The Reunion - Episode 8

 

From her spot beside Michael ,Mariah felt a mild spasm around her jaw area because she was literally smiling from ear to ear ,she mentally gave herself a slap as she muttered ‘FML’ ,that was her go-to swear word when she felt herself going  down her usual awkward road. Despite the breeze and the little shade she got around the swimming pool lane, Mariah could feel her skin burning up from the sunlight it so generously received. Michael had been uncharacteristically quiet, he had been staring at Mariah for quite some time, Mariah did her best to avoid looking him in the eye, she was a nervous wreck and she knew it.

“Bubs, you look …wow! Who knew you could be this …hot?”  Michael commented in nothing short of amazement . Mariah was lost for words ,she could have easily blushed at his statement ,but reading between the lines made her question if that was in fact ,a compliment or just not .

“Thanks?” she said with a half smile.

“So how was your first night here?” he asked as he led her by the hand to a more suitable area with a patio, they sat on opposite sides of the table, and Mariah couldn’t help but admire her surroundings.

“It was amazing, I mean …I slept like a baby, this place is so cool, right?” she asked in a nervous rant as she played with her hands.

“You’re cute.” Michael said with a light charming scoff “and yes, the place is cool …Stevie’s taste has been improved because of me.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Nothing really, this whole thing was my idea.” He replied proudly as he took a sip of the sparkling glass of water the waitress had served, Mariah’s heart jumped, she wondered if he meant the reunion or the reality show, and if it was the reunion, she wondered if the idea sprung out of even a tiny thought of meeting her again.

“What part of it?” she asked.

“All of it…Honestly? It was an entirely selfish idea.” He said, Mariah’s heart sunk but she still wanted to know more, and he gave her that. “I was hoping that my NBA contract would be renewed but that was highly unlikely, so I came back here.” He stated, referring to Nigeria “I met up with Stevie when I got back, and the rest is history …he needed more fame, I mean who doesn’t.”

“So what’s in it for you?” Mariah asked curiously.

“I’m starting up a top notch basketball training program, and I need all the attention and press I can get, so I sponsored …this.” he lifted his hands like he was trying to describe what he meant, and in that moment, Mariah didn’t like the person she saw, but that feeling was replaced with a pint of love when he smiled at her and asked the question she dreamt of answering once upon a time.

“have dinner with me ?” he asked ,it was currently lunch time ,and she assumed that he meant an official date ,her stomach felt fluttery ,in a good way and just like that she remembered a line from one of the cartoons she watched as a child ,and only that could describe how she felt, she thought of the feeling ,some would describe it as  ; ‘butterflies in her tummy’ …but to her ,it was like ; trapezes’  doing the trapezium without a net.

“Are you asking me out?” she half whispered and he smiled, he looked at her with admiration and she felt it.

“Yes, I would love to take you out on a date …if you don’t mind.” he replied charmingly 

“Uhmm...yeah sure, whatever, I don’t mind.” she replied in a half assed attempt to not sound excited, but her smile failed her miserably.

For over two hours, they sat there, they had lunch and talked about everything and nothing …it was like nothing she had ever experienced before, the feeling made her realize what she had missed out on

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/the-reunion

. The only relationship she could compare it to, was a short relationship that produced no fruit, and boy, she was glad. They were laughing hysterically at a joke Michael made when she suggested a walk in the garden. She loved long walks, and it didn’t hurt to walk in a place with nothing but exquisite scenery.

“I’m curious, what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” he asked with a smile.“Hmm…I don’t think I have one those.” she said sadly.

“Really? Nothing?” he asked with a goofy smile, he walked closer to her and put his arms round her neck as he whispered. “Do you want to change that?”

“Depends, what would I do?” she asked curiously.

“How about you decide, anything at all…go crazy.” he said in the huskiest voice .Mariah didn’t have the nerve for crazy, she thought about something or anything she could do, but she had no ideas.

“I …I don’t know.” she replied quietly “any suggestion?” she asked.

“maybe.” He started “see that guy and lady smooching over there?” he asked cleverly as he pointed towards the direction of a palm tree.

“Yeah.” She dragged 

“Well …that’s probably his side chick, because we know his wife.”

“Seriously? Who?” Mariah was beyond shocked 

“Judith Dimka ,he is Ritji Dimka ” Michael said ,Mariah didn’t like Judith so much ,especially after their reunion at super supermarket ,she rubbed her good life in Mariah’s face ,but it turns out that her life wasn’t so good after all, Mariah felt sorry for her.

“So what should I do?”  Mariah asked, she didn’t like drama at all, but she could make an exception.

“that’s totally up to you ,like I said …go crazy .” he nudged her with an encouraging smile  “go ,create a scene or whatever ,I will be right here .” he said nicely ,she smiled nervously and walked away slowly ,as she walked towards the cheating crew she took a very deep breath ,she didn’t have a plan …she needed a plan, she intentionally grabbed a glass of water from an empty table on her way to her destination. They were still kissing and what not when she got to the tree, she didn’t know what to do, she looked over at Michael for inspiration, and he smiled …after another deep breath, she dumped a whole glass worth of water on Ritji’s head and followed that with a slap, he muttered a curse word inaudibly . The look on his face was priceless and funny, he looked like a wet ugly rat, and she held her laughter in place as she ironically put on an ugly cry face.

