Sixteen Years Later
THE SMILE never left Tami's face as she climbed the stairs that led to the stage. Cheers from her peers and her family were almost deafening, as she collected her graduating certificate.
She felt so proud of the journey she had made thus far, and she was more than eager for the others to come.
"Tamika Knowles. Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences" The reader announced as she smiled for the picture.
Despite the heat that encamped her body due to the large black gown, it all felt worth it as she walked from the stage with her degree in hand.
She had finished her first stage of becoming a doctor, and she was more so excited to start medical school this fall. Over the years, Tami had always known what she wanted to do with her future. She never had such passion for something, and that alone was enough to assure her.
Being at the University of The Bahamas was never easy, but she did it. Through all the tests, sleepless nights and headaches, she came through. And the smiles on her friends and family's faces was enough encouragement for her to be ready for the coming years that will be difficult, but will be worth it.
And nothing will stop that.
"Congrats Tami!" Her friend, Malik beamed as she walked passed him. She shot him a quick wave in response before heading back to her assigned seat.
She watched heartily and in awe as each and every graduate collected their own certificates, and she couldn't have been more proud of them. These were some of the people who she had known since high school. How could she not?
'I'm gonna give each and every one of them a hug', she thought as they all stood to stand applause while the last person collected. She giggled a little at the thought. How could she hug so many people in one day? Then again, being a hugger, she didn't doubt it one bit.
The ceremony ended beautifully later that evening, and Tami shuffled through the crowd eagerly to find her family. She was grabbed from behind suddenly, causing her to yelp in surprise as she was twirled around in giant arms.
"I know! So exciting!" She replied, doing a mini-dance that only amused Malik even more.
Tami and Malik met two years ago when she applied for her graduate degree. They instantly clicked, and Tami loved him with all her heart, and so did he. Except, his love for her was quite different.
The bright-eyed man scratched the back of his neck shyly as he gazed in Tami's beautiful hazel eyes that always did a number on his heart. She cocked her head in confusion at his sudden shyness.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked, holding onto his hand in concern. That, however, didn't help his nerves.
"I-uh- I was just thinking that maybe later we could-"
"Hold that thought Malik." Tami quickly interrupted, but did it as sweet as possible with apology swimming in her eyes and evident in her tone. "I just spotted my family. I don't want to lose them in the crowd again. I'll call you later, yea?" She didn't wait on a reply. She just quickly pecked his cheek before she dashed towards her family.
Her mother was first to spot her daughter's head of bouncing curls as she ran towards them. Her mother had insisted on numerous occasions that Tami should straighten her hair for the ceremony, but Tami argued that she wanted it to stay in its natural luxurious curls.
She was always a confident woman in her appearance and body. She was never shy with it either, posting on social media any chance she got, showcasing her curvy figure and alluring beauty.
"Mama! I graduated! Again!" She laughed as she dived on her mom in excitement. Her eyes watered in pure happiness for the wonderful woman she had raised.
"I know baby. I am so proud."
"That's all I ever wanted" Tami's heart soared for what felt like the hundredth time in one day.
Her mother had always had high expectations of her, raising her in a strict way, but never sheltered her too much. She ensured that Tami had ambition and drive, aiming for nothing but success.
Sometimes, when all her friends were heading to parties, getting drunk and being wild teenagers, Tami had always been upset with her mother for forbidding her.
And so when she turned 18 six years ago and finally got the chance to be 'free', she jumped head on in her new adult liberty.
She had her fare share of being free, young and wild, but ultimately, she found her way back home, knowing that wasn't the person she was. Some people saw her as 'stuck up' and 'hype', but she never minded it. She didn't mind her lack of friends either. She found the company that she was happy with and stuck with that. And she was happy.
It made her mother proud, and that's all that mattered.
"What about my hug?"
Tami beamed at her younger sister, Amy, before wrapping her in a hug too. Amy was all the friend Tami needed, along with Malik. Even though Tami was seven years her elder, they connected wonderfully.
Amy would even feature Tami in some of her YouTube videos, doing crazy challenges and being her doll for her hair and make-up tutorials. They were a happy bunch, and Tami was happy she had such a person in her life.
"I'm happy for you Tami. You are such a role-model" Amy mumbled in her shoulder.
