"Who are you?" Mr Paul's voice snapped him out of his thought. The man looked at him confused at the strange face cleaning his house and mostly surprised that he was a boy. Startled by his voice, Kelvin turned to face him and seeing who it was, he replied
"Good morning sir, I'm the cleaner" He forced a smile, trying to look calm.
"Who...never mind. Jessica!!!" He called, sitting down on the arm of the couch.
Jessica came down the stairs, answering the call. She stopped when she saw the uneasiness and awkwardness that filled the living room and she knew immediately what the problem was. "Good morning Dad and you too, Kelvin." She said walking up to her dad.
"Morning. So you both forgot to mention that you hired a cleaner....a male one at that" He pointed, looking at her quizzically.
"Actually we hired his mom but she has been sick, so her son is filling in for her" She explained.
Kelvin who has been witnessing the whole scene was quite busy in his mind trying to get the resemblance between Mr Paul and his daughters. Moving his gaze to Kelvin Mr Paul said to him "So Mr Kelvin, which school do you attend?"
"Redhill high sir" Kevin replied
"Yeah, he's in the same class and school as Angie" Veronica chipped in.
Angie who just woke up because of the voices downstairs, proceeded to check what was going on. Climbing down the stairs, she recognized the voices and stopped out of sight, wanting to know where the conversation was heading to before making herself visible. "Really?! Are you friends with her too?" Mr Paul questioned giving him a Stern look.
"Humm...ye..yes" Kelvin stuttered, sensing the interrogation heading to a whole new direction.
"Is that so?! Hope you don't have any hidden agenda for my daughter?"
"Dad!!" Jessica cut in. Angie stood stunned by her father's question were she was standing against the wall by the stairs.
"I don't understand sir" Kelvin pointed out
"You know, trying to get yourself into her life thinking you can make her your girlfriend like some other of her school friends, yeah I know about it" Mr Paul explained confidently.
Kelvin held back the laughter that was growing inside of him and replied "Sorry sir...if it's about that, then you have nothing to worry about. It can never happen. She doesn't like me that much and she's not going to like me in that way...not in this lifetime at least and I don't have such intentions"
"Good" Mr Paul concluded
Thinking that was probably the best time to come out before her dad did more damage, Angie showed herself "Good morning Dad, morning Jessica. Oh, you're here. Hi" Angie said feigning she didn't know Kelvin was there. After hearing the conversation that transpired between them, she was happy she wasn't part of it.
"So Kelvin, how's your mum doing?" Jessica asked.
"She's recovering fine, thanks" He replied
"That's good to know" Jessica said as she began heading back to her room.
"You can carry on with your work but I'll like to talk to you alone some other time" Mr Paul said, leaving too.
"Alright sir" Kelvin nodded.
Angie watched her dad disappear into the kitchen. She then slowly turn her gaze to Kelvin who was smiling at her. "I think your dad likes me" He joked
"Yeah you wish" she waved off his statement.
"So how have you been? We haven't seen since the party"
"Yeah about that..." She started, moving closer to him so the conversation would be out of earshot. "I have been meaning to ask you. I don't remember all the details and I was hoping you could fill the blanks for me" She continued.
Grinning and almost laughing as if he just heard something very funny, Kelvin quickly then comport himself and replied her "Wait, so what do you actually remember"
Angie paused, searching her head, trying to recall "Well just that... Victor gave me something to drink, i emptied the cup and then I was feeling sick, I think I passed out. I opened my eyes and I think I was lying on the floor with some persons arguing over me. I shut my eyes and when I opened them again I was on a bus or a car I don't know and I blacked out again. I woke up, i was on my bed and it was morning" She explained all she could remember.
"Well you didn't miss much" Kelvin shrugged
"What do you mean? I want to know what happened at the party, who brought me home and how come I was blacking out" She urged with a puzzled look.
"Although you already know the answer to most of the questions but I'll tell you anyway. I think maybe because you rushed the drink you became quite drunk and your system couldn't handle it so you passed out and I was the one that brought you home. No one was home, I assumed your sister was on night shift so I took you to your room and laid you down. I was about to leave when..." He paused, staring at her straight in the eyes. She was eager to hear what happened next and was hoping it wasn't something embarrassing.
