🐜 Chapter Twelve 🐜

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JAMES' POV

I wiped the sweat off my forehead as I continued helping my men and every volunteer I had acquired to make the bricks. As promised, the brick maker arrived the Monday after my date with Lulu. It took a few days to learn how it worked but after that it was all smooth sailing. Two weeks after its arrival we'd made over a hundred thousand bricks and were making good progress. I was invested in the whole process being a success because not only was I helping Lulu but because I'd benefit from it too. I'd get to rebuild the sanctuary to a better state and complete my house. It was long overdue and I hoped to complete it by the end of the year.

After my first date with Lulu and the long talk we'd had about the nature of our relationship it had taken a while for me to get used to the idea of being just her friend even if it was just for the time being. I knew she was right and it was a good idea seeing as I couldn't think straight around her but it didn't mean I had to like it. I wanted to be the macho man she deserved, I just had to get over the feeling of being unworthy of her first. Lulu deserved to be treated like a queen with a king by her side and even though my friends joked around calling me royalty, I didn't behave that way around her. She got me all twisted up anytime I saw her and it wasn't even a voluntary reaction. Maybe it was for the best we'd put a pin on building a relationship and decided to be friends first.

After that first date I had driven her to the resort and said goodnight. The next day I'd taken her on to see the land she'd set up her green houses and after that we hadn't seen each other much. We were both busy with our different responsibilities and it was hard getting time alone. How were we supposed to be friends if we couldn't even spend time together? I just hoped it all worked out before she got snatched away from me. She had assured me that it wouldn't happen but Lulu was beautiful and successful. Any man would be blind not to see that so she was definitely not going to be short of suitors. Her words reassured me a little but they didn't totally put me at peace. We'd figure it out though, we had to one way or another.

I heard someone call out to me and I put down the three solid bricks I was carrying before I turned to them.

"We're breaking for lunch, are you coming?"Jasper who was volunteering for the day asked me.

"Nah, I'm just going to keep working here. You guys go."I dismissed him.

"Okay boss, see you later."He waved before turning to leave.

I watched everyone leave for lunch as they loaded up in the pick up trucks provided by Lulu to transport the bricks. When I was all alone I continued to work, lost in my own thoughts happy to be by myself. I'd been working all morning but I only had to work for two more hours since I had a call in to inseminate a few cows. My muscles were burning but I welcomed them as a distraction from my thoughts.

"Are you praying for a broken back or something?"A voice interrupted me just as I placed the last brick into the stack I was making.

"You can choose to see it that way or my way which is me working out while still working. It's good exercise."I replied turning to face Mark who was smirking at me.

He was wearing his green camouflage game ranger uniform, black boots on his feet and a basketball hat covering his eyes from the sun.

"You say potato I say tomato."He shrugged and I laughed.

"That's not how it's said."I corrected.

"Says you professor."He mocked before joining me in the laughter.

After it died down we shared a hug before he walked me to my loaned truck to get some water.

"It's been a while brother, where have you been?"I asked opening the passenger truck door to retrieve a water bottle. I drunk some and poured the rest over my head to cool down.

"We were hunting some poachers over the past three weeks."He explained.

"Rhinos or elephants?"

"Both man, it was sad. We managed to catch them but they had already done so much damage. We confiscated ivory worth fifty million give or take."He said sadly.

"That's a lot of dead wildlife."I exclaimed feeling myself get angry.

Tourism was one of the largest industries in Kenya, bringing in a lot of money but that would change soon at the rate in which the animals were being killed. It was so frustrating how people didn't think about the future. We'd have no legacy to leave our children with if everything continued as it was.

"I hope they get life imprisonment for such an act."I prayed.

"They'll be away for a long time but let's not talk about that anymore, it's too sad. I've only been away three weeks but it's like I've stepped into a totally different Ndoto. Lulu sure does work fast."Mark commented looking around in satisfaction at all the work we had accomplished.

"You can say that again. She's doing good things for us."I replied a fond smoke gracing my lips as I thought about her.

"Getting more smitten by her I see."

"It's hard not to."

"Speaking of, we are good right. Last we talked I was a little harsh regarding the whole issue between you and her. As much as I meant my words about you needing to man up, I should have been more kind about it. You and Lulu would make a great couple. Not better than me and my Ruth but pretty close."He defended and I smiled.

"Don't worry bro, we're good. You're not the only one who thinks that way. Even Lulu thinks I need to grow some balls."I confessed.

"Did she tell you that?"

I shook my head "Not in those exact words but we had a date two weeks ago and she friendzoned me."

"Whoa whoa, slow down. You had a date and she friendzoned you. Tell me everything."He exclaimed and I would have laughed at his excitement if it was not at my expense.

"We're not girls to start gossiping and I don't kiss and tell."

"You kissed her. Oh man now you have to tell me everything."

"I wish."I scoffed.

"So you didn't kiss her, that's too bad but still, tell me. Three weeks in the wilderness, you owe me this."He pleaded.

I watched him look at me with big hopeful eyes and my resolve broke"If it gets you to stop behaving like a little girl then fine."

He hooted excitedly until he saw my glare and he zipped up immediately. I didn't want to talk about my intimate discussion with Lulu but knowing Mark he wouldn't let it go until I told him. I didn't tell him everything though, just enough to get him off my back.

Mark listened to me carefully as I told him about my date with Lulu. I still didn't know if it was a successful date or not, that was yet to be determined. When I was done Mark went quiet which was surprising for someone who had been talking like a parrot before.

"No comment?"I asked looking at him quizzically.

"I do but you won't like it."He replied.

"When do I ever like what you have to say? Just tell me what's on your mind. You know you want to."I encouraged.

