THE MEETING.

Michael checks his wristwatch for the time, impatiently waiting for Lara to turn up. He texted her the address of the restaurant where they were supposed to meet long before he left Camille's place, hoping to get on with the meeting and move on with his life.

He wonders what is delaying her, as it's already quarter past 8, fifteen minutes later than the agreed time of their meeting.

Just as he was about to pick up his phone to call her, she breezed in accompanied by a tall, dark, lanky guy.

She scans the restaurant, looking for him, and makes her way over as soon as she sees him. She takes her seat opposite him, apologizing for the delay. The guy with her took his seat beside her.

"Hi Michael, I am sorry for delaying you. I had to wait for Frank here so we could come together.

Seeing the look of confusion on his face, she quickly adds,

"Frank is my boyfriend; we agreed it would be better if we came together to eliminate any suspicions whatsoever."

Sighing in relief, "It's all good; I haven't been waiting that long. How are you doing, Frank? I am pleased to meet you."

He stretches his hand for a brief handshake with Frank.

The latter responds cheerfully,

"I am doing good; it's really great to meet you."

"Same here. So, Lara, you wanted us to discuss how best to tell Camille about the whole situation."

He says not sure if Frank has been brought up to date.

"By the way, she said yes."

"Oh! Wonderful! I am so happy for you both."

Turning to Frank,

"Isn't that wonderful?"

"It most certainly is. Congratulations."

Frank says smiling.

Genuinely pleased, Michael beams at them both.

"Thank you so much, Lara, Is it okay if we talk here?"

"Sure, we can. Frank knows everything about me; we have no secrets. He was the one who suggested I apologize to you. On that note, I am sincerely sorry for everything I put you through. I don't know why I acted that way. I have my boyfriend now, and he's all I ever wanted. I wish you and Camille the utmost happiness."

Michael stares disbelievably at her.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am. I am ashamed of how I acted. I was just trying to see if you were going to be the right man for my cousin. I didn't want you to hurt her, but now that I see that you genuinely love her, I'm happy; it's all I ever wished for."

"I love Camille so much, and I would never do anything to hurt her. She's my life and my world. I am so relieved to hear you say this. Honestly, I have been scared. Thanks for coming around. I promise I won't disappoint you."

To Frank,

"Thanks so much, man. I am grateful for your part in this."

"You don't have to thank me; we are typically family now. After all, we are dating cousins, and I intend to make an honest woman out of my baby soon."

Drawing Lara close to him, he kisses her forehead.

Michael looks on in amusement at the show of affection between them both, inwardly thanking his stars that Lara finally came around.

"Shall we order now, guys?"

'Frank releases Lara.

"We should, but before that, we should take a picture together to seal the success of this meeting."

"Sure, we should."

Lara seconds.

"I know Camille is going to be very pleased we worked things out. When do you intend to tell her, Michael?"

"I ought to have told her today, but I wanted to meet with you first. You suggested we devise how to tell her."

"True. It's all good now; you can tell her yourself whenever you want to. I would corroborate your story and explain how it all happened. We both have our share of the blame, so it's not all on you. I am just glad we are good now."

"Thanks, Lara. I guess I will tell her tomorrow then. I am glad we are on the same page too. Who is going to take the picture?"

Frank stretches out his arm toward Michael.

"We should take a selfie first, and then I would take a picture of you and Lara. Let's use your phone; my battery is low."

Placing his iPhone 13 Pro in Frank's palm after typing in his password, they pose for pictures. Once done, Michael asks for his phone back.

"I was hoping I could send the pictures to my phone. I would love to have them with me too, if you don't mind."

Frank says he is pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"It's okay. Take your time."

He calls the waiter, who takes their orders, and walks away.

Frank suddenly stands up to his feet and says,

"I need to make an urgent call; I just got a message. Be right back."

He walks out of the restaurant hurriedly before Michael can ask for his phone back. Turning to Lara,

"You think you can help me ask him for my phone? I feel naked without it."

Giving him a reassuring smile as the waiter places their food on the table,

"It's okay. He's going to be back soon. You heard him say he had to make a call."

"Alright. Let's eat then."

They begin to eat their food, chatting and swapping stories of Camille with fun and laughter.

It's been almost thirty minutes since Frank went out to make his call, and just as Michael was about to panic, he reappears.

"I am extremely sorry. The call was an urgent one I had to attend to."

"It's all good. I hope there's no problem."

Whispering something in Lara's ear that makes her giggle, he hands Michael's phone back to him.

"No problem at all. I just had to attend to something real quick."

Sliding the phone back into his pocket,

"Okay cool. Your food must be cold by now."

Picking up the cutlery to eat,

"It's not too cold. It's just how I like it; I don't eat when it's steaming hot."

Lara and Michael soon finish eating their food, ordering dessert, and making quick work of it too.

Frank refuses dessert, instead thanking Michael for a wonderful time and telling him they had to leave.

"You can order your dessert to go, you know? Bills on me."

Michael urges again.

Pushing aside his plate of half-eaten food, he shakes his head.

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks once again for treating us to a wonderful time. It was good getting to meet you. I hope we can hang out one of these days."

"I am up for it whenever you are. I welcome the opportunity to get to know you better."

