Chapter 2

After a long hectic and stressful day at work it was finally time to head home but before I did, I decided to see my best friend. Her family owns a restaurant that was 10 minutes away from the company so it didn’t matter, as I was still safe. Entering the restaurant, you could smell the aroma of all different types of spices. The aura of the food and the diversity that popped out showed that this is an area of calm and togetherness. Walking in closer to the till to make my order, I instantly heard one of the loudest screams you could ever hear, “Michelle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and at this point I knew what was coming.

Being body slammed isn’t the best way to greet someone but for her family it is, “Ria release, release, please, I legit cannot breathe right now”. After a long thought, she finally released me from her hold and a rush of air pours into my lungs and it felt so amazing. The biggest thought that everyone might have is Ria’s actual name Ria well it’s a short form of it, her actual name is Maria González. Her family is from Colombia however, they moved when she was 11, well travelled around some African countries to find new opportunities and that led them here. I call her Ria because she struggles to pronounce my name, so she decided to call me El and I call her Ria but it’s our secret name in case of trouble.

The minute she finished serving some customers she came by to my table with my tacos, which I was craving for. “so, what has my bestie been up to these past couple of weeks”, honestly, I didn’t know where to begin cause with what’s happening in my life, I doubt it’s getting any better. “Nothing really, you know my main focus being school and work. No time for fun as always”. I know how I am and ever since I was a kid, I never had friends because I was the purest nerd you could ever find, I think. That’s why I’m very close with Ria and her family. I finally know what a sleepover is like and what do at it, even on how to celebrate birthday parties. When my mum heard about the birthday parties she instantly started crying, she knew I was different from other kids even if it took me time to learn about how the universe works, she says that I am special. It’s basically just me and her, you must be wondering where my dad is in this situation, all I can say is that his dead which is a good thing.

“Come on something happened and I can tell by how sudden you’ve taken out your laptop”, she said. Strange thing is that she knows me too well, “Ok fine, back at work the company is going through some crisis which led Mr Hernández to switch everyone’s position”, being stressed wasn’t the best way to explain this. “How is it a bad thing?” she asked and from my response she knew, “he told me to cover this big sports story.” Hearing myself talk about it felt strange, “the story is based on this rookie football striker that goes by the name Nathan”. Getting annoyed as I continued to tell her, “Who the heck is Nathan Kandulu?” All of sudden Ria’s brother Carlos popped out of nowhere, “Did you mention Nathan Kandulu?” nodding my head, “he’s one of the best rookie strikers in the college league ever to exist on this country”. This was the first time I had seen Carlos fanboy, like ever and it was funny. “Everyone wants to be like him, heck even I do too and I wasn’t born here. He’s the entire package that every girl wants”. After Carlos showed me Nathan’s videos and all, I was shocked to see how athletic he is from the movement.

At this point I was in for the biggest task of my life. “Why are you even complaining about Nathan when you are a politics analyst?” he was still surprised as to why I was complaining. “My boss gave me a task that involves m interviewing him and the story can save the company.” After explaining the whole situation, he instantly gave me advice on how the game works the task of a striker and everything sports. He was so worried that I would fall in love with him so quickly and which by the way cannot happen even I know that. If I’m doing work, I’m strictly doing work and I don’t become friends with the people I work with. He wished me luck on the interview, “I can tell that your worried about how it’s going to go”, Ria said, feeling her sense of worry told me her emotions. She knows when I’m doing a big project, I get scared of how it’s going to turn out. Also, it’s because I’ve never spoken to a boy/young man directly and no we are not including her brother because he acts like my big brother to me. “Don’t worry you’ll be fine, besides after the interview I’ll come over and you can tell me all about it”. “I honestly needed that confidence booster. I still have to do more research on him,” I said.

After saying my goodbyes to Ria and her family, I went straight home to continue my research. It suddenly started raining out of nowhere but I was glad that I was by the bus stop when it started. Getting chills made me think it was cause of the cold breeze from the rain, however it wasn’t. The hairs on back stood and that brought fear and I could sense that something was off. I decided to brushed off that feeling out of my mind and kept thinking when I have to meet Nathan. It’s obviously going to be tomorrow as I don’t have any classes. Once the bus arrived, I got on and made my way to the back and made myself invisible from everyone. I kept reading articles on Nathan and got to know that his 2 years older than me and was born and raised in Blantyre. Still shocked by his stats, which made me wonder why everyone’s so focused on him than other rookies. It felt off but I had to find out sooner or later. As the bus came to a stop, I got off and ran straight to my place, which I got to instantly.

Entering my small 2-bedroom apartment was better than usual. It looked exactly how I left it. Good thing was that I already had dinner and was really tired. I told Mr Conor that I would meet Nathan tomorrow. The company had approved of the date and minutes later had confirmed that university were fine with me coming tomorrow. I was planning on leaving at 10am he told me to leave a bit early so that I could interview him before and after practice. It was an hour and half bus ride to the Polytechnic which meant I had wake up very early in the morning. Before heading to bed my mother called me. We talk everyday, it’s just that with what’s happening my brain was so focused on tomorrow’s interview.

As I answered the video call, I could see fear on her face and I was scared. “Mum, are you okay?” I was so scared cause she was the only parent I had after everything. “I’m okay dear don’t worry about me”, she said but me being scared I had to be the bigger person, “Mum don’t feed me with lies because you have bruises all over your face and that’s not normal honestly,” fear arising in me, “Now answer my question are you okay?”. Looking at her break down in tears was the last thing I wanted because it made me cry as well. “The people we owe money came to the house and kept bringing up the whole payment.” Loan sharks are the worst, especially after my dad left us for whoever that woman is. He died months later and left all his problems with my mum and me. Instead of taking his debts with him he left them with us and it hasn’t turned out well for us. “I told them that I didn’t have their money and it led to this.”

As she explained the situation, it reminded me of the struggle we went through. We were broken, my mum struggled and we had nothing. All this took place when I was 6. It was also the reason as to why I’m so focused on my job and school rather than love or anything. “Mum don’t worry I’ll pay them”, I had to say this just to reassure her, “besides I got a big story that I’m covering tomorrow.” Yep, my mom was surprised just like Ria and Shawn, “I’ll explain later, just know that things aren’t so good at work”. I saw her smile when I said all of it, “I’m covering this rookie striker and I have to meet tomorrow”, at this point I start talking so fast that she doesn’t understand me. “Honey, slow down, I know your stressed but slow down when speaking. I’m not young anymore”. This is why I never tell her somethings because she’ll know that I’m scared. Seeing her laugh at me was okay, “I was stressed but seeing you and that you’re now smiling is fine by me”, which brought me comfort and relief. “Well I shouldn’t keep you awake as you have the biggest interview ahead of you,” I couldn’t contain my smile. “Remember to be safe when going that side, you are my only daughter and I can’t afford to lose you”. Hearing those words made me feel brave and confident, “Anyway goodnight and I wish you the best for tomorrow, call me when your back so I can hear how it went”. After the call ended, I went to take a shower and then went straight to bed remembering what my mom told me and I knew I can handle this new challenge.