Reiley

CHAPTER ONE: Monday

PREVIEW

"You're too good for me", I say, looking at him intently. He gently cups my cheek and rubs his thumb across my jaw.
"No, you are too good for me. You're an incredibly amazing woman and anyone within 30 meters radius of you can immediately sense it. You deserve so much more than whatever I can ever give to you", he replies.

I pull out his left hand tucked in his pocket and lace our fingers. He really doesn't see it. Does he? I'm such an ordinary girl. He's the one who has an almost perfect life. He doesn't carry a bunch of insecurities everyday, unlike me. He really can have any girl he wants, yet he's choosing to stick with me. ME! No, I don't deserve him.

He leans in, and tries to kiss my cheek but I move my head so he presses his lips to mine instead. I part my lips and he kisses me sweetly. Hundreds of thousands of butterflies erupt from nowhere and flutter around in my belly. God. He tastes like butter and honey. My brain shuts down for a minute and all I can think of is...home. Yes, he smells and feels and tastes like home. I reach up to ring my arms round his neck and pull him for a deeper kiss.

He gently pulls away so our foreheads touch and he brushes his nose against mine while breathing heavily. His hand finds mine and he places it on his chest so I can feel the loud pulsing of his heart. "Do you feel that?" He asks.

I try to speak but my voice fails me. I slowly nod, the thumping of my heart deafening. I know, right this minute, that I'm in love with him. Clearing my throat with a small cough, I whisper, "you have one last chance to walk away from me now. And if you don't..., if you decide to stay with me after this minute, I'm afraid I'll never let you go again."

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CHAPTER ONE
I lay awake in bed, enjoying the soft noise of the AC in my bedroom. A quick glance at my window through the curtains tells me it's likely dawn. This is my favourite part of the day. It's the time when I get to detangle my thoughts from the previous day without disturbance from the noise from the outside world. Living in the suburbs of Lagos does have it's perks, which I can count with my fingers on one hand, but it also means forfeiting my peace and quiet for most part of the day.

My mind slowly drifts to my meeting with Darey the day before. I still can't believe he came to see me all the way from Abuja. Who books a flight on a whim just to see a woman? The thought of it warms my heart. I admire his spontaneity. I hated leaving him yesterday and his eyes told me he felt the same.

I trace my fingers across my lips. The ghost of the beautiful kiss we shared causing me to smile sheepishly. I'd imagined kissing that beautiful man countless times but what we shared yesterday was nothing short of heavenly. Ugh. He's just so surreal. And he's my boyfriend now, I say to myself. Darey Alakija, the famous Attorney, is now my boyfriend. Who would've guessed?

The loud chirping sound of my cellphone knocks me out of my reverie. It's 6am. I should probably disable this alarm since I always wake up before it. But what if I don't? Rubbing my cheeks, I sit up and mutter a little "thank you" to God, for yet another day. I reach for my glasses and open Twitter. A tweet about an accident involving two young up-and-coming artistes along the Lagos Ibadan expressway immediately catches my attention. I quickly open it and scroll through the comments for an update. There's none yet. I scroll down for less disheartening tweets. I notice a couple of messages from Temiloluwa, a persistent tweep, but I ignore. I exit Twitter for iMessage and I see a text from Darey.

"Good morning baby. I'm hoping you slept well. My flight leaves in an hour and I miss you already. It'll get really busy once I touchdown, but you're going to be on my mind all day. Have fun at work".

I realize I've been smiling so wide my cheeks are starting to hurt. I read the message again, and again, and again until my eyes blur. I start typing a reply.