chapter 11

Flashback to two years ago.It was approximately six months since my breakup with Drew, after walking in on him with another girl, when I paid him a surprise visit at his law firm. It was supposed to be a surprise visit, and I was going to take us out after because I had gotten promoted to supervisor at the Hilton’s hotel and I couldn’t wait to tell him, but what I met at his office took that from my mouth.As it so happened, he told the lady that he was single and from what I heard; he had been dating the lady named Lilian for a few weeks before I discovered them together. The man I thought I knew was as fake as the word is, and I didn’t know him at all. I felt hurt and betrayed. Alian was right. He was no good and I should have seen him for what he was, but I didn’t because I loved him.I couldn’t let that stop me from working or slow me down. This big promotion came from my good work and my boss Bethany was waiting, hoping I deliver. I took my box of tissue with me and I remember I’d come out of the meeting room immediately, go to the bathroom and cry my eyes out. It kept on, but a week later the tears stopped coming and I stopped crying myself to sleep. The thought of him still hurt, but it didn’t bring me to tears anymore. It couldn’t. And I kept at it, making sure I preoccupied my mind with work and more work in order not to think about him and weeks became months and soon I barely even had the thought of him in my head.I was at the church Sunday service listening to the preacher preaching when I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder. I looked up, and I saw a young white man, probably in his mid-twenties, looking down at me with a set of deep blue eyes.He was wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt and black jean trousers on his white trousers. His hair was short but curly and there was no trail of beards on his broad face.As he saw me, he smiled charmingly, “Is the seat taken?” He asked, pointing to the seat next to me and my eyes followed his finger to look at the empty seat.“No, I don’t think it is,” I reply with a hushed voice, not wanting to be a distraction to anyone listening to the preacher’s preaching. “You want to sit?” I asked and raise my brow.He nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”I allowed him to go in and he sat down beside me and then we continued listening to the preacher.“I’m Levi by the way.” He said and stretches his hand to me.“That’s not how it works.” I straightly told him with a shake of my head before glaring at his hand.He withdrew his hand and dropped it beside him. “What do you mean?” He asked with a confused tone in his voice.“Oh, you think the church is the right spot for hitting on someone? Especially now that the preacher is preaching?” I demanded, staring him in the eyes.His mouth formed a silent ‘o’ and he must have realised his errors because he said, “My bad, was just trying to have a conversation.”I couldn’t believe he wasn’t seeing his errors and instead of battling words with this man, “The preacher is preaching, you know, right?”After I said that, he stopped talking, maybe finally getting my message and we listen to the preacher in peace. After the church service ended, I walked out of the church, trying to go back home to relax and do the rest project I had before Monday.“You were going to leave without saying goodbye, uh?” I heard the voice I knew belonged to the man sitting beside me earlier during service. He had gotten up when the pastor requested for newcomers to come forward and he left and never came back until the Church closed.He was new. No wonder he didn’t know that when you’re in church and a sermon is going on; it isn’t a good thing to be talking. I was a bit relieved he was gone and was going to disappear from Church quickly so I didn’t have to run into him, but I guess it wasn’t my lucky day.“I don’t owe you goodbyes because I don’t even know you to begin with.”“Okay let’s change that, I’m Levi Playa.” He stretched his hand to me for a shake, as if that ended well with him the last time.“Varisha Klean,” I replied, but I didn’t take his hand.His eyes narrowed at me. “You’re allergic to shaking Ms Klean?” He asked curiously.I rolled his eyes and took his hand into mine and shook it, and this makes him grin at me. “Now we are no longer strangers to each other.”“You’re a long line from not being a stranger in my book.” I flatly stated as I kept walking.He followed behind, being too stubborn to take no for an answer. “Are you this cold to everyone or you’re just mean and cold to me?” He questions, looking a bit confused and hurt.‘I’m not ready for this. We all know how it goes, it goes to hanging out and dates and relationships and he ends up cheating on you with a colleague two years later. The moral of this story is that relationship sucks last I checked, so no I’ll pass.’ I said to myself, I have already seen how this was going to go. The last thing I wanted was to get into a relationship.“Geez, your last boyfriend must have been shit then,” He exclaims, pulling me out of my thought to process what he just said.My mouth pressed into a thin line. I had said that out loud. Now he probably thinks I’m so crazy broken girl he should do his best to stay away from.“I am not planning on staying away Ari,” he told me confidently and I couldn’t believe he had already given me a nickname when he just got to know my full make only a few minutes ago, I said nothing and he kept talking. “and you were right I was going to suggest that we get something to eat later because I just moved here and I need someone to put me through and you look like a great person to hang out with, a little blunt a little sassy, a little of everything. And your last boyfriend sucks and I’m sorry he did that to you, so with that said can I look forward to hanging out later today?”Oh, well-receiving apologies from a stranger. This was the point I had gotten to.“I don’t have the time. I’m always busy,” I responded, still walking away.He groaned and his eyes dropped sadly, “Come on, please don’t make me pay for what he’s done, I want to get to know you a bit better.”I wasn’t lying or trying to push him away; I was really busy, And I had a major survey I was heading off and needed to get to as soon as I got home and I don’t even know if I’ll be able to finish in time tonight.‘It’s been six months. Vary, you can let another get close.’ My mind says, and I wonder why I was even thinking about it. I had a genuine reason to decline his offer for a hangout.He gave me pleading eyes, and I almost felt like a bad person. “Vary just one time and after that, you can do what you want.”I was left dumbfounded. He had placed me in a corner that was difficult for me to get out of. “You didn’t come to church to find a pretty girl and ask out, did you?” I blurted my suspicion bluntly.There was a cocky smile on his face, “No I just got lucky.” He cheekily said and his blue eyes sparkled happily.I got home, and I threw myself onto the couch and began taking deep but quick breaths. Vary, who was sitting beside me watching the TV, paused it and turned to me. She’s still wearing the same grey pyjamas she was in when I left her this morning, which meant that she hadn’t moved from her position in the last three hours.“What’s up with you? And why did you come late? You’re ten minutes later than the time you normally come home every Sunday.” She’s pointed out, turning to look at me.I dragged another thick long breath, “I met this guy.” I began and Alian didn’t let me say another word before she cut in.“Oh, this is going to be good.”I cast a glare at her, which she blindly ignored, making me snap at her. “It’s not good didn’t you remember how bad my last relationship was? It ended with me crying myself to bed many times and it wasn’t pretty.”Her face turned into an angry red. “Drew is a douche. He never deserved you to begin with. Besides, that was six months ago Vary, it’s time to move on to someone new.”“You don’t even know him and you’re already pushing for him.” My eyes were wide and filled with surprise.“You met him in the Church from what you’ve told me and bad things rarely happen there.”My mouth opened to object to what she said, and I said nothing, “He is white and he just moved here and needed me to show him around,” I answered not knowing why I kept talking because she was giving me a silly eye that screamed aww how cute!!“Oh, white wow, that’s a tremendous step.” She blurted, and I knew she had said it without first thinking.Drew, my ex-boyfriend, was black and Levi was white, which was a tremendous leap for me. I did not consider myself a picky type when it came down to love, but moving around and getting into a relationship with people of your type would help bring understanding to the relationship and that’s the reason some people choose to stick to the same colour.Well, you dated the same race last time and look how that turned out?! My mind hardly told me.“We are not dating, Alian.” I had to spell it out, feeling annoyed at her fun at this."She wiggled her brows at me, “Well, not yet.”I saw no point in arguing with her, “Fine, whatever, now I need to go eat freshen up, get to the rest of my project and pray that I finish on time because I’ve got a date at five.” I moaned, dragging myself up to my feet.“Aww,” Alian cooed, and I walk into my room without looking back at her.5 P.m.I was standing at the entrance of the Petty’s restaurant where Levi had said we should meet earlier. According to him, this was the only restaurant he knew around, having moved here yesterday. I told him Petty’s restaurant was a good choice for a hangout and so it was decided and now here I was.I had on my yellow printed gown, reaching my knee and my hair was in a long braid made with attachment reaching behind my back. It was casual wear for casual hangout and although Alian criticised it, stating how goody-goody; it made me look; I ignored her.I glanced at my wristwatch. And it is a few minutes past five and I hadn’t seen Levi in sight. He collected my number while we talked in church and he had called about an hour ago asking if I was up for our hangout. He sounded enthusiastic when we talked, so I did not know why he wasn’t here now.I watched as two couples made their way inside and I was getting tired and frustrated and cussing myself for even bothering! I knew I wasn’t ready for this, but thank him for further proving my point.A car came to a stop and Levi got down holding two plastic cups in his hands and paid the driver before the car drove off. He turned to me, holding two plastic cups in his hands an apologetic look on his face.That didn’t stop me from slamming him. “First-day meeting and you’re already showing your true colours.”“I’m sorry I am late, I didn’t think I would take that long.” He, however, apologised still. “I was getting you, chocolate. Hope you take chocolate ‘cause I do.” He handed me the covered plastic cup, which has a straw on the head.I collected the chocolate from him, “Trying to bribe me into smiling with this, uh?” I questioned, a little smile sneaking into my face.“I don’t want you mad and I want to see the beautiful way you look when you smile and I meant it. I am sorry for coming late, it won’t happen again. Shall we go in them?” He asked before ushering us into Petty’s restaurant.A young male waiter walked over to us and ushered us into an empty seat at the corner of the room.“You look great in your clothes though,” he pointed out his compliment, and I felt as though he was taunting me with it.My cheeks heated, “You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to.”“Well, I wanted to say that. You look great in these! You look amazing, period!”I nodded, accepting his compliment, “Thank you then.” I said before settling into the seat.“So tell me, what brings you over to California?” I asked, picking up the menu on the table and glancing at a few of the dishes available.“Greener pastures. I am hoping to set up my gym and fitness school.”“That’s what you do, help people lose weight!”“Yes, and help them maintain and stay fit always. It’s all I wanted to do for a long while now. I was going to do that in New York but could never bring myself to start, but here I feel like I can make a difference in people’s lives.” He was noble as far as I could tell, and he was hoping to do this to help. “Well, what about you? Tell me about yourself?” He asked, picking up his menu.“I am from Nigeria, but I came here on a student scholarship to study hotel management, I now have a master's degree in Human Resources and I work at the Hilton’s hotel and towers and I’m a supervisor there,” I said briefly, not sure I missed any vital detail.He looked impressed, “Oh wow, a hard worker.”“I don’t call myself that, but thanks,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable being called a hard worker, and I didn’t know why though.His gaze was on me, and my eyes were happy. “Oh, I can tell we are going to be good friends.”