JAMES' POV

My poor village didn't have many things to brag about in terms of infrastructure except for one thing, the church. It was a huge brick building built in the colonial era by my father and others when they were still boys. It was a magnificent sight with colored windows, a high ceiling, tiled floors that had chipped in some places and benches that were a little worn out. Okay so it wasn't state of the art but it held so much history in its old age and yet it still stood firm.

It had acted as a refuge when our village once got flooded, a makeshift clinic when the dispensary couldn't take any more patients during a malaria break out, we had lost so many that year. It was also a place of happiness like baptisms and weddings. It was a place of hope for us believers that we had a God who saw our sufferings and heard our cries. It seems like he had finally delivered after so many years, a savior, going by the name Lulu with the smile of a rising sun and the beauty of a goddess.

Lulu was standing at the front of the church dressed in a off shoulder maxi dress with minimum make up. Her hair had been trimmed and was curled up over her face in dark locks and short on the side. She clearly didn't like her hair long and it suited her being short. I didn't realize just how much I had missed her seeing as we hadn't crossed paths the past two days. She had been busy with her crew and I had back to back calls. Work was necessary but I had wanted to see her nonetheless.

I knew I had her number but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to text her. I don't know what I was waiting for. I had almost passed by the resort the previous night to go see here but I stopped myself when information reached me about her being in for the church service. I never missed church seeing as I was raised by a devout Christian mom and having faith in God gave me purpose.

There were a lot more people in attendance other than the usual church goers and it was nice to see that that people had responded well to her call. There were so many people that some of them even had to stay outside as the church was filled. They definitely came for the free food and water but it was still nice that they were there.

I watched and listened entranced just like everyone else in the church as she spoke about everything she was going to be doing. She didn't go into great detail but she said enough that had us all in awe of her. She introduced us to her fellow co-workers, mostly the lead engineers she would be working with and the foremen.

"I know it's going to be an adjustment and the progress might not be as fast as you want it to be but please be patient. It will all be worth it in the end."She requested with a kind smile and once again I was a goner.

I felt Ruth who was seated next to me nudge me in the ribs and I turned my attention to her.

"It's a surprise she doesn't have smoke coming out if her ears considering the smoldering looks you've been giving her ever since she stepped up there."Ruth teased in low tones so that only I could hear.

"Ha ha, nice word play there."I mocked with an eye roll.

"But seriously I know she's amazing and all, having personally met her but I have never seen you this hooked on someone."She continued.

I smiled sparing a glance at Lulu who was answering a few questions from the audience.

Our eyes met for a few seconds and she smiled, a smile that I knew was meant just for me. I smiled back before Ruth jabbed at my ribs again, harder this time.

"What?"I hissed at her.

"Don't hiss at my wife."Mark scolded who was on the other side of Ruth.

"Stay out of this."Ruth demanded pointedly at him.

"But I was defending you."He whined but she just ignored me focusing her attention on me.

Mark huffed feeling left out so he just focused his gaze forward to what Lulu was saying. Lucky him, I was missing her speech due to the interrogation from his darling fiance.

"You really like her don't you?"Ruth asked and I smiled.

Of course I liked her but Ruth didn't need to know that, she was just as meddlesome as my mother. Put the two together and Lulu and I would be married by sunset if they knew I liked her.

"I don't know, it's too soon to tell."I brushed her off hoping to get her off by back but it clearly didn't work.

"What do you mean it's too soon? It only takes ten seconds to like someone and its your choice to pursue that or let it go."She argued.

"Oh yeah then why did it take you ten years to finally agree to go out with Mark."I counter attacked and her eye widened when she knew she had been caught.

"I-I wanted to make him work for it."She lamely excused stuttering a little and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh please."I scoffed.

"Why did it take you ten years?"Mark who apparently had been listening to us asked.

It got them into a mini hushed argument that I took full advantage of since it took her focus off me. I knew the conversation wasn't over yet but I was happy to get her off my case even if it was just for a little while.

Lulu finished her speech and she and the rest of her team took their seats in the front pews together with my parents. We were seated in the middle since Mark had decided to change his shirt there times thus making us late. The worst part is that he actually ended up wearing his first choice.

Lulu was sitting next to the guy she had introduced to us as Rashid and they were laughing quietly amongst themselves. I could only see the side of her face but she looked really happy. I wanted to be the one making her laugh like that but I couldn't even get the courage to give her a simple phone call or just text. A feeling I was rarely familiar with settled over my heart and I didn't like it. Jealousy. I was jealous of Rashid and I didn't even know him and what their relationship was besides professional.

