Vulnerable

Chapter 17

The rest of the day went in a blur with me questioning everything I believed I knew.

I must admit, maybe I'm indeed naive and vulnerable like my brother said to me.

Because, how I just let myself trust Derrick and be so reliant on him doesn't seem so smart.

I'm probably not safe here and I need to hear from my family.

I know they are not the best but they won't just let me stay with someone they barely know plus a bad reputation and mysterious air around him.

Am I a bad friend for thinking this way about him?

Do I even refer myself as a friend to him?

Urgghhh!

I decided to take a shower to relieve myself from the stress that came with overthinking.

After taking a nice cool shower I felt a little bit relieved and decided to play 'Puzzle Pets' on my phone.

On picking my phone from the bedside drawer I kept it before leaving for school.

I noticed I have gotten a few missed calls from Derrick and Tomiwa.

Not just a few.

Over 30 missed calls!!!

Shit!

I didn't hear it ring.

Why didn't I hear it ring?

Oh...

I put the sound profile on 'Silent' before leaving for school.

Tomiwa left a few hours ago. She is supposed to meet up with her Mother today.

I don't really know much about her family background but she lives alone with no adult or guardian.

She only gets to meet up with her Mother a few times in a month.

I have not been very close to her until lately. So, I don't really know what resulted in her living alone. I know her father is dead or something and her Mum got married to someone new or works as a flight attendant.

Just rumours I heard from Andy and my Cousins. I don't know the main truth.

I wonder if she would ever tell me.

Back to Derrick.

Do I give him a call back or act like I never saw this ?

Act like I never saw this

So, I'm going to ditch playing the game and just head to bed.

So, I slept off.

I felt a slight brush on my skin before the smell of a familiar cologne hit my nostril.

Derrick.

I fluttered my eyes open and was met by the mesmerizing sight of my dearly beloved Derrick.

My heart stuttered

"Hey Sleepyhead" he said with a smile and I couldn't help but return him with a smile.

"Hey" I said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." He said, looking apologetic.

"It's fine. Are you just coming back?" I asked as I sat up on the bed and gave a little yawn with my hands covering my lips.

"Not really, I arrived over 30 minutes ago and I ordered dinner, which just arrived a few minutes back." He replied.

"You haven't had dinner, have you?"he added quickly?

"No, I haven't. I'm not hungry" I said giving another yawn and followed with my stomach making a noise like that of a dying whale.

Derrick chuckled.

"Your stomach says otherwise"

I flushed.

"What did you get for dinner?" I asked in a bid to cover my embarrassed look.

"Your Favorite! Spaghetti and fried plantain mixed with meatballs" Derrick said and I smiled sheepishly

I love that meal.

"Thank you" I said as he passed me the meal and I placed them on the bed, ready to devour every bit of it.

While eating, I noticed Derrick looking at me in a way I just couldn't decipher.

"I tried calling you severally today" he said

"Sorry, I didn't hear the phone ring and I wasn't close to it" I replied as I placed another fork-ful of spaghetti in my mouth.

"I even tried calling Tomiwa so that I could speak with you but turns out she had an important meeting with her mother today and I had no other way to reach you. I kept Wondering why you weren't picking up and I became worried that something wrong must have happened to you. I had to end my business transaction and get back as soon as possible. I was even outside the state and had to book the quickest flight to get here." He said, looking at me as he nodded his head and scraped his finger through his braided hair.

"I'm sorry" I muttered. Feeling bad for putting him through that much stress.

He made a deep exhale and said.

"Please stop making me get worried about you. Always stay close to your phone. You have no idea how I felt when I couldn't reach you. I was scared shitless of something bad happening to you and with no guard assigned to you I was almost going crazy!!! I had no f**king idea what was up with you. I felt so out of control and disheveled."

He paused and cooled his tone which was almost graduating to a yell

"Just please, stay close to your phone next time and call me back when you see a missed call from me, Okay?" He said with a bit of plead in his tone.

It's moments like this that makes me question if the rumors said of him are true.

It's moments like this that makes my heart melt and make me feel like I mean more to him.

It's moments like this that makes me want to just hold and kiss him.

"Why do you even care about me? Like you barely even know me" I asked. Voicing one of the questions that have always bugged my mind.

He looked at me like he was trying to figure me out.

He gave a deep sigh and stood on his feet as he gave a slight chuckle followed by sucking in a deep breath as he scratched his side eye.

"That's the thing. I friggin have no idea... " He gave a pause and continued " I'm just so attracted to you that it consumes my every thought and I just keep having this urge to keep you safe and making sure you stay happy." He said, making my heart sing.

"Perhaps is how you are so naive to how the world really works or the way you twist your lips when you are trying to cover up something. I just keep having images about you in my head, I keep thinking about you. You cloud my every thoughts and then we kissed! We kissed...!! Urghh" He gave a laugh

"We kissed and... And now ? I feel stuck to your nectar! I want more of you and Its almost like I was starving till I tasted you!!!" He admitted, making my entire system feel alive and aroused.

"I like you Audrey" he said almost in a whisper.

"You do?" I asked, my voice coming out as squeaky.

"No. I don't like you. I take that back!" He said and my heart clenched

"I take that back because right now I'm going to eat up my freaking fear and say the truth to you. Straight to your dazzling and attractive eyes" he said, taking a few steps to me and sat at the edge of the bed.

He was looking straight into my eyes and I immediately averted my eyes from his.

Feeling weird somewhat

He lifted my chin, making me look him in the eyes as he said.

"The truth, that... I - I..." He paused, took his head down and slowly took it up as he said the three words that set my heart into a frenzy.

"I Love You"

And at that moment, I believed him.

Just like that, every previous negative thoughts I had of him totally evaporated into thin air.