Ray's Diary

The rattling window must’ve woken him up.  He slowly opened his eyes to allow a little light, squinting from the glare caused by the reflection upon the water surface.

They were halfway across the bridge, River Changoi gently flowing under it. He lightly smiled as the breeze seeped in.  He must have slept for hours since they left Nandi. He checked his phone; there was no message. He frowned.

Ray rested his head on the window and stared outside. He remembered how he had tried to call out her name just after he had boarded the bus. She couldn’t hear.  He had tried to call her earlier, but her phone was off. It had looked like an answered prayer when he saw her at a distance with her friends.

They had just met once the entire holiday.  He liked her by the day. She had grown into a beautiful young woman. It was about 7 years since he last saw her. They had been communicating and they had both looked forward to meeting up.  Miley knew he liked her; she liked him too, and was shy about meeting him.

A sudden halt disrupted his train of thoughts. They were joining the Kericho – Nakuru highway. He took out his Nikon camera to snap away the beautiful terrain. Both sides of the road were accentuated by huge tracts of expanse land of tea plantation; it looked like a huge green carpet. The trees at the horizon acting like a fencing around it. The workers at the field like stains on a clean rugged carpet.  The blue sky completed the beautiful collage.

Ray always looked forward for the December holidays as that was the only long break he got from his busy schedule at work. This year, he had planned to visit the interior villages of Kericho County, his hometown. The area provided beautiful scenery for his photography work that was just 6 months young. He had spent 2 weeks into December building his portfolio for his new project in the New Year.

It was during his stay at Nandi, Miley’s rural home, that he had fixed the first meeting with her. He had asked to meet her at the hotel where he was staying. Ray woke up early that day and made breakfast; bacon, eggs, sausages, croissants and coffee. She would soon be there.

“I’m here…” the text message read in part. He threw the phone on the bed and dashed to the door, flung it open and made way outside.

There she was; gracefully waiting at the waiting bay. Her short flowery sun dress flowing to the rhythm of the wind; her long hair lying on her shoulder and back. On her hand, were her clutch bag and a cell phone. Miley was a beautiful and a perfectly-shaped lady, standing 5 feet 6 inches tall. Her perfectly formed round bottoms and huge hips enough to make heads turn. Her grey eyes would tear deep into one’s eyes making them to blush. A smile that would convince you everything was okay, even if it wasn’t. The diamond laced necklace falling perfectly on her cleavage, towering over her full ‘balloon' breasts like a tower on a hill.

Ray couldn’t find his tongue. His gaze fixed on her; he stretched out his hand to say hi. She extended hers to shake his hand. The handshake didn’t suffice. He pulled her in for a hug. He held her close, gently squeezed his grip around her. His face buried in her neck, taking in her lovely scent from her hair and neck. His eyes closed, taking it all in.

“This feels good,” mumbled Ray as he slowly let go.

“Hi. How’ve you been? 6 years now? Wow! You’ve changed dude; you look good.”

*Laughing* you also look super adorable Miley. Yeah, long time since last. Well, come on in.

The day was turning out great for the two. The breakfast session presented a good avenue for the two to open up, bond and generally get snug around each other. She would constantly laugh out loud and slap his arm. Ray felt good that she was having a great time. It all looked like a script off a Mexican soap opera.

It was around mid-morning when they set out. Ray had planned an excursion of sorts for Miley. He was going to take her along in his photography sessions. He had packed his bag pack with his camera and lenses, stands and other several accessories. In a different bag, he had stuffed snacks and wine for a picnic; Miley had no idea that the guy had this idea in mind.

Nandi provided the perfect terrain for photography as well as a picnic site. The evergreen landscape accentuated with rocky riverbeds and clean rivers that flowed all year round.

Ray was excited. He set up his tools of trade and started snapping away, occasionally showing Miley how to take good shots. The two were getting cozy with each other. They would run around in the green field, sit on the river bed with their legs immersed into the water; playfully splashing water on each other.

It as noon and the sun was getting hot.

“Let’s get to the shade, I have something for you,” Ray said.

“Sure! I was wondering when you’d say that. My skin is tanning already!” she said amidst her salient smile.

He got up, stretched out his hand and pulled her up from the river bed and carried her. She would scream and shout asking him to put her down. Ray would here none of this as he held her firmly and ran towards the shade. She loved it.

Miley looked at him, with a smile dancing on her lips, as he set the cloth and prepared the nibbles he had carried in the backpack. He looked back at her and winked. She giggled shyly.

They finished their snacks and were sipping slowly on the Moscato wine as they got along with their catching up. Ray had hoped that he would let her know about his feelings for her as they dined. He however had second thoughts on the issue. Was it too soon? How would she react to it? What if I fail and this was the only time I would get? He wondered.

“Tunasimama kidogo Nakuru. Tuko na dakika kama kumi na tano kisha tuendelee,” (We are stopping over for about 15 minutes in Nakuru then we’ll continue with the journey) shouted the driver; startling Ray off his day dreaming.

He sat up and looked at his watch. It was already two hours since they had left Kericho. He put his now wet camera back in his bag thanks to the sweat from his hands.

He looked at his phone. He had 3 missed calls, 2 text messages and a few conversations on WhatsApp. He hadn’t heard his phone ring or vibrate as it was on silent mode. He quickly checked through to see who had tried to reach him, hoping he would get a text or better yet a missed call from Miley.

“Hearing your voice right now would do me good Miley…come-on! I’m sure you have at least called” he thought out aloud as he checked through his phone. She hadn’t hollered. He was pissed.

He angrily grabbed his water bottle and alighted off the bus which had now parked at a filling station and restaurant for the stopover.