As we walk through the mall people begin to recognize who he is and they wave and call out to him. Mekhi just waves and takes it all in stride in the best way possible. He's friendly, never rude and always patient. Through all of this we keep trying to steal glances of one another but, we keep catching each other and laugh about it. The feel of my hand in his is unrealistic, like it's meant to be there as if his hand was sculpted just to be able to fit mine. All of this feels as if it's part of a dream; handsome guy, good manners, popular-all characteristics of a leading man in a romance novel. If that's the case, what in the world am I doing here, I think to myself. We finally make our way through the mall, the department store, and to the parking lot.
"I'll walk you to your car," Mekhi says as we step into the parking lot.
"Okay, I'm parked over there," I say pointing in the direction of my car and he tightens his grip
"Good evening, my name is Natalie. Could I start you guys off with something to drink," a pretty waitress says reading the atmosphere between us and attempts to keep her eyes off Mekhi."Good evening, I will take a sweet tea with lemon. What about you baby," Mekhi says at ease with that velvet voice looking at the waitress only to place his order and returns his attention back to me."I'll have the same, thank you ma'am," I say because I am so flustered right now I can barely comprehend the magnitude of what's going on right now and I feel the panic starting to rise."Yes, ma'am. And are you guys ready to order or do you need a few more minutes," she asks us looking between us."A few more minutes," we say in unison and I giggle because I don't know what else to do."Okay, take your time and I'll be back with your drinks," Natalie says as she takes her leave.
The waitress returns with our dessert and the bill. We fuss over the bill; he won't allow me to pay for any portion of the meal or tip the waitress so I vow to beat him to the punch next time. As promised we shared the dessert although I left most of it for Mekhi to finish; it was really good. We gather our belongings (really me and my box of food and wristlet) and head out of the restaurant. It's dark outside as we walk hand in hand to our cars; since neither of us are ready for the evening to end we decide to take a walk downtown and end our evening together there. He opens my car door for me once again and I follow him back on to the main road to go downtown. We are able to find parking close enough to each other so we park and he meets me at my car with a jean jacket over his arm."This is for you, in case you get cold," he says as he helps me out of my car."Thank you," I say realizing that it is chilly and I didn't bring
The next thing I know he's kissing me or am I kissing him or rather we're kissing each other. The kiss is so deep, sweet, and passionate that when we finally pull apart I am breathless and my heart is racing. I rest my head against his chest and try to collect my thoughts. I can't believe we really just kissed like that and it felt so right. My mind wants me to slow things down yet something somewhere deep inside of me is telling me that I'm doing just fine. I was never one to believe in love at first sight, but the last week of my life has felt nothing short of a fairytale or romance novel. I read those books to escape reality even if it's for a little while, I did not imagine that it could happen for real."Was that too much," Mekhi asks lifting my chin with soft concerned eyes."No, it was just fine," I reply with a small smile. More than fine actually, I say to myself."Cool," he says and this time I de
I turn on my radio when I get to stoplight and put on a station with slow jams. The only thing that keeps crossing my mind is that last kiss we just had. I run my finger across both my lips and feel that they're both swollen from tonight's kissing. I bite my lip and focus on the road; I'm definitely going to need a hot shower tonight. I glance at the clock and it's only fifteen past eleven, I'll shoot the girls a text when I get in the house. I turn on to my street and turn off the radio as I pull into our driveway. I notice that both Mom and Dad's cars are gone and realize that I haven't checked my phone since before dinner with Mekhi. I check it while I'm still sitting in the driveway and there aren't any messages so I grab my wristlet and shopping bags and head into the house. Once I get inside I take off my sandals and carry them up to my room. No one is home yet, of course this is normal for a Saturday night at my house so I put
BuzzzBuzzzzzBuzzzzzzzzz"Somebody's phone is ringing," Rylie says in her sleep."Alright, I'm bouta check it," I say opening an eye to find the phone that's vibrating."It's not mine. I out mine on silent," Nova says."Hello," I say groggily into my phone not caring to look and see who is calling."Good morning baby," Mekhi says in a velvet voice causing me to hop off the bed."Good morning," I say stifling a yawn."Are you still sleep," he asks with a hint of laughter in his voice."I was. I had a long night," I say stretching my limbs and heading down to the living room so I don't disturb the girls."I see. I hope I'm not to blame," he says."Nooo, my girls came over late last night and we stayed up way too long," I say sinking int
