"People don't forget girls like you.
They try, but they don't forget
what your love feels like."
For this chapter, listen to make you miss me by Sam Hunt.
It took me about 20 minutes to get back home. I parked outside the parking space of my house, picked out my purse from the passenger sit and locked the car. I noticed a black car that wasn't my mums around our house, wondering whose it was. I moved to the front door which was open, and I guessed mum was already home too. I checked the time and it was 10:45pm.
I got inside and I could hear noises of laughter in the living room. It seemed like mum wasn't alone, but I just hoped it wasn't Jerry. I didn't want to see him, not today or ever!
I removed my sneakers and got straight to the living room. "Hahahaa, oh no..she did that?" I heard my mum laugh as I got close to see who she was talking to. To my surprise, it was Yosef. What was he doing in our house at this time?
My purse fell down startling both of them. They both turned around and stared at me, who was just standing like a thief caught in action of robbery.
"Xhey darling, where've you been all this time?" My mum questioned.
"Had gone out for dinner, why?" My eyes moving from hers to Yosef's.
"I think I should go, Ms. Wilson. Its getting late." Yosef explained as he stood up from the couch, his eyes not leaving mine.
"Yeah sure, I hope to see you tomorrow and have more talk. I really had fun." My mum pulled a wide smile from her lips. She stood up and gave him a warm hug.
"Let me escort you out." She added, as she and Yosef headed for the front door.
"No mum, I'll escort him out... I think." The words escaping out of my mouth without realization.
Yosef and mum exchanged glances at me in confusion and she sighed in defeat.
Yosef walked towards me and held my hand as we led our way to the front door. I tried to remove my hand that was cupped into his, but he tightened it the more.
"Why are you so hard to get?" He whispered.
"How do you mean?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"You didn't call or text me..that's why I came to your house." He sounded sad. I could see the hurt in his eyes. Why was he hurt about me not texting or calling? It's not like we knew each other.
The space between us got smaller and smaller, the more closer he came to me. I walked backwards trying to run away from him, but I failed. I almost tripped when I realized my back was leaning against the front door. He walked so close to me, covering up the gap between us.
Damn... his perfume. It smelled like grapes and Anjou pear, mixed with water lily and gardenia giving him that light airy scent. I loved it.
He held my chin up so that I could face him. I looked into his eyes. I could tell he was searching mine too. I couldn't help this awkward silence, and finally spoke up.
"Why are you looking at my eyes like that?"
"Because eyes broadcast emotions....even when you try to hide them." He said seductively. "I love your eyes Xhey....they're a beautiful brown, that I can't even describe."
I couldn't help but look off his face and started biting my finger nails.
"Y-you should leave, it....it's getting late." I stuttered trying to change the topic. He bent his head next to my ear and whispered.
"You don't know what you do to me Xhey Wilson.....l like you so much."
He left a peck on my earlobe while he turned to face me. My fingers were still in my mouth and I felt my voice varnish. I couldn't speak, what could I say? He then opened the door that I was leaning against, and left the way for him.
I looked at him get into his car, admiring him as he left my premises. I closed the door behind me, leaning against it as I ran my hands through my hair. I had totally forgotten my mum was in the house. Did she see everything that just happened? I couldn't tell. Something came into my mind and I wanted to know about Miranda, Yosef's mum. How does she know my mum? Because I wasn't ready to bump into Yosef every now and then.
My mum was sitted in the living room watching screen, when I came close to her.
"Yosef seems to like you." She spoke not facing me.
"Huh? What? Mum you're mistaken. He just wants to be my friend, that's all." I uttered so defensively.
"But I can tell he likes you. He's not a bad boy, you know."
She turned her head to face me now. "I saw everything that happened at the front door."
"Mum that was nothing. He just plays too much. That's all." My tone so serious. "And who's Miranda? like how do you know her?" I questioned as I got close to sit next to her.
She gripped my hand and cupped it into hers.
"She's my friend. We're workmates too, at Balton."
"So how does she know dad? My real dad?" I asked.
She removed her hands from mine and looked straight into my face. "Can we stop this? I don't want to talk about your father." My mum frowned as she raked her hands through her hair.
"Come on mum, I'm old enough now. I need to know where dad is, why you're not together. What happened between the two of you? I need to know."
She stood up from the couch and headed upstairs without saying a word to me. I got so angry and threw a pillow on the floor. "Aaaarrrggghhh."
I folded my legs up to my chin and started thinking, but tears formed in my eyes. Like, what was so hard to tell me what happened with my dad?
I picked up my phone from my purse and saw over 20 missed calls from Lindsey. So now she remembered me. She even sent a text.
"Can you come over? I'm bored 😐." I wiped the tears off my face and replied to her text.
"I can't, it's late and besides I have work tomorrow."
I saw another text, but from Kiana. "You didn't text me when you reached home🥺."
I smiled at her text. I thought she had totally forgotten about me. For the fact that I was dressed weirdly, I couldn't think that she would still want to talk to me.
I texted her back "Hope you reached safely🙂." Immediately she replied. She was so fast at texting, I smiled.
Kiana: "Yes I did, how about you?"
Xhey: "same."
Kiana: "I miss you.. I want to hangout more with you.😭"
Xhey:..... "I'm glad you had fun today🙂....and I miss you too."
Kiana: "Are you free tomorrow?"
