Against All Odds: The Elite & The Pauper (episode 3)
If there’s one thing you should never do in this life, it would be to never emotionally or physically abuse a lady in the presence of a man that has feelings for her; because when you do that, you indirectly disrespect the man too. Believe me when I say no sane man would fold his hands and watch someone disrespect a lady he’s in love with. It was apparent that Annabelle had already crossed the line by the rude way she spoke to Naomi and as expected, Richard was already boiling with anger and wasn’t going to let her ask Naomi another demeaning question.
Richard’s warning brought tension to the atmosphere and made that place a bit uncomfortable for Annabelle. The manner at which the tone of his voice suddenly changed made Annabelle aware that she had eaten more than her mouth could chew and that he was extremely pissed at her attitude towards Naomi. There was fire on the mountain but no one was running yet.
“What did I do wrong and why speak to me in such tone” Annabelle shockingly asked, “How can you invade my meeting with someone whom you have never seen in your life and start acting disrespectfully? How do you think that makes me feel?” Richard angrily asked but no reply was forth coming. As all these were happening, Naomi sat quietly trying so hard not to break down or show any sign of weakness. She felt greatly hurt by the manner at which Annabelle behaved towards her but had to stomach her hurt within.
On seeing that Annabelle wasn’t ready to answer Richard’s question, he gently got up and beckoned on Naomi to get up so they could leave of which she immediately stood up and they left; leaving Annabelle there alone. As they walked away, Annabelle felt humiliated and equally disrespected by the way Richard treated and spoke to her in front of a supposed nobody. She shook her head and smiled faintly as she kept reminiscing on all that happened.
When they arrived at the parking lot and eventually entered the car, Richard didn’t drive off immediately because he felt Naomi needed to be apologized to. “I’m so sorry for what happened back at the restaurant, please don’t take it personal because that’s how Annabelle often behaves” Richard said as he looked towards her. Naomi looked into his eyes and smiled faintly; “It’s alright, there’s no need to apologise because I have seen worst” she said.
That reply from Naomi actually got Richard thinking, as he kept wondering what she meant by “I have seen worst”. Due to that, he was prompted to ask her more questions. “What worst have you seen?” he asked and Naomi smiled, “It’s all good, there’s no need to talk about things that would only cause me more pain than make me happy” she replied. Richard figured that she didn’t want to give him the answers that he sought for, so he had to let it go and stop probing so as not to make her feel uncomfortable.
Shortly afterwards, Richard drove off and they left. He wanted to drop Naomi at her house but she neglected and told him to drop her off at the nearest junction so she could take a bus home. Richard insisted on dropping her home because it was already getting dark; as he didn’t want her to enter a public transport at such time of the day. Unknowingly to him, that was the life Naomi had been living her entire life so there was nothing for him to be afraid of. Maybe Richard probably thought life was fair to everyone just like it was fair to him; if only he knew that trekking was also one of her mode of transportation.
After going back and forth on the decision to drop Naomi off at her house, Richard finally yielded to her request of dropping her at a close junction. She thanked him for being too kind and hurriedly alighted to board a bus that was about leaving. As Naomi walked away, Richard watched her till she entered the bus and it drove off.
Immediately Naomi left, Richard entered into deep thoughts as he drove home. He kept thinking of all that happened that day and it finally dawned on him that Naomi was going through something in her personal life. In all this, one of the things that struck him was how happy and contented she was regardless.
Richard kept thinking of what to do to help Naomi but didn’t know exactly what to do as he was clueless on what she was going through and the kind of help she even needed. He thought of ways to get her to trust him so she could feel free to communicate anything that was bothering her. “But I just met her and wouldn’t want to come off as being too pushy” he thought as he drove home.
On Richard’s way home, his phone rang and it was Annabelle calling. He sighed and left the phone to ring without picking up. She called thrice but he didn’t pick up as he was still pissed at her behavior towards Naomi back at the restaurant. Richard arrived home and went straight to his room to shower. After bathing, his sister came to inform him that their dad wanted to see him. In no time, he arrived at his dad’s room to find out why he was being called.
“Daddy, you wanted to see me” Richard said, “Yes my son, sit down. Your mum and I have something we want to talk to you about” His dad said. Richard was curious to know what they wanted to talk to him about so he wasted no time in sitting down. “You are no longer a boy but now a man, don’t you think it’s time to get married?” His dad asked. Richard smiled and looked at his parents, “Daddy I’ll marry but haven’t found the woman I want to spend my forever with. With the wealth associated to my last name, It’s hard to find a person that has genuine feelings for me. I’m just taking as much time that I need so I don’t end up marrying a gold digger” he said.
