Chapter 20 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

‘What are you doing standing here like this? Why not just go and buy what you want?’ a voice in her head asked, interrupting he thought.

‘First of all I’m not familiar with the neighborhood and so I need someone who is, to accompany me.’ She mentally responded.

‘So what if it was a different person that lived next door and not him?’ the voice asked again to her frustration.

‘It’s just not safe for a lady to go out all by herself when it’s dark in an environment she isn’t familiar with. My safety is paramount to me.’ Celsie mentally responded again.

‘Excuses! That’s why you applied the lipgloss.’ the voice accused.

‘Fine! I will go alone.’ Celsie responded in irritation but just then the door opened the and she came face to face with Benne who looked surprised to see her standing in front of his door.

Celsie felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment at being caught like this, and she cleared her throat when he only raised a brow, “I need to go out.”

“Okay?” He asked, wondering what that had to do with him.

“I haven’t eaten all day, so I need to get food and also medicine for ulcer.” She explained nervously.

Although he was glad she was here, but he was already trying to be everything a gentleman wasn’t, “Okay?” Benne asked again, wondering what it had to do with him

“Okay what?” She asked in confusion.

“What is stopping you from going where you need to go? Is the car not coming on?” He asked as he walked out and shut the door behind him. Looking at him now, his outfit showed he was on his way out. He was wearing a three-quarter short and a polo shirt, and a baseball cap covered his short mop of black hair.

“I was sort of hoping you could take me there?” She said, making it sound like an explanation and a question at the same time. Of course there was no way he could turn her down, right?

“First of all, it’s past work hours. I’m not your driver until 7 AM.” He said sounding flippant, and Celsie couldn’t help wondering if he had multiple personalities. Why was he sounding so cold all of a sudden? Or was he still mad about earlier? She thought they were past that now?

She swallowed, “I wasn’t asking you as my driver. I’m asking as a neighbor.” She offered with a small smile.

“I see. Unfortunately, as you can see I have plans.”

Her smile wavered, “Oh! Sorry for being a bother.”

Benne couldn’t help feeling guilty, “Why not just order for something with your phone? That’s what everyone does these days.” He suggested.

“Sure. I will do that. Thanks.” She said without looking at him as she turned to leave. She was just going to walk around the neighborhood and get acquainted with it now so she wouldn’t need him or anyone else to accompany her next time.

Benne stood there with a frown on his face as he watched her leave. She had offered for them to be friends earlier and he had accepted, so his attitude was uncalled for. Friends could ask their friends to accompany them somewhere. He could be a bad boy and a friend to her at the same time, right? That shouldn’t be very difficult, he decided.

“Wait up.” He called out, and she turned to look at him as he hurried up to her.

“I think I could spare a few minutes. Let’s get you what you want and then I will be on my way..” Benne said with an easy smile making her decide he had multiple personalities.

Neither Benne nor Celsie said a word as Benne drove the car out of the garage and down the street. He had no idea where he was driving to since he wasn’t very familiar with the environment, so he just kept his eyes on the road so he wouldn’t miss either a pharmacy shop or a grocery store.

“So why haven’t you eaten all day?” Benne asked, trying to break the silence in the car.

“I got carried away with work at the office. Only just realized now that I was yet to even have anything apart from coffee,” Celsie explained, grateful that he was talking now. She couldn’t deny that the silence had made her very uncomfortable and nervous.

“Have you always had such a poor eating habit or is it because you’re new here and at the job?” He asked with disapproval.

She didn’t know why she was stung by the disapproval or was it criticism she heard in his voice? She was tempted to respond rudely, but had to control her quick temper, “Certainly you must have forgotten to eat at some point too while working, haven’t you?” She asked, turning to look at him.

Sure he had. But then he was a businessman building an empire and that was normal. He had people working for him whose duty was to make sure he didn’t forget to eat, so he always had his meal whenever he was supposed to eat. But she on the other hand was just an employee, and in as much as he appreciated the effort she was putting into the job, he felt she was overworking herself.

“I work for myself so I can afford to do that. But you’re doing too much harm to your body while working for someone else.” Benne pointed out.

“Yeah right. You wouldn’t be complaining had you been the owner of the company.” Celsie countered.

“And what makes you think your boss wouldn’t complain about this if he finds out one of his staff was living like you with such an unhealthy eating habit?” He asked, turning to spare her a glance.

“Even my boss at my former branch who isn’t the owner of the company, loved how I put everything into my job. So I’m sure the owner of the company would be even more impressed. But I don’t expect you to understand that, since you don’t own your own company, and you’re a blue-collar worker for that matter. So maybe we should have this conversation again after you’ve established your own successful company.” Celsie said with a stiff smile. She knew that was low even for her, but that was what he deserved for being so critical of her eating habit.

“Ouch! That hurts!” Benne exclaimed with an amused glint in his eyes that she couldn’t see. It seemed like she was very sensitive to criticism, and she had a quick temper. Very nice.

“You don’t see to be very familiar with the area,” Celsie observed, changing the subject since she had said her piece.

“That’s because I hardly come out here to get things. I have whatever I need delivered to me or I travel out for outside jobs,” He explained easily.

“Including food?” She asked, since she could guess he wasn’t the type to cook.

He gave a nod as he answered, “Including food”

“Right there!” She exclaimed, pointing at a pharmacy ahead of them.

Benne found a spot to park the car, “You can go get what you need, and then I will drop you off at home once you’re done.” He suggested, and she got out of the car quickly. She knew he still had to go to wherever he had been headed before she sought his help, so she needed to hurry.

Benne took out his phone and dialed Harry’s line, “I’m sorry I’m running late. Something came up,” he explained immediately Harry received the call.

“I thought as much. I suppose your beautiful workaholic neighbor came up?” Harry asked in a teasing tone. They always met once a week outside work environment to just drink and have fun.

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