Hope For Tomorrow(Full Season)

 

Hope For Tomorrow(Story)


Episode 1

Fred will never forget how disappointed, frustrated and unhappy he was when he was laid off from his job in a company that have been putting food on his table, he was a graduate and now without a job, he hardly had enough money to take care of him self much less a family, he was 32 years old and it's seems all his closed friends were already married with 1 to 3 children, sometimes he wondered how his friends managed to take care of thier wives and children with the economic meltdown in the country especially Lagos.

Finding someone serious to settle down with was the absolute last thing on Fred's mind, he was bent on pursing his dreams and that is: to make huge money, before the worst happened - he lost his job.
"I'm doomed, I'm dead, I knew how long it took me to get this job, how will I survive? How will I take care of my mother and myself, oh Lord why me? " He thought.

Fred was only 11 years old, when his father died of heart attack and ever since then, the task of raising him then fell on his mother. At that age he resolved to work hard, he remained focused and all he yearn for was to be successful in life and to make his mother proud.
But despite how hard working he was, life has always been so hard on him.

"When will I ever make my mother proud?, this woman have done everything for me, she saw me through school, she suffered greatly because of me and ever since I graduated from the university I kept struggling for everything and now I have lost the job that I have been managing, oh Lord why me, when will my sweet mom enjoy the fruits of her labour?" He thought sobbing

Ever since he lost his job six months ago, Fred and his mother had been thrown into lack and constant financial instability, that's why he gets irritated each time his mother mention the issue of marriage to him, all Fred wanted was to get rid of thier financial instability first.

All Fred's efforts to get a new job in Lagos proved abortive. He had to shift his base to Abuja, he squatted with Moses, his childhood friend in his little apartment in Abuja, He wrote applications upon application letters and submitted his CV to alot of places and yet no job. This left him unsure of the future, he dabbled in various menial jobs so he could eat and send little money back home to his mother, For close to a year, nothing was forth coming.

 Until One day, Fred got an email, he had applied for a job in many companies, he had wondered which company had sent the mail. The email read;
‘Hello Mr. Fred Udoka You are invited to our office on the 15th of September by 10am for an interview as You have been shortlisted for an interview with Lawal Oil, Maitama, Abuja.
Kindly come with your credentials".

On getting to the venue of the interview on the 15th of September, he almost gave up when he found out that they needed just one person for the vacant position,
And the company had invited more than twenty people for the interview.
He was discouraged, he regretted showing up for the interview as it appeared that he was not going to get the Job.

Few hours later, Fred had already submitted all the needed credentials reluctantly, he was sighted sitting down waiting to be interviewed when a lady walked in, and sat beside him, Fred had thought she also came for the interview, she was a really attractive lady, nicely dressed, with beautiful dark skin, pretty white teeth, gorgeous body, really put together all around, She was on call but immediately she was done talking on the phone, Fred greeted her and she started a conversation with Fred, she really threw Fred off balance because all Fred heard in her voice was that she was mature but very beautiful and attractive.

Although, the conversation they had was all about the interview and Fred told her how long he had been unemployed and how disappointed he was when he found out that the oil company needed just one person for the vacant position. The beautiful strange asked Fred about his work expectations and his work experience! Fred was polite and he warmed up to the beautiful stranger, he responded to all her questions.
The beautiful stranger felt concerned when she learnt that Fred had been waiting to be interviewed for close to four hours.

60 minutes later , Fred was still sitting down but this time he was lost in his conversation with the beautiful matured lady sitting beside him, when a security personnel that work with the company greeted the beautiful lady .
 "Good morning ma'am", and she replied calmly, before the security man could speak any further, she stood up and headed to the office where the interview was being held.

Few minutes later, Fred was excited and surprised when he was called in to be interviewed, When he went in, he became nervous as he was directed to go into the CEO's office for his interview, eventually he met the CEO, he looked closely for like few seconds,
he was shocked to see the beautiful lady that sat beside him earlier as the CEO, he was surprised but he acted cool.

