"Where is Nana?" I ask when I walk in the kitchen and grab a bowl. I pour the cereal and milk after. I don't bother asking about Nate. I was certain that he left the minute he got out of my room.
"She went grocery shopping," Andrew says and I sit next to him.
"Can I ask you something?" I ask.
"Sure," he says as he chews.
"What happened between you and Future that makes it difficult for her to forgive you?" I ask. Andrew sighs and pushes the bowl away from him.
"It's a long story," he exhales.
"I've got time," I say and relax on my stool. Today, I get to know the reason Future flew across the world to get away from Andrew.
"I was young and stupid. You know how high school is?" I want to tell him I don't know, but I keep my mouth shut.
"I was in a group of five. We were the hottest group of guys in school, so they said. When we got smart and learnt about sex and how good it is; we started competing. Our bet was getting the most beautiful girls in school pregnant, to prove whose sperms got more load to make a baby." he continues.
"It was a fucked up bet but it was the best bet of the century. To prove to the guys that you don't shoot blanks. We were not thinking about the consequences." My mouth hangs open at the confession.
"I liked Future the first day I saw her. She was new and you know what happens when you are new meat at the school. She was the most beautiful girl; I have ever seen. And I knew the guys would go for her. For the first time in my life, I didn't want to be part of the stupid bet. But I couldn't get out of it since Hector was hell-bent on getting her pregnant, so we made a bet on who will get her pregnant first."
"I fell for her, I loved her with my all, and I still do. Hector tried to make his moves on her, but she didn't fall for his charms like every other girl in school. She chose me—and when she told me she loved me I felt like the biggest asshole ever. I wanted to tell her about the bet after I made love to her, but I couldn't. Being the coward that I am, I made her take one of those pills you women take to prevent a disaster that could have destroyed her future. One day she overheard one guy asking me if I had done it or not? She heard it all and there was nothing I could do to change the truth, but hope, she will forgive me." He continues…
"When Tay found out, he was disappointed in me. Future left for London and broke contact with all of us. I stopped talking to the guys. What I tried to do to her is unforgivable and I don't expect her to forgive me; even though I had never stopped apologizing. I was influenced by peer pressure. I know it's not an excuse for what I did, but I was…" I expected this from Nate, not Andrew. I guess looks can deceive right?
"Please don't look at me like that? I'm not that person anymore. Please Olivia; don't change your perception towards me?" Andrew pleads. I didn't know how my face looked right now; I just know I am disgusted by what he did. How could he do such a horrible thing to the woman he claims to love?
I finish my cereal in silence. Maybe it was a mistake to think of getting them back together.
"I will see you later," Andrew says and I nod. Minutes pass, and I make my way to the living room. I watch television shows for the rest of the day, cuddled up on a couch.
"Come on sister-in-law. We are going to be late," Nate hastens me. He came back home and told me to take a bath and dress nicely. He refused to tell the reason behind his request. Now he has been telling me to hurry for the past twenty minutes.
I never saw Andrew since the revelation I discovered about him. I honestly don't know how I feel or think of him right now. My thoughts are all over the place.
"I'm almost done," I yell back. I put on a dress and small comfy boots, along with socks. I grab a black coat and put it on. I leave my hair hanging down over my shoulders and walk out of the bathroom to find Nate already at the door ready to leave.
"Were you really going to leave without me?" I ask.
"Patience is not in my vocabulary," Nate says, and I chuckle.
We arrive at the garage and get into a black Porsche. We buckle up, and Nate drives out of the garage.
"Can you tell me where we are going already?" I ask.
"Nope," Nate says, popping the 'p'. I sigh and lean my head against the window.
"Is this a new brand car?" I ask.
"Nope, it's Tay's. He hardly drives it, so I decided to do the drive for him," Minutes pass, and the car slows down. He stops in front of a big building.
"You have reached your destination, My Lady. Press the top floor in the elevator." Nate instructs .
"Nate, what's going on?" I ask. As I look at the building outside the car and back at him.
"How about you find out?" Nate suggests.
"If you don't get out of this car, sister-in-law, Tay will chop my balls off. Who will tease and make you laugh if I end up in a hospital bed?"
