Something Beautiful

Chapter Seven ♡ Solife

"Stop grinning and answer my question. Are you following me?"

To say I was shocked to see him in my sister's house was an understatement.
I mean, how did he find me here. The shock hasn't worn off, but I had to ask the question to make sure that he was real. Flesh and blood.
"No, I am not."
The corky way he said it just irked me, and I got angry.

"I don't believe you, how in the world is it possible that we know the same people and hasn't met till you....."
I had to stop abruptly, I wasn't about to spill the proposition he made me in the presence of this number of people.
"Till he did what?"
The lady beside him asked.
"It doesn't matter now,"
Without taking my eyes off him, I asked again.
" Don't act dumb with me. How did you find me here?"

"Mummy said a baaaaad word."

My son, Prince, sang beside me. I closed my eyes in exasperation because I had forgotten he was behind me as I was coming out from the kitchen towards the backyard where the party was in full swing.

"Hello, what did you do to make my mum so pissed?" Prince asked him.
" I don't know," Chude answered still with the full-blown grin on his face.
"No, you definitely did something, my Mum doesn't say a bad word, except she is really, really pissed at someone,"
"Mmm. Thanks for the info, I will keep that in mind."
Saying this, he brought out his knuckles in a fist and held it towards my son, who bumped his fist into his in a 'chopknuckle' greeting.
"Go look out for your little sister, I don't want her consuming a lot of icing sugar."
"Yes, Mum. See you late, Mr?"
"Chude" he quickly supplied.
"See ya, kiddo"

"You two know each other?"
"Something....."
"Come with me before you say something you aren't supposed to say."
Saying that, I grabbed his hands and marched back into the house through the kitchen from where I had come from.

All I heard was his chuckle as he let me pull him behind and he dutifully followed.

"Now, let's try this again. How did you trace me here? Did you follow me the day before yesterday?"

I asked when we got into the kitchen and I stopped to face him.
"No, I didn't. I gave you my word that I wouldn't look for you if you didn't contact me"
"And when has men kept their word." I fired back.
"This man keeps his word." he said pointing at himself.
All I did was snort.
"So if you didn't, how come you are here?"
"The lady you saw me with is my elder sister. Apparently her friend is the celebrant."
"Oh" was all I could come up with.
"Yes, who would believe we have mutual friends. Now you see, this could be fate trying to tell us something"
"It's nothing. I wish I had kept my cool. Now Sandy will think something is going on between you and I. "
"But something is going in between you and I."
"This is not a joking matter."
"I am not joking here either. Do you know the celebrant?"
"She is my elder sister, and the girl you said you aren't interested in is my niece,"
"Wow"
"Yes wow"
"Well, no line has been crossed. My sister invited me to introduce us, but clearly, I am not interested in her"
"Why is that? Is she not pretty enough? Clearly, she is your type, went to Ivy League schools, is currently studying abroad, from a rich home, and so on. What is there not to be interested in?"
"Do I detect jealousy. Are you jealous?"
"You are crazier than I thought. Why would I be jealous?"
"You tell me, all I know is what I heard. It sounded like you were jealous of....."
"Listen, listen, Chude, let's just pretend we don't know each other for the duration of the time you would be here. I would have left, but that would raise suspicions besides its already too late to go home."

"Isn't it too late to pretend we don't know each other? Cos am sure people saw you dragging me into the kitchen. "
"Oh my!" I exclaimed in realization.
"That was just a stupid move on my own part. I stupidly acted on impulse. You should have refused to follow me. "
"And embarrass you? Naa, plus I wanted to know where you were taking me to, probably to finally accept my proposal. "
"You can joke all you want. This is giving me a headache. "
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temple.
"Would it be so bad if you introduced me as your friend?"
Suddenly, he was standing too close for me to breathe.
"A friend who wants to sleep with me"
"That information remains between you and I. For now you can introduce me as your friend"
"And when they ask, how and where I know you from?"
"We can come up with something now, together so that our stories would correspond"
"It's starting,"
"What's starting?"
His hands traced my face, and I swatted his hands away.
"The circle of lies. First, I lie about who we are, how we met, and then I start sneaking around and neglecting my children. "
"Is that what you think? That I would make you neglect your children?"
I didn't respond. All I did was look at him.
"I told you, my mom, who was widowed very early raised me and my sister's singlehandedly. Therefore, I can not put your kids in a position where you neglect them for me. I can relate to them, so I would never want to take your attention away from them. "
When I still didn't respond and just stared at him. He cupped my face and continued.
"Listen, Babe, I just want to get to know you. Nothing more. From the moment I set my eyes on you standing in the cue at the restaurant, i have been mesmerized. I don't know if it was the white apparel you used to wear, probably it was curosity out of thoughts of if that was how my mom used to dress when my dad died. You see i was very little then so i never got to see her mourn my dad. I felt that was what it was, curiosity, but then over time, it became as if a higher power was pulling me towards you. When I started watching you, it was more out of curiosity than anything else i swear. I just want to get to know you but if any other thing comes from our friendship, fine, if not, then so be it. I don't want to pressure you. I only made that offer because I felt you slipping away and I knew that if you left I wouldn't have any way of contacting you, for all I know you would stop coming to Mega chicken and visit other eateries to purchase your snacks"