Chapter 23

"I thought you guys cut contact?"Yvonne asked confused.

"We did."I assured her.

"She might have cut him off alright but he's still obsessed with her. It's always Nala this, Nala that. Honestly it's exhausting. Are you sure there's no way for you two to be together?"Max asked me.

"Sorry Max. Right guy, wrong time."I explained shortly hoping to appease him.

"Well I believe your story isn't done just yet. Otherwise we wouldn't have met today. Babe you and I are going to be part of the next great love story starring Nala and Hunter."Max exclaimed looking happy at his revelation.

"Can we skip to the happy ending already?"Yvonne asked with a pout.

They were truly meant for each other.

"Oh no, their story has barely began. Patience love, the beauty of a story is in the plot."Max consoled her as if they weren't talking about me.

"Okay now you've lost me."Yvonne sighed.

"Me too."I added feeling confused by his words.

Hunter and I didn't have a love story for them to dig into. It was already over before it even began just like we both wanted.

"You ladies are a bummer. Fine, no more talk about Hunter and Nala so back to business. Which shoes?"Max asked me.

"Before I decide, I need context. Who are they for?"I inquired looking at the cute brown shoes.

"Our little girl."Max gushed like the proud father he was.

"But Max you're holding boy shoes."I reasoned with him.

"They are gender neutral and I think they look great."Max defended.

"Yes if you want your daughter to get bullied in school."I argued.

"If anyone dares hurt my darling girl, I'll break them."Max proclaimed.

He was very protective, all makings of a good dad as long as he didn't overdo it like my father.

"Calm down giraffe, no one wants that. That's why you should let Yvonne take lead. I chose hers."I decided.

"Yes I win."Yvonne cheered happy I'd sided with her.

"You two have ganged up on me but that's fine. Baby you win."Max conceded accepting defeat.

"Yes I do. Victory is mine."Yvonne said clapping happily.

"See what you did."Max scolded me.

"Sorry not sorry."I replied with a shrug.

Sonie chose that moment to come find me. She looked startled by Max's height but she hid it well.

"Nala we should go, I'm done here."She whispered to me looking embarrassed.

Max could be intimidating but I'd met him in a very social situation so it didn't affect me as much.

"We'll leave you two to your shopping. Yvonne don't let him choose anything else. Giraffe, listen to the mother of your children."I demanded playfully.

"Gotcha. Take care."Max replied not looking very pleased.

"You and I are going to be great friends."Yvonne proclaimed suddenly as she hugged me.

"What?"I asked confused.

We wouldn't get the chance to be friends since we weren't in the same social groups. Plus Hunter and I were done.

"See you around Nala. Take care of yourself."Yvonne replied ignoring my question.

She took Max's hand and they left me a very confused girl. What did they know that I didn't?

It obviously had something to do with Hunter, I just hoped he wouldn't do anything to compromise the distance I'd put between us. We needed to stay away from each other for both our sakes but especially me.

"Who were those people?"Sonie asked me when it was just the two of us.

"Acquaintances."I replied dismissively.

I didn't want to say much incase I shared too much information.

"Well your acquaintances look very rich."Sonie added.

I nodded because she was right, they were loaded, the whole lot of them. If it had been so obvious to Sonie who didn't even know them then it definitely was to the rest of the world. Even I knew that I didn't belong without anyone pointing it out to me.

Sonie paid for the items she had chosen before we continued our shopping spree. It didn't take long for us to finish shopping for the boys since Sonie already knew where to go.

The hard part was shopping for us but with each others help, Sonie managed to find proper shoes for work and I found the perfect dress for my valentine's day gig. At least I would look good even if I would be alone.

"Nadhani tumemaliza, sasa tukanunue groceries then turudi home."Sonie suggested.

I think we're done here, now let's go buy groceries then we can head home.

"Sawa."I nodded already exhausted from all the walking and bargaining.

Okay.

An hour and a half later Sonie and I parted ways at our doors our hands filled with numerous shopping bags.

The first thing I did when I got in was pee, then start on unpacking all my bags.

I looked at my mattress on the floor and realized I had yet to order a bed. I kept putting it off even if I had the money to get a nice one. I made a mental reminder to actually get one before I got addicted to sleeping on the floor.

I made myself an egg sandwich that my mom had taught me and called that lunch since I was too lazy to do anything else.

My mom called me as I was doing the dishes to ask about my conversation with dad and admitted to being the one who pushed him to call me. I was grateful to her because as much as my dad and I were at odds, I still wanted to have a relationship with him and she had made that possible.

I ended the day by doing my laundry and planning my meals for the next one week.