"You want to leave me too" I mutter, my eyes welling up with tears.

I feel his hand on my shoulder,but the burning in my heart won't let me relent.

Am I not ever worth staying for?

The question burns in my soul as the memory of the day she left flashes before my eyes.

" I'll smack you with this cane. Look who you're talking to!" he admonished.

" And once again. You didn't let me finish. I still don't understand how you're a star student at Vistelia high but you don't have the basic skill of -listening"

This makes me snicker.

" I pray to God to reunite us but it's at that moment I realize that my life is not for nothing and that someone needs me."

He puts the picture frame on the bed.

"Someone I made a vow to.That if no one loves him I'll be the one too and that I'll always be here for him. Isn't that what we were called to do? To show the love of God on earth?"

The tears slip past my eyes and I keep my eyes trained on my lap.

" Leonardo. We've got a long life together -you and I. And it's long and sometimes painful but we have the Lord with us and that's what makes all the difference " he grasps my shoulders so I can look at him.

"Now, wipe those tears before I give you a real reason to cry" he teases, making me laugh.

" You should be a therapist, " I joke.

" I know the world would be a better place. I straighten people up with the smack of my cane"

"You'd be in jail after your first session "

"Probably "

We laugh.

Heartily and light. The flames in our chests doused.

When the laughter dies down, we smile at each other.

"This is too much emotion for oneday. We must have been infected by one of the moods from all those women at church "

I laugh, shaking my head at his words.

" After today, we need to binge watch soccer and please for all that is good don't choose a Rom Com for movie night"

I'm about to answer but instead a loud deep growling sound speaks for itself.

Mkhulu pauses, then looks at my stomach. " This, coming from the person who wanted to skip Sunday lunch for some girl"

" It's not some girl and you do know she's one of the guests I invited. The guests who have been patiently waiting for you so they could eat."

Mkhulu narrows his eyes at me, and begins his scolding.

"There are people in the house and you didn't! "- a louder growl-like sound comes from my Grandfather's stomach and it leaves me cackling.

He flushes from the embarrassment, standing up abruptly. " Out of my room. The next time you come into this room like some knight- it'll be you who'll be the damsel in distress" he says, while we walk out the door.

We're in the hallway now, his cane clanking a little louder than necessary and I know it's to intimidate the guests.

Let's just hope Olivia isn't scared of old tall men with black canes and grim humour.

" It surprises me how many threats you give me in one day" I continue, eyeing him up.

He smiles. " What surprises me is no matter what I do. I can't get you to shut up. I don't care what those motivational speakers say-somethings are impossible"

We enter the kitchen, with laughter on our lips but it dies at our throats when our eyes land on the glass dining table.

It's filled with four pure white plates with dished rice, beetroot with mayonnaise on the side as well as the delicious coleslaw salad.

The mash sits at the left part of the plate decorated on the side with a piece of roasted chicken.

Dominique sits at the head of the glass table, he smiles when he meets our gaze.

"Welcome! We'd thought you'd never come out. Honestly I was planning on taking my plate and leaving but that would be rude."

Mkhulu walks towards Dominique and pat's his head like a dog. "Welcome to you too," he says.

Although he isn't smiling, the look of warmth in his eyes lets me know that Mkhulu actually enjoys Dominique's company.

" I have a question?" Mkhulu asks, eyeing everything.

"Yes we can dig in" Dominique answers, hastily.

" Not that " Mkhulu shakes his head, "is this Olivia girl invisible?" he asks, looking genuinely confused.

Dominique pauses, "She's a simple girl but I wouldn't call her invisible"

I chuckle at the misunderstanding. " I don't see her either"

Dominique's green eyes spark. " She had an important call to take. Something about a mother who isn't used to her daughter leaving the house very often -"

" I've talked to my mother!" Olivia cheers, entering the room.

Her smile falters when she finds all of us staring at her.