"there's no need to interview you again, I have already interviewed you, when I was sitting beside you an hour ago and I have also seen your credentials you submitted, you are hired! Congratulations" the beautiful lady said calmly chat MartinMartino on zero eight one eighty thirty fourteen twenty one to be added to his WhatsApp group

Fred's heart was in his mouth when the lady was done talking and she told Fred to pick up his appointment letter from the company's secretary, He was speechless and so excited that he thought he was dreaming but immediately he was able to contain his excitement, he said happily "Thank you so much MA, God bless you ma, I'm so grateful, God bless you"

"Thank God, congratulations once again Mr Fred" The beautiful CEO added
Fred was excited when he learned the name of her new boss, "Miss Sofia Lawal, the CEO of LAWAL OIL".
Fred called his mother to break the good news to her, She was so excited and grateful to God as
She began to sing and dance rhythmically at the other end of the phone.

The pressure for Fred to settle down became very intense after Fred was gainfully employed in the oil company and when Moses his child hood friend got married . Fred's mother kept asking him when he will settle down and bear children as he was her only child.

Fred always gave a deaf ear to his mother's words, each time, she brought up the issue of marriage and love over the phone, "My son, when will you introduce your wife to be, you are my only child and Its high time you settle down, find a good girl, fall in love and settle down and build your life together, when you find a wife, you will find more favour from God" Fred's mother had said constantly over the phone.
Fred always kept mute.

All these months, He was finding it hard to figure out why he had fallen in love with Miss Sofia Lawal, his boss, "Out of all the prettiest ladies in the world, how can I have fallen in love with my boss, I guess the devil is playing with my destiny, if my boss finds out that I'm in love with her, she won't hesitate to laid me off from her company and I will become unemployed again" Fred thought



Episode 2

Fred decided to conceal his feelings for Miss Sofia.
On the other hand, Sofia was a successful woman who thrived in anything she puts her mind to. She was a perfect example of an independent, smart and fierce woman. Her standards were so high that any man who wants to be in her life, needed to climb a ladder in order to reach them, She was so wealthy and these scare good men away while the bad ones were more interested in her money, she had given up on getting married or finding true love. She was classy and carried herself with so much confidence.

Due to Sofia’s accomplishments and standards, good men didn’t want to come too close because they felt she was too much of a woman for them to handle. Sofia knew why men ran away from her, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing success even harder. She was the CEO of Lawal Oil company, a company she established immediately she graduated from the university with the help of her late father.

Just like Fred, Sofia's mother was always on her neck to settle down, she was 39 years old and she is the only female child of her family, her father Donald Lawal, was a public figure, he was a retired Judge before he died.
“My daughter, you will be 40 years old in four months time, aren’t you planning on settling down anytime soon?” Sofia's mother often asked but Sofia always gave deaf ears to her mother’s words .

Sofia usually tried to convince herself that she was doing just fine being single and didn’t need any man, but deep down, Sofia knew she was deceiving and lying to herself. There was just this void in her heart that neither money nor any accomplishment of hers could fill.

But she was too shy to admit that she needed a man probably a husband but there's no man in her life, oftentimes she wished that her father was still alive, "My dad, was the only one that understood me, I wish he was here, Mom, he would had stopped you from pressurizing me, Marriage is not an accomplishment and it's not every woman that will get married, what do you want me to do? I can't woo men or throw myself at any man to marry me" Sofia always told her mother.

Twelve months later, Fred's promotion had been rapid in the oil company, he was always working hard, Soon He became the chief geologist and Miss Sofia had grown so fond of him.
She had never regretted getting him into the company like she did on the day of the interview.

Sofia was also caught up in Fred's handsomeness and gentle approach. As time goes by the fondness grew into likeness and then into feelings of love.
She was impressed with the way he talks and the confidence he displays each time, he comes to her office. “No man has ever been so bold around me, because they feel I am the boss, others barely express themselves around me unlike Fred, he is not scared to confront me in any matter” she thought to herself" chat MartinMartino on zero eight one eighty thirty fourteen twenty one to be added to his WhatsApp group

As these thoughts kept playing in her mind, she still tried to act cool around Fred, most times, she wondered if he was in any relationship or taken as he had all the good qualities, she wants in a man.

