NEXT DAY.
HAILEY'S P.O.V
It was a really busy day today. I had to help a doctor for a surgical operation immediately I came to work. It lasted for an hour and forty minutes. I started my morning check ups at 11:35 am.
After that, I gave the files to the nurses. I hummed a song as I walked to my office, my Crocs making soft sounds as I walked.
I opened the door and walked in. I was surprised to see him.. sitting on one of the chairs opposite mine.
"Good morning doctor Hailey." He said with a warm smile. I shut the door gently.
"Good morning… Calvin." I said and walked a little closer to him. "Why are you here?" I asked calmly. He gestured with his hand to the other chair close to him. I sighed and sat down.
"Hailey, I want to apologise sincerely for yesterday. Maybe my reactions caught you off guard, I am really sorry." He said calmly. Okay he is always talking in a calm voice.
"I should be the one apologising to you, Calvin… I shouldn't have pulled you out of your comfort zone. Sorry about that." I said.
"It's just that I have not been to that part of the city before." He said with his head down.
"It's okay. I shouldn't have tried to force my interest on you. We are two different people, I have to get that." I said. He slowly raised his head to look at me. He held my hands and I flinched a little.
"So.. we're good?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said and he let go of my hand. I sighed.
"Are you done with your shift?" He asked and I looked at my wrist watch.
"Yeah." I said.
"Alright. Can I take you out?" He asked.
"Out? Why?" I asked. I really don’t want to get closer to him than I already am.
"Because we are friends." He said.
"Um… I have to go to my restaurant." I said.
"So you don’t want to?" He asked. Gosh, I can’t hurt his feelings. Why does he have a sad face on?
"Fine, I will come with you." I said and he smiled. We stood up. I took my bag from the desk and walked out with him. I could hear some whispers about us from people around but I just ignored them. I stopped at the receptionist counter and signed out. Eva kept smiling at me weirdly. I knew it is because of Calvin. We both walked outside and he led me to his car. We both got in and he started driving.
"Hailey." he called and I turned to him.
"Hmm." I responded.
"Why are you so quiet today?" He asked and I looked forward. "You are treating me like the others now. You use to bring up hearty conversations.. and I loved it. Why are you becoming withdrawn all of a sudden?" He asked in his usual calmness but I didn't know what to say. I can't tell him I'm trying not to get so close to him, he'll feel bad.
He continued driving and I became aware of the environment. It was the local market I directed him to yesterday. I looked at him.
"Why are we here?" I asked.
"To hang out." He said with a smile.
"You didn’t have to drive us here." I said.
"But I wanted to, I want you to show me around. I want to know why you love this place." He said and parked the car.
"Really?" I asked with a slight smile.
"Yeah, it seems you love this place so much." He said.
"What about your identity? I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable." I said. He brought out the things I bought yesterday.
"We've got these." He said with a smile. I watched him roll up his sleeves. He pulled off his shoes and wore the flip-flop, the blue ones. He rolled up his trousers a bit. He wore the face cap and goggles. "How do I look?" He asked and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.
"Does it look bad on me?" He asked, checking himself in the rear mirror.
"Not at all, it's just.. not your style." I said and he chuckled.
"Come on, take off your shoes." He said and I took off my Crocs, and wore the pink flip-flop. We got down from the car and started walking along the market.
He looked like a newbie. I took him to one of the local restaurant. He stared at the place and back at me.
"Are you sure we can eat here?" He asked and I smiled.
"Of course, you are going to love the food here." I said and held his hand. We walked in and I pulled him to a table beside the window. He stared at the wooden chair.
"Is this safe?" He asked.
"Yeah, but it is not as comfortable as the ones you're used to." I said and sat down. He sat down opposite me.
"I'm sure gonna get butt ache after this." He said and I laughed.
"There is always a first time for everything." I said. I ordered food for both of us. He stared at the food lamely. His obliviousness to the things here makes me amused. He is still a novice.
"So what do we do? Eat?" He asked.
"Of course." I said and took my spoon. I digged in and started eating. I took a glance at him but he was just watching me eat. I have to get him to eat. "Hmm… So delicious." I said munching my food in a way that would entice him.
"It's really delicious?" He asked out of curiosity.
"Sure. Go on and have a bite." I said and he picked up his spoon. He had a little scoop and placed it in his mouth. He slowly munched it and gradually swallowed.
