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Episode 14

“you look great.’’ Mike praised when he saw Rea coming towards him while he dropped what he was doing and went over to greet her with a kiss. “and nice dress too’’
“thanks.’’ She greeted glad that Mike liked the simple white dress with large flower prints like spring she had thrown on today.

It had been a while she wore it and she appreciated the fact that the dress didn’t reveal any thigh or exposed cleavage.
She wasn’t going to dangle a bone in his eyes and stop him if he raged. She wasn’t ready for that phase of life yet till marriage.
She held his hand and followed him to greet his friends that hung around helping themselves to a bottle of beer and fed on their barbeque and returned the smile they extended her way. She tried to make light conversation and laughed when something funny was said.

At the corner of her eye, she could see Mike was happy and she was glad.

Mike’s place was large no doubt and the back of the house where the whole party was going on was enough to contain all his friends including the ones he wasn’t very close to.
Rea sat talking with his friend’s girlfriend and was hoping the girl would just keep talking. The girl was like a reporter and a journalist at the same time and she just kept chatting and talking about everything. “how long have you known Mike?’’
“like two months.’’
“Wow. Mike talks about you two like you’ve been going out for a year. He’s an amazing guy.’’
“thanks.’’
“so what do you do for a living?’’
“I’m an accountant.’’
“that’s great. I’m a chef. i have my own restaurant downtown and you could stop by sometime.’’
“okay.’’
Mike came up to her and she was glad for the interruption and quickly clung to him trying a much as possible to leave politely.
“I want you to meet a friend. A childhood friend actually. We went to the same elementary school together but split ways when my parents moved to France.’’
“really.’’
“yeah. He’s a hot one, Played football in high school. Was strong enough not to let his parents decide his career over football.’’ He laughed.
Rea smiled and hoped she didn’t come in contact with another chatterbox like the one she had just broken free from.

She gulped when she came in contact with Mike’s childhood friend.
Oh no!! this cant be happening!

“Andrea, meet my childhood friend Ryan Riverstone, Ryan, meet Andrea, my girlfriend.’’
Ryan in turn was shocked but did a good job of hiding it so well he extended his hand immediately. “nice to meet you Rea.’’
“same here.’’ Their handshake was very brief and she was glad.
He almost forgot to introduce his girlfriend. ‘’and this is Emilia, my girlfriend.’’
“nice to meet you Emilia.’’ She extended her hand and the lady received it with a beam. ‘’it’s so good to finally see you. Mike talks about you like almost all the time.’’
Rea looked at Mike with a smile. ‘’really, and what have you been saying about me Mr. Bailey?’’
“nothing that isn’t true. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, my one and only and the girl who brings sunshine into my life but drives me crazy all the same.’’
“Mike.’’ She nudged him playfully glad that he made the atmosphere less tense with his teasing.

“what?’’
“never mind.’’ She shook her head and tried to sound as casual as possible. ‘’I’ll go get something to drink. Do you guys want anything?’’
“Let me come with you.’’ Emilia chipped in.
“okay.’’ Rea shrugged.

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Ryan stared at Rea till her back faded from sight and was glad he hadn’t been caught. Mike probably thought he was staring at Emilia when he spoke. ‘’You really like her don’t you?’’
Ryan’s heart thudded in his chest initially thinking her had been talking about Rea when he realized quite the opposite.

“she’s a great person.’’ Was all he had the strength to say.
Mike smiled and continued turning the piece of meat on the grill while Ryan talked.
“so, how long have you two known each other?’’
“just two months and they’ve been the amazing months in my life ever since I returned from France.’’
Ryan felt a sharp pain by the left side of his chest which he knew wasn’t medically related. He really wanted her but he just couldn’t. He had to keep telling himself that.
And that dress she had worn.., it fitted so perfectly against her body reminding him of their first night together. she had worn something like that. Like she had known what was going to happen between them and he just loved seeing her in a dress. That was a weakness for him.
“cool.’’ He hoped he wouldn’t choke on his piece of meat.
Mike looked at him then. ‘’you’re the only one I trust with stuffs like this and I haven’t told the other guys yet. Andrea is a Christian like you too, and she believes in this “no-s-x’’ thing before marriage so we haven’t gone there yet just so you know.’’

