4 /5
~TELL ME LIES~
-Chapter four-
I pu-ll up in front of the house, gr-ab the plastics from the back seat, climb out, walk to the door and enter inside. Walking into the living room, I g@sp and cover my mouth at the sight in front of me- the living room has been decorated with flowers and balloons. On the table is a vase holding a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of Champagne on the other side. There’s a wi-de as-sortment of food on it as well.
‘’Bear!’’ I exclaim.
‘’I am sorry for the way I acted last night and this morning,’’ he hands me a small jewelry box wra-pped in a gift paper. ‘’Just something small to make it up to you.’’
I stare at the box for a minute before I lift the cover of the box and my eyes fall on a marvelous diamond n£¢klace with a heart pendant.
‘’Bear! I love this, you shouldn’t have,’’ I say, unable to contain my emotions.
‘’Let me put it on you,’’ he offers. I give it to him and he places it around my n£¢k.
‘’Thank you babe,’’ I lean in and k!sshim on thel-ips.
He cu-ps my face in his hands and says, ‘’I love you so much.’’
‘’I love you too.’’
‘’Go and freshen up so you can eat the food I prepared.’’
‘’Thank you, I got you some stuff too,’’ I hand him the plastic.
‘’Thank you babe,’’ he says, removing the shoes and clothes. ‘’I love them.’’
‘’I knew you would.’’
Heading to the be-droom, I hit the shower and when I am done, I wear a very s-en-suous, revea-ling dress- one of Gabriel’s favorite dresses.
When I walk into the living room, Gabriel stares at me, his de-ep gaze sweeps me from head to toe, lingering on my brea-sts for a few moments.
‘’Bear!’’ I smile, his gaze ma-king my stomach ti-ght£ñ in knots.
‘’You are the most beautiful woman I know. You make me feel things I have never felt before,’’ he rises to his feet and walks towards me. Then he pu-lls me down for a k!ss. The k!ssis gentle, I m0@n at the feel of his hands cu-pping my face. When we pu-ll ap@rt, I keep my eyes closed and try to just savour and enjoy it.
‘’Come!’’ He leads me to the table and pu-lls out a chair for me to sit in.
‘’Help yourself,’’ he says when we are both settled.
I get a bit of everything, place it on my plate and start eating. Then Gabriel pops the bottle of champagne and pours us two glas-ses.
‘’Thank you.’’
He raises his glas-s, ‘’to an everlasting love.’’
‘’To infinity and beyond,’’ we clink our glas-ses together and drink our drinks.
We spend the evening talking, eating and snuggling, eventually we head upstairs and make love before calling it a night. I know Gabriel has his shortcomings but the fact that he always makes it up to me when he is wrong is what makes him different from the rest. I love this man of mine, I hope someday I walk down that Aisle so that we can spend together forever.
The next morning, I wake up before him and make him breakfast in be-d.
‘’Good morning my handsome bear, did you sleep well?’’ I ask when I bring the food to him. ‘’Good morning, my princess,’’ he sleepily says as he sits up. ‘’Yes I did sleep well, what of you?’’
‘’I sle-pt well baby.’’
‘’Thanks for breakfast, you are such an amazing woman, I nee-d to tie you down before someone snatches you away from me.’’
‘’plea-se do,’’ I laugh.
‘’Soon my love, soon.’’
As he eats, I take a shower and prepare for work.
‘’you look beautiful my love,’’ he says when I am done getting dressed. I am wearing a pencil Sk-irt and a patterned silk blouse.
‘’Thank you.’’
‘’You pose so I can take some ph0tos of you.’’
I smile and pose as he takes the ph0tos.
‘’Let’s take some together,’’ I say even when I know that he hates ph0tos.
He rolls his eyes, ‘’don’t start.’’
I laugh, ‘’Just for my phone.’’
‘’Fine, let’s take a few just for your phone, you know how I hate all these social media relationsh!pdispla-ys, I would rather keep us pri-vate. What they don’t know–,’’
‘’They can’t destroy,’’ I finish the s£ntence for him then take a few ph0tos of us.
‘’I have to get going now babe,’’ I k!sshisl-ips before I am off to school.
Upon arrival at school, I stand at the entrance to greet pupils as they start to arrive. I try to interact with the pupils as much as possible- that way I know what’s going on around the school and make sure everyone is safe.
