Chapter Eleven

"Hello?"

"Yoh, where are you? We can't find you."

"Remember that coffee house we saw on our way in?" After getting a yes she continued, "yeah, I'm in there."

"You guys are done already?"

"Yeahhh," Lilly dragged on. "I mean this is like my fiftieth time visiting Fort Jesus. You get tired of it after a while. Plus the bats are kind of icky. Scared the shit out of Kendy." She laughed out loudly causing Sheenah to chuckle.

"It was her first time?"

"Yeap, you should have seen her. She-" Lilly did not even finish her statement when she went full on guffawing, breathing very hard in Sheenah's ears. Sheenah just smiled. Thank heavens she had gone there for the first time with Reigner, who had warned her of the bats in the underground caves which true to Lilly's words were really unpleasant to look at and made awful noises. At least according to her. Maybe it was because she wasn't an animal person generally, but the place was just a nay for her.

"-and... then she just wanted to leave..." She laughed again and Sheenah continued tittering, having heard nothing of the story due to Lilly's belly laugh interrupting. -so...ouch!" She cried.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Sheenah asked, concerned.

"Kendy just slapp-" there was shuffling on the other line before Kendy's voice boomed in Sheenah's ears. "We are coming, wait for us. Bye!" And the line went dead.

Sheenah shook her head, smiling. Sometimes the girls behaved like highschool teenagers or worse, kids. But she loved them all the same. She drank the remainder of her juice, staring at her phone which had Reigners name on display, reminding her of the task she was to complete before Lilly's phone call interrupted. She contemplated on whether to call him as she had earlier decided or not. In the end she choose a nay as she tapped on the back button of her phone's screen, which ended up displaying the home page instead.

She breathed in deeply.

After the girls had arrived at the coffee house, they had ordered something to eat and had another laugh at Kendy's situation back at Fort Jesus. Sheenah took it all in.

That was friendship. Sisterhood. It was fun times. Memories.

***

They had all gone back to the hotel. Sheenah and Tash were at the swimming pool, enjoying a late night swim. Tash did a leap and landed in the water like a dolphin, making Sheenah awe. If only she could swim like that. If only she knew tricks. If only she had a little of Tash's gracefulness. Just a tiny bit. If only.

"Yoh!" Tash screamed in her face making Sheenah loose her balance and fall face flat in the water. She struggled a bit before coming up, breathless and panicked. There was always panic. All the damn time.

"Why'd you do that?" She accused, not in the least amused. Tash continued laughing.

"You should work on your swimming." She commented, finally catching her breath. "Damn, I should have recorded that. Epic shit." She chuckled.

"You're not funny you know." Sheenah made her way towards the pool stairs, her mood spoiled. She was almost out when Tash grabbed her leg, and it took everything in her not to kick her back into the water.

"Let go." Sheenah said, using her most commanding tone. Tash's grip only tightened.

"What's wrong? I know something's up. You've not been yourself since we returned. I'm sorry for screaming in your face but I'm not letting you go till you tell me what's bothering you."

Sheenah looked down at her friend and wanted to scream. Not at her, but at the universe. In fact, at anything. She just wanted to scream. "I'm I that obvious?" She asked quietly.

"No. I just know you so well." Tash smiled and let go of her friends leg.

***

Everything had been done. Every task completed. Every excuse exhausted. There was no way out. She had to face the elephant in the room. Or in her case, in the garden. Damn her for allowing Tash to talk her into it. What was she supposed to tell Reigner?

Hey there, sorry for running from you. You just remind me of my awful abusive ex and...

She could still back out. It wasn't too late was it?

"You are not a quitter. You've never been one. You can't start being one at twenty eight!"

"You like the guy. Then stop being a sissy. Now you don't expect him to be the one who'll reach out after YOU ran out on him. Nah sis."

"He deserves some explanation. You owe him that much."

"It'd be nice if you even get laid. It's been forever!"

She winced at the memory of Tash's words from last night and straightened her grey skirt. The girl was more American than Lilly.

She wasn't a quitter. There was no backing out. Not after Lilly and Tash had gone out to give her and Reigner 'some alone time'. She could definitely do this.

"Go out and simp."

And so she went.

Talking to him on the phone call was more easier than this. Every step Sheenah took seemed heavier than the last. He was just an ordinary man. Like every other man. Yet she couldn't understand why he affected her so much. Maybe she had been deprived of male attention for so long. Maybe she was sex starved. Maybe - He turned.

Reigner turned and Sheenah's breath caught and her feet became too heavy. She looked on, staring at the guy who she'd known for less than a week. A guy who she felt understood her more than most people in her life. People she had known for ages. Maybe she was reading too much into nothing. Maybe - Too much maybes!

He smiled. He smiled and the world seemed to stop. He smiled at her and nobody had ever looked so beautiful. This was stupid. Her thoughts were cheesy and it was stupid. She wanted the giddiness she felt to go away. She was twenty eight years. An adult. Sheenah broke the stare and shook her body.

Deep breath.

Grown woman.

And she went to him.

"Hi."

"Hey." He replied smoothly. She had missed his rough voice. "You look nice. Really nice." A smile.

