Chapter 28
Colin and Becky held each other’s hands as they walked out of the cinema on Tuesday night. They both enjoyed the romantic comedy. They laughed the entire time.
“I hope you are hungry now?” Colin asked her as he opened the car door for her.
“Yes,” she rubbed her belly. “I’m famished now.”
“Hi, Colin,” he heard the unmistaken voice of Debbie behind him and turned around.
“Hi, Debbie, how are you?” He looked over at her companion and greeted him.
“Hello, Jacy.”
“Colin,” Jacy stretched his hand and the two guys shook. “How do you do?”
“I’m fine,” he replied.
The ladies greeted themselves too.
Debbie introduced Jacy as her boyfriend, and the four of them chatted for a bit before Debbie and Jacy said their goodbyes. They were going in for the next show.
“Hmmm,” Becky drawled as she and Colin got into the car. “Finally, our friend has found herself a boyfriend…That is so cool, I’m happy!”
Colin gave her a lopsided grin. “What if I tell you that Jacy is not a new boyfriend?” He buckled his seatbelt. “They’ve been together for almost seven years now, though their relationship has been a kind of off and on thing.”
Jacy and Debbie became an item over six years ago, when they were both in college. Jacy was madly in love with her, and he still was. Debbie loved him too, but she was just obsessed with Colin.
Whenever she became pissed off with him, she would call off the relationship and block Jacy away totally until something brings them back again.
“Wow!” Becky stared at him, jaw dropped. “Do you mean what you’re saying?”
“Yeah,” he nodded and started the car. “The guy is so much in love with her, but her eyes are on someone else.”
“True, I noticed,” Becky corroborated his point. “I saw the way he was looking at her.”
“Well,” he shrugged. “That’s their problem.”
The conversation veered off onto other subjects until they got to the restaurant.
“You remember that girl from Willowtown?” Becky asked Colin with a bright smile minutes later as they were finishing their vegetable soup starter.
Willowtown was the slum the Open Arms Foundation had targeted to use the funds from Blake Cargos to help the less privileged.
Going to the slums around the city to help the out-of-school kids had been one of Evelyn, Becky’s boss’s dreams. They had started at a point but had to stop because of lack of funds. Evelyn couldn’t be happier when Colin asked Becky to write a proposal. She didn’t think twice about what they should use such huge funds for.
“I remember,” he nodded. “What about her?”
“Her father has given his consent for her to return to school.”
The girl, Catherine, had stopped going to school for over two years after her mother died. Her father stopped her from going to school, insisting she had to help him in his struggling coffee shop to take up the vacuum created in the shop by the death of her mother. Saying he couldn’t afford to employ someone he had to be paying.
“That’s good news.” Collin looked thoughtfully into her eyes.
“She will be part of the people that will enjoy the Blake Cargos sponsorship.” She informed him.
“That’s fantastic!” He held her hand over the table. “You guys are doing a great job.”
The thing he loved about Becky was her dedication to her job. It was always glaring that she absolutely loved what she was doing. He could listen to her for hours on end when she talks about her work. She and Evelyn were really making tremendous impacts.
“You are so passionate about your work. I’m always happy seeing how dedicated you are to helping people.”
“Thank you,” she gave him a shy smile. “I feel so fulfilled doing this.”
Though her salary was not as much as it would have been if she were to be working in the corporate sector. But her zeal was out of this world.
“I know,” he stroked her wrists, happy for being with such a remarkable person. “I love you so much, sweetheart.” He breathed.
“Thank you,” she chuckled self consciously. “I love you so much, too. You know it’s because of your good heart we can do this.”
The waiter came over to pack the dishes away. Another followed suit with their main dish and set it down in front of them.
Halfway through their meal, Colin dropped the napkin he used in cleaning his mouth back on the table and said to Becky, “sweetheart, I want us to go away somewhere.” He drank from his wine. “Just you and I, for a week or ten days.”
Becky giggled. She liked the idea very much.
“I hope you are entitled to some days of holidays, right?”NôvelDrama.Org copyrighted © content.
“Sure,” she set her fork across her plate and cleaned her mouth. “I am entitled to a fifteen day holiday in a year. And another fifteen days without pay.”
“Oh. That’s great,” he smiled, feeling giddy.
“So, where do you have in mind?” She asked him.
“Anywhere,” he said. “But outside this city, though. And we are going to be there for your birthday.” He topped up their wine glasses. It was going to be the first time she would celebrate her birthday since they’ve been together.
“Okay. I will think about where I would like to go,” she picked her wine glass. “Give me a day or two.”
“It’s okay,” he picked up his wineglass too and sipped from it. “Or if you don’t mind, I can ask our travel agent to link up with you. She could give you some fantastic ideas.”
Her face brightened up. “I think that’s a great idea. I will like that.”
That settled, they returned to their food.
“How is Betty these days?” He asked when they were having their dessert. “I hope her thesis is not giving her much trouble?”
“Not so much,” Becky said. “She’s writing her last chapter now and they will be defending her thesis soon.”
“That’s so good to hear,” he said. They talked about her other siblings too for the rest of the evening.
Colin, being an only child, liked to be regaled with siblings’ stories by people around him.