CHOOSING.

Epilogue.

This was it! I was finally graduating. I could not hold back the immense joy I felt. Neither could I sit still with the excited energy bubbling  inside me. I wanted to let out a couple of shrill ear-splitting squeals of delight to dispel some of the raw energy but I knew better. My parents wouldn't appreciate it so I sat back in the backseat and closed my eyes. Behind my closed eyelids memories replayed one after another and slowly a smile crawled up my face.

The drive to my university took a couple of hours and we got there around midmorning. Sitting in the car for a couple of hours did nothing to dampen my mood. If anything it intensified it and by the time I got out of the backseat I felt like I had had an overdose of coffee. Looking at the beautifully made up graduation square brought up an array of mixed feelings. I was overjoyed yet I still felt sad that I would be leaving this place already. I got a healthy batch of nostalgia lodged in my chest as I watched fellow graduands settle into their assigned seats.

I turned towards my parents to ask them to follow me to our reserved seats but instead I got distracted. He stood a couple of feets away looking magnificent. And that's not even a love induced exaggeration. I stood rooted staring at him, checking him out more like. Right from the new haircut I had never seen him in before to his amazing choice of outfit. There and then my brain couldn't take it and it closed off and ceased to function. My heart decided it was a good time to go overdrive and I could feel it struggling to break my ribs open. And then he smiled and my brain restarted and I wondered if I had drool on my face. However I did not stop to think about it for long.

"Caleb!" I exclaimed right before I ran and flung myself at him pulling him into an embrace. He tightened his arms around me pulling me off my feet and twirling me around. I couldn't stop the uncontrollable giggles that  flowed out of me. I could feel Caleb's chest rumble as he let out a deep chuckle. He put me down slowly as I was going to break and the way he looked at me had my knees going weak. I held onto him to keep myself from falling over as I looked into those beautiful eyes that had me catching my breath every time.

"Ahem!" I heard behind me.

"Yes," I said still not bothered to check who it was. Then I turned slowly to see who had the audacity to interrupt our moment. And I jumped several feet into the air and away from Caleb. "Dad?" I squeaked in apprehension.

"Do you mind introducing me to your boyfriend?" He said making me choke as my eyes widened in horror. "Yeah yeah, I may be old but I am not stupid," he said with a chuckle. I narrowed my eyes trying to decipher why he was laughing. He was supposed to be angry and look as intimidating as possible.

"Well, dad mum, this is Caleb. My boyfriend, yes my boyfriend," I said awkwardly. "Caleb, meet my mom and dad," I finished off with a dramatic wave. And they all looked at me then at each other and started laughing, at me. And amidst the laughter they shook hands and made a few not so kind jokes at my expense. Jokes that I laughed at since they were hilarious.

Together we walked to our reserved seats and settled down. My father and Caleb just kicked off their friendship and soon they were chatting away like long lost brothers. My mother and just looked at them and shrugged simultaneously. Who were we to look a gift horse in the mouth?

Within no time the graduation ceremony began. For a couple of hours I pretended to be listening to boring speeches. And I did not even get bored or annoyed like I normally would have. I was too happy to notice. After listening to an extremely long list of names and determining I indeed was graduating, the ceremony was over. I was now fully prepared to walk into the world and tackle it or tickle it, just as long as I made something of myself.

We walked to the parking lot in a leisurely pace. I walked by Caleb not really keen to depart from him. My mother seemed to read my mind and she invited him to join us for lunch. I smiled widely at him silently urging him to accept which he did. He even suggested a nice little cafe for us to dine. We drove there and soon settled in waiting for our orders.

"Sir?" Caleb suddenly spoke up addressing my father.

"Yes," my father replied.

"May I ask for a favour?" Caleb went on looking slightly nervous.

"Go ahead," dad prompted him.

"May I borrow Soni for the evening? Am leaving the country for a couple of weeks and would appreciate if I got to spend some quality time with her," he explained.

"Of course, you can. Just be sure to keep her safe. Oh and don't try anything," my father agreed looking quite menacing towards the end.

After lunch we said our goodbyes to my parents and Caleb whisked me away. We picked up his car and drove off towards his home town which was in the opposite direction of my home. An hour and a half later we parked in front of a building. He told me he had a surprise for me and asked to blindfold me. I was slightly apprehensive but I agreed trusting him.

He held my hand as he led me out of the car and into the building. We entered an elevator and soon stopped at a floor somewhere in the building. He led me out of the lift and down a corridor before he stopped and opened a door. With my hand in his, we walked into the room. I didn't have a keen sense of smell but I recognised the smell of paint though it was only mild. Slowly he took off my blindfold.

The scene in front of me took my breath away. It was not just a small room. It was a large hall capable of holding up to a hundred people at once. And it was covered in art. Big beautiful colourful paintings that belonged  in an art gallery. Wait up, this place was an art gallery. Full of portraits of me, in oil paintings, and charcoal drawings. Everywhere I looked I saw myself and it was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever done for me.

"It is so beautiful," I said nearly choking on the tears threatening to fall.

"You are beautiful," Caleb said. He pulled me to him placing my head next to his beating heart and stayed like that for several moments. "Come, you need to see all of them." Together hand in hand we spent the evening and well into the night looking at the beautiful art pieces. And I had never been happier all my life as I was then.