AKELA POV
"So all I'm trying to say is that you are now an adult and you have to take on responsibilities…" I tune out the rest of her conversation or monologue, considering I'm not exactly meant to speak. I bury my face in my hands.
It's been over a year since Mother has been having these conversations with me. I honestly don't know what she wants anymore. I even offered to start paying rent, which she refused.
I understand that my whole 'blogger' lifestyle isn't very productive, but considering the generous inheritance my mother left me and the dramatic allowance I receive from my absentee father every month, I don't exactly need to work very much.
Writing is something I enjoy. Not novels or poetry, but just writing about my life and adventures. Hence, the blogging and hey, I'll have you know it is a very serious job. If I miss an update, my readers will hunt me down!
"…and one day, a fine young man would adore you and no one wants a lazy woman that-" "I'm moving out." I cut her off. I secured an apartment a few weeks ago and had secured the deposit. I just needed to get some furniture and move in but mostly, I'd just been stalling because I didn't know how to break the news to her. Well, here goes.
"Oh wow. That's…that's-. When? " I sigh, "I secured an apartment a few weeks ago. It's on New Oakley Road. I just need to get some furniture and I can move in."
"Akela, running away from me isn't going to solve anything. I'm just looking out for you. You might have inherited a fortune-" I roll my eyes at that sentence. She's always making me sound like some yet-to-be-written version of Cinderella. "-but you still need to set your life goals. It can't just be about chatting with strangers online (it's called blogging, Mother) and hanging out with Sivanah (I also go to church. Don't forget that). What are you actually trying to achieve?!"
"Jesus, Mother! I get it, okay? I get your point and guess what? I have no idea what I'm doing either and it won't hurt if you stopped criticising it every little bit. I'm just taking it one day at a time and also, I'm not running away from you. I'm just getting my own apartment like an 'adult who has to take on responsibilities'." I make sure to put the last part in air quotes so that she knows I'm using her own words.
"Akela, I'm just looking out for you. Your mother was a great woman-"
"-and my father?" I stare at her waiting for her to avoid it again. She stands up from the couch, "Go take a walk, Akela. Get some fresh air." I scoff and storm off to my room.
I slam the door shut and fall face flat on my bed. Mother has always had something she wasn't satisfied with. First, it was my group of friends in junior secondary school. She said they were going to grow up to become barbarians and thugs, so she transferred me when it was time for senior secondary. According to her, the teachers at my new school were too "shallow", so she decided to home-school me.
Next, it was my decision not to go to university. She almost lost her head. A few months later, I found myself being shipped off to the University of Nottingham to take a course in Creative Writing. At the airport, she said, "If you can't do something useful, then write something useful." She's lucky I actually like writing.
After completing the course, I came home and told her I wanted to become a blogger. She almost lost her head…again. I don't know if she was expecting me to return with the dream of becoming a world class novelist but well, that didn't happen. She said I was just too scared to tell her I wanted to become a housewife. It was then that I almost lost my head.
Ever since then, she's been having these conversations about adulthood and responsibility non-stop. I'm starting to wish I wasn't a blogger, either. Maybe I should've studied Economics or Law or something. Anything to keep me a bit more busy.
My thoughts are interrupted by the ringer of my phone. I lift up my head to see a text from my best friend, Sivanah. Siv and I have been best friends for about thirteen years now. I had just transferred to a new primary school (courtesy of Mother) and she had just moved into the neighbourhood. She told me I looked like a chipmunk during break and we've pretty much been inseparable since. What a love story!
I read her message.
Siv: Hey! My shift ends in twenty minutes! Come over so we can go furniture shopping :)
Me: Alright! I'm on my way. PS. I told Mother I'm moving out.
Siv: Oh! :o How did she take it??
Me: I don't know. I had to tell her sooner or later anyway.
