Chapter 2: Umbrella

A few minutes before 7 pm, I lied to my mom that I wanted to see someone in our neighborhood. She asked who the person was and I told her Mrs. Coffer, thus she nodded and told me not to stay long.

As happy as I was, I walked out and headed to Mrs. Coffer's house. The aged woman welcomed me in and asked, to what does she owe the pleasure. I smiled and lied to her that I just wanted to check on her and her grandson, Sam. It'd been a while since I last visited.

She sighed and got me a coffee. "Sam's mother came and took him away not long ago," she said. "I am all alone now," she muttered.

"Isn't he coming back soon?" I asked concerned.

"Not as far as I know," she said. "So," she continued trying to hide her pain by wearing a lit smile on her face. "How is your mother?" She asked.

"My mom is fine, though she's been on sick leave for some days now" I briefed her.

"Fever?" she asked.

"No, stress" I replied.

"Oh, send my regards to her when you get back home please," she said.

"Sure!" I nodded with a smile.

After the little conversation, I bade her goodbye and scuttered out. Unfortunately, it was already 7 pm...which meant I was already late for the club. I stopped a taxi, hopped in, and sighed in relief as the taximan drove us away.

I arrived at the club some minutes later and headed towards the entrance. The securities couldn't let me in so I called Victoria and told her to come get me in. "Right away!" she said and ended the call.

Immediately she came out, she hugged me tightly and expressed how happy she was to see me.

"I am sorry for coming late, I had to cook up stories to avoid being stopped by my mom" I apprised imagining how angry my mom would be when she eventually realized I fooled her.

"I understand Stella, after all, I know who your mom is" she beamed at me. "By the way," she continued, "sorry about the security guards, they thought you were an uninvited guest"

"You don't need to explain anything, Vicky," I said as we both headed into the club.

"Alright then," she said.

The place was noisy and filled with crowd. Some people were dancing, some watching, some were drinking, some were gambling...I couldn't even count the activities taking place there.

Raymond, her boyfriend was happy to see me. We greeted each other and, thus, they joined the rest of the crowd on the dance floor.

I chuckled at the sight of their crazy dancing styles, they were perfect together. They had met at work and would soon be getting married to each other.

After about ten to fifteen minutes, they came to convince me to join them on the dance floor but I refused. They went back and sent some good-looking guys to try to lure me but that did not work either.

I wasn't used to being in places like that, you know? So I was kind of inconvenient. In fact, in less than an hour, I just decided to leave...yeah, to go home.

The place wasn't really for people like me, I was already tired of turning guys' offers to have a drink or to dance with me...plus the time was moving fast, soon my mom would start looking for me. I didn't want her to go checking on me in Mrs. Coffer's house, that wouldn't be good!

When I told Victoria I was leaving, she asked why and I lied to her that my mom texted me. Luckily, she fell for my lies. We bade each other goodbye and I headed towards the exit as fast as I could.

Many perverts tried to gain my attention with their crazy offers but all to no avail. I didn't think I could ever be in such a place ever again.

As soon as I was out, I realized it was about to rain. The sky was clouded and the wind was blowing extensively. A voice in my head told me not to risk being drenched along the way, another voice however told me it'd be far better than returning to the filthy club.

With little or no time to waste, I decided to go with the second voice. I ran into the street and kept running while searching for a taxi. Eventually, the wind stopped bashing and the rain began falling gently.

Many cars were moving around but there were no taxis. I needed a taxi home, albeit I could trek but I didn't want to be overly drenched and late when I reach home.

I looked around, hoping to find a taxi soon or be given a lift by...at least someone. Not just anyone though but someone from my neighborhood, someone I knew.

Damn! I muttered a curse as the rain started getting heavier. Hopefully, my phone was waterproof, I didn't need to hide or wrap it with something.

I kept running in the rain until the phone started ringing. I checked the screen to find out the person calling was my mom.

I am in trouble! I thought to myself.

Not picking up the call meant more trouble, and picking it up without cooking up the right story to tell will expose my lies.

"Hello, Mom," I said in what seemed like a whisper as I sluggishly picked up the call.

"Come back home right this instant!" she exclaimed and ended the call.

My heart began beating fast. I was so confused, at the same time scared. Did she check for me in Mrs. Coffer's house already? What does she know? I wondered.

Suddenly, the rain stopped falling on me but was falling everywhere else. In bewilderment, I looked up and found a stranger standing behind me with his umbrella shielding us both from the rain.

"Huh?" I expressed wondering who he was. He was tall and good-looking...and his Armani suit suits him perfectly. I had never seen him before, who could he possibly be?

As the car illuminating us finally drove past us, his face became practically unrecognizable to me in the umbrella. I couldn't see him clearly and somehow I imagined him wearing a devilish smile already, was he?

I gently stepped away from him and his umbrella in fear, and before I could scutter away he extended the umbrella to me. "Take it, you need it more than I do!" he said in a deep husky voice.

Something told me not to take the umbrella but I badly needed it so I grabbed it and thanked him before running away.

I kept running until I eventually reached our neighborhood, hence I smiled and strolled gently toward home.

I knew I would be scolded!