───※ ·NSIKAN· ※───
The next day came swiftly, and I still couldn't forget the story my mother had told me yesterday. Seated on my fluffy white chair with my elbows on my reading table, I tried hard to concentrate on the textbook below my chin. My phone was right beside me, untouched. So many times I tried reaching out to it, but so many times I declined by shaking my head.
"I know he said he's your tutor, but can't you do the simplest thing yourself?" I had mock exams tomorrow, yet I couldn't concentrate. I was the one who wanted the full story from my mother, and now that I'd gotten it, it was hard to focus on something else.
"But one call can't hurt, right?" I reached for my phone and didn't bother scrolling through my contact list since Damian was the most recent call I'd received, knowing he called to ask for Chuks' address. Hearing the dial tone made me regret my decision. There was no way he was going to let me go to his place. I quickly ended the call before he could answer it and dumped my phone close to the edge of my reading table.
Buzz~buzz
I gave my phone a bombastic side eye as it lit up, showcasing the caller ID. Charming Prince.
Sighing, I stretched my hands to grab my phone and swiped to answer. "Good afternoon, Damian."
"Don't tell me that was a flash," he said, his voice so cool and collected that it momentarily kept me at ease. "How are you?"
Damian's sincerely asking how I was doing sent butterflies through my stomach. Or were they dragonflies? Whichever it was, I tried not to think too much about it. A lot was already going on in my life. And his cares were giving me mixed emotions. Reading Damian's actions wrongly and getting hurt in the end would worsen my already heavy burden.
"I'm fine," I said, flipping the pages of the textbook. "I'm trying to study."
"Trying," Damian said, stretching that word. "Why? Getting distraction."
"Are you a wizard?" I gasped.
"I think it's obvious you are not concentrating." I slumped my shoulders and began playing with my pen.
"What are you doing?" I asked curiously.
"Trying to study. My brows furrowed at his words.
"You, try? No way!" I chuckled, momentarily forgetting my presence. "Are you mirroring me to make me feel better?"
"I don't study, remember?" Damian said instead, and I pouted and nodded, though he couldn't see that. "The tutoring was a two-way thing."
I sat upright once a thought got to me and blurted it out before I could stop myself. "Since we both are trying to study, why don't I come over so we can study together? There are still some topics I need your help with."
Dead silence was what met me at the end of my sentence. Pressing my lips, I thought of my idea as a bad one. Ever since that incident with his Mum, Damian hasn't suggested his home for our tutoring session. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said that. Maybe-"
"Do you remember where I live?" My sentence was cut midway, and I swore I misheard him.
"Sorry?" I lifted both brows.
"Do you remember my address?" Damian said it clearly this time, but it didn't stop my confused state.
"You're letting me come over?" I asked to be one hundred percent sure. There was another pause at Damian's end. And when I thought he wouldn't respond, I heard a 'mhmm' from him.
"Why not?" he verbally agreed. My lips formed a bright smile almost immediately, showcasing my teeth. "We're having English, Chemistry, and Data Processing Theory tomorrow, so bring your text and notebooks in those subjects."
"Aye aye, captain," I said, and I could hear a small chuckle from Damian. The call ended at that, which brought me to a new dilemma: what was I going to wear?
I got up and moved to my wardrobe to open a drawer, the one meant for an outing. I brought out sky-blue boyfriend jeans that were long enough to surpass my ankle and a white vintage button-up shirt I was going to knot at my stomach level. After dressing up in the way I'd imagined, I moved to my shelf to get the textbooks and exercise books I needed and placed them in my backpack. I still had mixed emotions. I was happy to be going to Damian's place, but I still felt something else. I thought it was better if I stopped associating myself with him. Did I make the best choice by calling him? Wearing my white sneakers and touching my face a little was the last thing I did before rushing out of my room.
"Mummy! Mum!" I called, moving to my mother's room. I peered into the room to see that it was empty.
"Mum?" I called, closing the door and heading to the stairs.
"Where's my mother?" I asked after spotting a maid cleaning the dining table.
