Chapter 2:
She had never called him until now, never tried to, never even thought of it, but today…today she did, should she call him? Wouldn't he see her as being too forward or daring? She was waiting for him to be the first to call, but now she was obviously going for the kill. After the drama today and the baseless excuse which still made her feel like dealing herself a series of slaps and now again, she was about beating herself up for her indecision "come on make this call, it won't kill you" her inner stubborn self kept telling her, she just wanted to confirm if it was really him earlier. A sudden scream from her phone, signifying an incoming call…it wasn't a scream, a song by Natasha Cobbs but to her, it sounded like a scream invading her thought, taking a nonchalant glance at the screen, she couldn't help but cover her mouth in surprise, speak of the devil…"Fred stranger" glared at her as if accusing her 'why is stranger included in my name?' Julia there and then decided to change his contact name after this call.
"Hi" sounded a slightly masculine voice melting the insides of Julia, she could have sworn butterflies fluttered in her stomach, "hello" she replied, it felt like she was outside herself and stared as she replied as if controlled by something. 'What is this feeling?' she thought.
"The guy earlier was just a friend…w...well not really a friend, j...just an acquaintance, look, I didn't even accept those flowers" an angry voice from somewhere in her consciousness screamed at her 'shut the fuck up! Kilo'nshele now' but she couldn't bring herself to stop, she continued her self defense "he's just a friend, a...an acquaintance, nothing more". 'You don talk am finish, you don satisfy?'
She wasn't.
She felt he wasn't going to believe her, going to tell her "the guy at the park seemed like a nice guy" she hoped to God he wasn't going to say that.
His reply came and it was a shocker "who, that guy? No…nah" Julia waited nervously as what sounded a throat being cleared sounded "hun hun, didn't even take note of him" a slight pause and Julia felt like he ended the call already, but his voice came through again "just called to apologize for tailing you, didn't mean to".
How many shocks was she going to receive today, that's all he was going to say? He wasn't jealous, where was the assertive nature in guys, couldn't he even be a little assertive? What the hell is this guy's problem?
"I was hoping we could see sometime" crash! That was her train of thought, 'did he just ask that?' "took you long enough mister good guy", she thought as her fantasies took her on a jolly good ride, sitting together with him, close to him, enough to feel his breath…"hello, you're there?"
"Oh, err" she chuckled, she knew she was acting like an imbecile but she didn't care, "y...yea...yeah, sure, when do you want to meet?" where did acting tough go? She asked herself "I'm busy, will probably stay busy all this year" couldn't she have said that? O God, life is so unfair. "Will you be free tomorrow?, if you don't think it's too early to meet of course" 'early your head, you dumb goat' was the reply in her head, "of course, no problem, uhm where?" please please not somewhere below my expectations, please "your favorite spot at the park" came the soft reply 'you tailed me well, good job' she thought, did he really want to meet her where she had met with Noah? What if someone saw her today and happens to see her tomorrow again with some other guy also bearing a bouquet of flowers, it was a terrible idea but she agreed to it anyways.
"It's a date"…'oh he called it a date' she loved dates, should she invite friends over? "Nah its personal, this is my time" or should I really invite friends who in turn will invite friends?
"Where's the way to my wardrobe"
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Fred couldn't believe he actually wore flip-flops to the park, was he as eager as that? He had to take note not to do that again, hell...he looked like someone who escaped isolation centre.
It was surprising how she agreed to his request of a date…just like that, does that mean she really doesn't have any feelings for the guy from before?, he was really just an acquaintance?
"What was with those flowers anyways?"
It was past his dinner time and he wasn't even hungry, not one bit. He had to send feedback to base. He switched on his laptop and while waiting for it to boot up, he picked at his sparkly clean finger nails, not like there was anything to pick from it, hearing the familiar sound signifying that the laptop successfully booted, he input the password 'Judas', he hated his code name, perhaps this was the reason he was chosen for this "stealth" mission. He proceeded to Skype and put a video call through.
Taking a few seconds to go through, an image popped up on the screen
"Judas reporting here sir"
"Report" sounded the stern voice from the screen
"Phase one ongoing sir, less than a week to be accomplished" Fred said with a face that screamed "attention" a direct contrast to his usual playful and mischievous look.
"Phase one?" the stern looking man on screen seemed to be in shock and his facial expression seemed to alter between shock and anger. Fred wished the ground would swallow him whole, he knew a barrage of words would follow…he wasn't wrong.
"Last born! At attention!"
Fred immediately and suddenly stood ramrod straight with a stern face which accentuated his jaw curve, therefore giving him a dangerous look. He looked like a proper soldier…a proper disciple.
"You know how important this mission is?" the man obviously looked displeased
"Err...sir!"
"Quiet!" came the reply with a stern voice of the devil, his commander was an Igbo man, a no-nonsense and straightforward person, perhaps the word laughter wasn't included in his dictionary, he had seen him smile once…and that was when he was asked to supervise his punishment for disobeying superior orders, he had been asked to cut down fifty trees…with nothing but a combat knife, he had seen hell that week, although he still doubts he was asked to cut down that much.
"Let me refresh your memory, last born" can you stop calling me last born, I mean will it kill you to call me something that's capable of sparking the flint of fear in others? Take for example, Peter the first disciple…his nickname was "blood", James' nick was "skull"…why was his different? He dare not voice out his complaints though…not that he couldn't, just if he was prepared for another round of cutting.
"…Military secrets are leaked, and then we are wide open to attacks, completely done for! You hear me?!"
"Clear sir!" Fred said with exaggerated gusto, he obviously didn't hear what the commander said before "military", his gusto was to cover up.