I knew that Lulu was single, she didn't look like the kind of person to lie about something like that or anything for that matter. She was so beautiful without even trying, so it was no wonder that she would always have suitors. I decided to just concentrate on the mass and ask God to forgive me for being jealous and to give me the courage to make the moves on Lulu without fear of rejection.

After the service everyone was asked to make orderly queues infront of the trucks parked in the church compound so that they could receive their food. There even had trucks of clean water for those who had brought their Jerry cans. People had come from neighboring villages too and I was afraid the relief food wouldn't even be enough but Lulu didn't look worried.

"We should offer our help."Ruth suggested as we stood at the front of the church watching everything going on.

"They have it handled."I brushed her off allowing the fear in me to talk to Lulu speak for me.

"You do you but I'm going to help."Ruth declared and she was off before we could stop her.

"I'm feeling helpful, you should come along."Mark said before trailing after his fiance.

Feeling frustrated that my friends had ditched me I followed after them conjuring all the courage cells in my body. When I got to them they were talking to Lulu who was busy cutting open a box of sanitary pads. She smiled up at me when she saw me and I almost swallowed my own tongue. What was it with me being all jittery around her? I'd never had any problems talking to women before but at the moment its like I couldn't say one word to her without making a fool out of myself. The last night we were together I was calm and confident, okay not to an extreme extent but I could talk to her properly. What had changed within those two days? Maybe it was the fact that my feelings for her had grown exponentially.

"Hi James, haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"She asked stopping her work to address us.

"Good."I replied shortly and both my friends looked at me weird. Lulu's brows furrowed in confusion but she didn't say anything.

Yeah I know, I have a problem with me too.

To save face from my awkward self I decided to ask what had brought us to her in the first place.

"Need any help?"

"Umh sure, you and.... Sorry I didn't catch your name."She trailed off addressing Mark.

"I'm sorry for my terrible manners. My name is Mark, this fools bestfriend and the fiance to miss pretty over here."He introduced.

Ruth and I both frowned at him wondering why he had to introduce himself like that.

"It's nice to meet you Mark, Ruth is quite a catch."Lulu replied kindly.

"I know it's why I'm marrying her before she's snatched away."He declared wrapping his arm over Ruth's shoulder and pulling her to his side.

"Congratulations to you Mark and Ruth, good luck."Lulu said sending a subtle wink in Ruth's direction.

"Thank you."Ruth said letting out a fake sob and wiping off an imaginary tear.

"Thank you.... Hey what's that supposed to me."Mark lamented.

"Nothing Mark, anyway as I was saying, you and James can help in manning one of the water trucks and Ruth can help me out here."She replied and we all nodded.

Mark and I trudged to one of the trucks where a long line of people had already assembled in front of. It took us a few minutes to figure out how it all worked, both of us too prideful to ask for help. We managed it though and we soon had two water pipes connected to the valves and started pouring out the water. Everyone was orderly and didn't push each other around so it was easy to serve them.

I spared a glance at Lulu once in a while and she seemed to be getting along well Ruth. I wished I was that comfortable talking to her. I seriously needed to get over whatever block I had in my mind when it came to her before I blew my chances. Lulu was perfect and any man would be lucky to have her. I wanted to be that man which meant I needed to pull my big boy pants on. She would not be around forever and I needed to start paving my way into her heart before I lost my chance.

"What do you think they are talking about?"Mark asked pointing at the girls with his chin.

"Why don't you go there and find out?"I replied with a grunt.

"No need to be so prissy it was just a question."

I exhaled audibly my face scrunched up in confusion. What was happening to me?

"I'm sorry man, I just have a lot stuff on my mind."I apologized.

"Is the name of that stuff Lulu by any chance?"Mark asked with a smirk and since I was not doing myself any good I decided to be just honest. Maybe he could help me out.

"Yeah it's her, I mean I like her and I think she likes me too but whenever I'm around her I fumble over my words, I can't think straight and my heart is always beating so fast I'm afraid she can hear it."I confessed.

"Wow you have it bad."Mark sympathized but didn't say anything else.

I looked at him expectantly but he didn't offer anything else.

"Really that's all you have to say."I asked hoping he'd help me out.