"She went out a few minutes ago, ma." I met one of the maids downstairs. Did Mother go out? It was kind of a good thing. I didn't want her to stay cooped up in the house the majority of the time. Seeing her go out meant she was a bit relieved after telling me her story and knowing what she'd been through. It was left for me to fulfill my end of the promise-never to meet the man with the father title.
"If she comes back before me, help tell her that I've gone over to my tutor's place to study." I traced the strap of my backpack. I would've called my mother, but I didn't want to take the chance. What if she saw my calls and remembered everything that happened? That might ruin her day. So instead, I turned and headed out of the house.
───※ ·❆· ※───
The driver stopped outside Damian's gate. I was the one who asked him to do that. I didn't want him to sound the horn until I'd called Damian. So I reached for my phone and dialled his number. It took a couple of rings before he finally answered.
"Yes?" Damian's voice was surprisingly cold, forcing me to gulp. Did I call at the wrong time?
"I'm..." I trailed, not sure if this was still a good idea. "I'm outside your gate."
"I'll ask the security man to open up," he said, and the call ended. In a few seconds, the mini gate opened, and his gateman peered out before going back inside to open the main gate. The driver drove in and stopped close to the parked cars in the compound. I got down and looked at the entrance of the main house to see Damian in blue shorts that were reaching his knees and a black t-shirt. He wasn't alone. A man was with him, and his presence must be the reason Damian wasn't acting warm on the phone.
I held my backpack and slowly walked over. I'd gained this man's attention ever since I drove into the compound. He kept following me till I got in front of both him and Damian.
"Good day, sir." I greeted him, but Damian placed his hand around my wrist and pulled me to his side. That gesture didn't go past this man. He had a crooked smile as he pulled his gaze from Damian's fingers around my wrist to Damian's face.
"My mum isn't home to discuss anything with you, uncle," Damian said. I could tell he was trying to control his anger with the way his fingers gripped tightly around my wrist.
"So you can't let your uncle in?" The man asked calmly. "I thought I'd be your favourite uncle since you are my favourite nephew. What a shame."
"I'm your only nephew," Damian responded. "And I can't disobey my mother; she asked not to ever let you into this house."
Now I felt uneasy being in the middle of this heated conversation.
"Not to ever let me in?" This man rested his back on the railing behind him. "Won't you both regret that in the future?"
"I don't know; let the future take care of itself." I watched both of them, and I knew it was the wrong timing. Maybe I could've waited a few minutes at home before coming over. Damian's uncle scoffed but nodded with raised hands.
"Stubbornness killed your father, you know?" Damian leaped forward but stopped when I placed my free hand on his shoulder. I wasn't sure what was going on, but fighting fire with fire wasn't going to help. The contact of my hand on his shoulder surprisingly did the trick, and Damian stopped what he earlier wanted to do. His uncle looked at me and smiled.
"Bye, my favourite nephew." Now I could sense the malice in his tone, and I knew Damian could too. But he did nothing, and we both watched this man move into the driver's seat of the car parked not too far from mine before driving out.
Damian still had his hand around my wrist, and when I turned to look at him, it felt like he was clouded with thought. His body was present with me, but his mind wasn't.
"Are you okay?" I asked slowly. Damian lifted his gaze to mine before exhaling and nodding.
"Yeah." His words were breathy. "Let's go in."
Still having his fingers around my wrist, Damian led me into his house. Various maids were present doing some duties, and the one that caught my attention the most was Chisom. I would've walked past her if she wasn't using all her strength to glare at me.
"Did you bring everything?" Damian asked as we took the stairs. He was trying to act like everything was okay and that what happened earlier didn't happen.
We got to his room. I remembered the direction since I'd been here before. He opened the door and led us to his reading table, which now had two chairs instead of one. He must have made provision for it since he knew I was coming.
"Yeah, I did," I said, answering his earlier question as I brought out the English, Chemistry, and Data Processing textbooks. My notebooks remained in my backpack, but I also brought out my jotter. "What should we start with?"
