Chapter 16: Fourteen

Weekends, especially Saturdays were usually the highlight of Hope's week. There was no special reason, but it was like even the air she breathed on weekends was different. She'd counted herself especially lucky when Raymond had managed to work it so she only had to work during weekdays at Momalicious which left her weekends free and untainted.

She pictured herself going somewhere and doing something really relaxing, like going on one of those weekend long vacations on a far away island sipping piña colada or whatever it was the lead actresses did in the many movies she'd watched overtime. A girl could wish.

Hope groaned. Her reality however couldn't be more different. She'd woken up and figured she'd go spend the day with Tayo. She had even managed to go as far as bathing before a sudden wave of laziness had claimed her.

Now, she was lying dead on her bed still clad only in her towel although her body was very much dry by now, arms and legs flung wide and her gaze set unblinkingly on the ceiling with nothing else to do but daydream.

A knock sounded on her room door but she ignored it. It was obviously Val and the girl was going to come in anyway.

"Hey, Hope." It was her head that poked in first. When she confirmed Hope was indeed awake and saw the state she was in, her whole body followed.

Hope's head turned and her eyebrows raised as she took in her cousin. She was wearing a knee length double strap bodycon peach dress that accentuated her perfect figure. She'd worn a shoulder length straight wig and she had light makeup on. Although she wasn't necessarily looking glamorous, it was a far cry from the oversized shirt and shorts Hope was accustomed to Val wearing anytime she was home.

"You're looking too fine for a Saturday morning. What's the occasion?"

Val chuckled, twirling. "As opposed to how I'm usually ugly?"

Hope rolled her eyes, smiling. She knew her cousin was only fishing for compliments and wasn't ready to boost her ego anymore than it already was.

"Really, where are you going?" She asked instead.

Val shook her head, motioning for Hope to scoot over so she could sit. Reluctantly, Hope obeyed. "I'm not going anywhere."

Hope sat up, adjusting the towel that had almost fallen in the process. "So you're telling me that you, Val are dressed up like this for no reason at all. On a Saturday. And I'm supposed to believe that."

One thing Hope had picked up off Val was the fact that she was very transparent. The girl wasn't good at hiding what she was feeling, for example the embarrassed flush that was currently spreading all over her fair cheeks.

Hope laughed. "You're so caught."

Val chuckled. "Stop it jor. I'm not lying, I'm not going anywhere."

"Hm," Hope murmured halfheartedly. "I hear you."

"I'm serious!" Val insisted.

"I've heard now. What else do you want me to say?" Hope laughed.

Val clucked her tongue and stood up. "Just put some clothes on. You're not going to prance about in that towel all day."

Hope tsked. Was that a challenge? "Watch me."

Val shook her head but said nothing else as she exited the room.

Hope wasn't sure how much longer she just laid there, it could have been a couple minutes or hours as far as she was concerned. She was just beginning to fall asleep again when her phone started ringing obnoxiously.

"Whoever you are, go away," Hope groaned, refusing to crack an eye open. She shut her eyes even tighter as if to will everything else but the sleep away.

The ringing eventually stopped and silence engulfed the room once more. Only, she was now wide awake and there was no chance of her going back to sleep anymore.

Frustrated, she heaved herself off the bed and somehow, she ended up landing butt first on the hard floor.

"Ow! This is happening way too regularly!" She yelled at the floor, giving it the stink eye. She managed to raise herself up and redo the towel firmly around herself. Her throat suddenly felt parched so she dragged her feet out and into the kitchen. She was chugging down a bottle of water when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Coming!" She heard Val call out almost immediately, almost as if she'd been expecting it.

Subconsciously, Hope seized the bottle going up to her mouth and listened. She heard the faint sound of the door opening and then she could make out Val's and one other person's voice. Was her ears no longer working or was that Raymond?

Curious, Hope chugged down the remaining bit of water and tossed the bottle into the sink carelessly before exiting the kitchen, almost coming head to head with Val in the process.

"Hope!" Val exclaimed, although it came off as some sort of nervous shriek. "I thought you were still in your room."

Hope's gaze flew behind her and she saw Raymond positioned just inside the living room, dressed in a caftan. His gaze was already fixated on her, and there was a small smile directed at her. She assumed that was his own way of greeting her.

His gaze then dipped downwards and she watched his brows raise. It then struck her that she was still only in her towel.

She crossed her arms defensively. "My eyes are up here."

That succeeded in drawing his attention off her body and back to her face. His lips quirked up into a smirk and his brows stayed raised in a superior manner.

"I like your new look," he quipped.