Sheenah almost giggled. It was just a grey pencil skirt and an off the shoulder top, but she suddenly felt fancy. "Thank you." She touched her hair. "You look wonderful yourself."

"I aim to please." He made as if to bow which earned him an eye roll. They both laughed.

Sheenah settled in her seat and touched her hair again. God was she nervous. Her palms were sweaty. Maybe she should have backed out after all. Reigner was just a man. An ordinary man. Not talking to him ever again couldn't be that much of a deal. Shouldn't be. But there she was. Yep, she concluded, she was sex starved.

"So, how has your vacation been? Like my city yet?" He smiled softly. Politely. Sheenah remembered the first day they met and returned the smile. That art piece. That smile. Those eyes. This nervousness. It was all over again. Wind blew and she was brought out of the trance. She cleared her throat.

"It's been...a rollercoaster." She nodded. "Yep, one hell of a rollercoaster."

"Oh"

There was silence. It wasn't an awkward one. Neither was it the comfortable kind. It was the kind of silence that had words hanging in the air, waiting to be said. It was the kind that needed to be filled. A matter of time being the determinant. Sheenah looked on and played the words in her mind. She could surely do this.

"You want to order something? The food here is great."

"So you like our food." He teased her. "Sure. Food sounds great."

She called a waiter and made their orders. Sheenah ordering chips masala and Reigner fish. She smiled at his order. Tash had made her eat fish a lot of the time they went out when they were in university that she had almost hated the dish.

"You like fish a lot?"

"Fish is nice. And you can eat it differently every time. So yeah. I like it a lot." He paused before frowning. "You don't like fish?"

"No. I eat fish. But I don't like it a lot like you do."

"Tash hadn't eaten fish until she joined campus. Her mother didn't like the smell so they never cooked it at their home. She made us, me and the girls eat fish everytime we ate out. Which was almost daily. She couldn't believe she had missed such goodness for almost two decades of her life and was determined to avenge the lost time. Lilly had to threaten to curse her out of our lives before she could kill us with fish." She laughed at the memory and Reigner just stared. He had missed seeing her beautiful face.

The silence settled again between them and she fidgeted in her seat. It was time. Sheenah breathed in deeply, closing her eyes in the process. She was going to be upfront. It was about time.

"Do you like stories Reigner?" She asked, her voice coming out calm and quiet. Reigner gasped involuntarily. He didn't know why. Maybe he was still to get used to hearing her say his name. Maybe he was scared of what she'd tell her. Maybe it was her voice, soft and vulnerable and delicate like petals. But God was it peaceful. Her voice was tranquil and he wished he'd never get out of the serenity that was her.

"I want to tell you a story." Pause. "A story about a pretty city girl and a boy she fell in love with. Would you like to hear it?" She whispered.

Sheenah didn't hear a response. Or maybe she didn't wait for one. She clenched her hands into a fist and avoided Reigners eyes. She was focused on her breathing. If she could control that, she could get hold of her emotions. That was very important. It had been long since she had let anyone in, apart from the girls, on what had happened with Jack, and the last thing she would want is loosing control of her emotions. She couldn't be a mess. Not in front of Reigner.

"I hope I'm a good storyteller." She chuckled dryly.

"There was this girl. A pretty girl..."

And she told him everything that had happened with Jack. Everything she had told the girls. Everything she felt. And it took everything in her to not bawl and become a mess right there in the garden. She was grateful for the wind that had blown endlessly throughout.

***

"...and I was scared and guilty and feeling like if I continued to stay with you there I'd suffocate. And I had to leave.

"I'm sorry. For not calling sooner. For just leaving you in the dark and probably worried and wondering."

She unclenched her hands and finally met his eyes. He was looking at her. Listening. He hadn't spoken a word throughout and she couldn't have been more grateful. Sheenah tried to smile.

"The end."

Reigner continued staring and she almost fled again. "No 'and she lived happily ever after'?"

"No. Sadly no." She managed to smile. Leave it to Reigner to assuage a tense atmosphere. She liked that about him.

"That sucks. I love happy endings." He then became serious. "I'm sorry. And thank you for telling me that."

Sheenah wiped her palms on her skirt. That wasn't so bad. She just hoped his view of her wouldn't change. She did not want pity from him. The mere thought that he might want her out of sympathy was just awful. Her thoughts were interrupted when the waiter returned with their orders. She was grateful for the distraction.

"About time." Reigner commented, digging in his food. Sheenah took a piece of fry and bit into it. She immediately grabbed her glass of water. That was hot. And really spicy.

"You okay? Is the food fine?" She could pretend and eat her food while sipping her water after every bite or just be honest. Upfront it was. "Uh, I'm good. The food is just too spicy?"

"Isn't chips masala supposed to be spicy?" He retorted back and she wished she had just chosen the other option. Then he smiled. Full on grinning.

"Come, we can share mine." He moved to a different chair and Sheenah smiled as she went and sat beside him. "Thanks." She said as she also dug in, Reigner smiling at her enthusiasm. How anyone could have it in themselves to hurt such was beyond him. Make her question her very existence? Yep, some people were crazy.