Page 46 of Goodbye To Tomorrow

I bent my head, and accepted that I loved Jiraiya Sampson, no matter the price.

*****

By the time I got back home, my mind was reeling. I couldn’t fully comprehend what had happened back there at the restaurant with Jiraiya. He had been so relaxed, so chill after he had declared what he wanted to do to me. While he had looked so cool, calm and collected, I had been shaking down to my core. Trying to push the thought from my mind, I opened the door to my house and found Nadia sitting on the couch.

“How did you get inside?” I asked, closing the door behind me.

“The key you keep over the door, Silly,” my best friend answered.

“Oh my God, I will have to find another hiding place for the spare key,” I replied with a smirk on my lips.

Nadia shrugged. “Where have you been? Did it take you that long to finish lunch?” I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for at least half an hour. Did you enjoy?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I was hungry. I thought something came up with you. What’s going on?”

Nadia flicked a hand in my direction. “Nothing to worry about. My boyfriend surprised me with lunch. I was sorry to skip out on our plans, but we can go out for a late dinner,” Nadia added.

“No problem, don’t even worry about it,” I gave my friend a smile.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Nadia said as I sat on a chair across from the couch.

“Is that a bad thing?” I said, fighting back a chuckle.

“It is, when you’ve been talking about Jiraiya not calling for the last few days,” Nadia said as I sat up straighter in my chair. “Has something happened?”

I could not hide the news any longer “Speaking of Jiraiya; I saw him while I was grabbing lunch.”

“What? No way!” Nadia exclaimed. “What did he say to you?”

“We talked for quite a bit: He said he was sorry for not calling me and that his doctor rang him a few days ago regarding his treatment. He’ll be going back to the hospital in a week or so to continue his treatments.”

“So, have you two spoken about what would happen once you’ve gone back to work?” Nadia questioned.

I shook my head. “No, we haven’t talked about “us” yet. I mean, he said he’s still interested in dating me. We haven’t really talked about whether we’re a thing or not. It’s kind of complicated.”

“Girl, what do you mean you haven’t talked to him about it? It’s either he’s the one for you or he isn’t. Get your game straight, Karine. Because I am getting a feeling that this guy is playing with you.”

“He’s not that type of person, Nadia. So, cut him some slack, will you?” I said even though what my best friend was saying might be true.

“I will cut him some slack once he’s proven to me that he’s actually interested in you and not just wanting to get his dick wet with you while he thinks about his ex.”

“I am sure he’s not just interested in sex with me, Nadia,” I said even though I was really not sure.

“Well, I hope not!” my best friend exclaimed.

“Anyway, after that he asked me if I was doing anything tonight." I paused and looked at Nadia's face to see what she thought of that before I continued. "He asked me to come over to his place for dinner. Guess what? He wants to cook dinner for me,” I declared, excited about where tonight could lead.

“That’s a start,” Nadia blurted out in a cool toned voice.

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