The Perfect Seduction

CHAPTER SEVEN: WE MEET AGAIN

If there were ever an award for the laziest person during a vacation then it would definitely be Semi, for the second day in a row she had overslept and that was unlike her. Now she sat on her bed and looked at her phone, it was already ten in the morning, yet the blazing sun was shining as if it was early afternoon.

Semi tried getting out of bed, only then she stopped, turned her head to her table and saw the empty plate of food from the night before. She smiled at herself, never had she thought that a man like Neil could ever be this romantic and she ought to thank him if they met again.

With one last look of the plates, Semi got off from her bed and showered as she only had thirty minutes until her tour began. Again she took her shower in record time and even as Semi arrived at the lobby, she had five minutes to spare. Walking up to the receptionist’s desk, Semi smiled at the young woman and the receptionist did the same.

“Good morning madam and how may I help you this beautiful morning?” the receptionist asked Semi, who flashed a smile at the young receptionist.

“I am here to know if my shuttle is ready, because I have a tour today?” Semi informed the young woman. Deep down Semi was excited and she did not know why but her body had a mind of its own, she felt like jumping out of her shoes and jumping for joy. She waited as the receptionist typed onto her computer and then looked up at Semi and smiled.

“Yes madam your name is on the system for a tour, just walk straight to the parking lot and your shuttle awaits you. Although I apologies as there will be a little delay as we are still waiting for one of the guests to arrive” the young woman apologized but Semi did not seem to mind waiting a bit longer, seeing as yesterday she too was late for the tour.

“That is fine with me and I appreciate your help” Semi thanked the receptionist and she walked off to the parking lot in which she saw that there was a different driver and not Papa Andy. This driver was a younger man and just as Semi arrived at the parking lot, he smiled at her.

“Good morning Mrs. Aloye, my name is Thomas and I will be your driver for today” The driver greeted her and this made Semi smile.

“Good morning Thomas, so you’re my driver? Well then it’s a pleasure to meet you” Semi told the young driver but it seemed as though he had more to say but he was not saying a word.

“You seem like you have a lot of things to say but you are holding back, say what you want to say, I do not bite” Semi joked, hooping that it would lighten the mood and encourage Thomas to say what was on his mind. Thomas pulled out a magazine and pointed it at Semi.

Semi’s eyes landed on the magazine and she what she saw shocked her, in Thomas’ hand was last months published newspaper from the magazine company where she worked at. On the front cover was a picture of Neil seeing a hot blonde-haired woman off to her apartment, the very same article in which she accused Neil of being a womanizer as well as other accusations. 

Semi lifted her face from the magazine, she looked at Thomas, and suddenly the color drained from her face, not far behind Thomas was Neil stepping out of the hotel and walking towards them.

Without thinking, Semi grabbed the magazine from Thomas, signed it and handed it back to him.

“Please can you just hide the magazine, I really don’t want anyone seeing this” Semi begged Thomas but she managed to keep her cool, the last things she wanted was for Neil to identify her as the woman who trashed talked every action that he made.

Thomas was indeed confused, that was evident from the way he looked at her. Semi had no time to explain but Neil was approaching and she did not want to be caught red handed.

“Why would you want me to hide it? I have read a lot of the articles that you have written over the years—” before Thomas could finish what he had wanted to say, Semi interrupted him.

“It’s just that I came here to get away from the media and if someone recognizes me they might just disturb my vacation” Semi lied, the smile on Thomas’ face was evident that he understood what Semi had said and he quickly put the magazine away. Semi let out a breath of relief as Thomas walked away from her and stepped into his driver’s seat, just then, Neil appeared.

“Hey Semi, wow I didn’t think I’d see you here” Neil smiled at her, she managed a smile but deep inside her chest her heart beat more than a million time in the space of a second.

“Yeah sure— I mean— nice to see you here. By the way thanks for the food that you sent over to me last night. I just wanted to let you know that I am not mad at you for anything that happened yesterday” Semi informed Neil whose face turned red with embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head.

“I am glad that you are not mad at me and besides, I would not be happy knowing that we’re at odds. So are you ready to go?” Neil asked her and his questioned left Semi in the dark.

“Yeah, come to think of it where are you going?” Semi asked Neil and he smiled at her.

“Well Semi, I am going on the trip with you and also every other trip that you are going on. It seems as though we are booked in for the same holiday package” Neil informed her. Neil’s admission left Semi stunned to the point where her jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

She knew that she needed to get info on Neil but being close to him on every tour was not what she had bargained for, she tried to seem as though his presence did not bother her but her face betrayed her.

“I’m sorry but have I said anything wrong, because you seem as though you have seen a ghost?” Neil asked Semi and it was only then that she realized that she had been staring at him the entire time, trying to wrap her head around it all.

“No! No, there is nothing wrong with what you said. You see it’s just that I did not think that the both of us would have signed up for the same travel package” Semi confessed. She quickly calmed herself but deep down, she was dying a thousand deaths.

“Shall we enter into the vehicle?” Neil asked her and without thinking about it, Semi nodded her head in agreement. Just as Semi thought things might get better, it certainly got worse for her as there were only two available seats in the vehicle and that meant that she was seated right next to Neil.

Stay calm Semi; do not show this man any signs of fear. Semi told herself mentally, this trip would be a long one and she had to make sure that she was calm about it and she got all the information about him

**

What Semi had imagined was going to be the worst day of her life had actually gone quite okay. Neil had been a gentle man, making sure he kept his distance every time that Semi felt uncomfortable and she could not help but to feel special.

Whilst the other tourists walked around the market place, Semi sat on a nearby bench, wondering just where Neil had gone. She had not seen him for a while and this made her feel impatient, he was her meal to the promotion.

“Here, I got you something” Semi turned around as she heard Neil’s voice, he had two ice creams in his hands and he handed her one, which she happily took.

“Thank you and how did you know I love ice-cream?” Semi asked Neil, trying her best not to smile too much. Neil smiled as he took a seat right next to her.

“The truth is I didn’t, I just figured that because it is hot you might want something to cool you down” Neil confessed.

“Well thank you, I really appreciate the kind gesture” Semi thanked Neil but deep down she could not quite match the villain in her tabloids to the kind man sitting beside her. As she sat next to Neil and they continued their conversation, Semi saw a different side of Neil that she had never seen before.

The man she saw in the lenses of her camera and those of others that had taken the pictures was different to man in flesh, whom spoke passionately about every topic that the pair had spoken about.