Hope scoffed but wasn't chanced a comeback before Val was butting in.

"Hope, I thought I told you to put some clothes on."

Hope didn't like the tone of voice Val used. It was like she was reprimanding a two year old and what she wasn't was a two year old, so she countered, "You know people go out wearing tube dresses that barely graze their thighs and you find nothing wrong with that. I'm in my house wearing something that's much longer so I don't see what the problem here is."

Val blinked, seeming lost for words while Raymond looked thoroughly amused. She was determined to ignore him though, much as he had done to her all week.

"What is he doing here anyway?" She directed at Val.

"He--"

"He is here because your mum called him up this morning to make a delivery to you," Raymond replied, taking the initiative to explain himself. He lifted his right hand so Hope could see the bag he was holding.

"What's that?" Hope demanded, keeping her gaze trained on Val even as she was not so subtly peeking at the package. That only worked to amuse him further.

"Soup," he replied.

"Soup? She called you over to bring soup for us?"

Raymond chuckled. "Pretty much. In her defense, mine is sitting on the backseat of my car as we speak."

"Tomorrow is Sunday," Hope pointed out, regarding them both with a lost expression. "She's going to see us all tomorrow anyway. Couldn't it wait till then?"

"I don't know, Hope. I haven't yet figured out the peculiar way your mum's mind works." He held out the bag to Val who took it, grateful to have something to do.

"I'll just transfer this into a pot," she said, successfully turning both their focus to her.

"Take your time with that. I'm not inclined to return it anyway," Raymond said with a smile which elicited one in response from Val.

Hope found herself stuck watching the two making googly eyes at each other, smiling like fools and it irritated her for some reason. She cleared her throat exaggeratedly, breaking the spell.

"I'll just put this right in then," Val laughed, practically skipping into the kitchen. Val's laugh was beautiful and Hope would not have thought the day would come when she'd be jealous of anyone's laugh.

Raymond didn't say anything else, but even with her face turned away from him, she could feel his eyes raking over her again. His eyes on her felt like warm honey dripping wherever they lingered. She pretended not to notice when they lingered more than necessary on her chest area where her towel had dipped a little.

"Stop staring at me. I had no idea we were having guests," Hope sassed in a bid to divert his attention and subtly adjust her towel.

"I called Val," was his simple response.

"Last I checked, my name was Hope," she snapped.

Raymond couldn't help the smile that stretched his face at how ridiculously infuriated she seemed, which only served to infuriate her the more. He couldn't help it however, he found himself recently finding everything she did cute, especially her tantrums. Only Hope would do something weird and manage to make it your fault somehow.

He kept his gaze planted firmly on her face, willing them not to stray elsewhere. He didn't understand why he suddenly had trouble keeping his eyes from roaming her body or why his breathing hitched just watching her face. He'd never noticed the tiny black dot right underneath her left eye but now he found himself struggling with the urge to reach out to caress it.

"What!"

Embarrassed to have been caught staring again, he cleared his throat and forced his eyes away from her even though that involved him turning away from her completely.

With his back turned, Hope did the same and headed back to her room. It had felt very weird, the way he had been staring at her and how she'd suddenly lost control over her heartbeat had fastened in response.

Safely in her room, She shut the door behind herself and heaved out a deep breath, dispelling whatever she was feeling. She'd learnt after years of having an unrequited crush on Raymond that her ex-complicated feelings for him were best left ignored. She'd eventually gotten over them and there was no way she was going back.

Feeling claustrophobic all of the sudden, she rummaged through her wardrobe and brought out the first pair of jean, top and jacket she saw. She was dressed in a matter of minutes and it was only then she picked up her phone, having totally forgotten about the calls earlier.

She winced when she saw three missed calls and all were from Paul. She dialed his number once, twice but there was no response.

Sighing, she slipped the phone into her purse before making her way out of her room for the second time that morning. Raymond and Val both turned to her as they heard her exiting her room. They were sitting side by side on the couch and Val seemed to have stopped in the middle of laughing. Something must have been funny.

"I'm going out," Hope announced to no one in particular as she made for the door.

"Where to?" Raymond demanded.

Hope gave him an 'are you serious?' look, taking care not to keep her eyes on him too long in case she started feeling funny again. What was his business with where she was going anyway?

She opened the door and her mouth dropped open as she came face to face with Paul whose hand seized mid knock.

"Paul?" She asked disbelievingly. It was obviously him, but the shock of it had left her brain short circuiting.

"Surprise!" He laughed, throwing his hands around her. She yelped as she felt her feet leave the ground right before he spun her around. Then, in a flash she was back on the ground.