Ryan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at such news and he hugged his friend out of excitement.
“hey!..y’kay man?’’
“sure.., I’m just happy to hear about her decision.’’

Mike looked at his friend like he had gone crazy but shrugged. ‘’well, I just hope I’m strong enough to wait that long. I mean I can tell she’s hot y’know, and she’s got this spunk I know she won’t be missing when we have s-x but I just have to be patient.’’
Ryan swallowed hard wishing Mike hadn’t just said those words to him. The guy wasn’t a Christian so how will he understand her reason for not sleeping with any man before marriage.
They had broken that rule in the past when they were young and ignorant but now they knew better, they had to stay away from such invitation.
‘So Rea was a Christian’ was all he could think about while Mike continued talking but he was oblivious to all that he was saying.

Mike broke into his thoughts. ‘Hey man’’
Ryan turned his attention to him
“you haven’t said anything all this while.’’
The only thing he could ask was, ‘’so how serious are the both of you?’’
“we’re thinking of taking it to the next level. I mean we both have past relationships but we’ve decided to move on.’’ he shrugged and smiled at his friend. ‘’the guy who broke up with her didn’t know what he had or he’d have kept her. I mean she won’t even talk about it. imagine her protecting him till this moment. She’s not like one of those bitter women who keep ranting about their ex and how he was so unfair or the things they did together and all the crap that has to go with it. I think Rea is my kinda woman Ryan.’’
“wow’’
Mike smiled. ‘’yea, I know. Wow.’’ He laughed revealing perfect set of white teeth and asked. ‘’so how have you been holding up with work over here? Think it’s better than Texas?’’
“it’s okay. And environmental friendly too.’’
“how’s mum and Dad, do you still hear from them?’’
“yea, occasionally though.’’
“I should stop by someday and say hi.’’
“yea, you should.’’
“I’ll be right back, I think I need to use the men’s’’
“no problem.’’

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When Ryan stepped out of the men’s and headed into the living room, he came in contact with Rea in the kitchen who was trying to get two bottles of beer out of the fridge while helping herself to a can of coke and ice in a small glass cup.

He wondered where Emilia was.

“hi’’
She turned to look at him and her facial expression remained the same. ‘’hi. I’m sorry I’m taking long with your drinks. I just had to calm down before returning outside. I couldn’t just come back outside pretending everything is okay between us.’’
“it’s okay.’’
She downed the whole class of coke appreciating the caffeine content that was going to keep her alert in situations like this and not stupidly drunk like the other night and sighed. ‘’much better.’’
She passed him two bottles of Heineken. ‘’yours and Mike.’’
“I don’t drink anymore.’’
‘okay.’’ She burped and dropped the bottles on the counter. ‘’I’ve had two bottles of coke.’’ She laughed over her silly attitude and covered her mouth. ‘’sorry about that.’’
He laughed. Nothing she did surprised him. they’d been going out for almost seven years and she could fart or burp in his presence without him being perturbed about it.
“so what happened? You got addicted?’’
“no, I’m a Christian now.’’
She froze.
“you don’t mean what you just said do you?’’
“I do.’’
‘’wow, that’s an icing on the cake.’’ Her voice dripped with sarcasm when she responded. Christians didn’t behave in the way he did, neither did they just dump their old girlfriends without a good explanation.

or was that the excuse he was trying to give for dumping her? she was going to find out.
“how long have you been a Christian?’’
‘’about four years ago.’’
She was right after all.
‘’Rea…, I’m sorry…’ he began but she raised her hand to stop him from explaining further.
“you don’t have to apologize for anything.’’ She choked out and the tears were already in her eyes. ‘’neither do you have to explain the reason why I got dumped over the phone. It just made me realize my worth to you.’’
“Rea, please.’’
She shook her head and she closed her eyes in order to let the tears return back to their source. She wasn’t going to cry before him. She couldn’t and wouldn’t.
By the time she opened her eyes, he was already standing in front of her and though she tried to move away from his towering presence, she was trapped between him and the counter and when he touched her, she could only shiver.

It was like something dead had risen again.

