From A Producer To A Global Superstar

Chapter 548: SUPRISE 2

The Nigerian artists.

Kazeem.

Amara.

Faye.

Frosh.

Tunde.

The moment Dayo’s eyes landed on them, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"You people actually came."

Kazeem laughed.

"Of course we did."

Amara folded her arms dramatically. "As if we would miss this."

Frosh shook his head. "Do you know how many times you forced each of us to celebrate birthdays?"

"Forced?" Dayo asked confused at what they were implying.

"Yes, forced."

The room laughed.

Frosh pointed at him. "You’ll call somebody at six in the morning and you are like Happy birthday, Have you eaten?"

"Really Dayo ? At six o’clock have you eaten." Ulrich seeing the crowd smiled as he teased Dayo.

"Oh that’s is not even all he goes on like." Frosh said smiling enjoying it.

"Are you with family?"

"Have you smiled today?"

The room erupted again.

Dayo looked happily offended at their antic "I don’t sound like that."

"Yes you do."

"I don’t." Dayo was piratically laughing at this point because he knew they were saying the truth.

"You absolutely do."

Even Valerie nodded. "You do."

Wayne joined in. "It’s actually scary you are almost always the first to wish me happy birthday that my whole family get jealous At some point "

Dayo stared at all of them. "Traitors."

More laughter. For a few moments the conversation flowed naturally.

Stories.

Jokes.

Memories.

The Nigerian artists looked genuinely happy to be there. For most of them this was the first time seeing Dayo.

Not as the CEO.

Not as the boss.

Not as the industry figure everyone respected.

Just Dayo.

The man.

The father.

The husband.

The friend.

After all, the most is that had happen between them was phone call a few times or he calls them but this was their official meeting but the reason they were free was Dayo always check on them calls them for their birthday and wishes them and even goes as far as sending gifts to him.

The party went on Dayo was still conversing with Frosh and asked "so where is Shino I haven’t seen him did he not come."

Just as Frosh was about to answer.Then somebody tapped Dayo lightly on the shoulder upon turning he froze for a second he simply stared.

Then his eyes widened.

"No way."

The man standing behind him grinned.

A familiar grin.

One Dayo hadn’t seen in years.

"What’s wrong?" the man asked. "You forgot me already?"

The shock on Dayo’s face immediately transformed into laughter.

"Shino my gee."

The room watched as Dayo pulled him into a hug without hesitation.

A real hug.

The kind reserved for people who had been there before everything changed.

Shino laughed while returning it.

"Good."

"So you still remember."

Dayo stepped back.

"Remember?"

"How could I forget you? Your are my real gee."

Shino pointed at him immediately. "That’s funny coming from the same person that hasn’t answered my calls."

The room instantly reacted.

"Ooooo."

Wayne nearly choked on his drink.

Valerie looked entertained.

Dayo rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay that’s fair."

"Very fair." Shino folded his arms.

"I’ve called No answer. I’ve texted. No answer."

"I even sent voice notes."

"No answer."

Dayo sighed. "Life happened."

The smile on Shino’s face softened.

"Yeah."

"I figured."

His tone changed completely.

The teasing disappeared. "I’ve seen some of the news."

"I know you’ve been going through a lot."

The room grew quieter.

Not silent.

Just quieter.

Dayo nodded slowly.

"A lot happened."

Shino glanced toward Luna.

Then Jennifer.

Understanding immediately crossed his face.

"Looks like some good things happened too."

Dayo followed his gaze.

The smile that appeared on his face was impossible to hide.

"Yeah. The best things bro I can’t even begin to lost of it has impacted in the way I live man."

For a moment neither man spoke.

Months seemed to pass between them without either needing to explain anything.

Shino finally laughed.

"I missed you man."

Dayo smiled. "Missed you more gee."

Several people nodded understanding without saying much

They knew the story. Most had heard parts of it before of how they met which was Dayo doing a charity on the road side at Nigeria then Shino taking the video without Dayo’s knowledge and the video going viral.

The room exploded once again.

For several minutes the stories continued.

At that time Dayo really needed the exposure who knew that I would come from a die hard fan after all Shino back then was just a die hard fan of Dayo that heard he was in Nigeria and decide to try his luck only to see Dayo which was when he encounter Dayo doing a road side charity he videoed the whole thing.

Dayo and Shino told the story and laught at how life has changed. One by one people started telling memory after another.Old struggles. Tiny victories.

Ridiculous mistakes.