“I can’t believe you …how many more sluts did you bring here?” she asked in the most believable way.

“Excuse you.” The lady said rudely ,she was pretty and that made Mariah sad ,she couldn’t understand why anyone that pretty would want to destroy someone else’s home ,to top it off ,the man adulterer wasn’t even remotely handsome.

“What are you? Number ten?”Mariah asked, Ritji finally found his words and attempted yelling at Mariah, then she took another drastic step by kicking him where it hurts, it was the least she could do for Judith in the name of ‘ladies sticking up for each other’  “He is married, not to me …thank God.”Mariah continued, she rolled her eyes at him as she explained to the side chick. “I’m number 5 …what are you?” She asked again, the lady looked between Ritji and Mariah for some kind of explanation and Mariah came up with one. “You don’t think you’re the only side chick he has lying around here, do you? Like I said …I’m number five, what are you?” Mariah asked again, this time she wasn’t faking her emotions, she really felt bad for Judith, but mostly angry. Ritji was still recuperating from Mariah’s kick when the lady spoke.

“I am Angela, I’m not anything …I didn’t even know he has a wife.” The lady said.

“Well! Angela, you deserve better than a married man, we deserve better.” Mariah said, still in character, Angela seemed like a nice girl, she also seemed clueless and naïve …she couldn’t hide the sadness in her eyes; apparently, she couldn’t contain the embarrassment either, so she walked away. Ritji stood up in a cowardly state.

“who the fuck do you think you are ?” he asked angrily ,he was beyond pissed which led him to raising his hand at her in an unimaginable fury ,Mariah closed her eyes awaiting the worst ,but nothing happened ,she opened her eyes and was shocked to see ritji against the tree ,and Michael ,holding him by the neck . She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but whatever it was, Ritji walked away shaken.

“Wow!” Mariah said quietly.

“Yeah, wow …nicely done bubs, now you have a crazy story …not the crazy I was looking for, but still.” He summed up with a smile, she wasn’t sure what to say next, he walked towards her …he walked closer and closer till there was nothing between them, as he leaned in, Mariah battled in her head on her next move, a part of her wanted to take a step backward and another part wanted to just go with the flow. Her decision wasn’t needed anymore since Stevie loudly walked up to them.

“guy ,what’s up ?” he asked loudly “I’ve been looking for you ,why didn’t you pick your calls?” he asked, he finally noticed Mariah standing there and he squinted his eyes to look at her ,she didn’t blame him ,the place was getting dark by the minute .

“Mariah? …you look smoking hot.” He commented mischievously, and Mariah smiled …she didn’t really care though “no wonder you didn’t pick your calls.” he said to Michael.

“Hey.” Michael said leading Mariah aside “I will call you, I have some things I have to take care of with the idiot.” he said with a smile.

“I never asked how you got my number by the way.” She said.

“When I want something, I get it.” He replied cockily, he gave her a warm hug “don’t forget about that date we talked about.” That was the last thing he said and she knew she couldn’t top that, he walked away quietly and so did she.

                                                       **************

Lisa was bored out of her mind ,she spent her whole day looking at people by the pool side ,drinking cocktails ,and listening to jerry talk on and on …it wasn’t his fault though ,she chose not to enjoy the moment with him ,she didn’t want to get attached ,she also didn’t want to rudely leave him. When she finally had enough, she came up with an excuse to go back to her room, the walk there was equally boring, and she let out a sigh of relief when they got to the door.

“Thanks for today, I had a nice time.” she lied.

“You basically ignored me the whole time.” jerry complained, and she had no come back for him. “Anyways, I had a nice time too.” he added sadly, she smiled and was about to walk into the room but he grabbed her by the hand, softly.

“You’re slowly making this a habit.” she said referring to the hand grabbing.

“sorry.” he said as he let go. “Go on a date with me?” he asked hopefully.

“no.” she replied plainly.

“Can I ask why?”

“Sure, I don’t want to, look …jerry, you’re nice and all, but I’m looking for something long term.” she said

“And what makes you think I’m not?” he asked sadly, Lisa looked around like she was searching for a suitable answer.

“How old are you?” she asked instead.

“Seriously?” he asked, she was silent. “I’m twenty five.” he replied, and Lisa smiled, her calculation was correct but she was a bit disappointed.

“I’m twenty eight, I don’t think I want someone younger than I am, it would be like training a big baby to be a man.” She summed up her reason nicely.

“ouch.” He said  “okay ,just one date ,and I promise …if you still don’t want me after that ,tell me ,and I will walk away .” she hesitated ,but Jerry didn’t want to take no for an answer “one date .” he said again.

“Fine.” Lisa said quietly, after rolling her eyes at him, they stood there silently for a second or two, she freaked out when she noticed jerry coming closer, she tried to get away and that’s how she ended up in a bad encounter between her head and the hotel room door. Jerry began to laugh hysterically.

“So you rather hit the door? I hope you feel differently about me soon .” he said calmly ,it wasn’t her intention to hit her head, but she did ,she smiled at him and quietly retreated into the room ,once the door was shut ,she leaned on the door and wondered if the whole day could have gone differently if she had just let it.