Drie.

Chapter Three.

I looked around my mother’s restaurant in awe. The De Bruyn’s Eats was definitely the most attractive and the most expensive, yet popular restaurant in Blue Stone pack by the time I was leaving for Europe.

And here I am, more than four years after, and this place is still full of customers, and obviously the most pocket drying prices— and only the best food anyone around can ask for, I’m sure.

Mother has her faults— a lot of them, actually, but this restaurant is something good to admire her for.

I pull my hoodie down even more, hoping that no one would recognize me or my scent. Although the way I smell must have been altered a bit, but still!

Before I left the house, I had taken one of my favourite books with me to come and read over here. Fishing into my back pack, I brought it out.

The Silent Twin by Caroline Mitchell. An old favourite.

A waiter came to my table and stopped. “Ma’am?”

“Ma’am? I’m sorry, but you have been here for over fifteen minutes. You cannot stay here for more than ten minutes without ordering a meal. Are you going to order something, please?” He asked politely.

“Uh, vegetable soup, please. Meat and some fried fish included, beef. Not any other kind of meat, just beef. And I don’t want any solids to eat it with, just get me the soup and a spoon. Thank you.” I had answered with a nod.

Mother had a few cook as you order chefs, so I knew that I did not have to worry about ordering something that was not already on the menu.

Although vegetable soup with beef was always available on the menu.

“Uh madam, what kind of vegetable soup would you like?” He asked and looked down, as if embarrassed. That made me to smile a bit, he must have been a new worker.

“Just give me one that is really tasty. Thank you.” I nodded at the waiter, hoping that the only visible parts of my face were my nose and mouth.

He tapped a few times at something on his official working pad, the only form of technology allowed to be held around by workers during work hours.

“I would bring your soup in about twenty to thirty minutes, ma’am. And the cheque too.”

“Thank you.” I nodded at him and continued to read after he had left me alone. A woman passed me by, and just when I had turned my head to look at her, she scoffed.

Weird, but okay. The new thing is scoffing at strangers now?

I bared my teeth at her, but she continued to walk away. A few other people were looking at me, and then I realized why later.

I was dressed in a hoodie and pants. In a restaurant full of weres who wore suits and blazers whenever they could not. I probably looked disrespectful, or too poor to be in such a high end place.

Was that why the waiter was acting strange then? Because I wore a hoodie and trousers to a place people wore expensive gowns to?

He thought that I could not afford it?

I chuckled and continued to flip the pages of my book. My soup did arrive in about twenty minutes and I dropped my book to eat. My mind drifted off to thoughts about my sister, Davina and I wondered how she would be like.

How her fiancé would be like, actually. How does he deal with her? I knew Davina as a compulsive, self obsessed young woman. But I honestly wondered what he thought her to be as. Was he someone that I had met before I traveled abroad? Why did mother not give me more details about him?

I rang the electronic bell on the table. The waiter that had attended to me earlier was by my table in a few minutes, holding the cheque out. With a sigh, I got some money out of my back pack and gave it to him, before settling down again.

Most of the people who were there looked like they had come in male-female pairs. The table adjacent to me had a man holding out a pink rose and a jewellery box. Another was presenting a box full of moonstones to the man she came with. Every where I looked, there was a couple in sight, with the exception of  a few people here and there.

“Happy anniversary, Colton.” I heard from behind me. I groaned into my hands. Just like the world to let me know that I messed up with the task I left for big time.

“Happy anniversary to you too, baby girl. And happy Valentine’s.” He responded.

Of course it was still the blasted week! All that was left to put the toppings on the cake was for my sister to waltz in and say-

“Hey Mia, meet my fiancé!” With the most beautiful evil grin to have ever existed.

I looked around in envy. All these weres were having fun, enjoying one of the things I craved the most. Affection. Love, if possible.

I heard a tiny crackle and pop, like someone had made a tiny fireworks show. I turned to look at the source of the sound and I saw a tall male holding a small box at his back, laughing at the female that he had startled with success before making his way over to her.

I felt like I was being mocked. I turned my head to look away, but I could still hear he squeal-

“Yes! Yes Dax, I will marry you!” With so much joy in her voice.

I really wanted to be happy for them, and for everyone else who came as a couple and were still celebrating, but I could not. How could I be happy for them when they seemingly got what they wanted and seemingly with little or even no stress at all?

