INSIDE THEIR MINDS...

Hello Hi,

It's been a busy while; school, work.... I have definitely missed writing; I'm beginning to enjoy it more and I hope you enjoy reading them. One of my friends recently said that I love to paint men as villains, lol, au contraire! it just happens that I write better from a feminine perspective (or so I think). Today's story was inspired by a funny true life event; nothing feminist or male-attacking here oh, hee hee. Enjoy and please like the page, share, comment etc. Thanks!

“Allow me to introduce our last but of course not our least speaker, the first and so far, the only Nigerian-born and bred actor to win an Oscar award – Mr. Chuka Madu!” Loud cheers and applause followed as Chuka walked to the stage. The ladies were whistling so loudly; it was incredible. It was obvious that he was very popular although this popularity may have been attributed more to his good looks and the fact that he was single, rather than his acting talent. Regardless of what anyone thought however, he had achieved his dreams and even more, and now to add to his accomplishment, he was standing in front of thousands of people as a guest speaker at a TED; something he had never even dreamed about. He finally began his speech:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I can’t tell you how much of an honour it is for me to be standing here before you today. This has been one of my dreams amidst many others. When I was in my teens, I developed sudden interest in reading books outside my usual school book and my two favourite books were “Rich Dad, Poor dad” by Robert Kiyosaki, and “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. If you have not read them before, I’d suggest that you do because those books truly inspired me.”

He paused to drink some water from the bottle on the stand; people were nodding vehemently with approval. Looking at the audience, even though he could not see all the faces because of the multitude of people, he could feel their admiration. The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop and he could tell that they were all eager to hear his story; of how he made it to the top. This was evident to him at least from the few faces that he could see clearly because the light reserved for him on the stage also shone on their faces. Four of whom were sitting directly opposite him - a middle-aged gentleman with an eager look, a lady in her late twenties with a constant smile on her face, an elderly woman with no expression on her face and a younger lady in red who had tears welling up in her eyes. They looked like they were listening with rapt attentiveness and so he continued his speech even more confidently:

“You know there were times I wish I had the Rich Dad in that book as my real dad. I have always dreamed of making it in life but I never really loved going to school so I knew that I had to do it in a different way. My dad did not support my interest in acting but sometimes, you had to break out before you can achieve your dreams...”

The middle-aged man’s mind: He was truly listening; every word that Chuka was saying made sense to him. He had also once been an inspiring actor but his family did not give their support him; therefore he could completely relate with the speech. If only he had pursued his dreams, he may have been famous by now. However, he had other responsibilities and he needed a steady source of income to send his younger siblings to school unlike Chuka who originally came from a wealthy family. Life was not fair truly...

The “late twenties” lady’s mind: She watched him with admiration; he was exactly her kind of man. His physical build and thick lips, his manner of speaking and his ambience, and of course his wealth. If only she had waited a few more years before marrying, she might have met Chuka and made him fall in love with her. Her friends had persuaded her to marry the middle-aged man next to her saying that he had potentials; potentials that still had not borne any real success to her for the past 2 years they had been married. If not for all the societal pressure – that she was getting old, that all her friends were married and that her family was expecting the same from her; she would not have married him. Now, she had lost a great opportunity...

The elderly woman’s mind: She listened to him in anger. She did not like the way Chuka spoke about his late father, her husband. He  deserved more much respect from Chuka; he had been a great father and husband and although, he did not support Chuka dropping out of his Master’s program to pursue his acting career, if it were not for his wealth and affluence, Chuka would not have been successful. She had pleaded on Chuka’s behalf even though she also did not think acting was a good idea, especially not after the money they had spent sending him to ivy-league schools in the states. She would caution Chuka, he had to stop this insolence...

The lady in red’s mind: She could barely concentrate; there was nothing new to her that he had said; the same old inspirational story of how everyone who became successful in life had struggles on the road. She had barely slept last night because she was helping her friend who was one of the event organisers to carry out final arrangements. She was so tired that tears rolled down her eyes. She wished he would stop talking so that the event would come to an end; his speech was too long and she needed to go home and catch some rest because she also had work to do tomorrow. If only she had known, she would not have sat at the front row so that she could easily leave the auditorium but her friend had specially reserved that seat for her. It was moments like this that made her wish that she could sleep with her eyes open...

“And so ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you have learned from my story that giving up is never an option. You must fight to achieve your goal in life! Thank you”

Loud applause and cheers followed again, with standing ovation from the audience and many people seemed thrilled. It was time for the reception and the after party, an opportunity to meet and chat with any of the eight speakers. People went after the speakers they were most interested in, with most of the young ladies closely following and fluttering around Chuka. The lady in red could not have been any happier to be freed at last; she glanced at her wristwatch, it was already 9pm. As she looked up, her eyes met with Chuka’s, he smiled and she smiled back confused as she was not sure if it was her that he was smiling at until he walked up to her. He had been attracted to her from the moment he saw her as he stood on the stage.

“Hi, I’m truly pleased that you found my speech today inspiring” he said with a confident smile. She raised her eyebrow and he laughed “Oh yes, I must confess that I saw the tears in your eyes. Don’t be shy; it’s okay for one to get emotional during such great talks.” It was her turn to laugh; she did it in a polite way nonetheless and because she did not want to lie to him nor be rude, she responded with a courteous smile “Of course! I’ll be sure to share my own version of your inspiring story.”

Don't forget to share please and comment. Have a beautiful week :)

IG: ugochiukah
twitter; @vivio_gogo