CLUELESS HATE

VI

Juwon decided to be casual for the day. He could possibly run into Gini if his plans allowed and he didn't want to be looking too serious all up in a suit. He got a pair of white plimsolls and paired them with a light pink tee and grey shorts. He was going to the resort so his beach/casual look wouldn't look out of place. He got a black baseball hat from his closet and dropped his Ray Bans into his backpack.

He left the house with the hood of his convertible down as he drove to the beach resort. Juwon packed his car somewhere the heavy machines weren't and went into his investment. The beach resort was going to turn out well without a doubt, the problem was whether to keep or sell it off. He'd bought hectares of land in a reserved area few miles outside of town. Fortunately, he got small rivers and streams with it so he was turning the whole thing into a resort.

His decoy back into town was to act as an investor which resulted in him buying properties. He hadn't intended to make the large mass of land a resort but the idea popped into his head and he thought, why not? He'd made several calls to his lawyer and accountants to talk about it and they'd encouraged him to go with it so here he was.

Juwon walked around and nodded as he took note of the work going on. The builders had been on construction for more than a year. They were creating lots of things asides from the buildings his guests would stay. He had the architect consider making artificial water sources like water falls, streams and clear river. He wanted them to also look as naturally as possible.

Some of the workers noticed him and saluted with their helmets. He saw the engineer walking towards him and Juwon motioned for him to carry on instead. He was going to get a run down on print at night and didn't want them distracted because he was around. Juwon kept walking and got to the residential areas where the guest would be staying.

He went into one of the buildings built like a hut and nodded as he saw the interior decoration coming along. His resort was green all the way through, he would be using renewable power sources with the use of solar panels and wind turbines instead of connecting to the power company. The walls were made with mud and straws instead of cements and bricks. The workers got woods from the forest and he'd hired someone to plant five trees for every tree cut down. He'd also insisted on all recyclable materials for decorating.

The thought of building an environmentally friendly home had always been on his mind. He just used to think that would be the personal home he shared with Gini. Since he was never getting married because he couldn't make himself weak by trusting anyone ever again, he decided to act his dream out on the resort.

Juwon left the building and kept walking. He saw a new rock formation that his engineers had built. If he hadn't been there before he wouldn't know it was man made. They'd stacked large rocks together and the look imbibed nature. He could already picture people being mind blown by the picturesqueness of the resort. It wasn't done and it was already looking so relaxing. Juwon took a trail he had helped in making and went to the stream. He noticed the workers had made the stream safe by adding flat rocks along it and he saw weeds growing already around the rocks.

Juwon wore his sunglasses as he made his way around the stream. He enjoyed the sound the water made slapping on the rock. He looked at the top of the trees around and thought of where he'd add the zip line. He most definitely had to talk to the engineer about that.

He could bring Gini around if she wanted to see something different from the norm. He wasn't sure how to approach her yet. It'd been ten long years since they last spoke and their last encounter wasn't one for the books. Juwon sat close to the stream and leaned against a pawpaw tree. He wished he'd brought his banjo along so he could get lost in the music instead of thinking about what Gini would think of him. If he was going to bank on his track record with ladies, he already knew she'd find him amazing and brilliant. Gini wasn't any random lady though. He wondered how much she'd changed. For her sake, he hoped it was for the better.

Juwon picked up his phone and checked his mail, he replied Muna before getting up from the floor. Juwon made his way back to where he parked his car and waved to his engineer as he walked past him. He drove back into town and noticed Big Fred's store was opened. It had been closed for about two months so he knew Gini must be trying to revamp. He should tell her not to bother, the mall was too big a competition and he was sure she couldn't afford to compete... literally.

He thought of going to her but then decided to get breakfast first. He wasn't ready to see her on an empty stomach. He had read a lot on how to impress women and he knew it was best to approach them at your best. They got turned off by the littlest of things and he didn't want to give Gini the chance to turn him away.

Juwon found a breakfast eatery close to the store and ordered salad. He watched in envy as people ate oat, rice and pancakes. He was allergic to grains and nuts and subjected himself to eating bottom of the barrel food that made eating such a bore. He stuffed his mouth with vegetables, chewed and swallowed.

If he wanted to be dumb on purpose, he ate whatever and dealt with the consequences later. But he couldn't afford to be at the hospital while Gini was around because he didn't want her to ever see him as that pathetic kid she used for her own good and dumped. Juwon's jaw ticked and he dropped his fork. He shouldn't have thought about the past. If he was going to keep Gini from knowing he knew everything, he had to put history behind and act normal. He reacted too strongly for her not to know something was off if he kept getting ticked off by the thoughts of her playing him.

He resumed his breakfast and added more cream to his salad. He bopped his head along to the Caribbean sound infused with Afro beat coming from the screen overhead. He needed to be a cheery and chatty person for few weeks. Juwon smiled and finished his meal. He paid his bill and added a heavy tip for the waiter.

Juwon walked down the road and entered the store. There was no one at the counter so he looked around. The aisles weren't as empty as he'd thought but the perishables were gone. If Big Fred wasn't so prideful, he could have worked with this. Juwon stopped as he heard her singing. Her voice caressed his heart and he realized she could have planned everything. What if she opened the store because she wanted him to find her? And the singing? Probably to seduce him. He was annoyed to know her voice made him feel relaxed.

Gini knew her victims and how to play them. He had to give her that. He turned around to leave, she hadn't seen him so she couldn't know he was there. He paused and kept walking until he found her, he saw her dancing and singing as she cleaned. The fourteen-year-old him would have watched her performance or danced with her but he wasn't that clueless anymore. He walked close to her and she dropped the rag she was holding when she stopped long enough to notice him.

"J?" The nickname she gave him back in the day escaped from her lips as their eyes met.

Her beauty hit him all at once and confirmed what he feared the most. He wasn't immuned to her as he'd thought he was. After all the things she'd put him through, his heart still pounded in his chest when their eyes met. She moved closer to him and hugged him. Juwon bit on his lip to stop himself from reacting as her breasts crushed against his chest. His hands had other ideas because they went to her back and pulled her closer to himself.

Gini stepped out of his embrace and touched his face. All the open wounds caused by her desertion healed as she stared into his eyes. His hand went around her waist as they drank each other in. He felt that wordless communication they used to have back then and he knew he was going to forget the betrayal and pick up where they left off. He was officially doomed. Who was he kidding? He couldn't hate her even if he tried. He was just going to be the clown and try to excuse everything she'd done to him.

Scratch that. He couldn't excuse her behavior, he just had to be careful moving forward. He was still going to have his revenge. Nothing had changed.