by Emma Easter
Leila did not argue anymore. Before she followed the woman, she turned to Malik. If only I could kiss him goodbye, she thought regretfully. She couldn’t even take his hand here, with this old woman and her granddaughter present. She said to him, “I’ll come back to your house first thing in the morning.”
“No, I will come and get you,” he said to her. “It might be dangerous for you to be out by yourself.”
She nodded and then sighed as he gave her a smile and left the hut.
“Do you want to bathe before you sleep?” Hauwa asked her. “I can boil water for you on the stove.”
“No, don’t trouble yourself. I will have my bath very early tomorrow morning.”
“Then come along,” the old woman said. She took Leila’s hand and led her inside. The room was a very small sleeping place that wasn’t really a room, more a tiny space. There were sleeping rugs on the floor which were the only pieces of furniture she could see.
“You can sleep on this one while I sleep on that,” Hauwa said.
Leila smiled and thanked her. She suddenly remembered she had left her bag with her clothes at Malik’s and sighed. Slightly embarrassed, she asked Hauwa if the girl could give her a wrapper. When Hauwa promptly did, she quickly shed her dress and tied the wrapper around her chest. She folded the dress carefully as she had to wear it again tomorrow to Malik’s and then she put it aside. Stretching out on the sleeping rug, she took a deep breath and then said a quick prayer, thanking the Lord for bringing her to Dogon safely and for Malik. She prayed for protection tonight, asked the Lord to bless these kind women who had taken her in, and made a mental note to give them some money before she left Dogon to help them with their needs, as she could see how poor they were.
Finally, she prayed for favor as she talked to Malik about Christ tomorrow. She asked the Lord to open his heart so he would receive the gospel and come to know the Jesus she knew. Soon, she fell asleep with a huge smile on her face.
Chapter Thirteen
Nick entered his room at the bed and breakfast and collapsed on his bed, totally exhausted. He’d had a long day at the restaurant, checking the books to make sure that they were turning a profit. He’d already been in Rosefield for two weeks and all he’d done was work. He looked at the clock on the wall and smiled in self-mockery when he saw it was ten p.m. already.
Well, my dream to meet someone new here in Rosefield has not turned out the way I thought.
He hadn’t checked his online dating profile for some time now. He brought out his phone and decided to check it. Logging on to the dating website, he opened his profile, and then began to scroll once more through the different messages he had received from various women. Suddenly he stopped at a particular profile with the username Sweet-Violet.
He blinked. The profile picture showed a very pretty girl. But that wasn’t all that made him stop. There was a sparkle in her eyes that also drew him.
He began to read her profile and found that they had more than a few things in common. Best of all, she lived in Rosefield.
He looked up thoughtfully. This was the kind of girl he would like to get to know, at least for now. Of course, since he didn’t live in Rosefield, there would not be talk of a relationship. Even if he did live in Rosefield, he wasn’t prepared for a relationship right now. However, from her profile, he knew she would be a great companion.
He read the message she had sent him again and knew without a doubt that he wanted to message her back.
He looked at the date that she had messaged him and groaned. It was a few days ago. If he had checked his profile earlier, he would have seen the message and would have sent a reply to her. Would she still be interested in getting to know him?
He quickly typed out a message, apologizing and explaining to her that he would have replied immediately if he had only seen and checked his profile days ago. He told her she looked interesting and he was also interested in getting to know her better. He sent the message and then smiled to himself. Checking his other messages, he found he was not interested in replying to any of the other women. He logged out of the dating website, and then took a deep breath. Hopefully she would send him a message soon.
He got up to eat his dinner. He wasn’t exactly hungry as he had eaten not too long ago at the restaurant, but he ate several times a day these days. It was his new food fad. He only ate healthy foods, but once in a while, he had a cheat day and treated himself to a pizza.
As he fixed himself some salad, he thought about the woman he had sent a message to. Going on a date with her would be great. He wondered where they would go on their first date, and then chided himself. You are getting ahead of yourself, man, he thought.
Who knew if she would even be interested in messaging him back? She’d probably given up on him when he did not reply to her message after a few days. There were so many choices online. Many people, especially women who looked like her, were spoilt for choice. It was unlikely that she would accept his apology.
After fixing himself a chicken salad, he went to the bed and breakfast living room, switched the television on, and flipped through the channels mindlessly, his feet on top of the coffee table. When he finished his food, he switched the TV off, and went to his room to prepare for bed.
After brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas, he got under the covers and then from force of habit, he reached for his phone to see if he had any messages or calls. He had deliberately left the phone in the bedroom so as not to be disturbed while he ate and relaxed in the living room to wind down from work.
Once again, he thought about the beautiful woman on the online dating site. For some reason, he was more eager than usual to find out if she had messaged him back. He began to open the dating website again, and then told himself to calm down.
What’s wrong with me? Why am I so eager, anyway?
He sighed deeply. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been this lonely in a long time.
