Chapter nine

After many hours of flying Rejiana and Richard dropped off in the capital city of Zimbabwe.

"Harare", Richard thought aloud.

Rejiana pointed at the paper slot in her left hand "It says here, that it's a land locked country", she frowned.

Richard laughed "You've never liked water, talkless about the ocean and sea".

Rejiana pouted in response "Now that it's taken from me, I actually want it back".

Richard shook his head in laughter "There's the Zambezi River and the Victoria Falls, I could take you there, you know".

Rejiana smiled "That'll do".

Sighing Richard stared at his daughter in utter amusement "Sometimes you act like a three year old".

His daughter folded her hands over her chest "Oh yeah, well you act like a fifty year old".

Richard raised his hands in mock surrender "I'm done with this conversation".

"Me too".

They laughed and took a taxi from the airport to a hotel.

The yellow facade of the building greeted them in honour, it badazzled from corner to corner and the letter R at the very top of the long building made Rejiana smile.

"Why did you choose this one?", Rejiana stared up at the roof her head ready to fall off her neck anytime.

"Because it's called Rainbow hotel".

Rejiana closed her mouth and stared at Richard in bewilderment "That's something a three year old would say".

Richard smiled "Wasn't I the fifty year old a while ago", he held his chin in false exaggerated confusion.

Rejiana laughed "can we just get into the 'rainbow hotel'".

"Mi lady", Richard held out his hand and they walked in, their suitcases were collected by the door and Richard explained to the receptionist how his secretary had booked the hotel online.

Soon enough they were given a card and were upstairs.

Rejiana packed her things in the small draw and jumped onto the bed.

Richard changed into a bath rob and returned to the main room and grabbed the remote from the stand.

Rejiana laughed at him "Daddy if you are going to watch the news then I'd suggest you read it online", she held her phone out "Cause we've only been in this country for less than an hour".

Richard pouted "I'm very content with watching....", he paused to check the channel "ZBC".

Rejiana fought back a laugh "Okay".

As she went on scrolling through instagram she finally asked the question that was forever lingering in her mind "How are we going to find Jason".

"I did my research, he is five or six cities away from this one..............they call it Bulawayo".

"The city of kings and queens", Richard went on.

Rejiana replied him with a "mmmmmmmmmmmmm", and threw herself back on the bed.

"So now let's just enjoy the stay here," Richard turned off the news and grabbed his phone.

Rejiana smiled "Like a vacation?".

"Yes sweetheart like a vacation".

°°°°°

Rejiana and Richard were now walking on the streets both feeling some type of unordinary ectasy.

Richard considered the fact that maybe it was because he was now far away from the house and all memorandum of Olivia had been wiped away.

He refused 'that is impossible',he told himself and kept walking.

"The streets are quite packed hey", Rejiana told him.

"That's what you said about new york".

Rejiana shrugged, it sure was different here. They had ventured out for food.

Richard strolled boredly as Rejiana went on chattering beside him about everything and anything.

She waved her hands frantically when she knew Richard had stopped listening.

"Dad what did I just say?".

Richard raised his ears and tried recollecting the last moments "A book", he smiled in triumph.

"What about the book?".

Richard scratched his head "honestly hunny I forgot".

Rejiana threw her hands up "Daddd!!!", she felt her hand knock something when she brought them down "whoops", she slapped her hand over her mouth.

Face to face with a middle aged woman, flawless from head to toe Rejiana found herself gwaking at the brown skinned woman 'damn', she thought. Rejiana muttered 'sorry' a good five times.

Richard bent his knees and picked up the groceries his daughter had smacked down, he neatly packed them into the plastic bag with the letters OK printed on the front.

Slowly Richard got up and took in the appearance of the woman almost having the breathe knocked out of him. She was clearly ten years younger than him and ten older than Rejiana.

A grateful smile greeted him, he noticed how her eyes twinkled brightly in the motion.

"You didn't have to pick those up",her voice was soft and pleasant to the ears.

Richard came to small undoubtable conclusions that she was jawdroppingly beautiful slightly more than Olivia but he did not let his mind procede with the topic.

Richard smiled back "It's no big deal".

She interlaced her soft fingers with his and slowly dragged the plastic out.

Richard's fingers tightened automatically and as quick as the action came it was gone. Too fast for the woman infront of him to realise.

"I take it you're not from around here".

Rejiana apologised again.

"No problem sweetheart", she gave them both a dazzling smile.

"How did you know?".

"The colour of your skin and the way both of you are looking around is a direct give away", she told them "But anyway my name is Gamuchirai", she pushed out her hand for Richard to shake.

"Richard".

