Chapter 22
“When you can give without expecting anything in return, you have mastered the art of living.”
Lionel
~~~
Seating beside her, I mimicked her dipped-in-the-pool feet, the ice-cold water hugging my skin, numbing my legs for a couple of seconds before I adapted and wriggled my toes. Silence settled between us like an unwanted companion, my thoughts running wild, draining me completely.
“Tell me it’s not true,” I whispered.
She huffed and palmed her face, looking anywhere but me. My stomach churned with dread, her reaction was enough of an answer but I still needed her to confirm it. I threw my arms up when she stayed quiet and rephrased my question. “Your boyfriend, the drugs and all. Is it true?”
She sighed, her eyes finally settling on me. “It’s none of your business.”
“Fair enough, but look at it this way, how would you feel if you were in my shoes and I in yours?”
When she didn’t answer, I averted my gaze to my reflection in the water, lost in my world of thoughts. I assumed I was the only one with a weight no one could understand, but she had worse.
“What did you say?” I asked, jolting out of my reverie.
“I would worry,” she repeated.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Whether she liked it or not, I was going to meddle. That prick had no right to make her fear for her life and that of her loved ones. Someone had to put him in his place, I didn’t mind doing it.
She shook her head and dipped her hands in the pool before splashing water in the air. Shutting my eyes, I looked up and let the droplets of cold water tickle my skin.
“I don’t want you involved in any of this, it’s very dangerous. You have no idea.”
“But-“
“No! If you want us to continue being friends, act like you know nothing about this.” Her tone was stern, prompting me to nod my head. If only she knew.
“Will you join us inside? We’ve never met outside the eatery, it would be fun to hangout. Don’t you think?”
The subtle shake of her head had me pleading incalculable times before she could give in. Spending time with her before work was always my highlight for the day. It was only a limited amount of time of no more than five minutes and with little to no privacy. It wasn’t enough, I craved for more.
I couldn’t discern what I was doing pleading to be in her company after pledging to keep off anything relationship-related. I’d been burned twice, and was yet to recover from the second one; yet there I was, slowly heading in the direction of the same predicament. Love isn’t for the faint-hearted; so they say.
“She’s prettier than the pictures,” Andrew, an old friend beamed when I sat beside him and gave a brief introduction of Shannon. His mouth had a bad habit of slipping so I elbowed him in the stomach before he could say anything else. He got the message, pouting and rubbing his hand over his belly.
Her cheeks resembled an awfully red tomato as she whispered her appreciation, her eyes meeting mine in question of the said pictures. I took two snaps of her one bright morning as she walked up to me with a tray full of delicacies and a coy smile adorning her face.
Before I could afford Shannon an answer, Kay’s shrill voice filled the room. “Hold on, you two know each other?” Her wide eyes danced between us and I had to go into the telltale of how we met. She found it weird that I dropped by her father’s eatery on a daily basis yet never bumped into her. I found it relieving.
“I hope my brother has been a good boy?” Calvin asked, he still didn’t buy into us being just but friends. I facepalmed, it was the beginning of them picking on me till the next mini-scandal.
“Nah, he’s super stubborn, gosh!” Her bubbling laughter had my lips stretching into a ridiculous smile. She had a sensational aura surrounding her, it was hard not to be in good spirits whenever I was with her.
Luke raised an eyebrow in question, his eyes moving from her to me. “Wow, that’s a first.”
I was an uptight non-friendly guy and didn’t have any friends outside them until Shannon came along. Where I stood with her was much more confusing to me than them and I wasn’t sure what I wanted from her, but her company made me felt seen, appreciated, and understood; something I hadn’t felt in years.
When the girls excused themselves to the kitchen, Calvin plopped beside me and flat out said, “Dude, you can’t fall for her.”
“Why? What makes you think I want to fall for her?”
“Calvin is right,” Luke said and Andrew agreed with them.
I ran a hand over my face, letting out a heavy sigh. The thought of having a relationship with her hadn’t crossed my mind yet, but I was already getting besieged for it.
“You will only hurt her. I don’t know her, but I don’t think she deserves the kind of life you live. You’re almost the same as that-“
“Don’t you dare compare me to that guy! I am nothing like him. I would never do that to a woman,” I said through gritted teeth, my fists clenching and unclenching beside me. Envisioning the kind of torture he was putting Shannon through made my blood boil. I was fazed by how calm, collected, and strong she was regardless of the distress she was facing.
The urge to help her get rid of the guy was not because I wanted anything from her; she deserved the best life could offer and I would have felt the same way if it were anybody else because I abhorred injustice against women. I had a daughter, a mother, cousins; I would kill if anyone hurt them.
“I know, I didn’t mean to say it like that. You know what I mean and you know what you do, she can’t walk from that to this. If you want to help her, do it because of the rules you have set, not for personal reasons.” Hearing that from Calvin made me feel so proud of the man he had become, he was in his early twenties but was so mature.
“I hear you. It’s not what you think, I promise.”
Luke scoffed. “Tell that to your lurking eyes, to the overly cool dude you display around her, to the you that can’t spend a day without seeing her.”
The temperature in the room rose and I slid my jacket off, scanning my mind for a good comeback. Andrew’s fist was in his mouth, suppressing a guffaw from spilling off his lips.
Luke saunter towards me with a grin on his face and patted my back before saying, “Just keep it in your pants.”
Andrew burst out laughing, Luke and Calvin joining him shortly after. I attempted to keep a straight face but failed miserably and soon, the room was filled with raucous and unnecessary laughter.
