Chapter 7 - A start of something beautiful

.. biting the wall of my stomach.

I arrived at home few minutes later and went straight to meet my mom who was at the dinning room - dusting the table with a dry clothe when she suddenly raised her gaze and noticed me approaching.

"Honey, you look so exhausted" My mom said as she stood erect to face me the moment I came closer, standing at the opposite end of the dinning table.

"Good afternoon mom" I heaved in a low breathless voice - pulling an empty chair back before collapsing on it to sit.

"You must be hungry, let me go get your lunch" My mom said with a soft smile - placing her left hand under my chin before moving past me for the kitchen to get a plate of whatever she must have prepared.

"Here you go" her voice sounded the moment she returned into the dining room, leveling a plate of food with a glass of water on the table in front of me before sitting down on an empty chair closer to mine.

My tummy rumbled hungrily when the aroma of the beans filled my nose as I inhaled - leaning forward and to hold my spoon while giving my mom a quick glance before taking my first scoop.

"Thanks alot mom ... Thish is so delicioush" I said to my mom - munching hard on the beans inside my mouth as I spoke.

"So tell me, how was work today and what's the nature of your job?" My mom asked, grinning as she leaned her back comfortably on the chair with her gaze still leveled at me. I couldn't tell what was going on in her mind, but from the look on her face -- I was quite sure she was surprised to see me rush at my meal.

Then I dropped my spoon on the plate after her questioning and picked up the glass of water to drink before saying to my mom in a much more refreshed and relaxed voice "Work was fine mom"

"And it's just a gardening job - nothing much" I added, leaning my back on the chair.

"Oh!" my mom muttered, moving her head up and down in a very slow manner; almost as though she wasn't pleased with the job.

"And so... What's the pay like?" My mom asked, leaning forward with both hands placed on the dining table with a concerned look on her face.

"I wasn't able to meet with my employer to discuss that before I got back home, but I guess I'll do that tomorrow" I answered with a shrug.

Then my mom exhaled sharply without saying a word and pulled away from the table to rest her back again on her chair. A lot was going through her mind and I could tell - judging by her worried countenance and how mutely she sat with her gaze lowered.

"Look mom" my voice broke out suddenly in concern as I leaned forward on the table. "It's nothing for you to worry about, the pay will be okay and I will be able to assist you in offsetting some bills" I consoled with a soft smile on my face - staring gleefully at my mom who lifted her gaze back at me.

Then she forced out a motherly smile and said to me. "Thanks Liam... Am so proud of you for being responsible. Am -- am just sorry you have to go through all this when you're..."

"It's fine mom...you shouldn't blame yourself for anything" I cut in quickly with a wide grin - pushing my chair back slowly in readiness to stand up. "I'll be in my room... I just want to take a quick nap" I said as I stood up from my chair - moving forward to give my mom a quick peck on the right cheek before heading to my room.

*****

Fifteen minutes had passed after coming into my room to get a quick nap and yet, I still couldn't get some sleep - let alone control my own thoughts from drifting off to think of Chloe and the bitter embarrassment her rich looking boyfriend gave to me!

"Ugh!...I should never have extended my hand to that guy" I growled under my breath - rolling from side to side as I laid on the bed when the humiliating act of Kevin snubbing my friendly handshake replayed in my thoughts; making me feel very much uncomfortable and annoyed with myself.

Then I heaved out a deep sigh and quickly raised myself to sit - picking up my phone to dial Shelly's number. If there was anyone who could help calm my worrisome nerves, it was Shelly!

"C'mon Shelly, pleeease -- just pick up, pick up" I mumbled in a whisper with the phone placed on my right ear as her number began ringing; not until it came to an abrupt end before I lowered the phone from my ear and fell backwards to rest my head on the pillow - feeling sore and frustrated!

I've never felt this lonely in a very long time like the way I was feeling now - especially with Shelly who has made up her mind to never speak with me again!

So I lifted my phone again and dialled Andrew's number - placing the phone on my right ear as soon as it started ringing.

"Yo bro... Wassup?" Andrew's cheerful voice rang over the phone as soon as he answered the call.

"Am cool" I answered plainly with my eyes closed while my left hand rubbed slowly over my forehead. "Listen man, I dunno -- I might not be able to make it to the bar today, maybe tomorrow?" I added and waited for his response.

"Your voice is kinda low, are you sure you're okay?" Andrew asked immediately in a concerned tone.

"Ye--yeah, sure" I blurted, trying as much as possible to sound hearty. "Just that I feel a bit stressed out after my work today" I concluded calmly with a brief sigh.

"Alright man, you take some rest -- we'll see tomorrow" Andrew chuckled and hung up the call before I even lowered the phone from my ear.

*** THE FOLLOWING DAY ***

Mr Williams and I stood near his car, discussing about my work schedule and payment rate when Chloe came out of the house - rushing towards us with a file in her right hand.

"Dad, you left this on the dining table" Chloe said purposefully as she approached and stood beside us before handing over the file to her dad who collected it with an acknowledging nod of his head.

She was wearing a short sky blue jean skirt that hung above her knees, revealing her overly smooth and fair thighs with an orange coloured singlet-like basketball jersey which she wore on top and had the number '22' boldly imprinted in both sides - giving her an attractive look.

"Good morning Liam" Chloe said in a hearty voice as she turned her head to look at me.

"Hi" I replied her rather coldly and returned my gaze back on her dad whose lips parted to speak.

