The Difference

Chapter 8

               Shirley Walliams – Monte Carlo.

“Can I look?” I asked. Corbin had blindfolded me and I do not know where he’s taking me to.
“Wait” He said holding me firmly so I won’t fall. We finally stopped walking after some time.
“Why have we stopped?”.  He asked me to open my eyes. I did and what I saw had me gasping. We were at the cinema and they were premiering Love and Lust, a movie I’d wanted to watch for months now.
“Oh my God! You didn’t” I squealed.
“Yes I did” He said, smiling. He removed the tickets from his pocket and when he showed them to me I saw that they were VIP ones. That made me smile wider.
“Happy Birthday Shirley Awineet Walliams”.
We walked into the cinema and he led me to the VIP seats. When we sat down I thanked him and placed my hands into his and put my head on his shoulder. We sat like that till the end of the movie.
“This was the best birthday ever. Thanks so much”. I said once the movie was done and we walked out.
“Well this isn’t the end” he said with a smirk as we entered the car and he started driving.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked. This time I pleaded with my eyes because I could see he didn’t want to tell me.
“Fine. Fine. I’ll tell you. We are going to La Belle Cuisine”.
I squeaked with excitement and hugged him almost dragging him to the floor.
“Whoa! Careful” he cautioned in laughter.
La Belle Cuisine is the newest and only six star rated restaurant. Their food is the best and so delicious.
“Now let’s go and enjoy the rest of your birthday”. We walked out of the car towards the doors of the restaurant. We were welcomed by two valets standing by the door. We smiled in return.
We were directed to our table as it seems Corbin had made reservations. We picked up the menu booklet and I’m not exaggerating when I say that I literally didn’t know what to pick. Everything looked amazing and whet my appetite. I made it known to Corbin that I didn’t know what to choose. A waiter walked to us.
“Would you like to order a beverage while looking through the menu for what you’d like to eat?”
“Sure. I’d like a glass of tequila sunrise”. Corbin said.
“A glass of wine, please,” said.
“Coming right up”. The waiter said and left while we continued to look through the menu. I could literally eat everything on here. I looked up at Corbin and smiled.
“What?” he asked.
“I didn’t know you were such a romantic.”
“Well neither did I. I’ve never done this before. Not even with my ex-girlfriend”.
“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend”.
“Well I don’t talk about it much. She broke up with me when she found out I was moving. She said she couldn’t deal with long distance relationships”.
“Seriously? She’s such a bummer. Who wouldn’t want to be with you even if it’s long distance?”.
“Not her”. He said with a sad smile.
“You’d find someone here who’ll love you heart and soul. I promise”.
To change the topic I asked him what I should order. He suggested the Noodle Rice with Meat Sauce.
He was ordering the same thing. He beckoned the waiter for us to place our order. At the time the first waiter had brought our drinks. We were sipping them.
I decided to ask him a question as we waited.
“Can I ask a question?”. I decided to ask permission first as I believed the question was an emotional one.
“Sure”.
“Where’s your mom?”.
“Wow”. I don’t think he expected me to ask this question especially on my birthday. This is actually a way for us to get to know each other.
“I don’t know my mum. I only have a picture of her I carry in my wallet everywhere I go. She died giving birth to me. She was only thirty-two”. The atmosphere had changed. We were both tensed up now. He picked out his wallet to show me the picture. She was so pretty. They had the same eyes. “Jacqueline Luihui Avearey. That’s her name. I’m sure she’d have loved you”. He said with a sad smile.
“I’m so sorry”. I said and held his hand.
“Oh, don’t be”. He said. “So, have you made any friends?”.  I decided to go with the flow.
“Surprisingly, yes. I’ve made friends Princess Daps and Audrey Winston”.
“The girls on the cheerleading squad?”.
“Yes. They’re really fun to be with”.
“So now you’ve made friends how do you feel about getting a boyfriend?”
“No, not now. That would be in a while. There are still some things I’m figuring out”. The third waiter had brought our food. I looked at him and thought I’d recognised him from somewhere.
“Thanks”. Corbin said when he placed the food down.
“Hey”. I said, “don’t you attend our school?”
“Errh…Errh…Errh…” He seemed lost for words. He placed the food down awkwardly and hurriedly walked away.
“Well, that was weird” I said mostly to myself.
“How do you know he attends our school?”. Corbin asked.
“I swear I’ve seen him in school before. Plus I think he’s in one of my classes”.
“You made him feel uncomfortable”
“Yeah I did.”
“Let’s eat”. He changed the topic. We opened the lid and what I saw made me open my mouth.
“This looks appetizing”. I dipped my fork into the food, a smile spread on my face when I took a morsel. “And tastes amazing” I said after taking a bite.
When we’re done eating I relaxed into the chair and looked at Corbin.
“There’s dessert”. He said.
“Woah! I’m satisfied. I don’t think I can eat anything else “.
“Just wait and see”. He called for the waiter. It was the one who first took our order for the drinks.
“We’ll like to have two glasses of the strawberry vanilla ice cream ”. The waiter smiled and left.
We waited for him in a comfortable silence. He came back ten minutes later with them. Despite my full belly I smiled when I saw it. I took a spoon of it. I bit hard on something.
“Ouch!”. I removed whatever it was to check it. What I saw brought tears to my eyes. It was a ring with the letters “BF” written on it. It was heart shaped and sunshine yellow. The F was in half.
“Oh my God. This is so pretty…”, I exclaimed.
“Happy Birthday, Bestie” Corbin said.
“Where’s the other half?”
“Here”. He said removing it from his pocket. His had the other half of my F and full of a last F. We both wore it and placed it side by side. It fitted perfectly.
“That really looks weird on you”. I said taking a closer look at the ring on his finger and laughing.
“Well, it’s worth it. I’m showing people I’m not shy of being friends with you and I’ll wear it despite what anyone says”.
“I love you, Corbin” I said in tears.
“I love you, Shirley” he said and we did our best friend's handshake.