"I do too, man. You seem like a really cool person."

"Thanks, Frank. I could say the same about you too."

To Lara,

"Hold on to this man tight; he's a catch."

Chuckling, she replies,

"You are going to make him feel pompous; I am the catch."

"I know she would never admit it, so let's indulge her."

Franksays it says it in a conspiratorial tone.

"We should be on our way.."

Pulling Lara to her feet, he stretches his hand for a handshake with Michael, who also stands to return the courtesy.

They exchange their goodbyes and Lara left the restaurant with her man. Michael sits back to enjoy the rest of his dessert, and calls for the bill as soon as he was done.

He picks up his phone and scrolls through the gallery to look at the pictures he took with Frank and Lara. He is puzzled to discover that the pictures are not there. He refreshes his gallery again,again, looking for the pictures to no avail. Giving up, he decides the pictures must have self-deleted as his phone memory might be full. Making a note at the back of his mind to ask for the pictures from Frank later, he dials Camille's number. The phone rings for a while, and Camille soon picks up the call, her gay voice filling the phone.

"Hey, fiance. I miss you already."

"I miss you too, baby. How are you doing?"

"I am doing okay, I just miss you."

"As expected. I had a meeting with someone that went better than I expected. I would tell you all about it tomorrow."

"Why not tonight?"

"Because I have to talk to my Mom tonight about us. I plan to introduce you to her soon. You both need to bond well before you travel."

"I can't wait to meet her too. I have so many things to thank her for,  the least of them is raising the fine man who's going to be my husband someday."

"You can tell her all that when you see her. I, for one, know that she can't wait to meet you too. She's been pestering me about you for a long time."

"Okay, babe. Head on home; we will talk tomorrow."

"We sure will. It's going to be a lonely night without you."

"Same here, my love. Call me when you get home; I love you."

"I love you too, my darling."

Michael ends the call and makes his way outside to his car to drive out of the restaurant.

Driving home along the highway within the normal speed limit of 100 km/hr, in a relaxed and happy mood, he observes his car shaking and wobbling to one side. Making a mental note to have his mechanic check on the car in the morning, he drives carefully, making sure to reduce his speed to well below the normal speed limit.

He arrives home and parks his car carefully, whistling a happy tune as he makes his way inside.

"Mom, I'm home."

He calls out to his mother from the door.

His mother makes her way down the stairs, dressed in her nightgown, obviously ready for bed.

"Welcome home; how was your day?"

He gives her a peck on the cheek as she reaches him,

"My day went better than I expected. I proposed to Camille, and guess what?"

"What son? Did she say yes?"

"You can bet she did."

He is grinning stupidly at her.

She draws him closer for a hug to congratulate him.

"Congratulations, son,  you have made me proud."

"Thanks, Mom. That's not all."

Taking her hand in his and leading her to the couch to sit and taking his seat beside her,

"I have got more news."

"I am all ears."

"I met with Camille's cousin, Lara, tonight for dinner."

Frowning in disapproval,

Is that wise?"

"It turned out better than I expected."

He launches into the story of the meeting with Lara and her boyfriend and how they parted ways amicably.

"It's a relief, isn't it? I get to tell Camille everything tomorrow and get all the secrets out of the way. I took your advice, and it turned out to be priceless as usual."

"It certainly is a relief. Thank God for small miracles. I expected more drama on account of that girl. Speaking of which, I just remembered something."

"What is it, Mom?"

"How come Camille didn't know about the nude pictures of her cousin you released? Isn't she active on the internet?"

"Remember, Dad paid the blogger who got the lead on the story to squash it. I pulled down the pictures hours after I uploaded them and tagged her. She couldn't have seen it that fast. Only a few people got to actually see it. The blogger could have made the pictures trend, but Dad paid him to squash the story."

"I get it now. When do I get to meet Camille? You have been really secretive about her identity."

"I haven't been secretive about it, I just wanted to wait for the right time before making introductions. You would get to meet her within the week, she's really excited about meeting you too."

"I really can't wait to meet the damsel that turned my son's life positively around. I can already envision us plotting behind your back."

She giggles in excitement.

"None of that, Mom, or I just might change my mind. There is no conspiracy of any sort behind my back."

"If it takes you too long to get her here, you are going to force me to seek her out myself."

"I give up, Mom, she will be here as soon as she can make time within the week."

"That's better. What next, son? Wedding?"

"Not so fast, Mom. She's still got years of studying ahead of her. I plan to give her time and support her however I can. I would wait for as long as it takes."

Nodding her head in approval,

"I am really proud of you. You seem to have matured so much in the space of a few months. She really must be a superwoman to have worked such wonders on you."

"Yeah, right, she is. Aren't you going to bed? Sorry, I kept you up again."

"I actually enjoy the times we spend together talking; staying up late is the smallest price I can pay to enjoy such delights. However, I need to go and take my rightful place beside your father on the bed."

She says she is getting up to her feet.

"Let's walk up the stairs together.

"You go on, Mom; I need to call my fiancee."

"I am starting to get jealous."

She says  teasingly.

"Night, son."

"Night, Mom."

She gives him a good night peck, and walks up the stairs to her bedroom.

Michael takes out his phone and plops down on the couch to call Camille, dragging the conversation far into the night.