Crush at First Sight

Simon sat with his right arm holding firmly to the steering wheel as the metallic gate in front of the car automatically pulled itself open.

He was now looking at Sarah where she sat on the passenger seat right beside him.

"So are you ready to meet my family?" He said, smiling slightly.

"Ohw come on, how are you the one who's so nervous about this. I mean, your parents don't bite, do they?"

"Hmmn, I wouldn't be so sure about Dad." He said, chuckling slightly and looking forward to see that the gate was now completely open.

He then pressured his foot and the vehicle flowed gracefully forward through the gate to step into the neatly flagstoned driveway afront the white mansion.

"What." Sarah said.

"Never mind," He interrupted. "You are probably right. I don't know why I'm like this today... I care too much what they think, maybe."

Simon then curved slowly around the tall concrete fountain that kept throwing jets of water into the air. He was now carefully entering the parking space when he saw them - through his side mirror - step out of the house and stand in front of the door.

Charles wore a long robe which tied tightly around his waist and he held a folded newspaper in his right arm.

Rose, on the other hand, clad in her pajamas and a broad smile carved itself onto her face as she watched her eldest remove bags from the back of his car and begin walking towards them, accompanied by a beautiful young woman.

Rose had dreamt of this day for so long that seeing this now felt almost too real, or maybe unreal.

"Brian!" She called to the housekeeper who was now opening the front door from inside the house.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Get their bags."

Brian then quickly rushed over to Simon and smiled at him before relieving him of the two suitcases he'd been pulling behind.

Brian then walked fast past Charles and Rose, pushing the wheeled bags through the glass front door and into the mansion.

"Mom." Simon said, smiling as he approached where the two now stood.

"My Simon. Come here and give me some love." She responded, opening her arms out and moving forward to meet him.

She then enveloped him in a warm and tight hug.

"Why haven't you come to see your mother in so long?" She said, still holding him tight.

"I'm here now... Mom, aren't I?" He responded, breaking off from her embrace and immediately turning to Charles with his arms open.

Charles then suddenly put forward his clenched right fist and Simon's heart almost skipped a beat as he had first thought it was intended to be a punch. He then calmed down when he realized the fist was now held firmly midair and he immediately lowered his raised hands and fistbumped his father.

"I'm glad to see you son. How was the trip?" He rumbled.

Simon then grinned slightly.

"It was just alright... thank you."

"How are things at the office. I sure miss that old place." Charles said.

"Everything is just fine at the office, everyone told me to say hi and tell you that they miss you... Ohw and, Mom, Dad... this is Sarah. My fiance." He added, turning around to look at her where she'd been standing quietly behind him.

Sarah then walked forward and stretched her arm towards Rose, holding her left onto it in respect.

"Mmmnh, Sarah is a beautiful name." Rose said, taking her arm and shaking it slightly as she stared at Sarah's face.

"Thank you... It's a pleasure to finally meet you Mrs. Muli." She said.

"Pleasure is all mine." Rose's smile was now ear to ear.

"Feel at home young lady." Charles said as he now shook her hand and she bobbed a curtsy to him.

"Thank you sir."

"Let's go inside, it's getting chilly out here." Charles said.

The four then walked together into the house through the glass door.

As they did, darkness was beginning to creep in and the outside lights suddenly came on, sending bright light to every nook and cranny of the green lawn and neat compound afront the white mansion.

"Sharla isn't back yet? I thought they would be here by now." Charles complained as the four walked into the living room and each took seats on the black couches arranged in front of the massive television screen.

There was also a clear-glass table placed in front of them atop the carpet they now stepped upon.

"I'll call her and see where they are." Rose said and removed her sleek smartphone, holding it up to her face and beginning to scroll up and down its glossy screen.

****************

Michael was now lifting the huge suitcase from the opened-out back of the cab right outside the gate into their home.

Sharla, his elder sister, stood by the driver's window speaking to the cab driver.

"How much is it?"

"That will be six hundred."

"I can pay you with my phone right?"

"Sure," the driver said. "Here are the details." He added, pointing to a small poster on his windscreen.

Sharla then immediately copied the numbers onto her phone and in no time the driver's smartphone buzzed. He took one quick glance at its screen and then looked up at Sharla.

"Okay. Thank you." He said and immediately pulled away from where she stood.

Sharla then turned around to see that Michael had already opened the small gate and was now pushing his bag along the flagstoned compound inside.

"Wait for me." She said.

As she spoke, the phone in her arm vibrated as it rung and she immediately looked at it.

'MOM' the screen read and she picked.

"Where are you?" Rose said from the other side of the call.

"We are already here... at the gate actually."

"Oh okay. Hurry inside then, we are waiting for you." Rose added and she hung up.

"Ohw and did I tell you that Simon is bringing home a girl?" Sharla said, walking up to Michael who had been walking slowly in front of her.

"What..." Michael said, turning to her in surprise. "No way, our brother is not the kind to settle."

"I know right? When Mom told me, I almost burst into laughter... I'm dying to see her." Sharla added as they now approached the mansion.

"That's his car," Michael said, glancing once at the black sedan parked outside under the tall light pole. "He's already here."

Michael then lifted his huge bag off the ground to climb it onto the steps that stood in front of the door and now pushed the bag forward towards the door.

"You're right, I also now can't wait to see Simon's new girl." He added as the two now walked into house.

**************

The entirety of Muli's family now - including Simon's new girl - all sat together around the oval dining table. Charles and Rose sat opposite each other at the far ends whereas Simon sat beside Sarah on the one side.

