The Life of Eniola (rewriting story)

Chapter 18

"It is lovely to see you too. This is my daughter, Alessia."

"Hey, Alessia. My name is Sebastián." He extends his hand out politely and she shakes it.

"What an adorable child you have, Elena."

"Thank you".I reply.

"Oh, I like your shirt." He gestures.

"Thank you Sebastián, my mum made it for me and it says Mommy's Whole World." Alessia says proudly.

"That's a very cute message, Alessia".

"Hmm, yep it is." Alessia looks deeply at his arm.

"Why do you have a drawing of a field of red roses on your arm?"

"Well, um, you see, I-I-I think of it as a meaningful memory to me."

I look at Sebastián, it seems like this is a touchy subject for him therefore it is not surprising why he is hesitant to answer Alessia's question.

"What about the tattoo of the dog?" He changes his expression to more of a happy one.

"It is my golden retriever and he is called Charlie. I love him very much."

"Can I see him?" She asks, full of excitement.

"No can do, Alessia. Maybe next time though."

"Aww, man. Can we play a game of questions?"

"Yeah, I am down."

"What is your favourite food?"

"That is difficult because I cannot decide."

"Do you have a best friend?"

"Yes, I do. He is very funny. His name is Antônio. He was the one who sent you that text, by the way, Elena."

I turn around at the mention of my name.

"Oh right okay I see." I smile, in acknowledgement.

Alessia continues asking him questions and he answers them in return. I smile at their interactions and I turn back to buying the last ingredient which is a lasagna sheet.

"Okay, I am done now. Come on, Alessia."

Sebastián follows me. We pay separately. At the exit of the supermarket, a man and a woman both say in unison:

"Thank you for shopping at Foodsteria."

I nod and smile at them and walk out of there with the shopping bags in my hands. I am struggling, however, with the second bag because it is extremely full of books to add to my bookshelf. Maybe I should have stopped at three books.

"May I help you with those?" Sebastián asks.

"Erm, no thanks." I take a glance at the bags.

"On second thoughts, yes please." I chuckle and he does too.

I take Alessia's hand with my free hand and we all cross the road to get to the parking lot and I spot my car and I walk towards it. Coincidentally, Sebastián's car is two cars away from mine.

"Mummy, can I please play games on the Nintendo Switch?" She pouts.

"Of course you can, sweetheart."

I take the car key out of my cross-body bag and it opens. Alessia opens the car door and shuts it. Now it is only Sebastián and me.

"Do you want to join us for dinner?" I offer.

"I wish I could Elena, but I have to go attend my parents' dinner for their 30th anniversary." He explains.

"That's understandable and I wish them both a perfectly happy day."

He puts his hand in his pockets and scratches the back of his head.

Is he nervous because of me?

"What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I don't really have anything much to do, to be honest." Sundays are for resting, chilling and usually spending time with my daughter.

"Are you free though?"

"Yes, I am available. I feel like I know what you are about to ask." He laughed at my response.

"Elena, would you like to go on a date with me?"

"Yeah sure, I am up for it."

"Okay, cool. Tomorrow at 8 pm?"

"That sounds perfect. Where to?"

"That's a surprise. Also, dress fancy but casual at the same time."He winks at me before walking off.

What does he have up his sleeves?

                                                                                        *****

Alessia, my Aunty and I are enjoying the lasagna that I cooked. My Aunty compliments my food and I thank her.

"Aunty Olunfunke and Uncle Lanre are coming next week to visit us, just so you know."

Oh.My.Goodness.

Why does she have to come back?

Don't get me wrong Aunty Olufunke has a really enjoyable personality but she can be so overbearing and overprotective of me which can be annoying at times. On the other hand, Uncle Lanre has a very humouristic character although he can get too far and insult people which I do try to correct him.

"So what did you both get up to?" My Aunty asks, after drinking her water.

"Aunty Aaliyah, Mummy was talking to a man at the supermarket." She snickers.

"Quando è il matrimonio?" She jokingly says. I spit my drink and I suddenly cough. After calming myself, I look at her in amazement.

"We have not even started dating yet!" I protest but a smile is on my face.

"Chi è lui?" She nudges me.

"Oh no, here we go again.

For the rest of the evening, she teases me about Sebastián.

                                                                                     *****

"So why were you late, hijo?" My father asks as he passes the salad bowl to my brother.

"I was at the supermarket, and I got held back because it was crowded." He looks at me, scrutinising me.

"Don't lie." My mum says.

Looks like she caught me in the act.

"Okay, I was talking to this woman and her daughter. We chatted for a while and made our way home, that's it."

"Wow! My brother has finally started his love life." Fabián says.

"I know right, it was getting dry." Felipe laughs

"We were about to matchmake you as well." Gerónimo adds.

"Boys, let's be sensible." My dad says.

"So, what's her name?"

I am so reluctant to share information about Elena because my parents have always been pressuring me into marriage and urging me to have children considering that I am in my early thirties.

I am only 32 years old. I haven't met the right one yet. Elena might be the one for me though.