He went ahead and logged into the dating site again, and then blinked in surprise when he saw a message. Hoping with all his heart that the message was from the pretty woman, he opened it and saw it was from her. When he saw that she was online, he was thrilled. Her message said that she forgave him and was still interested in getting to know him better. He quickly sent another message to her, asking about the charitable works she did, since that was something they had in common.
He was excited when, almost immediately, he got a reply back from her. I’m at the welfare department in our church and we regularly visit the old people’s home and the soup kitchens. We also volunteer at the youth center a lot. I also help counsel some of the victims of domestic violence who take shelter at the Gibsons’. Since you live in Rosefield, you probably know them.
He read the message, and for a while he wanted to tell her that he did not really live in Rosefield. However, he didn’t want her to know too much about his life, at least for now. It wasn’t important to let her know that he was only here temporarily. He simply wrote back; I really don’t know the Gibsons. To be truthful, I only arrived in Rosefield a few weeks ago.
That was as much as he was willing to share for now, he thought to himself.
She asked him about his charitable works as well, and he told her about the charities he was involved with. From her message to him, he noted that she went to church regularly. Which meant she was religious.
Her being religious might not be so good considering what he wanted at this time was simply physical intimacy. However, he was still drawn to her and would not give up just because of that.
They chatted back and forth. They shared more information about themselves than strangers who had only known each other for one night and had not even physically met should. They chatted about their childhood and he told her about his future plans to open a restaurant in different parts of the country.
They kept conversing until Nick glanced at the clock on the wall and gasped. It was already one a.m. He had to be at work early the next day.
Reluctantly, he typed out his message to her; Unfortunately, I have to log off now as I have to get to work quite early tomorrow.
And then he corrected himself. Actually, it’s by eight o’clock today. If I don’t get enough sleep, I’ll be walking around like a zombie at work.
She sent a reply telling him that she had to be at work early as well.
He finally logged out of the dating site still thinking about the pretty stranger, and then sighed as he put his phone aside. He had enjoyed their conversation tremendously. She didn’t seem like a stranger anymore. And they had not even met in person. How would it be to meet her really? He couldn’t wait to meet her, but he knew he had to wait. They’d only just started talking. If he told her he wanted to meet her right now, he might push her away.
He stretched out on his bed again. For the past few weeks, he had come back to the bed and breakfast and laid down on the bed, loneliness wrapping itself around him. Today, however, he felt anything but lonely. Finally, with no effort whatsoever, he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.
The next day, he got to work early and went straight to the kitchen. Frank was already there, setting up to start the day. None of the other chefs had arrived.
He said to Frank, “Wow! I didn’t know you could leave your beautiful wife so early in the morning. Usually these days, you come in a little past the time you are supposed to.”
Frank chuckled. “Nowadays? You came to Rosefield just a couple of weeks ago, and you know my routine so well.”
Nick smiled and nodded. “Yeah, Frank! Yeah, I do. I don’t blame you, though. If I had a wife as beautiful as Trisha, I wouldn’t want to leave her in the morning, either.”
Frank shook his head and laughed. “First, Trisha also has a job which she has to leave for early in the morning. Secondly, even though I would love to, it would not make sense for me to let our customers go hungry while I stayed at home with my wife. I do miss her when I come to work.”
Nick smiled and then remembered his conversation with the woman he had met online yesterday. He couldn’t wait to get home so he could start their conversation again.
Frank snapped his fingers in front of Nick’s face, and said, “Earth to Nick. Where did your mind go to just now?”
Nick grinned and shook his head. “Nowhere.”
Frank said, “No, I’m pretty sure you were lost to the world a minute ago. Tell me what’s on your mind? Have you met someone?”
Nick looked away and said nothing.
Frank came and stood in front of Nick. He looked him in the eye and nodded. “You have met someone. I can tell.”
Nick sighed and then decided to tell Frank the truth. “I did meet someone online yesterday.” He looked up thoughtfully and then looked back at Frank. “I like her. She’s actually everything I want right now. It’s such a shame that I don’t live in Rosefield and she does.”
“There’s something called a long-distance relationship, you know,” Frank said.
“Frank, you know I’m not interested in a relationship right now. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“Then why on Earth are you connecting with this girl? You say you like her, and yet you’re not planning to have a relationship with her?”
Nick sighed wearily. “I told you I was just looking for a physical connection while I am in Rosefield.”
Frank smirked. “And does she know you don’t want a relationship? That all you want is a one-night — or is it several — Night-stands?”
Nick turned away from him and said, “Don’t you have a sauce to make or something?”
Frank chuckled. “So, you’re trying to evade my question. Ask yourself this; if the shoe were on the other foot, how would you feel if she treated you that way? How would you feel if a girl you liked just wanted one thing from you and one thing alone?
“By ‘one thing’, you mean to sleep with me?” Nick gave Frank a tight smile. “Actually, I have heard that from several girls, but I was okay with it because I wanted the same thing.”