People who knew Dayo today were seeing a version of him that almost never appeared anymore.

A younger version.

A less guarded version.

A version built from dreams instead of responsibilities.

And strangely enough, everyone loved it.

Because it felt real.

Eventually the laughter settled.

The conversations spread again.

People moved around the room.

Food appeared.

Drinks appeared.

Music played softly in the background.

The party continued.

Dayo stood near one of the tables speaking with Shino when a voice suddenly cut through the room.

"Speech."

The room paused.

Everyone turned.

Alice raised her hand.

"I think he should give a speech."

Immediately several people agreed.

"Oh yes."

"Definitely."

"Speech."

Dayo pointed at her.

"Nope not doing that."

The room laughed.

Valerie joined in.

"Speech."

Wayne immediately followed.

"Speech."

Min-Jae started clapping.

"Speech."

The chanting spread.

Slowly at first.

Then faster.

"Speech."

"Speech."

"Speech."

Dayo shook his head.

"No."

"Absolutely not."

The room ignored him.

The chant continued.

Even the Nigerian artists joined.

"Speech."

"Speech."

"Speech."

Dayo looked toward Luna for help.

She simply smiled going ahead to shout along with the crowd for Dayo to give Speech.

Traitor.

Complete traitor.

Then something changed.

One voice.

Nobody knew who started it.

Maybe Frosh.

Maybe Urich.

Maybe Min-Jae.

But suddenly the word changed.

"Song."

The room paused.

Then another voice joined.

"Song."

A third followed.

"Song."

The next second the entire room exploded.

"SONG!"

"SONG!"

"SONG!"

"SONG!"

Dayo stared at them.

"No."

The answer disappeared beneath the noise.

"SONG!"

"SONG!"

"SONG!"

Wayne was chanting.

Valerie was chanting.

Alice was chanting.

The Nigerian artists were chanting.

Even Felix looked suspiciously entertained.

Then Dayo looked down.

Jennifer was bouncing excitedly.

Tiny fists in the air.

Trying her best to copy everyone around her.

"Song!"

It wasn’t perfect.

The pronunciation was messy.

But she was trying.

And somehow that was the thing that finally broke him.

Dayo looked around the room.

Really looked.

At Luna.

At Jennifer.

At the friends who had crossed oceans.

At artists who had flown from Nigeria.

At Min-Jae who had left Korea.

At people who had supported him before success.

And people who had stayed after it.

People who had chosen to spend their time celebrating him.

Not because they had to.

But because they wanted to.

The realization hit harder than the surprise itself.

For months his world had been filled with threats.

Investigations.

Betrayals.

Fear.

Tonight felt different.

Tonight reminded him of what he was fighting for.

A genuine smile slowly appeared on his face.

The room immediately noticed.

The chanting grew louder.

"SONG!"

"SONG!"

"SONG!"

Dayo shook his head.

Then raised both hands.

Instantly the room became quiet.

Everyone waited.

A grin spread across Ulrich’s face.

"You’ve lost."

Dayo pointed at him.

"You’re first on my firing list tomorrow."

The room laughed.

Then Dayo looked around once more.

At every face.

Every friend.

Every person that mattered.

Finally he sighed dramatically.

"Fine."

The reaction was immediate.

The room exploded.

Cheers.

Whistles.

Applause.

Jennifer nearly jumped out of Luna’s arms.

Dayo laughed.

Holding up one finger.

"One song."

The cheers somehow became even louder.

Min-Jae slapped his shoulder.

"That’s all we need."

Shino grinned.

"Now that’s the Dayo I remember."

"Oh yes before anything else it should be a new song I mean its your birthday you don’t plan on singing an old song or what do you all think." Ulrich said with a smug on his face like he was getting revenge for getting a bodyguard he didn’t want and obviously the first to answer were his fellow executives.

Dayo’s eyes twitched a bit at this not more than a second after this another voice rang

"Yeah i mean its a happy so a new song." Valery.

"Hmm." Wayne hummed it seems he was holding back his laughter.

The crowd who wanted to hear a new song also cheered.

"YESSS."

Dayo shook his head while the crowd continued celebrating.

Then, still smiling, he turned and began walking toward the small stage area that had been prepared without his knowledge.

The cheers followed him the entire way.

And for the first time in a very long time, he wasn’t thinking about Silas.

Or Michael.

Or investigations.

Or enemies.

Tonight, he was simply surrounded by the people he loved.

And that was enough.