"Guess who," I say sliding my hands over his eyes like a child."Must be my baby because I'm not here for anyone else," he says with a smile on his face and he places his hands over mine removing them."How'd you know," I say feigning disappointment as he releases my hands and stands to hug me and surprisingly kiss me."Just a wild guess," he says as he holds my hand while I slide into my seat."Did you wait here long for me," I ask as he slides back into his seat."No, I got here about five minutes ago," he says holding my hand looking at me tenderly."Oh ok," I say and bite my lip because my hormones are definitely raging wild because he's looking at me like that."Do you know what you want to eat today," he says with that velvet voice and I nearly combust in my seat. Good grief it's too early in the day for me to be feeling like this,
We bless our food and begin eating. We make more small talk and exchange smiles like crazy fools. My spirit is full and overwhelmed with happiness. As I still a glance of this beautiful man across from me, I'm convinced that this is my new beginning and I will not mess it up. I should act like I'm going to the bathroom and sneak and pay the bill when he's not expecting it. I wonder how he'll react…there's only one way to find out."Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom," I say placing my fork and knife on my plate standing."Okay, take your time," Mekhi says standing to help me out of the booth. As soon as I'm far enough away from him I flag down a waiter and hand them my card to quickly pay for our meal ans actually go to the bathroom to keep up with what I said I was going to do. By the time I get back to the table I'm so happy with my plan that I forget to wipe the smug look f
With a last wave he walks to his own car and I pull off and head home. Today is definitely going to be long even though we've been together twice within twenty four hours I haven't had my fill of Mekhi. He makes me feel wanted and secure which only makes me even more attracted to him than I already am. I can't believe he kissed me in front of the diner like that though, I guess that means that he is serious about me being his. As I'm thinking about him being mine a warmth spread through me that I've felt the last few times we've been together. When I pull into the driveway at home I see that my parents are back and I try desperately to think of something other than Mekhi before I go into the house. "Heeeyyyy," I yell out as I walk in the door. "We're in here," Mom calls from the kitchen and I head in that direction. "Hey daddy and mom," I say as I walk into the kitchen and take a seat at the table.
The next morning flies by as all of my time outside of classes is being occupied by Mekhi; he even picked the twins and me up this morning. We have breakfast and lunch together. He also accompanies me to his dorm so I can study after he promises me peace and quiet because he has practice to attend. After studying for a few hours he comes back and we go to a store off campus to purchase school spirit wear for the twins and I to wear to the game tomorrow. I ask Mekhi to join us for dinner and he agrees so I text the twins to let them know that Mekhi is coming over for dinner. I text my parents as well to keep them in the loop of what's going on here at home. We stop by the supermarket to pick up some ingredients for tonight's dinner. I decide to make creamed spinach stuffed salmon with sautéed asparagus, loaded baked potato, and a garden salad. Mekhi holds the basket as we walk through the aisles of the supermarket hand in hand loading it up. Those who recognize
I head inside and take my shoes off at the door replacing them with the slippers I've left there. After taking my things up to my room I go to the kitchen to wash my hands and I call out to the twins. "Hey Na-na," Journee says strolling into the kitchen. "Hey, what do you guys want to do for dinner? I'm thinking pizza and wings," I say to her. "Pizza sounds good. I'm sure Jackson is good with pizza," she says. "I'm good with what," Jackson says walking into the kitchen. "Pizza," Journee and I say at the same time. "Oh yeah with wings," he says to us. "Cool, I'm going to order it now. Stay here for a moment though," I say to them and I pull out my phone to call the pizza place to place our order. When I'm done I sit at the table and debate with myself about if I should tell them about what Mekhi told me. "What's up," Journee says. "So, Mekhi has told me some things and I have to decide if I'm going to like be, be with him or not. I can't really tell you guys too many details s
I take out my phone from my bag and purposefully play some music loud enough to drown out whatever conversation they're having out there. I open my social media account and see that I've gotten a lot of new friend requests since confirming my relationship with Mekhi. While scrolling I decide to look up Mekhi's family and there are barely any images of them online. The information on them is very basic as well however there's a plethora of information on their business and the multitude of companies under them. His family's business is worth billions of dollars and my jaw hits the floor when I see the number. I knew that he was wealthy but seeing it in print just solidifies it. I exit the search engine and text the twins to check on them. They're both home preparing to head back out. I remind them to lock up the house and to text me when they reach their destination.Unsure of what else to do I kick off my shoes and lie back on his bed and close my eyes letting t
