First Kiss

When I was satisfied dwelling on those words, I went back to take a seat, and as I sat down, Rachel kissed me on the cheek and placed her arms around my shoulders. She then turned away and focused on the conversations they were having at the table.

There was nothing I had done to deserve the kiss on the cheek or the arms around my shoulders. It made me feel special though, but I knew there was something more to it. While I engulfed myself in my thoughts about her, our ordered drink and food arrived, a bottle of Andre wine and 2 plates of chicken and chips. Captain Akindele helped to open the bottle of wine and turned it into the glass for us and took his seat.

He was very kind to have hosted us at his table and after 30 minutes, he left with his friends and family. They had been there since 3 pm and it was getting late. I walked them to the car park and thanked them for having me. Every single one of them hugged me and thanked me especially too for what I has done for one of them. I waved my goodbye and went back to join Rachel at the table.

Rachel and I had little chit-chat about random things while we drank and ate, and after we were done, she stood up and dragged me up too, to walk around, to see the beauty of the environment.

"Why did you kiss me earlier?"

"I have always wanted to do that." She held my hand and interlocked fingers while we walked.

"For how long have you wanted to do that?"

"Since after work when you said I was beautiful."

I let myself enjoy the moment, and held on tightly to her as we walked on to enjoy the beautiful environment, and we went to the car when we got tired of walking around.

"Thank you for taking me out, I enjoyed myself." She dragged me close and kissed me on my lips.

The kiss was so sincere that I felt every bit of it connect with my inner being. I wanted to ask her what the kiss was for, but I unintentionally dragged her close and gave her a kiss of my own.

"Have you been waiting for me to kiss you so you could kiss me back?" asked Rachel, looking so excited.

"No, I don't think so."

The ignition of the car was turned on, and she drove out of City Park, straight to my house to drop me off. It was a little surprising that she chose to drive to my house, rather than the usual junction she drops me at. We got down and she walked me to the door.

"I know you are wondering why I dropped you off at your house, I can see the surprise on your face." She laughed and let herself into the house.

"Yes, I never expected that."

"Well, I want to know where you stay exactly so I could come to visit whenever I want.

"You have a lovely place, how do you manage to pay the rent? I had a friend that stayed in this area and I heard the rent is usually in millions."

"I do my part well. What can I offer you?"

"Don't worry about that, I had enough from where we went to. Now I know where you stay, I'll be going now, before it gets too late. And thank you so much for today." She walked closer and kissed me.

I proceeded to walk her to her car, and she drove off.

My smiles were broader than the last year put together, I went in, lay on my bed and thought of every good moment we've had together. She seemed to be the perfect girl for me and I was so convinced that nothing would make us not work.

The flow between us seemed to have been something made in heaven, signed and sealed by God. I was so unbothered about how things happened, I was happy with how they happened. I kept a picture of her in my head that I never let go of until I fell asleep.

It was so early in the morning when I woke up, I was so eager to see Rachel again. I got up, had my bath and got dressed. I was at work so early that my other colleagues were shocked to see I came to work before them, considering I'm usually the latecomer.

"Hello, Rachel. Where are you?“ I called Rachel's number after an hour into work.

She wasn't at work yet, and I was worried. I wanted to know what was up with her.

"Good morning, John. I am home. I woke up with a serious headache, so I called in sick."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I woke up with no memory of what happened last night, I think I drank more than I should."

"What do you mean you have no memory of what happened last night?"

There was this feeling of frustration inside of me, I felt we had something from last night and all of a sudden she couldn't remember because she felt she had drunk more than she could handle. I was certainly not in the mood to tell her that we kissed the previous night, it would have been inappropriate to tell her all that.

"I usually blank out when I take plenty of alcohol. I hope I didn't embarrass myself yesterday?"

"You did not embarrass yourself. Nothing much happened yesterday. I hope you get better though."

I ended the call and focused on my work, I was sad and unproductive throughout work. The atmosphere changed for me and there was no smiling from me towards anyone, especially towards the customers. That was how I was until the close of work.

Rachel: I felt your mood change when I told you I could not remember what happened last night.

Rachel sent a text message and I had no idea what to reply, I ignored the message, but she sent another one.

Rachel: Mommy's boy, I was only pulling your legs. I knew we kissed a couple of times last night, I remember everything.

Me: Then why act like you couldn't remember and why did you not come to work?

Rachel: I wanted to know how you'd feel, and I got the reaction I wanted.

Rachel: I took a day off today to sort out important things. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier.

Me: Did you succeed in sorting out the things?

Rachel: Yes, I did. And also, about our kiss, it is just a friendly kiss. Please, don't read too much into it.

"Just a friendly kiss and we kissed twice, for a long period," I thought to myself.

Me: No problem, I'll stop reading things into it.