"I think I like Fred, but I can't woo him, never! as I don't know what he will think of me, I don't want to lose my dignity and respect!” she added. For a second, she felt powerless as she couldn't think of a way to express how she felt for him without losing her self respect and dignity.
Sofia always get extremely excited whenever Fred comes in to her office for work related issues, She secretly admired him and instantly had goosebumps when he smiled at her.

One day Fred did not turn up to work, Sofia was beyond shocked as she couldn't believe she was missing Fred.
She sat in her office, her mind wasn't with her but with Fred, She thought about him all through and couldn't get her mind off him, she wondered why she had not seen him all day. Sofia occasionally peeped through her window to see if he was around but could not sight Fred anywhere.

After about 3 hours, Sofia's secretary came to inform her that Fred did not show up to work because of his health "Ma'am, I just got a call from Mr. Fred, he said I should inform you that he is ill and he won't show up to work for few days because of his health as he is hospitalized" her secretary said.

Sofia couldn't help but worry "hospitalized?" She curiously asked and her secretary nodded "Yes". Sofia instructed her secretary to call Fred and find out the name of the hospital where he was admitted, "Someone from this organization, needs to go the hospital and find out the situation of things, Fred is a good man and a hard worker" She added and then she volunteered to go visit Fred at the hospital.



Episode 3

In on time, Sofia arrived at the hospital looking enchanting, Fred was so surprised that his boss came to see him, he stared at Sofia helplessly and he welcomed her with a warm smile and then he greeted her calmly and he kept gazing at her.

A sachet of drip were wired into his body. Sofia took her seat beside his bed. Fred looked into her eyes and dimmed his eyes in an attractive way, "why are you staring at me like that?" Sofia asked with a smile on her face, "Nothing, I'm so surprised, you came.... I mean, I'm so happy to see you MA" he bluntly said, still looking into her eyes.
"How are you feeling now?" Sofia asked
"I'm weak but the doctor said I will be fine" Fred replied

Sofia's heart was racing but she tried her best to stay calm. " I was so worried.... Hmm, I mean everyone at the office, was worried when my secretary told us that you were hospitalized, I came to see you, how are you feeling? I hope it's not serious? " she said but Fred told her all was good. "I actually have been feeling ill last night, so I decided I'll see the doctor this morning, after some medical tests, I felt dizzy and very weak, but I thank God I came to the hospital " he said

Few minutes later, Sofia got up to leave, Fred thanked her for coming over to see him
Deep down in Sofia's heart, she didn't want to go, just yet but she didn't want to trade her dignity either. She silently wished Fred could ask her a question or say something so she could capitalise on that to push the conversation further and God answered her prayers.

Just as she was about to leave, Fred said "ma'am, thank you for Coming over to see me, I'm so grateful and i feel honoured. Thank you so much MA".
 "you are welcome Mr Fred, get well soon" she replied with a smile on her face
"I'm sorry for the inconveniences my absence from work will cause the company" Fred added and Sofia told him that his health was more important than anything else.

They further exchange pleasantries and smiled to each other. Sofia told him, how hardworking he was in the company and encourage him to keep it up, he thanked her yet again and they discussed about other work related issues.
Sofia was super excited that they were having a conversation, she cherished every moment and paid close attention to the things that came off his mouth.

Sofia was amazed of how much of a gentleman Fred was, he talked about his mother with so much emotions and how worried his mother would be, if she had found out that he was not feeling well and how much he hated hospital food and how he missed his mother, immediately, Sofia knew he was raised well and that he was a good man.

After a while of conversing, Sofia got up to leave and she told Fred to take care of himself. "call me or my secretary, if you need anything" she said smiling before bidding goodbye.
Sofia was beyond happy and didn't know why everything about Fred felt different. "His spirit is calm and so is his personality" she thought to herself.

The next day, At close of work, Sofia hurriedly went home and got her chef to prepare a nice white soup for Fred, Afterwards, she took it to the hospital, when she arrived at the hospital, One look at Fred from a distance and she almost dropped dead, "How can a man be so handsome and complete despite being ill" she thought to herself.

