THE HONOURABLE MAN

Episode 8

Now that Bryce is enlightened on why Kiana is there and that she is not aware he is the one who paid Mrs Hopkins a visit and left the money for her, he can’t help feeling embarrassed. He is gratified Mrs Hopkins was honest enough to give the money to her like she had said she would, if not for that then Kiana wouldn’t have come back to Junior Centre.

Lying to the old lady about wanting to see Kiana concerning a tip turned out to be a good lie after all. “Thank you for the coffee Kiana,” he utters in a low voice as he is not sure of what else to say to her. “How did you know my name?” she is surprised for she had not yet introduced herself to him.

“Dina told me over the phone just now, by the way I am Bryce Adams and I’m the general manager,” he enlightens hoping to impress her.

“Oh I didn’t realise, it’s nice to meet you but please excuse me I have to rush home, I have got a load of assignments waiting for me,” she turns around getting ready to leave. “Wait! Please let me drive you home,” he offers.

She thinks about his offer for a moment and decides it’s not a good idea to have a stranger drive her home, she is not very trusting. He may rape and kill her and throw her body in the bushes and no one would ever know it was him. Watching a lot of crime investigation channels has made her wary and distrusting.

“Thank you but I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she declines. “Are you worried I may do something bad to you?” “As a matter of fact yes,” “come on do I look like that kind of a guy?” “Looks can be deceiving, I don’t judge a book by its cover and it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Bryce isn’t offended by her response instead he is impressed for he thinks she is an intelligent and cautious girl.

He takes a piece of paper and writes on it before he hands it to her.

“Call or text your closest friend or relative and let them Know Bryce Adams from Junior Centre is driving you home and you can give them my number plates that I’ve written down for you. This way I can’t kill you because someone will know I was the last person to see you and the police will know where to find me.”

“That will only make you a suspect but it won’t prove that you were the last person to see me just as it won’t prove that you are the one who killed me. As long as you lie and clear your tracks very well you will be eliminated as a suspect since one can’t be arrested without concrete evidence against them,” she confidently smirks.

“Wow! Are you studying law or criminology?” Kiana laughs before she answers him, “No” she giggles.

“Okay then you really have to stop watching too much crime investigations,” “Knowledge is power,” she argues. “Enough with that, here is the truth Kiana, I really like you and I would love to spend some time with you and for us to get to know each other. I am not a bad person I can be trusted, you can call Dina she will vouch for me.”

Kiana is still hesitant thus Bryce thinks the only way to get her to say yes is to tell her the truth and so he does just that starting from when he first saw her and how he tried to find her. It all makes perfect sense to her, she now understands why he was so surprised to see her and all the questions he was asking her.

“So that money was from you? I can’t believe you would go through all that trouble for little old me,” no doubt she is flattered that a handsome man like Bryce who happens to be the manager at Junior Centre would go through so much trouble to find her as if she were Cinderella. “If only you could see yourself through my eyes then you would understand, please let me drive you home, please?” he begs.

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to beg so much,” she finally agrees.

They walk together to the parking lot, Bryce cannot believe all this is happening, if it’s a dream he surely never wants to wake up. He keeps stealing glances at her and he is unaware she is doing the same.

While in the car she loosens up, she feels she can trust this guy and she already likes him. He switches on the radio and she is not shy to sing along, he changes the radio station and again she sings along, he changes the station once again and she still sings along to the song playing. He looks at her with his eyes wide open, eyebrows raised and mouth slightly open.

“What! Don’t look at me like that, I love music and so I know the lyrics to most popular songs,” she laughs softly. “If you are that good at memorizing then you will have no problem passing exams,” “most definitely, in a few years to come I’m going to be a manager just like you or even better a C.E.O,” she utters with confidence.

“Hmm someone is very ambitious, so let me guess you are studying Business Administration?” “Yep and this is my last year that’s why I had to quit my job.”

“How old are you?” he asks. “How old are you?” she throws the question back at him. “But I asked you first,” “It doesn’t matter.” “Fine! I’m twenty six, now it’s your turn,” he simpers. “Take a guess, how old do I look?” “Hmm maybe somewhere between eighteen and twenty?” “Good guess, I’m turning nineteen in eight weeks.” “Hmm is that so? I know you girls like to lie about your ages.”

Kiana rifles through her purse and pulls out her ID, “see” she shoots him a smirk as she waves it to him. They have been on the road for almost ten minutes and she is only realizing that he isn’t driving to her house since she hasn’t even thought to give him the directions and he hasn’t bothered to ask.

“Where are you taking me? I told you I want to go home I have assignments to do,” “I know but I thought we should grab some snacks first I’m hungry and I think you are too, it won’t take long I promise.” she nods her head agreeing to his request and five minutes later they pull into the parking lot and they get out of the car.

Bryce prefers out of town restaurants when he is going out with a lady, they are quiet and not crowded and chances of bumping into people you know are very slim. She is not his lady yet but hopefully she will be soon. He can tell that she likes him too there is a mutual attraction and a connection brewing between them.