LOVE'S JOURNEY

"Should we stop over at Remy's Plates?" Evelyn looked into Becky's eyes and asked when they were a few kilometers away from the restaurant. They were coming from a meeting with one of their sponsors and on their way back to the office.

"Remy's Plates is okay," Becky said, and Evelyn pulled over when they got there. They were just stepping out of the car when they heard someone say, "Evelyn Benson, is that you?"

Both of them turned around. A guy in a fitted brown suit, cream shirt, and red tie strolled toward them with a huge grin on his face. Colin Blake, the son of the business mogul, Sir Benjamin Blake; the Chairman and CEO of the popular Blake Cargo.

"Wow, wow!" Evelyn smiled at him. "Colin of life!" She hailed him.

"Evelyn, the beautiful girl," he opened his arms, and she walked right into his embrace.

They were childhood friends. They used to live together in the same neighborhood while growing up. Her father was a banker then, and they lived in one of the houses his bank maintained for their very senior staff members, while Colin and his family members lived in their personal apartment. Though he was closer to her twin brother, Edgar, who remained one of his best friends till date.

"It's been a long time. How are you?" He asked when they pulled apart. "What about Mr. Benson, and the kids?"

"Mr. Benson and the kids are fine." She smiled back at him.

"That's great," Colin remarked. "I hear great news about the NGO every time. Keep it up, sis." He patted her back.

"Thank you," Evelyn smiled with delight.

"It's almost two years since we last saw each other," he said with fondness.

"Yes, yes," Evelyn nodded. "We met last at Yenny Adam's wedding. I remember now."

"I always ask about you from Edgar." "Edgar," Evelyn waved her hand dismissively. "That one, he won't tell me anything. He only comes to my house when he wants free food."

"What do you expect from a bloody bachelor?" Colin remarked jokingly, and they both burst into laughter.

"I don't think I have met your friend," he looked over at Becky. She was so beautiful and she had a special aura around her.

"Pardon my manners," Evelyn said, "Meet Becky Andrews, she's the Programme Manager of the Open Arms Foundation." She said to Colin and then turned to Becky. "Colin is a great friend and one of our great supporters. You know, the checks from Colin Blake that come every month. That's the man behind the name."

Becky nodded. Recognition of the name from their financial records dawned on her. Her face broke into an appreciative smile. There were a lot of Evelyn's friends and family members who supported the foundation.

Colin stretched his hand towards Becky, "It's nice meeting you, Becky." She took his breath away as she looked directly at her now. Her beautiful smile and dentition mesmerized him.

"The same here, sir." Becky smiled and took his outstretched hand.

"Just Colin, please," he corrected with a chuckle.

"Okay," she nodded.

"Thank you very much," she said. "We are grateful for your support over the years." Since she started working at the Open Arms Foundation, alerts from his bank have never failed to come in on the second of every month.

"We thank God for that," Colin said as he pushed open the glass door leading to the restaurant. "After you ladies," he said.

The ladies went in and he followed.

"Good afternoon sir," the duty manager scurried towards them. Colin was one of their big customers. He always has most of his private and business meetings there.

"Good afternoon Mr. Leo," Colin replied and pumped the young man in the shoulder. "How do you do?"

"I'm fine sir." he gave Colin a mock salute. "I can see you have company," the man said. "Please come with me."

He led them to a table and then called a waiter to attend to them.

"Becky, here is the brain behind our programs and the amazing results of the foundation. She's the program manager." Evelyn said as she took her seat.

"That's good to hear." He took the seat directly opposite Becky, with his eyes fixed on her. "You are doing a great job Becky, please keep it up."

"Thank you si-," Becky smiled and looked away shyly.

He ordered a bottle of champagne for the starter, which the waiter brought immediately into a bucket.

While they sipped their wine, Evelyn opened her bag and brought out a white envelope, and handed it to him. "We are having a special program next week; an education congress. I will like you to come."

"Education congress, oh yes, I have seen the advert like twice on TV. He brought out the invite from the envelope. "Wow, it's going to be three days of events." He looked at Becky.

"Yes," she placed her wine glass on the table. "It's going to run from Thursday to Saturday."

"I will be looking forward to seeing you," Evelyn said. "You know you have never been to any of our programs."

"Yeah. I will come this time around." He said, smiling at the ladies.

"Is that a promise?" Evelyn sipped from her wine glass.

"Yes," his gaze fixed turned on Becky, he flashed her his killer slow smile, "If not for anything, I will make an appearance on Saturday because of Becky."

"That will be great!" Evelyn's face brightened up.

"I am so busy these days," he said further. "I would have promised to come during the week. You know, with daddy not being around and all." His dad had an accident and wasn't in the country at the moment. His father ran the business, along with Colin and his younger sister. They were two of the executive directors of the company.

