Twilight Confessions ✔️

Chapter Nineteen

Working at the diner was busier than ever especially since schools were closed. My aunt even hired extra help which was rare for her but there were only so many customers I could serve at once. As long as she didn't give me a hard time and we kept out of each others business then we got along just fine.

William and I hadn't talked in a few days. He told me that he was making travel plans with his dad. He still texted me to check up on me but I missed him and our video calls. It just wasn't the same.

I was working in the diner as always carrying a few plastic cups to the front when someone walked thorough door. I didn't pay mind to them but when everyone started murmuring to themselves I looked up and on seeing him I dropped the fifty plastic cups that I'd just spent the past half hour washing.

I could hear my aunt yelling at me in the background but my senses were all focused on the handsome young man standing in front of me. Maybe I was just imagining him, I'd missed him so much my mind started playing tricks on me. That was the only possible explanation as to how William was standing in front of me smiling widely.

I just stood there frozen in place, wondering what my next move should have been. My heart was beating out of my chest and I was feeling very conflicted with the whole situation. Should I run and hug him like every cell in my body was asking me to do or runaway and hide. I noticed his gaze rake over my whole body and I felt like hiding away from his gaze. I was wearing a pair of worn jeans, one of the t-shirts he had sent me with a knot on the side to make it fit better and a pair of beat up sneakers. Compared to him I was dressed like a slob. He was wearing black jeans, a black hoodie under a brown jacket, sply-35 sneakers and a black cap. He looked like he had just walked out of a fashion magazine while I looked like I had been fishing around in a dumpster.

"Lelo snap out of it, it's not like you've never seen a white boy before, collect those cups quickly."My aunt whisper yelled and I immediately snapped out of the trance William had put me in.

I smiled apologetically at William before bending over, collecting the cups and rushing to the back my heart beating out of my chest. I saw Willam approach my aunt with a fake smile plastered on his face and she smiled back trying to look as composed at possible but she wasn't fooling me. I knew she was nervous as advertised by her restlessly tapping foot.

My aunt was behind the counter and I was just a few feet away from her so I could hear what she and William were taking about. My mind was still racing as to how he was in the diner considering a few hours ago we were talking about different flavored popcorn, weird I know but it had been part of a bigger story. How had he found me? Better yet how had he come to Kenya without telling me? Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see him but never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought us meeting in person was a possibility. Sure I had thought about it but they were just that, imaginations that only lived in my mind. Looks like William had been thinking about it too, he'd just found a way to make a dream into reality. I noticed William start talking so I got out of my own head and focused on their conversation.

"Hello ma'am are you the mother to Malaika Lelo Wangari."He asked mispronouncing my third name but I let him be.

His accent was stronger in person and his voice much deeper than via the phone. Listening to him made me blush and it dawned on me that he was actually real.

"Guardian yes. How may I help you?"My aunt replied emphasizing the guardian part.

She didn't have to be so blunt about it, I didn't want her to be my mother either. I saw William's nose twitch and I realized that he was holding himself back from snapping at her. He did that when I refused to sleep or eat to show that he was getting mad.

"My name is William Ganner and I work for an NGO that helps beautiful minded people like your daughter to better themselves."He started and he looked up our gazes meeting voluntarily.

He sent a smile my way and I blushed focusing my attention to washing the cups again.

"Okay so what?"My aunt asked rudely clearly not impressed with the fact that William had called me beautiful minded.

"I'm happy to inform you that your daughter won the school math contest and has been selected to be on a team that proceeds to the next level in Mombasa. It was done before her exams and she was supposed to have sent her details by now so we can proceed but she didn't so I was personally sent to pick her up."William spoke so confidently if I didn't know that it was all a lie I would have believed him.

There was no competition and he was just making it all up but question was why.

"She can't go. Who will help me here at the diner?"My aunt asked immediately getting defensive about losing free labor.

"Ma'am it's important that she comes. It's only a few days and the prize money is two hundred dollars."He continued and I quickly did the math in my head, my eyes widening at the amount of money he was talking about.

"How much is that in Kenyan money? Like two thousand?"My aunt asked nonchalantly.

"It's twenty thousand shillings ma'am."He replied and my aunt's foot tapping stopped and I knew that he had piqued her interest.

Her eyes widened in shock and I knew he had her just where he wanted her.

"When are you leaving again?"She asked in a much too sweet voice.

"Immediately ma'am, the rest of the students are already on the way to Mombasa but we need Malaika to win."He insisted and my aunt's resistance broke a little more.

"Lelo do you know this young man and what he's talking about?"She asked turning to look at me.

William gave me a slight subtle nod to go along with the lie and since he seemed to know what he was doing, I agreed.

"Yes aunt."I replied a little too fast but she didn't seem to notice.

She turned to look at William inspecting him from head to toe before looking back at me with a smile.

"Okay she can go."Aunt Margaret declared.

"Thank you ma'am, I'm sure she'll make you proud."William nodded and I felt my knees buckle when I started putting the dots together.

Whatever William was planning included getting me away from my aunt for a few days. I'd be alone with William and that thought excited me more than it scared me. I had been wanting to meet him ever since we started dating and now he was in front of me in the flesh. We were in the same continent, same country and if I wanted all I had to do was reach out and I'd get to touch him.

"When are you leaving?"My aunt asked.

"Immediately, everything that she needs will be provided for her. We just need to leave now in time for the competition tomorrow morning."He answered and my aunt nodded.

"Okay well, Malaika hurry and pack a bag. Don't want to keep the young man waiting."My aunt demanded sending me the stink eye.

I quickly dried my hands and ran out of there as if my heels were on fire. When I got into the apartment I emptied my school backpack and packed a few things that I would need like toothpaste and lotion. I didn't know what William had planned so I packed my school uniform just to be safe and a few outfits that weren't so outdated. Packing my phone and air pods too I left the apartment and walked back downstairs. William wasn't in the diner and I felt my heart start to ache thinking I had imagined the whole thing. My aunt matched towards me and pulled me aside holding my hand in a painful grip.

"I don't care if you have to cheat, you better come back here with that money. Now go he's waiting for got outside and don't you dare embarrass me."She demanded through gritted teeth.

"Yes aunt."I whispered biting my lip because her grip on my arm was hurting me.

She pushed me towards the doors and I stumbled before stabilizing and walking out of the diner to my new fate that William had set for me.

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It's just got juicy like a tomato.....