The following day, Lamar was on every billboard, on the front news page and on everyone’s lips. To his surprise, even his parents called to congratulate him. His sisters could not stop laughing when they told him that their parents were telling all the neighbours about how proud they were of him.
Immediately after talking to his parents and siblings, Lamar was suddenly inundated with calls from local and international teams who were all waving contracts at him and promising him the world. He could not help being sad and excited at this bittersweet moment and the irony of it all. He was always right there begging for a chance to prove himself, but nothing came his way, but now they all wanted him.
“How I wish this had happened six months ago before…,”
“Don’t,” Lola interjected, knowing exactly what he was thinking because she was thinking it too but could not bare hearing it said out loud. She still had nightmares about their encounter with Scar. Anyone with a slight resemblance to him got her so worked up, it took hours for her to recollect herself again. They had not spoken about their encounter with Scar since the day they decided to bury that memory and would rather it stayed that way.
Lamar didn’t press her. That night still tormented him, more so because he blamed himself for placing Lola in that position. His heart bled every time he thought about her sacrifice and hoped to never forget it for as long as he was alive.
“Come here,” he said charmingly before pulling her into his arms. “How about I spoil my woman tonight?” he asked charmingly.
The money Brawny’s paid him for the game and the man of the match money was enough to feed his family for months and remain with a surplus.
“This is your first real cheque, you should spend it on yourself, not me,” Lola suggested. She saw firsthand how much Lamar struggled. The handful of old clothes he had was proof of that. She wanted him to spoil himself instead.
“Woman, are you hearing yourself? There’s never I without you,” he responded sincerely, melting her heart.
Lola looked up at him, touched and feeling warm inside.
“We are going out tonight and I plan on replacing everything we sold when we were short of money,” he said decisively.
Lola shook her head. She was really happy for him and did not expect anything in return.
“I could always seduce you and make you agree to everything between your scre*ms,” he said mischievously, making her blush.
“What is it gonna be?” he asked before slipping his hand under her dress and pushing her panties to the side.
Lola gasped when his skilful finger came into contact with her clit, sealing her fate.
“You better start talking,” he teased, stroking her.
“Both, I want both,” she confessed, making him laugh.
“That’s my girl,” he beamed, his voice already raw with desire. Lola wanted him and the wetness on his finger, proving exactly that was such a turn on for him.
Aiming for a quickie before they went out, he whisked her off her feet and headed towards the bed but the knock on the door stopped him halfway.
He was about to ignore the knock when he heard Captain BB shouting his name.
“Lamar, come on, man. Please open up!” a familiar voice urged.
Lamar cursed under his breath before putting Lola down. He knew the reasons Captain BB was there. The Brawny’s manager had called him five times already. He had eventually stopped taking his and the many calls from different clubs because he was still making his decision on which offer to take but they were all pressuring him.
Opening the door, he let his mentor and the man who inspired him in.
“My gorgeous Lola, still with this philander?” Captain BB teased while dodging a fist from Lamar.
“Watch it or I will go and sign up with the Stalwart’s,” Lamar threatened.
“Not funny, man,” Captain BB said, sulking. Lamar signing with their rivals would be a disaster for them.
“Lola, you are a Brawny through and through. Please tell your man that you will dump him if he signs with those morons,” Captain BB pleaded.
Lola smiled, not willing to be sucked into their discussion.
Lamar laughed. “Nice try, B. You should know by now that my woman will stick by me come hail or high waters,” Lamar beamed. He said it as a joke but his heart was full, knowing just how true his statement was.
“Lucky bastard!” Captain BB cried before becoming serious.
“Lamar, my man. You know why I am here,” he said. “I am sorry that it took a very long time for everyone to see it but we need you. I believe that your home is with the Brawny’s and now so does the management. They will top any offer you have had. Come home, man,” Captain BB spoke with so much conviction before giving Lamar the contract.
Lamar laughed, taking the document and signing it. He was just too loyal to turn down a man who gave him the opportunity of a lifetime.
“They are really smart for sending you here,” Lamar said, giving him the document back.
Captain BB laughed, thrilled and relieved. “Well, I am getting a bonus for securing your contract,” he said with a grin.
Danny, their manager, was so flustered when Lamar was not taking his calls that he literally begged him to help because his job was on the line.
“You get a bonus for getting Lamar’s signature?” Lola asked, shocked. It seemed to her that the poor suffer so much and struggle to make ends meet while the rich had such stupid and easy ways of making money.
“Welcome to the money world, kids,” Captain BB responded, knowing exactly what she felt. “I should be on my way before I spoil the mood,” he added mischievously, heading towards the door.
“What mood?” Lamar asked, confused.
