"Gir-Girlfriend?" she stutters.

As usual, my ego got the best of me that even I felt weird after saying what I said. It feels like one minute my mind was possessed and now it's not.

"Christian, you never told me you had a girlfriend?" Lilly's gives a him a long stare.

"Well, now you know," Christian laughs and grabs my waist, pulling me near his hard chest.

"Well, um... I will see you soon then," she leaves, walking up the staircase like a malfunctioning robot.

Christian turns to me once she's out of sight.

"Girlfriend, really?" He scoffs.
"Well she had to stay in her lane for goodness sake, she was throwing herself on you!" the words leave my mouth before I can stop them.

His forehead furrows a bit, and it is quickly replaced by a cocky smirk.
"Admit it, Imani, you're jealous,"

"Jealous? I'm jealous?!" I throw my hands at my sides.
"Glad you're owning up to your actions, because we're going to have to start dating soon," he keeps walking down the stairs and I hurriedly do the same.

"Ow! Christian that is not what I want to do!"I shout, limping behind him.
"Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Lilly shares news faster than a wildfire, she's probably told half of England by now. I say, you either go with this or go with this," he walks to his car and unlocks his door.

Wait what?

"Christian, I'm limping," I stop walking.
"We'll use my car then,"
"Well what about mine?"
"You'll give me your keys an-"
"I can't give you my keys?! Are you mad?!" I shriek.
"Can you just listen to me, please," he drags his words.

"Fine," I huff.
"Good. Now get in the car so I take you home," he enters the car and I do the same.

"What did you say about the car?"I ask once we're inside his car and he takes in a deep breath.
"I'll get a cab to Logan Square and take your car, from there drop it off at your house," he glances at the lane on the other side through the rear view mirror before joining it.

"Alright," I fold my arms.
"Imani, you should relax. For once let somebody take care of you- for you," I turn to look at his face full of concern as his eyes remain focused on the road.

"I mean you're strong-willed, confident and a hard-working,"

Lazy sometimes but, thanks.

" You're independent and vocal but just- allow people to take care of you. Do your friends do that?"

They take me out is what they do.they try their best in many other ways though ...they really do.

I have no strength to answer so instead I nod yes.

"Do they?" He glances at me and I realised he didn't see me move my head.

Damnit, man.

"They try," is all I manage to say.
"Well then they're really good people if they do that, because you deserve the reward for all your hard work,"

I sure wish my mother would say the same. Gee, I wonder why she's the first that came to mind. It has always been a competition in that house of hers, which child is better than the other. I always came second no matter how much I tried.

My sister and I are both at the peak of our careers, thank God. Now that marriage is in the picture, I know I cannot amount to what she has achieved, nobody acknowledged my efforts in atleast being the woman that I am today. Ofcourse my father has said a bit, but then my mother...

"Imani, are you okay?" Christian glances at me, and now I know why.

A tear rolls down my cheek and I quickly grab a piece of tissue from my handbag.

I am a strong-willed woman.
I am a confident woman.

I am...

"Iman-"
"I'm okay! Geez, don't worry about me," I giggle softly at my obvious lie.

-

"Ima is always crying. It's always about her tears,"

"Stop crying!"

"Something so petty, Ima? Something small as this and you're crying?"
-

I refuse to crumble at the thought of my tears comforting me being mockery by my family.

Ofcourse looking back at it, I know most things I cried over were...petty.

But this is different, yes, it's different.

Silence fell in the car . And this silence felt different, like he's trying to reason with the situation of my tears.

We arrive at 2080, he has mastered the route to my house. He gets out the car and round to my side, helping me up and inside.

"I think it'll be better by tomorrow," he says, sitting me down on the couch. "You probably shouldn't walk around, unless it's necessary," his hands are in the pockets of his dark jeans.

"Thank you," I respond.
"You sure you'll be fine?" I nod yes and look up, his expression is giving me a "I'm being helpful here so please meet me halfway."

"Oh, the keys," I take them out from my bag and he takes them from my hand.
"I'll text you once I'm back, ok?" He smiles and leaves.

So much has happened and all of it in just one day!

× × ×

I decide to pass time and flip through channels since I can't even walk to the door by myself.

My phone rings and it's Hannah.

"Girl I'm outside your house and there's some Audi here blocking my usual spot!" She shouts into the phone.

Oh damn.

"Um, park near the road I'll be out in a bit,"I drop the phone and freeze.

How in the world am I going to get to the door?

I stand, taking baby steps as I got closer to the door knob.

"Hey girl!" Hannah waves, locking her car. "Is this your new car or something?"
"Um...," I purse my lips and turn to the car, thinking about what I should tell her. "I'll explain later. Why are you here?" I give her the widest grin.