"When what??" She asked curiously encouraging him to go on.
Clearing his throat Kelvin continued "When you held my hand, opened your eyes and asked where you were, I told you, you were in your house and then you begged me not to go that you were scared" He stopped, seeing her embarrassed expression. "So i stayed. I slept here" He concluded.
"In my room??" She asked almost shouting
"Whoa relaxed. I'm not a creep. Right here in the sitting room. I woke up early did the cleaning, checked on you, you were still sleeping and I left" Kelvin explained
"Oh, sorry. Thanks" She Whispered
"But why didn't you call my friends to take me home" She inquired
"Well I have my reasons and besides I wanted to get out of the party too" He replied, hoping she'd drop the topic. They both stood looking at each other in silence.
Angie finally said "Thanks again" as she zoomed off to her room. She got to the room, shut the door behind her and leaned against it, thinking about what Kelvin just said to her and something doesn't seem to add up. She was just didn't want to push on for now but was determined to find out.
***
Brian and grace walked round the mall, from aisle to aisle with grace pushing the cart and Brian checking things they have bought off the list. "So let me get this straight. You're saying if I hadn't come with you to the mall, you would have called Jacob?" Brian asked in between laughs
"Yes! Why are you laughing?" Grace replied
"It's just funny that's all. But why Jacob?" He asked curiously.
"Well...I think he's funny. Like stupid funny" She replied
"What about me? Am I not funny?"
"A little" She laughed
"Wow, just, wow" Brian laughed.
"But you're cute and I'll pick you over anyone anytime" she said cheering him up
"Awwn thanks. You know it's kind of funny how we ended up from hate to Love. Although for the record I never hated you but you get what I'm saying" Brian stated.
"Yeah. yeah me too. It's true, who would have thought?!" Grace smiled
"And it's all thanks to Kelvin. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have had the courage to talk to you" Brian stated
"Yeah thanks to him I guess" Grace shrugged, picking up a box of cereal and adding it to the items in the cart.
"So have you heard from Angie recently?" Brian asked
"Yeah, her dad is back"
"Her dad?! Wow! He must have seen Kelvin by now" He pointed out
"Why do you say so?" Grace inquired
"You know, because he cleans their house. So he might have bumped into him" He explained
"Oh yeah, that's true, I forgot about that. Angie must be giving him a hard time, she hates him"
"Do you really think so?" Brian asked
"Yeah. She always looks at him with this disgust, like she can't stand the sight of him" she explained.
"That's bad" He replied
"Why are we talking about them?! This was suppose to be our day out so let's just scratch everyone else out of the topic list" said Grace.
"Yeah you're right, sorry" Brian agreed.
***
Luke seemed to be deep in thoughts. He didn't seem to be interested in what was going on around him or whatever his friends were discussing. His friends noticing he wasn't taking part in the discussion, called him back to reality. "Hey punk! What are you thinking about that got you looking all depressed?" Bhalla asked.
Jerking out of his thoughts, Luke adjusted on the chair he was sitting on, grabbed his drink, took a sip and heaved a sigh. "Come on man, what's going on?" Victor asked.
Not knowing if it was a good idea to tell them yet, Luke stared at the spot he had been staring at for a while now and decided to tell them, thinking maybe they could help him some how "It's Mzi man, he came to my house" He utterd
"what do you mean your house?" Bhalla asked with a puzzled look
"To do what?" Victor asked taken aback by the statement Luke just made
"He came to my house to ask for the money I owe him and he threatened to empty the house if I don't drop soon" Luke explained taking another sip from his drink.
"That is against the rules, why would he do that?" Victor quarrelled.
"How much do you owe him?" Bhalla asked
"The usual price for each cuts of product" Luke answered looking at them to see their reactions.
"What the...you took product without paying him back?" Victor shouted. "You know how dangerous he is when it comes to his product and money. Man you better look for how to pay him back" he continued.
"Can't you guys help me out? The deadline is too close, I can't get it by next week" Luke pleaded
"How do you expect us to...maybe you should ask your girlfriend, her parents are rich" Victor suggested.
