THE HONOURABLE MAN

Episode 34

“It’s okay honey, you don’t have to tell me anything if you are not yet ready, I will wait,” he squeezes her shoulders. He doesn’t want her to feel pressured or force her to lie to him. Kiana thinks, what an amazing man he is, he is just too good to her but she has always been holding back that’s the reason she hasn’t set a wedding date.

His children adore her to bits and she has never had any problem with being a step mother but all of a sudden now that Bryce is back in her life whom has never been officially married or walked down the aisle with any woman and also shares no child with any woman, she can’t help imagining being his first legal wife and bearing him their very first child together.

He can give her the pride, comfort and satisfaction of being the first and possibly the only Mrs Adams and the first and only mother of his children. Harkins can never give her that, she would always be second in everything, the second wife and the second mother of his children and she can never share a first born with him because he already shared that with another woman. They can never experience their firsts together, it would always be her firsts and his seconds.

The truth is every woman would love the honour of being the first wife and the first baby mama but it’s not all about that for Kiana. Bryce was her very first love, the man she gave her virginity to, the first man to propose to her. Now that she understands that all they shared in the past wasn’t a lie, it changes everything for her but she is engaged to Harkins now and he is a very good man and he treats her right but her heart just doesn’t beat for him the way it beats for Bryce.

During the weekend Bryce pays his mother a surprise visit, she is pleasantly surprised and stirred to see her son not only looking dashing but also stable and well unlike the last time she saw him. Tears of joy escape from her eyes, “please don’t cry mother,” he pleads while using his fingers to wipe away her tears. He takes his mom out for dinner and they catch up, she is ecstatic to hear her son got his job back. They spend the rest of the day at home chit chatting while watching Ms Monroe’s favourite movies.

Sunday morning Bryce drives back to his house, he is all smiles and in a good mood it’s like the sun has only just begun to shine again in his life. He needs to see Kiana but he is afraid to call and ask her out, she is after all an engaged woman and he is afraid she might turn him down. He opts to call his buddy instead hoping he would give him a brilliant idea as he always does. “I need to see Kiana but I don’t know how, so what do I say to her?” “It’s a weekend dude, she is probably in bed with her fiancé.”

The thought of Kiana being touched by another man makes his stomach turn.

“Just shut your mouth Pete! From what I heard Harkins spends his Sundays alone with his daughters.” “Are you sure you want to make a move on your doctor’s girl?” “She was mine first and it’s going to be her decision who she wants to be with, just stop with your silly questions and give me good ideas because I don’t want to appear too obvious.”

“How about Selena invites her over for dinner at my house? She can’t say no to Selena, she was like a big sister to her and they really clicked. I will call you when she gets here and then you can pass by and act surprised to see her.” “Okay I think that may work, provided she says yes but I don’t want to trouble Selena with all the extra cooking and dishes.” “Don’t worry about it, my wife loves cooking and she loves Kiana she would do anything to help you guys get back together.”

Indeed, Selena is excited to have guests over for dinner, it’s an opportunity for her to show off her ever improving cooking skills. Before deciding on what to cook she has to call Kiana first and try her best to convince her to come. Kiana is lounging on the couch watching TV with her young sister Maliah when her phone rings, she is hesitant to get up from her comfortable position, “Let it ring, whoever it is will have to call back later.”

The phone keeps ringing and vibrating on top of the centre table, Maliah is annoyed by the constant ringing and she can’t take it anymore she grumpily gets up to grab the phone and pass it to her sister. “It’s an unknown number, I wonder who it is,” Kiana mumbles. She is delighted to hear from Selena who tells her she heard rumours that she is back in town and would love to have her over for dinner and of course Kiana can never say no to her so she gladly accepts the invitation.

She does wonder if it’s possible that this was all planned by Bryce, she hopes so because she would love to see him again, she just couldn’t be the one to call him and ask to see him. What reason would she have given him and what if he turned her down?

“Who was it and where do you plan to go leaving me?” Maliah questions. “It’s Selena, she invited me over for dinner at her house.”

“Is that the reason you have this sudden glow all over your face as if some hot guy you have a crush on has just asked you out?” “What! I don’t have a glow,” “Oh yes you do! Who is this Selena anyway?” “She is Pete’s wife,” “you say that as if I’m supposed to know who this Pete is,” she rolls her eyes. “Well Pete is. . . Bryce’s best friend,” she stammers.

Maliah jumps off her seat upon hearing the name Bryce. “Bryce as in Bryce Adams?” “Yeah, what’s the big deal?” “What’s the big deal? Really! I know you did not just ask me that stupid question.” “Hey! Mind your tongue, I don’t care that you are eighteen now I’m still your big sister.”