The Chronicles Of Juniper Ross

Chapter 5

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Charlie and Nick got home late again, so dinner was me and Nannette in the kitchen but instead of toasties Nannette made a salad that consisted of feta cheese, pasta and the delicious mangoes that grew in South Africa.

"I don't think I've ever eaten anything so healthy that tasted this good!" I said complimenting Nannette's cooking. I put aside two portions of the salad for when Nick and Charlie got home, which was sooner than I expected.

With the sound of a car drive up to the house and the jingle of keys at the door Charlie walked in followed by Nick who was carrying a box that he placed on the kitchen floor.

"How was your first day Juniper?" Charlie asked after embracing me in one of his bear like hugs.

"Pretty good." I said with a smile.

"Your second day I assure is going to be great." He added smiling.

"What will I be doing?"

"Well I need a couple of pairs of hands and Nick needs a day off. So I'd like to take you, Audrey and Flynn with me on my game drive. It will give you the chance to see the full beauty of Shamwari. How does that sound?"

"Sound great Uncle Charlie" I said beaming.

Nick had left the room while Charlie, Nannette and I were chatting. I assumed he went to shower because he came back in track pants and a maroon 'Vans' t-shirt. That was when Charlie and Nannette said goodnight and left the both of us in the kitchen. Nick had helped himself to the salad that was waiting for him.

"So how was your day?" I asked after deciding that the silence between us was unbearable.

"Same old, same old." he replied not making any effort to elaborate.

"I saw you at the cafe at lunch"

"Did you now?" He shot back still not looking up at me.

"Yeah and if I did see right there was some brunette straddling you?" I questioned trying to dig up some dirt.

"And if there was why would you care?"

"I don't, but you're not giving me anything to work with so it's either this or nothing."

"Well did it occur to you that the reason I'm not 'giving you anything' is because I'm trying to eat dinner?" His head finally turned to me when he said this and I saw the bags under his eyes and decided it was best to leave him alone.

"Okay fine, enjoy dinner." I said and walked out of the kitchen to my room.

~~~~~~~

This morning I couldn't count on Nick waking me up cause he was on his day off. So I set my alarm to 7 am and had a shower when it finally rung. I had a shower and changed into a pair of cargo pants and black hiking boots as per instruction. As for the top I put on a stripy white and blue tee.

As I guessed Nick wasn't even out of bed. But Charlie was waiting for me with his mug of coffee for breakfast, I was told that we should be back at around 2 but we would find lunch along the way. So I had a bowl of some of the fruity yogurt that was in the fridge and a slice of toast.

We picked up Audrey and Flynn both from their houses on the way to the reserve gates, they both looked as excited as I did. We were traveling in Charlie's landcruiser so we all sat in the back and were casually chatting.

Flynn and Audrey were sitting side by side and I could see his hand that was resting on her bare knee. The sparks practically flying, although neither of them could notice.