. I am at a friend's place. The statement keeps repeating itself in my head. What friend? a male friend or boyfriend. “Oh no! Is she in a relationship?” I throw away the thought immediately because I can't imagine how I will feel if she is actually in a relationship. I want to call her again but I stop myself because I don’t think I can take any more rejection from her.

Have never been this broken in my life. Not because of money, not because of my career but because of a girl. I never thought I would ever be this miserable because of a girl. Who will ever believe that me, game master, is this desperate to have a girl's attention when I don’t believe it either. I crave cigarettes but I remember I don't have any. Tunde took the remaining cigarette with him yesterday. I call one of my aides to go get it for me. My throat is still hurt because I smoked too much yesterday but I don't care. If I don't smoke, I might go crazy.

I stop smoking after three sticks of cigarettes because I am coughing. It is hard for my body to adapt because I never smoked this much before. My throat hurts so much whenever I cough that I feel like crying. My Mum keeps calling me but I do not pick it. Picking her call will add more problems to the one I am battling with right now. She is a big problem on her own.

I login to my Gmail on my laptop and I open the Lara's background check that Tunde sent to me. I read everything word by word. The more I read it the more I want to know more about her. She has a very good background and good history. She is from a religious home, which explains why she dresses modestly. When I get to the aspect where the mail states that she is single but has many suitors, I put the laptop on the floor and I sleep on my stomach to understand it very well. I feel a little bit relieved about her being single but I hate the fact that she has so many people that have interest in her. Well I do not expect less from a girl that is that beautiful but I still hate it. I keep reading the mail over and over till I fall asleep on the floor.

"Ayo, wake up and go to sleep in bed. Why are you sleeping on the floor?". Tunde's voice wakes me and I open my eyes. I ask him ‘When he arrive but instead if him to answer me, he continues talking,

"What's all this again? Why are you smoking again?” Tunde says, I groan to myself and I stand up.

“Ayo, why are you doing this to yourself? If you don't stop this suicidal attempt, I will call dad and tell him everything." Tunde says angrily and I enter the bathroom without answering him.

Alone in the shower, I lower my head and I brace my hand against the tiles, letting the cold shower beat against my back. An image of her beautiful smile fills my head and I sigh. I exit the bathroom after I finish taking shower. I see Tunde in the living room and I walk past him. He doesn’t understand how I am feeling so why bother telling him? I get dressed quickly and I conclude that I will go wait for her in her hostel. If she is back from her friend’s place, it's all well and good. If she is not back then she will meet me there when she comes back.

"Meet me in the car now, we need to go somewhere." I say to Kola and hang up.

" I am going to her hostel, I need to go see her". I say to Tunde and he nods.

" Let's go together". He says. I don’t expect him to say that, I expect him to mock me as usual but I am glad he doesn’t. I check the direction to her hostel on the mail Tunde sent me.

The drive is silent till we get to Lara’s hostel, Amudalat hostel. Tunde calls one of the bodyguards from their car to go check if she is at home. He comes back and tells us that she is not at the hostel. He says someone took him to her room but it was locked. I check my wristwatch and the time is 7:30pm.

I face Tunde and I say, “ It is almost night and she is still not back. Where on earth did she go?

" She will be back soon, let's wait for her.” Tunde says.

We wait till 10:30pm and she is still not back. Tunde has already dozed off. That is unlike him, maybe he was exhausted. I wake him and I ask her to call the guy again, that bodyguard that went to check her in the hostel earlier to go check her again if she is back. The guy goes to check her again but he comes back with the same bad news.

"She is not back". The guy says and I sigh. I bow my head, close my eyes for a few seconds and I use my hands to wipe my face.

"Maybe she won't come home tonight. Maybe she will spend the night with her friend.” Tunde says and my heart vibrates. What he said sent a chill down my spine. I am silent for long before I finally say what has been bothering my mind since.

"What if she has a boyfriend? Do you think she is with him?” I ask Tunde.

Well, I won't be surprised if she has a boyfriend because she is a beautiful girl but I don't think she is with a guy at the moment. She wouldn’t have picked your call in the morning if she was with a guy . And I want you to give your mind a rest, even if she has a boyfriend, you can still make her yours.” Tunde says and I feel a slight relief after the last statement.

" Do you think so"? I ask.

" Of course, have you forgotten who you are? Game master.” he says, he winks at me and he continues, “ The difference will just be that you are sincere this time around. Put your mind at rest and let's go to the club. Let’s go and dance away your worries. We will know how to deal with it tomorrow.” Tunde says and I force out a fake smile. “ What club do you think we should go to? Netfox club?

"No, let's just go back to the hotel. I say and I face another side of the car.

I can’t believe I just declined going to the club, as in. That place is like my second home. I am not in the mood to do anything or go anywhere but to see her. I want to see her. I doubt I will be able to sleep tonight.

On our way to the hotel, my phone rings and I check the screen to know who the caller is. I hiss when I see ‘my mum' on the screen and I ignore it. Not long after, Tunde's phone rings too and it is her. I tell him not to pick it but he does so before I finish the statement. She tells him to give me the phone and I collect it reluctantly.