Market Place; Evening
Chris walked around the market place. He had been circling the market for twenty minutes.
He didn't mind walking around. It was a way he would get used to the new town quickly.
Old Town was a really big place. Chris knew that. He also knew that he didn't need to know every place. Just the key places.
He had been in Old Town for two months. Prior to that he was in Kamiti County for four months.
In those two months he came to Little Chef Restaurant, Old Town Memorial Park, Villa Amore restaurant. Those were the place he frequented.
He also knew the residential areas. Especially the posh ones. There were three knew well: Hamptons, Utalii and Waridi.
As he was walking he noticed a white car pulls up at the entrance of the market. He had noticed the same car in many other places.
Was it the same one? He couldn't tell. He stopped and watched a tall dark lady walk out of the car. The lady had a sun hat and really big shades. Very little of her face could be seen. The lady was in heels and a short sparkling red dress.
The woman stood out from the other casually dressed women who surrounded her. She noticed this herself. She probably felt she wasn't supposed to be there. She beckoned someone and quickly got into her car.
Chris veered around to see a short man walk up to her. They talked a bit, clearly they were familiar with each other. The man went back then returned with a bag. He handed the lady the bag and the lady handed him, what looked like money.
Chris looked on as the car sped away. He did not realise he had been standing idly looking at a completely random scene. After regaining his senses he decided to leave. He already had what he came for.
Chris's Apartment; Later That Night
Chris was about to open the door when he noticed it was already open. He pushed it in slowly and entered.
A man veers his head from another room.
"Why are you sneaking in?" Said Jack
Chris sighed and shut the door.
"You're supposed to lock the door when I leave."
Jack wasn't paying attention. His eyes were fixed on the TV. Changing Times was on. God forbid he missed an episode of Changing Times.
Chris sat next to Jack. He marvelled at the attention his identical twin was paying to the TV. He noticed something around his neck.
"You're wearing that necklace? I was surprised you didn't sell the damn thing."
Chris saw his brother's clench his jaw. The subject was a sore on for Jack. Chris always took pleasure in tormenting Jack. Chris smiled. Jack never liked to talk about it.
Jack's concentration was broken. His mind had left that time and space and leapt to the past. He remembered he was in an elevator when a gorgeous woman walked in. She was short with short Golden hair. Jack loved women with short hair!
She was dressed in a blue blouse and black layered dress. She clearly tried to pretend Jack wasn't in the elevator with her. Jack kept on making subtle remarks; trying to spark her interest. But she wouldn't fall for it.
That was when Jack chose the direct approach! He stood beside her and greeted her. The woman, who he would come to know as Rachel, looked back at him and greeted him back, casually. Jack was rendered speechless upon looking at her eyes.
Rachel rested her gaze back at the elevator door breaking the spell she cast on Jack. Jack's gaze slowly descended from her eyes to her juicy brown cheeks. To her cute little nose. To her enticing lips. Down her neck to her cleavage. He could see the top of the breasts slowly move up and down as she breathed. That's when he noticed she was watching him. Rachel took a side step away from Jack.
Jack was embarrassed. He tried to speak.
"Uh... You...have uh... Beautiful..."
"That's enough, pervert!" She interrupted
Jack was all defensive."I was going to say necklace. You have a beautiful necklace! That's what I was looking at." A smile formed on his face as he remembered.
"Yeah, right!" She scoffed
"This is awkward!" He whispered to himself."I apologise. That was rude of me. Can I start over?"
"You hadn't seen enough?" She was getting impatient. She really wanted to get off the elevator but she still had a long way to go. God forbid she took the stairs,just to avoid a gaze. She wondered for how long would she be stuck with the pervert.
"You have a wrong impression about me. I'm a gentleman you see."
As he spoke he could tell Rachel had tuned out. He didn't bother though. He knew her mind would playback his words when her brain rested. He knew because he had learnt psychology.
He went on, eventually he forgot he had to get off. He found himself riding the elevator to the top with Rachel. When she got out, was when he realised he had passed his floor.
That concluded his journey to memory lane. Jack's smile receded. He got up, glared at Chris then stormed off into the other room. Chris smiled as Jack walked away.
He never knew his brother as a softie. All their life Jack was the one who had to keep Chris on his toes. Jack was the rock. But since Happy Harbour, Jack was never the same.
Shea's Compound. Morning
Shea was in her car, heading to the office. As she drove down the same road. Looking at the same features, her mind drifted off. She remembered what had happened the previous day when her friends came to visit.
Shea was seated at the living room seeping a glass of fresh orange juice. She squeezed the oranges herself. She was going through the DIY phase of her life.
