, he greeted her, "Hi, you must be Alex, I am Diego Leonardo, your fashion stylist for today," he said, as his lips curved up in a smile. His smile was radiant.

Damilola's eyes widened in shock. Diego Leonardo? her stylist? That's definitely not possible. How could that be? Though Richard is very rich but employing Diego was a difficult task for even the rich. Why on earth will Richard go as far as employing Diego as her stylist. It just didn't make sense. He was one of  the top ten best stylist in the world and was among the top three richest stylist. How is it possible she was meeting him today. It's a joke right? It definitely has to be a prank. She thought. Come to think of it. Why would he be employing a stylist for her anyway? It wasn't like she was going out tonight or something.

Damilola shook his hand with a smile and decided to ask the question bothering her. While holding onto his hands, she asked "Are you the same Diego Leonardo I know?"

"I can't be so sure about the Diego you know but if you mean one of the best fashion stylist, then I am the one because there is only one Diego Leonardo among the top ten list." He said again with a smile. His face glowing with confidence.

Damilola couldn't believe her ears, so,  she apologized and said. "Please pardon me, I really don't know much about fashion but with the little I hear from my friend Clara who practically worships you, I never expected you to look this way."

Diego didn't seem a bit disgusted by her attitude, he seemed extremely friendly. "What way if I may ask? Do you mean I don't seem feminine as expected of most male fashion stylist?"

"Exactly," Damilola blurted out unconsciously.

Realising that she sounded like she was insulting him, she became embarrassed. "Please don't get me wrong, I really didn't mean it that ..."

"It's fine, I get that often but not all male fashion stylist are feminine" he said amidst laughter. He didn't know why, but he liked her already.

"Richard asked me to personally organise your dressing for the gala night taking place this night. So,  let's work together, okay?"

"G-g-g-g-gala night?" Damilola exclaimed in shock.