IS THIS LOVE Episode – 9

IS THIS LOVE – Episode 9

A story by Kennedy C Katongo 

 

SELF ESTEEM

I waited a couple of seconds but my messages didn’t get a response despite her being online. When you getting to know someone, there is always that space of getting hurt pretty fast on simple useless things. I switched off my data and placed the phone in the bag.

‘Calm down Chileshe. She’s probably just busy and has left her phone.’ I thought to myself as I walked to the classes. When I wasn’t with my friend, it was a solid walk… I wasn’t popular or anything so I didn’t have to greet people at every corner.

I got to class and only a few people were there. That was just how I liked it, I connected my laptop to the WIFI so that it could update as I picked up a series to watch. Movies weren’t my thing, however, when it came to series, I had no problem at all. Just one Episode of Money Heist is what I needed, thereafter, I was ready for the books.

From time to time I would switch on my data to check if I had gotten any message from Matimba. On a sad note, there wasn’t anything still. My resolve was to keep silent as well, a lot of messages sent the wrong message, for that reason I had to learn to play it cool. But that wasn’t the type of guy I was – in that split second that I held the umbrella on that rainy day my heart settled on her.

Mwenda had a strong point on me… It was time I saw the big picture. Matimba wasn’t my class, despite my bad sense of fashion, even I could tell she wore expensive stuff. All the beautiful eating places I saw on her Facebook pictures: Talk about the food; Lord have mercy, there was no way I would afford to provide such for her even if I played my cards well enough to land a date.

Just thinking about taking her out made me feel uneasy. ‘Damn am sweating’ I sighed nervously. Nor sooner had I noticed that, I paused my series and walked outside to catch some air.

I had never been so shaken by the thought of taking a girl out for dinner before… Well, it was usually just the simple things like pizza, Sharwama and Hungry Lion mostly. From the Arts class, I stood on the balcony and sipped on the fresh air.

‘What should I do?’

‘What if she’s already dating?’

‘But I didn’t see any guy on her profile.’

‘What if she doesn’t like me and she’s just chatting with me so that I don’t feel bad?’

‘She’s cute.’

‘I need to ask for her number. But what if she says no?’

My poor head was exploding in thoughts as I sat there.

@@ @@ MATIMBA @@ @@

She went on to tell me about a movie she wanted us to watch, this time around, it wasn’t a rental. She had a flash.

“Where did you get a flash?” I asked her, “You the one who has lost every single flash this house has ever had.” I giggled.

Dad wasn’t joining us for dinner, instead he wanted to eat from his room because there was a documentary about Bill Gates on Netflix.

“You have to shut it!” She ordered me before she spilled the worra. “So, there is this guy… Cute guy. He comes through to the saloon from time to time, we talk. It’s nothing serious though.” She said defensively as she blushed.

“Huh! Nothing serious Ka?” I said with a puzzled look and a dropped jaw.

“Stop looking at me like that. It’s not my fault the dude is chatty. Okay. So he told me about the movie on one account and promised to give me some so that I could watch it.” My cousin said.

“You know that’s how it starts right?” “First it’s the movies, then he starts to escort you to the station… After that comes the caring SMS and before you know it ‘tadah’: You dating.” I laughed.

She stuck her tongue out as she walked up to the TV and plugged in the stick.

As usual, it was a black American movie that went by the title ‘Only For One Night’ and when it was done, both of us went to bed with mixed feelings about what went down in the movie. Since the house was big, my cousin had moved her bed to my room. That way, boredom was killed.

It was now 22hrs and both of us lay in bed busy on our phones tagging and sending each other memes as we laughed out loud.

“Matimba… Who do you think was at fault? I mean, the younger sister insisted that the husband let her sister stay with them.” My cousin asked me.

“I think the elder sister was just crazy. I mean, she killed her own husband… Then goes after her own sisters husband. Sister or not, a woman is a woman – letting one get close to your man is dangerous.” I responded.

“So you saying the husband was at fault for sleeping with the elder sister?” She asked me.

“I haven’t said that.’ I laughed. “But again, his a man, he could have seen that she was getting way to friendly. I blame the younger sister a bit, she threw him into her arms not knowing the devil was just in the house.” I said thoughtfully. On a serious note, the whole thing was confusing, a total mess.

“At least she got pregnant. Too bad she died. I just feel having a perfect relationship invites jealousy. You become prey for the wild dogs. We can say he was drugged, but again, he still slept with her the second time fully aware of what he was doing. Men!” My cousin shouted bitterly.

The both of us began to laugh. Even though the whole thing just being a movie, it did point out the need for ladies to be alert and careful with other girls that tend to become too friendly with their partners – sisters included.

“Are you chatting with him?”

“If by ‘him’ you mean Chileshe… The answer is no.” I got a pillow and threw it at her.

“You not marrying the guy. Just get to know him.” My cousin commented as she hid underneath her blanket in fear of being hit by another pillow.

“His online. I just feel like not texting him. I will wait for him to text first and then we’ll chat.” I told her.

“Huh… I see what you doing there. Trying to act like you not interested. Smart.”

“I didn’t say that’s what am doing…” I spoke up.

“It’s okay. Am not judging.” My cousin said as she gave off an evil laugh.

That night, Chileshe never texted. Instead, my friend from ZCAS sent me a text message. That made me go offline and concentrate on chatting with him. He was a good guy, focused, goal orientated and he wasn’t just about the talk but the walk as well.

He had asked me out on several occasions since we reconnected but on most of them I turned him down. For some reason, I felt like he was way to perfect to be someone I would love to settle with. Not that perfect was bad, just that perfect guys mostly had a shitty past and a lot of secrets to hide.

With all that said, I still found his company warming. It was easy for me to relate with him on so many levels and reflecting on our past memories of how high school was; Now that was just pleasing for me. In every text I could imagine the sound of his voice as he looked down on me.

“Hey! Keep it down. What’s so funny that you keep laughing. Keep it down.” My cousin said in a drowsy voice. She had already dosed off.

“My bad. Sorry.” I giggled.

We texted till my soche pack finished.

His last text was about him missing my voice and how he wanted to hear it before he went to bed. Since I couldn’t respond via message, I decided to just give him a call.

“Hey.” I giggled.

“Hey beautiful. I thought you weren’t going to respond.” He said calmly. His voice was so manly it gave me the chills just talking to him.

“Well. I was still debating on that. Guess you a lucky man.”

“Seems like someone wanted to blow me off. By the way, you still haven’t responded to my request.” He said. He was persistent, just the vibe I liked.

“I could go with you… It’s just a park after all. But what happens when you feed me to the crocodiles?” I said jokingly.

“Crocs ain’t my thing. I might consider feeding you to the lions. On a serious front – I would love you to come with me. Think about it and then get back to me.” He said thoughtfully.

 

To be continued…