“Ek het jou lief.”

“Ngiyakuthanda.”

“I love you!”

“Ndiyakuthanda.”

Came from different parts of my mother’s restaurant and all the affection was suffocating as it seemed to go around and above me, but never towards me directly.

I had suddenly smelt one of the most disgusting things. I looked around once more. Women dressed in classy, obviously expensive outfits laughing, their blinding white teeth showing, others were covering their mouths with their hands, it all seemed to happen in slow motion. The smell emanated from every single one of them.

Arousal.

I knew that if I did not get up and leave, the disgust in my gut would eventually make me vomit. If I had a scented handkerchief, then maybe I would have been able to hold on a bit, but I did not.

I put my book in place, placed my headphones back on properly and left the restaurant. The air outside was cool on my face, and did not smell of horny females.

A power bike passed by and then I thought about buying one. Father had one before he had died. Sure, he had cars and the rest, but he specifically loved riding his large green power bike whenever he went out alone, or with Davina and I. I also used to ride a scooter sometimes— during the hot weather in Europe, but it was nothing compared to my father’s.

Mother never liked the power bike, but I did. Davina feared it, but she had always thought that it was a cool thing to have. Mother got rid of his power bike a few weeks after he died.

Two weeks, to be precise.

Father had always loved us so much, and he made Davina and I feel like princesses. He always watched the Disney princess cartoons with us and afterwards, he would get matching princess outfits and have us play dress up.

How mother and Davina could not leave his picture up on the wall was something that I could not understand the reason for.

At that point, I was mentally drained and I did not want to go home. I wanted to hide out for a while, abs thinking about it made me feel like a little girl again. I changed direction and headed to the part of the pack where trees and other large plants ruled.

The forest.

I started to run once I got into the trees and it had felt somewhat liberating. When I was younger, father used to take Davina and I here and make us get lost in it for about an hour. And then afterwards, he would come to find us. Davina stopped coming after he died, but this place was like my second home—sometimes, I would almost hear my father’s voice calling out to us to help us find our way back to him.

I would be darned if I deserted this place completely like she did.

I looked up at the trees, almost wanting to climb them and eat some of their fruits. But I was not up for that, not yet. My destination was the water.

As I walk, I hear the movement of small animals and then I notice some new additions to the place I knew like the back of my hand. I walked a bit further and then I saw it for the first time in a long time.

The clear river in all its glory. The water was said to always remain pure, no matter how many people go to touch it or even swim in the water itself. And it helped in calming beings down, weres and humans alike. A lot of people did not know the way to this beautiful clearing where the river seemed to run from a far away place and settle into the circular opening in the middle of the clearing. I sat down and removed my shoes, dipping my legs into the warm comforting pond.

I really wished that I could talk to someone else, but my mother and sister were not exactly available, and even if they were, I did not think that I would really want to talk to them about something like this.

And my old friends? The ones I left here when I went abroad? I wouldn’t know as they only called the first year, and sparingly on the second. After the month of April, they stopped making calls to me and stopped answering mine.

Then I remembered Tolu!

Quickly bringing out my phone, I sent my phone number as a text to him on Picstagram. He was online. Only about two minutes later, my phone began to ring, and it was a strange number.

Chances of it not being Tolu...??

I picked up the phone on the third ring.

“Hi.” I said, blowing out air through my mouth. “You called.”

“Yeah.” He said, and I could hear his smile as his deep voice penetrated my ears.

“Not to seem too desperate or anything.” He added.

“Saying ‘too desperate’ would imply that you’re somewhat desperate.” I laughed a bit.

“What can I say, Mia? I really want to be your friend.”

“And here is your chance to be.” My lips made a ‘pop’ sound.

“Not too long from now, you would start to call me your best friend.” He said and paused.

“Uh, Mia?” He asked.

“Uh, yes?”

“Did you hear me wink through the phone? And can you hear me squinting my eyes in the prettiest way possible?” He asked with a dead serious tone.

“No. I did not. You see those things, you don’t hear them!” I said, face palming myself. “You are so weird for someone who’s already an adult.”

“Well, my mother always said ‘No let maturity kill you before your time oh. Try dey enjoy.’” He laughed.

I laughed with him. “Nigerian pidgin. It’s true, enjoy yourself while you can, yes?”

“Exactly. So tell me, what prompted you to send your number today?” He asked...