C H A P T E R  T E N
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Six hundred and four thousand eight hundred seconds.

That was the amount of seconds in a week. It was also the amount of time that Normani and Keith did not speak.

For the first three days, Keith had sent Normani a plethora of texts where he expressed his deepest apologies. Normani had read each one but hadn't replied, even though there was a void in her heart where Keith was missing, her pride wouldn't allow her to cave. 

That was another thing about Normani, her pride led her with an iron fist and she had a distasteful stubbornness to match it, too. When the texts ceased, the void, which had felt like a crack on the surface of her heart, deepened into a chasm.

Sorting out her emotions with Keith was the last of her worries, because she now had to find a way to explain how the stranger that had deposited a shit ton of money into her student account was actually not a stranger and her boyfriend.

It wouldn't go well, she knew that and she'd tried to doge all communication from them also – leaving their texts on delivered and ignoring their calls while she was at work.

Normani liked distractions, they gave her a good excuse to ignore her life problems. So when Peaches had asked Normani to come to the studio to do a hip-hop duo with her for her YouTube channel, Normani had gladly accepted.

She had a three hour shift at 15:00 and class at 18:00 and she and Peaches would work on the dance from 12:00, her schedule for that day had filled quickly and Normani couldn't have been happier.

She left the apartment dressed in her favourite pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt with an old pair of trainers – with the outfit she'd wear for her shift and her dance practice clothes in her backpack and took an uber to the studio.

“Mani, hi!” Peaches squealed as soon as she entered the dance room and before Normani could greet her back, the tiny girl jumped at her. Her skinny arms wrapped around Normani's neck tightly and she rested her entire weight on her.

“H-hey Peaches,” Normani managed to huff between breaths.

“Thank you for meeting me out here, I know it was a bit late notice but I've been meaning to have you dance in one of my videos. You know, people on the internet are still obsessed with the Love Galore performance and you've done nothing to maximise that! You're so private and quiet on social media. You're going to make my views sky rocket this week.” Peaches said without taking a pause in between her monologue to breathe.

“It's okay, you know I like helping you out with your dances. What are we doing today?”

“We have to figure out a two-and-a-half minute duo, to the song You Don't Know Me by Jax Jones.”

“Okay, that's fine.”

“Great, let's warm up!” she said. Peaches's outfit was an overload of colours: bright neon blue ribbons adorned her hair, a gold custom tee shirt with her YouTube name sewn in with black sequins, and black sweatpants with sparkly blue stripes down the sides and bright pink neon shoes.

Normani had long since gotten used to her friend's odd and headache-inducing sense of fashion and it no longer shocked her when Peaches walked around in public like a rainbow had thrown up on her.

They warmed up for five minutes and Normani continued to stretch while Peaches set up her camera on the tripod.

  Once the camera was recording, Peaches tugged on Normani's arm, “we need to do the intro,” she said and moved to stand right in front of the camera. Normani followed close behind.

“Welcome back to Peaches Emporium. This week, I have my friend and favourite dance partner, the ever beautiful, ever talented, ever amazing Miss Normani K –“

Normani actually blushed into the next dimension and hid her face behind her hands.

“If you guys don't remember her, she's the spicy melanin queen from the Love Galore performance with SZA. Today we'll be doing a hip-hop routine to You Don't Know Me. Y'all are kind of not ready for the heat this girl is about to bring, don't say I didn't warn you!” her voice almost sounded like she was chirping. Coupled with her endless sugar-rush-like energy and her colourful outfits, it was like watching a rainbow-coloured sparrow.

Peaches paused the camera and they worked on the routine. The end result only took forty-five minutes to work out. Normani and Peaches had always had an incredible ability to come up with good routines on the spot and they had an amazing stage presence together. Peaches started recording again and they danced through the routine.

Normani wondered if drug addicts or sex addicts got the same rush she did as soon as she hit the dance floor. The feeling was electric and for those few minutes, she could shut her mind off of other things and focus only on the task ahead. The movement came easy to her, it poured from the innermost depths of her being and into her bloodstream.

They only had to do three takes and the final one proved to be the charm: it was the one with the least noticeable mistakes.

“Well there you have it guys,  that was me and Normani's hip-hop routine. If you liked this video, please give it a big thumbs and also subscribe to see more content.  Normani, thank you for doing this with me,” she said, turning her attention from the camera to her friend.

“It's more than a pleasure,” Normani and wrapped a loose arm around her waist.

“See you next time on Peaches Emporium, bye!” Peaches waved at the camera and Normani followed suit.

“I'm going to head to the showers. My shift begins in twenty,” Normani said and picked up her bag.

“Okay, see you later Mani.”

Tonight had been one of those nights when the Godzilla in Imani had manifested. She could barely stand on her two legs by the time dance rehearsals finished at 22:00. Normani welcomed the fatigue, because it would make it easier for her to fall asleep tonight, she wouldn't have to dwell on any of her thoughts.

The uber came to the studio a little after 22:10.

