If It's With You

026- Breakfast

Muna

My heart was beating like a drum in a crescendo, quickening its rhythm with each passing moment.

I was never one of those people that hated surprises. No, let me rephrase that. I never had an opinion on that, since I never got to experience it until now.

Imagine how I felt when I got a call from my mom, saying she was in New York to see me and was waiting in my apartment lobby.

Imagine how surprised I was when my best friend popped up in my face while I was tightly wrapped in my mother’s arm. Yes, Maya was here with my mom. When I told you, I screamed, attracting all the unwanted attention to us.

They perfectly hid it from me and when Mom said something about a surprise, I never imagined stuff like this. I was happy to see them, just like they were to see me. They were actually in New York since last night and as they happily narrated everything to me, laughing and talking, my apartment door opened, revealing Nicklaus.

That was when the big grin that was plastered on my mom’s face dropped, leaving a serious expression spreading on it. She glanced between me and Nicklaus before focusing her stare back on him.

Meanwhile, Nicklaus was rooted in a spot looking unfazed.

Last night with Nicklaus was special, and it stirred something stronger than what I was previously feeling for him. Something like fire which had my heart racing in anticipation of our future.

But my mom didn’t know about him or any of these. Anytime she asked, I told her I was taking as much break as she had advised. She wanted me to exercise at least a six-month period of healing, which made sense to me.

But then, Nicklaus happened and I desperately wanted to say that he was the best thing to have happened to me since moving here. Of course, he was. Deep down, I knew but I wouldn’t admit that now, because I didn’t know what last night meant to him. That was also the reason I didn’t want him to meet my mother yet. I wanted to be sure about him before he could meet people that mattered to me.

The look on my mom’s face intensified into a glare when Maya stepped forward from my right-hand side, grinning heavily at Nicklaus.

She smiled, her dimples digging deeper into her cheeks. “Oh my God, you’re Nicklaus right? I have heard so much about you.”

Many people always said we looked similar, if only I had those beautiful dimples too.

I mentally facepalmed when she told him that he looked even much better in real life than in his photos while shaking his hand aggressively.

She wasn’t supposed to say that to him. Hell, she wasn’t supposed to say that in front of Mom.

I could swear that I caught a glimpse of a smirk on Nicklaus’ face, but it quickly faded leaving his face blank and eyes back to my mom.

The next person to say something was mom. She asked if I had a roommate and if I was having a problem paying rent, which got Maya laughing like a giraffe.

When I went on and told her that his apartment was right above mine and he came to help fix my laptop, not only did she give me the ‘You think I’m stupid look,’ Nicklaus stared hard at me in something like displeasure.

But thank God, instead of spilling the whole tea, he went ahead and introduced himself respectfully, shaking hands with my mother.

Before he could excuse himself, Maya invited him to join us for the breakfast we were about to go out for, and my heart sank to my stomach. I was going to kill her later.