"Wow, it's absolutely delicious. Why haven't I eaten this yet?" He asked and I giggled.
"You've been eating classy food all your life, food prepared with great caution, etiquette, order and procedures. That's what you rich folks are like. But this? Hmm.. so yummy." I said.
"It tastes like the ones Valerie would prepare." He said.
"Well you see, there is nothing to be scared of. The local food are the best." I said and he nodded absent minded as he devoured the food. I smiled, staring at his cute lips as he ate. He looks so cute.
Come on Hailey, snap out of it. He is every girls dream guy and there is no way he would look at me.
He finished his food before me and I was surprised.
"Wow! You really like it." I said.
"It is delicious and I love delicious food." He said with a grin. He paid the bills and we walked out of the restaurant. We walked along the street.
"So you've been living alone for a very long time?" he asked.
"Yeah." I said.
"Don’t you have friends?" He asked.
"I do have a friend, Darcie." I said.
"Where is she now?" He asked.
"She must be in her office, she works in her dad’s company." I said.
"Her dad owns a company?" He asked.
"Yeah. A huge company that deals in construction. They're really well to do." I said.
"Why didn't she help you secure a job easily? I am sure she could have used her connections or her dad's, to get you a job. That’s what friends do. I know for a fact that I can always count on my friends whenever I'm in need of anything. They've got my back and I too, got their backs." he said and I thought about it.
It was true that Darcie could have easily helped me get a job. She is well influential. But why did she not help me? I waved the thought off.
"Maybe it slipped her mind." I defended her and he scoffed.
"Slipped her mind? That is not an excuse. I think she just doesn't want to help you. I mean, she's doing so well and you were struggling to make ends meet. I can't imagine doing that to a friend." He said and I sighed.
"Darcie is not like that." I said and he sighed.
"Okay, whatever." He said nonchalantly. I saw a street side barbecue and tugged on Calvin.
"Let’s get barbeque." I said pulling him along. We stood in front of the grill. "How do you sell them?" I asked the man.
"Are you sure this is healthy?" Calvin whispered to me.
"Definitely." I said. I bargained with the seller until he agreed to my demand. While Calvin watched in amazement. He wrapped two sticks with old newspapers and gave it to me. I paid him and we walked on.
"I don’t see any reason why you should argue with him like that. It was just fifteen dollars." Calvin said.
"That's easy for you say. Sometimes these people take advantage of others. They sell over the normal price. For people like you, you just get easily cheated." I said and gave him one stick.
"Don't say it like that, you make it seem like I'm a complete dummy." he said and I chuckled.
"Sorry." I said.
"And, it doesn't matter, it's for their conscience to handle." He said. I took one barbeque meat from the stick with my mouth. He imitated me and I giggled.
"How is it?" I asked.
"Delicious, it's tastier than the ones in the restaurants in town. Remind me to buy some more when going home." he said and I smiled.
"You see why I love this place? Their meal and everything is so delicious." I said.
"That’s for sure." he said. We stood to listen to the road side band as they sang whilst playing instruments. Calvin drew out a wad of money and threw it into their purse and everyone was surprised. I quickly pushed him out their midst.
"What?" He asked obliviously.
"Calvin." I called softly. "You don’t just throw a wad of money in the purse of a road side band here." I said.
"But they were really good. I just wanted to show my support."He said honestly and I held my forehead and sighed.
"I know they were really good. But doing that could not only endanger them, but yourself too. This is not the town where everybody minds their business. Don’t you think that they might get robbed of it and you may be endangered? There are bad aspects as much as there are good things about this place." I said.
"So, I shouldn't show my support?" He asked.
"You could have done that secretly, not openly. But it's good that you are generous." I said and tapped his shoulder lightly. He sighed.
"It's not my fault." He said and I smiled.
"I know." I said. We started walking back to the car. He bought five sticks of barbeque and gave the man more than the required amount. We got to the car and went in.
"Whoa, that was a long walk." He said taking off the glasses and face cap. He switched on the A.C and unbuttoned the first three buttons of his white long sleeved shirt. He was sweating. I didn't take off the flip flop, it was comfortable. He drove me to my house and we both alighted from the car.
"Thanks for today." I said.
"I should be the one thanking, you made my day and I enjoyed every moment of it." He said.
"Me too. I'll get going now. Bye Mr Calvin." I said and he got into his car and drove off.
I walked to my apartment.
He called me on the phone, late in the evening and we talked for some time before calling it a night.