"Hey girl!"
Shea looked up to see her friends: Olivia and Mandy. Shea smiled and got up to them. She hugged them and sat back down.
"Nice of you to come by," said Shea. The two were quiet. They kept throwing glances at each other as though they were debating who would start talking. Shea's eyes narrowed, she saw this as suspicious.
"Why did you come by so early?"
"We were thinking about what you said, you needing to start dating!" Mandy spurted out.
Olivia nudged her shoulder,"Let me! There is a person in your company."
"He's of medium height, light skinned, medium build. Great smile."
Olivia looked at Shea clinically. Mandy looked at her then at Olivia. They give each other a look.
"I told you she didn't notice." Mandy said
"Notice what?"
"The totally hot guy working in your company!" Interjects Olivia.
Shea smiled. "There are probably a hundred hot guys in that company. So what?"
"Yeah yeah. Mathew. We are talking about Mathew. You should definitely ask him out! He's a hottie." Said Mandy
"Me?" Asked Shea," Won't that make me seem desperate, shouldn't I wait for him to ask me?"
Shea had never been on a date before. Her father had always kept away from the public.
It was when her father mysteriously died that Shea felt the urge to explore and become more involved in the world. Hence the DIY thing.
She had just met Mathew a week ago when she was at her father's company overseeing some issues. They only spoke for a few minutes.
"You wait too long, you may lose him." Added Olivia
All this remembering got her mind away from the road. She was thrust back to the present when she felt a knock. Had I killed someone? I wasn't going that fast was I?
She hit the breaks with such intensity she though he broke the pedal. Her heart raced. She could here wailing from outside. She though it was dog. She hoped it was a dog! She hated strays!
She could see the onlookers gazing at the scene. Their eyes wide. Their faces expressed shear horror and carnage. She really wanted the ground to engulf her. She knew if she tried to flee the mob that was slowly growing wouldn't allow it.
A man got up. He was limping while holding his left leg in the air. Her heartbeat slowed down. At least he wasn't dead. She tried to be positive as she got out of the car.
"Are you OK?" She felt stupid asking that question since the man was groaning in pain. He sat on the side walk, wincing in pain. When he looked at Shea he put on a straight face, he tried.
"Just lost a bit of my masculinity. Otherwise I'll be fine." Said the man. He wished she would have knocked him out. So that when he came around on the scene. She would be the first image she sees. He would then say,"Am I in heaven?" His mind joked around with that scenario.
"Anything broken? I hope nothing's broken." Shea was trying to hold herself together. He didn't like confrontation.
" I'm fine. " Said the man.
The man stood up straight with his left leg slightly in the air. Shea grabs her purse from her car. She fishes out and hands the man some notes, "Here, you can check yourself to the hospital,"
" Wow, there goes the rest of my masculinity." He said then laughed mildly. The crowd believed they were watching a scene from a movie. They wanted to see how it will end.
Shea smiled. The man seemed nice. She could see the guy was trying to make her feel less guilty. She appreciated that.
"Ok then. How can I help you?" Shea said." Cause I feel terrible. Please don't tell me you play football or something!"
(She meant European football not American)
"I don't. You shouldn't worry. I'll be fine."
"There must be something I can do to ease the pain?"
"Well, it would be better if I saw you again."
She was confused," Like, in court?"
"No. I'm asking you out. So that you can see that my leg is fine."
"Can I say no?" Feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Not if you want me to curl up in my bed and cry the night away." The man said smiling.
Shea couldn't say no in front of all those people. Shea took a paper and pen from her purse and wrote something down.
"Ok why not! Here's my number. You can text me the details later. Ok."
Shea hands him a piece of paper then gets into her car. Chris smiled as he looked down on the paper.
Shea,
0731726180
"Hey, I didn't quite get your name." She called out from her car
"Chris."
"Ok. See you Chris!" She revs up her car and is off. Chris looks at the piece of paper again. It read
Chris's Apartment
Chris had a huge ice bag on his leg. He was very pissed.
"How's the leg?" Asked Jack
"You said it wouldn't hurt that much." Said Chris, "How did you know it would work anyway?"
" You'll be fine. " He said concealing a smile. He had gotten his brother for the months he teased him about the necklace."You force someone into a controlled situation, there's only a limited amount of actions."
"Is that you chose a place with a lot of people! " Said Chris
"Of course. Nothing more powerful than public opinion. Plus, they were jobless, they needed the entertainment."
"You don't say. Well, I have a date tomorrow night. Wish me luck"