Fred was the last of the "twelve disciples", a secret team in the DSS filled with young and battle ready individuals, all numbering not above twelve. They were called "the disciples".
Fred was the last, with the code name "Judas", but right now, he was Fred…and this Fred had a date the following day.
Fred was just dozing off when he heard something like a silent crash, so soft, hardly discernable but to his trained ears, it was just about loud enough. Fully roused from sleep and on high alert, he tiptoed out of his bedroom and listened intently.
Killer was highly proficient in assassinations; he had carried out a number of successful killings, his victims dead before even knowing what or who took their lives from them and this earned him the name "killer"
He was asked by an anonymous to kill this fellow. Who wanted him dead didn't matter, what mattered was his other half payment after the job was done, this dealer was a really fat lamb, just saying yes at his first price, killer had expected him to haggle but he had just agreed to his price of 1.5 million naira and seconds later, without even asking for his account, seven hundred and fifty thousand had been sent to him. He had decided to do a perfectly clean job for this person "I'll hack this bastard into a thousand and one pieces, how dare he anger my friend" killer made it sound like he was doing a favor for his childhood friend. 'Maa sha iya e p....' he couldn't finish his thought when he saw sudden darkness before feeling a rush of pain at his neck.
The darkness came before the pain; he had been hit by something…or someone.
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Fred was lying leisurely on the grass which was still slightly wet from the morning's drizzle which didn't have the opportunity to dry off due to the absence of the sun---seems that guy went off with a lady sun from another planet--- shaded by an umbrella, the scene looked picturesque.
"Hello" hearing the sweet angelic voice, Fred snapped out of his fantasies, standing up, he suddenly couldn't even find the words, he had to give an awkward smile while scratching his head, he seemed like a maltreated child, "hi" he replied timidly
Julia couldn't seem to believe this was the same guy from whatsapp, why was he so gentle, timid and introverted…was he pretending?
"Can I sit?" she asked gesturing at the wet grass.
"oh, I'll be right back" he said with wide eyes which made him seem like an adorable kid as he walked around the corner in a manner that suggested he was going to break into a run as soon as he was out of sight, the sight almost making Julia laugh out loud. In a few seconds, he was back with a blanket big enough for two king sized beds and another big basket in the other hand. The blanket had to be folded multiple times to make it not look like they were having a conference picnic. He brought apples, pineapples, oranges, grapes and other delectable fruits, there was salad, drinks and a pack of cigars "who is that for?" he heard her ask, Fred had obviously left it there by mistake and as he was about grabbing it, a quicker hand beat him to it and gave him a slap at the back of his hand, his instinct, his inner beast growled…he was going to get angry…he couldn't, just gave a small inquisitive smile "you can never take that…again, i…it's harmful. You hear me?" she said, like a mother duck guarding her duckling against danger and she couldn't help but go red on the inside 'it's not like he's anything, at least not yet…but he's a friend and that's what friends do, right?' she tried to explain things to herself, 'wasn't that slap too hard though' and she could have sworn she saw a savage look in his eyes which made her heart skip in fear.
"okay" he said with a mild look which made her feel very satisfied, then with a smile, he opened the container beside him, filled with ice to keep the drinks stored inside chilled. He took out a large plate of ice-cream, vanilla flavor and offered it to her which made her eyes sparkle, "it's Vanilla, I love Vanilla"
Fred was munching on his bananas in an absentminded manner, "so what do you do?" Julia asked as she sucked the cream off her spoon in a childish way, wide eyed, Fred could not help but feel like he was before a mother-in-law, do these questions ever stop? Next she'll ask about family background, he hoped to God she wouldn't "err…I'm a computer engineer" he was going to cling to this excuse of "I'm into trading, import and export" cliché stuffs they say in Yoruba movies.
"Urn nice, I like it…what school?"
His inner wolf growled to be let out, 'can you stop with these questions already?' "oh are those pink berries?" she disrupted her own question when she saw Fred bring out some berries and arrange them in a plate, in a shocked and visibly relieved manner "yes, they actually are, aren't they so pink?" Fred replied enthusiastically.
'Well, gimme some" asking in a rather cute and babyish manner and with a pouted mouth she stretched forth her hands while Fred happily handed her a plate. "So, earlier I asked… Fred wouldn't possibly let her finish as he knew what she was going at "hey is that a pink butterfly?"He said with exaggerated interest…which obviously, was feigned.
"Don't think I've ever seen one" he added. Julia looked surprised "I've seen those a million and one times, don't you go out at all?"
Fred smiled…it worked.
"Of course I go out" taking a moment to look around, he realized the park was even more beautiful than he noticed before, he really needed to go out more, looking back at Julia, he continued "just not in search of butterflies" smiling sheepishly "they are beautiful" he commented the butterflies.
"Yes, they really are" Julia said while staring intently at the butterfly. "Not as much as you" came a soft, almost inaudible sound. Julia choked on her berries "sorry what?" Fred felt like he had said something wrong, something of a taboo, but he had to repeat "I said no matter h...how beautiful they are, they can never be compared to you"
Silence, crickets chirped, water flow sounded from somewhere down the slope which was now barely visible, it was getting late.
"Thank you" she said with a lowered head to hide her blush and smile, Fred saw it and again…silence fell.
The silence was broken by a scream from Julia's phone "DAD" was capitalized and displayed on the screen "oh shoot, have to go now"
Fred stood and helped her up in a slightly regretful manner; he should have set their meeting time to 9am. "I'll walk you halfway" Fred offered…"you don't have to, really, maybe some other time" Julia said with a smile "hope to see you again" the same thing she had told Noah.
This time she meant it