LULU'S POV

When James texted me asking me to dress casually I thanked the heavens for that. I knew how to dress myself well, I was just not a fan of dresses. I only wore them to church and on very special rare occasions. Casual was something I could definitely do. I decided on a pair of black and white pants, a matching cropped hoodie and a pair of white Adidas sneakers. My hair was styled with gel to accentuate the curls and for once I applied baby pink polish on my nails. I was not a huge fan of make up so I settled for a clear face except for chapstick to prevent my lips from drying up in the humid weather.

I didn't know where he was taking me but I hoped it wasn't anywhere public because I wasn't in the mood to see anyone else. I just wanted a quiet night with James with some good food and great company. It was a few minutes to seven so I left the bathroom and started looking for my cabin keys. I'd tossed them somewhere when I arrived from the site to start getting ready and they seemed determined to make me late.

"Aha found you!"I exclaimed fishing them out of the pot of fake plant by the door.

Since I was already at the door, when it was knocked I jumped a little before quickly composing myself. Taking a deep breath, I opened it with a smile on my face revealing James on the other side. He looked nice dressed in dark blue jeans,a white T-shirt with a denim shirt over it with all the buttons undone and grey sneakers. He had gotten his hair done and ends were now gelled and braided away from his face, twisted out backwards. In short he looked handsome.

"You look beautiful."He complimented smiling at me.

"Me? Have you seen yourself?"I exclaimed and that ladies and gentlemen is how you get James to blush.

His dark skin tone didn't allow you to see but I was sure if I touched his ears they would be hot. I didn't mean to embarrass him but my filter malfunctioned sometimes.

"I brought you something."James said changing topics as he held a small bag towards me and I took it from him.

"Definitely not flowers, chocolate or a puppy so what might it be."I teased shaking the bag.

"Just open it."He requested with a smile and I did just that.

Inside the bag were a couple of bracelets in different coloured beads, anklets, waist beads and the most beautiful necklaces with intricate designs.

"The night you came for dinner at our place you said I could hook you up with a couple of bracelets to say thank you."He admitted shyly and I looked up at him with a smile on my face wondering what to say to such cuteness.

"Honestly I was joking but thank you for these, they are beautiful. I hope they weren't expensive."I said still admiring them.

"No because I made them myself."He admitted and they got ten times more beautiful and precious.

"You never cease to amaze me James. Give me a minute to try some of them on then we can go. Come in please "I requested stepping aside to let him in.

He seemed nervous but I let him be as I entered the bathroom with my little goodie bag. The necklaces were too sophisticated for the outfit so I put on the waist beads which were visible since my hoodie was cropped, a couple of bracelets and one anklet on my left foot. I admired myself for a minute before leaving the rest on top of the sink so I didn't leave James waiting for too long. He was looking at a few pictures I had stuck to the fridge, most of them from all my travels.

"You sure do travel a lot."He commented when he noticed me.

"Yeah and I love it, my sister says it's because I've never found some place worth settling down or someone to settle down for."I replied.

"Have you?"He asked looking at me hopefully.

"We'll see depending on how the night goes."I replied with a knowing smirk.

I grabbed my phone since my keys were already in my pocket and followed James out.

He led me to the his newly acquired truck and opened the door for me like a gentleman. I didn't need him to but it was ten points to him for trying. Getting into the driver's side he drove off to wherever he was taking me.

"Being from a nomadic community you must have travelled a lot too."I asked hoping to start a nice conversation.

"You would think so but I've been here at Ndoto all my life except for when I left to study at the university of Nairobi for six years before coming back here."He explained and I was kind of shocked.

"Campus students do road trips all the time, surely you and your friends must have done a few of those."

"You've seen first hand how awkward I am around new people. I didn't have that many friends since I wasn't into drugs, girls or partying. I liked to study so I didn't fail my parents. My nose was always buried in a book. If Mark would have come with me my circle would have been larger but he got recruited to the Kenya Police immediately after highschool. He left when he couldn't handle the corruption and became a ranger instead."He explained and that was the most I'd heard him talk since I met him.

"So you've never been to the beach or seen snow at mount Kenya?"I asked shocked.

"Don't sound so surprised, many people older than me have barely even left the village to go to the city, I was lucky."

"You're right but still. I'll promise you something, even if things don't work out between us you and I are going to suck it up and go to a few of my favorite places, my treat."I offered.

Both of our faces got this sour looks when I mentioned it not working out but we pushed it aside and focused on the positive.

"And what are your favorite places?"He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Im not a beach person, Marini is, so I'll say Antarctica, it's supper cold but they have this super cool igloos that are made of glass that allow you to stay warm but still enjoy the view outside and keep your privacy."I explained excitedly.

"You make the cold sound fun. Don't know how well I'll do with it since I've been living in a dessert all my life but I'm willing to take the chance and go with you."He agreed and I smiled.

"Great it's a date."I declared.

"Awesome, so tell me about all the other places you've been to?"He asked and I went on to tell him about my travels during the drive.

James listened attentively as I droned on about what all the places I had been to. He asked questions and reacted appropriately whenever I gave him a crazy story relating to a place.

About thirty minutes later we pulled up to a house, which I assumed was his because of the truck parked at the front. He brought me to his house for our first date, not sure how I felt about that. Though I was just about to find out.

"We've both been so busy this week so I decided to do the cooking myself. I want us to have a quiet night in just the two of us. Unless it's not what you want then we can drive back to the resort and have dinner there. Sorry I should have asked, I just thought this would be more appropriate. Again I'm....."