"I'm sorry about your dad," Evelyn said. "Edgar told me." She cleaned her mouth with the napkin. "How is he now?"

"Well," he shrugged. "He's getting better. Though the process is going to take a while."

"Yeah," Evelyn nodded. "I can imagine."

He turned his attention back to Becky, "Tell me, how is the education congress going to be?" It intrigued him.

"It's going to start with a speaker who is a librarian talking to us about how family members can bond with books." Becky blushed and looked away briefly.

"Wow," it impressed Collin. "That's a brilliant idea!"

"That was how I felt when she gave me the idea," a proud Evelyn chipped in. "Tell him more," she urged Becky. She already saw that her friend was smitten with Becky.

"You are so creative," an impressed Colin said.

"There is also going to be a book fair on Saturday." Becky continued. She was so happy with herself. She likes it when she meets people who appreciate her work.

Colin listened with rapt attention as she talked. Her voice was so soothing. He liked the passion and assuredness she displayed. It was so obvious she enjoyed what she was doing for a living.

The waiter returned thirty minutes after he brought the wine, as Colin instructed him. They made their orders and their conversation shifted to lighter topics as they ate.

When they were leaving after the food, Evelyn gave Colin a nudge. "You seem to like Becky." Becky was out of earshot. She was walking ahead of them.

Surprised that she noticed, he just beamed and nodded.

"She's a wonderful girl, and she is available," Evelyn winked at Collin. "And I hope your thoughts are pure. I want no player around my girl. She's been through some rough patches lately."

He nodded, "I ain't no player." He placed a hand on his chest. "You of all people should know that." Evelyn just smiled and jabbed him playfully on his arm with her elbow.

They fell into silence until they walked to where she parked her car.

"I will be expecting you next week, Collin." Evelyn opened her car door.

"Sure, I will be there most definitely on Saturday," he told her.

Evelyn grinned, "thanks so much for lunch."

"My pleasure," he looked over at Becky, who was standing by the passage door of the car, "take care Becky, I will see you next week." He was having a rush of adrenaline again as he looked at her.

"Okay," she smiled back."I will be expecting you, Collin."

He waited for the ladies to get into the car. Colin watched as Evelyn drove off, wondering about how he could start falling in love with Becky at first sight.

Never in his life had he felt like that with any woman. It was almost four years after Lauren, his former girlfriend, and he had had no desire for any lady until now. It had been his work since.

He smiled into the thin air and walked to his car. His veins were still popping with excitement when he got back to the office, Blake Tower, which housed the head office of their company.

"Welcome sir," Mabel, his executive secretary, stopped typing on the computer. "Chairman called." She was referring to his father. "He said you should call him back as soon as you return, sir."

"Okay," he gave the young woman a thumbs up. "I will do just that." He walked into his office and picked up the phone to call his father.

"Where have you been? I have been trying to get you on your phones."

"It must be the network. My two phones are on. I went for lunch."

"Okay," the older Blake said from the other end. "I got a call from China. They are going to send in some documents today."

The company had been working on partnering with the biggest shipping company in China, and things were coming through. "I will copy you immediately after I get the document. I will want you to go over it and get back to me as soon as possible."

"Yes sir," Colin replied.

He and his father spoke for about twenty minutes more before they ended the call. He picked up the remote control and aimed it at the TV to change the channel.

Just that moment, his intercom rang, and he picked up the mouthpiece. It was Mabel, calling to tell him that two senior managers were in the conference room waiting for him.

"Oh, thanks." He was supposed to meet them for some briefing. Colin pushed his chair back a bit and opened a drawer to retrieve a file. He stood up and left for the conference room with the file and his iPad in hand.

Colin returned home after eight in the evening. The meeting with the senior managers took longer than he expected, and he stayed back for another hour to tidy some things up.

When he drove into the compound, he saw a car parked in front of his apartment. "Oh my God," he muttered under his breath. "Not today. What is Debbie looking for tonight?"

He parked at his usual spot and got out of his car. Debbie stood up on his veranda and said, "welcome sugar," she flashed him a smile.

"Debbie, how are you?" He punched in the code to open his door and they both walked in. He dropped his car key on the media stand and put his laptop bag on his work desk in the dining part of the sitting room, which he had converted into a home office.

"I have been waiting for you since," she said. "I think we should hang out together this evening. Since I'm traveling tomorrow night." She had earlier told him she would travel to the Sansfanscio for a cousin's wedding and will stay there for about a month.

"You should have called me," he sighed. "I have a lot to do tonight," he lied. "I will be off to my dad's study soon now. There are two virtual meetings lined up for me tonight." He frowned and I don't know how long the meetings will be."

