when fools fall in love

When fools fall in love

 Selena knew nothing about love until she met Chris, two hearts became one. However, roadblocks existed that threatened their love. Being a dreamer, she never relented and gave her whole being to the one she fell in love with.

“Your father would never approve of us Selena,” Chris repeated for the second time. He was skeptical and quite unwilling to dive into a relationship even though his heart was already captured by the endearing Selena with her luminous dark eyes and luscious lips.

“Why do you say that, father has never denied me anything,” she whined. “I am daddy’s little girl and he would never say no to me.” Selena smiled. She has always been mesmerized by Chris, to her, he was the most handsome and lovable man in the world. He was all she wanted, nothing else mattered to her, he was an embodiment of all she wanted in a man.

“Hmmm, are you sure about this?” Chris looked doubtful, he understood that humans sometimes say no to even their most beloved person and he knew it could apply to selena and her father too even though she was very convincing in her argument.

“Just meet him once, for my sake.” Her eyes sparkled, all her emotions danced around her pupils. Her face flushed as she beamed up at him.

Still skeptical, he agreed, “okay, for your sake, I will meet him.”

“No Chris, for our sake.” She rested her head on his shoulders and placed her slender hands on his chest. Chris wasn’t muscular but his lanky frame was more than Selena could ask for she wouldn’t have him any other way, he was simply the man of her dreams,  the only man that made butterflies dance at the pit of her stomach. She was in love and that was enough for her.

********

Selena and Chris’s meeting each other was fated, as Selena would always say.

Chris was not a popular kid in school. He was more of a bookworm and nerd that minded his business, and hardly mingled with the other students in school. 

Selena, on the other hand, was popular; not by choice but because of her rich father Mr. Harry Delacroix, a shrewd businessman who owned the biggest bank in New York and had huge investments in agriculture, oil, and gas, and the latest technology, His mind churned with business ideas and after his divorce, he had refused to remarry but only dated and grew his holdings. He was also a well-known philanthropist and donated six-digit dollars sums to his daughter’s school quarterly. His generosity made his daughter popular coupled with Selena’s wit and charm; her friendly and generous nature was also a hit amongst her fellow students. She did not segregate or feel the need to make people feel inferior around her. Wealth and social standing never bordered her and she paid no interest to it.

Chris had been taken aback when Selena offered him a ride home in her Mercedes. She had stumbled upon him during her drive home after their school basketball team lost a game to the opposing team. She was so nice to him after then and never looked down on him even when they both came from different backgrounds, cultures, and family wealth. Chris marveled at her down-to-earth nature compared to that of most girls on the campus that treated him as if he was invisible. His chocolate skin and dreads made him stand apart from the other students.

As time passed, the friendship between Chris and Selena blossomed, from being just casual friends to best of friends. And their friendship thrived without being sexual for months. 

Everything changed between them when a mutual friend called them out 

“Both of you should just make out already.” their mutual friend Nathan cheered them on. He was known for being a loudmouth, and could not keep his thoughts bottled in.

Laughing Chris shoved him on the shoulders ``stop you are embarrassing Selena.” He gave her a quick glance aware of her shyness and the discomfort Nathan's words would bring to her before continuing with his work on the laptop which he kept on the library desk. 

Selena blushed, she did not know that Nathan had observed she had a soft spot for Chris. However, she hoped no one else had figured out her true feelings for him yet. “I have to keep my emotions in check” She admonished herself, hopefully, she keeps to her plans.

“I want a beer,” Nathan growled. His attention span was so minimal, he was always switching from one topic to the other 

“You know you can’t have a beer, stop being a nuisance,” Selena said, her eyes glued to the laptop in front of her, she was partly angry at him.

“Why?” Nathan grumbled.

“Nathan we have to finish up before the library closes for the day, so stop being a pain in the ass,”  Chris replied in a voice that left no room for arguments

“You’re such a killjoy, Chris. Loosen up, man. You are so rigid.” Nathan scowled and leaned over on the desk.

“Better rigid than being unreasonable.” Shaking his head, Chris continued with his assignment and thankfully Nathan focused on his work too even though he kept hissing at intervals. But he was totally ignored as they knew he resorted to tantrums if he did not get his way.

******************

Chris avoided Selena after Nathan’s observation, he tried as much as possible not to be alone with her. He knew they were misfits, in fact, she was above his league as far as he was concerned, however, Selena was not happy about Chris's recent behavior towards her, she decided to ignore him too but couldn’t, making up her mind she approached him.

“Why are you avoiding me, Chris, did I offend you,” Selena asked, her face devoid of a smile.

Chris adjusted his backpack “No why would you think that.” he looked over her head, obviously avoiding eye contact with her.

“Do I smell?” Selena's voice shook as she spoke

“What, where are you going with all these silly questions?” his lanky frame hovered over her.

“You have been avoiding me and I need to know why,” she demanded

“No, I’ve not. Don't be silly.

He started walking away and Selena followed behind him, when she got tired of being ignored by him she walked away.

 For close to a month they ignored each other and Nathan decided to take matters into his hands. “I won’t allow these love birds to continue like this. I must help them find their way into each other’s arms. And I have the perfect Plan.” Giggling he smacked his lips in his usual comic manner. Nathan, unfortunately, believed he was a genius and a perfect matchmaker. Surprisingly, he was able to get them together and a relationship bloomed. Chris however was still intimidated by Selena’s status and couldn’t bring himself to cuddle or be intimate with his new girlfriend. Selena took matters into her hands and with patience and great love Chris started to see Selena for who she really was, a young girl who fell in love with him for who he was and not what he could become.