I think I see her gulp when she looks at my Grandfather, his lips pulled into a thin line, he clanks his cane hard on the ground.

Drama Queen much.

Olivia is still frozen in place as Mkhulu takes slow steps towards her. Once he is in front of her she stretches out her hand. " Hello Mr July. It's nice to meet you. I'm Olivia, Leonardo's -"

her eyes dart to mine for a second. What are we? We're just two kids taking this leap of faith into something that might lead to love but she can't tell my grandfather that.

" -classmate" she finishes. "You have a lovely home"

Normally, Mkhulu would answer but he hasn't said a word. He's still staring at Olivia like he's analyzing her soul.

He nods, and it's a cort nod then he turns around and walks back to the dining table. Olivia's shoulders droop, a sad look in her eyes as she watches him leave. I walk towards her, putting my hand on her shoulder.

She meets my eyes , uncertain.

" Thank you for being here. It's all I want"

Her coffee brown eyes drink me in and it's moments like these where I wish I knew what she was thinking. She smiles, a radiant look on her face.

" Shall we eat?" she says, smiling.

"We shall"

We walk towards the glass table filled with the delicious Sunday lunch.

Olivia sits next to me, Dominique across from me while Mkhulu sits at the head of the table. His eyes flick to the other end of the table where my grandmother used to sit but it flicks back down to the food.

"Let's bow our heads in prayer," Mkhulu announces.

I shut my eyes as Mkhulu prays, Dominique kicks my foot under the table and I kick him back just as hard. I don't know why he plays footsies everytime we are across from each other.

The prayer ends and we all say Amen.

For the next few minutes the spoons and plates do all the talking. Dominique slurps the juice, exaggeratedly because he knows how much it irritates my grandfather. Olivia's eyes dart to my grandfather every now and then but besides that nothing is shared between us.

I'm halfway done with my food when I realize that Mkhulu hasn't touched his mashed potato at all. He eats around and under it like a kid who doesn't want to eat their vegetables.

I lightly kick Dominique underneath the table and he almost chokes on the juice he was slurping.

" Soccer's for the field,Leonardo not the table." Dominique scolds, catching everyone's attention.

Mkhulu raises his brow but says nothing of it. Olivia glances at me then shakes her head and continues eating.

I gesture with my head to Mkhulu's plate and Dominique's eyes glint.

I thought that he understood what I was talking about but instead he says, " Mr July could I have your mash since you clearly think it's disgusting "

Olivia loses her grip on her spoon and her shoulders droop even more. I kick Dominique, underneath the table harder.

He groans, a guttural sound.

"What is wrong with you boy?!" Mkhulu finally asks.

I laugh. " Don't mind Dominique. It must be the exams. It's getting to his head."

Mkhulu nods in dismissal and then he starts lifting his plate so he can give Dominique his mash.

"At least taste it" I finally said.

" I'm not really a fan of mashed potatoes" he says and I know he's lying.

It was just one of his favourite dishes that my grandmother used to cook.

"Just one spoon and if you hate it you can even spit it out" Olivia suggests, shocking all of us.

Mkhulu holds her gaze a little longer until he nods. Then he dips his spoon into the smooth mash. He brings it up to his lips and I swear I see a ghost of a smile as he watches us wait in expectation.

He finally eats the mash.

With a bated breath we all wait.

"So what do you think?" Dominique asks for all of us.

Mkhulu doesn't answer immediately instead he takes another bigger spoonful of the mash. His dark eyes aglow with something.

" I don't understand," he murmurs, looking at nothing in particular.

His eyes finally focus on Olivia." What did you add to make it so... good?"

She smiles sheepishly at the attention.

"Well, I just added milk and a little more butter to make it creamier. Sprinkled a little bit of grated cheese and mashed it till it was smooth"

"Wow" Mkhulu breathes, " It's delicious. Are there any leftovers"

"I ate it all" I confess, earning a glare from my grandfather.

"You must come by one day to teach me how to make it properly."

