Thorny kind of Love

Chapter 4

Ben's POV

I settled for silver Chevrolet Spark at the car rental and after a few hassles with right-hand driving, I became used to it. Driving through the busy Cape Town, was an amazing experience and as I'm driving past the farms in Stellenbosch, I feel the peacefulness of nature. I stop off a gravel road and call Flynn to ask directions before I get to The B&B, I stop at a gift shop in the town of Franschoek. I settle for a gift card rather than deciding on what engagement gift to get Chantal and Flynn.

As I turn into the parking lot, a guy approaches my car and directs me to a parking spot, without denying his gesture, I park on the spot he directed me. This guy looks no older than 30 years old and he looks like he hasn't eaten in days, barely proper clothes on his body, and broken shoes on his feet. My mom would most probably invite him home for a shower and warm meal and then still take him shopping for clothes.

I thank him and he looks at me like he was expecting something, I reach for my pocket, take out my wallet. Fuck! I curse myself for not having any South African money in my wallet, I need to ask Flynn to help me sort that out as I will be staying here for at least two weeks. I ask the man his name, "its Koos Sir." He says I tell him that if I see him later during the day, I will tip him and I make him a promise.

I couldn't help but see the disappointment in his eyes as he walked away. I never felt so shit in my life but I will give him something as soon as I get the chance. I can hear my mom's voice, "You better make sure that you keep your promise to that man Ben!"

I make my way towards the entrance doors of the B&B, a large woman welcomes me and introduces herself as Nadia and that she will be showing me to my room, which I notice is room 6, she points out that if there is anything I might need while staying here, she will be of assistance. She also said that the restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, snacks, and supper.

After Nadia leaves me in my room, I take a look around and immediately feel at ease in my room, I unpack my clothes into the closet and plug in my laptop to charge, I place some documents on the stand next to the bed as there is some work that I need to finalize, reminding myself that I need to go and find Flynn to sort out my currency exchange, for now, I head to the shower.

Bell's POV

I look at the time, it's way past my shift, and my feet are killing me. We have received more 40 guests today, mostly Flynn and Chantal's family and friends, I have been waiting on the table's whole day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I could do with the extra overtime money and the tips were really good, but I was worried about my dad being alone. I run to the kitchen to make a quick call to Uncle Danny to go and keep my dad company until I get home, I also ask him to prepare a light supper for my dad if he didn't mind.

"Bell! What are you doing here?" I turn around and see Chris staring at me with those puffy black eyes. Chris was the chef at the restaurant, he was 46 years old and was never married, and he was a chubby adorable little man.

"I am sorry Uncle Chris, I just needed to call and check in on my dad and I am not allowed to be on my phone while I am waitressing," I say with sadness. "Oh, how is he doing now," Chris asks. I sincerely appreciate Chris's concern and answer. "He has an appointment tomorrow with the doctor, hopefully, they can figure out what is causing the pain in his back."

I head back to the restaurant and thank Chris again for allowing me in the kitchen. As I'm walking towards the tables, I notice Flynn talking to a young man, assuming that he is the same age as Flynn. This guy was wearing black skinny jeans and a plain long-sleeved white round neck sweater, I look at his feet and see that he was wearing a pair of black Caterpillar boots. I notice no wedding ring.

When I look up, I see him staring directly at me, his eyes looked almost gold, on the counter, my arms give way under me and I almost lose my balance when I turned away with embarrassment. Was I just drooling over this guy? He most probably thought I was some crazy girl waiting to jump into his pants. There is truth to that, some of the local girls here will throw themselves at foreign men and hope that they will have a happy ever after, but that is not the case, the men leave and the girl's hearts get broken.

I would never be so fucking stupid and let a man play mind games with me like that, I'm not a rude person but I hate being taken advantage of and I had my fair share of men playing games with me and I learned from it.

"Could we have a service here please?" I look up to see table 3's guests calling me. I politely take their order and head for the counter trying not to look up to where the young man and Flynn were standing, I'm still recovering from the embarrassment.

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Authors' note:

Hey guys, so Bell and Ben's eyes made contact, what do you think so far? Please comment and enjoy chapter 5 when things are going to start heating up.