"Well, I heard you weren't in your office so I knew you'd be here, like- where else would your boring life outside work take you?"I roll my eyes at her lame yet truthful joke.

"I sprained my ankle, so I need help walking back inside,"I blink at her.
"I like this side to you, Imani. You know, asking for help isn't your thing," she takes my hand, placing it over her shoulder as she aided me inside the house.

"So how's Martin?" I ask.
"Well, Martin is Martin. Always cracking jokes and making me laugh and he's taking me out on alot of lunch dates!" she laughs.

"Dates, huh? He really likes you," I tug her top and we both burst into laughter.

My phone vibrates on the armrest next to me and I grab it to view the message.

New Message
Christian: I'm outside.
Christian: Is the door locked?

Shit.

There's a knock on the door and Hannah jumps.

"Lemme get it," she stands.
"Wait, I will,"
"Girl your ankle's sprained, sit your ass down, I got this," she says grabbing the door knob and she steps back from the push on Christian's end.

Great.

"Oh, I didn't know you'd be having visitors," he says, amused to see Hannah.
"Hey, aren't you Adrian's friend?" Her head goes back and forth between Christian and I.

"I am, um... you're a friend of Imani,yes?"
"Yes, we're bestfriends," she grins.

Christian glances at me, probably wondering whether or not to mention the keys or keep them so Hannah doesn't know. I know he has no idea what to pick so I intervene.

"Christian helped me when I had issues with the shower, remember?" I tell Hannah.
"Oh yea! Yea, I remember that incident," she nods in agreement, her eyes squinting at Christian.
"Yea, so he's here to check up on it,"
"I sure am," Christian smiles and gives me a quick wink as he walks to the staircase. " I'll be back in a second,"

"Sure, take your time," Hannah throws a thumbs up and sits back on the sofa. "Imani, I'm deadass killing you if you don't find that man attractive,"

Well, courtesy of my loose tongue, he's now my boyfriend.

"I won't lie, he is," and I mean it.
"See? See?! That's a start, admiring a man. When last did you just say to yourself 'Damn, he fine'? You haven't, he's a start. You said what's his name again?"

"Christian,"
"Can't be hard to forget that name, it means he loves Jesus too," she smiles whith her chin pushed in her neck, creating a double chin.
"Stop that," I swat reaching for my phone.

New Message
Christian: your keys are by the sink. Is it okay to take my car or...?

Nxaww, he sounds so cute being cautious-I'm never this mushed up but hey, he's being adorable in a way.

"Gosh I wish I could get my ankle to stop aching," I growl.
"Girl, just let it rest," she yawns, " I'm getting tired, but I need to pass by Kenya and grab some documents before she gets worked up over it's submission. Is Christian ever going to get down from there?"

"He will, he's probably checking the bathroom sink as well,"
"That or he's 'rummaging' through your pannies," Hannah has the dirtiest jokes.

But this one... nevermind.

"Alright, alright. Get lost," I lean on the door frame as she walks to her car.
"Hopefully your ankle will be in motion on Friday, we're having a girls night out," she snaps her index finger at me as she enters, driving off.

"Thank you, Jesus," I sigh with relief, as the door closed behind me. "Christian," I call out.

The sound of his soles can be heard as he is now in view, descending the stairs.

"I'm guessing this is my cue to leave,"
"My ankle needs a massage?" I grin nervously at him.
"How much are we talking about here?" he squints at me intently.
"So there's payment now?" I raise a brow, walking slowly to the couch.

"Payment can be arranged," he tilts his head to the side as he sat next to me.
"Very well then, we can proceed," I lift my leg and he takes it, staring at me before gently holding my foot with one hand and using the other hand to softly press the hurting area.

"You have cute toenails,"
"Let's not go there," I warn, but surprisingly I find myself smiling at his compliment.
"I'm just being honest here, you take care of them so well," he chuckles softly.
"Thank you,"

I stare at his hair, to his sideburn which leads to his beard. The way the colours transcend to a darker shade of blonde to sienna all the way to a shade of brown, fascinates me.

Plus it suits him.

"You know, when my mother would return from work, she'd let me massage her feet and neck, I think I told you that already. But she'd always sing a certain song as I did so," he looks up.

"Oh? So you want to sing for me now?"
"I can't sing," he admits.
"Wow, ok,"
"Can you?"
"I wish,"

We both laugh and I turn to the TV to find a song playing.

"How about karaoke?" I ask.
"You can?" He asks amused.
"No, dumbass. As in can you do karaoke,"
"Maybe," he hums.

We sit in silence as he continued to massage my ankle, while staring at the screen.

____________________________________