“Ask your father confessor, he is up and your zip is down. I can only run to one conclusion,” Captain BB responded, leaving both Lamar and Lola blushing.
“How about a confession, Babe?” Lamar said mischievously, pulling a blushing Lola into his arms again.
“You are terrible! Now Captain BB is forever going to tease me about that,” Lola complained before a moan escaped her lips. Lamar’s finger was now inside her, quickly taking her to the position they were in before their visitor knocked.
“That’s more like it,” he said, getting more aroused.
Two hours later, Lamar and Lola walked out of the shops with bags of clothing. It did not matter how much Lola objected, Lamar was determined to spoil her and he did. Now sitting in the cozy upmarket restaurant, indulging in its famous sea food dishes, the two were so lost in each other. It was at that moment that Jerome called.
“Hey, Lamar, you might want to watch the television,”
“I’m out with Lola, what’s up?”
“Your girl is on, having interviews and all,” Jerome told him, amused.
“My girl?” Lamar was caught dumbfounded.
“Your ‘self-appointed’ one,” Jerome clarified, and wished that he could see his friend’s expression.
Lamar cursed under his breath. There was only one person daring and shameless enough to do that. “Thanks J, I will try watching from my phone,” he said before checking his phone.
“What is it?” Lola asked when she saw his irritated expression.
Lamar took deep breaths before putting his phone down for Lola to see for herself.
Stephany was having a press conference surrounded by journalists who were interviewing her about the kind of a person Lamar was, how he prepared for his games and what the opportunity to play the day before meant to him.
With the exception of the Leap university students, who knew how fake the whole thing was, the whole world listened attentively to their beloved right winger’s girlfriend. They all wanted to know more about the talented young man and Stephany was providing them with the juicy details.
Soon, different clubs that had been trying to get hold of Lamar were there too. His girlfriend seemed to like the sport light. They figured that they could use that to their advantage to get her to persuade him to sign with their clubs.
Stephany was thrilled by all that attention. She was very careful not to mention that she was Lamar’s girlfriend but gave the impression when she decided to repost the photo of the stolen kiss and the intimate modelling one. She then added a caption: ‘ He calls me Steph, how romantic!’
Lola listened to the interview and could not help but laugh while Lamar was fuming.
“It’s not funny, Babe,” he complained, sulking. He had lost count of the many times he had turned Stephany’s advances down but she just did not seem to hear anything he said.
“I am sorry but this is just so Stephany or should I say Steph?” Lola teased. She recalled just how angry she was when he called Stephany like that but he thought that she was overreacting at the time.
“Continue laughing, I will make a scene and take you right here,” he threatened, before slipping his hand under the table and resting it on her knee, daring her.
“You wouldn’t!” Lola cried, her cheeks getting flushed.
“Watch me,” he said before moving his hand between her thighs.
Lola swallowed her saliva as her heart started pounding. She had never been able to resist Lamar and he knew it. “I will not laugh, I promise,” she said quickly before things went out of hand.
“I thought so,” he said with a grin before taking care of his self-appointed girlfriend issue.
At the press conference, Stephany was still taking everyone through Lamar’s routine before each game when one club manager asked a question.
“Excuse me, Ma’am, are you Lamar’s girlfriend?”
The journalists shook their heads, irritated by his obvious question, but the man insisted, already fuming.
“Are you or are you not Lamar’s girlfriend?” he shouted angrily.
Stephany swallowed her saliva, realising that she could not avoid the question.
“We are very close,” she said, her answer making everyone exchange looks. That was not the impression she gave them.
“What is very close, Ma’am?” the man shouted. “Because according to him, he is with his only girlfriend, Lola Hudson, right now and you are not even on his friend’s list,”he added, alerting everyone of Lamar’s recent social media post.
Stephany opened and closed her mouth, speechless. This was not going according to plan. She had hoped that by the time Lamar responded, the interview would be over and a lot of people would have seen it. She knew that it was not easy to retract what people had heard and, to many, she would be Lamar’s girlfriend despite his reaction afterwards.
She found herself surrounded by a mob of angry journalists and club managers who had just wasted their time on a fake girlfriend.
“All this for a spotlight!”
“You need your head checked!”
“Crazy bitc*!”
Stephany was now in tears as mean words and curses hailed on her. She was used to everyone flirting and dotting over her, not this.
“I love him, okay? One day he will be mine!” she shouted back at the angry mob, sounding like a mad woman.
Lola shook her head. “She is obsessed with you,” she said, feeling sorry for Stephany who was now weeping and wailing on live television.
“Obsessed and coo coos,” Lamar added, and hoped that this incident would teach her a lesson and hopefully keep her off his back.