"Because I love you so much, I will get out. Bye," I say and climb out of the car. Nate drives away and I walk inside the building, get into the elevator, and press the top floor as Nate instructed. I tap my foot on the metal surface while I wait for the elevator to reach the top floor. Minutes pass and it finally dings open to a beautiful penthouse. It is so ultra-modern like the house but this time the walls are white and grey with white tilled floor. I walk further inside and pass the living room. There is a dinner table set outside the balcony with Tay holding a glass of wine, looking at the city. He turns around when he hears my footsteps approaching. He is in a white t-shirt that is folded until his elbows and blank trousers.
"Hey!" Tay says, and plants a small kiss on my forehead.
"Hi," I say, and bite my lower lip.
"Let me take that for you." he helps me take off my coat and place it on the grey couch at the corner.
"The view is incredible," I say as I look at the city.
"It is the reason I bought the penthouse," he informs and pulls a chair for me to sit.
"Wine?" Tay asks and I nod.
"So, we are getting married the day after tomorrow huh?" he asks, pouring wine into my glass.
"We are," I say, and he hands me the glass.
"Thanks." I take a sip and it's not what I expected at all. It tastes sweet like raspberry. Mom acted as if it tastes awful.
"What was your twin sister's name?" I ask. He looks at me for a moment, then answers my question.
"Innocent, she was just like her name," He says as he fills my plate with medium rare steak.
"It's a beautiful name."
"Yeah, she had dreams and hopes, you know. I shouldn't have allowed her to get married at such a young age. If only I had reprimanded her, perhaps she would still be here with me; alive." He says, and my heart aches at the thought of the pain he carries for her death. Their connection must have been deep.
"It's not your fault. How would you have known what that pig would do to her? Don't blame yourself for what happened. Your sister wouldn't want you to do that to yourself; she would've wanted you to be happy. Please don't do that to yourself." I won't let him blame himself for his sister's death. He nods and we eat in silence. After a short while, I walk to the balcony rail with my glass of wine. Minutes later, I feel pressure on my back but don't turn around. Tay places his hands on both sides of the rail, kisses me softly on my bare shoulder.
I don't know how long we have been standing in this position. I just know that I don't want to break it just yet. His arms feel like home, a place I have been searching for and I don't plan to give it up anytime soon. Tay turns me around, looks deep into my eyes and says:
"Give your heart a break. Let love in. I can't change what happened to you. I can only take over what happens from here. Would you give yourself a chance?" How is he able to read me? I'm like an open book to him.
"I don't want the emotionless Olivia, who punches people." I giggle.
"You spent your life turning your heart into stone. Not to show any emotions, not to cry in front of people. I don't want that, Olivia; I want the Olivia you once were. I can't promise you I won't fuck up. I'm not perfect, but I can promise to give your heart a break. We can hurt together." I am in tears by the time Tay is done. His thumbs wipe the tears falling down my cheeks.
"Let me love you?" How can he love me? When I can't even love myself; I'm damaged.
He leans in and our lips collide. His hands move to my bottoms and I bury my hands in his hair and he moans. His tongue asks for entrance, and I open my mouth for him. It's like we are in our own bubble and the world doesn't exist. My body is on fire, but I don't want to stop feeling hot; it feels good. His grip on me tightens, and I moan. His lips move down my jaw to my neck. I throw my head back, giving him more access. His hands wander around my body and my insides burn. He sucks my collarbone, and I bite my lower lip as I can no longer control the feeling.
"Fuck!" he says against my skin. I can feel his hard member poke at me.
"You do not know how beautiful you look right now," Tay whispers.
"Tay?" my voice didn't come out as I hoped and before I could say anything else the rain poured. It's like God knew I needed to cool down.
"Shit!" Tay leads us inside and closes the sliding door.
"I need to make a phone call. There are t-shirts you can go change upstairs," Tay says, and I walk up the stairs to his room. I make my way to the door close to the bed. This man swims in money; the bathtub could fit four people. I fill the bathtub with hot water and grab Tay's body wash. I wash my body and stay for a while playing with the bubbles. The water gets cold after an hour and I get out.
I wrap my wet body with a towel and walk out of the room. I do not know where his closet is. There is only one door in here, and that door leads to the bathroom. As if he knew I wouldn't find his closet, Tay walks in holding a shirt and boxers down briefly. He stops when he sees me in a towel and takes a deep breath. He hands me the clothes and says,
"I'm going to take a shower. Knock on the door if you need anything?" I can only nod, as I don't trust my voice. He makes me feel things I never knew existed until him. He walks towards the bathroom door and I let out a breath I have been holding.