"I try to be" Tami said with a chuckle as they pulled away to take a selfie. With both of them having a large social media presence, with Amy having 20k followers and Tami having 15k, within seconds of Amy posting the picture, hundreds of likes and comments kept rolling in, expressing love and congratultaions.
"I'm gonna go grab a water. You want one?" Amy asked, laughing at a comment at the same time.
"Yea. Room temperature please."
"Gotcha"
Tami took the opportunity to check her own social media. She beamed at the hundreds of wishes and congratulations that swamped her notification panel.
She pressed the 'like' button on as much as the comments as possible, replying to a few as she could, but one in particular stood out to her.
Of course, almost half of her comments said the same thing or something similar, but something about the picture on this stranger's profile picture caught her attention.
Tami never really took an interest in men. Not that she was gay, but she was just far too busy to do so, or most of the men were always too intimidated by her tremendous goals and her refusal to settle for the ordinary. But this person in particular, even though the picture was as small as her finger tip, sparked her interest.
*Congrats beautiful*, it read. So simple and common, yet it made her feel so...weird.
She couldn't help but open the profile, but cursed when she saw that his profile was private. Nonetheless, she quickly sent him a follow request as something-or someone came into view.
"Dad!" Tami beamed as she rushed over to him as his mom wheeled him forward. "Where were you?" She mumbled as she hugged him.
"I went to the bathroom" He signed, given that he lost his speech years ago when he suffered stroke after stroke.
It was a hard time for Tami and her family, and the move to Nassau wasn't easy either. Nonetheless, they made it through, and Tami in particular took it upon herself to learn and teach her whole family sign language for his sake.
With instances like these when she could've easily asked her mom where he was, she always conversed with him to give him a sense of normalcy.
She remembered how much of a chatterbox her dad was, and how he hated being so reliant on others to get through. So she always just sat and engaged him in conversation like nothing was ever wrong, and nothing changed.
He was lucky to be alive, and he knew that- they all did. And despite the odd looks they got now and then from passerby's, Tami never showed any sign of awkwardness, grief or embarrassment with him. It was why he loved her so damn much.
"I'm so proud of you baby girl" He held onto her tight after he expressed his silent words, and she beamed once more as she kneeled down to give him a proper hug.
"You were my number one motivation dad" She told him truthfully, remembering all the times she thought of giving up. But her parents- her family, meant too much to her to disappoint.
"We can head to the beach and take a few family pictures now." Tami suggested as Amy returned with their water. "After that I'm going out with Malik. I think that's what he wanted to ask me"
Tami frowned when she remembered how she had cut him off abruptly. That wasn't like her, but she made a mental note to call him as soon as she left the noise.
Her mother smiled knowingly at her, and so did her dad, and Tami avoided eye contact at all cost.
"What?" She whined when it got too much.
"Oh nothing " Her mother quickly defended. "But are things getting-"
"No mama" Tami quickly answered, knowing what she was going to ask. "Malik and I are just friends. Nothing more"
Tami knew her parents really liked Malik, and who wouldn't? He was sweet, kind, smart and most definitely handsome and fit, and his skin tone was a little fearer than hers, making his amber eyes pop in a most mesmerising way. But she never had feelings for him, neither did she explore to see if she did.
It was quite surprising at first, given that her mother never approved of anyone Tami had an interest in, but yet she liked the one man Tami hadn't fallen for.
Her parents didn't look convinced, but they didn't get a chance to prolonged the argument, since Tami grabbed her little sister and bolted for the exit.
When will she find the one? She had no clue. But she had a feeling it wont be an easy task to introduce him to her family.
So whoever it is better hold out a few years, because she wasn't ready for that type of awkward situation.
Is that the last bag?" Raphael asked his driver, as he handed it to one of the flight attendants."Yes sir. You're all set for your flight" David smiled at the man he's called his boss for the past six years. They weren't exactly 'friends' per se, but they got along quite well.Raphael was even a bit bummed that he wasn't coming with him. But David had his wife and kids here in Puerto Rico. He wouldn't take up his life and leave his home, no matter how well Raphael paid.Raphael understood completely. When his parents separated when he was just seven years old, he had to move from country to country to be with either his mom or his dad, despite the fact that they didn't give a flyi
EXHAUSTED YET exhilarated.That's what Raphael felt when he hit his hotel room's soft bed. He had arrived in Nassau not even six hours ago, yet he had already had the best time in his life in years.He had seen her. He saw the woman he had dreamt of all his life, and seeing her actually went good.His cheek bones hurt from the smiling he had done all the way back to the hotel. Maybe his cheekbones were complaining about such a new position, not being in the least bit used to it. Yet he didn't care.He rolled onto his side with his phone in his hand, gazing at the number he had gotten from her. And she agreed to see him tomorrow again! He just wanted to go to sleep so that the day would come quicker, but he was still so anxious, that he couldn't even close his eyes.