He thought about it for a second before speaking "Lulu was right, you need to be comfortable around her if you intend to build a relationship with her. I'm sure it won't take long though, I know you have feelings for her so it will be easy for you to get comfortable around her. Just don't take too long, Lulu is a catch and I'm sure your not the only one who has noticed."

"Thanks for the advice bro."I said sarcastically even though he was right.

"You know I'm right. She likes you too though so you have nothing to worry about."He assured me.

"I hope you're right." I breathed the whole situation weighing heavily on my heart.

"Anyway love life away, I was going to the sanctuary next. Can you give me a ride if you're done here?"He requested.

"Yeah it's on my way so I'll drop you."I offered and we got into the truck driving away from the valley.

"But seriously man work fast, the girl gave you a car for crying out loud."Mark exclaimed looking around the interior of the car.

"Don't make a big deal out of it. It's on loan and I'm trying."I grunted.

"Yeah whatever."He brushed me off as he continued to open every compartment and snoop around.

His words did stick with me though, I was going to work through my anxiety with Lulu. It was the only way our relationship would move forward and I wanted to get to that part of dating fast. I just needed to put a little more effort.

When we arrived at the sanctuary, I had a few minutes to spare so I popped in to say hello to my uncle and Jack who was on duty. It had been a little quiet at the sanctuary for a while which was good. As much as I liked helping, without the proper tools or good housing, treating the animals was too much of a hustle. But with Lulu offering to help then things would turn around for the better.

We found Jack filling the tanks with water from some jerrycans. He stopped what he was doing when he saw us.

"Good afternoon boss, Mark."He greeted as we shared a bro hug.

"Hey Jack. Where did the water come from? I had the truck so you couldn't have made a water run."I inquired looking around.

"One of the water trucks going to the village diverted as per Lulus request and we filled as much as we could. They said they'd be here in three days or if we ran out before that all we had to do was call Lulu and she'd sort us out."He explained and I hummed in reply.

Lulu was already living up to her word helping us out. She knew that water was a major challenge for us and even if we weren't in her route, she still went out of her way to help us. She really was a God send.

"Seriously dude, like I said work fast."Mark encouraged patting me on my back before dragging Jack away.

I stood in the sun for a few minutes looking at all the water we had acquired. We'd never had so much water at the sanctuary all at once unless it was the rainy season. It was in the middle of a drought yet we had enough water to last us a month. I really needed to work through my feelings and man up for Lulu, not for all the benefits I'd get from dating her, I was already getting those and we weren't even together. It'd just suck watching her belong to someone else when I had a chance and I blew it.

Shaking off the negative thoughts of Lulu with another I walked towards the main office knowing that's where my uncle was. I didn't need to knock so I just walked right in. He looked up from some papers he was working on and his face lit up immediately my face registered to him.

"Lankenua my boy, it's been a while. Sit please."He requested pointing to a chair opposite him on the other side of the body.

"Hello uncle, long time no see. How are you?"

Uncle Sam was my dad's younger brother. He had two wives and twenty four children, even more grandchildren and a few great grandchildren. He had a big family and compared to others, it wasn't even that big. I had no idea why the rich tended to have less kids than the poor. It probably was the way with the world and always would be.

"I'm good. Still growing older but still in shape. What about you my son? Your father tells me you have a new girlfriend."He teased giving me a not so subtle wink making me laugh.

"Only you and dad gossip like mother and her fellow women folk at the watering hole."I replied with an eye roll.

"Your father and I meet a lot to talk about the affairs of the village and to share some brew. Sometimes we get personal, you can't blame us for that."He defended passionately probably not liking the idea of being called a gossip.

"Don't get agitated uncle, I'm sorry for my accusation. My relationship with Lulu is just sensitive at the moment."I apologized.

"That's the boss lady from the city, yeah?"He asked and I nodded. "She's pretty and resourceful. I can definitely see why you would go for her. I met her a few days ago when she was here asking how she could help with things. I think she was hoping to meet you, too bad she met me but I'm glad I was here. It's rare for a city person to acclimate to our environment so fast but she looked so at home. She is also very kind, polite, a little bossy but straightforward. She'll be good for you son, hopefully she will manage to get you out of your shell."He explained.

I had no idea Lulu had been here, we still texted and shared phone calls but mostly it was just to check up on each other and sometimes she called to ask for help or direction. We'd only met on Sundays at the church for the service since our date so it was a bit of a surprise to hear that she was looking for me at the sanctuary. She should have called, I would have liked to meet her.

My uncle cleared his throat and I looked up at him momentarily distracted from my thoughts "You think too hard. Listen son, I'm going to give you a piece of advice and you better take it."He requested and I nodded giving him my full attention.

"Don't love with you head, love with your heart. If you go into this this overthinking everything you'll ruin it. Just trust what your heart is telling you and I can tell by the look in your eyes when you think about her that Lulu is special. Don't try to complicate things by analyzing every little detail. Sure you might have to work for it but if it's meant to be it'll be. You two kids met for a reason and my gut tells me you two are made for each other. My gut is always right so it'll all work out."He encouraged and I felt his words boost my confidence.

"Yes uncle thanks for the advice."

"You're welcome."

Before either of us could say anymore, my phone beeped in my pocket and I checked to see it was an alarm for my next appointment.

"I have to go uncle. Call me in case of anything."I said getting up.

"I will." We shook hands and I left his office.

I waved goodbye to Mark and Jack who were scrapping termites off the poles that held the water tanks upright so they didn't get blown away by the wind. We really did need to renovate soon using better materials. The good news was that Lulu was already planning to help us out so it would all work out. My bigger worry though was getting our relationship to work. Uncle Sam was right, I needed to follow my heart and let time work the rest out. In my heart I knew that Lulu and I were meant to be and I just needed to trust that everything would fall through at the right time.

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