"But I called you twice this morning." She looked hurt and shrugged her shoulders. "You didn't pick. Collin, you don't always pick up my calls."

"Debbie, you know I'm always busy," he rubbed his forehead. He was already feeling the onset of a severe headache.

"You are a genius, Becky," Colin said to her on Saturday. They were standing beside his car after the education congress at around 3:00 pm. "I enjoyed the activities so much, they should give you an award for this."

"Thank you," she beamed, impressed that he made it as he promised to. "I'm surprised that you came today."

"But I told you I would come," he took her hand and smiled. "I never failed at my words."

Becky just smiled, feeling light-headed; she hadn't felt like that in years.

She hadn't even thought about him at all since they met three days ago, but she had been feeling funny since he arrived for the program a few hours ago.

"Listen," he squeezed her hand. "I know you are still on duty and I won't want your boss to quarry you." He looked over at Evelyn and her twin brother, talking beside Edgar's. "Can you give me your phone number so we can talk later?"

"He wants my phone number!" Her heart leaped. She put up a little reluctance, though, "my number?"

"Yes," seeing her reluctance, he asked, "or you want me to beg for it?" He held her second hand. They were now facing each other, with him holding both of her hands. "Please, Becky, please give me your phone number."

Becky could not help herself. She burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay," she covered her mouth with her palm. "I will give you, just stop, stop." She burst into laughter again as she collected his phone to punch in her digits.

"Thank you," he winked at her. "You don't know how much I needed this." He made a face as if he had received something so precious.

Her heart fluttered in her chest at the way he winked at her. She burst into another fit of laughter. She was actually enjoying herself. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed heartily, like that with someone who wasn't a family member.

"I really have to go back now," she already saw the other staff members' impatient gaze lingering on her.

"Yes, okay," he put his hands in his pockets. "I will call you later at night."

She nodded, and they said their goodbyes.

Hours later, Becky came out of her bathroom refreshed after a well-deserved bath. Though it wasn't even eight pm yet, she planned to retire to bed early. Soft music played from one of her laptops on her desk.

She sat at her dressing table and applied her night cream on her body and face.

When she was done with that, she powered up her second computer. She needed to send some emails.

But instead of her doing that, she caught herself for the umpteenth time thinking about Colin Blake. His face kept flashing back at her.

It was so surreal because no man had caught her fancy in three years. She had sworn off men after her ex-fiance betrayed her three weeks before their wedding.

Her parents were getting worried because they hadn't seen any man with her since. To worsen her state of mind then, a few months after Felix broke up with her, she met the woman he cheated on her with at the supermarket when she went to buy some groceries spotting a wedding ring and a very visible pregnancy. That set Becky's emotions on the edge. She almost lost her sanity. She felt cheated all over again, thinking she was the one that was supposed to be carrying Felix's pregnancy, not her.

At some point, she had to see a therapist and her father insisted she must return home and leave her rented apartment.

Her therapist, too, said it was the best for her. That it wasn't a good idea for someone in a state of emotional trauma to stay alone.

She knew the therapist was right, because she had done things that she shouldn't be doing.

Her phone rang on the nightstand, where she was charging it, startling her out of her reverie. She reached over and picked it up. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was an unsaved number calling her.

She was so sure it must be Colin. Her face broke into a smile and she swiped across the screen. "Hello."

"Hey Becky," she heard him say from the other end.

"I hope you are back home now?" He asked.

"Oh yes," Becky laughed a little. "We all left not too long after you left."

"That's good." There was a bit of silence before he asked, "I hope you will have time to rest next week from all the stress?"

"Sure," she replied. "We are going to resume back at work on Wednesday, so I have from now till Tuesday to rest."

"That's good." He said.

She suddenly remembered about his dad and asked, "how about your dad's health? I hope he's getting better?"

"Yes," he replied, happy that she even recollected his conversation with Evelyn about his father. "He's getting better. Thank you."

"Is any family member with him over there?" She asked him.

"Oh yes, my mom is there with him," he told her. "Though she came home to sort some things out last week, she's back with him now."

"Okay." She got up from the chair and sat more comfortably on the sofa by the window. "At least with her around him, he would recuperate well."

"Yeah," he agreed with her.

His parents had traveled to Spain for their bi-yearly holiday out of the country as usual, with the plan to stay for a month. Everything was okay until his dad broke his ankle when playing lawn tennis one evening.

"Oh, no!" Becky exclaimed when he finished telling her.

"It's going to be about three to four months before they can remove the cast," he said to her. "You know it's the ankle and his age too will affect the healing process."

"That's a really long journey," she said.

"You can say that again."