Chapter 12

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Jeremiah

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Jeremiah

"Hi."

I tried so hard to lace my really strong accent, to sound more 'Nigerian', to hide how nervous I was. I could literally hear my own voice shake. I managed to keep my eyes concentrated on her, watching her glare at me. I wished I could read her, that I could analyze the look in her eyes, maybe it'd help me choose my next words carefully. My palms were becoming wet all of a sudden. All my life, I've been used to people looking at me closely, lots of people but I never imagined this day to be any different. I managed to keep a nervous smile on my face, even though it was becoming really obvious I wasn't going to get any back. At least not with the way she was looking and frowning at me. Anyone would think she was annoyed by my presence.

"It's been a while." I continued, ignoring the rest of the workers that had their eyes fixed on us. I guess they wanted to know who I was, and what our relationship was all about, especially the woman in black. It made me even more uncomfortable. I just wished we could go somewhere else and talk. Somewhere more private. I swallowed hard and then let out a nervous chuckle.

God, it was so hard choosing the next words to say.

"I honestly can't believe I'm here right now." I placed my hand on my forehead to feel for sweat beads. They were slowly forming. Wasn't she going to say anything? How long did she have to keep staring at me like that? Or maybe she just didn't know who I was. Had she forgotten about me already? I looked around the room, she wasn't the only one that looked like they had no idea why I was there. I returned my gaze back to her.

"I uh- it's me." In case she needed a remainder, I pointed at myself. "It's Jeremia-"

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was so cold. It cut me off before I could even say anything else. It was nothing like the voice I remembered, I swallowed hard, staring into her brown eyes, they were just as brown as mine. I remembered how she always told me how much I reminded her of her father, how much I looked like him. Of course she remembered me.

I scoffed.

I wasn't surprised. I had prepared for this day all my life, I had prepared for every possible outcome and reaction of this moment. Didn't she hear me? Didn't she hear who I said I was?

"It's me." I repeated, taking a close step to her. "It's Jeremiah. Your s-"

"I know who you are." She cut me off yet again, narrowing her gaze to me and her frown got even worse. "That isn't the answer to my question."

I didn't even know where to start or what to say. She had caught me off guard again and again. Every word I had rehearsed since I got on the plane, my three minutes speech, it was like I couldn't even remember a thing. I gulped hard, hoping I could
find some kind of courage to speak, hoping she could just let me speak without trying to cut me off all the time. I took a deep breath.

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