Christine Onyinye Nwafor

"Nedum, will you hurry up!" I yell at her through the door as I go about the room making sure that we have everything we need.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

The day of the Trade Fair has finally arrived and there was a certain buzz of excitement in the air of the school. For the past week, all people have been able to talk about is the event. What they are selling, what they would like to see, what they want to buy and all that are some of the inclusives in those conversations.

Although initially I wasn't all that stoked, as the days went by and I prepared more and more skincare products upon Chinedum's insistence, I became excited too.

We had paid people earlier to help us fix up our tent this morning and after a quick drive to the main grounds to check if it was being done properly, we came back to get ready.

But for some reason Nedum has been locked up in the bathroom for the past ten minutes which is just bad timing because we need to be heading there soon otherwise we'll be late. I look at my wrist watch which says the time is 3:35 before letting out a small sigh.

The sound of a sharp knock on the door cuts through the silence and I already know who is there so I say, "Come in."

The door is opened to reveal Micheal walk in, followed behind by Remi. I find myself pausing in my action to take in his tall, muscular form in an 'Anti Social Club' tshirt, but this time black, paired with hot pink shorts and Nike Air Force sneakers on his feet. His beards have been shapened and he looks like he recently got a hair cut as well which just makes him all the more attractive to me.

"Hey, guys. Right on time." I say.

When he sends me a smile, I feel my stomach clench as I return it. In an effort to not seem awkward, because I know for sure that I have been staring at him for a moment too long, I turn back to what I'm doing which is folding Nedum's clothes from her recently released men's line into a box.

Micheal returns my greeting as he moves further into the room and settles into Tracy's bed because as usual, she's not around. Meanwhile, Remi comes to my side and looks down at what I'm doing.

"Need any help with that?" He asks but I shake my head in response.

"No, thank you. But can you help me take that other box down to your car?" I ask and he nods, immediately moving to do just that. "Careful, please."

"I got it, ma'am." He sends me a teasing smile before exiting the room.

"Where's Nedum?" Micheal asks, finally looking up from his phone.

I open my mouth to respond but the door to the bathroom busts open and Nedum walks out. "Okay, let's get this show on the road!" She rushes out causing me to raise a brow as I watch her rushing to get her stuff together.

Shaking my head with a small smile, we quickly get everything downstairs before leaving the hostel. By the time we get to the area on the school grounds where the Fair is being held, the place is filled with people. Some setting up, and others just walking around since the event officially begins at 4pm.

We quickly go to our assigned space where a tent had been erected for us with all the goods we want to sell. Nedum goes about setting up her detachable rack and hanging up some clothes while head back to the car to get the other things with Remi by my side.

"You nervous?" He asks me as I'm pulling out a basket.

"Not really. I'm actually kind of excited." I tell him.

He chuckles. "I know how much effort you put into this, hell you turned down hanging out with me just to prepare." He says with a hand on his chest as if he's wounded and I giggle slightly.

He's right though. Between school, homework, and making bottles upon bottles of products, I did take a rain check a couple of times when he asked me to hang out.

"You're not over that?" I joke. "Wow, never knew you were such a big baby."

Remi shakes his head, chuckling softly as he mutters. "Just for you."

I almost think I heard double but not giving me a chance to dwell on it, he picks something up and motions for us to get going.

We head back to the tent and join the others to continue setting up. As we are doing that, Kemi walks by with a food cooler in her hand. "Hey guys!" She greets, stopping at our tent when she sees us. We all reply.

"Kems Kems." Micheal hypes when she drops the cooler on our table to talk. I look up at him in with a tight smile to hide the fact that I want to laugh because before he even says it, I know what he wants. And the Kemi is will never answer him.

Kemi raises a hand up at him with a mocking look. "Look at this one o. I'm not giving you anything. No be only Kems, na Tems." She rebuttals, kissing her teeth.

We all burst into laughter as Micheal face take on a crestfallen look and he goes back to what he was doing, grumbling under his breath.

"But what is in there though?" Nedum asks.

"Food oh, my dear." Kemi releases a sigh. "Food that I'm not the one eating." She says before opening the cooler for us to see the several packs of black plastic, take-away plates inside with transparent covers. The sweet aroma immediately has me salivating and it's even worse that I haven't eaten since.

She closes it back and says, "If you guys want some, just stop by my tent. It's right about that corner." She shows us where she's talking about with hand gestures.

"No freebies?" Remi asks and she shakes her head in response. "But I'm your brother."

