The way he opened his eyes abruptly, almost sent my heart racing out of its duty post. The words he verbalized made me lose my balance, I had to grip the sofa for support. Jeepers creepers! Why was he so alert?!!!
"Hem!" I cleared my throat. "How long have you been awake?" I asked.
"Long enough to notice someone was stalking." He said, smirking at me with such masculine confidence. Then he sat up and intensified his gaze at me.
I felt so embarrassed now. Why on earth did I think it was okay to come stand at his head like that? Or maybe I wasn't thinking, maybe I was just acting. I slapped my forehead mentally. The magnetic force of his attractiveness must have been the one in control.
"Uh..." I swallowed hard. It was quite difficult to think straight now because his sexy chest was staring right at me. "Uh... When I woke up... Hem! You know... I was really really famished... Uhm... Cuz yesterday night, I slept without having dinner. So... I just wanted to find out what's for breakfast, but when I saw you sleeping... I mulled over waking you up or not." I said, gesticulating while I told this blatant lie. Don't judge, I was never big on telling lies, but what were you expecting me to say? Accept I was stalking? Hell no!
He cocked a brow up. The way he looked at me, showed he didn't believe a morsel of the words I just muttered. But he didn't say it to my face. He just said, "I have got bread in the fridge, I also have sardines, corn beef, eggs, chicken franks, butter and all that. Unless you are not the type that does bread when she's really hungry."
"Hahaha. I am quite into bread these days. I guess working an eight-hour job in the USA has really made me become fond of eating bread and anything that is prepared with less stress." I said, as I strategically focused on changing the topic of me stalking him.
"Oh really? That's interesting, cuz I always knew your favorite was Amala and Gbegiri. Uh... And also African salad too." He said.
I was so stunned. No, let's paraphrase that. I was impressed, he still memorized my favs. "You still remember!"
He gave me one of those his killer smiles. "Of course I do. I told you, you won't believe how much I still remember you."
Somehow that statement made me blush a little. Jeez, I hope I wasn't all "rainbow colors" in front of him like Pamela would always describe.
"So I guess bread is cool for breakfast then?"
"Uh-huh."
"Then let's get to the kitchen." Oh, bloody what now?
"You want to go to the kitchen and prepare breakfast with me?"
"Of course, is there any problem with that?"
"No, no, no." My lying mouth activated itself, cuz there was everything wrong with that. "Lead the way."
Alan got to his feet and did as I said. When we got into the kitchen, It was impressive like every other part of the house. Red kitchen cabinets, black marbled counter, energy bulbs inserted into the kitchen's high POP ceiling. On top of the counter, updated kitchen appliances were neatly arranged. The place was so neat, like as though he kept it clean in anticipation of a guest.
I walked to the window, then unrolled the drapes. Through the window, I could see two little children, a boy, and a girl, on the street close to Alan's apartment. The boy was around age nine or less and the girl around age five. They looked like siblings. The little boy was teaching his younger sister how to ride her pink bicycle that had multi-colored ribbons on each handle. I could hear their little voices distantly, not so clear though. The little boy was saying something like "Put your leg, put your leg." And the young girl obeyed her instructor. I smiled at the innocence my eyes beheld, they looked so cute. I was never that lucky to experience what it felt like to have a sibling or siblings. Mum died when she gave birth to me, and dad never ever remarried, I guess he loved his wife that much. I wondered if I would ever get to taste the kind of love they shared.
I was clueless about the fact that Alan had been standing behind me until he crossed his hand over my shoulder to hand me a steaming cup of coffee. I flinched with surprise, and immediately he held my upper arm to steady me. The action caused my back and his bare chest to have an electrifying connection.
"A kobo for those thoughts ma'am." He said, with his lips close to my right ear. I could feel the heat of his breath on that part of my skin. Then he traced my gaze to what confiscated my attention. I could feel him smile broadly. "I wouldn't mind having some of those run around and scatter my surroundings someday." He said.
"Me too." I said, with my voice now thick with emotions. I turned and met his eyes. What I saw in his eyes got me scared. There were filled with such vulnerability that exposed his feelings. "Thank you." I said, involuntarily before I could stop myself. Why was I thanking him? I thought.
"...For carrying me up to the bedroom yesterday." Where did that reply come from?
He tilted his lips to the right. And smiled without showing a tooth. "You don't need to thank me for that. You were sleeping so peacefully like a baby." He said, then revealed those excellent white set of teeth of his. If this man auditioned for a toothpaste advert, he would definitely be chosen because he had perfect dentition. "I couldn't help but place a kiss on your forehead." He said.
"Haha. I thought that was an angel."
"Who knows, I could be your guardian angel." He said playfully. Then he sobered up. "You haven't given me a response yet."
"Response to what?" I asked as I turned around to face him fully.
He placed both of his hands on the counter my hip rested on, which placed me in an enclosure between him and the counter. He was only a hair's breadth away from me now. I looked up into his eyes, which gazed directly into mine, then I gulped the little amount of saliva in my mouth. "I told you there was no need for worries, that we would be going as just platonic friends, didn't I?" Yeah, he did, but his closure to me now didn't feel so platonic. If this was seduction 101, then he was definitely a pro in this field.
