Timaika and I made TikToks on a rainy Thursday morning in JS Dance Studio, as I wondered where Jaime was. Rehearsals were supposed to start 10 minutes ago but he was no where to be seen. After about 3 calls from Timaika and Adam with no answer, we established the fact that the man was late. As Timaika and I made our fourth video of the day, Jaime strolled in with LMO behind him. "Good morning fam. Sorry I'm late. Just had a little meeting with this dude over here." Jaime said with his signature smile gesturing to LMO who had been MIA since the day we signed our contracts. No offence to him but I actually forgot about him.
"Buenos Dias amigos. Hey sorry for being MIA all this time. I've been kinda busy but I'm free now. By the way, my name is Leo and I am a break dancer ad hiphop dancer. Jaime told me about the whole introduction thing." LMO said with a deep spanish accent and a bright but shy smile. I liked his Spanish accent. It sounded very authentic.
{Good morning friends}"Ok so now that we are all here, let's get dancing." Jaime assembled us. "To make things a bit easier for us, I made videos of everyone's part in the dance and sent it to each of you so you could practice at home. Ok let's go. so 5 6 7 8." After Jaime's announcement, we all got into formation and tried to mirror Jaime's actions. The first rehearsal for the new Kente Wings sneakers started and I was excited and already looking forward to the other rehearsals.
*****
"5 6 7 8. Wooo. That was great guys. Awesome rehearsal. Y'all did soo well. Thanks for coming today and I will see you all tomorrow morning at 9am." Everyone clapped and cheered as Jaime dismissed us for the day. Jaime left the room after downing a bottle of water with Grace, Madison, Leo and Adam behind him. That left Eze, Timaika, and I in the room."Hey guys. Do you mind making a few TikToks with me and maybe even taking a few pictures with me for the gram please?" Timaika asked with a hopeful smile at the end. I did enjoy making TikToks with her. Both our fanbases seemed to love them. Plus I was not about to turn down a chance to make a TikTok with another famous person.
"Yh sure. Why not?" Eze replied setting a bottle of water on the ground. I liked Eze. He was a fun and bubbly person. His Nigerian accent was faint but came when it needed to be heard. He, Timaika and I have become friends in just these 3 or so days which is kind of wierd to me considering the fact that I never become friends with my fellow dancers when I work on big projects like music videos. Everyone there meant business and wanted to get paid so they never wanted to keep their competition close. But with Timaika and Eze, they were just welcoming and it actually felt good to finally be around people.
"Yh sure let's do it" I replied with a smile that came unnoticed by them. 4 videos and dozens of pictures later, we left the building to finally get home. I took the elevator to the underground carpark where I parked my car. Just a few cars were parked there and the place was quite dark with just a little light coming in through the exit by the sun as it was about 5:48pm. I got into my car, started it and drove to the exit but immediately stopped at its mouth as I stared at the water pouring onto the earth from the sky. Lightning flashed and I flinched as I was startled. Images of a knife being lifted by a trembling hand crossed my eyes as I sat there staring at the dark sky. I felt numb. I felt empty. I was scared to death and I did not know why. The sound of a child's cry sounded in my ears as I watched my hands tremble as they never left the steering wheel. A loud boom of thunder that with no doubt shook the earth was sounded and I flinched. I slowly sat back on my seat shaking my head with my hands over my ears. I shoved the mask off of my face and threw it onto the passanger's seat and stared at it as images or a knife with blood dripping off of it were flashing before my eyes. I was startled by the honk of a car that was apparently beside me. I was brought to the present and I quickly put my mask back on.
"Hey Wooden Mask, are you alright?" I heard Trevor ask from the lowered window of a sleek black Mercedes Benz beside my car. I wondered for just a second why he was here but thought he must have been here because of Jaime.
"Uh yh I-I'm good. Yh I'm alright." My voice cracked as I said that.
"Uh will you be able to drive home, because your uh hands are trembling." He looked concerned. He barely even knows me. How could he be concerned about me. Maybe he was just being nice.
"Umm yes I will be fine. Uh thanks for asking. I'll see you. Bye" I did not mean to sound rehearsed or so nervous but I was still shaken up. I attempted to move my car but immediately slammed the brakes. The reason for that is unkown to me. I risked a quick glance at Trevor and tried to accelerate once more which I failed at as I slammed on the brakes again.
"You don't look ok. Come on in. I'll take you home. Come on." He offered exiting his vehicle. He was being way too nice to me.
"O no Trevor it's fine. You don't have to. Please, it's already late and you have to get home. I don't want to be a bother. Don't worry about me." I said to him looking up at my window where he now stood. I really did not want him to think of me as a bother. I was definately going to make it home. I did not know how I was going to get home because I was still a bit shaken up but I was definately going to make it home.
"Exactly my point. It's late and you need to get home and rest so let me take you. Don't worry about it. You are definately not a bother." He said to me and after a few seconds of thinking about it, I slowly got out of the car. " Very good. Now please hand me the keys." He kind of politely asked. He looked so much like a boss right now making sure his employee was alright.
"Uh sure." I handed him the keys to my car and he drove it back into the underground parking lot and brought me back the keys and I mumbled a thank you. He walked me to his car and opened the passanger's door for me and I entered the car. He jogged to the driver's side of the car and soon we were on our way to my apartment.
There was a comfortable silence between us and I welcomed it. My hands still shook lightly and I stared at the lightning that kept flashing in the sky. "Hey are sure you're alright. Your hands are still shaking. Do you wanna talk about it?" Is this how bosses are supposed to be? According to some movies I have seen, they are supposed to be rude and uptight. The ones that are a bit nice are not this nice. He is definately one of a kind no?
"Uh no I'm ok. I'm alright. You don't have to worry about it."
"Are you sure? Because some people say I am good listener. Maybe even an awesome listener. Sometimes, commentator if you want me to be. Jaime even thinks I listen too well that I even eavesdrop on some of his conversations which is a lie by the way." I chuckled lightly and relaxed a bit. I leaned into the seat a bit knowing he was friendly.
"It's alright. I don't even know what's wrong so I can't say. But trust me when I say I'm ok."
After a light hearted conversation about the funny moments in life and some directions, he parked his car infront of my apartment and I said a thank you and walked out of the vehicle.
"I'll come pick you up at 7 in the morning yh?" Why the heck does he want to pick me up. To say I was shocked was an understatement.
"O no Trevor it's fine. I can just take an Uber or something. Please don't worry about it." I really did not want to be a bother. He did not have to do this. We barely even know each other. Is this how he is with all his employees?
"I'm picking you up at 7 in the morning and I'm not taking no for an answer." He said in a stern voice and a serious look. I finally gave in to his request and murmured a yes Trevor before he left. I turned to walk into my apartment when I saw a child look at my face and cling to his mother in fear. She held him tight against her side and looked at me with a look that could kill. I did not know why kids were so scared of my masks until they see it on social media.
After a hot shower, I lay on my bed reading a mafia Wattpad book on my phone. I received a notification on my phone reminding me of my eviction that may happen in two weeks. I sent my landlady the money immediately knowing very well that my account balance was going to look scary after. She immadiately sent me the money back and I stared at her message to meet her in 5 minutes in confusion.
YOU ARE READING
The Wooden Mask
General FictionTwo individuals facing trauma have to allow themselves to love and be loved. One, a dancer whose identity has never been seen. The other, a business man with a rough past. Where will this journey of love lead them? Just know that, everyone wears a...