"And so what? As my brother you're entitled to pay just like everyone else, in fact you should even pay more sef." Kemi sasses before walking away again.

We go back to what we were doing and when we are done, it's starting so the boys take a seat while Nedum and I try to attract customers. I had never really interacted with other students of this school until now and a few hours in, I'm glad to discover that they are not all bitches like Regina and her crew.

We had just finished making a sale when Remi and Micheal stand up to go get food and drinks for us which I'm grateful for cause I'm so famished I could just faint.

When they leave, it's quiet for a bit before Nedum turns to me with a devious grin. "Remi must really like you." She observes.

I duck my head a bit at the suddenness of this comment before asking, "why do you think so?"

"It's so obvious, guy." She laughs. "The Remi I know won't even be out here at fucking Trade Fair. Someone that'd rather be in his room playing call of duty or studying because I'm sure you've noticed, he's a bit of an introvert sometimes. But instead of doing any of that, he's here. With you." She adds.

I don't reply but her words make me think and I realize that she's right. When I mentioned the Trade Fair to him for the first time a while ago, although he didn't say it, I got the vibe that he had zero plans to come but he said he would and he did.

Suddenly a foreign feeling swirls in me and I find my face heating up a bit, a silly smile coming to my face. I won't deny that I am feeling him too. I mean what's there not to like about him?

Knowing it's not the time or the place to get into such thoughts, I shake them off and focus. Two guys come by and they are about to walk past before Nedum clears her throat and asks loudly, "So, David, you didn't see me, ehn?"

One of the guys, the shorter one (or maybe he's not so short but compared to the other one who looked to be over six feet, he looked short) turned to us and with a wide grin he walked over.

"Nedum baby." He greets and at the cheesy smile Nedum gives him, I raise my brows. What's going on here? "I'm so sorry, didn't see you there. You know I wouldn't have walked away without saying hi."

Nedum hums sarcastically before saying, "As my friend, you have to patronize me." She jokes, and with a chuckle, the guy pulls out his wallet.

I look up at the other light skinned guy, and I say look up because he's really freaking tall. Going by his toned legs which are visible in his black shorts, I presume he plays basketball.

"When are you going to let me take you out?" David asks, making her release a mocking laughter and making me divert my attention back to them.

"In your dreams."

"Oh well, in that case, I guess I'm gonna be sleeping like a baby tonight." David says with a cocky smile before turning to me. "Or maybe I'll take your beautiful friend out instead. What your name, pretty?" He asks with a grin.

I grimace as I stare at him. "None of your business."

The one next to him raises an eyebrow, a faint smile on his face.

"Well nice to meet you, I'm David. Wanna go out sometime?" He asks. His body language screams 'flirt' and his tone sounds like something he has used to get many girls in the past which just makes me cringe internally.

"No, thank you. I'd rather watch paint dry." I smack my lips as Nedum and the other guy laughs. David looks at me in shock, he definitely didn't expect that. Apart from the fact that I had no interest whatsoever in him, I'm not that easy.

"Well, that's too bad. I would've treated you like a queen." He says, recovering and sending me a smirk. He turns to Nedum and they talk briefly.

"You're a funny one, aren't you?" The other guy asks, mirth swimming in his eyes. He stretches his hand and we shake. "The name's Jeffery, but my friends call me Jeff."

I nod "I'm Christine." I say before I find myself blurting out, "Do you play basketball?" I ask. "I'm sorry it's just, you're really tall."

He smiles. "I get that a lot, and yeah I do. I'm on the school's team. You should come watch me sometime."

I give him a wide grin in return because I actually do enjoy the sport. It's something my father and I watched lot of back home, I just never knew that this school has a basketball team.

"I'd love to." I tell him and after we exchange numbers, the guys walk off. Soon after Remi and Micheal return with refreshments.

By 8 pm prompt, the event comes to an end and everyone begins packing up and loading up. In about fifteen minutes, we are done hauling everything to the car. Remi stops at Nedum's hostel first and we help take up her stuff before leaving she and Micheal to themself.

Then, we begin the drive to my hostel. Remi helps me carry my stuff up to my room which is empty, and I follow him back down to bid him goodnight. Before he can get in the car, he turns around and asks, "Wanna go for a drive?"

My eyes briefly roam his taut muscles where he stands, hands in his pocket and rocking on the back of his feet. Licking my lips, I reply, "Sure, let me just take a quick shower first."