How and Where it had been, she couldn’t say but she hated that she couldn’t control her feelings for him or her body couldn’t say no to him.
‘’Andrea..’’ he whispered and she looked up into his eyes. They looked so blue and dark reminding her of the deep blue ocean and she weakened.
“I miss you.’’
She swallowed.
“It was immature of me to do what I did to you. I know I should have come over to explain everything. Talk to you about my new found faith and try to show you the beauty of what I believed in but I didn’t. I just acted like a stupid child and called you over the phone telling you it was over afraid that if I set eyes on you again, I might just forget everything and kiss you.’’
“you should have talked to me. I was your best friend not just your girlfriend.’’
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t bear to see the look on your face when I told you. I was afraid you might bring me down in some sort of way and I did forget what I had. I just needed some time alone.’’
“What about Emilia?’’
“we started going out some months ago, but its not like what we had.’’
Someone strolled into the kitchen and they separated from each other. Rea returned a bottle of Heineken back into the fridge and gave him the other one. ‘’do me a favor and hand this over to Mike, I’m not strong enough to face him now.’’

He bit his lip and Rea could tell he was disappointed at her response. Well what else did he expect from her? He didn’t expect her to just give in to him so easily after his whole speech of repentance.

She was human too, and she had to think about what she wanted. He hadn’t even proposed anything to her.
He had just said he was sorry, nothing about wanting her back.
She wasn’t going to jump into conclusions just yet.
If she really still meant that much to him, he would do all he could to get her.

And she would move on.

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When Demi announced over the phone that Gavin had fallen ill, Scarlett panicked but tried to be focused till she was through for the day and hurried over to the house just to see him.

When she saw the pale looking figure on the bed, her heart melted and she went up to him while he slept and the doctor talked to Josh.
For a while, she said nothing and just stared at him and watched him sleep till he blinked his eyes open and saw her.

His lips curved into a smile slowly and he looked at her. ‘’Miss Ruby…’’ he managed
“shhh…” she hushed him and dabbed his forehead with a damp towel since his fever was breaking already. “you’re gonna be fine honey. Just relax.’’
‘’I’m so glad you came to see me.’’ he ignored her warnings
“me too.’’
‘’will you stay here with me, Daddy’s been here all day and He’s been such a bore.’’
Not thinking, she laughed. ‘’of course I will.

I’m not going anywhere.’’

And she kept her word.

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“Demi made something for you. You have to eat something.’’ Josh persisted when Scarlett refused to eat anything and still watched after Gavin.
“I feel its my fault.’’ She sighed exhaustively. ‘’I shouldn’t have stopped his classes.’’
“its just a fever and a cough sweetheart, its something kids are bound to have when they roll with other kids.’’
“he looked really bad.’’
“well, that’s Gavin for you. His body has a way of exaggerating things.’’
“and that doesn’t bother you?’’ Scarlett looked up
“the doctor says He’ll be fine and so I believe he’ll be fine.’’ He said in a firm tone and stretched his hands towards her so that she would take it and rise.

She slowly did so and Josh could tell she was worn out.

“I’ll get you something to eat while Demi watches over him tonight okay?’’
“it’s late.’’ She yawned and settled into the couch while Josh headed into the kitchen to get her something to eat.

By the time he returned, she was already fast asleep in his living room. Setting the tray down he knelt down to look at her for a while wishing she wasn’t as stubborn she proved to be.

She looked so beautiful and much more vulnerable when she slept, just like the last time he’d observed her sleeping beside him.

He removed her shoes and lifted her from the chair and upstairs into the guest room and covered her with a duvet.

After admiring her once again, he closed the door behind him and headed for the stairs.