As she walked closer to him, she immediately comported herself and acted normal. Fred was so excited to see her again, he was so appreciative when Sofia brought out a food flask
"Wow! You brought me home made food, I need this right now! thank you so much ma" Fred happily said and she blushed. Fred took a spoon of the soup "Delicious!" Fred uttered and he stopped, he doesn't have much appetite but he took 2 spoons more and then stopped again

"Take more spoons!" Sofia encouraged and Fred happily nodded in agreement. "Thank you so much ma" Fred said
"we are not at the office now, you can call me by my name, call me Sofia, I'm now your friend" Sofia said.

After Fred was done eating, Sofia asked"How do you feel now?"
"I feel much better, the doctor says I may be discharged tomorrow" he replied smiling.
"Thank God" Sofia uttered
"And all thanks to you MA... Sorry I mean Sofia" Fred said calmly and Sofia smiled. As the conversation was going on a beautiful lady walked in to the room, Fred smiled as he saw the beautiful lady walk into the hospital room but Sofia wondered who she was. As the lady exchanged greetings with Fred
"Vivian, Meet my boss" Fred told the lady"
"Nice to met you MA" Vivian said nicely

For a moment Sofia was shocked as she thought the lady was Fred's lover or girlfriend.
Sofia was dying in confusion and she was silently praying that Fred wasn't taken. She didn't know if she could ever survive the heartbreak of Fred having a girlfriend, thereby making him unavailable for her.

As she waited patiently for Fred to introduce Vivian to her, she held her heart within, in preparation for his words. Sofia was tensed! "Who is Vivian? Who Is she? I hope she is not Fred's Girlfriend!" Sofia thought



Episode 4

Fred looked at Sofia with a smile on his face and said
"Ma'am, meet my friend's wife,Vivian! she and her husband, Moses my good friend, has been so good to me ever since I moved down here in Abuja, they are both so wonderful to me"

Vivian and Sofia smiled to each other.
Those words that came off Fred's mouth gave Sofia unexplainable joy but she tried her possible best not to express it. She took a deep breath of relief and smiled when Moses, Vivian's husband and Fred's childhood friend walked in as well.
They all talked for a while and finally Sofia left them.

 Sofia drove home, she beamed with smiles and couldn't stop blushing. She was crazily crushing on Fred and kept praying that he feels the same way for her as she feels for him. "I don't even know if Fred is into me at all" she thought to herself as she drove home.

On the other hand, Fred had always had feelings for her too but was scared that she may not feel the same way for him as she was his boss but seeing her get so friendly and helpful to him, gave him a ray of hope and confidence he needed.

Due to his modest upbringing, Fred wasn't intimidated by Sofia's wealth or accomplishments at all, he only admired her determination and success, he commended her for it within. He thought of ways to get more closer to her because what he was feeling for her was real, "Tomorrow, I will tell her how I feel about her or is it too soon?" he asked himself and finally he decided to follow his heart.

The next day, Fred was discharged from the hospital, when he got home, He sent Sofia a text and it read "Hi Ma'am , I just wanted to inform you that I have been discharged from the hospital, Thank you for your care, I so much appreciate you. Hopefully on Monday, I will return to work. Have a nice day!
From Fred".

After sending the text, it wasn't up to 5 minutes before Sofia called back. "Hello Fred, I'm sorry for not calling earlier, have been busy all morning" she explained,
"I totally understand" he said.

Sofia was happy that he was discharged, She asked how he was doing and he said he was great. "Hope you have something in your stomach?" She asked,
"I wish I do, I'm starving" Fred jokingly said.
"You can't take pills on an empty stomach, don't worry I will bring you some delicious food"she said and then she asked Fred what he would like to have for lunch.
"Don't worry ma'am, I will look for something to eat" Fred replied

Sofia insisted and finally he said "any good meal will do"
Sofia told him to wait for her, that she would come with Lunch in 60 minutes.
"text me your address" Sofia added

Fred fell deeper in love with Sofia's personality and gentleness. he just liked everything about her and admired her kind spirit and her choice of words. After much thought, he was happy to be taken care of by someone, especially a beautiful lady as Sofia. He quickly texted his home address to Sofia.