"What do you want me to say man? Lulu seems amazing and if you can't man up enough to actually tell her how you feel then maybe you don't deserve her."He expounded shocking me.

I was definitely not expecting that to come from my best friend. He should have been supporting me and giving me the words of encouragement that I needed but instead he just put a damper on things. For someone who was always joking around his statement had hit home to my deepest insecurities.

"I'm sorry man I know that's not what you wanted to here but it's the truth. And besides...." I cut him off before he could continue driving the knife deeper into my chest.

"No you are absolutely right she deserves better."I replied my voice laden with emotion.

I saw Jack and Jasper headed towards us and I waved them over.

"Do you think you guys can handle this?"I asked them.

"It's handling a hose,come on man, have a little faith."Jack replied taking it from my hands.

I gave one last look at Mark who was looking at me apologetically before walking away. I needed to clear my head away from Mark and Lulu. My dad and a few warriors were doing a roast at the back of the church for our guests so I decided to go help them. My dad grinned when he saw me and asked me to help him with one of the grills. I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt and got to work.

After working for a while in silence my dad poked me with his cane getting my attention.

"What's got you down son?"He asked looking concerned.

My dad and I never had a close relationship seeing as I was always by my mother's side but I was still able to talk to him about different things. Maybe this was the time to get some fatherly wisdom from him but after Marks harsh response I was done with confessions for the day.

"Is this about Lulu?"He asked with a certain wisdom to his eyes that only an experienced person could have.

"Yeah but how did you know?"I asked deciding there was no need to lie.

"Well I may look old but I had the same smitten look you have now on my face when I met your mother."He admitted getting a lost look in his eyes as if he was remembering something.

He snapped out of it though with a smile on his face and turned his attention back to me.

"Well at least you had the courage to talk to mom. Whenever I'm around her I can't seem to think straight. Mark seems to think I don't deserve her since she deserves someone who can actually talk to her without making a fool out of himself. The sad part is that I agree with him."I sulked.

My dad's reaction was to hit me over and over again with his cane.

"Ow dad stop. Why are you hitting me?"I asked rubbing my arms.

He was a frail looking man but he sure could hit.

"I'm hoping to instill some sense into you."He replied smacking me once more at the top of my head.

"I told your mother that coddling you so much was not a good idea but did she listen, oh no, you were her little miracle baby. Now see what her so called miracle is whining about."He scolded.

"I thought I was your miracle baby too."I teased and moved away just in time before he could hit me again.

"No! What you are is my son and no son of mine is a wuss so this is what you are going to do. You are going to man up and ask that girl to go on one of those dates you youngsters rant on about. The feeling you get when you see her just shows how much you care for her. You deserve her so you must fight for her. Do I make myself clear?"He asked in a firm tone.

"Yes sir."I replied quickly part of me scared to say anything else in fear of getting more hits.

"Good now turn it to the other side before it burns."He instructed and we moved on to the topic of grilling as if we just hadn't had a heart to heart.

My dad's words erased everything that Mark had said and even though Marks words had hurt they were going to be my motivation. I was going to be the man that Lulu deserved even if it meant stepping out of my comfort zone. Mark would still pay for his little statement though.

Later in the day after everyone had left happy with enough relief to hold them for a while we settled down to share the cow my dad had slaughtered for our guests. I saw Lulu walking with Ruth and as the first step to getting over my anxiety when it came to talk to her I motioned her over to take the empty seat next to me. I thought she was going to blow me off but she excused herself from Ruth who was sitting with Mark at another table and joined me.

Her sweet scent invaded my nose when she sat next to me and for some reason it calmed me enough to carry a descent conversation with her.

"So today was a success."I initiated.

"Yes it was."She agreed before continuing."The food will hold them for a while but the water will definitely run out so the trucks will be coming here thrice a week until we're done drilling the boreholes."

"I know you have already heard this a thousand times but thank you. You're doing so much for us and we'll never be able to repay you."I replied.

"The smiles on everyone's faces is more than enough payment."She said humbly and I fell just a little deeper for her. "Oh and as long as you continue to feed me like this we can call it even."She said biting into a piece of beef making me smile.

She was definitely one of a kind. I wanted to ask her out on a date like my dad had advised but the timing was not right. Or I was just not ready enough to make that jump. Well baby steps for now.

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Need to get to know my readers more... Where are all of you from? I'm from Kenya 🇰🇪, Africa. Don't know why I said Africa but whatever... Yes where are you guys from?

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