The sound of my phone ringing wakes me up from sleep early in the morning. At least its morning in my mind. I reach for the phone by the bed stand and squint at it's light before carefully opening an eye to see the name of the caller.
"Hi mom" I answer the call with my voice sounding drowsy.
"Are you still sleeping by this time?" she asks.
"Are you okay dear. Or are you feeling sick? God, why didn't your sister tell me about it" she continues with concern lacing her voice.
"Am ok mom. It's morning and you just woke me up." I say to her. ( Why is she so worried this morning.).
"It's a few minutes to eleven Bee and today is monday. I thought you'd be at work by now." (What!!)
My mind registers what she said and I bring the phone down from my ear to see the time which is truly a few minutes to eleven. I'm supposed to be at the office today. I was supposed to attend a meeting by nine in the morning.
"Wait mum I'll call you back please." I say while she sighs and ends the call. I look for the manager's number and hit dial praying that I don't get scolded this morning. The call connects and he picks after a few rings.
"And see who decided to call after the meeting." he says sounding cheerful. Shouldn't he be angry? I mean he should be angry about the fact that I missed the meeting.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I overslept and just woke up. I was really planning on going to work this morning. I didn't mean for it to happen this way" I say all before drawing a breath. (That was a good pitch, haha).
"It's okay. Luckily for you the boss didn't come in today too. He called in sick and postponed the meeting to Wednesday. So get some rest and resume tomorrow. I know you're tired" he said and ends the call immediately. I jump in happiness and almost fall off the bed. Come to think of it, there were no missed calls from work. That should have given me a hint. I panicked for no reason. I smile at that.
With sleep no longer in my mind I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth before fixing myself a bowl of cereal. Lay seems to have gone out I noticed. I head back to the room to pick my phone remembering that I had to call mum back.
"Hi mum. Sorry about earlier." I say after she picks.
" It's okay dear. You sound alive now I must say" she laughs
"Yh, am fully awake now." I respond laughing along with her.
"Hope there'll be no issue at work dear. Can't believe you still oversleep at you age." she says sighing deeply.
"Anyone can oversleep mum. It's not an age thing. It's not like it's something one can outgrow" I explain laughing even though I know she's just looking for things to nitpick about. " And besides I was really tired" this trip did a number on me.
"O dear. You should rest well. Don't stress yourself too much." She says
"Am not stressing myself mum. Am just doing what I love, working."
"Yh right. How was the trip then. Did you have fun?" She asks and i wonder what fun I was supposed to have on a work trip.
"It was for work mum. Not for fun" I correct
"People still have fun while on work trips. But it's not something you'll ever do, I know. You're always working." She defends. ( Ughh, not this again).
"Heard that dad is retiring. How did it happen. It was really surprising to hear." I say, changing the topic. I need peace this morning not getting scolded.
"Yes. It came as a surprise to me too. He went to golf with Old Ben one day and came back saying he wanted to retire. I guess he got jealous of his friend's free time." She says laughing. "But am glad he decided to. It's best for him. He needs the rest." She adds.
"Yh, he sure needs it." I say
"Yh, and unfortunately he already made you like him. A workaholic." She continues
"Mum. Let's drop that okay. Ben's going to be so happy about this" I say sounding happy
"Yes. He was so happy when I told him. He'll be coming for the party. He can't miss it for anything." She says and from her voice she sounds very happy. I know she misses her son very much. I miss him too. He hasn't been home in a long time.
"I can't wait to see him" I say again.
"Me too" she says
"O dear before I forget. Can you make sure Richard attends the party. I called him but he said he isn't sure he'll be free to attend. I know you can convince him" mum says sounding hopeful and for a moment I didn't know how to respond to that. I'm not ready to see him or contact him but mum has always liked Ric like he was her own son. She'd be hurt if he doesn't attend. I'm really in a fix.
"I'll try mom. But I won't promise anything. If he told you that, then am sure he has something important to do." I say going for neutral because I can't promise I'll call him not to talk of convincing him.
"Ok dear. I've got alot to do. I just wanted to hear you voice and ask about the trip. Take care of yourself and make sure your sister eats real food okay. Love you." She says and I laugh because it's funny. Lay and her love for junk food all because she gets lazy about cooking.
"Thanks mom. Love you too" I say before she ends the call. I drop the phone on the bed and think of what to do. Then I decide to forget about that for now and enjoy my day.
After practically sleeping for an entire day I decided to go out for a stroll in the evening. Lay is not back yet so I lock the door before heading out. I take a walk around our neighborhood and enjoy the peaceful environment and beautiful houses around. The area is a high class one with mostly residential houses beautifully planned and structured with only a few apartment complexes like the one I stay at and the one Ric stays at. As if on cue, I come to a stop in front of Ric's building. I look up to his floor as if I'll get to see him from down here but the windows are closed. I sigh and turn around only to come to a stop as I almost make contact with a moving body. I look up quickly to see that it's Nat smiling down at me. His smile, enchanting I must say. I smile back at him.
"What are you doing here Bee." He said reaching out to touch my hair and I let him. He does that alot. Nat reminds me alot of my older brother, Ben though he's way hotter and cooler than Ben. (Hahaha). Maybe it's because he's the most matured of our friends and the one who comes to our aid like an older brother.
"I should be the one asking you that." I say laughing " I live in this neighborhood remember" I add shifting my weight from one foot to another. I easily get nervous when talking to Nat.
"Oo yh. I almost forgot about that. Are you coming from Ric's place?" he asks and I froze. I didn't expect that question at all.
"Ehhh..... Nope. I was just passing by." I manage to say not looking at him.
"When did you get back to town?" He asks
"Friday" I reply and stay quiet.
"Nice to see you back then. We've all missed you." He says and I wonder if there's more to what he just said but I just nod.
"I missed you all too" I say in reply. His phone rings then and he doesn't pick. I look at him raising an eyebrow and he just smiles back.
"It's Ric. I actually came to see him. Let me head up. Will you come with me?" he asks surprising me.
" No" I say quickly then clear my throat "I mean, I need to head home. I have work to do." I say quickly. "See you around" I added while turning to walk away but a hand stops me in place.
"What?" I turn asking him but he doesn't release my hand. He holds it there and looks as if he's struggling to say something.
"You don't have to avoid him like that you know" he says after a while "You don't have to ignore him because of that Bee." He continues and I start to panick. I was able to talk to the girls about this issue without panicking but with Nat it just feels different. Maybe it's because he's a guy. But then again he's the closest guy to Ric. So I can justify the panicking right?