It had been two weeks since Dunsin saw or even spoke to Eva after the incident, and it bothered him. He couldn't make sense of it all. He wondered if she and Gates were officially together, and the thought of that only made him jealous.
Just before he exited the school premises, he bumped into her…
"Hey, Eva." He smiled, feeling relieved at the sight of her.
"Hi Dunsin!" She was equally pleased to see him, although unsure of the conversations they'd have thereon.
"So, I haven't seen you around or heard from you, and I was wondering if everything was alright with you…" He asked with genuine curiosity.
The care in his eyes made her realize how much she'd missed him.
"Yeah, I'm alright." She said while hesitating, "How have you been? I've been thinking about you too. I mean, I hope you're not mad at me or something…"
"I've not been myself these past weeks, Eva. I'm not mad at you at all…if anything, I should be the one apologizing to you right now. That night, I acted like a total idiot and I'm sorry, you don't deserve that." Pausing to catch his breath, he continued… "I guess I was jealous seeing you with Benjamin. It's no excuse, but I just want you to understand my actions that night." He finished.
Overwhelmed by his outpouring, she struggled to find the words to say to him.
"Dunsin, uhm I…I don't know what to say?"
"You don't have to say anything." He pointed out. "But it'd be nice to know what your relationship is with him…I mean, are you two…"
"No, we're not." She cut in. "But I also don't think you should concern yourself with who I'm with or what I do with my life." She asserted.
"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. It's just that…"
"Just stay out of it, Dunsin." She cut in…again.
Confused about her attitude, he decided to let it go.
"Sure." He said with a look of defeat, "Got plans?"
"Not exactly. How about you?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe you and I could try the ice cream shop again?!" He said, feeling uncertain about her response.
She looked at him, searching…
Why the heck am I still standing here mute? She thought.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Come on, let's go."
She urged him on as they walked away. Hand-in-hand, they talked about their classes, school work since resumption, and her life after graduation.
On arrival, they noticed that the shop didn't open that day. A notice was posted on the door informing customers that the shop was undergoing maintenance. Disappointed, Dunsin thought about an alternative.
"I know someplace we could hang out. The good news is— The college kids rarely go there…" He added, hoping that the idea of a private moment would convince her.
"And why's that?" She asked curiously.
"Don't worry about that, just trust me."
Excitedly, they moved further away from the shop to a place where they could get a cab. Luckily, Dunsin hailed a cab, they got in and left.
On getting there, they walked into a bistro. It was an attractive space and Eva fell in love with it instantly.
"How come you never told me about this place?" She inquired.
"I don't know, I guess I must've assumed you knew." He winked at her.
As they settled in and placed their orders, they continued their earlier conversation.
Suddenly, Dunsin spotted a familiar face from school. To his amazement, it was Mabel from their school…a classmate of Eva's.
"Uhm, Eva, isn't that Mabel?"
"Where'd you see her?" Eva became apprehensive.
"Look, over there…" He signaled to her.
She couldn't believe it when she saw her.
The almighty, rich, pompous, arrogant and showoff Mabel is waitressing in a place…like this??? Omg! I can't believe she actually works!
Eva thought as she continued to stare in disbelief. Then she tried to hide her face so Mabel wouldn't see her. This discovery was not only interestingly shocking to Eva, but it left her confused as well. Mabel had a knack for humiliating people and feeling like she was better than everyone else.
"Are you okay?" He asked with a look of concern over his face.
"Yes…yes, sorry. Just a little distracted, that's all." She admitted.
They had their orders served, and they began to eat while talking and laughing. Despite the distracting conversations they shared, Eva couldn't stop thinking about Mabel and catching glances at her.
Finally, they decided to leave. As they were about reaching the door, Mabel caught Eva's eyes and she was left dazed.
What could she possibly be doing here?
Mabel pondered. Just then, she got called by the bistro's manager to attend to a customer. Ashamed, she responded to the call, fearing what the unexpected encounter meant for her…
…
The phone rang.
Picking up the phone, she realized it was Benjamin on the call…
"How may I help you?" She joked, trying to sound professional.
"There's a party tonight and I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to come with me…"
Feeling jittery, she thought about her reply.
"Fine, I'll come with you." She agreed.
"Great! I guess I'll pick you up at 8." He said and hung up…
"Another date with Gates, I see." Sade said, joining her in the room.
"Fuck off, Sade." Eva said, smiling. She knew it'd be hard to get off that easily with Sade being such a curious cat.
"Come on, babe. You know, I never got to know how your first date with him went. I mean, I've seen signs…inevitable signs, so go on, tell me what I need to know already…" She urged on.
"Alright fine. Benjamin likes me…I mean a lot, and that's something you obviously know." She began, "He asked me to go to a party with him and I said yes." She finished.
"And…what about the date you had the other time? Aren't you going to tell me about that too?" She pushed on.
"Urgh Sade, do you always have to be so inquisitive?"
"What? I only asked a question." She defended.
"Nothing happened, in case you were wondering. We just hung out and talked a lot about ourselves, and that was it. There you have it, you pretty gossip!" Eva disclosed.
"You mean you guys haven't kissed?"
"Sade!"
"What?! I know what I saw that night."
"What you saw that night, Sade, was an illusion." Eva dismissed.
"Of course. An illusion with my best friend in it, eyes shut with so much desire to be kissed by the one person she once hated. Yeah, that's exactly the illusion I saw that night…"
"I hate you so much." Eva laughed at her friend's sarcasm.
"And I love you so much, my dearest bestie in denial…"
They kept laughing while teasing each other…