“Normani?” the diver said and she nodded, “that's me, good evening...” she looked down at the uber app on her phone, “Monu.”

“Evening miss, what station would you like me to play?”

“I'm not in the mood for music, you can leave the radio off.”

Five minutes into the ride, Normani realised that Monu was quite the chatterbox.

“I hope you don't mind me asking,” Normani began, “but where are you from?”

He had a strong African accent, though Normani couldn't pick up from which country exactly. The only accents she had ever been exposed to were Karibu's Herero accent and Keith's –

“I'm from Accra, that's the capital city of Ghana but I've been living in Lagos, Nigeria for the past ten years.”

“Oh,” Normani said. His accent was much thicker than Keith's and it didn't sound anywhere close to his in a long shot, but it reminded him of her and how much she fucking missed him.

She knew then that any and all hope of not thinking about him tonight were gone. Nevertheless, she engaged in the small talk Monu offered her and when he dropped her off at her apartment half an hour later, she reminded herself to give him five stars on the app.

She trudged up the staircase, her legs groaning with every movement. She was happy that she wouldn't have to move a muscle until late afternoon tomorrow when she had to babysit Ekhana, because she was sure that her muscles were about to burst open from all the rigid pressure.

She turned the key in the lock and was surprised to see the living room light on. She had explicitly remembered to switch off all of the lights when she left so why were –

“You're finally home,” a voice Normani recognised all to well said and she felt the blood in her body freeze.

                             X O

“Mama, how did you get in here? You don't have a key.”

“Nika gave it to me when I told her that I was worried for you.”

Normani couldn't believe that her mother had made the trip from Houston to New York while she was out, all so she could talk. It seemed that her mother hadn't even settled down: she was still in her travel clothes and they'd wrinkled from the journey. She looked tired too.

“How long have you been here?”

“Not long, the plane touched down at 14:00.”

"Not long" was the understatement of the century.

“Mama, you could've called. You would've known that I was out the whole day at the studio.”

“I didn't know what else to do, Normani. You haven't been responding to our messages or our calls. You know that your Papa and I hate it when you hide things from us.”

I'm not hiding anything from you, I've just been busy with work and dance, Mama.” Normani replied, she felt the stress begin to accumulate in her shoulders and she sighed. She did not need this, not tonight.

“You're forgetting who you're talking to. I'm your mother. I can see right through you and I know that you're not telling me something.”

There was a sharp look in her eyes as they searched Normani's face. She steeled her jaw and throat closed up. “I'm not hiding anything,” her voice was strained and tight and she hated how much of a terrible liar she was to her parents.

“Mhmm,” her mother replied with a flat face and it was clear that she didn't believe her, “Normani, we need to talk.”

“Yes, I know, but can we not do it tonight? I've been on my feet all day and – ” her voice caught in her throat and she hated how emotional she get when she was tired and frustrated.

The stress of the past week began to build up and she could feel an onslaught of tears slipping down her cheeks. They were always her go-to expression and she hated that.

Her mother sensed it too and her face softened.

“Fine, we will talk tomorrow. But I want you to tell me everything, leave nothing out,” her mother said and Normani nodded.

“You can take my room, I'll take your bags for you,” she said and bent down to retrieve the small tote bag her mother had brought with her.

                              X O

Andrea Hamilton looked much calmer in the light of day. She still looked like she was ready to whoop Normani into the next dimension if needed be, though. Normani shuffled around the kitchen to prepare their coffees. She had barely gotten any sleep last night, despite how tired she was. Rather, she'd spent it reading through her and Keith's messages and staring at the pictures they had together, her heart heavy in her chest like a rock. She cried for him last night, but that was information she planned to take to her grave.

The water in the kettle boiled and Normani poured it into two separate cups. She walked back to the living room where her mother was perched on the couch, already showered and dressed while Normani was still in her pyjamas.

“Here's your coffee, done just the way you like it,” Normani said, as she handed the cup to her.

“Thank you.”

Normani was about to take a sip of her own until her mother said, “you aren't gonna say grace?”

“Sorry” Normani replied and mumbled a quick prayer.

“How did you sleep?” she asked.

“I slept just fine, child. Now let's not beat about the bush. I believe there's something your father and I need to know.”

Her mother had always been a straight to the point kind of person so although Normani was surprised, she wished she could've delayed the inevitable just a little longer.

“Okay, so, as you know, there was someone who deposited the outstanding balance into my account...” Normani said. Her palms grew sweatier by the minute and she hated the position Keith had placed her in.

“Yes, it was deposited by a Mr Ikande which according to us, is not associated with any scholarship programme and he is not someone we know.”

“Yes, about that; Keith Ikande is actually my boyfriend.”

Normani bit her lip and looked down at her feet, too wary to gauge her mother's reaction.

“Is he your sugar daddy or something? I don't understand.”

“No, no, Mama. God, no. He is my boyfriend in the realest sense of the word.”

“If he's not you sugar daddy then where did he get all that money from?”

Normani sighed. Her suspicions had been proven true. None of the information she gave her mother was helping.

