Channels of life.

Amaya's birth could be said to be prophetic, not in a spiritual sense but because her mom was plagued with several dreams of seeing her baby girl singing on stage. The ball was set in motion as soon as Amaya could talk clearly.

She proved those dreams true with her voice. A voice so soothing and melodiously unreal, you would think you were listening to Angels sing. Amaya wasn't just a beautiful voice, she was fair to look upon and she was very intelligent. She was the epitome of what all mothers wished for in their daughters.

Twenty years later..….

”Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome the one and only Amaya star!”

The hall erupted with a loud, ear-splitting applause as they watched the spot light reflect a familiar silhouette of their idol. Shouts of ”I love you Amaya!” could be heard from different angles of the auditorium. Banners from elated fans were being waved high in support of their idol as all were anticipating her electric entry on stage.

At the end of her concert, Amaya had successfully become a demi-god in the hearts of her fans. She was untouchable, an angel to them deserving of worship. It was high peak for Amaya. No other celebrity could compare. At just twenty-three, she had won more awards than most A-list artistes. She was living the dream as it were.

Reality had a funny way of twisting things around without notice. Amaya still basking in her euphoric state of mind, received a call from her company's Vice President,Mr Shawn.

”Hello Amaya, how are you?”

”Hello sir, I'm good. Just finished my concert”, she replied.

”That's great Amaya. You're making the company proud. I called because I wanted to keep you abreast of the upcoming American tour scheduled next month. Meet with your manager, plan your itinerary and wrap up your concerts pronto. No excuses Maya.”

”Alright Mt Shawn, I'll do as you say and be ready for that tour. Thank you for telling me”, Amaya said smiling so cheesily before hanging up the phone.

She stood up to go for a short walk. The weather was serene and great for a short walk. The moon was just making its way out of thick clouds and the trees were gently waltzing away, without a care.

Amaya, dressed in a black t-shirt, black jeans, white sneakers and a black baseball cap, walked out of her home and into the street. She had just walked a few meters when she felt like she was being followed.

She stopped, turned to look left and right but saw nothing. Shrugging her shoulders indifferently, she continued with her walk but missed a step, almost falling face down on the hard cold floor.

Strong hands kept her face from hitting the ground. Shocked she screamed but all she heard was ”it's okay, you're safe”. Those strong arms helped her up, steadying her feet to the ground.

She looked at the one who had helped her and at that moment, she froze. ”This was no human”, she thought to herself. He had a majestic aura about him which was so electrifying.— she was mesmerized.

”Are you okay ma'am?”, the stranger asked but Amaya was lost staring at him like she could see his soul. The stranger repeated his question two more times before she answered, with a nod.

”Oh, that's good then”, he said before walking away.

Confused, Amaya quickly asked for his name. *”You can call me Fee””, he responded to her without stopping not looking back.

”Weird much” Amaya thought strangely.

The next day

”Wake up Amaya and explain this to me!”.

Groaning from the noise, she woke to see her manager, Pepper, standing over her like a wounded lioness in heat.

”Gosh Pepper, what's up? What the yelling so early in the morning?”

*”Good morning to you too sleep queen but sadly, there's nothing good about this morning. Take a look at this””,Pepper said before casually throwing a newspaper to Amaya.

Picking it up,she read the bold headlines.

Star wrapped up in secret lovers arms

”What the hell is this! Who wrote this trash?” Amaya said fuming.

”That's what I'd like to know too darling? Do you really have a secret lover? When you signed in with the company,you agreed to the terms of no relationships for at least five years. This is your third year running and now this. The Boss is going to be pissed”, Pepper said unhappily.

”Come on Pepper, you know me. I wouldn't do such. I barely even know the guy in the photo”.

”Look closely Amaya, the woman in the photo is you from last night. So who was that guy? Your fans are already going berserk. They want answers”.

”Trust me Pepper. I don't know this guy from Adam. He helped me from falling, last night and we didn't even have a conversation. This must be a set-up”, Amaya tried to reason with Pepper but just then, Amaya's phone rang. It was from Mr Shawn.

“”Hey Mr Shawn, how are you do…”*

”Cut to the chase Amaya. What the heck happened? What's this secret lover news flying all over the place?”

”Eh,Mr Shawn, this is clearly a set up. There's no secret affair anywhere”

”Are you saying that the photos are fake?” Mr Shawn inquired.

”No sir, the photos are real. That man only helped me last night, that's all”.

”Hmmm, this is going to be difficult to prove Amaya. For now, you need to lay low. Let the company's PR team manage this crisis. In the meantime, cancel all your pending concerts".

”But…Mr Shawn. If I do that,then I'd have to make ticket refunds and receive backlash from my fans. That's not fair” she protested.

”This has been decided by the higher-ups. There's nothing to be done but to let this storm roll over”, and with that, he ended the call.

Amaya began to cry bitterly. This was her dream and just some hours ago, she was at her peak. How did she end up at this low point.

Pepper patted her back while reassuring her that things would cool off in no time and she could still go for the tour.

Amaya remained indoors for days. She couldn't understand how an accident turned into a scandal overnight. Pepper was making the arrangements to cancel her remaining concerts and most fans were not happy about the development.

Some went to her company to protest. No one bothered to investigate. Her company's PR team were stranded as the man's identity was unknown.

Amaya was visibly depressed but a text from Pepper read…

”I know that nothing I say right now can change what has happened but don't give up on yourself. Take this season like a break, learn a new skill or hobby but please don't give up. Life is full of highs and lows but you'll get back up again…just like a star”.

Amaya smiled.

---

Thank you all for reading 💞💞💞

Images used were generated with Meta Ai