I cut off his rant by placing my hand over his mouth before he popped a vein being so being so nervous.

"It was a very thoughtful idea, thank you James."I replied leaning in to kiss his cheek.

He looked at me wide eyes as his face grew hot to the touch seeing as my hand was still over his mouth. I retracted it and got out of the car before I jumped the man's bones scarring him for life.

I couldn't see much of his house seeing as it was still dark but I could make out that it was big for someone living alone, I presumed. The roof was grass thatched but on closer inspection I realized that there were iron sheets underneath the roof.

"Smart idea protecting the iron sheets with the grass but won't they rot faster when it rains."I asked.

"There's another layer of dark polythene paper between both."He replied locking the car.

I nodded and continued exploring with my eyes. There was a huge arch way with a metal bar door leading to the front of the house which had half walls and bars the rest of the way. It was an open space with a round plastic table and a few plastic chairs.

"Nice house."I complimented.

"Thank you, built half of it myself and its not even complete yet."He replied leading us to the front door.

He opened it, turned the light one and stepped aside to let me walk in first. I took my shoes off at the door leaving me in black socks. I walked further into the house as the main door we open.

The house screamed bachelor pad as it was mostly bare with little to no furniture. The first room you walked into was a huge living room with one sofa and two love seats facing a huge fifty four inch screen TV. There were two table and basically nothing else in that room except for a water dispenser in the far corner.

"If I had any doubt that you were single, this living room clears that up."I commented moving further into the house as if it was my own.

I heard James chuckle behind me but he didn't say anything else. He was following behind me quietly observing me and my reactions. Connected to the living room was a dining room with a table for eight.

"Hoping for a big family are we?"I asked him teasingly and he looked away embarrassed.

"Not really. It was a gift from Mark as a house warming present. He made them himself."He explained.

"Very nice work."I said admiring the craftsmanship for a second before moving onto the kitchen.

It was mostly basic with tiled counter tops, high cupboards on the walls and others under the working spaces. He had a four part cooker with an attached oven, double sink and two dish racks. The refrigerator was huge and the microwave was right next to it. There were two doors attached to the kitchen and I had no idea where one led but one was a sliding door leading to an outdoor patio that was calling my name.

I pushed the doors open to reveal a beautiful patio with a cabin feel to it because the floors were wooden. There was a fire pit in the middle and a couple of sofas on three sides leaving one spot to look out into the vast wilderness it opened up to.

"Can we have dinner out here please?"I requested feeling excited about the whole thing.

"It's going to be cold and there's going to be lots of mosquitoes?" He tried to reason with me but I had already made up my mind.

I turned to him with a my lower lip jutted out as I tried to flutter my eyes in the best puppy eyed look I could muster. James found it hilarious because he burst out laughing and instead of being mad at him I burst out laughing too knowing I'd looked ridiculous.

"Okay fine we'll eat out here just no more puppy face, you're terrible at it."James relented and I smiled victoriously at him.

"I'm not so sure about that. It did get me what I wanted."I smirked at him.

"Keep telling yourself that. Let me start the fire, it can get chilly out here."

"You get the food, I'll light the fire."I volunteered.

"Are you sure?"He asked looking at me skeptically.

I knew we were in the get to know each other stage but I thought that James was at least aware of the fact that I was capable of handling a lot. Well it seemed like I had to prove it to him.

"Yeah I'm sure now get the food. I'm starving."I insisted but he was still reluctant.

I put my hands on my hips and gave him my bossy glare. That had him lifting his hands in surrender and turning around to get into the house. I smiled in victory before turning to the stack of wood in the far corner and finding a box of matches. With a little struggle since the logs were huge I managed to get a fire going a few minutes later.

By the time James came back out, there was a fire burning bright and I was seated comfortably in one of the sofas watching a giraffe munch on some cactus flowers in the distance. The sun had already set but the moon was bright so there was enough light to see in the distance.

"It's beautiful out here. I love being on safari. It's so much better than being stuck in the city."I commented as I turned my gaze to James as he lay out the food on a carved out log in front of me.

"I know what you mean. I studied in the city for six years and I missed home each day. People dismiss this place because it's dry and hot but it has its good qualities and those who stick around long enough to appreciate it end up loving it."James commented settling himself next to me.

"Well I'm looking forward to seeing the best of this place, I do have the best tour guide after all."I replied smiling at him.

James just looked at me and blushed which I thought was adorable.

"What are we having today?"I asked so as not to embarrass him anymore as I turned to the food.

"You have too much beef in your system so today we're having fish."He announced uncovering the dish to reveal two plates.

Each had one half of fried fish and a side of pilau, chopped up bell peppers and fried banana slices. It all looked very delicious.

"Looks yummy but where did you get the fish?"I asked.

"The resort has a small pond at the back and one of the cooks is my cousin so he hooked me up."He replied and I smiled.

"Be sure to thank him for me, can we eat now I'm famished?"I asked and he nodded.

We said our prayers before digging in carrying on light conversation to go with a deliciously cooked meal.

Getting to know James was getting easier as the evening progressed. He opened up more as we continued talking and it warmed my heart that he was trying to get out of his shell for me. We exchanged a few curious glances during the meal and I liked what I saw reflected in his eyes. James was as much invested in building a relationship together as I was and I couldn't wait to see what the future held for us.

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What did you guys think of the first date? I decided to go for simple and sweet.

Please vote, comment and share.

Love@Lyssah.