It takes two to love

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

As I walked into the house, the place where it all started; I felt light-headed, sad. He was standing by the kitchen, his head bowed down. His suitcases were packed beside him; he had a blue hoodie on. As he looked up at me, he smiled; his face mirroring the sadness in mine. I run into his arms, he scoops me up twirling me around; earning a chuckle from the both of us.

"I'm going to miss you so much" he muffled

"Me too" I hug him tighter as tears begin to fall

"I want you to stay" I say, my voice breaking as the tears came gushing down my face

"I want to stay, I'm not leaving; I'm always here. We'll always be together."

I drew him closer as we kiss; his hand on my lower back; his other hand at the back of my head pushing me to him. Our kiss grew hungrier as we backed up to the couch. When he pulled away, I pouted my lips at him; my lips were sore from all the kissing.

"I want you to be ready before we do anything" he says to me, shying away from me

I look at him and smile.
"When do you leave?"

"My flight is this afternoon. I don't even know what to expect, what if I'm in a class with people younger than me; I would feel so out of place"

"Danny, the most important thing is what you're there to achieve. That's all you should focus on. Let whoever think whatever they want" I say to him, placing my hand on his back.

I never saw him so fragile, he always acted tough; I was so happy he was getting comfortable with me. We spent that morning, cooking..... Well Daniel cooked. We ate, cuddled, saw a movie. Made out a couple of times, okay maybe more than a couple of times. As the time for him to leave drew nearer, I could feel my heart beating faster than normal as time passed by; he had assured me I would be joining him and I had chosen his college. I just hoped to be accepted the following semester.

I drove him to the airport, he gave me one last kiss and I watched him roll his bags away; my heart clenched painfully. I walked back to my car, reassuring myself; and reminding myself of all he & I had talked about. I drove to Bill's coffee shop, I had gotten in touch with my mum and we agreed I'd meet her family here. I hadn't spoken to bill since our last interaction; my mum had chosen this place as our meeting spot and I didn't want to go into personal details was why I agreed to come. I just hoped he wasn't there and if he was that it wouldn't be too awkward.

As I walked into the shop, his mum came over to hug me. She's always been loving towards me; after exchanging pleasantries; I sat on one of the tables. It wasn't long before my mum, her children...my siblings and who I assumed to be her husband walked in together. She smiled at me as she walked towards my table. They all sat in chairs opposite me, the kids giggling all the time.

"Cathy, my husband Joe; my kids, Joan and John" my mum said, she was a little bit shaky, probably nervous because of my last reaction.
"Hi Cathy, your mum has told me so much about you. It's nice to finally meet you"  I took his outstretched hand as his eyes bore a hole in me, he had a look of concern on his face.

My train of thought was cut short as four tiny arms wrapped on my waist.
"Nice to meet you, Cathy" they both chorused at exactly the same time.

My whole façade of not getting too close broke immediately as I snuggled them both; wrapping my arms around the both of them.

"It's nice to meet you too" I said a huge smile on my face; I ruffled their hair with my hands. They both pull their chairs close to me, very excitedly. As I was adjusting their chairs and playing with them, I heard Bill's voice.

"Hi good afternoon, what can I get you today?" he asked

I look up at him and for a moment, he looked shocked but he quickly wiped it off his face.
"Do you guys like donuts?" I asked the twins
"Yesssss" they chirped up happily earning a laugh from my mum & their dad

"We'll have three donuts with chocolate toppings and ill have a latte... err the usual" I said to him

Mum and Joe also ordered a couple of things as we all chatted and I'd admit I was having a really good time; it felt nice to be part of such a gathering.

When Daniel brought our coffee, I noticed mine had a little writing on it... coffee art, cute I thought to myself.

"Can we talk later?" was written boldly on the coffee. With the whole thing with saying goodbye to Daniel today, I didn't know if I wanted to talk to Bill. The last time we talked, it almost ended badly. I close off my mind; focusing on bonding with my new family.

Later on, as we were done; my heart was swelling; the twins were amazing children. I always wanted siblings and now I have them. I was so happy. I said goodbye to my mum, telling her I was willing to keep spending time with them and would love to keep seeing my siblings. They left the shop and I went to Bill's office to see him; he smiled at me as I walked in and closed the door behind me.

"Hey" I said sitting on the chair in front of him.

"Hey"

We sat there in silence, I really didn't know what to say to him. It felt off and all I wanted to do was go back home.

"I know you're happy with him, I'm glad you're happy with him. I want us to remain friends."

"I'd like that" I said to him, smiling as relief washed over me. I really didn't want to lose him as a friend and I know when people break up, they never go back to being friends. I was so glad we were going to remain as close as we always were. We talked for awhile, his mum dropping off snacks for us. As I drove off from the shop, I was happy; as it seemed everything in my life was finally falling into place.

Aisha Adesuwa Akanbi