BELLINGHAM'S GIRL (under editing)

CHAPTER FOUR: The dinner 1

JUDE'S POV
I stared at her with a smile on my face. "Is this girl being for real? She's so cute." I thought as I kept staring.
"No, it was quite cute," I said and her eyes almost popped out of her sockets.
"You're lucky I was the one who caught you snooping around, other people would've misunderstood and thought you were a thief," I said
"I know. I just got carried away" "Wow" she exclaimed
"What is it?" I asked
"I can't believe I'm talking to the "Jude Bellingham. It feels like a dream." She replied and I chuckled.
"By the way, can you please sign your autograph on these three pictures? It's for me, my sister and my best friend. I promised to get them an autograph" she said and I nodded.

I signed the pictures and then I turned to give it to her but then I saw her trying to take a picture of me in secret. She saw me looking and she quickly brought down her phone and I chucked and shook my head at her cuteness.

"Wait here," I said as I went back to the bathroom to change my clothes. I wore a T-shirt and cargo trousers with a pair of sneakers.
"Let's go to where your Dad left you, so he doesn't look for you," I said as I stepped out of the bathroom.
"Ok," she whispered as we left the changing room.

The walk there was silent and immediately we got there, my dad and her dad showed up.
"I see you guys met again," Dad said
"Yeah, and got lost and I saw her so I brought her back" I replied looking at her.
She was looking at the ground as she played with her fingers.
I noticed that she couldn't look me in the eye for long.
"Thank you, son" her dad thanked.
"No problem sir" I replied with a smile.
"We should have a family dinner sometime" Dad suggested.
"That would be nice, I've missed my good old friend. I'm sure my wife would be happy to see Mrs Bellingham too" her dad replied.
"Allow me to be the host," Dad said "How about Sunday night?"
"Sunday night sounds great" her dad replied.
"Great! You're free then, right Jude?" Dad asked and Bella looked at me waiting for a reply.
"Yes, Dad" I replied and Dad nodded.
"We should get going now," Bella's dad said and we said goodbye.
"See you soon, Bella," I said to her as she left and she smiled.

BELLA'S POV
As we left, I finally let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. All that happened tonight felt like a dream. I pinched myself to make sure I was not dreaming.
"Ouch" I moaned and Dad looked at me
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I just want to make sure I'm not dreaming."
Dad laughed. "It's all real baby. Jude is such a nice boy"
"Yes, he is," I said as I remembered how he smiled at me earlier.
Uhhhh! I'm going crazy.

We got back home and the first thing I did was to gist Bianca about every single detail.
"OMG! I'm so jelly right now" she said
"I know right" I replied. "Today was a blessed day. Goodnight I said after giving her the autograph.
"Night" she replied and I left for my room to call Joyce and tell her all about today.
"We gisted and gushed about it until about 1 am before we slept off.

NEXT DAY
School is resuming tomorrow and today was Saturday so I and Joyce decided to shop for our school needs. Chloe and Emily joined us too.
It was a fun girl's shopping spree. We bought everything we needed for school and also shopped for new clothes and snacks. I also got a dress for tomorrow's dinner. I didn't want to do too much so I opted for a black short gown that stopped right above my knee. It was a body hug gown that would look fire when properly accessorized.

We went to eat after shopping before we got home.
When I got home, I met Benson. I rushed to hug him cos I missed him so much. Even though he was an annoying creature, I enjoyed his company and he is the best big brother a girl could ever ask for.
"I know you missed me, let me go now," he said "You're choking me"
"Whatever," I said as I released him"
"I heard about your cute encounter," he said with a mischievous face
"Bianca!! I'm going to beat that girl one day"
"Let her be, she was only feeding me all the deets," he said and I rolled my eyes.
"So, boring graduate intern," I said "Where is your love life," I asked and he frowned
"The heck Bella, be more respectful" he shouted
"Come on Bee, you should get a girlfriend. You're turning 22 soon for Christ's sake"
"As if you have a boyfriend" he hissed.
"I know you like Joyce. Ask her out already. I'm tired of you two pretending not to like each other." I said.
"I need to go see Mother," he said and left.
"Coward," I said to him but he just ignored me.

I headed up to my room and sorted out the things I brought. I picked out the accessories I was going to wear tomorrow and then I freshened up and slept off.

NEXT MORNING
I woke up and got ready for church.
When we got back, I watched a movie before sleeping. At 5:30 pm, Mom woke me up to get ready first dinner with the Bellinghams.
We all got ready and left home.

JUDE'S POV
Dad said that the Blackstones were coming for dinner at 7 pm. I already picked out my outfit so I just had to shower and get ready.
After getting ready, I decided to check up on Jobe but to my surprise, he was sleeping.
"Dude" I called "Get up and get ready, the dinner is in 30 minutes," I said
He got up and entered the bathroom while I lay down on his bed.
He came out of the bathroom and started dressing up.
"Why are you so happy? You don't like family dinners" he asked
"This one is different. The girl I told you about, Bella is going to be there" I replied
"No wonder you're all dressed up"
"I know right," I said "I can't explain but there's this spark or connection I feel between us"
"That's new, the "Jude Bellingham" cares about what a girl thinks about him" he mocked.
"Shut up" I replied "You won't get it"
Just then, Mom opened the door
"Let's go and wait at the dining boys, they are almost here," she said
"Yes, Mother" we replied and she left.
"Let's go," He said and we left.

We waited for about five minutes before we heard the sound of a car coming into the house.
"They're here," Mom said as she walked to the door with Dad.
She opened the door and they came in.
"Christina" she called Mrs Blackstone "it's so good to see you after such a long time"
We exchanged pleasantries before heading to the dining table to eat.

Bella looked extremely beautiful. She was dressed so simply yet elegant. She was not wearing makeup too. She was sitting beside me.
I kept stealing glances at her until Jobe texted me and told up to stop making it so obvious that I was staring at her.

BELLA'S POV
We arrived at the Bellinghams mansion and they welcomed us warmly. We sat down and started eating as our parents discussed. I was sitting beside Jude and Bianca beside Jobe.
I was so nervous and I noticed that Jude was staring at me. It took a lot not to stare too. He was wearing black trousers with a black T-shirt that was folded a bit. He looked HOT.

When I couldn't take his gaze anymore, I excused myself to go use the restroom. A maid showed me the restroom and left. I finished my business and left but I got confused. The house was really big so I got lost. I couldn't find my way back to the dining hall so I just stood there, confused.
I was about to turn back to at least find another path when I heard someone call me.