Siv: K, girl! See you in twenty :P
I smile. I don't think Siv has ever sent a text without an emoticon lurking somewhere. I stop out of my sweatpants and pull on some jeans. I don't bother changing my shirt and move on to the bathroom to deal with my hair.
I look at my curls in the mirror and roll my eyes. Force of habit. Ten minutes later, my hair is perfectly straight and I'm tucking my straightener back into the drawer. I grab my phone and purse off my bed and head downstairs.
Mother is on the phone with someone in the kitchen. She stares at me for a second and murmurs, "I'll call you back." I resist the urge to ask her who she was talking to. She won't tell me. I sigh quietly, "I'm going to meet up with Sivanah." She nods, pressing her lips together.
"We're going to shop for furniture for my new home." I say, hoping to elicit a reaction from her. She sighs, "You already know how I feel about this, Akela." "No, actually. I don't." I say, crossing my arms over my chest, challenging her. "Just do whatever makes you happy, Akela, but don't forget where you're from."
I scoff, "I have no idea where I'm from and let me guess, you're not going to tell me." "It's all for the best, Akela." I groan in frustration, "First of all, stop putting my name in every sentence!" I shake my head, "I'm done with this, goodbye." I walk out the front door and slam it shut.
I've tried reasoning with her for far too long. Now, I'm fed up. I don't know a lick about my family or where I'm from and she has refused to tell me after all these years. At first, I agreed with her. Maybe I was too young but now, it seems like she doesn't have any plans of telling me at all and it's pissing me off.
I love Mother. She's been taking care of me since I can remember. I don't even have any memories of a life before her. My own biological mother only used to come see me during a few weekends and holidays before we lost her. It was never hidden from me that she was my real mother, but I still wasn't as attached to her as a daughter should be. Maybe that's why her death didn't affect me so much.
At this point, I notice that I'm pretty much marching down the road rather than walking. I stop to catch a breath.
…
I walk into Beans 'n Cream Cafe-aka the coffee shop where Siv works- and catch Siv flirting with a customer at the counter. I smirk and walk towards an empty table at the far end of the shop. It's right beside a window so it's perfect. I stare out the glass and focus on the hustle and bustle of the road, attempting to bury my frustrations for a while.
"Good afternoon, ma'am. Are you ready to order?" I turn around and find Sivanah grinning at me, purse in hand. I roll my eyes and smile, "Alright, let's go." We walk out of the shop holding hands while she tells me about the man she was flirting with, "Oh I wish you saw him! He was like a fallen Greek god. You must believe me."
I chuckle, "I don't doubt it." I continue to humour her and pretend to not have seen him when I walked in. He was a good-looking man, yes, but he also looked like he had an eighty-year-old wife waiting for him at home.
"So, where to go first?" I think, "I was thinking curtains." She looks at me in disappointment, "You really are bad at everything." I ignore her comment and hail a cab. "We're getting the actual furniture first, then we can pick out curtains that match and finally, those little beautiful things that are used to decorate houses or whatever."
A cab finally pulls over and we get in. "Ornaments." She looks at me confused, "Huh?" I turn to her, keeping my expression stoic, "Ornaments. Those little beautiful things that are used to decorate houses or whatever." Realization dawns on her, "Oh! Oh! Yes! That's the word."
"Where to?" The driver asks. "Princeton Square!" Sivanah pretty much squeals. I groan, "Do you have to be so excited about everything?" She grins, "Now, now. Both of us can't be pessimists, can we?" I place my hand on my chest and gasp, feigning offence, "I am NOT a pessimist." "You are!" "Not." "Are." "Not."
We keep up the childish argument until the cab pulls over and the driver pretty much asks us to get out. We burst out laughing at his annoyance. I hand him the fare. "Keep the change!" I scream with too much excitement as I step out. Ew. Siv is rubbing off on me.
…
After walking in and out of multiple stores, we've successfully ordered all of the furniture and cabinets including all sanitary ware and appliances. I must say, I'm proud of us.
