Chapter 4

• “Don’t think about it,” Tapiwa muttered under her breath for what felt like the tenth time in the last five minutes. The image of the bed and the stranger forced its way back into her mind like it had been doing since she sneaked out of that room. She cringed. “Damn it!”
• “Are you talking to yourself?”
• “Shit!” Tapiwa’s heart jumped in her chest. The large, heavy books she had been holding slipped out of her hands and landed with a loud thud on the wooden, polished floor. Tapiwa startled again and jumped, knocking her knee against the table hard.
• Biting back another curse, she squeezed her eyes shut for a second. The pain radiated from her knee and pulsed throughout her body. But that was the least of her concerns right now.
• The sounds of her unexpected mishap had echoed through the library like thunder, and Tapiwa held her breath, expecting her boss, Ms. Lily to round the corner any second with her stern glare aimed at Tapiwa above the rim of her very square reading glasses held together by super glue. Because the woman was that stubborn and cheap to have them replaced after she had dropped them a year ago.
• In Tapiwa’s opinion, the state of the reading glasses reflected the woman’s attitude too well. Tapiwa had opted to take a few months to raise funds before she headed off for college. When she started, fresh out of high school, Tapiwa had assumed working in the library would be a dream. So much silence and books everywhere. There was nothing more appealing to an introvert. The illusion of the perfect job had lasted until she met Ms. Lily.
• Tapiwa breathed a sigh of relief when there was no sound of hurried footsteps heading her way to investigate the noise. Only then did she turn and glare at her best friend.
• Nicole stood at the end of the row of shelves Tapiwa was working at, her lips pressed into a thin line, clearly suppressing a burst of laughter. “Don’t you dare,” Tapiwa hissed in warning even as she bent and carefully picked up the books.
• A soft chuckle briefly tickled Tapiwa’s ears, and then her friend’s arms were around her as soon as she straightened. “Sorry,” Nicole said, not sounding sorry at all. The girl shrugged a single shoulder. “What? Did you think one of the ghosts in your books came to life?”
• Tapiwa gently pushed her friend away and went to stack the book on Bantu Migration under the history section. “No. I was just far away.”
• Nicole snorted. “I could tell. Okay…” Suddenly, Nicole plucked the last book out of Tapiwa’s hands without bothering to check the title and squeezed it among the books on the shelf before she began to walk them away.
• “What are you doing?” Tapiwa asked with arched brows as she allowed herself to be maneuvered around empty tables and tall bookshelves Tapiwa knew almost like the back of her hand.
• All things considered, Tapiwa liked her place of work, something Nicole never believed. Unlike the public library in the heart of the capital city which was a two-story affair with large windows that brightened up the large space and eliminated the smell of old books, the little library Tapiwa worked in looked like something out of the fifties. This made sense since the building had stood since the colonial period.
• Because the building was so old, the windows were small and high, toward the ceiling. The glass on the windows had long since lost its purpose and had been weathered by nature until they allowed just the bare minimum of sunlight into the library. This meant the large space was dim even at noon, smelled like old books, and was always cold—just how she liked it.
• “I’m taking you out for lunch,” Nicole declared as they neared the double wooden front doors. “Then you can tell me why you are so jumpy.”
• “I’m not jumpy. I was just lost in my head for a bit.”
• Nicole looked over her shoulder with a look that said she wasn’t buying it. “You have been avoiding me.”
• Tapiwa gaped at her friend. “When? I spoke to you two days ago!” Thankfully, they were already outside of the building, so her incredulous raised voice didn’t get her into trouble with her boss.
• With a huff, Nicole stopped walking, turned, and faced Tapiwa. She braced her hands on her ample hips and arched a brow. “Exactly. We talked before you went to that party you couldn’t invite me to-”
• “It wasn’t my party,” Tapiwa cut in. “I didn’t even know the people there.”
• “Exactly why I should have come along, so you had someone familiar, Tapi. But noooo…” Nicole dramatically elongated the word and shook her head. “You went alone and then you didn’t even have the decency to call me after and tell me all the juicy stories. I stayed up for nothing!”
• Tapiwa suddenly couldn’t meet Nicole’s eyes. She felt the back of her neck tingle and fought the urge to rub at it and give away how suddenly uncomfortable she felt. “Uhm… I got home late. I was tired.”
• Nicole arched a brow. “It was that good?”
• An image of the stranger, naked in bed with her, flashed through her mind. Tapiwa swallowed hard. A shudder ran through her body. She looked toward the road and then back at her friend. “Let’s go grab some food.”
