CHOOSING.

20. Our happy ending.

I settled in easily into my new semester. Learning on weekdays and working on weekends. I had seen Ombachi on several occasions and even tried to initiate conversation. With no such luck since he ignored me and only stopped short of getting physical just to get away from my presence. Apparently, he was appalled by me. I could not help wonder how things had gone so wrong so fast. I realised just how strong jealousy is and how far its effects reached. However, there was nothing I could do anymore. I had tried time and time again to reach out to him but he shut me off. I even gave him time to see if it would calm him, to no avail. It was a lost cause.

Mike turned out to be a good influence to his twin and since he had transferred to our campus, he got Matt to start going to church. I was shocked speechless when I walked into a service and found Matt soloing the choir. It was beautiful. Mike and Caleb became fast friends and for some reason Cathy and Matt spent a lot of time together with time. I would have been wary of losing my best friend but I didn't mind having two of them.

A couple of weeks later and a lot of hard work input, we were shooting the final scene. It was a grand one and a whole Sunday was dedicated to making it just right. I left the Sunday service slightly earlier to get there on time to. As I carefully treaded towards the gate in my ridiculously high heels. I stumbled and questioned my own sanity for keeping on wearing heels. It was the chuckle to my side that made me notice him. Caleb was leaning against his new car looking a great deal happy at my expense. It all felt familiar and I smiled walking towards him. He looked great leaning against the car looking all flashy and rich. Perks of being the last born with high income siblings.

"Want a ride?" He asked dramatically jingling the car keys.

"Sure," I said rolling my eyes. "The second service is not over yet, who's going to play the piano?"

"There are other people capable of playing, I delegated beforehand and consulted the church elders," he replied. "You have no excuse to refuse."

"I wouldn't dream of rejecting a free ride," I smirked. He made a move to open the car door for me but one glare towards him and he quickly recovered from his mistake. I hate getting special treatment because of my gender as much as I hate discrimination based on my gender too. So I opened doors for myself, repaired my own shelves and did everything I could on my own. He soon joined me in the car and we set off. We made good time and arrived at our destination with minutes to spare. As we got out of the car, Caleb came to my side and together we walked into the building. As we climbed the front steps he reached for my hand and held it. It was a small gesture but it warmed my heart. I glanced down at our entwined hands and smiled though I did not comment in case he pulled away.

We walked in to find everything set up. Almost every cast member was present and I was among the last to arrive. I was quite happy since I had a considerable part of the final scene. Once inside I went on my way to get ready for my part and Caleb walked over to the technical team. I had learnt that with his passion for visual arts, he also had an interest in photography and videography. I smiled as I watched him get friendly with his fellow artists before I walked into the changing room.

The place was in total chaos, what with all manner of make up and outfits sprawled everywhere. Before I knew it, I was being dragged into a seat and having more than one person trying to make me look just right. Someone was tugging at my hair as if on a mission to remder me bald while someone else was filing away at my nails keen on having them manicured just right. My face was not any luckier and I was being assaulted with all kinds of things some of which I had no idea what they did. I had had to get ready  for my scenes before but it had never been that bad before. It seemed the final scene was grand enough to warrant extra attention. Once the preparations were done, it was not so bad. It was almost like the previous scenes. Only we had to redo it a couple of times since it was not perfect enough for the directors. Several hours later and I was ready to crawl into my bed and fall asleep.

I was more than glad Caleb had stayed and he would drive us back. I was not exactly in the condition to try and catch a bus. I may have dozed off once inside the  car since I did not hear Caleb pull up until he shook me awake.

"We're here?" I asked sleepily.

"No, but I want to show you something," he said.

"Okay," I replied. He got out of the car and I quickly followed him out. He surprised me when he made his way towards the side of the road. He walked into what looked like a thick shrub and I had to fight against all logic to follow him. I was surprised to find there was actually a slight path where he had disappeared. I walked along it slowly careful not to get scratches. And then the bushes around me cleared out into the most majestic view I had ever seen. All sleep departed from me and I was wide awake.

We were standing at a ledge that steeped down into a swift flowing river. Yet that was not it. The view ahead was it. Two distant hill stood with the sun dipping in between the. The sky had orange and pink hues so bright and beautiful I lack words to describe. I had never been much of a nature fanatic but the view made me want to write poetry about it. We stood there for a really long time, saying nothing just watching. Until the sun had fully set and the only light was from the moon.

"Soni?" Caleb's voice stirred me from my trance.

"Yes," I answered.

"I need to ask you something," he conceded.

"Sure, ask away," I said lightly.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" I turned towards him so fast I almost fell off the ledge but he caught me. And then I burst into laughter when I realised just how cliche that had been. I had seen it in over a dozen movies as the guy went to catch the lady and they looked into each other's eyes, and fell in love. And just like the girls in all those movies I did the predictable thing.

"Yes! Yes I will be your girlfriend," I said while laughing and then turned into my usual dramatic self and I started crying. I was beyond embarrassed by my overreaction but I couldn't stop it. And then Caleb started laughing at me, with me and we were both laughing as we turned to go back to the car. It was a laughter of gladness and relief and a promise of more laughter to come together.

THE END.

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This is it! It is over. We did it! Am so glad for you support all along and for sticking with this book to the end. I hope you enjoyed it and that you like the ending.