Damian was acting like what happened earlier didn't happen, and I didn't want to be the one to ruin that.
"I was reading Data Processing before my uncle came." I didn't know he'd make a sentence with his uncle in it. "Let's start with that."
I nodded; he was the teacher after all. "I made likely questions; we're going to work on that. Ready?"
"Yeah," Damian was trying his best with me. I wanted to concentrate to show that his effort wasn't in vain. I mean, I came here to distract myself from my mother's story, right? I shouldn't think about her, especially when Damian was acting this cool after arguing with his uncle.
Damian reached for his notebook and opened it. I could see lots of questions in there. Some I thought I knew and others that looked foreign to me
"Let's start with this," Damian said, pointing at a question. "What are the disadvantages of using computers to process information in the school?"
I bit my lower lips to think. Trying to think, I thought of yesterday's story, which made me close my eyes. Damian was in front of me; why wasn't I concentrating?
"You don't know it?" I opened my eyes to wave my hands frantically.
"No, I do." Damian creased his brows at me. I really did know the answer. I have read it before, so of course I knew the answers. "That information can be hacked by an external source, wiped out, or affected by a virus."
"You said it like it was a one-sentence thing," Damian said with a small smile. "That wouldn't help in tomorrow's exams."
I exhaled and nodded in disappointment. Damian gazed at me for a few seconds, then opened his notebook to a different page. "Next question, the principal at our school is ready to give a speech to the school body while using her computer as an aid. What computer package could she use to make and deliver her speech?"
My eyes wandered to his jotter. He was smart enough not to write the answers on it. Resting my back against the chair, I counted my fingers. "In class, the teacher said PowerPoint was the best for preparing speeches because of its excellent presentation and slides. So I think Microsoft PowerPoint is the answer to the question."
Looking up, I could see Damian genuinely smiling at me. His nodding was enough to put me at ease. "Next question. A person tries to store an image on their system device, but it turns out to be full. How can that individual store that image without losing any important images or videos?"
"Cloud?" I wasn't sure of my answer. I pouted to think of more ways to explain myself. "Whenever the storage on my phone is full, I usually save most of my images in the cloud so I can retrieve them anytime and still have space for more. But..."
"You're right," Damian said with a small chuckle. I looked up to see his smile, and my heart couldn't help but beat faster than usual. I promptly stood up, forcing the chair to squeak and causing a small frown on Damian's face. "You Alright?"
I stood there, looking down at Damian for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. "I'm thirsty."
"That's why you're acting that way." Damian sighed while proceeding to get up. "I'll get you water."
"No," I quickly stopped him before he could stand up fully. Damian sat back down, his furrowed brows directed at me. "Prepare more questions; I'll get the water."
And with that, I rushed out of his room and closed the door behind me. Resting my back against his door, I closed my eyes while inhaling and exhaling. I could've been the happiest person to see Damian proud of me, but looking at him now and remembering my mother's story, I wanted to end whatever crush I had on him.
I peeled myself away from his door and sluggishly moved in the direction of the stairs. I was a mess. Uncontrolled life and uncontrolled feelings. Damian would think I was some crazy person with the way I reacted and left his room. Trying not to dwell on it too much, I moved in the direction of his kitchen.
"I'm trying, you know." I ignored the voice and walked into the kitchen. "I'll meet you soon."
I turned to the left, to where the gas cooker was located, only to see that the person making the phone call was Chisom. As if sensing that she wasn't alone, she turned to match my gaze. There was a flash of shock in her eyes, but it was immediately replaced with a glare.
"Now you eavesdrop on people?" Chisom snapped at me in anger, which was sort of a surprise.
"You were making a call in the kitchen, and your voice wasn't discreet. Can you call that eavesdropping?" Chisom moved towards me with her fist tightly wrapped around her button phone.
"I thought you'd never show your ugly face again. What are you doing here?" I remembered when she tripped me and pretended like she didn't. I'd faced someone like Queen, who was my nightmare. Chisom wasn't even her level.
