Playing Matchmaker

Chapter 2

We loaded my stuff into his car and I thanked him. He smiled and assured me it was no problem. His accent was mesmerizing as he told me about the town of Botswana. It was primarily English speaking but more than half the town knew African, including him. I said that was super cool with which he responded,

"Ek hoop jy geniet Botswana" which he translated to "I hope you enjoy Botswana. " he said the words with such a jointed elegance that it was hard to believe his first language was English.

"So do you speak any other languages? " I nodded.

"American sign language." I said proudly. I told him that I started young, at the age of five because my cousin was deaf. At the time I was the only one who could communicate with him so his family moved into our house and I became his translator which when we got into school was very useful, yet tiring.

"That's really awesome." he said flashing a smile of not artificially straight teeth like mine, but teeth that were almost perfect, naturally. I had spent four years in braces and got them off my sophomore year. I looked at the clock and realized that it was four in the morning.

"Oh my god. You got up at three in the morning to come pick me up from the airport?! " I exclaimed.

"Uh yeah, my parents are in Zimbabwe for some conference and I couldn't just let you walk home. Plus it's summer so it's not like I have to go to school or anything."

"well thank you anyways." we drove in tired silence for the rest of the trip. I apparently dozed off because I was awakened by Cade's light tapping on my shoulder. I took in the sight. Their house was beautiful. At a towering three stories high it was pure white with dark blue trimmings. The door was a dark wood with an iron cross hung to it. I sat and gawked until he pulled me gently from my stupor. We carried my stuff into the house and took an ELEVATOR to the top floor. There were five doors. He led me to the door directly across from his. He set my bags down and said politely,

"If you don't mind, I'm going to sleep for a while, while you get settled in, if you're hungry we just went grocery shopping so the fridge and pantry are full." He exited with a tired smile and I took in my room. Slowly spinning in a circle I memorized the setup. A queen sized bed pushed against the upper right corner, a huge dresser on the opposing wall, next to it a door leading into a walk in closet, and next to that I had my own bathroom for the first time. My room had a central theme of black, white, and red. The bedspread was a black and white chevron print with red pillows and a red sheet peeking out from under. White carpet with a red rug. And then in the opposite corner from my bed I saw a macbook pro sitting on the ivory white desk. There was a note written in flowing cursive from my host parents sitting next to it. It read,

"Dear Reagan, we're terribly sorry we couldn't be there when you arrived but we hope you enjoy Botswana and our home. We have provided you a new laptop for your school and social needs. This computer belongs to you and you may take it home when you leave. Assuming you have a license, you can get that transferred to a south African license and then there is a white car in the garage for you. Help yourself to anything. Ons huis is jou huis. Meaning our home is your home. We hope you enjoy it here.

Sincerely,

Selaina and Chad"

I was actually overwhelmed by how amazing and perfect it was here. I adventured around the house, observing every last detail of the beautiful house. The third floor was all bedrooms and bathrooms, the second floor was the kitchen, living room, laundry room, and the bottom level was an indoor pool, a hot tub, and the garages. I opened the door to the garages and saw the car that was mine. It was so pretty. After I was done gawking I went back upstairs and set up the super expensive laptop. I was just finishing logging into my social media and saving the password when there was a light tapping on the door. I said 'come in' and Cade walked in. Standing as close to the door as possible he said

"I'm headed out to my friend Asher's house if you wanna come with me..." his voice trailed off uncertainly. I nodded and he said he'd give me half an hour to get ready. Maybe he'd have a sister or something. I brushed my elbow length auburn hair and left it in it's natural waves. I threw on an Eazy crew and a pair of daisy dukes and some black converse. After applying some masacara and a thin line of eyeliner I grabbed my bag and headed out to the garage where Cade was waiting.