RIPPED (OFF)

MY NEXT STEP IS MY LAST STEP

While he walked past and headed in the direction I came, I noticed something I was too scared to admit - the resemblance he bore with my Harry when viewed from the back - gorgeous manly frame coated in tanned hairy skin.

If that could be excused for a coincidence, there was no way in hell I could mistake the scent that trailed him. It was such a familiar one, so powerful that it transported me back to Vavula on the spot.

I was almost sure it was him and I hated how I was beginning to feel. I didn't want to do anything else that would present me as weak, not after wasting my affection on a man who would never know of it.

Therefore, I fought off the temptation to shoot another look at the broad back that was fast disappearing just as the receding sound of the footsteps.

In a moment, I felt proud and was still basking in the accruing credit when suddenly, I caught myself panning my face right to catch a last glimpse of his alluring stature just in time before he disappeared.

Prematurely, the dim good feeling as with the disappearing figure of the man, varnished.

I trudged home saddling some heavy luggage of shame and disappointment at my actions.

All I wished for at the time was to sneak into my apartment, slip into the bed, and cry myself to sleep.

In anger, I poked the doorbell in quite a few unbroken succession when, as though in connivance with the bad day, my key failed to open the door it locked just a few hours before.

It would dawn on me soon, that it had been locked from the other side. My anger grew with the number of times I poked the switch.

After a couple of attempts and there was no sign of life beyond the mediating door, the walls of my stomach contacted me as the rage was beginning to escalate beyond my bowel to the outside.

Accordingly, I resorted to banging on the door perhaps that might do the magic. Therefore, I turned around picked up a pebble of chipped interlocking stone, and weighed it backward to gather momentum for the loudest bang I could muster.

I couldn't conceive that the door would snap open the split second I turned to grab the tool. In an instant, the stone ricocheted against a pair of crossed well-built arms fending it adroitly off.

"Oh my God! I cried out in horror.

I am so sorry, how bad is it?" I ejected, grabbing the arm to take a closer look at the point of contact which closed off the distance between us such that his breath fanned my face a few times before I realized how close we were and quickly applied some restraints.

"I am Jimmy Hanson," he managed to say, still standing by the doorway with a scowled expression. I snapped my hands away from the arm as though it suddenly grew hot.

"I know who you are," I retorted and rolled my eyes, trying so hard not to convey the statement along with the foul mood that had just reverted.

What happened next left me with another sweet-bitter feeling.

I made to leave immediately I let go of his arm, and I hoped that he would step back and out of the way given that had I signposted that I needed to go.

"I should just leave now," I muttered.

But he stood still, folding both arms across his breast. Halfway through, my left breast brushed his left arm abundantly as I squeezed through the small space.

I felt a warm sensual sensation sweeping through my body. I never felt that way before and with the way my emotions had been swinging, I was sure what might follow next.

Therefore, I hastened my steps through the staircase, leaving him to watch in confusion as I wriggled away.

I would hurry back down when I realized that I left the key to my door with the bunch I tried opening the main door with and failed earlier.

He was still there, transfixed, just that he now had his back to the door. I stole a glance at his expressionless face as I walked briskly back to my room.

I would not see him again until when a few days had passed. I was aware of his presence in the block as I heard him whistle sonorously along to the songs from his music system. I just made sure we didn't bump into each other.

But one fine morning as I was going to a class, dressed in my usual black gown, I ran into him descending the stairs from his wing.

When he first saw me stepping out, he paused until I was done locking my door, then, continued after I supposed he had calculated that we would get to the living room at the same time.

"Good morning..." he saluted gayly, flashing an infectious smile.

"Speak for yourself," I retorted, hoping that the curt response convinced me I wasn't weak in my emotions.

He chuckled and tagged along as if what I said wasn't invective enough.

"I take it that you are a lawyer, Light, can we talk much later when you are back?"

"Oh, wow! The god of Cupid must have thought of me fondly. I wasn't sure which of his actions was responsible for the way I felt- saying my name or noticing that I was a lawyer.

I was feeling the irritable movement of a thousand butterflies in my belly. So, I needed to get some things over with.

I didn’t think twice before I called the school and canceled my class. I told the teacher I had suddenly come down with cramps, circled the car, and headed back home after driving aimlessly about for a couple of hours.

“Thank you for coming.” He appreciated the moment I called at his office.

“It's nothing.” I smiled dryly and sat on the sofa he gestured me into.

“I…I take it you’re a lawyer. I see you in your black gowns every day…” He started shakily.

I blushed and gave a small nod, liking the fact I made him stutter. "So he’d noticed me all this while." I did well to hide my gloat under an indifferent expression.

“… I need your legal opinion concerning a property that I’ll not be using for a while, and I don’t want to sell it. What could I do?”

A tiny voice in my head whispered that I should let him know I wasn't a professional, yet and leave, but I decided that I needed to know how well I could handle a business if the contractor was getting into my head.

“Okay…you can create a Lease with it. This means giving out the house to another person who has exclusive possession to it for a term of years, in consideration of rent or money’s worth — rent can either be monetary or something else you both decide on.”

“How do I guarantee that this person won’t tamper with my property and that I’ll get it back in a proper condition?

“Every leasehold transaction confers a reversionary interest on the lessor (the owner of the property, like you). This means that when the lease comes to an end, the lessee (the person who used the premises), gives it back to you.

And you can further protect your interest by including certain covenants while drafting the documents.”

He had an uncertain look on his face that forced a giggle off me.

“No, not that kind of covenant. I mean terms that will bind you both during the leasehold transaction.”

He let out a soft moan. “Okay. So what’s the essential things about a lease that I should know?” I took the turn and ran.

“A valid lease must include certainty of parties, property, and term of years, called the Habendum — which is usually above 3 years.

Then it must have a specific commencement date, be created in due and proper form, and must grant exclusive possession to the lessee.” I submitted, it pedagogically.

“Payment of rent is guaranteed, right?”

“Sure. The rent can either be paid in advance or arrears - if it’s not agreed at the inception, then, the option of arrears can be exploited.”

“Hmm...Thank you, this is more than enough to inform my decision.”

“Anything for you.” His question made me adjust on my seat but no word came forth.

He typed away on his phone while I sat in silence. The few seconds the phone elicited his attention felt like a very long time.

"Is there something else?" I was glad he was back to the moment.

“Uh…are you contacting someone for the premises already? I know that commercial buildings are in high demand now. You’ll make a good gain.” I probed into the details he hadn't let out.

“What? No. I’m talking to my fiancée. We’re moving to Canada next month. I want to let out this apartment.”

I felt the butterflies dying in my stomach and the tiny voice in my head that had mocked me all day starting at it again.

Before I knew it, I was stepping out of the door without a backward glance.

"Light, wait. It was a joke and I haven’t offered you a drink for your help.”

"Take your drink to Canada, I wanted to yell back, just that I had had enough of turning backs that never went well in recent days. So, my lips won’t budge.

Thankfully, it was my last few weeks in school, so my next step was going to be my last step with both love and academics, and then..."Vavula would be the destination long before he leases away his property."