"You've added weight oo. What have you been eating?" He teased.

Hope grinned, finally accepting that he really was there. "What are you doing here? And why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I'm not sure if I told you but my grandma returned back from the states a few months ago and has been clamoring for me to come and see her. So I'm here to do exactly that."

"Wow. Really?"

"Yes, and the fact that I missed seeing your cute face of course," he added with a wink.

Hope let out a hearty laugh. "You better have."

"As for me not telling you, I wanted to make it a surprise. Only, I almost got lost trying to locate your place and I tried calling you for description. Thanks for picking up by the way," he finished, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Hope smiled sheepishly. She was not about to tell him why she hadn't picked at the time. "Hey! In my defense, I called you back."

"Yeah. A second ago."

"You're sha here," she dismissed. "Speaking of, how did you even know my address? We already moved since the last time you were here."

"Clearly. You don't remember telling me about your new address some months back?" He asked.

Hope's brows squinted as she tried to remember doing so. "I did?"

He nodded. "Yes, and I told you a friend of mine used to live in the area?"

"Oh," Hope said, nodding slowly.

He chuckled. "You don't remember, do you?"

Hope shook her head, chuckling.

"Doesn't matter. Is your mum in?" He asked, peeping in to get a look around.

"No, but my cousin is," she replied and stepped aside so he could go in.

She turned to Raymond and Val who were already watching them, Raymond's eyes darting between the both of them while Val just stared at Paul inquisitively.

Hope decided she might as well make the introductions. "Val, uncle Ray, this is Paul, my friend. And Paul, my cousin Val and her friend, Uncle Ray."

Hope pretended she didn't notice the look Raymond threw at her at how she had chosen to introduce him.

Greetings were exchanged and before Hope could steer Paul back out, Raymond beat her to it.

"So Paul . . . I don't think I've ever heard of you, do you live around here?"

Hope scoffed, eyeing him. "Like you know that many of my friends."

"That's because you don't really have friends, Hope," Raymond countered.

Hope gasped, her hand flying to her chest. "You say what?"

"Uh. . . " Paul interrupted, amused gaze flying between Hope and Raymond. He was probably wondering just what kind of relationship she had with her cousin's friend. "Hope and I are childhood friends but my family relocated years back so we didn't see each other again until she got admission into uni."

"Oh, so you're a student there as well?" Val asked.

He shook his head. "No. I was, but I graduated some years back. I run a small restaurant close to the school these days."

"Really? That's very nice," Val chirped, seeming awed. "How is that like, running a restaurant?"

"Relatively easy actually," he replied, a glazed look in his eyes. It didn't take a genius to know he loved what he did. "I worked in a restaurant when I was in school so I'd learned almost everything I needed to know. It wasn't very hard setting up afterwards."

"Still, it must have required a lot of capital," Val concluded.

"Yeah, well. My family is loaded," he replied, shrugging.

"Oh."

The exchange elicited a smile from Hope. While it might come off as bragging, she knew Paul well enough to know it was far from the case. He was just very confident about himself and was never ashamed of saying things the way they were.

Raymond spoke again. "If you're her childhood friend, then you might know her best friend--"

"Tayo," Paul supplied, smiling. "Yes, I know her."

Hope butt in before anyone could ask further questions. "Yes, and if you both are done interrogating him, Paul and I will be off now."

"Off to where?" Raymond asked, his eyes squinting in suspicion. Why? It was beyond Hope as well.

"I don't think I made it very clear the first time you asked, but it's not your business," Hope replied sweetly. She didn't wait for a response before practically hurling Paul out of the house.

"Whoa, easy," Paul said once they were outside. "What's the rush?"

"Tayo doesn't know you're back, right?" Hope asked, ignoring his question.

Paul nodded.

"Great. Let's go surprise her then." She started dragging him again.

"Hm. What's your relationship with that guy? I don't think he's just your cousin's friend."

Trust Paul to point that out. "He's Alex's brother."

"Alex . . . "

"Sophie's husband," Hope supplied.

"Oh. Oh!" he exclaimed. "Wait. The same one Tayo said you were practically in love with?"

"Wait, what?" Hope came to a start, her head flashing back to the closed door to confirm no one was listening. "Tayo said what?"

Paul nodded. "And that's the toned down version. You should have heard it with all the dramatics."

"Just how many people has she gone around telling that? I'm going to kill that girl," Hope declared as she marched forward with a new life purpose.

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Hi!

So I know I've been terribly inconsistent with updates, I'm really sorry. It will get better.