"You are going to be okay," he says as we sit next to each other.
"Deborah was right, this is an emergency." He continues.
"Yes, it is an emergency," I chuckle.
"I really missed you dude." He holds my hand.
"I missed you very much. You have grown so much." I tease.
I have not seen Kit in two years, and during that time, he never posted any pictures of himself on social media. He only posted pictures of places he visited.
"Imagine? Grown? I was not a baby when I left." He dramatically rolls his eyes.
I laugh until my eyes get teary.
"It's fun to be at the receiving end of your disapproving look."
"It's a pleasure." He says in a Posh accent. "Where do you want to go? Should I take you home to put away the bags? Then we can go anywhere you want." He picks up two of my bags.
"Let me rest for thirty minutes, and then we'll leave. I have booked somewhere." I remain seated.
"What did you do?" I notice a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
"They are going to ask for my results, as soon as I walk through the door."
"Did you not do well?" His eyes widen.
"That's not the case. The case is that, I changed my course again, but I have been afraid to tell them." I grimace.
"This is all your fault," he says. He reminds me of the way in which I used to send my parents my results as soon as I got them. I remind him that it was because high school was easy.
"What are you studying now?" He asks.
"Human Resources."
"Do you like it?" His face is stoic, and I wish I could know what he is thinking. As if his approval would mean something to me.
"I don't know. I chose it because it doesn't take many years. So, I was hoping to get a job, while I figure out what I want to do with my life."
"You don't know what you want to do?" He gently brushes the back of my hand.
"Yes."
"That's fine. How many times have you changed courses?"
"Four times." I look down at our hands.
"Damn! You enrol in a different course every semester?"
"See? What do you think my parents would say then?"
"I'm sorry. That was uncalled-for. It's been a little while since we saw each other. When I left for Europe, you were a medical student."
"I know."
"Then what happened?"
"I liked it. I love science, but I changed when I realized that I would take care of people. I don't think I'm fit for that."
He nods.
"Then the second?" He asks.
I explain to him, how I switched from studying to become a doctor, to studying for a bachelor of science. My parents couldn't understand, but they accepted it.
I loved bachelor of science, but I was worried that I wouldn't come with something extraordinary, then it would be the end for me.
Then I went on to study psychology, which I also loved, but then I discovered that it would take ages before I would be qualified to be a research psychologist.
I wanted to work as soon as possible, so the best option that I thought would do for me was human resources. By the time I finish talking, Kit's eyes have widened so much that I laugh.
"See? Even you are judging me."
"No. I'm not. You sound like someone trying to discover herself. It's fine. It happens."
"That's why I don't want to go home yet." I avert my gaze back to the table.
"You can go to my hotel. You can sleep there tonight. Then I can take you home tomorrow." He says.
"Thank you, but I can't afford your hotel."
He shakes his head smiling. "You can stay with me in my penthouse. You haven't been to any of my hotels. I'm going to be there for a few days."
I thank him so many times, and then he tells me to please stop.
"What did you do in Europe?" I finally ask him.
"My intention was to rest and have fun when I got there."
"And you didn't." I chuckle.
"Why do you sound so sure?"
"Because I know you."
"It's been two years, I have changed here and there." He says defensively.
"Right." I nod.
"Let's just go. I've had it with you."
We laugh.
We lift my bags and take them to his car in the parking lot. He stops at a red light and smiles at me.
Kit looks more matured, and more handsome. It's still him, but it somehow feels like I'm speaking to a different person.
"How did you know about my relationship with soccer player?"
"Social Media? We weren't talking much, but I was still stalking you." He keeps his eyes on the road.
"Yeah, me too. Your face was in almost every motivational video. You went to Europe to secure some serious business deals."
"I thought that you didn't care about me anymore. You were too busy to take calls, and you replied to texts after weeks."
"I'm sorry. I had my hands full." I say apologetically.
"At the restaurant?"
"Yes."
"I'm proud of you. No matter what you say, I'm proud of you."
"Thank you," I smile.
We arrive at his fancy hotel.
"Mr Jones, we are glad to see you," one of the staff members says when we get off the car. He takes my bags and puts them on a trolley.
"Mr Jones." Another member nods when we reach the door.
"Mr Jones," another person says. I glance at him. His staff members acknowledge him everywhere he passes.
I smile. "Wow! Mr..."
"If you say it, you are going to sleep on the couch." He says quickly.
"I think if I had a brother, he would act like you."
"Trust me, your brother wouldn't act anything like me. He wouldn't want to spend time with you at all."
"I'm going to act polite, since I don't want to sleep on the couch."
He suppresses a smile.
We get to the top floor. It is like a whole house. There are three bedrooms, a kitchen and a lounge area. He shows me my room. There is a picture of a waterfall and a garden on the wall. I glance at him, he doesn't seem to be aware that I went crazy over this picture when we were in high school.
We exit the room and head to the living area. He collapses on the couch, and looks up at me.
"I'm gonna go freshen up and get out of these clothes that I would never ever wear again." I sit next to him.
"You look cute. I wish I could hate the look, but it is our national team."
"I think I have to go through a break-up more often if you are going to be so nice."
"Don't get used to it. It's just for today."
"Ready for some mischief?" He rubs his palms together, after we have changed into different clothes.
"Yes," I say eagerly.
He shakes his head.
We sneak into the kitchen. Luckily, there is no one in the giant walk-in pantry. We loot the essentials to make a snack platter. When we are about to exit, the door opens. We hide behind the door, and then we make a run for it.
"There are two thieves in the restaurant. They have just come out of the pantry." Mr Harrison shouts.
We are caught a in an elevator before we reach his floor.
"Mr Jones?" A lady in a security uniform exclaims.
"I told you that we should've taken the stairs," I try to control my panting.
"We would've been caught nonetheless."
"Kit? You are the thief?" Mr Martin asks, laughing.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. This girl is always up to no good."
"You two used to give me migraines when you were in school, and you still want to send me to an early retirement." He shakes his head.
"Sorry," we say apologetically.
"It's good to have you back, kids." He grins.
He let's us go, and we walk freely back to the room.
I notice a few strange looks from the staff, the looks make me want to disappear. He seems not to care.
We get to his room, and then I suggest we play chess.
"Are you sure?" He raises his eyebrows.
We neatly arrange the platter, and I frown when I notice that we forgot the hummus. He volunteers to fetch it, but I refuse.
Kit never lost a chess game when we played together. I tried several times, but I lost every time.
We play chess, I lose but I swear to myself that one of these days, I will shock him. He is just too good.
We watch a comedy movie, as we continue to snack on our platter.
At 3 am, we go to one of the karaoke rooms, and we both sing voices. We laugh at each other, but we sing anyway.
I feel like we are children again sneaking around his parents' hotel and doing forbidden activities. Despite knowing that it is his place and none of them are forbidden, it feels good to pretend.