Nine: J.J.

Even though they were some distance away, I was still able to hear them.

"Hello", Raymond said to Lizzy.

"I have seen you before, right?" Lizzy asked him.

I think that day, that Saturday was the first time she saw him and I have never mentioned him too.

"Yes, we have", he said.

"Where?" She asked him curiously, but he shook his head and asked, "you really do not remember me or are you pretending to have forgotten so soon?" He asked.

"no, I am not pretending. Why should I pretend?" She asked him annoyed and walked away.

"Wait, I will remind you later, maybe after the dance. Do you care about dancing?" He asked her,

"Okay", she said, shrugged, held his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor.

I wanted to go after them and confront him, but someone pulled me from behind as I turned sharply, but it was Hale.

" no, do not follow them, it will only make matter worse. I called him and asked him to come over, so that we could talk properly. Remember you asked me not to do anything stupid or to hurt him. I am only doing this to please and I do not want you to regret helping me. Just help me lure her after the party and we shall discuss everything properly later. Okay?" He asked me and I nodded.

I was short of words, I really do not know what to say, he then asked, "since my lady has been taken by someone else. Do you care about dancing?" He asked me and I just nodded, then he dragged me along towards the dance floor.

When we reached the dance floor, I glanced around to see the couples dancing.

There were many couples and dance partners, Mom and dad were dancing together, Grandma and Mr. Ahmed, Raymond and Lizzy, the next couple I saw shocked me, Genevieve and J.J and among others.

I wanted to look towards Genevieve and J.J's direction again but Hale said, "no, do not look at them or should I say him again. You are making it obvious", he said, just then the D.J changed the current music to a slow, but melodious music.

This particular music is mainly for couple dancers, its steps required that both couple dancers turn around twice, hold hands, turn around twice again and grab a new dance partner by holding hands with them, dance together until the music comes to an end and return to your first dance partner.

"Go to your J.J and I will dance with my Beth", Hale instructed me as we were making the first set of turning around.

"No, I disagree", I said to Hale as I held hands with him again.

"How about I go to Lizzy and you go to Ray?" I asked him.

"no, there will not be enough time to talk. Just do as I say, you can dance with someone else if you like, but I will be dancing with my Beth. Go", Hale instructed me again.

I seriously do not want to make things more complicated, so I just have to follow his lead, I think he has already planned everything.

I quickly nodded as we turned twice again for the second time and switched partners.

I almost held hands with J.J, but Raymond quickly grabbed my hands and that really annoyed me.

Ugh!

I hate this boy.

I did not want to look at him, so I quickly took another quick glance around again, but to my surprise, J.J and Hale were dancing together, Lizzy with Genevieve, mom with Mr. Ahmed, Grandma and dad.

I was done looking, but I still did not want to look at Raymond, so I decided to look at mom. She was just laughing while dancing. I guess she was enjoying herself, but then mom and Mr. Ahmed moved closer to me, they were having a nice conversation and laughing.

I became curious to know what it was about, so I quickly danced towards them.

We were not very close, but I will be able to eavesdrop without being interrupted or disturbed, "I can't believe that I am really dancing with you, Mrs. Mike", Mr. Ahmed said to my mom.

"Today is going to be one of the best days in my life", he added and grinned.

Mom was blushing, she just smiled and asked, "So when were the other best days of your life?" Mom asked.

I really can't tell if she was curious or if she just wanted Mr. Ahmed to feel better or think highly about himself.

"The day I was born,the day I left home to come to Europe, the day I met my wife and the day my son was born", Mr. Ahmed said to mom.

"Wow, you must have been very happy to have such a sweet life. I hope all your heart desires have come to pass?" Mom asked him.

I could guess from her tone that she was concerned this time.

"Majority of them have, but there are still few left and one of them involves your daughter", he said and that made mom have that look on her face that says 'WTF'. Mom just laughed softly and asked him,

"what is it?"

I want your daughter to marry my son", he said to mom, but that sounded serious.

"That is their business, not ours. As a parent, you should not interfere in your kid's love life. You only interfere when you THINK and KNOW that they are making the wrong choice.

You have to stop it before it leads to marriage and remember that someday, you will leave them behind and there will be no one to comfort them.

It is her choice to make and not mine.

You know ladies these days are very selective.

Gone are the days parents choose a life partner for their kids.

Trust me our kids know themselves better than we do when it comes to love affairs.

If we choose for them, we will choose a life partner that they may not even like and that is the same thing as sending your child to an early grave or hell, but if we let them choose themselves, they will not just choose a life partner, but A SOUL MATE. I hope that explains it all. The music is about to come to an end", mom reminded him.

"Yes, that is true. I am sorry for bothering you, Mrs. Mike", Mr. Ahmed apologized to mom.

" No, it is fine. It is okay to worry about your kid's future once in a while. Every parent does it", she said as the music finally came to an end and she returned to dad.

I wanted to swap partners again and return back to Hale, but Ray slid one of his arms around my waist and held me onto himself tightly and held my wrist tightly with his other arm and trust me, that definitely made it cold to run down my spine.

WTF!

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" I asked Raymond angrily.

"Let go of me", I ordered Raymond.

Instead he tightened his grip around my waist.

"No, why should I? I can't let you go, I have loved you since that day and I will ever love you. I will never give up on you, I promise", he said to me, that actually gave me butterflies.

"Then keep trying. I do not care, I will never be yours. Never. Let go of me, I can't fucking breathe", I said faked having breathing difficulty.

He let go of me and said, "am sorry, is there anything I can do to help?" He asked me and was about to touch me again, but I quickly slapped his hand away,

"do not ever fucking touch me again", I warned him and started to walk again, but he followed me and asked,

"Is it because of that sucker?" I totally ignored him and kept walking, this time we were already out of the garden.

"I am talking to you, are you treating me like this because of Johnson? He is a freak", he said to me.

Is he trying to win my heart by cursing my life long crush, I really can't take it anymore.

I had already gotten sick of him following me around.

I had to do something to stop him or else he would not.

I stopped walking, turned and faced him, "I think that you are the fucking freak and the fucking sucker here"I said to him with a teary eye, I was faking it.

"How on earth do you expect me to accept you after what you did to my best friend. You are nothing but a fucking and stupid monster and a beast. I fucking hate you", I said to him and started running towards the main door of the living room.

He started running too and caught up with me. He stood in front of me and said, " Eunice, I am sorry. I was not in my right mind. I guess Hale did not tell you the whole truth. He is hiding the real truth from you", he started with a teary eye, but not tears were already rolling down his cheeks.

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