One Day At A Time

“Wait.. Donald met David leaving your apartment?! Omg… He must have flipped” Berenice drags her words in disbelief.

It’s a Monday, the beginning of another work week and back to business as usual at the fashion house.

We have just finished a meeting and Berenice had stayed back to chat with me, fill in on gossip from the weekend.

I shrug slightly, looking up from my laptop screen,

“It was the weirdest thing ever, I had no idea what to do” I reply,

“What did David do?”

I close my laptop screen shut, giving her my full attention.

“We kinda had had a conversation earlier about Donald”

“Hmmm” She breathes,

“Not in so many words but I told him I was involved with someone prior to meeting him”

“Hmmm”

“It’s the craziest situation ever”

“Listen.. I am going to need a few tricks off your playbook” She teases,

I laugh out loud,

“Donald doesn’t seem to care in the least that David exists, he seems to be taking it all in stride”

“He is being patient with you”

“I had the most amazing time with David over the weekend tho” I reply, dreamily.

“He seems to really like you” she offers,

“I like him too” I reply,

We are both silent for a while, and like an afterthought,

“Omg I almost forgot, how does he know Clara?”

“Clara?” I echo in disbelief,

 I can feel color drain from my cheeks,

“I saw them talking at the showcase”

I lean back in my seat, completely taken aback by her words.

“When?” I manage to find my voice.

“Uhm.. I can’t say for sure. I was looking for you everywhere I thought he would know where you could be and there he was chatting to Clara. Of course, they broke off the conversation when I approached them”

“I see”

 My heart beat literally doing back flips.

“It’s probably nothing. Small talk maybe. See, there was no need for you to get all riled up about Clara being at your showcase to start with. She was on her best behavior” She finishes.

I pause, contemplating if to tell her about my run in with Clara, I decide to keep it to myself.

“Yea. Probably just small talk” I mumble, my thoughts running wild.

David?! Clara?!

“You are buzzing right now. Our numbers are doing great, online orders are through the roof. Not bad at all”

She says to my fiddling with her phone, changing the subject of our conversation.

I smile absentmindedly, my thoughts racing

“See why we need to get the blogs involved more often” She adds,

“I love that it’s great for the jewelry but I am kinda tired of being the topic of conversation. Having strangers speculate on my personal business is no fun Berenice”

“Ah. I know,” She says, rolling her eyes slightly, “Why do you have to dwell on the negative? They are just rumors, Nothing more. You and I know that”

“Doesn’t make it any less hard to deal with” I reply, sighing a lil, my thoughts going back to Clara and David.

How do they know each other?

“I have to go. Work is calling” Berenice says to me, glancing at her wristwatch, standing up from her seat.

She straightens her skirt, coming over to blow me air kisses.

“Me too. I need to get started on my ‘Thank You’ notes” I reply,

She smiles softly at me,

“See you tomorrow for press tours”

“Uhh. Don’t remind me.”

“I promise we are talking only about the jewelry. Nothing more” She re assures me, laughing, heading for the door.

“Thank You Berenice” I call out,

“You welcome honey” She replies swaying nicely out of my office.

I watch her leave. My face crumbling in a frown. My thoughts running wild. I try to steady my breathing, my heart pounding in my chest, the temperature in the room dropping slightly, making me break into a small slight shiver.

David? Clara? How do they know each other?!

* * * * * *

“I know we agreed that whenever you are ready” David begins, refilling our wine glasses. He smiles slowly at me as if to reassure me, “but you can’t help but admit that this morning was a tad bit awkward” He finishes, looking pointedly at me.

I look away from him, squeezing my face into a small frown.

All day, I had hoped he wouldn’t bring up Donald showing up at my apartment unexpected this morning.

“I know” I say softly, bringing my wineglass to my lips

It had been an amazing late brunch, followed by an equally amazing time at the movies, now we are sitting sea side, sharing a bottle of wine, listening to the waves play a sweet harmony, watching the sun set in a distance.

Why did he have to spoil it with talk of Donald?

“You said he is no one important but…”

“What do you want to know?” I hear myself say, interrupting him.

“Is he the married lover?” He asks softly,

“Yes”

“What happened to you guys?”

I sigh softly, shifting uncomfortably in my seat,

“Why does it matter?”

“I need to know what I am getting into. Is there still something there?”

“No.. uhm.. To be honest, I don’t know”

He nods softly, leaning back in his seat.

“What’s going on Jules?”

“I thought we agreed to talk about this when I am ready”

He sighs softly, sitting up in his seat again,

“I want to know what you want”

“I don’t know what I want”

“At some point, you are going to have to know”

“I wasn’t planning on any of this happening. I am just starting to get to know you and I know I like you a lot but other than that, I don’t know”

He pauses briefly, Maybe contemplating my words,

“I like you too and I really want this to work. I don’t want to be used as a coping mechanism”

“I would never do that” I reply, reaching out to touch his arm lightly.

He takes my hands in his, kneading them softly. I look up in his eyes, held spell bound by the gentleness in em.

“I hope so” He mutters,

“Let’s take this one day at a time, shall we?” I breathe, leaning in to kiss him softly on the lips, He pulls me into his arms, kissing me full on the lips.

“As you wish” He replies, pulling away gently, settling back in his seat again, watching me closely.

“Thank you” I whisper,

“You will take it easy with me, won’t you?”

He smiles slowly at me,

“Take it easy with you?”

“Yea.. Whatever you do, don’t break my heart” He shrugs slightly, picking up his wineglass again, bringing it to his lips.

Sigh,

Let’s say a quick prayer now, shall we?

©️ Unwana Udo-osoh