"She's not my girlfriend anymore and that isn't possible" Luke said dropping his drink and rubbing his eyes.
"Maybe there's a way we could help you out but you have to play your path in it too" Bhalla said.
"Yeah sure anything" Luke said eagerly.
"Really?! Let's hear it" Victor jumped in.
***
Kelvin walked down the hill alongside his twin after making a delivery to some customers. Heading back home, though the weather seems to be changing quickly, showing signs of incoming downpour. They haven't lived in the surbub for a long time but they seem to easily know their way around and know some shortcuts to take to be able the beat the incoming rain home.
Kelvin glanced at Kyle, noticing how quiet he has been since their journey. He knew something was definitely bothering him "What's eating you?" He asked, poking him.
Kyle looked up, poking him too. "Nothing, just thinking" He replied.
"Come on, i know there's something" Kelvin insisted.
"So aren't you worried that Angie might find out about us soon?" Kyle asked, trying to divert the topic from what was really eating him up.
"No I'm not. She's bound to find out eventually but on our terms" Kelvin replied
"To what end are we doing this to again?"
"To show her not to play with people's feelings anymore" Kelvin explained now becoming irritated by the questions his brother was asking.
"Don't you think that you're going a little bit too far? I mean, we are playing with her feelings too" Kyle stated
"Oh so it's 'you' not 'we' anymore and why are you suddenly asking all these questions or are you suddenly developing feelings for her?" Kelvin stated. Kyle becoming quiet looked away from Kelvin. Kelvin noticed the expression on his face and how quiet he became suddenly. "Unbelievable!!!" Kelvin yelled out. "You've only known her for just few weeks and you are already falling in love with her" He continued
"She isn't that bad" Kyle pointed out
"I'm sure in your eyes she isn't. Make sure while you're nurturing your feelings for her, you don't blow our plans. You can marry her if you want I don't care, just wait till after the plan" Kelvin concluded and increased his place.
Hearing all Kelvin had just said, Kyle was relieved that Kelvin wasn't interested in her so he didn't have to fight over her. He thought about telling Kelvin about his encounter with Veronica but decided that he should keep it to himself thinking that it is better that way, but little did he know that, that became the iceberg to their Titanic.
***
Jessica got to the living room and found Angie watching TV, with a saddened expression. She knew something was wrong and no doubt because of their dad. She walked up to her and joined her on the couch. She was surprised she was watching a football match. "It is not like you to be watching football. Tell me what's wrong" Jessica said wrapping her arms around.
"You know...I actually believed that this time will be different. I was such a fool" Angie replied, her eyes welling up with tears.
"You're not a fool. He's just busy" Jessica stated
"Busy?...before I wake up he's gone, when he comes back he goes straight to bed saying he's exhausted. We haven't actually had a nice conversation, well apart from the day he came. Busy about what? I thought working is supposed to be what he's doing overseas with mom. What's the point of calling his coming or staying here holiday if it's also for work" Angie complained with tears rolling down her cheeks
"It's okay. Don't worry, there's gonna be change soon" Jessica consoled wiping her face.
***
Kelvin came out from the house with Valerie following right behind him. He has spent most of the day at Valerie's house. With her parents off to work, Valerie, her siblings and Kelvin had the house all to themselves and her siblings seems to really like him.
They both came out walking to the direction of the bus stop. "You know, we haven't gone out much since we started dating. We should do it more often" Valerie announced, holding his hands.
"Yeah. I guess I don't get a lot of free time while helping my mom. The work has been stressful and time consuming" He explained.
"Sorry dear. You shouldn't over work yourself, I wouldn't want you to fall sick" She said tightening her grip on his hands
"I won't" He flashed her a smile.
They walked a little further and bumped into Veronica as they made a turn. Surprised to see her Kelvin said "hey! What are you doing here?"
"Hello to you too. Well here isn't exactly your house too, is it? But if you must know I came to visit a friend" She answered
"I didn't know you knew someone in this part of town" Valerie chipped in.