At 8 a.m. I ring the bell and the children head to their respective clas-srooms. Then I sit in my office and start going throu-gh the promotional exams that are yet to be printed. I delve into work and I am de-eply engrossed when my phone rings.
I gr-ab my phone, its Gabriel, ‘’Boo Bear!’’
‘’Hey babe, how’s work?’’
‘’Work is okay, you are home?’’
‘’Yes but I will be stepping out soon.’’
‘’Where too? I thought you would be home s£nding applications today.’’
‘’Something has come up and I nee-d some money.’’
‘’Money for what babe? I gave you money just the other day. You know I have some building projects and I don’t want to misuse the money that I have.’’
‘’Babe, I will pay you back it’s urgent.’’
‘’what’s happening and how much do you want?’’
‘’There’s someone who wants to get me a job but I nee-d to give him so money before he process the papers, I can’t explain everything on phone but plea-se help me.’’
‘’How much are we talking about?’’
‘’Just a k 3,000.’’
‘’I hope this works.’’
‘’It will, trust me.’’
‘’Okay.’’
I end the call and he s£nds him the money, he responds with a thank you text. If my mother knew I am spending this much on Gabriel, she would definitely crucify me, I do it for love. Besides, he will pay me back when he gets the job and we can use that money to invest in other projects.
I get back to my work and only st©p at lunch time. Leaving the office I drive to a newly opened restaurant in the outSk-irts of town, mum asked me to visit this p@rticular restaurant and try out their food, she saw an ad on Facebook. pu-lling into the parking lot of the restaurant an hour and a few minutes later, I sp©t Gabriel with a lady walking out of the restaurant. I stare as his hand t©uçhes the small of her back as he allows her to exit the door first.
‘’Maybe that’s his business p@rtner,’’ I mumble to myself before I pu-ll my phone out, calling him.
‘’Hello?’’ He answers.
‘’Boo bear, where are you? Are you done with what you were doing? I was hoping we could do lunch that’s if you are free.’’
‘’No I am not done, I am still held up,’’ he responds as they walk to the car. He is parked near the entrance while I am at the far end.
‘’What time are you likely to be done?’’
Before he responds, he opens the car door for her and slides in.
‘’Listen can I just call you later, I am next in line to be interviewed.’’
And with that he cuts before waiting for me to respond.
~TELL ME LIES~
-Chapter five-
‘’Thank you for bringing me here babe. I really love their food, this will be my new favorite sp©t from now henceforth,’’ I say as he drives out of the parking lot.
‘’You are welcome my love, I have one more surprise for you today.’’
‘’Another surprise? What is it?’’
‘’Patience my love, patience.’’
I anxiously smile trying to figure out what Gabriel has up his sleeves.
When it comes to surprises, Gabriel outdoes himself, I don’t think anyone can match up to him. I am actually very lucky to call this handsome man my b©yfri£nd. We have been d@t!ngfor a little over a year now and I must say we are both hopelessly in love with each other. Gabriel is the best b©yfri£nda girl could ask for, he is selfless, kind, supporting, un-derstanding and loving. I don’t know what I did to deserve him but I love this man with everything in me, time spent with him is worth every second.
So before I get too excited, allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Iris Chiluba, I am 28 years old. I work as an auditor for an international audit and consultancy firm. Gabriel and I also run some businesses together. I am the only child born to my parents, my mother was a waitress and my father died a few months before I was born.
Raised by a single mother, I didn’t have a lot growing up but I kept my head held high and pushed to get to where I am. Looking back, I am proud to say I run my own show and I own my success. I have built my mother a house and she currently owns her own restaurants- see God.
‘’Babe! We are here,’’ Gabriel lightly taps my shoulder, startling me from my reverie. Stepping out of the car, he walks round the car and opens the door for me. Helping me out, he puts his arm around me and we walk towards Gina’s house.
Gabriel and I usually meet from Gina’s house or my house. We can’t go to his house because his auntie and children are living with him while she sorts out her marital problems. I once asked him to move in with me but he wasn’t for the idea, he would rather wait for us to move in together before we take that next step.
Before walking into the house, Gabriel blindfolds me.
‘’I am really anxious to know what surprise you have for me.’’
‘’Soon my love, soon you will know what it is.
He leads me into the house then a moment later he asks, ‘’are you re-ady?’’
‘’Yes, I am more than re-ady.’’
