Nairobi Dreaming - Complete!

Chapter 7: Bob

James' wavy hair was wet, like he'd just taken a shower and he had it pushed back, away from his face in a way that made his pale green eyes stand out even more than I remembered. His white shirt was slightly rumpled, but it was fitted enough for me to see that he worked out and the sleeves were short enough so that I could see the bottom of a tattoo peeking out on one toned bicep.

Go figure, I thought. I guess he wasn't lying about being the head of some education foundation.

Before I could figure out if I was happy to see him or get too stuck on the part where I thought he might have fucked my currently unstable friend, Abigail darted forward, toward him, and somewhere along the short journey became a completely different woman.

She beamed at him like he was made of diamonds and planted air kisses on his cheeks. Her voice went a few octaves higher and her smile blared, so stretched, so white, so big, it didn't look natural or comfortable.

James leaned ever so slightly away from her, his hands suddenly in his pockets, the smile on his lips flattening into a polite line.

"Oh heaven help me, I'm being so rude," Abigail turned to me. "This is Luisa. She's one of our teachers. Staying her on her own dime. Believe me-" She put her hand over her heart, "-I would never, ever use donor money to fund a stay at a place like this." She laughed and no one else laughed with her.

"Hey," James smiled at me. He maintained steady eye contact. "I didn't get to say goodbye last night."

"You know each other?" For some reason she sounded scandalized and I could feel myself settling into a steady, heavy dislike of her.

"Yeah," James said.

"Hm," Abigail said, her lips rolled inward, her nose a little too high, the sound a little too pert. "Shall we get some food?" She asked James. Then, in reference to me she added, almost as an after thought, "She already treated herself."

That word again. Treated. Like I was being extravagant by eating. Something snapped inside of me. "Actually," I said, standing up, "I should be going. Nice to see meet you and-" I nodded at James, "Nice to see you again."

"Oh wonderful," Abigail trilled and I saw James look at her, sideways. "I just mean we have so much to catch up on," she added theatrically.

"We do?" James said slowly. He wrinkled his brow at her then smiled, suddenly. "Actually, I do feel quite caught up. You sent along such amazing documentation. So thorough, really." He turned to me, his pale green eyes full of mischief, "We've got a long day ahead of us, best to get an early start."

I smiled stupidly at him, amused and terrified by his bold behavior. I was sure running off with him now would only ensure that Abigail treated me like crap later but it was just too delicious to refuse. "Do we ever," I said enthusiastically.

"See you tomorrow, at the airport," James flashed a movie star white smile at Abigail. "9 am sharp!"

We left quickly, walking shoulder to shoulder, grinning like school kids who had just gotten away with skipping class until we had rounded a corner.

James exhaled. "What a fucking cunt that Abigail is."

"That's harsh," I said though I didn't really disagree.

"What's harsh? That word? Cunt?" He laughed. "I forgot. You're American and I think the word is a bit more scandalous on your side of the Atlantic. But you have to admit, it's accurate, isn't it?"

"I just met her but. Yeah," I shook my head. "She seems almost too much. Like she's parodying a bitchy socialite except I think that is just how she actually acts."