THE NEXT day, Raphael was out of bed from the minute the sun made a peek of its presence over the horizon. Even though they didn't agree to meet at the pub again until 7, he was still very eager to meet her. For the first time in a long while, he was excited about a day. Instead of his usual blazer and slacks, he shrugged on a black T-shirt and dark jeans, swinging his golden watch over his wrist, but eventually took it off when he thought it was too much. His assistant, Maddie, was in the lobby at 7 a.m. already waiting for him when he arrived, but she looked tired. After her talk with Raphael last night about purchasing the women's clothes and appliances, she stayed up an hour later talking to Nick about it, before Nick's wife scolded him and brought him to bed. Nonetheless, Maddie didn'
“I damaged myself badly, but I didn't realize it at the moment. All my life experiences should have taught me a lot of things, but all I got out of it was a single, definitive truth. That I am, in the end, a being capable of evil. I never set out to intentionally hurt someone, but when the situation called for it, I could become totally self-centered, even cruel. I was the type of person who could impose a never-healing wound on someone I cared for by creating a convincing excuse.” Raphael repeated the quote that he tried to remember over and over, as he sat at the edge of her bed and waited for her to wake up. The fact that Tami only stirred and mumbled in 12 hours worried Raphael. She should've been awake by now. And the silence in his huge house, thousands of miles away from Tami's home was gnawing away at his consci
IT HAS been twenty-four hours since Tami woke, and over thirty six hours since she has eaten anything. She refused to eat, and it frustrated Raphael completely. She had refused lunch and dinner over and over yesterday, and when Raphael returned to her room this morning, the dinner he left was still sitting there. Now, it was the same thing with breakfast, and he didn’t appreciate it. "Tami, just have the food please?" He asked again, trying to get her to eat the breakfast he had prepared himself. She glanced at him from the side of her eyes, before directing her gaze in front of her, not answering him. He sighed, placing the plate of pancakes on her nightstand before sitting beside her. She scooted over with a look of contempt, not wanting his skin to touch hers at a
BREAKFAST WITH Mrs. Garcia was indeed lovely, and Raphael was sure Tami had enough time to freshen up. He decided that it was time he checked in on her, so he excused himself and made for her room again.He knocked before entering, but he didn't hear anything on the other side of the door as he pushed it open. He didn't think much of it, simply because she was a woman, and maybe she took a long time in the bathroom. He remembered how his mother would spend endless time in the bathroom.He considered leaving her and coming back, but the silence kinda had him uneasy. The worst case scenarios playing in his mind was what led him into that room, and luckily he did."Tami?" He called, but there was no answer. Panic rose in him as he knocked on her bathroom door again. "Tami are you okay?" Still no answe
Day 5 It has been a whole five days being in this wretched room. I have not spoken to Raphael since yesterday. We had another fight. He brought up breakfast, and I refused to have it. I miss my family. I want to go home and he wont let me. This is very unfair. I can't even get through to him personally. He's so selfish, possessive and arrogant. I couldn’t understand him either. Sometimes he would be all over me, and other times he was so closed off. Like he wouldn’t speak or come to my room for hours. Sometimes I believe he went through something growing up to become like this. I remember at camp when he told me that his parents didn’t care about him. Was that why he's like this now?
TAMI'S EYES shone in excitement as Raphael raced through the town. It had been years since she was at Grand Bahama, and it was obvious that a lot had changed. Still, she didn’t mind how fast the buildings and features rushed past in a blazing blur as Raphael drove. It was almost as if he had been in a rush. But in reality, he only did it because he liked how her eyes lit up when he went up a notch with the speed. The car would skid ever so often when the drifted around corners, and instead of screaming as most women would, Tami simply squealed as she held onto her seat for support, as if she was on a ride. Raphael liked this new look on her, as he had gotten quite sick of her gloomy eyes over the past days. He also knew he was the cause of her grief, hence this c