CHAPTER 2

Asher

I took a day off from work today, to sort out my current problem.

It took me a really long time before I could finally sleep off but unfortunately, I couldn’t complete my eight hour sleep.

My mother had called me early today to remind me of our deal. She was truly hell bent on making my life a living hell.

“Remember Asher, you either find a suitable girlfriend, or I get one for you.” Was her threat before she hung up on me.

What the hell was she expecting me to do?

Go girlfriend hunting?

Well, if I would settle to doing that, there’s one person that could help with that.

I lazily got out of bed and picked up my phone, searching for Sebastian’s number.

While I was awake last night, I thought of the possible way to avoid my mother’s wrath, as well as her plans for me.

There is no way in hell, I’m letting her pick a girlfriend for me from one of the daughters of her numerous lousy friends.

I wonder how she copes with all of them.

After many rings, Sebastian finally picked his phone.

“You do Know it’s just 7am, right?” He asked grumpily.

I rolled my eyes like he could see me.

“And you should be preparing for work, not sleeping around. Tell me Seb, how many whores do you have on your bed right now?” I asked him, angry with his recent lifestyle.

Ever since his ex, he’s just become a fuck boy. More reason, I don’t want to have anything to do with dating, let alone marriage.

“I might as well hang up since you don’t have anything better to say.” He said, bored.

“Wait!” 

Oh! My pleading tone irritated me. I never had a reason to beg anyone or hold on to anyone. Instead, it was always the other way around.

“Did you just…..?” Even though I couldn’t see him, I was pretty sure he had a grin on his face right now.

“Don’t whine right now Sebastian. I need your help with something.” I said to him.

“Mommy issues?” He teased me.

“ Just because you could run away without your mother running after you doesn’t mean I can’t come after you Sebastian.” I warned him.

Well, his mother was just like mine, except, she never invaded his privacy and spied on him like my mother did all the time.

“My house, you have two hours.” I said to him before hanging up.

I hope he’s got a reasonable solution to my problem.

Olivia

Before my father woke up, I quickly got out of bed. 

He already made dinner last night. It would be so unreasonable to let him to do, again. So, I made him breakfast before I left for work.

I was sure to leave a good morning note behind.

Since the waitress job at Mark’s bar didn’t pay enough, I worked as a cleaner at a coffee shop not too far from the bar.

This way, I could pay half of our bills and have an afternoon rest so I don’t break down at any of my jobs.

In all my life, I’ve had just one friend. Not many whites would want to associate with a black person. To them, we were just second class citizens.

But fortunately for me, Rita was different. We’ve been friends since high school. We even attended the same college. 

Although, we parted ways when she got a job in France. She was working as a manager in one of the reputable hotels over there. But she had promised to come over whenever she was on her quarterly leave.

The bell above the door jingled as I walked in. The customers and the other workers returned to whatever they were doing once they saw I was the one who had walked in.

When I first started working here, it felt hurtful but now, I was already used to it.

I started cleaning once I had put on my apron.

There were usually side talks about me. Some of the customers would whisper to each other and snicker while I passed them.

That was something I couldn’t really get passed so I always wore an earpiece while cleaning.

I had gone to the back to dispose the dirty water after mopping when suddenly, I bumped into someone.

“What the hell?” I heard an angry masculine voice.

Oh no!

“I’m so sorry sir. I didn’t mean to….” My voice trailed off when I looked up to see who I had bumped into.

I met the most beautiful pair of jade green eyes ever. They had this dark hue in them but still, it didn’t take away their beauty.

They just seem to pull everything into their maelstrom.

Before I could take in his other features, he snapped his fingers in my face.

“Are you blind?!” He snapped loudly and the other customers turned in our direction.

“I’m really sorry sir. I didn’t mean to. Please, allow me to clean it off.” I bowed my head and apologised once again, using my handkerchief to dry the dirty water I had poured on his neatly ironed black shirt.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” He yelled at me, embarrassing me the more.

I quickly withdrew.

“Hey! Asher, let the girl go. It was just a mistake.” I heard another masculine voice but this one sounded friendly and my eyes subconsciously searched for him in the crowd.

I saw a chestnut brown haired guy, walking up to us. He looked really tall or was I just too short? 

There was a kind smile across his face, making his brown eyes pop.

He looked my way and smiled even more. He looked like a sweet gut from fantasy land.

He turned to the other guy, Asher?

“Asher, it was a mistake. Just forget about it.” He said to the guy I had bumped into.

They seemed to be friends. Was that why they wore the same clothes? Grey pants and black shirts with green ties?

Were they twins?

“Yeah?! Enough reason for her to dare to touch me with that filthy thing in her hand?” Asher yelled angrily.

Filthy?

I looked at my hand and I was holding my handkerchief.

Did he just dare to call this filthy?

My father had gifted this to me last Christmas.

“Did you just call my handkerchief filthy?” I looked up at Asher angrily.

For a moment, there was a shocking expression on his face but he was quick to replace it with a look of anger, mixed with disgust.

“Filthy and cheap.” He said, scrunching his nose to show how disgusted he was.

Before I could get a grip of myself, my hands moved to his face, landing him the hardest slap it could produce.

It echoed across the room and everyone gasped.

I covered the distance between us and pointed my wet finger straight at his face.

“Watch what you say about other people okay? It might be cheap but it’s special to me. It wasn’t bought with wealth, it was bought with love. That makes it much more important than anything you would ever have.” I said to him, fighting back the bubbling anger in my stomach.

Before I would lose myself again, I simply walked out of the shop.