"So I guess we've come to an agreement... You'll come tend to the lawn and the garden thrice a week for a weekly pay of 400 box" Mr Williams said to me with a courteous smile as he repeated our previous discussion.

'Oh great!... Now she's heard am going to be paid 400 box weekly.' I lamented annoyingly in my head after Mr William finished speaking as I found it a bit embarrassing that he said it in the presence of Chloe who stood beside us with her hands clamped together in silence - paying attention to every word he said.

"Yes Sir" I answered, faking a pretentious smile with an agreeing nod of my head.

"Alright, let me leave you to your day... Am off to work" Mr Williams concluded sharply, giving me a friendly pat on my left shoulder before moving forward to enter his car.

"See you when you're back dad" Chloe said, waving her right hand cheerfully at her dad whose engine revved as he started his car before speeding off.

"Liam wait!" Chloe's voice broke out suddenly behind me after I'd turned around and was about taking a step.

So I exhaled sharply and halted before turning to face her with a questioning stare.

"Look, listen I errm... Am sorry about yesterday" Chloe said, sounding rather shy than confident as she spoke while taking two steps closer.

"What for?" I asked in a clueless tone of voice.

"I saw the way my boyfriend ignored your handshake yesterday -- and It was very immature of me going without..."

"Please stop" I interrupted quickly, motioning my right hand at her to say less.

I couldn't stand her apology as it filled me with some kind of guilt -- I mean, if anyone was to apologize, it was supposed to be her boyfriend Kevin and not her!

"Listen, am not offended with whatever that happened yesterday" I added, forcing a consoling smile on my face as I gazed at Chloe who stood with an unsure look on her face; like she was having doubts in believing my response. But what did I care?! Whether she had doubts in my response or not was the least of my worry as my only major concern now was to complete my task for today and get home in time to meet Andrew later tonight at the bar.

"But I truly mean it... Am sorry" Chloe insisted with a soft and low voice that melted my heart.

"Well thanks, but you'll have to excuse me, I need to get working on the garden" I replied, slowly retreating my steps as I spoke. Then I turned around and walked away towards the garage - leaving Chloe who later went back into the house...

Few minutes after entering the garage, I stood in front of the wooden table, placing the garden scissors and a pair of hand gloves which I was going to use when my gaze suddenly drifted to see Chloe approaching the garage at a distance - holding a fancy polythene bag in her right hand with only God knows what was in it and a small sized tray on her left hand.

"Is that?..." I muttered inaudibly to myself and paused, squinting my eyes as I struggled to see what was on the tray she was holding; but I couldn't tell for sure what it was until she finally came into the garage.

'No way! What's with this girl' my mind chorused in amusement as she approached where I stood and leveled the items on the table. What she brought were two hamburgers and two cans of soda - each I guess was for the both of us.

"Can I steal five minutes of your time?" Chloe asked in a somewhat playful tone - handing me a hamburger and a can soda which I found myself collecting without much hesitation. For a brief moment, I was short of words; I mean, what would have prompted her to do this?

"Thanks" I chuckled, turning to lean my butt on the table. "But why? Or is this some kind of appeasement for yesterday" I asked, looking at her with a friendly smile on my face before taking a bite of the hamburger which was undoubtedly delicious with my eyelids almost closing in savour as it melted in my mouth.

"Mmm... Maybe. And so you don't also complain of not having breakfast before working" Chloe chuckled softly with a playful shrug of her shoulder which I found to be a bit amusing.

"And you shouldn't spend much time inside a garage, lest your boyfriend comes and find you in it" I laughed jockingly with a teasing voice.

Chloe giggled in amusement and raised herself to sit on the table before take a bit of her hamburger.

"Yep, that's Kevin... he can be very protective of me atimes" She chuckled in response - staring blankly at the mower straight ahead with a wide grin on her face as she spoke.

"Well, it's a good thing he is protective of you, considering the fact that you're..." I said and paused my words instantly when I realised how foolish it was to speak without keeping my feelings or emotions in check!

"Considering the fact that I am?" Chloe giggled rhetorically with a level of curiosity in her voice as she turned her head to looked at me - wearing a wide smile on her face that filled my head with conflicting thoughts; wether or not to complete my sentence!

"Urrm... I dunno, I think it's best not completing it" I hesitated with an awkward chuckle before taking a sip of my drink.

So she laughed and said "Just say it... I promise, wether it's good or bad -- I won't be angry even if..."

"You're beautiful" I blurted immediately with a mechanic smile on my face as i struggled to maintain eye contact with Chloe who fell speechless with a stunned expression. "I... I meant considering the fact the you're beautiful, that's why your boyfriend is protective of you" I added quickly, trying to clear any thought in her head of me trying to flirt with her.

"Uh... Thanks" she said in a somewhat whispering voice and blushed lightly while removing her gaze from mine before lowering it on her hamburger as she ate of it in silence.

I felt awkward and somehow shy as we sat on the table in tormenting silence - hearing only the sounds from our busy jaws as we munched on our hamburger.

'I need to say something to her or else I won't be able to last another minute in this silence' I groaned in my mind with my teeth clenched in frustration.

So I gently placed my can soda on the table beside me before turning to face Chloe also lifted her gaze to look at me.

"I... I want to show you something Liam" Chloe's breathless voice broke out almost in a whisper just as I was about parting my lips to speak - filling my head with so many crazy thoughts as I leveled my gaze on hers...