Love At Last

LILY

Cayden offered to drop me off at home but I turned down his request politely, I was not in any mood to speak with him.

“I insist.”

“Just go please. I really am not in the mood for anything right now. I need to collect my thoughts together.”

“I insist, Lily.” He dragged me by the hand to his car.

“Get in,” he opened the door to the passenger’s seat and ushered me in.

“Cayden,” I glared at him.

“Just get in already miss. I can be as stubborn as you are and you know that quite well.” He was not ready to budge. I heaved a sigh and yielded; there was no harm in accepting his offer.

We went into his car and he zoomed off. He kept stealing glances at me for a while without uttering a word.

“What?”

“Nothing miss,” he redirected his gaze to the road.

“Then drive,” I heaved a sigh.

Instead of driving me home, he drove us instead to an ice-cream parlor.

“Seriously?” I asked on seeing where he drove us to.

“We need to get those lips grinning, miss. Your mood is too dull for my liking,” he said cheerfully.

“I really am not in the mood for any of this. Can’t we just go home?” I whined.

“No we can’t,” he said and alighted the car. He walked towards my end but before he could open the door for me, I did the job myself.

“I’ve got hands too, you know?” I asked on getting down from the car. He did nothing but chuckle and shut the door behind me.

We got inside and took a seat that gave us a clear view of what was going on outside, close to the window to enjoy the cool breeze; reservations needn’t be made. “What flavor are you getting?” he asked me to place my order. “Whatever you’re getting.” I didn’t have the strength to make choices, so he ordered the same thing for both of us.

He cleared his throat to start up a conversation. “So do you mind telling me what happened back there?” he asked. “That wasn’t you back there, that I’m sure of,” he added.

“I know, right?” I heaved a sigh and covered my face with both palms.

“So tell me what the issue is. Did someone say something to you or did you get into any fight?” he asked with so much concern as he peered into my soul. “You know you can always talk to me, right?” I saw a trusted confidant sitting in front of me and not just an acquaintance. I had no choice but to open up to him.

I heaved a deep sigh in a bid to get myself ready to say all I had to. “Something happened earlier this morning,” I commenced my story. “Jarod came over…,”

“Jarod?” he cut in.

“Yes, Jarod. He came over and I felt so relieved…,” I paused and closed my eyes because I sensed the tears welling up again. “Calm down, don’t push it,” Cayden said. “I was so happy to see him this morning…,” I continued, “but in no time he dashed all my hopes and expectations in seconds,” I completed my statement.

“What exactly did he do?” Cayden asked calmly.

“He quit!”

“Quit?” Cayden asked looking all bewildered. “Why?”

“He said he was going somewhere he’d be loved and appreciated. He also said he was going to make sure I don’t get anything from this competition…,” I paused and continued, “doesn’t that mean he’d make sure I fail?” my voice was shaky; keeping the tears in was a bit difficult.

“He said all that?”

“He said that and more.”

“Why exactly did he say he was going somewhere he’d be loved and appreciated?”

“Right? I and Jared were good friends, our relationship wasn’t just that of a boss and employee. Where all he said to me came from, I just don’t get,” I gave up holding the tears back in and let it roll. I bowed my head on the table, my elbows on it as I used my hands to support my head and wept silently.

“It’s okay, Lily. Calm down,” he urged, rubbing my back gently. “I know Jarod’s a coward and his actions sometimes give off the wrong vibe, but then again, he’s not one to tell his friend he’d make sure she’d lose. Something’s definitely up,” he said, causing me to raise my head.

“Right? Something’s up, right?” I kept telling myself that since morning, and now that Cayden said the same thing, turned out that I needed assurance of some sort. “Jarod wouldn’t betray me like that, right?” I asked continuously as I wiped my face yet again.

“Firstly you need to calm down and have your ice-cream before it melts,” he pointed the cup of ice-cream placed before me moments ago.

“Right.” I raised the cup and took the spoon from it to start digging in.

“You know how you look when you cry?” he threw the question at me from nowhere.

“How?” I was curious. I held the ice-cream cup to my face, covering my lips.

“Like a…,” he stressed the ‘a’ like he was actually thinking of what to say, “a bunny,” he blurted suddenly and made me burst into laughter; I wasn’t expecting him to say that.

“Seriously?” I asked amidst the laughter. “You sure do,” he affirmed all giggly.

“No I don’t!” I refuted jovially.

“Hear this joke out, I thought of it one time.”

“Okay?”

“Did you hear about the guy who invented the knock knock joke?”

“No, you tell me,” I smiled.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“He won the ‘no-bell’ prize,” I thought about it for a second and got the joke – ‘no-bell’ = Nobel – which made me burst into another round of laughter.

“Cut it out please,” I said amidst the laughter.

“Now this is the Lily there should be. Any other Lily isn’t welcomed,” he smiled warmly.

Cayden went a long way in helping me alleviate my stress – I felt a bit relieved. The thoughts from yesterday – concerning the kiss – lingered in my mind but the issue I had on hand prevented it from overwhelming me.

After a while, Cayden drove me home and we parted ways.

*CAYDEN’S POV*

All through the time I was with Lily, I took occasional glances at her lips because thoughts from yesterday lingered continuously. Due to the issue at hand, I couldn’t muster up the courage to speak about it so I just let it remain within me.

After we had ice-cream, I drove her home.

“At this point I could call you my driver, you know?” Lily asked on getting to the house.

“I know right? You need to start paying for my services.”

“Thanks for today, I really appreciate,” she expressed her gratitude heartily.

“You’re welcome missy,” I replied. She then opened the door and stepped one foot outside. Just when she was about to alight completely, I held her hand back causing her to turn to me abruptly. “Any problem?” she asked gently.

‘What was I thinking?’ My hand moved subconsciously and reached out to hers. Lily wasn’t going to appreciate it if I talked about the kiss we shared the previous day so I just shrugged and let go.