"Well there's a lot of things you don't know about me given that we don't normally talk" Veronica said rolling her eyes. "Well Kev, you still haven't called me" She said to him
"What do you mean call you? First of, I don't even have your number and secondly, why would I call you?" Kelvin asked looking confused
"Yeah why would he call you" Valerie chipped in while clinging closer to Kelvin.
"That's none of your business" She shot at Valerie. "About what we discussed the other day at the market and I actually gave you my number that day too. Don't tell me you actually do have short term memory" She said to Kelvin.
Getting confused by what was going on, Valerie looked at Kelvin awaiting some kind of explanation. Meanwhile Kelvin still confused was about to tell Veronica that it wasn't him, when it dawned on him that she was probably talking about Kyle. But Kyle would have said something, he thought. "Yeaah now I remember, sorry, I'll call you later about it" He said trying to maintain the cover.
"Alright make sure you do, bye" She concluded, leaving them standing there.
Valerie looked over at kelvin "What was she talking about?" She asked
"Honestly, I don't know" Kelvin replied shrugging
"What do you mean you don't know?! You just admitted to her that you did" She pushed on
"I only did that so she'd leave. I seriously don't know what she's talking about" He explained.
"And you're saying she didn't give you her phone number?"
"No she didn't. Maybe she's confusing me for someone else" Kelvin shrugged.
"Alright" Valerie said releasing her grip from kelvin's hands, not buying what Kelvin was saying "Well I should get back home, my siblings are alone" She said as she turned to leave.
"Alright, I'll call you later" Kelvin said, knowing she didn't believe what he said. He thought there was no point in explaining further or pursuing her now and thought to leave the issue for later. He headed home with his mind filled with anger for his brother, trying to think of a reason why Kyle didn't tell him.
***
Kyle got to Angie's house and proceeded with his job. He was brushing off the dust particules from the chair when he heard Angie screamed from up the stairs and seconds later, she came marching down angrily. "Are you on your way to murder someone?" Kyle asked.
Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Angie looked at Kyle and a little calmness came upon her. She then walked close to him and sat on the couch "If only I could but nope. My laptop is having issues" She complained
"Well maybe I could help with that" Kyle offered
"Really?! Thanks" she said leading the way to her room.
They got to the room and Angie unlocked her laptop for him, explaining the problem. Kyle examined the laptop for a while, fondling with the keyboard and looking for what the problem might be. Seeing it was just some outdated softwares, he proceeded to updating them. "There is nothing wrong with it, some main softwares just needed updating" He explained "and....done" He stated, rebooting the system.
The system came on and angie observed it. She smiled broadly when the problem she earlier had with it had disappeared. "Thanks Kelvin" She said
"You're welcome" Kyle said standing up from the seat.
"Why do you do it?" Angie asked
"Do what?" Kyle asked with furrowed brows.
"You know, some times act mean and sometimes act nice to me" She explained
"Maybe I'm two different person" Kyle replied smiling
"Well I think I prefer this one" Angie said looking away from him shyly.
Feeling good by what Angie just said Kyle smiled. "What about you? You always act mean to me too, more like you hated me but recently you're becoming more friendly to me, why?" Kyle asked waiting to hear her response.
Avoiding his eyes, Angie didn't know how to answer the question 'cause she felt she herself didn't know the answer either. "I don't know" She said, sitting on her bed "Lately I feel like maybe I have been living as someone else ever since, like I've been acting" She explained
"Yeah I definitely know what you mean" Kyle said sitting again "But the question is, who do you think you really are?"
"I don't know. I'm kind of confused about that and I'm trying to figure that out but with my dad back in town, I feel vulnerable" She explained
"Well you'll have to find out what type of person you are on your own, only you can" Kyle concluded.
Angie looked up at him and smiled warmly towards him "who would have thought one day, we'll sit down together talking about personalities"
"Well I guess, you can't predict life. Anyway it's good to know you no longer hate me" Kyle said
"Likewise" Angie replied and they both laughed
"I should go continue the cleaning" Kyle said as he stood up to leave.
"Yeah thanks for laptop again" Angie smiled at him before he closed the door behind him. Angie fell flat on the bed. She felt happy but couldn't understand why.