Keywords: Once Upon A Forever, Prologue, Free Web Novel, Nigerian Story, Reincarnation, Doomed Love, Fated Love, Lara, Slice of Life.
Lara
Kira moved like she was at war with the kitchen. Pots clanged. Plates clicked. Cups rattled as she cleaned with frantic precision.
Lara leaned against the doorframe, watching. Her gaze drifted to the bottles of alcohol still on the counter. She picked them up and began sliding them into the cupboard.
“Careful with that one,” Kira said without looking.
“Which one?” Lara asked.
“All of them. They are all expensive.”
Lara smirked as she shelved the last bottle.
“Hey, how’s your head?”
“Better. That hangover soup worked.”
Lara leaned against the counter, watching Kira stack plates in the rack.
“I need a job,” Lara said quietly. “Something solid. Something to hold onto.”
“A job?” Kira snorted. “Babe, we were both last in class. We failed WAEC and JAMB. What job?”
“Should we rob a bank?”
“Yes,” Kira said, placing the final plate away. “Better to be trapped by the government than by Tyrie.”
“I’m joking.”
Kira wiped her hands on her gown. “I can call a friend. You could work as a waitress. He’ll pay you like a manager for a month or two. I’ll sell some things in the meantime.”
“Why didn’t I think of selling things?”
“Because Tyrie would hear. You need to stay invisible. Your stuff is already here. I’ll sell mine. Mark bought me some valuable gifts.”
“You know Tyrie knows where you live, too,” Lara said.
“That’s why you need the job. You can’t sit around paranoid.”
Lara nodded.
“But honestly,” Kira added, “Mark might be our best option.”
“Why?”
“He seems desperate to get rid of his nephew. I’m sure he will be willing to pay at least two million up front.” Kira said. “That will at least be able to get you good running shoes.”
Lara frowned. “I’m still not sold.”
Kira smirked. “I know, sounds silly, but this nephew—David—is untouchable. Cold. I’ve seen him once at a family event. Really handsome. Every woman wanted a piece of him, but damn, that man is cold.”
Lara leaned forward, curious despite herself. “And you think I’d have a chance?”
“Babe! You are magnetic, electrifying!” Kira pulled Lara’s face towards hers. “You are unnecessarily beautiful.”
“I am rough, uneducated. Practically useless to anything other than fighting and running,” Lara countered.
Kira sighed. “Still, you are beautiful.”
Lara laughed.
“Besides, even if you don’t get him, you may find a client, work as a Runzgirl, and find a powerful backer,” Kira said.
“I have zero seduction skills, Kira,” Lara said. “What part of useless and trapped don’t you understand? Chief Badmus might have been good to me, but ultimately, I just ended up as a caged bird, only good at fighting, reading people, and being realistic.”
Kira exhaled. “Well, at least you are no longer suicidal.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You still look down on yourself,” Kira said. “For someone who’s good at accepting reality, you reject a lot about yourself.”
“But seriously, no woman?” Lara began.
“Well, there was one once,” Kira said. “I heard he was really into her, but she was married and so her husband killed her. But, outside of her, there is also this woman, always with his mother. I heard she is his fiancée. But he doesn’t seem to like her.”
“If it’s like this, why haven’t you tried to seduce David yourself?”
Kira laughed—a short, incredulous sound that carried both amusement and warning. “Please. Mark would kill me. That insecure old man. He would think it was a good idea at first, then he would drown in jealousy and become unbearable if I succeeded. But then if I failed, his insecurity would slowly plot my demise because he would think me disloyal and no longer worth keeping.”
Lara tilted her head.
“Sounds like a dangerous man,” Lara said.
“Yes, but on the scale of Tyrie, he is a paper tiger to you.”
“Really?”
“One man’s devil is another man’s demon,” Kira smiled.
Lara tilted her head, intrigued.
“So you think I can beat him in a fight?”
“What I think is this,” Kira said. “If you fail at seducing David, you can simply return to your life, or find a sugar daddy. If you succeed, then you can manipulate David into getting rid of all your problems, and if Mark tries to fight you for betraying him, you are strong, great at fighting, and smart. It’s easier to get rid of Mark than Tyrie. I’ve seen you fight and take a beating.”
Lara smiled. “Are you trying to get me to kill Mark for you?”
Kira laughed. “I mean, that would be a bonus.”
Lara chuckled. “I’m starting to feel like drinking again.” Then she grew serious. “You are suggesting getting into a new cage to escape my old cage.”
Kira nodded. “All way na way.”
“I need assurance,” Lara said. “Call Mark. Ask him about the bet.”
Kira hurried to the living room with Lara trailing behind her, rummaged through her bag for her phone.
She dialed. Her flirtatious tone softened when she heard his strained breathing.
“Mark, baby… are you okay?”
“I… I’m fine,” he said, but she could hear the sharp intake of breath behind the words, the little fractures in his voice.
Kira’s tone shifted, business-like now, her eyes flicking to Lara as she placed the call on speaker. “My friend… she’s thinking about trying to seduce David. For the five million.”
Silence.
“I’ll send you two invites,” Mark said. “She’ll attend the family banquet.”
Kira nodded, her lips twitching with amusement. “Baby, she’ll need a seductive makeover, and ‘reassurance’.”
“Fine,” his voice held a mixture of irritation and compliance.
“Send something for your baby, too,” Kira said softly, and ended the call, tucking her phone back into her bag.
“Okay, Kira,” he said.
“Okay, daddy,” Kira said. “See you at the banquet.”
“See,” Kira said, hanging up.
“Wow,” Lara said. “He clearly sounded hurt, but you didn’t even seem worried.”
“I’m playing the role of a pampered princess,” Kira said. “If he needs care, he should find his wife.”
Lara scoffed. “Okay, let’s keep this as plan B and scale up.”
“What do you mean by scale up?”
“Well, I go for the job, try a quiet life, hope Tyrie won’t come for me. If that fails, I try plan B: go for David. And if that fails or turns into a bigger trap, I simply return to Tyrie, plan his murder, dismantle the gang from the inside, fish out all their police connections and deals, gain his trust, submit, and then kill him.”
“You’ve really thought this through.”
“Yes,” Lara said. “No matter what, I’ll live this life till I’m a hundred.”
Kira reclined on the couch and patted it for Lara to join her.
Lara sat and leaned on her shoulder.
“My sweet little baby,” Kira patted Lara’s head. “Everything will be alright.”