"I'm Damian's friend," I said to her, and I wanted to end it at that as I proceeded to move to the fridge.
"And so?" Chisom rushed over and placed her fingers around my upper arm to stop me from getting to the fridge. "Does this look like your house?"
"Can you get your hands off me?" I forcefully pulled her hands away. It hurt a little since her fingers scratched me. "Damian's calling y'all workers because he feels any title lower than that is discriminating, but it doesn't stop the fact that you're a maid, a servant. Doesn't that title of yours give you a sense of reasoning that you shouldn't talk to me in such a manner?"
"How dare you?" Chisom raised her hand, ready to slap me. Of course, I flinched, but when I saw she wasn't going through with it, I felt a surge of confidence.
"Why don't you slap me?" I asked Chisom. "Are you scared that I'm going to tell Damian and he's going to fire you? If I were you, I wouldn't be scared of Damian firing you. You should be scared of my mother."
With that, I moved over to the fridge and got the bottle of water I needed. I turned to see Chisom glaring, but I didn't pay attention to it as I left the kitchen and approached the stairs. Why did she have to make the tiniest thing into a big situation? Like she was only making a call. What was my business in it? Was she that jealous to see me with Damian? She should not worry; I was already trying to stop these feelings I had for him.
I opened the door to Damian's room and slowly avoided his eyes as I walked to sit beside him while placing the half-empty bottle on the table.
"Next question?" I asked, looking at his jotter. Damian's eyes were on me. His scrutinising gaze felt like he was studying my every move.
"What's wrong?" He asked, but I refused to look at him. "Nsikan?"
Should I talk to him about Chisom? That wasn't what was bothering me, but at least it would serve as a diversion, right?
"Nsikan," Damian called, a bit coldly this time. "What's with the change of attitude?"
I closed my eyes and placed my head on his desk. Groaning loudly. "Nsikan-"
"I'm scared, okay?" I sighed, my head still on his desk. "I'm very scared."
"Of what?" Damian asked softly. I lifted my head with a sigh, looking at Damian.
"Everything." I didn't know how or where to start. "Scared of entering into a relationship in the future?"
"Should you be thinking about that now?" Damian chuckled a bit, but I wasn't reciprocating it.
"I'm being serious, Damian." I sighed, looking at my lap. "After listening to my mum's story yesterday, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be in a relationship. Funnily enough, Muller was right. Mother got hurt by the person she loved and the person who claimed to reciprocate it. Now he wants to be in my life when he didn't do anything to help my mother when she needed him the most."
"Why are you connecting her story with yours?" Damian asked. "Your chapter is different from your mother's."
"It's because I have a crush!" I almost covered my mouth with my hands. It wasn't my intention to yell at him. I felt self-centered. Damian had his issues going on with him, but here I was bombarding him with mine and with things he felt were insignificant. "I thought I was young and would end up being heartbroken, but my mother was at the mature end when she started to have a relationship, yet she ended up being heartbroken in the worst way possible. Besides, he claimed to love her. Whereas mine doesn't know I have feelings for him."
"So what do you want to do?" Damian asked. "End things?"
"There was nothing to begin with," I said with a sigh, turning completely to face Damian. That was nothing but the truth. How could I end things when there wasn't a beginning? "If he doesn't know, then it's easier to pretend like I never had feelings in the first place. I'm just going to-"
I gasped for air when Damian leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. My heart skipped a bit at this sudden move of his. His lips weren't moving against mine; they just stayed still, like he was trying to shut me up. But shut me up by kissing? Was he trying to play with my emotions right now?
Damian leaned away from me, his gaze not wavering. "Why-what just happened? Why did you..."
"Kiss you?" Damian asked, his eyes searching mine. "I know you like me, Nsikan. I know about your crush, and I'm ready to take responsibility for that."
"R-responsibility?" I couldn't help but stutter. What was happening?
"Yes." Damian nodded, reaching for my hand and holding it softly. "Because I like you too.
───※ ·❆· ※───
We've come to the end of the chapter. What do you think about it?
Till next time✨