"Reign, come down for breakfast", my mom calls from downstairs.At 23 I'm still living with my parents and still having my mom wake me up. I roll over to cancel the chime of my bedside alarm clock reading 07:30. I love gadgets, which is why I have the clock instead of just setting an alarm on my phone. I squint at the light streaming through the opening curtains. As soon as I cancel my alarm my digital assistant 'Joey' opens the curtains, adjusts my room heaters and turns off the air purifier. I get off the bed and head to the shower. I contempate filling the tub to the brim with steaming hot water and soaking my sore muscles but I decide against it and just go for a quick shower. The whole time I'm in there I'm streaming bits and pieces of the concert I played at last night. It was fireworks lit. The music lovers went crazy when I played my most recent song. They have good taste in music, I must give that to them. It's also my new favorite, I know listening to oneself is a bit cocky but I do it anyway. I step out of the shower, run a towel over my hair and throw on jogger pants and a Bob Marley and the wailers garment and head downstairs.
I give my mom a kiss on the cheek and fist bump my dad. The guy is in his 50s but still acts 20. I grab a pear from the fruit basket, and take a seat in front of my parents on the kitchen island. By the look on their faces I know I'm in for another lecture.
Dad clears his throat to draw my attention and looks me square in the eyes and says," Reign son, I know you like music,and you're good at it, but there's more to life than what music can bring. Can it afford you a house such as ours? Will you be able to maintain the car you're driving, maintain the standard of living you grew up in, maybe that's too much but will you even be able to pay your health insurance? " He says this with a cool tone and a controlled temper. It's a skill he acquired from his two decades of practicing as a civil litigation attorney and half a decade as a judge. I just sit there staring at him pretending to hear what he's saying. He's not fooled though. " Maria, talk to your son", he says in resignation. My mom has never wanted to involve herself with this drama of my career and future. She also generally hates arguments and heated conversations so she avoids them everytime she can. She surprises me when she says,"Ree, darling, your dad is right. You need to make a wise choice. I won't make the decision for you but I can atleast point you in the right direction." She says this with a serious face on but her eyes had the gentle glint they always have. I think being a neurosurgeon has given her that skill from dilevering the worst news with composure and compassion. I hate upsetting my mom so I say, " don't worry mom, I've got this. I pick a fork and dig into my pancakes. " These never fail to hit me with a different kind of deliciousness everytime I try them", I say cutting in for another bite." It's because I fill them with a different kind of love everyday", mom replies pinching my cheeks as if im still a five year old. My mom has always been busy as her job demands too much so I always wonder how she became such a perfect cook.
Dad finishes his breakfast first, kisses my mom goodbye, grabs the keys to his G-wagon and heads out. He's always been into cars which earn him attention wherever he drives to. He gives importance to creating and maintaining connections with the conglomerates and politicians, so maybe it's his need to fit in that has him doing what he does.
I also grab my car keys and kiss my mom as I head out. " Do you need my credit card?" She asks, " I made a few bucks from the concert, it should be enough", I reply her with a smirk. I played at the up and coming artists show concert last night and it pays large. She just smiles fondly and waves in reply. She's on her leave so she stays at home today.
I drive my Rolls-Royce ghost phantom into the city. It's crazy how I have to use such an attention phishing car. If only I had my own bank account. It's a several miles drive from our home to the city so I lose myself to my playlist compilation by Burna- boy.
I stop by my usual studying cafe, order an iced Americano and head to my reserved corner booth. I'm working on my software assignment, which is due today. I procrastinate alot sometimes it leaves me working under pressure.
I'm entering the system I've been working on when a blonde slips in besides me. She's pretty, pale skin and all. I continue with what I was doing pretending not to notice her there. She scoots closer and presses onto my side seductively. She smells nice, but I'm not interested. I push out of the booth and glare at her with the coldest look I could come up with. She slips out too and cowers away pouting. I've never been very interested in girls in general especially blondes. I can count my engagements with girls on my fingers. I just haven't found anyone who has interested me for more than 5 hours yet.
I head for the college campus and submit my assignment.
I call my buddy Sid, and we go on a drive. "There's this hottie I was with after the concert", he says. I give him a side glance and shake my head. All he ever talks about is girls. "What happened to you last night?",he asks. "I headed straight home after my performance", I reply reaching for the control screen to shuffle through my playlist. "Boring", Sid says rolling his eyes. I decide to prove to him that I'm just boring in his eyes only, so I tell him about the blonde. "OmG", he screeches, "then why are you here with me dude?" "She wasn't my type",I counter. We drive on the beach front just enjoying the seagulls sing. The bickering continues as usual.
I'm taking a shower on Tuesday morning when my phone rings. " Joey, answer the call" I shout. "Hello?" I answer. " Hello, Mr Richards?", the person on the other end of the line enquires. "Yes", I confirm. " I'm Miss Moleens, calling from the CUt college, can you report to the campus as soon as it's convenient for you", she says. " May I know what this is concerning?" I ask. " It's better we discuss it in person" ,Miss Moleens replies and ends the call.
I quickly get dressed and head out.
I reach the reception and enquire about the case. Miss Moleens introduces herself and leads me to the software engineering department head's office.
I take a seat and he delivers something that sounds like a rehearsed speech and tells me about my involvement in plagiarism. As soon as I hear it I understand why he is speaking the way he is. I'm a trust fund student obviously he'd be scared of my dad.
"We'll look further into the case Mr Richards". I'm out the door as soon as he finishes the sentence.
I know my dad will take care of everything but how did that even happen. I wonder. I don't remember taking any website notes, everything on that system is from my head. Could it have been that cafe blonde? But how,she didn't sit in that booth for long enough. I need to get off the edge. I drive to the city and find myself roaming around until I'm in front of this Sky mall. I decide to go to the Baker'sCafe and get myself some doughnuts and coffee, caffeine usually makes me feel better. A blonde bumps into me while I'm waiting in line to order and spills coffee on me. " Sorry, I'm really sorry", she frantically apologizes trying to wipe the coffee off my leather jacket. "It's ok, don't worry about it" I excuse her removing her hands from me.Her eyes meet mine then she quickly averts her gaze, blushing.
" Well, you can come up to the second floor with me, to clean up", she suggests having gained her composure. I agree just to make her feel less guilty. I'm met with a surprise as soon as I step out of the elevator into a gift shop the blonde led me into. A pair of ocean blue eyes briefly does a once over of me and avert. That's all it takes, I'm smitten. She pushes herself up my ideal girl list by her reaction to the doughnuts her friend jus brought. Pure excitement, unguarded reaction just purely natural. The way she takes a big bite as if she didn't have any company amused me. When she lifts her face, our eyes meet, mine still reflecting the amusement and hers embarrassment that takes an effect on the blue of her eyes.