He re-moves the cloth from my face and I g@sp at the sight before me. There are candles lit everywhere, a bouquet of flowers on the table and a small jewelry box.
‘’Is this what I think it is?’’ I ask, my heart pounding fiercely in my che-st.
‘’You open the box over there.’’
‘’Okay,’’ I pick it up and open it slowly to find the most sparkling engagement ring I have ever seen.
‘’Oh, God!’’ I exclaim, covering my face with my hands in shock, I wasn’t expecting this. I know we have been talking about marriage but I didn’t think it would happen so soon.
‘’Gina helped me pick it for you.’’
‘’Gabriel!’’ I exclaim again, my lungs squee-zing ha-rd for air. I can ha-rd ly believe this is happening.
Gabriel gets down on bended knees, Iris Chiluba, will you marry me?’’
‘’I will marry you, Yes! Yes I will be your wife!’’
He gets the ring from me and slides it on my f!nger before he stands up. Wra-pping my hands around him, I embr@ce him with everything me in.
‘’Thank you! You have made me the happiest man on earth.’’
‘’I love you so much, I can’t wait to be your wife. You mean the world to me.’’
‘’I love you too,’’ he leans in and intensely k!sses me.
*
I lose my appetite watching Gabriel drive off with that woman but instead of leaving empty handed, I walk into the restaurant and get the food on take-away basis then I leave and drive to my parent’s house.
Upon arrival, I walk into the house and head to the living room where I find mum folding some clothes while listening to music. My mother has several clothing sto-res.
‘’Hey Mum.’’
She looks up, ‘’hey you, you didn’t tell me you were coming.’’
‘’I brou-ght food,’’ I say, placing it on the table.
‘’You went to that restaurant?’’
‘’I did and instead of eating alone I decided to bring the food over here.’’
‘’Well I am starving, I just got back home an hour ago.’’
‘’Let’s get eating then.’’
She stands up and heads to the kitchen to wash her hands and get some plates and I follow her. Afterwards we go back into the living room and start eating.
‘’So what’s been with you over the last couple of days? How is my grandson, has he been able to find a job yet?’’
‘’Your son in law is fine and no he hasn’t been able to find a job yet.’’
‘’What happened with the interviews he attended last time?’’
‘’We are still waiting for feedback, we are hopeful he will be called soon.’’
‘’I see.’’
We eat in silence for a while before she says, ‘’what’s going on? Spit it out.’’
‘’What do you mean?’’
‘’I know something is up, I could tell from your face the minute you walked throu-gh that door, what has the son of a bit-ch done this time around.’’
‘’’Language mummy!’’
She laughs, ‘’Talk to me.’’
I open my mouth so I can tell her about seeing Gabriel with that girl and how it has left me feeling some kind of way but after giving it a second thought I decide not to tell her. I know how this woman gets when it comes to Gabriel, she will not hesitate to as-sume the worst. I will just have to wait for Gabriel to get home and see what he has to say about what I witnessed today.
‘’Talk.’’
‘’it’s nothing mummy.’’
‘’You know I am always here to listen to your drama.’’
‘’I know but I am fine.’’
‘’Hope so.’’
‘’I am fine, I promise nothing is going on.’’
‘’I hope that man is not cheating on you because–.’’
‘’You always as-sume the worst about him.’’
‘’I have no kind words for a 30 year old living off a 25 year old girl. At 30, your father was alre-ady a successful business man and no he didn’t have it easy with life, he worked extra ha-rd and pushed against all odds.’’
‘’I hear you mother.’’
‘’Let that Israelite leave, he has overstayed his welcome.’’
Instead of being angry with her I bur-st into a fit of laughter, ‘’you are just dramatic mummy but let’s forget about Gabriel, where are the things you got me?’’
‘’In my be-droom.’’
‘’Can I go check them out now.’’
‘’Finish eating first.’’
‘’Whatever.’’
‘’You are becoming skinny, that man is feeding off you too much.’’
I roll my eyes.
‘’Is the S-x that good that you can’t let him go?’’
‘’It’s not about the S-x mum.’’
‘’But?’’
‘’Maybe this is my queue to leave.’’
‘’Okay, I am done, I won’t talk about him again.’’
‘’Better.’’
‘’This food is really nice.’’
‘’Yes, it is.’’
‘’Don’t be upset baby girl, I am just looking out for you.’’
‘’I know and I love you for that.’’
‘’I love you too.’’
*
Tbc