Romance in Kitalo City Book 2
He believes in all the clichés about love and thinks that true love is worth taking a few risks for.
She's recently stopped believing in true love and thinks love isn't worth the risk of a broken heart.
Who will win t...
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"I missed you, Chimwemwe." Fundo whispered into my ear.
"I missed you, too, baby." I said, then froze, abruptly pulling away from Chifundo.
I cleared my throat as she created distance between us, her shoulders stiffening again. "I'm sorry, Fundo. I shouldn't have said that. Force of habit."
"It's okay." she was flustered, her eyes looking pained, probably because of the way I'd reacted to my own words.
"No, Fundo. It's not okay." I said, choosing my next words carefully. "You established some boundaries four years ago when you left me and I just overstepped. I'm sorry."
"Stop saying sorry like you hugging me and admitting to missing me is a bad thing."
"I'm not sure if it's really a good thing, Fundo. I've just recently started to feel like I'm moving on from what we had. This little moment we just shared could really complicate things for me."
"But, Chimwemwe... you're the one who took my hand. You're the one who called me baby. How can you push me away in the same breath? You sound confused."
"I know. I'm sorry. I got wrapped up in the memories of what we used to be. Chifundo, I'm really sorry."
Her face hardened and she took another step back. "Seriously, Chimwemwe. Stop apologising."
"Maybe we should head back in? It's getting chilly out here." I said, trying to create a distraction from the awkwardness of this whole moment. I was up as quickly as I'd spoken, grabbing the flashlight I'd brought with me.
"Wait, Chimwemwe." Fundo said, taking a timid step towards me. "If I miss you, and you miss me..."
She didn't need to finish that sentence for me to know what she was getting at. I shouldn't have called her baby, but it felt like the most natural thing to do in that moment. I'd just complicated my whole life with that one word.
I cleared my throat again. "Fundo, it's not that simple. There's..."
I struggled to say the words. I couldn't look into Fundo's eyes anymore. What I was about to say would probably hurt her after she'd just put herself out there like that.
"There's what, Chimwemwe?"
"There's someone else, Fundo."
"Oh... Oh! I see." she said, immediately schooling her face into nonchalance, even though I could see the raw emotion in her eyes.
What was I doing? My first love just hinted at the possibility of us giving things another shot and I'd let her down in favour of a girl who was adamant about not wanting to fall in love again. As far as risks went, this was the biggest one I'd taken in a while. Chifundo and I had been so close once, two peas in a pod. We'd grown up together, fallen in love, shared a lot of important first time moments together, and now I was really letting her go.