 In no time, Sofia arrived and called Fred to inform him that she was downstairs and Fred told her happily to walk right in to the stairs to meet him.
 "The door is unlocked, please come in ma'am" Fred entered. Few minutes later, Fred was sighted digging into the delicious meal Sofia had brought.

Sofia kept looking at Fred eat till he asked if she wanted some.
 "How did you know I wanted some?" She asked smiling, "because you have been staring at my food for a while now" he said jokingly

Fred took a scoop of the delicious food and pushed the food to the centre of the table and Sofia happily ate with him. He chuckled at every scoop she took and she smiled whenever he chuckled.

When they were done eating, They talked for a while and he then moved his head up and looked into her shinny eyes.
"Thank you for the meal " Fred said calmly and then Sofia moved her head and replied smiling "you are welcome, Freddy"
Fred smiled too, no one had ever called him "Freddy". And it seems he liked being called Freddy.

Fred was drawn to her and wanted to make the first move by making his intentions known to her, but didn't know if the time was right.
On the other hand, Sofia was shy and drunk in love with Fred, Butterflies were dancing in her stomach and she was thinking if she should make the first move but on a second thought she stopped herself from wooing Fred. She was lost in thoughts and didn't even know when Fred got more closer to her, she immediately snapped out of her imagination and realised that Fred held her hands "Can we talk?" He asked, "sure we can" she replied.


Episode 5

Fred looked into her eyes and kept thinking of how he was going to make his intentions known to Sofia
 "I want to tell you something, I think if I don't say it now, I might never have the chance to say it again. I know this may cause me my Job, Sofia, I can't explain it but I'm into you, I love you right from the first day I saw you, I know I shouldn't be telling you this because you are my boss, but I want you to accept me Into your life, I love you so much" He said.

For a moment, Sofia felt she was dreaming and didn't want to wake up if it were a dream.
"Is Fred actually saying all this to me?" She shockingly asked herself. Her joy knew no bound as this was the first time she wanted someone this much in her life and she felt happy that the feeling was mutual.

When Fred was done talking, she looked into his eyes, smiled, leaned forward and kissed him. Fred wasn't expecting the kiss but embraced it with all his heart. They kissed for a while. They were so caught up in the moment but was careful not to pass their limits either.

After a while, They stopped kissing back. Fred smiled and asked her if the kiss meant that she felt the same way for him and she nodded "Yes". Her positive response brought joy to his heart and he promised to love her forever. They had mutual feelings for each other and wanted the best for their new relationship. Chat MartinMartino on zero eight one eighty thirty fourteen twenty one to be added to his WhatsApp group

Six month into thier relationship and Sofia had told her mother that she was seeing someone, her mother couldn't wait to hear all about the man in her daughter's life, she danced for Joy and she told Sofia "That's good news my daughter but now you have a man in your life, Please hurry up and get married to him or what are you waiting for? you know you are my first child and my only daughter, your younger brothers are even married with children, please don't waste time on courtship or dating, get married" .
Sofia smiled helplessly.

Fred was the best lover one could wish for because he treated Sofia like a queen. Sofia gave him maximum respect and care in return. Fred never demanded anything from her but was rather the one always showering her with gifts. Sofia's life changed a lot as she was always happy. She loved Fred with all her heart and didn't want to ever lose him.

Six months after, Their relationship grew stronger, Fred's love for Sofia remained strong even when he found out that she was 7 years older than him.
Sofia and Fred kept thier relationship private, no one in the company knew about thier love affair until one day, Fred proposed to Sofia openly, everyone who worked in the company were surprised and majority concluded that Fred was only interested in madam Sofia because of her wealth.
"Fred is a gold digger, a social climber!" They gossiped.


Episode 6

Few weeks later, The day, sofia introduced Fred to her mother as the man she wants to marry, her mother looked Fred straight in the eyes and said no, she won’t allow that to happen. Sofia was surprised but she tried her best to find out from her mother why she objected.
"How can you stoop so low to marry a man who is not in this same social class as you, have you ever wondered why he wants to marry you?" Sofia's mother entered

Sofia's mother had no legitimate reasons apart from the fact that her daughter was more wealthier than Fred and that Fred was just her employee, She didn’t like the fact that her daughter was about to marry a man from a poor and unpopular family. "Fred didn’t look like a man who could take good care of you" Sofia's mother added.