“He is the CEO of his father's tech corp company and I didn't ask him to pay it for me I swear – I just mentioned it to him when he'd asked me why I was working all summer instead of going home because he was supposed to keep me company but he had to go back to Nigeria-”

“Nigeria?"

Her mother said the word like it was a curse.

“You're dating a foreigner?”

“Oh Ma, please don't put it like that, he's actually quite wonderful-”

“How old is this Nigerian CEO?” her eyebrows were raised sharply with suspicion and the way she said Nigerian CEO – with so much distaste made her skin crawl.

“He's twenty-three.”

“How long have you been seeing him?”

“It'll be six months soon, I planned to introduce him to you guys after the summer and I know none of this looks good-”

“You got that right. Normani, we sent you all the way here to learn, not pick up strange foreign men with dubious amounts of money to support you? What else besides your tuition has he been paying for you? ”

“Ma, please don't speak of him like that. I know he didn't make a great first impression by what he did but he is an amazing man, he makes me happy… happier than I've been in a long time,” Normani's voice was tense with frustration.

She could understand where her mother was coming from, hell, this was the same rage she had shown Keith a little over a week ago. But now, her heart was tired. She was tired.

“Then why haven't you told us about him? You never wait this long.”

“I had to make sure, Ma. I don't think my heart would be able to handle another situation like what happened with Ara...”

Andrea's face actually softened.

“Baby, this was the wrong way to go about this whole situation. You got him to pay your fees then you dodge all of our calls and messages...”

“I didn't tell him to Ma, you know I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't have sacrificed an entire summer working to help you with the fees if I planned to let him handle it. He… he did it because he wanted to help.

He wanted me to go home and spend time with you guys because he knows how much it means to me, he just didn't consult me before he made the deposit. We had a big fight about it and I haven't spoken to him since,” Normani said and her mother didn't miss the sheen of tears that coated her eyes.

“Baby…”

“I can't help who I fall for. I don't want you to judge him for this – mistake – because that's what it is, a mistake. Don't judge him for the preconceived ideas you have of African men, he is anything but a walking stereotype. He's so much more than that.”

“You love him, don't you?” her mother said, it was more of a statement than a question. The truth had already dawned in her eyes.

Normani nodded, “so much. And I miss him and I just want him here. This week without him has been so hard and add in the fact that I haven't spoken to him...” Normani shrugged her shoulders. She was close to crying and both she and Andrea could tell.

Andrea sighed, “I'm still not happy about how this all happened and neither will your father, but thank you for being honest with me.”

“You're welcome,” Normani replied with a sad smile.

                             X O

Normani did end up finally calling Keith, right after she had seen her mother off to her flight at the airport that night. She texted him a quick hi, can we talk? And before long her phone buzzed with an incoming video call.

Her heart rate accelerated as soon as his face filled her screen. He looked tired but the smile on his face filled her with an incomparable warmth.

“Hi,” he said and for a moment, her heart stopped. She had almost forgotten what it was like to hear his deep, distinguished voice and she realised then just how much she missed it.

“Hey,” she replied.

“You look well,” Keith said.

“I'm sorry,” Normani blurted.

Keith frowned, “for what?”

“Ignoring your texts, waiting this long to finally talk to you, I don't know. Everything.”

“You're talking to me now so it's okay,” Keith replied.

“You are so nice it's cringey,” she replied with a small, sad smile.  “I'm sorry if I made it seem like I wasn't grateful for what you did for me, I just wished you could've spoken to me,” she said.

“I wanted to surprise you, because you're my girl and I knew how upset you were over not seeing your parents, though I also see where you're coming from now, so I am also sorry for overstepping my boundaries.”

“I just don't want to feel like you need to keep me. I'm an independent woman, I want to do things for myself. I don't want you to feel like you need to spoon feed me to keep me happy.”

“I didn't intend for it to come across that way. I just lo- care for you so much and I'd do anything to make you smile.”

“I care for you too, Keith,” Normani said, though she tried to convince herself that she hadn't heard him almost say the “L” word.

“So are we okay?” Keith asked.

“Yes we're okay. God, I miss you so much,” Normani said.

“I've missed you too, but take heart Awelewa, I'll be back in less than five weeks' time.”

“That's still so far,” she pouted,

“I know, but I'll make it up to you, I swear.”

“You better.”

Keith yawned then and she said, “oh shit, it must be like, past midnight there yes?”

“It's four a.m. I have to be up in two hours for a meeting.”

“You poor baby. And you let me keep you up?”

“I couldn't pass up the first opportunity to get to talk to you,” he replied with another yawn and sprawled his body across the bed. The look in his eyes was adoring and she could almost feel it smother her from where she was.

Her lips twisted into a frown, “I'm so sorry, Baby.”

“It's okay, what matters is that we're okay now.”

His smile was content even as his eyes began to droop.

“Goodnight Awelewa,” he murmured, closing his eyes.

“Goodnight Boo Thang,” she said affectionately and ended the call.

you guys are getting smut the next chapter. 👀