Beyond Boundaries

Chapter Three

This chapter is dedicated to my ex Alex. Thank you for supporting, being proud of me and for checking out this book even though you don't do romance (shocker). You might actually find true love afterall. Or not. Hopefully not.

Also, before you get confused, Leilani's cousins are seven in number and the hierarchy goes thus:

Isla & Sean - Oldest and 1st set of twins.

Marsai - Second daughter- single birth

Thea - Third daughter - single birth

Chloe &  Zoey - yeah..  2nd set of twins

Hailey - Last born and sixth daughter.

Why so many children, you ask? I don't know. Blame the Igbo man's need for male heirs.

LEILANI

"Yeah, we've arrived" I reply my mom on the phone, my other hand slowly spanning across the bed "Claire? She's downstairs with the others... and so is Jeremiah" I answer her questions, already feeling slightly homesick.

"Sure, I'll tell her to call" I go on replying her questions, conscious of my heartbeat which was gradually returning to normal "Ok bye, tell Dad I said hi" I finally hang up, releasing a frustrated sigh.

The encounter I had with Christian had left me so flustered that I needed someone to talk to and my mum was the only option I could think of.

Pathetic? I know.

Did I ever expect to see him? Of course I did. There was no way I'd be in contact with my cousins and I'd never bump into him. That was one consequence of dating someone part of family.

But did I expect to see him today?

No.

So you can only imagine the drop my heart did when I saw him.

He had changed so much and yet still somehow looked the same. His curly hair was now in a taper fade but he kept the curls. He had become taller too, so tall that I'd have to pull back slightly to look at him properly, Adams apple and all.

Another development I noticed. Along with the prominent jaw which wasn't really there before.

His eyes were still the finest shade of brown I had ever seen except instead of staring at me like I was a natural wonder he couldn't get enough of, like he used to, he looked at me like I was some pesky rodent he couldn't wait to get rid of.

I had tried hard to mask the hurt I felt and the only thing I could come up with was the stupid compliment on his height.

I roll on the bed, groaning as the embarrassment from earlier washed over me again and I couldn't help but think of how different our first meeting was compared to this one.

We were getting ready for a family friend's wedding reception that day and I was running up and about searching for the perfect fit to wear.

When I finally did, I rushed to go show my aunt for her approval so I zipped along the corridor, whipping my braids against someone as a result.

My feet immediately screeched to a halt and I turned around to apologize profusely but was instantly tongue-tied when I saw who it was.

"I'm... I'm sorry... sorry" I had stuttered, a part of me was surprised because I never did stutter, more or less because of a guy.

He had kept an expressionless face "It's fine" He had replied, as a small smile formed on his face "Just be careful next time, ok?"

I remember nodding awkwardly as he left, my feet remaining rooted to the ground as I wondered what the hell had just happened "Oh my God, who was that?" I had asked when I saw Chloe approach.