When it got to Fred's turn to introduce Sofia to his mother, Fred's mother screamed; “Over my dead body would I allow you to marry a woman, who is older than you.”

Admist the opposition,
Fred and Sofia got married in the church on the 14th April the next year, thier mothers didn’t attend the wedding .They had to do it without them because they were bent on separating them.
The first Twelve months of thier marriage were pure and total bliss. They had a peaceful home and barely had anything to disagree on.

Until Two years passed bye and thier marriage was still childless, Sofia had consulted the best gynecologist and endocrinologist both home and abroad but still no pregnancy, talk much of a child.

Fred had thought that when Sofia conceived, it will cause his mother and his mother in law to finally accept thier union and give them thier blessings, he became desperate, when Sofia couldn't conceive after three years of marriage, he became frustrated and bitter. He changed.

Fred started being very distant around Sofia his wife and he would have horrible mood swings. He resigned from Sofia's company, Sofia did not understand what was happening because everything seemed okay with them and he never complained about anything at work.

Fred would sit alone for hours just staring into nowhere, He would always seem very deep in thought but when Sofia asked him what was happening he would say, “nothing”.
This carried on for months and he seemed to be getting worse instead of better, he would always come home late and drunk. He became very quiet around Sofia and if sofia tried to strike up a conversation he would calmly ask her to leave him alone.

Sofia felt lonely and defeated because she knew he was frustrated and angry about her inability to bear children, she did not know what to do or how to get Fred to be happy again because he was shutting her out completely. A distance was created between them, Before they knew it, they could not recognize each other. It felt like they were two strangers, sharing a house together as they barely spoke to each other.

Sofia decided to transfer all her wealth to her husband just to make him happy,
Sofia was actually miserable but she could not talk about it with Fred and she could not complain either because what would she be complaining about? When she knew what was wrong in thier marriage- childlessness.



Episode 7

When Sofia transferred all her wealth to her husband, she quickly told Fred about it, "Honey, I have transferred everything I own to you, that means you are in charge of my company, my finances, in fact everything, I love you so much" She told Fred
"how could you do that, without informing me first, I need a child not your money, I'm your husband, I'm not a commodity that you can buy" He said and left angrily and Sofia was disappointed.
That was the turning moment in thier marriage.

As a couple in dire need of a child, thier sex life suffered, it went from being intimate sometime, to non – existent. They both lost interest and did not even make an effort to rekindle the flame. It became normal for Fred to return home late and drunk. Chat MartinMartino on zero eight one eighty thirty fourteen twenty one to be added to his WhatsApp group

Sofia was curious to know why she was unable to bear children as her heart bled, she couldn’t imagine being stuck in such a childless union pretending to be married.
"all the tests proved that we are medically okay, so what's the problem?" Sofia thought
But Fred's bad behavior worries her more than her childlessness.
Sofia became fed up and angry, "You know what? I think I need to give you enough space to sort yourself and make your priorities straight. I'm done with all this your odd behavior, I want a divorce" she furiously said to Fred one morning

Fred's heart skipped several beats at the word "Space" and "Divorce" and he tried to make her explain what she meant but she cut him off and said "I'm done Fred, I can't take this any longer, I want a divorce".

"What do you mean by you're done?, you want a divorce? Why? I thought we love each other, I thought we are in this forever? " Fred asked in a shaky tone but Sofia walked out on him.

For a moment, Fred's life seemed as though it was coming to an end. he didn't want to acknowledge the words that came out of Sofia's mouth because
he obviously didn't want thier marriage to end, he only wants a child not a divorce.

Fred was still in denial and didn't want to accept the fact that Sofia was done with their Marriage. He hurriedly followed his wife "wait, Sofia, my love please wait" Fred said when he eventually caught up with her but she ignored him and hurriedly left the house to her car and then she drove off.