"Okay, time to get we some curtains." I frown, "That's grammatically inaccurate." She rolls her eyes, "Sorry, Miss Wheaton." Miss Wheaton was the name of our English Teacher in middle school. She had it out for Sivanah since the first day. I smile. "Do you have the measurements with you?" Siv asks. "Affirmative." We cross the road and walk into a store called 'Curtains and Rods'. How creative.
"Okay so, I was thinking of getting something different like maybe lilac or sky-" I turn to see Siv is still at the doorway staring at a worker at the far end of the store. Oh God.
"Umm…Akela, you can handle this without me for a while, yeah?" She doesn't wait for a response, "Yeah. I'm going to talk to that very productive worker real quick and I'll catch up with you later."
With that, she runs off and I'm left standing alone. I'm not even surprised; this isn't the first time and it probably won't be the last time.
I sigh, "Okay, I've got this." I walk over to some sample materials hanging down from a wall to my left. They're hung according to their shades so I walk over to the purple themed ones and check out the lighter shades.
"Well that's a unique choice." A smooth deep voice says from behind me. The most beautiful voice I've ever heard. I turn around and his face doesn't disappoint either. His jaws are well defined, he has a clean shave, he's dark-skinned with really black eyes and his hair is in a curly Afro. I like his curls. Wow. I like his curls?
And then his arms. Let's not talk about his arms.
"Uh, earth to…" "Akela" I say a little too quickly. I suck in a breath and repeat in a more even tone, "Akela." He smiles at me. His dentition is perfect too?! God, why me?
"Alec", he says, stretching out his hand, "Nice to meet you." I take his hand and almost pull away immediately. Turns out wattpad wasn't entirely a fraud. I just felt electricity run up my arm. I smile shyly and pull my hand back to my side. My heart is beating way too fast right now.
"So um…" He tucks his hand in his pockets and looks away momentarily. Good to see I'm not the only nervous one. "...did you just move here too or are you redecorating?"
"Yes…er, no. I mean- sorry." I chuckle lightly and try to control my heart rate. "Not quite. I've lived here my whole life. Just moving into a new apartment." He's smiling again and my lungs are screaming for help. "Wow. I wouldn't have guessed with that British accent."
I giggle. Ew, why am I giggling? "Mother is British." He cocks his eyebrow. Ha! Gotcha! His eyebrows aren't perfect. Alec-1,999,999; Akela-1
I'm brought back by the sound of his voice, " You mean your mother is British?" I give him a tight- lipped smile, "Sure." He doesn't need to know the backstory. Yet. For some reason, I've never known to refer to Mother as 'my mother'.
Maybe it's because I know she's quite separate from my family despite being pretty much my only family. 'Mother' has always seemed like more of a name than a title. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to have a problem with it.
Just then, Siv walks in and smirks at me. I refuse the urge to roll my eyes. "I was going to ask if you've seen something you like but clearly, you have." I elbow her and see pretty boy Alec chuckling. HAHA very funny.
"Sivanah, meet Alec. Alec, Sivanah." I say, gesturing towards each of them. Siv glares at me for using her full name but I ignore her and keep my smile plastered. They shake hands, "Siv", she says to him. "It's a pleasure." He replies. Once again, his voice reverberates through my entire body. This can't be good.
"Well, it was great meeting you ladies." He says while staring at me. I try not to shiver under his gaze. "I just moved here so hopefully i'll see you around sometime."
I barely nod and he starts to leave but then big mouth Siv goes, "Hey Alec. Why don't you give us your number? I'm sure at least one of us would love to see you again." I think I've stopped breathing. I am going to kill this girl.
He smiles at me knowingly. I scowl. I'm going to kill them both. He takes out his business card and hands it to me, "I'll be expecting."Yeah, and you'll be getting nothing. With that, he turns and leaves. I'm practically seething when I turn to look at Sivanah. She smiles sheepishly.