On the other side sat Michael and Sharla. This was not by mere chance or necessity. No, Michael and Sharla had always had a deep connection regardless of the two years that separated them. They had pretty much grown up together and ended up being best buddies even now in young adulthood.

The dining table was packed full of delicacies. There was a roasted turkey placed on a tray in the middle somewhere. There were large bowls of white rice alongside huge hotpots carrying brownish deliciousness. There were also wooden bowls filled with all manner of fruits and juices in boxes were scattered across the table.

Everyone had now already served onto their plates and continued gobbling down as they maintained a silence.

"So Sarah, what do you do?" Rose said, raising her face.

Sarah took a minute to swallow before answering.

"I am a cashier at a mall in town, it's called TwinLight... maybe you've heard of it?"

"Yeah... I know TwinLight." Michael suddenly replied.

He didn't know why he felt the deep urge to speak. To speak to her. Since laying his eyes on her earlier, he hadn't been able to avoid doing it again and again. It was so strange because Michael knew in his core there was nothing like love at first sight.

And even if there was, this was his brother's girl. Yet even with all this he still felt something, he didn't know what, but there was something.

"Ohw that's nice... I like an independent woman. So tell me how you met my son."

"Mmmn... you wouldn't believe. So this fine morning I'm walking into my usual coffee shop and then out of nowhere I suddenly bump into someone right at the door. The hot coffee he's carrying spills everywhere both on himself and me too... and with that coffee burning us our eyes locked, and that was the beginning. " She said, smiling and turning to face Simon who then in turn smiled back.

"Enough already..." Charles intervened. "Michael, what's going on with your hair?" He added, his face stern and looking straight at Michael like an hawk eyeing its prey.

Michael had let his hair grow out to quite a length and it now looked rugged and unkempt.

"Oh, just trying something new." He said, raising his right arm and brushing it over his shaggy hair.

"You are almost done with school now young man. You need to grow up and groom yourself like someone that knows what they are doing. You will be joining Simon at the office soon... you can't work looking like that."

"There is something I need to tell you, Dad." Michael said boldly and paused. "I changed my course at school."

"What?" It came simultaneously out of both Charles' and Rose's surprised mouths.

"Why? And what did you change to?" Rose added.

"Art School." Michael responded instantly, turning now to his mother. "And I changed because I never wanted to do business management in the first place." He added, turning to Charles' shocked face.

"Why would you not want to do it when there is a position waiting for you in the family business? Are you nuts?" Charles said, raising his arms in sheer disbelief.

"I didn't because that's what you wanted me to do Dad... have you ever thought to ask what I want to do with my life?"

Charles clicked.

"You are a crazy person. What do you mean what you want with your life... isn't what you want a stable job with good income which is guaranteed for you because you are my son?"

"What is it you want, Michael?" Rose intervened.

"My soul is artistic Mom. I've been learning to sketch and paint... I can even play the guitar now, and I have never been more alive."

"This is unbelievable," Charles said and stood up. "What is the guitar going to do for you? You mean to tell me you've been wasting my money being taught how to pull some strings on a piece of wood?"

"This is the twenty first century, Dad. Art is a career."

"He has a point Charles..." Rose said, looking over at him where he now stood beside the table.

Sharla, Simon and Sarah all now sat quietly, absorbing the tensions and drama being thrown around the room.

"We must allow him to follow his passion." She continued.

"Ohw come on, you are siding with him?"

"Yes I'm siding with him... I think he's grown enough to make his own choices."

"Thank you Mom."

"This is unbelievable..." Charles said and paused. "I'm not even hungry anymore. I'll be upstairs." He added and immediately stormed out of the room, leaving them momentarily silent.

"Wow. That was intense." Simon exclaimed.

"I think I'm gonna get some air too." Michael said and also stood up from his chair. He then pushed the chair slowly into the space under the table before walking out of the room.

**************

Michael now sat outside in the chilling cold right in front of the front door to the mansion. He sat upon the concrete kerb lining the parking space and he held his guitar in his hands.

"I found a love..." He began, and immediately struck the cords, rhyming their sounds into his singing.

"For me... Darling just dive right in and follow my lead... I found a woman, beautiful and sweet, I never knew you were that someone, waiting for me..."

As he kept singing to calm himself down, Sarah appeared out the door to hear the voice singing the familiar lyrics.

She then walked slowly up to Michael and stood behind him as he continued singing, oblivious of her presence there.

"You have such vocals." She said.

Michael was suddenly startled and he jumped up to his feet and turned, which was when he saw her standing there in front of him. The object of his crush-at-first-sight.

"Ohw it's you," He said. "What are you doing out here?"

"I followed you."

"Why woul... why would you follow me?"

"Because I'm smitten by your crazy courage." She said.

"But you are my brother's girl. I wouldn't..."

"What if I told you I wasn't."

"What."

"Your brother and I met two nights ago at a club and he told me he would pay me if I pretended to be his girlfriend to his parents."

"No shit," Michael said in disbelief. "So all that stuff you said about how you two met..."

"Yeah, we made that up on the way here." Sarah said and smiled.

Michael laughed.

"I knew it. I knew Simon must have been up to some drama. Can't wait to tell Sharla about this." He added and now smiled too.

Their eyes then suddenly locked and they saw into each other's smile.

There was a silence.

"Would you like to play me a song?" She said.

"I wouldn't like to, I'm boiling inside to do it."

And so Michael and Sarah sat together onto the kerb amidst the quiet and cold night. He gave himself into the guitar, striking it with such grace as he had never done before. And he sang, he sang his heart out.

And who knows, that night maybe they exchanged more than their numbers. Maybe the little spark that fired on that porch that night eventually grew out into a full-on fire.