Pulling my hand he leads me into his room. It's not too small yet it isn't big either. The walls are simply decorated with posters in frames and other items. There's a small twin sized bed that's nice and made up as well as a desk, wardrobe, and night stand. I stand in the center of the room taking in my surroundings as Mekhi stands next to me holding my hand and watching my expressions.'His room is so plain and simple and much cleaner than I would've thought. Then again with someone of his status he wouldn't be a messy person. I wonder how much time he actually spends here versus his other place.'"This is nice and cozy," I say to him with a smile."Thank you, would you like to look around or just go in the living room," he asks."If you don't mind I would like to look around," I say a little shy."Okay," he says and leads me out of his room.He shows me th
As he's driving us back to campus I continue to go back and forth in my mind of whether I'm capable enough to handle his situation. I remember thinking that he's heaven sent but, I had no idea that he would be wrapped up in a nicely wrapped wealthy package. Rich people have issues much bigger than us regular people. What if he has a fiancée from birth type of arrangement that he has to commit to? I don't want to be left standing alone, I know relationships end so this may not be a forever thing but I don't want to be tossed aside either. There are just so many questions and the main one that keeps coming to mind is 'Why me?' "What's on your mind baby," he asks squeezing my hand. "A lot" I say not knowing where to start or if I should start. "If you want to talk I'm all ears. If you have any questions or anything bothering you about what we discussed you can definitely ask me anything," he says reassuringly.
When we are finished eating, Mekhi graciously declines dessert and I let him settle the bill without fussing. Mekhi holds my hand as we leave the diner and thanks the staff and other patrons again as they congratulate him once more. Outside the diner he wraps his arm around my shoulder and pull me close kissing me on the forehead. I smile and enjoy being in his embrace as we walk to his car. He unlocks his car doors and pulls my door open helping me into the car before getting in the car himself. I buckle my seatbelt as he starts the car and buckles himself in."Are you ready," he asks me holding my hand."As ready as I can possibly be," I say to him with a reassuring smile."Alright, remember…no pressure baby," he says kissing my hand."I know," I say to him tilting my head back and closing my eyes.We drive for what feels like twenty minutes in comfortable silence. I am
The next morning everything including time just flies by. I let the twins know about my plans with Mekhi and Dad's impromptu plans to accompany Mom for the last few days of her trip. They know the routine and we all keep our ringers on in case we need to contact one another throughout the day. It could be that I'm anticipating on finally seeing Mekhi after two days or the huge cup of coffee I drank this morning. I'm thinking it's the latter as I'm constantly checking my phone waiting for a message from him or any sign that he's back. As I'm packing up to leave History, my last class of the day, I hear commotion by the door. I sling my bag over my shoulder and grab my jacket as today is nice and warm I don't need to put it on. As I get closer to the door my heart flutters away sending my blood rushing through my veins. I hear congratulatory praises and squeals I lift my eyes as I walk through the door and see my handsome man in the middle of said crowd with eyes for no one but me.
Inside the car we're chatting happily about the game on our ride home. I'm still amazed that I watched the whole game and that we won. Mekhi played so well tonight, I know he's excited. "How does it feel to see someone you're dating on TV," Jackson says. "I don't know. Surreal I guess, I mean it's cool seeing him play in general," I say not knowing exactly how to answer his question. "I don't think it matters to her whether he's on TV or not," Journee says helping me. "Yeah, kind of like that. It doesn't matter him being on TV, he's cool all the same," I say to Jackson. "I guess with Mom and Dad being who they are it's different for us," he says. "Yeah, that makes sense. I suspect that they've only remained local to raise and take care of us which didn't stop them from venturing out. We just gave them a reason to be home more often," I say to him
First to the long table was Susu and her three siblings, next was Rylie with Ryan and Roman, and Nova with Julian and Susana was last. I introduced Susu to everyone and she introduced her siblings before we changed our seating so that we girls could sit together and the siblings all sit together. When we were all settled the waiter returned and took the drink order of the rest of the group. Because we had reserved so much seating we had a table between us and our siblings which worked perfectly for a little privacy and a place to stack our dishes. We talk about which appetizers and wing flavors to choose so that when the waiter returns we have our order ready. After the waiter hands out the drinks he takes our order of three nacho appetizers, three mozzarella stick appetizers, and one hundred twenty five wings of various flavors. I ask him to wait about twenty minutes before placing the wing order after we receive our appetizers. As soon as he leaves conversat