Xhey: "At 5 pm, yes why?"
Kiana: "I wanna take you out to somewhere special. Text me when you get done with work tomorrow😊."
I stared at her last text and I was so happy she still wanted to hangout with me. I stood up from the couch, turned off the lights in the living room and headed upstairs to my bedroom. Since I showered before I left for dinner, I wasn't going to shower again. I couldn't start pretending like I was a water bug.
I changed to my pajamas and slid inside my sheets which were kind of cold, since there wasn't anyone to warm them up. Midnight clocked and I still had no sleep. I wanted to text Lindsey, but I guessed she was sleeping by now. She's an early sleeper and she loves sleeping a lot. It's one of her hobbies. I scrolled through my Instagram and I couldn't help but think of Kiana. I checked her profile and it looked like she had just posted a photo.
Was she a model or something? Because she looked like one. I couldn't help but stare at her picture. She had gotten over 10,000 likes in one hour. I liked it too and I felt like commenting, but I couldn't. It would look like I was clingy.
I closed my Instagram and turned off my lights, so I could get some sleep.
***
As always, my alarm was the first thing to wake me up. I got out of bed and gazed out the window. I smiled at the birds chirping. This was going to be a good day.
I walked to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and took a shower. Once I was done, I got dressed in my blue jeans, black vest and jacket, paired with black Nike sneakers. I climbed down the stairs and it looked like mum had already left. She leaves quite early. I picked up my car keys and headed for the front door.
***
While at work, I kept looking at the time. I couldn't wait to meet Kiana again.
Once my shift was done, I called her. It took 2 rings before she picked up her phone. "Hey Xhey, how you doing?" She sounded happy as always.
"Great....so uhm, are we still meeting up?" I asked.
"Of corse, see you in 10. I'll pick you up at the cafe we met yesterday." With that, she hang up.
I drove up to the cafe which took me about 30 minutes because of traffic. I waited for Kiana who quite delayed to arrive. I hated waiting. I was so punctual in everything I did, and wanted the same from others.
After about 15 minutes, Kiana arrived dressed up in a high black jean, and short green vest, paired with white sneakers. She also un-dyed her hair back to its normal color, which made her look so cute. As always. I loved her style.
She walked straight to me who was just admiring how she walked. She walked like a princess, that owned this place. She hugged me immediately and I felt the world around melt. I hugged her back and never wanted to let her go. She finally pulled away, a smile still planted on her face. She was so beautiful.
I looked straight into her eyes because they always spoke someone's emotions even when they tried to hide them, just as Yosef told me.
Those eyes of hers were so damn beautiful, and when she smiled, it made them glow with the warmth of deep brown. I just felt so happy when I was with her. I wanted this friendship to last. I could see she wasn't faking it. She really wanted to be my friend and I was ready too.....And ready to protect her whenever she needed it.
"Let's use my car. I'll drop you back here when we get back." She said grabbing my hand softly.
"Where we going?"
"Lakefront downtown. I love the view. And I love nature because it calms me down...." She chuckled. "Let's go." She grabbed my hand as we walked to her car.
I entered her Mercedes-AMG, and we started off to her adventure. The car was filled with silence until she decided to speak.
"Tell me about you, I want to know you, what you like to do, where you hangout, hobbies... that kinda stuff." Her eyes glanced at me before she looked back at the road.
"Why do you want to know me?" I asked, curiously.
"We friends, remember? We have to know each other." Her left hand leaving the staring wheel then placed it on my hips. I looked at the move she just made, and wondered why she did that.
"Tell me.... I want to do whatever you like to do, go to places you like to go, anything. Totally anything." Her eyes reached for mine before she looked back at the road. She was really determined to know me.
I was still quiet until we reached our destination. She stopped the car and looked at me. I could tell she was hurt because I was silent. I broke the silence and spoke.
"Do you know that polar bears are left handed?" I joked.
She widened her eyes and laughed at that. I was glad I made her laugh, though my joke was a lame fact.
"I didn't know that... hhaaaha." Her voice still choking in laughter.
"Well, now you know." I smiled at her.
"And, do you know girls like you are so adorable and gorgeous, spending the whole day with you is not enough, I would spend my whole life time with you."
I was mesmerized, but I had nothing to say. So all I did, was just keep blinking my eyes.
"Thank you, I'm flattered." I finally spoke.
We got out of the car and walked to the lakefront. I could see the whole view of buildings in Chicago. As I was still lost in my own world, Kiana placed her hand on mine and rested her head on my shoulder. It was like in the movies. My life right now with her was just like those movies where couples go to somewhere far from the world and live their own love story.
I freaked out at what I just thought of. Did I just say couples in love? Just like in the movies? I was confused. I got off Kiana and looked into her eyes. I can't be gay, I just can't. I love boys. I didn't mean what I said. Kiana looked at me, confused, but I shoved my hand from her, and headed back to the car.
"I need to go." I spoke without hesitation.
"Why? We just got here. We were supposed to know each other. I only have this time with you." She talked in a sad tone.
I couldn't help but feel bad and decided to stay. She was right. I was acting weird. I don't even know why I'm thinking about homosexuality. I held her hand and got back to the lake front.
"Wanna go somewhere more fun?" I asked smiling.
"Yeah, sure... I wanna do whatever you wanna do." She responded as we headed back to her car.