He still had so much work to do.

say those words to him anymore

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When Scarlett woke up and found herself in a large bedroom, her gaze went to her body and she heaved a sigh of relief when she realized her clothes were still on.
Just as she was about to start wondering how she was going to hurry off to work this morning since she’d slept off in someone’s bedroom and picking her phone, she saw like six missed calls. Three from Gabe and the rest from Rea.
She just hoped things wouldn’t get more complicated than it already was.
Just then, Demi walked in. ‘’Good morning honey.’’
“hey.’’ She managed
“i came to drop some clothes for you that you can try on to work this morning.’’ The older woman beamed and dropped some neat clothes that were on a hanger on the bed. “why don’t you hurry up and take a shower, you must be hungry since you didn’t eat last night.’’
“famished.’’
“I have a healthy and huge breakfast prepared for three so I’ll be expecting you soon.’’
“thank you Demi, you don’t know how much I’m grateful for all of this.’’
“I’m more grateful for you coming into our lives.’’
And then she was gone.

Scarlett hurried into the bathroom and cleaned up, was glad for the hair dryer but could only tie her hair and not straighten it as she did every morning. Her hair was getting longer and she mused over cutting it or leaving it to grow further.
When she got downstairs, she found Josh at the table looking so formal and handsome in grey suit and pants with a black tie knotted neatly. She wondered how he was able to fit his body frame into the neat suit and was unaware of his gaze on her till she looked up into his eyes.
Blushing that she had been caught, she tried to cover up by asking, ‘’How’s Gavin?’’
“he’s better. Demi’s carried his breakfast to his room this morning. He won’t be able to make it to school today.’’
“Its okay.’’ She settled down to coffee first and tried as much as possible to concentrate on her food without feeling awkward which seemed kind of impossible anyway most especially when she had slept in a man’s house, not just an ordinary man but someone she’d been intimate with some weeks ago.

“I can drop you at work…’’
“no thanks.’’ She objected immediately and the dinning remained silent again but that was before Josh stood up, obviously through with his breakfast and lifted his briefcase and ipad in his right hand and walked towards her.
For a while, she held her breath when she realized he was standing right before her, looking intently at her face while she tried as much as possible to avoid his gaze.

“you don’t have to fight it y’know.’’ His finger went to her face and strolled down. Just that simple action made her almost choke on her coffee.
“Josh….’’ She swallowed closing her eyes
“let’s have dinner tonight. I know a great place.’’
She breathed. ‘’you’re not making this easy for me.’’
He continued like she wasn’t saying anything. ‘’I’ve always wanted to treat you to dinner. Just the both of us with candlelight’’
“Gavin needs me.’’
“Demi will take care of things.’’ He bent to kiss her on the lips and she didn’t object. “you look great even without your make-up’’
She blushed again, her heart beating wildly in her chest while her flames were on fire. ‘’please don’t do this to me.’’
“you don’t know what you do to me when you tell me you don’t want me.’’ he kissed her again and she responded fully this time holding unto him without any form of resistance.

He released her reluctantly. ‘’tonight. i’ll call you.’’
She nodded realizing he didn’t want to leave her in a hurry and quickly grabbed her bag
“I love you.’’ He mumbled before turning to leave finally.
She didn’t have the courage to respond to that.
When Scarlett tried as much as possible to bring in self-control, she found it hard to and just wanted to feel Josh again and so automatically shut off all warnings that surfaced whenever she thought about their passionate kiss this morning.
It was break time and she was about eating lunch when her phone rang.
Oh no! it was Gabe
She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of him all day. Wasn’t this the man she was getting married to in a few month’s time?
She inhaled deeply before picking. ‘’Gabe…I’m so sorry.’’
“where have you been and what’s going on?’’
“you don’t know how sorry I am. Something came up yesterday and I just forgot about calling you…’’ she didn’t know what else to say and she realized to get out of this, she might have to lie
Oh goodness! Was this how it all started, from one sin to another?

“I’ll see you tonight…’’
“I cant. I have to see a child’s parent.’’ She felt filthy. If only he knew what she was going to do tonight, which was much more than conversation.
“what for? I thought that was what you were doing the other time we couldn’t see each other?’’
“its so much more Gabe. I’ll explain everything tomorrow evening over dinner okay. Right now I cant say much.’’
“ok. I’ll wait. Hope you’ve been good?’’
“yea. I’m okay. I just get busy sometimes.’’
“tomorrow.’’
“yea.’’
He hesitated before saying. ‘’I love you.’’ And then she realized she was the one who usually cooed those words first before he replied the same way.
“you too.’’ Was all she could say. She couldn’t just bring herself to


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