"THE ONE" PART 2

Tamara reluctantly looked over her shoulders to the phone on her bed. She knew that both of them might have called or left messages. It is a good thing none of them knew where she lived. This time around she took an off app cab outside the club so there was no way Hans would trace her and neither would Zack. She looked back blankly out of the misty window. She was hesitant about picking the phone let alone turning it on. She wasn’t sure what she would find. Both men had a right to be mad, they probably had talked when she left them and discovered she was seeing them both at the same time. 

The ding-dong from the door-bell startled her. She tightened her bathrobes straps. 

Zack paced up and down the living room. He almost felt every fiber of the bohemian rug beneath his bare feet. He subconsciously tapped the rim of his whiskey half-glass. She still hadn’t switched her phone on. He has no way finding her if not through the phone. He paced over to the decanter and refilled the glass he had just bottomed up and winced at the sting of the neat drink on his tongue. He could feel the fire go down his throat and sit at his belly. It wasn’t anything close to the fire that he felt for her. Tamara was a stunner. It was everything about her. The blink of her eyes, slow; you would think it’s a cinematography effect. Her voice was all the harps and flutes, it made her voice mellow yet imposing, it imposed feelings he didn’t want to let go. It was natural for him like a man to be attracted to all the externals, like her flowing hair, complete with the baby hair fluffing her forehead. There was much more about her though. Witty, industrious, calm and funny. Nothing short of a queen goddess. He was obsessed. All the memories seemed to flash fast before inner eyes. 

Tamara walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole. She froze! She felt hot in her mouth. She could not get the connection. She reached to the door lock but then hesitated. The best thing would be to go put on her sweat suit first before opening her door. She acted fast. Another ring on the door bell. She went back to the door only to see the last of them walking away and turning to the direction of the elevators . “What would cops be doing ringing my door bell at this hour, are the two guys alright?” She rushed to her bed where she had left the phone, picked it then switched it on. Her hands were shaking, she pressed in the password, missed a digit so the entry came back as incorrect. 

“…she hasn’t switched her phone on since” boomed Hans. Tamara always left so many traces around Hans. There was this time she had used his phone to call Janice, one of her closest friend. Hans doesn’t ever clear call logs so his fast mind led him to trace the number. He remembered that the call was made at Cold Stone where they liked hanging out to have ice cream. This time they were at the Hub in Karen so it was not hard tracing the transaction since he had paid using mobile money. On the transaction code he found the date and time and bingo; hello Janice.

“… let me try and reach her then let you know, trust me, everything will be fine Hans, you have nothing to be overly worried about…” came Janice’s response. 

Another ring on the bell, Zack went for the door; it was pizza delivery. He was famished and wasn’t in the mood for fixing himself anything. He didn’t want to step out of the house either so he did the reasonable. He tipped the guy and pushed the door shut behind him with the heels of his legs. He went over the open kitchen counter and placed the box on it. He dug in for a slice then swiped open his phone screen. The ticks were double greys on WhatsApp. Tamara’s phone was finally on. He quickly went to the dial and punched in Tamara’s number off-head…

Her phone was buzzing from all the messages and notifications coming in. She pressed the side key to silent and threw it back on to the bed to let everything in that piece of tech settle in. Just then, another startle from the doorbell. This time she didn’t hesitate, she went over fast, looked through the peephole, saw Janice and almost simultaneously got the door locks off. 

Janice breezed in then turned to gather Tamara into a hug right after the door was closed and locked behind her. “What is going on girl, I have been trying to call you all morning!” Janice was right in her care energy; she looked deep into Tamara’s eyes, not winking her wide, lashy brown ones. ..”And your friend Hans, called me, where did he get my number even? Tamara, is everything alright?” What is going on, she asked her leading her to the couch and helping her sit down slowly, she almost never took her eyes off Tamara’s Face.