Olivia's face is aglow with the beautiful smile on her face. " If Leonardo doesn't mind I'll definitely come."

Mkhulu waves his hands in dismissal."Who cares what Leo thinks" he mutters, making Dominique snicker.

Ignoring the comment, I take the last spoonfuls of my dish while a smile plays on my face.

"Anyone want Seconds," Dominique asks, getting up to dish more for people.

" I'll take fourths too!" Mkhulu says, making us laugh.

It's at that moment that everyone loosens up and we all start talking and laughing. Eating the food while sharing stories with each other and lunch has never been so satisfying. Mkhulu looks at Olivia with warmth in his eyes and I can tell she's won him over.

While Dominique tells us the story about how his father fought a bear I find the courage to take hold of Olivia's hand underneath the table.

Her gaze flicks to mine, her blush deepening once I intertwine our fingers underneath the table.

❄️❄️❄️

Like the gentleman I'm trying to be, I offered to walk Olivia home. After dropping Dominique- who admitted to being pregnant with a food baby, we were finally alone.

Our shoulders, brushing. Our eyes meet and then break again.

The sun was soon to set but something else was rising in my heart for her.

"Question 4" she asks, arching her brow.

I smile,not needing to pull out my phone because I've been thinking about what her answer could be the whole day.

"4.What would constitute a "perfect" day for you?" I ask, eager.

I want to tell her that whatever her answer is I'll try my best to make it a reality but I don't. I just listen.

"I'm not sure" she says, biting her bottom lip " Promise not to laugh no matter how cringey it sounds"

Laughter bubbles out of me.

This makes her huff in mock anger. She quickly walks ahead of me and I try to catch up while controlling my laughter.

" I'm sorry. It's just that sometimes when people tell me not to laugh before they say something my body takes that as a cue to start laughing"

She folds her arms, amusement dancing in her eyes.

I gesture with my hands, that I've zipped my mouth and I put the key in my pocket.

She chuckles, walking in step with me.

"You know those days when you wake up with the sun shining on your face through the curtains. Yep. That's how it would start out but this time I'm in a cabin of my own." she sighs wistfully.

" I just love cabins. I'd start the day off with God of course and then I'd cook up a delicious storm in the kitchen while belting out my favourite songs and my mother won't be there to tell me I'm making noise.

I'd spend the day with my best friend Alicia. She's the coolest girl in the world and has made every day a perfect day. You might not know this but.... I didn't always have friends for a period in my life. She's a blessing and I just can't picture my days without her. We'd probably go to some poetry slams or eat out somewhere but as long as she's there with me."

Her face is aglow with the sun's warm rays and If I was an artist I'd capture this moment in time. She'd be my muse.

She pretends to pull something out of my pocket and at first I'm confused until she brings her fingers close to my lips pretending to unzip it.

I gasp for air, pretending that harsh breaths are escaping my mouth and this makes her laugh.

" Oh thank you! I couldn't take the silence! " I joke, making her laugh louder.

My heart swells at the sight.

"Your turn," she tells me.

"You should know. I'm Christian and it's not just a religion for me. It's my saving grace. I used to be in a place in my life where every day was a battle and if I'm being honest I wasn't living, I was just surviving..."

"..."

" As painful as it was. I took everyday one day at a time but now..." the words get caught in my throat.

Her brown eyes meet mine, sincere.

"I'm in a place in my life where I'm enjoying every single day. Don't get me wrong, life is still hard but I've started living again. I've started breathing."

"I'm glad."

"And once again. I'm not saying these words to play with you or flirt in any way but I'm just being honest. Ever since... ever since you came into my life -especially now since we've started actually talking my days have gotten better than I ever thought they could.You're like the surprise God was hiding from me"

Her eyes never leave mine and I hope she gets the heart of what I'm saying. I hope she always gets the heart of it.

"It's a perfect day when you're with me Olivia"

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

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4.What would constitute a "perfect" day for you?"

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