Alanna kept checking her phone waiting for Ryan's reply but just as it had been the past one hour there was still no reply to the one hundred texts she had sent him. It was the first Saturday to their holiday and they were supposed to go on a hike and end it with a picnic. Alanna had gotten up early as usual without the normal good morning call from a Ryan but she had brushed it aside not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Come to think of it she should have been more worried when Ryan failed to call or text her good morning like he had been doing ever since they became a couple. She had showered and packed all the snacks they would need neatly into a backpack. Picnic baskets were for the movies and those things were hella expensive for just pieces of reed sown together. She then decided to watch some TV as she waited for him.
He was two hours late and Alanna was starting to get worried. Ryan was always on time for their dates and sometimes he was even early. He never failed to show up so there was definitely something going on. Alanna decided to call his phone for the last time before she went over to his house to see what was going on. Lady luck must have been on a break because her call got answered.
"Ryan where are you?" Alanna asked as soon as she saw the call has gone through.
"I'm sorry but Ryan can't come to the phone." A female voice answered.
Alanna was very unfamiliar with that voice because it was definitely not his mother and as far as she was concerned he didn't have any sisters because he was the last born with two elder brothers.
"Who is this and where is Ryan?" Alanna asked quickly before her brain got the chance to start drawing conclusions.
"I'm Carol his sister in law and Ryan has a cold." She replied and Alanna was glad she hadn't made any conclusions on her own.
Ryans eldest brother was married and since he was in the army his wife stayed with his parents a lot along with their seven year old son.
"Oh okay can you please tell him to call me back or at least text me." Alanna replied getting worried.
She had seen Ryan last night and he seemed to okay and now he was sick. Guess getting the cold was pretty easy.
"Sorry but he said he doesn't want to talk to anyone." Carol explained.
"It's okay. Tell him I called and I wish he gets better soon." Alanna replied.
"He's not letting anyone into his room. Sorry dear."Carol sympathized.
"It's okay." Alanna said and hang up.
She tossed her phone beside her and wondered why Ryan hadn't just told her that he was sick. It would have saved her a lot of worrying and driving herself crazy. She didn't know what to do with herself right now that she had all that food made and an outfit that she herself knew she looked cute in.
She sat there for half an hour wondering what to do with herself before she finally made up her mind and got up. They were still going to go on that picnic and her outfit was not going to go to waste. She went into the kitchen and prepared a remedy her mom made for them whenever they had a cold and put it in a small flask. She went back to the living room and put it in her bag together with her laptop and modem.
She strapped the bag on her back, grabbed her phone, keys and skateboard and walked out of the house making sure to lock it behind her. If Ryan wasn't going to come to her then she was going to go to him. She set the skateboard down and was soon rolling down the tarmac towards his house. She had actually never been there ever since they started dating. Not because Ryan hadn't invited her but because they found it more convenient to go to her place because at her house it was just the two of them but at his place there was his mother who was a stay at home wife, his brother and his sister in-law and little nephew. That was a lot of people to deal with.
Alanna got to their compound after fifteen minutes and realized that she hadn't been there for such a long time because a lot had changed. They had a huge fence surrounding the whole compound and a huge black gate at the front. The gate was unlocked so Alanna let herself into the compound grateful that they didn't have dogs and walked towards the main door holding her skateboard next to her.
She knocked on the door feeling slightly nervous and after a few seconds of wait his mom opened the door.
"Anna Sasa mrembo." She greeted her with a firm handshake.
Anna, hello beautiful.
"Poa sana mama Ryan. Nimekuja kusalimia Ryan nimeambiwa ni mgonjwa."Alanna replied.
Hello to you too Ryan's mom. I'm here to see Ryan, I was told that he's sick.
"Eeh alinyeshewa jana akaamka na homa." Her mom replied.
Yeah he was rained on yesterday and woke up with the cold.
Alanna then remembered it had rained the previous night. Ryan had reassured her that he had gotten home safe and changed into dry clothes as soon as he got home. The idiot had refused to take an umbrella saying that macho men didn't need umbrellas. Well where was his macho now as he fought the cold.
"Ako wapi?" Alanna asked.
Where's he?
"Zunguka nyuma ya nyumba hiyo nyumba iko na mlango ya red ni yake." His mom informed her.
Go around back and the house with the red door is his.
"Sasawa asanti." Alanna replied.
Okay thank you.
"Karibu." His mom said and returned back into the house.
You're welcome.
Alanna followed the path and headed around the house to the back. In African tradition as soon as the boy passes through initiation (circumcision for most communities) which mostly happens after they are done with primary school, they leave their parents house and move into their own houses. Long ago the boys used to build their own houses but nowadays the parents built it for them.
They were two identical small houses around back but with different colored doors and windows. She assumed the eldest brother had left his house for Ryan because by the time Ryan came of age his brother was already married and had bought his own land and built a house for his family elsewhere.
Alanna walked towards the red door and knocked. She waited and when she knocked twice more with no answer she turned the knob and it was unlocked. She was about to enter into a boy's room for the first time in her life and it felt weird. She shrugged that thought away and removed her shoes by the rug outside and went inside.