I put on the boxers and the t-shirt, fold my hair into a bun, and walk down the stairs. I lay on the couch with a blanket wrapped around my body. Tay's words play in my head until my eyes burn to sleep.
****
The next morning, I woke up in a very soft comfortable bed. I am alone on the bed and there is a letter next to me.
They say it's a bad luck seeing the bride before the wedding, so I left with a heavy heart. There's a bag of clothes near the bed for you and I left my car keys for you on the bedside counter. The letter said.
I drag myself off the bed, grab the bag, and make my way to the bathroom. I take a quick bath and open the bag Tay left for me. There are skinny jeans, a white blouse, a denim jacket, and white sneakers in the bag. I quickly dress up, grab the car keys from the bedside counter, and walk down the stairs to the kitchen. I grab an apple and walk to the elevator. I eat my apple as I wait for the lift to open. Because of Nate rushing me last night, I forgot my phone. I will have to drive to Future's apartment. The lift finally opens, I step out. I dump the remaining of the apple in the trashcan and walk through the underground garage. I do not know what type of car Tay left for me, so I take out the car keys and press the button in the center. A creamy jaguar XJ beeps, holy mother of God!
I slid into the driver's seat and looked in awe at how beautiful it was. I do not know where I am, so I add Future's street number on the GPS. It's just a twenty-minute drive from here. I drive out of the underground garage and drive to Future's apartment building. I feel like shopping today. I haven't gone shopping in like forever. Minutes pass, and I see a familiar street. I pull over in front of Future's apartment, alight from the car and walk towards the building.
I walk up the stairs that lead to Future's floor. I knock on the door and wait. I hear footsteps approaching, and the door opens.
"Olivia?" Future says, surprised.
"I'm happy to see you too," I say, and earn a smile from her.
"Sorry, it's just that I wasn't expecting you today," Future says and opens the door wide open for me to come in.
"Well, it's my last day as a single woman, so I came to get you. We are going shopping."
"I know just the mall, let me change, and we can go," Future says, clapping her hands. I flip over the TV channels as I wait for her to get dressed.
Future walks out dressed in joggers and a hoodie. "I'm ready." I switch the TV off and we head out.
"Holy mother of God!" Future says as she sees the car.
"Those were my exact words when I first saw it too," I say and walk over to the driver's seat.
"This car is not even in the market yet!"
"Where to?" I ask, as I buckle up.
"Mall of Africa, it's just seventeen-minute drive," Future says and I drive to the busy road.
"Andrew told me what went down between you two," I tell Future.
"What do you think? Should I forgive him?" Future asks.
"That is your decision to make. I cannot tell you what to do, I can only advise you to follow your heart," I tell Future.
"These cars are not moving at all," I whine as I tap on the steering wheel. We arrived at the mall a few minutes ago, but there's a long line to get into the parking lot.
"Why don't you drive to private parking?" Future asks pointing to a sign that says private parking.
"Why would I do that?" I ask. Private probably meant owners.
"Well considering that your future husband owns half of the mall, I think we qualify," Future informs me.
"What!" I ask, shocked.
"Tay owns half of this mall!" I ask.
"Don't sound so surprised. You know the man owns half of this city. He can be private if he wants. For example, no one knows his home location except for those who are close to him." Future says as I drive to the private section.
"So which shop are we going to go to first?" Future asks as we climb out of the car.
"Mr. Price, I love jeans, and jackets of that store. Lastly, Rare gear," I say as we walk to the entrance. When I lift my head, I come face to face with a person I never thought I will ever see anytime soon.
"Olivia?"
"Dad!" I say. Nora is with him holding grocery bags.
"I have been meaning to call you." Well, that got me livid.
"Really father? It has been what? A whole fucking month and you didn't even visit. Now you expect me to believe that!" I spit.
"Language, young lady," he scolds and I roll my eyes.
"I was going to visit soon," Dad says.
"Yeah, right? You have time to go grocery shopping with Nora, but you don't have five minutes to just call your daughter, your only daughter ...I don't mean to be rude Nora," I say, looking at her.
"Don't sweat it," Nora says, and Future chuckles.
"I see where you get your foul language from…" Dad says, looking disapprovingly at Nora.
"And I found Nora shopping, so I helped her with the bags. She used a taxi to get here," Dad tells me.
"Whatever," I say and drag Future back to the car. My father just ruined my shopping eagerness.
"I see where you get your dimples from...you and your dad look alike." Future points out.
"You don't know how much I want to change that right now."