Let's Pretend

part three

The wind blew gently, waving its hands at me, urging me to fly with it, to just let loose what I was keeping to myself... I felt tempted to let go and see where it took me. I took a  step, but my wavering heart took three steps back. It was afraid of rejection... Durotimi

Question asked: What do you think about me?.... Pelumi

With the moon shining brightly bathing her soft skin with white light, she looked almost translucent as she watched him, her black eyes growing larger, her  long lashes blinking rapidly, as she tried to hold back her tears. He itched to touch her, to give her the warmth of his comfort, to hold her to him and gently kiss her cheeks.... And he would have, if only she would allow him...

Durotimi cleared his throat, looking around trying to get his bearing first before he answered her question.

"What brought this on?" He asked.

"Nothing much... I just wanted to know." She said, not looking him in the eye. "I was wondering, you know." She added.

"Did you see your mother?" He knew that Victoria was the cause of this self-doubt. Being almost like a family in the Alatede household, he knew the person that had the power to reduce her to seeking assurances.

She raised her face gently and their eyes met. After some seconds of just staring, she nodded sadly, looking like a lost dog waiting for someone to find it and give it love.

"Why? I already told you to stay away from her for a while... I told you if you were to see her, you should do so with your father around." It actually sounded extreme since Victoria was her mother, but it was necessary for Pelumi's well-being.

"As if....." She scoffed, "Do you think it's actually possible to stay away from your mother, not to talk of mine."

"Well, my mother is an angel." He said, a corner of his lips lifting gently as he gave a small smile.

"Rub it in, okay." She rolled her eyes. "I miss her seriously." She gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, but Timi felt proud he was able to at least get her brooding self to smile.

"We should visit her in Abuja one of these days."

"I would like that..." She said wistfully, "It is better than being here.. I need a break from the constant meddling mother seems to enjoy." She sighed.

"What did she say this time?" He asked and she shook her head.

"It's not about what she said but what she is doing? For the past two months I have gone on at least eight dates.... She keeps setting me up as if I can't get a guy by myself."

Silence reigned again as they sat down, staring into space, each in his own thoughts.

Timmy knew that Victoria loved her children and would do anything for them. His problem with her was that she refused to believe she behaved like a tyrant, destroying her children's mental health with words. Their many arguments being his evidence of her ignorance.

Timmy rested his hand gently on Pelumi's and linked their fingers. "You are at a stage where you need to hear things that would boost your confidence. Your mother won't give you that and you know that." He said quietly, needing her to understand him and begin to fight for her happiness.

Pelumi laughed out bitterly. "She set me up on a lunch date today; I went, sat for a few minutes, and left." Timmy could tell from her voice that she was on a ledge, dangling between outrage and sadness.

He squeezed her hand gently, offering the little comfort he could give through that small touch. The contrast between his dark skin and her light brown skin had never seemed clearer in the light of day as it was now. Involuntarily, his jaw clenched as he remembered seeing her all bashed up in the hospital, her skin a blanket of bruises with multiple colors. Victoria had been huffing and puffing like a concerned mother with a big bad wolf complex- if he had been in a better mood he might have laughed- it didn't stop him from blaming her for Pelumi's relationship with Nifemi.