Too Many Chances

Chapter Twenty

On Monday, Jamila and I revised English till lunchtime. Christine didn't join us for lunch since she was busy preparing for her afternoon paper.

We were to dine with Maxwell and Abdulrahman but the former said he would be late so Jamila and I went to our favorite restaurant with her boyfriend. We returned to the campus afterwards. It was raining by the time Maxwell's call came through Jamila's phone.

"He has arrived," she announced. "Go bring him in."

Ignoring the butterflies in my stomach, I picked up my umbrella and raced down the stairs. The moment I reached the gate, I saw him alighting a tuktuk. My heart gave a jolt at the sight of him. Giddiness welled inside me; the same feeling I used to get every time I had to meet up with him.

I smiled.

That was my Maxwell, I thought.

He had been mine sometime back in high school, at my place when he visited, the beach where we made promises to each other, at all the other places we frequented and at Docks where he had given in to his feelings and said that he loved me. The word must have slipped when he least expected it.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted.

"Hey, handsome," I said as I walked towards him.

"Your girlfriend is beautiful," said the tuktuk driver.

"Thank you," I said before Maxwell had a chance to deny anything.

"Take good care of her and never let her go," the driver advised. "I can tell that she really loves you."

"She is not-" Maxwell started to say but he was interrupted by the man.

"I am a good judge of character so please heed my advise," the man continued. "Have a great time both of you."

"We will. Thanks," I told him.

As we walked in the campus, I could tell that Maxwell was not very happy about what had just happened.

"Why didn't you correct that guy when he called you my girlfriend?" He asked as we ascended the stairs.

"It was pointless," I said. "You even tried to explain to him, but you didn't succeed."

"You had your chance," he pointed out.

"Max, I still insist that it was pointless. Besides, we would have hurt that man's feelings. He said he was a good judge so that meant he was right most of the times. Just imagine how he would have felt had we told him that he was wrong about us being an item. Let's not dwell on that."

"Okay. You do have a point."

"Did you just agree with me?" I asked as I led the way to the class Jamila was in.

Maxwell laughed. "Why? Don't I ever do that?"

"We argue most of the times because you wouldn't..." I stopped midsentence and corrected myself, "I mean, we used to argue a lot because you always disagreed with me."

"That's not true," Maxwell argued.

"See?"

"You're impossible."

I laughed. "Here we are," I said as I came to a stop.

"Hi," Jamila greeted enthusiastically when we entered the class.

She was up on her feet, her hand extended.

"Hi," said Maxwell shaking her hand.

"Jamila, meet Max. Max, this is my best friend, Jamila," I introduced them.