True Love's Bite

18 // Shared Dreams

"Are you scared?"

I told Silas about my run-in with Gift earlier, he was puzzled when he saw me runnimg to the car earlier and begged him to drive. I had no other choice but to confess about my arrangement with Gift and what transpired at the wedding venue in my absence.

"I am terrified! I can't stop thinking about his reaction, he's probably going to tell his parents and they're going to interrogate my family and the next thing they are going to start spreading rumours about us, they will shame us to make themselves look better after the whole scandal at the church," I said breathlessly. "My mom will never forgive me for this."

I called her earlier before my appointment, and she hung up on me. And when I called on my dad's phone and asked him to tell her that I would be going on my first check up today and that I'd like her to be there, she refused.

I could not bring myself to feel anything besides fear and sadness while at the hospital, because she was not there. I kept thinking about what kind of a mother I was going to be and at some point I even wondered if I actually wanted to be a mother.

Silas planted a kiss on my head, and I snuggled further into his arms as we laid on the couch. "You don't have to be scared of him, I'll never let him or anyone else get close to you or hurt you again."

"Sy?" He hummed in response. "What were you doing before... you know, everything transpired? Were you studying or working?"

"Ah!" He shifted so that he had a closer view of my face. "I was a hospitality graduate and I majored in culinary, and before my untimely death, I worked at a restaurant as the head chef while saving up to open my own restaurant. I'd already bought the building, and it has been vacant since."

"Do you have a passion for cooking?" I asked.

He smiled. "I had passion for people and Turkish delicacy. I was always so fascinated by the idea of bringing people together through food and drinks."

"And now?"

"What?"

"Do you still wish to do that? Open your own restaurant?"

He opened his mouth, only to close it again, and then he swallowed. "Is that even possible?" He asked hopelessly. "I mean, I already feel like I'm tiptoeing around people, how am I going to manage a restaurant when I'm living this way?"

"You don't have to!" He gave me a quizzical look, and I clarified. "Well, your don't have to do it alone, we can work together. You'll manage the kitchen while I handle customers."

Silas laughed and looked at me as if I'd grown a moustache. "You want to work at a restaurant?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Not really. But I have a vision."

"Really?" The way he looked at me so attentively made my heart skip. "Share it with me."

"I was thinking, what if we combined the place into a restaurant and art gallery? I bring the art and you bring the food. We could even host exhibitions every once in a while and even rent the place out to other artists who'd like to host their own exhibitions and events. It could be a win-win for us because they will obviously rent the place AND hire you as their chef."

I could already see everything, my paintings decorating every wall of the restaurant, soft music playing in the background while the aroma of Sy's cooking wafted throughout the entire place.

A picture of the night I met Silas glimpsed through my mind, and I wondered what sort of music he'd like to play because by now I'd listened to his entire playlist, and unlike me he listened to most genres even though South African music took the cup. But I doubt he would want Amapiano to blast through the restaurant while people are dining and chatting.