I knew the marijuana hadn’t been solely responsible for my reaction, and that it was more likely the combined effect of the weed and the pill I had taken before I came, and I gave myself a mental kick for my stupidity.
My head was clearer, but my legs still felt a bit shaky, and so as Julius went back in, I sat down on the porch steps to give them a few minutes to find their footing.
I heard his car before I saw it come up the driveway; Greg’s car engine had a very distinct sound.
He parked right in front of me at the foot of the steps, and turned off the engine, but for a few seconds made no attempt to come out of the car and instead just sat and looked straight at me through the windshield.
I held his gaze until it became too uncomfortable to do so any longer, and only when I looked away did he finally step out of the car.
“Hi,” he greeted me quietly.
“Hi.”
“What are you doing out here by yourself? Don’t tell me you are already bored by Julius’ crowd,” he remarked lightly.
“No, not at all; I just came out for some air. I should actually be getting back inside,” I answered nervously.
“Wait! Stay for a second; I’m really happy to see you. I wanted to apologise for being such an idiot at Lugogo; I had no right to question you going back to Chris – after all, he is C.G’s father.”
“I see you’ve been talking to Julius,” I answered wryly.
“Yeah, most times he’s just a pain, but on some rare occasions he does make sense. So, anyway, I just wanted to apologise.”
“Apology accepted, and now, we really should go in, we’re being rude,” I said as I got to my feet.
My heart was racing from being alone with Greg, and I was desperate to dissipate it by getting back into the company of the others.
Fortunately, he did not object and followed me inside.
“There you are; I was about to come out to complain about you hijacking my guest. Come in, grab a seat and let me get you a drink,” Julius welcomed his brother, before another round of greetings ending with Greg taking a seat next to Patrick on the other side of the room.
Although this meant he was a comfortable distance from me, it also meant he was directly opposite me, and our eyes were constantly meeting and holding for a flicker of a second across the room. Despite this, the evening progressed smoothly, until the small gathering began to break up as it approached ten.
Patrick and Aisha were the first to call it a night and around 20 minutes later, Jerry and Richard followed suit, leaving just Greg, Julius and I.
“I think I should get home too,” I said as I got up.
“I’ll drop you,” Greg offered as he too got to his feet.
The thought of being alone with him in the confined space of his car got my heart racing all over again, but I could hardly turn down his offer without looking silly; so, I graciously thanked him for it, and then thanked Julius for the evening, and then we were off.
celebsteph@yahoo.com