He nods. "I'm gonna go do the same. See you in 20?" He asks and I nod. Sending me a smile, he gets into his car and leaves.

I hurry up to my room and take a shower shower. I feel a certain calmness come over me as I reflect on the day and I'm happy it all went smoothly as I was able to make a lot of money today. And then, I send a quick prayer up above that tomorrow has the same outcome.

Getting out, I dress in casual wear and arrange my braids which I think is ready to be taken out, before hurrying down since I took thirty minutes instead of twenty.

Remi is pulling up when I come out so I hop in the car and he drives away.

"Something smells nice in here." Is the first thing I say when I inhale deeply and the aroma of food wafts the air.

He chuckles before touching the console. "That'll be this."

He turns on the light right above the console and I look at a black nylon before opening it to reveal my one true love. "Suya!"

This time his laughter is louder and soon I join him. "Keep bringing me food and I just might fall in love with you." I say jokingly without realizing the words coming out of my mouth.

"That's the plan." Remi muses.

Acting like I didn't hear him, my face heated up badly, I pick up a toothpick and stuff my mouth with suya to avoid saying anymore nonsense.

Thankfully, it's not awkward after that. Remi keeps driving and we both eat the suya with me feeding it to him sometimes upon his request. The car is filled with the soothing sound of Drake's voice as Passionfruit plays over the speaker.

"So tell me," I begin. "Where do you see yourself in the next five years?"

"Hmm." Remi hums in thought. "Successful." Is his first reply causing me to roll my eyes as we share a laugh. "Financially comfortable. Running my father's company. And spending all the money I make on the woman I love."

Intrigued, I ask, "The woman you love?"

"My wife." He clarifies.

"You want to be married by 27?" I ask in mild surprise because most guys still want to be out wilding and 'enjoying their life' by that age and then settle down by like 30, if not older.

"I do. I'm a one woman man, I'm don't plan on living the playboy life by that age, you feel me? I've been there, done that, and I guess now I know that life is not really what I want in the long run." He explains and nod, looking up at him in admiration. "What about you?"

"Well, I want to be financially stable, definitely. With a good job, or even my own business. I want to give my parents all that they want and need, I want them to be comfortable. My sister as well. I also want to be able to help underprivileged people, people who don't come from much and may not have anyone to help them go to wherever they wanna go in life. And yeah, I want to be in love. In five years, I'll be twenty five and if God wills it, I want to be married to the love of my life by then too." I divulge.

"See? We have similar plans." Remi says making me laugh softly.

"We do." I agree, my mind wondering, does this mean anything? Should it?

"Yours is way more noble than mine though." Remi says, making me look up at him. He stares at me briefly, a mix admiration, intrigue and tenderness laced into one look glinting in his eyes, but he soon turns away, diverting his gaze back to the road. Meanwhile I'm floored by his eyes alone.

We talk a bit more and before I know it, we are back to my hostel. My body becomes sluggish suddenly, cause I don't want to get out of the car. I don't want to get out of this bubble we seem to have created in the confinement of his vehicle where we connect on another level. I don't want to leave him.

The feeling is foreign as I've never been so attracted or interested in a guy before. Yes, I've had a boyfriend, but in my opinion it was never anything serious. It always seemed to me like my heart was subconsciously saving itself for someone, or protecting itself from heartbreak, I'm not sure which.

But what I do know is, whatever I feel for Remi is something I'm willing to explore and delve deeper into.

I stare up at him as he does the same to me and almost as if we are being pulled together by an unseen magnetic force, our heads come together and soon I can feel the soft pillow of his lips on mine. The kiss is slow, tentative, as the feeling is foreign. But I enjoy it regardless.

All too soon, it comes to an end and we pull away from each other slightly, our heads still bowed together and our lips close. "What are you doing to me?" Remi mutters lowly under his breath but loud enough that I hear it.

I'm quiet as he kisses me again, this time it's short and we fully pull away from each other afterwards.

"Goodnight." Remi whispers and my hand goes to the door handle of the car as I'm about to leave.

"Goodnight."

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Their first kiss!! I'm so excited!

This chapter was long overdue and I hope it was worth the wait?

Do you think that this kiss they shared will affect the dynamic of their relationship now?

Also, what do you think about the new character Jeff? He's going to play a vital role going forward.

Please don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts. And FOLLOW ME to be informed when I update because these days wattpad doesn't always notify when a book is updated.

Till next time, stay safe!