The room wasn't that huge. It was just a bed sitter with a what she assumed to be a bathroom in the furthest corner. On the other side was a kitchen but there wasn't much but a tap with a sink, a mini fridge, a microwave a few utensils. The bedroom part was the impressive part because there was a huge bed on one corner with a bedside table next to it with books on top of it and a lamp. A huge flat screen TV was mounted on the wall opposite the bed and a game console and music system under it.
There was a wardrobe and a huge shoe rack next to it with all of Ryan's sneakers on it. The room was pretty neat except for a pile of carelessly thrown clothes around a laundry basket by the door.
Alanna put her skateboard next to the door and removed her bag. She heard movement inside the bathroom and guessed that Ryan was in there.
"Hey boyfriend." Alanna yelled and she heard all movement stop in there.
"Alanna?" Ryan called out in a hoarse voice.
"The one and only." She replied.
"What are you doing here?"Ryan asked still inside the bathroom.
"Checking up on you since you bailed on our date."
"I'm so sorry baby I didn't mean to. I woke up with the flu feeling like death itself." He replied.
"It's okay don't worry. I have brought the picnic to you."
"That's really sweet babe but you have to leave. I don't want you to get sick."
Alanna swooned at the fact that even though he was sick he still managed to think of her.
"I'll be okay. I got flu shots a few weeks ago so I'm good." Alanna reassured him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure."
"Okay just give me a few minutes take a hot shower. I reak."
"Take your time."Alanna replied taking off her jacket leaving her high waisted blue jeans a white tube top that showed a lot of cleavage and exposed a bit of if her stomach. She had been dressed to tease today because she knew Ryan liked it when she looked really nice. The top was a little out of her comfort zone but she liked looking good for Ryan.
She removed her laptop from her backpack together with the modem and after a few minutes of fiddling with his Tv she managed to hook it up and log into her Netflix account and choose a movie for them to watch.
She then took out the thin blanket she'd packed and laid it out on the floor in front of the bed. After that she took everything out of the bag and set it out on the blanket.
She sat down on the floor next to everything once it was set as she waited for Ryan to get out of the bathroom. She didn't have to wait long though because soon enough Ryan walked back into the room looking like a swim shorts model. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and another one around his neck as he dried his hair with it. Alanna couldn't help but gape at how good he looked. He wasn't all muscle but he had a well defined body that had her motors running if you know what I mean. He didn't have washboard abs but you could clearly see that he was hard in all the right places.
"Baby I know I look good but you need to stop looking at me like that because there's nothing I can do about it." Ryan teased and Alanna tossed candy wrapper she was holding at him.
"Shut up and if you didn't want me to gawk the you'd get dressed." Alanna replied.
"Yes ma'am."
Ryan walked into his wardrobe and pulled boxers under his towel followed by a pair of sweatpants and a hoody to cover his torso much to Alanna's disappointment.
He sat next to her and now that he was closer Alanna noticed that his eyes were all red and tired and his nose was shiny. Definitely very sick.
"Are you sure you won't get sick?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah." Alanna replied.
"Good because there's something I've been dying to do ever since I walked out of that bathroom."Ryan replied.
Before Alanna could ask what he put his hand around her neck and pulled her to him kissing her. His lips were soft and he tasted of toothpaste but she didn't mind.
"What was that for?" Alanna asked when they pulled away.
"A number of reasons like how happy I am that you've done all this, that wanton look you gave me when you saw me half naked and the fact that you look incredible plus a few more others." He replied before pecking her lips once again.
Alanna smiled at him and kissed his forehead. She was getting more and more comfortable with him and she liked to show him that.
She picked up the flask with her mom's remedy and handed it to him.
"Please tell me this is coffee." Ryan begged opening it eagerly.
"No that is my mom's remedy for a cough. There's ginger, garlic, lemons and a few more stuff in there. It tastes horrible but trust me you will get better faster." Alanna encouraged.
Ryan scrunched up his nose when he heard what was inside and it only got worse when he tasted it but on seeing the encouraging look on Alanna face he manned up and took a sip and another one until the flask was half empty.
"If I don't get better after you make me drink that then I'll hold you to blame." Ryan said and Alanna chuckled.
"It'll work trust me."Alanna replied before reaching over for a sandwich with all his favorite fillings in it and handing it to him.
"A lady after my own heart. What would I do without you?" Ryan asked taking the sandwich from her and taking a big bite.
"Probably die but let's hope you never have to find out." Alanna replied before taking her own sandwich and taking a bite.
"I'm never finding out because I'm keeping you forever." Ryan declared in between bites.
Alanna didn't reply and just gave him and acknowledging smile. She grabbed the remote and pressed play. They then settled into comfortable silence as they watched the movie and snacked on everything Alanna had brought.
Ryan looked fondly at her smiling at the fact that he had the best thing to ever happen in his life sitting next to him and he was never letting her go. She was his forever and that was a vow he had made to himself.
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Three chapters in a row today. Boy am I on a roll. That chapter was not supposed to end there but I decided to divide it into two because I didn't want to leave you guys in a terrible cliffhanger. There will be a date part two ending in............ I can't tell you that but it's definitely not what you think so look out for it.
As always, I love you 3000.