Facade (Romola 1)

48: A Kiss Interrupted

The sound of Owl's city 'silhouette' drew a curse from his lips.

She felt her mouth slightly brush some skin. Her eyes flew open. Her heart dropped like a star out of the sky.

He walked to the glass centerpiece table in front of the grey sofa. He picked up his Iphone and placed it to his ear, a scowl marred his perfect lips.

Romola leaned against the back of the chair, biting her lips. He had almost kissed her. Her eyes skimmed the food they had barely touched while she wrapped her arm around herself. A dull hollow pain filled her heart.

"Good morning." Olumide scratched the back of his neck.

Romola's eyes were drawn to him like children to toys. She felt the irritation in his tone bounce around the living room. The flat voice he used, she remembered, was the same tone he had used to end the discussion about his parents. He stood taller and the skin on his face, stretched taut across every surface. His frown deepened and lines formed above his eyebrows while they narrowed at the wall.

"Good morning Joke... Yes, several weeks...I'll be returning soon...I am not fooling around." He groaned, pacing the length of the sofa. "It is only a month's vacation. I can't possibly do that...It's almost ready? ALMOST. I'm not Muyiwa!"

There was a pause on his side of the conversation. His eyes strolled towards her direction but failed to meet hers before he turned away as his pacing directed. "Fine."

His phone hit the table with a clang. His feet married the staircase without another word to Romola.

She stared at his retreating figure. Should she go after him? But he had told her to stay there and not move out of the chair. She sat up and spooned some rice into her mouth.

He returned, skipping two steps at a time as he leaped down the staircase. She stood, glancing at his well pressed white shirt tucked into pristine black suit trousers. His feet were framed in black polished pointed leather shoes and a gold wristwatch sat proudly on his wrist.

"Are you going out?"

"I need to take care of something. You'd be alright on your own right?" He hurried to the table and grabbed his phone.

"I don't think-"

He dashed out the door to the place where he parked his car.

What just happened? Had he just left her like that? Her shoulders curved inward.

She covered their meals and stored it in the refrigerator before climbing the staircase and taking a right turn to the games room where she had spent the night with Olumide. It was a small room with a large flat screen television, surround sound system speakers at every corner and soft grey leather sofas. An inbuilt shelf under the television housed a game console, a DSTV decoder, some cd's and a remote control.

She settled into one of the chairs, propping her chin atop her palm and punching her elbow into the sofa's arm. Where exactly had she gone wrong with the kiss? Was she too forward? Too fast? Or too slow? But he had leaned in too. She was so sure that he wanted the same thing as she did. He had stared at her lips.

She crossed her legs. She uncrossed them.

She stood up. She sat down.

Confusion weighed heavily on her. Why did his caller have to call then? Why did he have to leave? A million thoughts circled her head, all centered around the almost kiss. Her thoughts plagued her till she imagined they were naughty children, poking out their heads every now and then, disappearing before she got a hold of them.

She bent over to reach for her duffel bag that lay against the sofa. A bath would help to give her the sense of control over her day again. She reached inside the bag to pull out her clothes. She brought the bag inside the game room to change to comfortable clothes while he slept. Her fingers brushed against a plastic object. She grappled for the object until her fingers clutched a small rectangular thing.

She pulled it out of the bag. Her eyes beamed at the Nokia phone in her hands. She had forgotten about it. Whoever it was that called seemed desperate to reach her. Perhaps this person could have a clue as to who she was or at least, who her family was. It couldn't be her phone without holding some clue as to who she was. Right?

She stared at the screen. Olumide had promised to help her find her parents but he wasn't here now and he had not mentioned anything about it today. She clicked on the power button and hope surged through her heart as the light from the phone screen bathed her face with a white glow.

The phone flashed a battery low notification before the screen revealed that she had 53 missed calls and 17 messages. Her heart raced like it was trying to outrun the wind. She clicked on the call log button and the list of numbers and names of people who had called showed.

The name 'mummy' dominated the list. Her eyes widened and her back straightened. She clicked on the call button. The call screen came to life for a second before the battery low icon flashed on the screen again then the screen lost its light and Romola's heart plummeted to the floor. 

Author's note

Expect the next update in two weeks time. Have a great weekend