Despite all the sense Richard was making, his parents still didn’t see it as enough reason for him to delay getting married. “What of Annabelle? I thought you both were seeing each other. Also, what of all my friend’s beautiful daughters that like you, why not marry one of these ladies from respectable and fine families” his dad suggested.
There and then, it dawned on Richard of the battle ahead of him if he eventually falls deeply in love with Naomi; reason because all the people his dad suggested for him to marry were from highly influential families just like him. He was tired of the discussion with his parents and just wanted to go to bed. “Daddy, all these people you mentioned are all full of themselves including Annabelle and I can’t marry a lady that thinks it’s ok to look down on others just because life smiled at them more than the other person. I want a lady that would give me peace and I’m ready to accept anyone at all that makes my life happy and peaceful; whether rich or poor. I love you mum and dad, but I have to go to bed. Goodnight!” He said and walked out on his parents.
When Richard came back to his room, he picked up his phone and saw one missed call from Naomi and over ten missed calls from Annabelle. He smiled and quickly called Naomi back; “Hello, are you ok?” he asked when she picked up, “Yes I’m ok, I just wanted to check up on you and find out if you have reached your destination” she replied. Richard told her he had gotten home and they talked about random things for a little while before he asked if she would go on a proper official date with him. Naomi was flattered and didn’t know which reply to give. “Thank you so much for requesting to take me out again but I would have to decline, I’m so sorry” she said, “And why’s that” he asked, “Uhmm, maybe because I honestly don’t have the perfect outfit for such outing” she causally said and Richard told her not to worry that they could reschedule for another time; of which she agreed.
Unknowingly to Naomi, Richard had something up his sleeves and was about to surprise her in a way no one has done in her entire existence. The next day while Naomi was at work, she got a call from an anonymous person and was instructed to come to the parking lot of the airport. Confused and curious to know who it was, she took permission from her boss and went to meet up with the person that seemed like a lady.
On arrival, Naomi was able to locate the person through the description of the car she came with and where she parked. “Please are you Naomi?” the lady asked, “Yes I am, please how may I help you?” she asked and the lady began to explain. Apparently, the lady was a stylist that was hired by Richard to style her for their date that he made her believe they had canceled. That was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her and she was beyond shocked. “Are you serous? You mean Richard hired you to style me for a dinner date?” Naomi surprisingly asked with tears clouding her eyes and the lady smiled and nodded ‘Yes’.
There and then, the stylist could already tell which dress would do justice to Naomi’s body. They entered the van she came with and tried the dress out and it fitted perfectly. The dress was given to Naomi and she signed a receipt afterwards. “Another thing, Richard told me to instruct you not to call him to thank him and that you should just show up at this location for your date” the lady said and Naomi happily said ‘Ok’.
As Naomi walked back to her duty post, joy like never before filled her heart. Her smile was so visible that everyone could see it. She felt like a princess and taken care of for once in her life. It was a beautiful feeling indeed.
By 3pm, Naomi’s shift was over so she went to the staff’s restroom to shower and get ready for her date. She was lucky enough to have her make up kit with her so she did her make-up by herself and it turned out simple and cute. Immediately Naomi wore the gown, she was beautiful beyond words could say. For once in Naomi’s life, her beauty was fully at it’s best. She ordered an Uber this time around because she didn’t want to ruin her dress by entering a public bus.
On the other hand, Richard was already at the venue because he figured Naomi would be there anything soon. He was nervous to see her and didn’t know what to expect. After about an hour later, his phone rang and it was Naomi calling to inform him that she was already at the venue. He directed her to were he was seated and was anticipating for her to show up anytime soon.
Few minutes later, Naomi walked into the place with her beauty so bright that one needed sun shades to see properly. The way she smiled as she walked towards Richard made his heart drop. He was about to go crazy if no one came to his rescue.
As Naomi drew closer, Richard stood up from his seat and opened his arms wide for her to rest inside it. When she eventually got to him, they hugged tightly and didn’t want to let go.
There and then, it dawned on Richard that he was falling in love with her. Out of nowhere, he whispered into her ears and said “You are beautiful and gradually stealing my heart”.
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