Aesthetic || 7
Afrika could say that she and Jonathan were newly found friends. After her behavior at the diner some weeks ago, he wrote is number on a loose piece of paper and gave it to her saying "If you wanna hang sometime, ring me. This way you know I'm not a stalker" before driving away. She's gotta say, she did have moments where she thought that. Her guard was lowered a bit and one day finding herself stressed about a drive her and the movement were doing; and with Roxxanne being absolutely no help at all, she gave in and called Jonathan. Ultimately she was glad she did, as he gave her great pointers and wonderful ideas. He calmed her down that night.
So a tentative relationship between the two formed and she was comfortable enough to actually go places with him without being suspicious of his intentions. She's found that his company was actually pleasing and while he wasn't the prettiest flower in the bunch, his personality made up for it. She's known to be judgemental--it's apart of who she is--but deep down inside she doesn't like to be that person and actively works to keep that side of her suppressed. It was surprisingly easier than she thought.
Today she was virtually free until the afternoon when she had to go to a late rehearsal at five. Jonathan telephoned her earlier and invited her to go the park--their normal meet up spot--and she accepted with no further thought. Company no matter how eccentric was always welcome.
Clad in a pair of short daisy dukes with a white tank top tucked in tightly at the waist and hair a big brown ball on top of her head, she lithely walks to the park. It was only a couple blocks away from her home so she wasn't too irked to be walking, but the heat of that day was atrocious. Even in October the sun was beaming down on her skin. The only plus was that it would hopefully turn her skin a dark roasted color.
Ten minutes into her walking she makes it to the park and automatically scans for Jonathan. She doesn't see him at first and has to look again, this time spotting him with a group of black children handing out candy by the swing sets. She makes the trek through the grass to him and comes upon them, hearing his coarse voice telling the little boys to mind their mother as he hands them suckers.
She clears her throat and Jonathan looks up, smiling once he sees her. He shoos the children away and gestures for her to come closer, looking completely at home in his baggy outfit. The kids yell loudly as they run past her and she has to wonder how hyped up on sugar they would be in the future.
She tuts at Jonathan, cocking an eyebrow. "Look at you: giving children candy. Their mothers are gonna have to deal with hyperactive kids now." She comes closer and briefly gives him a casual handshake. It was a normality that occurred the more they were around one another. Jonathan laughs throatily and shakes his head.
"I'm sure those kids will be perfect little angels." His twinkling eyes let her know that he thinks the exact opposite.
"Sure." She walks over to the swing and takes a seat on the worn leather. She drops the small gym bag she brought with her on the ground, kicking her legs up in the air as she starts to swing. Jonathan follows her lead and plops into the swing next to her.
He hands her a sucker and she takes it, immediately unwrapping it and popping it in her mouth. Strawberry.
"How's everything?" Jonathan starts.
Afrika shrugs her shoulders and looks up into the blue sky. One thing about California was that it was always sunny, no matter what season it technically was. Some days she loves it, other days not so much.
"So-so." She waves her hand in the air, mimicking drawing a line in the middle of the air.
"Isn't that french?" Jonathan asks, slowly starting to push his body back and forth on the swing. She looks at the way his bulky legs struggle to find air and hides a snort by biting her lips.