• Nicole’s eyes narrowed, but whatever she wanted to say, the young woman decided to keep it to herself. For now, anyway. Instead, Nicole waved a hand and motioned to the road.
• Ten minutes later, while Nicole flirted with the guy at the counter and ordered their slushies and sandwiches, Tapiwa twisted the paper napkin between her fingers until it was nothing but crumpled pieces on the table.
• Realizing what she had done, Tapiwa shot a glance at the counter and saw that Nicole was almost done with their lunch order. She quickly collected the crumpled mess and stuffed it into her jeans pocket. Then she clasped her hands together on her lap and tried not to fidget.
• Although it was lunch hour, the small eatery they frequented whenever Nicole visited Tapiwa at work only had three other customers. The other customers had opted for the outside tables, obviously running away from the inner cramped space. But Tapiwa preferred the inside to avoid the dust of the road getting into her food.
• It was that kind of small establishment near the roadside. Great for a tight budget, but not so much on the health side. Still, they had never gotten food poisoning before, so she figured they were safe. And the noise of traffic outside could be easily ignored as background noise after a few minutes.
• At least the small restaurant always smelled great and the food actually tasted half decent. The place was more popular for their shawamas but after two incidences on the news of people getting food poisoning for eating shawamas that had toxic lettuces, Tapiwa couldn’t be convinced to ever buy the stuff again even though that particular eatery hadn’t been mentioned. The sandwiches would have to do.
• A few seconds later, Nicole was at their table and Tapiwa gladly received her mix fruit slushy and chicken mayo sandwich. “Thanks,” she mumbled before sticking a straw into the tall glass and taking a mouthful of the sweet, cold beverage.
• For an entire minute, Nicole seemed content to sit in silence and enjoy their food. Tapiwa knew it wouldn’t last. Her best friend was like a monkey with a banana when she was curious about something. And Tapiwa knew her friend was very curious about what happened at the party.
• Tapiwa and Nicole had been friends for the past three years. They had met at a mall and connected over discount shoes. It had been friendship at first sight. Nicole teased Tapiwa that their relationship was the typical extrovert-adopting-an-introvert relationship.
• Tapiwa couldn’t deny it. Nicole was more social and outgoing than Tapiwa. It disturbed Tapiwa sometimes how much Nicole pushed her to go out, but she knew her friend meant well and just wanted her to live a little.
• Well, she had lived a little and attended a party she normally wouldn’t have, and look where that had landed her? Tapiwa thought with a frown. Suddenly, the slushy wasn’t as sweet and cool on her tongue as it had been a minute before. She grimaced and sat up straight.
• “What is it?”
• Tapiwa blinked and looked up, meeting her friend’s concerned gaze. “What?”
• Nicole’s eyes narrowed. She pursed her lips and pushed her half-eaten sandwich away. “Okay, spill. What happened at that party that has you so messed up? Did Asher do something?”
• “What? Of course not.” Tapiwa quickly denied. The last thing she wanted was for Nicole to confront Asher about that night. The guy hadn’t done anything except maybe leave her to fend for herself among strangers and she had ended up in bed with one. Tapiwa didn’t want Asher or anyone else to know about it.
• But just then, as though the universe just had to mess with her, Tapiwa’s phone rang. She looked down at it on the table and felt the blood drain from her face. Asher.
• Without hesitating, Tapiwa silenced the phone and turned it over so the screen faced the hardwood of the table. As soon as she looked up, Tapiwa knew Nicole had seen too much, and the monkey had just spotted an entire fruit basket.
• “What did he do?”
• Tapiwa shook her head. “Nothing. It’s not what you think.”
• An unconvinced brow arched. Nicole leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her full chest. “Really? Well, then explain why you are ignoring your boyfriend’s calls. Weren’t you all lovey-dovey just two days ago before the party? What changed?”
• “Nothing,” Tapiwa gritted out, regretting the lunch date and wishing she was back at work where she could hide among the books and not face an interrogation. “I just don’t feel like talking to him right now.”
• “Well, tough shit,” Nicole said with a scoff. She motioned over Tapiwa’s shoulder with a jerk of her chin. “Because Mr. Charming just walked in and is headed this way.”
• Tapiwa’s eyes widened with alarm. She snapped her head around, half hoping Nicole was just pulling her leg, but no. Asher was walking over to their table with determined steps. Tapiwa’s insides clenched. Yeah, she hadn’t prepared for this.