How we met.

Dear God

Remember the first time you let our paths cross?It feels like yesterday when I met him, It never crossed my mind that, that little meeting we had would turn out to be something like this. But if I were to be honest, I wish that on that day I had parked the right way and we didn't meet or have to cross paths.

Flashback

I was thirty-five minutes late and somehow the universe decided that today there would be barely anywhere to park. As I drove past endless rows of cars in hopes I would find a parking space my phone pinged again and again. Only one person would be sending me countless texts at this moment, as I scanned my surroundings my eyes squinted as if I would see any better than I am, and I saw an unoccupied parking space. But it seemed like I wasn't the only one eyeing that space as a black Sedan right opposite me seemed to have noticed it too. I quickly accelerated towards the parking space and tried to logically calculate how I would swiftly park without needing to readjust. I could feel the tension reaching my knuckles as I clenched my steering wheel, it felt as if I was Dominic from Fast and Furious competing in a life-threatening race. With sheer luck and skills I got the parking space quickly, I didn't even spare a second to check my parking position or celebrate my win. Quickly grabbing my purse and phone I made my way to the restaurant. As I entered the restaurant the heavy smell of cinnamon and caramel hit my nostrils causing my stomach to grumble, a reminder of how I had spent my day overworking myself without taking a break for a quick meal. The restaurant buzzed with noise and laughter, indicating how everyone had gotten comfortable with each other and the dimmed lights and slow jazz made it feel cosy and comfortable.

I quickly surveyed the restaurant to look for the person who kept blowing up my phone with messages, there she was on her cellphone typing furiously. Her forehead was creased and an awful frown was plastered on her face. Whatever text messages she sent me were probably death threats. Everyone was so preoccupied with testing the products and taking photos to even notice my presence, not that I made an effort even to make my presence acknowledged, either way, it was a good thing because I was not in the mood to fake a smile and strike a forced conversation with someone I barely even knew.

"Just so you know I do love you with all my heart and soul," I said apologetically as I sat beside her.

"No, you don't."

"I do, if I didn't love you do you think I would allow you to force me to attend this boring event."

Disbelief washed her face as she processed what I just said but after some time she rolled her eyes with a slight smile she was trying to hide. Her events were anything but boring, the people were chilled and they always had a vibrant cool energy whenever they attended.

"Well if you truly loved me you wouldn't have worn those ugly-looking socks."

Did she just call my socks ugly?

The same socks I bought as my first gift to myself after I had my first salary, the same socks she practically begged me to borrow when she was freezing because she decided that wearing summer sandals in winter was the most logical thing to do. The same socks that shielded her and warmed her up are the same socks she is calling ugly today.

"I am not offended."

"You shouldn't the only thing that should be offended are those socks of yours," she said scoffing at me as she tried to suppress her laughter, which of course she failed at doing.

"Can you leave my socks alone," I said, crossing my arms as I tried to act offended and angry.

Yamkelani Ngxabi

The girl who was practically my sister. We had been best friends for nineteen years, we were two peas in a pod and it felt like we were supposed to be twins and not just bestfriends.One time in high school our new Literature teacher said Yami and I had similar features which made us seem alike, of course we laughed it off but the idea stayed in both our minds. We started circulating that maybe we were twins who were separated at birth or maybe half sisters and one of our parents had done something wrong, but it never went further than that because it was a fun ridiculous theory that wasn't true…maybe in this universe.

The event was over. As the sun was setting it created an ombre of pink, orange and blue in the sky and the mild wind made the environment seem like a scene from a movie. I wrapped my arm around Yami's shoulders pulling her closer to me, i loved it when we snuggled close to each other, it assured me that Yami was real and she was right next to me, my cute teddy bear that I loved so much I could cry just by the thought of it.

"Yami, how do you get such rich clients? Like literally every event you set up you always manage to sell all your products and your products are not on the affordable side."

"I make them feel like royalty and show them how my products fit their lifestyle perfectly—luxury loves confidence, and I sell both with a smile."

"Mmh, confidence. One thing God blessed you with in abundance."

"And beauty darling, don't leave it out," she said as she pouted and winked, causing me to roll my eyes. She was indeed a beauty to the eye, beautiful to look at and appreciate whenever you wanted to busy your eyes.

As we approached the parking lot, my steps slowed. Yami slowed down too as she could sense the tension that had suddenly enveloped me. My eyes were fixated on the man who was casually leaning on my car as he was busy on his phone. His tailored suit and polished shoes screamed expensive plus the relaxed posture made it seem like he was leaning on a car that belonged to him.

"Excuse me, sir," I said in a soft but loud voice, my attempt at being polite but stern, he raised his head and looked at me with confusion laced on his face. As soon as he noticed where my eyes were lingering on he stood straight and slowly approached us, as he was approaching his eyes scanned me from head to toe, like he was trying to memorise my features but his eyebrow arched as his eyes stayed at my feet a little longer than anticipated. That caused me to shift my weight around trying to get him off of my feet and the thing he was staring at.

"Bold." He murmured as if it wasn't meant to be heard by either of us.

"Excuse me?" I was taken aback by the sudden comment.

"Oh sorry, I just meant that your socks are quite bold if I might say," he said with a smug expression. I could see Yami trying to suppress her laughter, "How may I help you?" I said trying to avoid the comment he made about my socks.

"Oh I wanted to see for myself the person who decided to grace us with their parking skills," he said pointing to my car which was parked in a crooked manner. I felt the heat reaching my cheeks in embarrassment, "I am so sorry," I said looking at him apologetically. "No pressure, with those kinds of socks I can see why your parking is kind of funny," he said with a straight face but the corner of his lips slightly raised. On the other hand, my friend just had to find his joke funny, adding to my frustration and embarrassment. " My socks are not the problem, I know how to park."

"I mean why would we blame the socks, the one who chose them is the problem."

"Do you have a problem with me? Because my socks are none of your concern," I said, staring at him sharply but instead, he gave me a smug expression and chuckled a little bit before he raised his hands in surrender. " My bad, now I would love to stay and tickle your friends giggling nerves but I have somewhere to be so pumpkin do you mind moving your car as you can see it's kinda blocking my car."

Pumpkin? Was he referring to me by that–name? It was cute but I couldn't find it cute because I didn't know this man. My heart liked it but I brushed it off, the heart was a fool that fell for everything easily. It reminded me of the time in high school when I had a crush on a boy who had just randomly started calling me Khwishi. I thought it was cute until one day his friend explained to me the meaning behind the name and I never hated a high school boy more than him , till now I did to the point that I declined his request to become friends on facebook.I didn't know if the man in front of me was making fun of me or not but i think he was because he made fun of my socks! I moved my car, muttering under my breath, and resisted the urge to flip him off as he walked past.

"You handled that well," Yami said, still giggling as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Don't," I warned.

"I mean, he's got a point. Bold socks for a bold parker."

"Yami."

The car's engine purred as he backed out of his spot, but he didn't leave right away. Instead, he paused, his gaze lingering on us through the window for just a second too long.

"What's his deal?" I asked Yami.

"Who knows?' she said, shrugging. "Rich people are weird."

But as his taillights disappeared down the road, I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the last I'd see of him.

And I knew he also felt that..