Something suddenly flashed in his eyes but disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Princess" he whispered. "I don't know what's going on but I'm not going to give up."
That was it. I started crying again. My walls, I had spent so long building them...
I could hear the knock on the door from the bathroom. "I'll be right there!" I shouted. I quickly washed my hands and dried them with a towel before heading to the front door.
"Hey!" I smiled when the door opened to reveal Vanessa and Alex.
"Hey hun" Vanessa exclaimed while pulling me into an embrace. Alex did the same and I gladly accepted their warmth.
"How long have we got?" Vanessa asked as I moved out of the way to let them step in.
"Well, the BBQ starts at 10 so I'd say we have roughly an hour? I said.
"An hour?" She shrieked. Alex laughed while covering his ears and motioning to the sofa.
"Yeah... I think" I replied to her while getting the remote for Alex and leaving him to watch the sports channel.
"Let's get going then!" She pulled me by the arm then suddenly stopped. "Which direction is your room? And beautiful flat by the way! I love the decor."
"Thank you" I smiled. I was proud of my decorating skills. "My room is this way by the way" I took the lead and led her to my mahogany wood finished room door. •••
It had been 10 whole minutes since Vanessa had been roaming through my closet and drawers. During that time I sat on my bed and replied to Elijah's text. He had sent the address after I finally persuaded him that I was able to find the house myself and that he didn't have to come and pick me up.
"Xi, you've got great taste, don't get me wrong. But nothing is clicking with me." Vanessa sighed.
"Uh, thanks?" I shook my head. I didn't know how exactly to respond. "I've got another suitcase of clothes that I didn't bother to unpack." I said to her as I went into the storage closet for my green suitcase.
"Okay, well my fingers are crossed" she huffed before unzipping my suitcase. I was glad that I had chosen to shower and wash my hair before Vanessa and Alex showed up because this was definitely going to take a while.
"Xiomara Winter!" Vanessa beamed while holding up a denim material in her hand. "This is it! I found my click. I clicked!"
She hopped on the bed and laid out a washed denim shorts jumper suit and a mustard top with a pair of brown Sandals I had bought when I last visited the Caribbean.
"Go put this on!" She held the clothes up to me and lightly shoved me in the bathroom. I quickly changed and came back into the room.
"Lovely! Just lovely!" Vanessa clapped. "Now the hair, have a seat."
"What are you going to do to my hair?" I muttered. My hair was my prized possession. I inherited my mother's hair, it was jet black and reached my mid waist. It was very curly in a kinky kind of way but it was easily managed.
"Not much because I really love your hair actually. I'm just going to put in a high messy bun. Is that okay?" She asked.
"That's okay" I shrugged. She quickly caught my hair in a hair tie and brushed up my edges. "Thank you", I smiled as I looked at my reflection.
"Alex!" Vanessa shouted. "Come here"
Alex knocked before coming in. "How does Xi look?" She asked while pulling me up and spinning me.
Alex smiled before answering, "You look nice Xiomara, I like your hair especially"
"I know right!" Vanessa beamed.
"Why so much effort for Elijah though?" He asked.
I blinked. "Sorry?"
"Alex leave Xiomara alone" Vanessa scolded. "There is nothing wrong with looking good. You know this is the Ladburgh's BBQ right?"
"Well you've got a point there babe." Alex mused.
"I guess I should get going now, it's really almost 10 and I reckon it's a 20-30 minutes drive." I said while looking for my keys and my bag.
"Uh, and the game was just getting good" Alex sighed. Vanessa walked over to him and lightly kissed his lips before pulling him out of the room. "Have fun Xi! And don't forget to text me" she said as she dragged him through the door.
"I won't! Thank you so much again Vanessa. I'll see you guys later!" I waved as they made their way to their car.
••• According to my GPS, I was 5 minutes away from the Ladburgh's. I turned my radio up a bit as "I'll Find You" by Tori Kelly and Lecrae was playing. I mentally kicked myself while singing as I had totally forgotten to take my medication this morning. Oh well, one morning won't hurt. I thought. I continued driving until I reached my destination. My eyes peered open as I looked at the house before me. I double checked my GPS to make sure that I was at the right place. I was. The house was enormous. This was more of an estate, really. There was a grand entrance with a huge fountain mid way to the house itself. The house was extremely beautiful from the outside. It was a a cream and gold three storey house that extended across the landscape of the yard. Columns were erected at the front and were those miniature statues ? "Wow" I breathed. There was no sign of a BBQ happening anywhere. I took my phone out and texted Elijah while driving up to the gate and pressing the buzzer. "Name?" A stoic voice said through the circular intercom. "Uh, Xiomara Winter" I said. With that said, the gold metallic gates slid open and I took that as my cue to drive through. I parked my car in the car lot and got out, looking around at my surroundings.
"Princess" that's the first I was rather relieved and happy to hear Elijah's frustrating endearment for me. "Hi!" I smiled as he jogged over to me. To say that he looked good was an understatement. Elijah was wearing a navy blue shirt that hugged all the right places and a black joggers with white stripes at the edges and a pair of navy blue and white Nikes. I felt something leap inside when he smiled at me. "I'm so glad you could make it. You look really nice by the way."
"Thank you" I breathed while kicking myself inwardly for not saying, "Thanks, so do you."
Oh, well.
He smiled. Again. "Well let's get you to the BBQ, my little sister is dying to meet you."
"Wait, what?" I asked.
He just ignored my question and pulled me along with him. I had a feeling that today would be an interesting day.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A/N Elijah anyone? I think he's starting to grow on me. Also what do you think about Alex and Vanessa so far? Let me know.