Frank sighed loudly and said, “You are impossible, Nick! The only difference here is that I am pretty sure this woman wants much more from you than just something physical, as you said before. Just as I told you before, Rosefield is not that kind of place. She probably went on this dating site because she wanted something serious.”
Nick thinned his lips and then said, “You don’t know that.”
Frank stared straight into his eyes and said, “And you don’t know that she wants the same thing you do. Anyway, that is not the most important thing. What you need right now…”
“Don’t say it!” Nick exclaimed. “You’re going to tell me that what I need is a relationship with Jesus. Please, don’t say it.”
Frank said, “All right, then. I won’t say it… at least for now. But please don’t lead this woman on or any other woman on your online site for that matter. Be honest with her and let her know where you stand and what you want from her so she can decide if that’s what she wants. Though I can assure you it isn’t.”
Nick said, “Frank, I know you haven’t dated for some time now, but I can’t just go and tell a girl on our first or second conversation that I want to sleep with her. That is just not done, at least by me. It’s not my way.”
“So your way is to keep leading a woman on and letting her think you want a serious relationship with her when in actual fact you only want her body?”
“No!” Nick retorted. “I try to guess from our conversation if she wants anything more serious than what I am willing to give. If she does, I cut it off as soon as I can. If I find out that she wants the same thing that I do, we go on from there.”
Frank laughed harshly and shook his head. “I’ve told you before, Nick! You need to stop all this!”
Nick looked at him. He wanted to tell Frank to mind his business, but Frank was coming from a good place. An uninformed and judgmental place, but still, a good place. He finally said, “Okay good sir, I will put everything you have said into consideration. Are you happy now?”
Frank pursed his lips and then said, “All I told you is for your own good and for the good of all those women you meet. Really, I know you can be a better man.”
“So, you don’t think I am a better man now just because I crave intimacy.”
Frank turned away. “You are totally useless, Nick,” he said.
Nick laughed and then walked out of the kitchen. But when he got to the main sitting area in the restaurant, his smile melted off his face. Frank was probably right. The pretty woman online probably wanted more than he was willing to give. If she did, he would have to end it right now, before it went any further and he broke her heart.
He sighed sadly. That meant he had to continue his search. It meant his pillow would continue to be the only thing he cuddled at night until he left Rosefield. There would be no female companionship for him.
Soon, the restaurant got busy and he was lost in the hustle and bustle of it all. He stopped thinking about the online girl and about what Frank had told him and fully concentrated on work. Finally, at about ten p.m., the restaurant emptied of guests. The other chefs and the waiters and waitresses all went home. Frank walked by him, said a quick goodbye, and then walked out the door of the restaurant.
Nick called out to him and asked him to wait up. He stepped out of the restaurant, locked it, and then made his way to the parking lot, Frank walking alongside him.
“Are you angry with me?” he asked Frank.
Frank turned to look at him. “Why would I be angry with you?”
“Because you just said a quick goodbye and began to leave hastily.”
“It’s late, Nick. I need to get home. I haven’t seen my wife and daughter all day.”
Nick said, “Are you sure it’s not because of the conversation we had earlier?”
“No,” Frank said. “I think what you are doing is completely wrong, Nick. But you’re still my friend. I’m not going to give up on yo
u or give up praying for you.”
They got to the parking lot and Frank got into his car. He stuck his head out the window and looked at Nick. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, smiling.
Nick nodded and then waved at him. He walked to the car he had rented some days after he came to Rosefield, entered, and drove to the bed and breakfast, thinking about what Frank had said.
He began to build a wall of defense as Frank’s words pricked his conscience. I’m not like Frank, he thought. I’m not going to live like a monk or something. There’s nothing wrong with simply wanting physical companionship with a woman. It’s not like I force anyone. It’s all mutual.
As he climbed the stairs to his room, he pushed away the barrage of guilt in his mind brought on by Frank’s words. But, as he got into bed and reached for his phone to log on to the dating website again, he finally admitted to himself that Frank was right. He didn’t want to go on misleading the beautiful woman he’d started chatting with. If she wanted more than he was willing to give, he had to end it now.
He groaned. So much for finding companionship.
As annoying as it was to end something that had just begun, it was the right thing to do. He would tell her that he enjoyed their conversation last night but he didn’t think they should go any further than that.
Finding her profile, he began to type out a message to her, but it was not the message he had decided to send her. Instead, he asked her to tell him more about her life. He sent the message and groaned again.
What are you doing, man?
He was ecstatic when she replied almost immediately.
Like the day before, they chatted back and forth. He knew from their chats that she liked him. He liked her even more now. However, this was getting to be too much. He had to end it now. He started to tell her they couldn’t go any further than this, but he found himself deleting what he had typed out.
He sighed and chided himself. Tell her now.
Once again, he started to tell her that their conversation could not continue, but he noticed that she’d begun to type something out. He waited for her to send her message and then blinked in surprise when he read it.