Rejiana was next "Thats a very unusual name".

She laughed "It's actually quite common here".

Rejiana nodded in amusemet "Well I'm Rejiana".

Gamuchirai swayed her plastic "Lovely names, both of you, it is a pleasure".

They both smiled.

"So what were you guys up to anyway', she smiled.

"Food," Richard told her "any place with decent food".

"Well you're in luck, because I know a place that serves quite the treat", she gave a prideful grin.

Richard carried her groceries and they walked through town, Gamuchirai never let the conversation die once which comforted both Rejiana and her father. She had plenty interesting stories and was ready to give her day away, to the two of them to welcome them nicely to Harare.

They ate, they watched movies, they took pictures together and sat in the park. Afternoon flew by in a nanosecond and they all dreaded the momeng they'd say goodbye.

After the park Richard, Rejiana and Gamuchirai retired to her apartment to drop off a few things.

Rejiana sat at the couch and turned on the television whilst Richard helped her with unpacking the groceries.

It was a small one bedroomed apartment with an elongated living room, she had qoutes all over her walls all framed in wood. Rejiana found herself reading them all one by one and a particular one made her smile.

Family can be anyone, it never truly has to be blood and thats why ill smile and smile because theres lots of family out there.

She heard Richard laugh at something Gamuchirai had said. It was a wholehearted laugh, a laugh Rejiana hadn't heard in a very very long time.

Rejiana grinned silently and turned back to the tv and was welcomed by the familirality of spongebob.

"Rejy sweetheart do you want anything to eat?", Gamuchirai asked.

"I could eat", she grinned.

"Cut this", Gamuchirai gave Richard a roll of colcom polony and a knife, she had won it by collecting coupons at TM. "Into tiny pieces Richard", she held two fingers up then went back to grating the cheese.

"Like this?", Richard asked holding a plus sized slice.

"Jesus!!!, Richard is that your version of a tiny piece?", Gamuchirai laughed.

Gamuchirai held Richard's hand beneath hers and gripped the knife. She lifted his hand with the knife and cut a piece "Like that", she told him.

Richard grinned like a teenage boy "I didn't quite get it", he teased.

Gamuchirai laughed and they cut the rest together.

"Why so tiny though?", Richard asked.

Gamuchirai pulled out a crate of ice cubes from the freezer. "We're going to add so much more to the sandwich, and we don't want the sandwich maker to fail to close."

After frying the bacon, the beef patties, and  the circular cut sausages, Gamuchirai added chicken strips, beer sticks, polony, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato into bread.

Richard laughed as she tried to squeeze them into the sandwich maker.

"Wheew!!!!!", Gamuchirai held her hips "now we wait".

Richard leaned back on the counter "So should we go and watch spongebob with my three year old daughter", he gestured at Rejiana through the open door.

Gamuchirai scrunched her nose up "I've always hated spongebob".

Richard's eyebrows shot up "Really why?". He remembered how he had been forced to watch it since Rejiana started seeing.

Gamuchirai walked over to him and also leaned back on the counter "A ridiculous sponge, a star fish and a grumpy squid", she shook her head in dismay, "Dont even get me talking about the crab whose daughter is not suprisingly a whale".

Richard laughed hard and long.

"It's the most stupid cartoon to exist".

"Hey!!, I heard that", Rejiana called from the other room.

Gamuchirai widened her eyes and chuckled slightly "You didn't hear anything sweetheart".

Rejiana chuckled and turned back to Patrick on the screen.

"So tell me about yourself", Gamuchirai granted Richard another delicate smile.

Richard smiled back thinking how happy he was "Well for starters, i'm a single parent.....

°°°°°

After three months Richard bought a house in Boredale, Gamuchirai moved in with them on the second month after Richard had asked her out. They spent most of their time together.

Seated in the huge living room Rejiana and Gamuchirai had what seemed to be girl talk and refused for Richard to be involved.

Gamuchirai's phone rang .

"Richard sweetie, could you answer that for me".

Richard shook his head at them and unplugged her phone from the charger and ventured to the bedroom and sat down.

"Who is this?", he asked.

"You are four months late with your book i expect an immediate chapter today failure to do that and you are fired".

Richard frowned he recognized that voice.

"Who am I speaking to?".

"Jason your boss".

Richard panicked and pulled the phone from his ear and stared at the display picture.

A picture of his wifes murderer smiled back at him amd from that moment he knew what to do.

He went downstairs called Rejiana, packed their bags for a small trip to Bulawayo and promised Gamuchirai to return. She was touched but he had said it was important so she decided it was.

Once they arrived in Bulawayo they stayed a night and sorted a plan.

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💜AIO💜