"Hem! hem! hem!" I quickly faked a cough in order to save myself from doing anything silly, like touching his enticing bare chest that was gawking at me now. Goodness! What manner of hotness. "Please get me a glass of water. Hem! hem! hem!" I said, still holding on to this little drama I was pulling off. He quickly handed me a chilled glass of water, and I sipped from it. I placed my left hand on my chest and breathed unhurriedly.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he palpated my head like as though I was his younger sister or something.
"Yes, I am fine." I replied. For some reason, I was enjoying all these pamperings he was bestowing on me cheerfully.
"Good, cuz we would be needing you to be in perfect shape for the reunion." He said. Oh, bloody heck now! This man doesn't give up easy, does he?
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When I said Alan was a young man who had a resilient drive to be perfecto in every fraction of his life, I forgot to add that he was a go-getter too, once he wanted something, he went after it. So somewhere deep inside me knew he was gonna make me attend the reunion. Pamela on the other hand was bent on shedding blood if I refused to accept to go as Alan's date. And the issue of me not going to the reunion was like an abomination to her ears.
After sharing breakfast with Alan, he introduced me to his buddy, the Labrador Retriever.
"Chase is a really really cool guy." Alan said, sounding so cheerful. "The both of us have been best buddies for 3 years now. He was just a puppy when I got him. I could scarcely understand his needs then. Heck! I knew no damn thing about caring for a dog. The first week he spent here, I let him sleep inside the house. Don't judge, dude was so cute then, I couldn't keep him outta my sight. And being a dog lover too made everything worse."
"Hahaha. You let him sleep inside your house ke?" I asked, laughing. "I guess there is more to how that ended."
"Oh, you have no idea. If you see what the little monster did to my house eh! He wrecked my sofa with pee and shredded my pillows to cottons. After that incident, I had to send him to a cage with immediate effect."
"Poor you." I said, giving him a sympathetic look.
"Nah. We have settled our differences since then. He said as he ruffled the hair on the dog's head. The dog licked its mouth. "Come and touch his head, that's the first step to gaining Chase's love."
I moved closer and the dog became a bit hostile, barking at me aggressively. I quickly withdrew my steps. "Chase sit!" Alan vociferated the order at the dog, and immediately, the dog turned to cold water. It felt like magic.
"Wow! How did you do that?" I asked in utter surprise.
"Well, with 3 years of training I..." He was saying when a different voice coming from the fence of another duplex beside his, interrupted our colloquial.
"Omo mi a Tata" The elderly woman said.
"Ah! Maami, ekaro ma." Alan greeted.
"Bawo ni?" She asked.
"A dupe, ma." He replied.
"Ehen. Have you seen that plumber recently?"
"No ooo. He hasn't come to fix that thing since?" Alan asked her.
"Hmmm! That oponu oshi that God would punish for me. He hasn't come around since ooo. And he even collected 5k from me to buy the materials he said he would be needing." The elderly woman lamented.
"That's how the guy behaves jor. When I am less busy, I would check it out for you. Shae is just the sink?"
Immediately the woman started beaming. She had finally succeeded in making Alan offer to fix it for her, all these aged women that like awoof too much. "Ah! Omo mi! I trust you. Is just the sink o! only the sink. That's why is good to have neighbors like you... Eshe gan." Then she partly shifted her attention to me. "My daughter, can't you greet?" Here we go! Anyway, I anticipated that question though, it was typical of any elderly Nigerian woman to ask such.
"Good Morning ma." I greeted, smiling sweetly at her.
"Ehen, Good morning. Next time don't wait for me to ask you such before you do the needful. So, who are you to my son? Because you are the first and only lady I have seen coming out of his house by this time of the morning, which means you spent the night at his place." Way to go old lady! Was this some interrogation session? Abi ki lo shele gan gan?
"Ma, his..." I was saying when Alan intruded and replied on my behalf.
"She's my girlfriend." Wait what? I shot Alan an eye. He winked in return.
"Oh! So you have a girlfriend? Thank God I did not tell Iya Bukky that you are single o, if not I am sure that yeye Bukky girl would have started disturbing you by now." She made a face, like as if she was disgusted or something. "Thieves, they like good thing." She moved closer to the medium height fence, sagged her medicated glasses on the bridge of her nose and took a better look at me. "Obirin toh fine gan. Asides from the fact that she doesn't know how to greet, owa ok." She said assessing me from head to toe. "My daughter take care of my son o!"
Before I could say a word, Alan responded on my behalf again. "She's trying her best ma."
"I wish you both the best. Please don't forget my sink o!"
"I won't." Alan reassured her.
"Ok oo. O digba." She said.
"Goodbye ma." He replied, then she took her leave.
I just stood staring at him in disbelief, with my arms crossed.
"What? Don't you think it's best you start getting used to the idea of playing my "girlfriend" before the reunion?" He said, then generously gave me a mischievous smile.
A/N
Alan has definitely got plans.😉 Uncover all of this plans slowly, by being committed to following up on each chapter of 🌹 Valerie's Contractor.🌹
Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.😋🤭🥰
As usual, don't forget to vote ☑️ comment💬 and share.
Can you keep a tiny secret?🤫🤭👇
I love y'all😍😍😍❤💞💕🥰🥰🥰
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Glossary
Omo mi a tata - My little child/ my sucking child.
Maami, ekaro ma - Mummy Good morning ma.
Bawo ni - How are you?
A dupe - We give thanks.
Ki lo shele gan gan? - What is going on?
Obirin toh fine gan - This woman is fine o
O digba - Goodbye.