HOLIDAY

John looked at Shelly in surprise, he didn't know what to say, he looked at her hand, she was with a traveling bag, it looked as if she was staying with them for the holiday.

"What are you doing here," John said, sounding curious. "Why didn't I think of this before, I mean how could I not know?

Why didn't it cross my mind, I should have asked" Shelly whispered to herself. "What are you doing here, you haven't answered me," John said sounding more curious. "Can you stop questioning me, as you can see I just got here and as equally as surprised as you are?" Shelly said shouting.

"It's okay, no one is quarreling," Joan said. "What does it look like, I'm here to spend my holiday so deal with it," she said pointing to John.

"See I won't tolerate any nonsense from you, this is my house," John said proudly. "If I hear one word from you, I'm going back to Lilly land," she said.

"Okay I've had enough, the both of you should shut up, as long as I'm in this house you two will learn to tolerate each other" Joan said and hissed.

Joan took Shelly to her room and told her that she would be staying with her, while John would be staying with Jimmy, their elder brother.

"Where is Jimmy, by the way, I haven't seen him for a very long time now," Shelly asked. "He went out with a friend, he'll soon be back" Joan answered.

"I would like to speak with him, once his back please tell me, he treats me better than my brother, that one who always calls me a baby," Shelly said laughing.

Both of them arranged her clothes in the Wardrobe which was painted pink and had a flowering design with a gigantic mirror in front of it.

Later that day, Shelly and Joan wanted to go out, when the rain started teeming down. The rain continued unabated, the rain was coming down in torrents.

They could not go again, they had to wait for the rain to stop, while waiting Joan gave Shelly a drink, she sat twirling the stem of the glass in her fingers, thinking about what she would do to John if he crossed her path.

When it stopped raining, they went out. The first place Joan showed her was the fountain, which was Joan's favorite spot. They later went to the lake, Shelly could hear the tranquil waters of the lake.

They visited a lot of places, she later saw the turgid waters of the Thames. After Joan showed her around, they went home.

John was at home, he decided to clean the house. As he was cleaning Joan's room, he saw Shelly's diary, he looked at the diary and he carried it, as he wanted to open it, his conscience did not allow him to open it then he dropped it, he finished cleaning the room and he left.

When they arrived home, Shelly saw Jimmy and ran to hug him, Jimmy was excited to see her. "How is my favorite friend doing," he said cheerfully. "I'm fine, thank you" she answered smiling. "So when did you arrive?" Jimmy asked. "I arrived this morning but you were not at home, so Joan took me to different places; it was fun," Shelly said holding Jimmy's hand.

They both went to sit down. " So how is Diamond, I lost my phone so I also lost his number, you know we were best friends in secondary school," Jimmy said. "He told me you guys are close, the last time I saw him," Shelly said looking at him directly. "Awn, look at those pretty eyes of yours," he said to make her laugh.

"So can you give me his number," Jimmy asked. "Yes, of course, I'll do that right now," she said bringing out her phone. As she opened her phone, Jimmy saw a girl's photo as her wallpaper.

"Who is this girl, she looks like you," Jimmy asked. "Oh, she is my cousin. Jessy is my favorite cousin, she is like a sister to me" Shelly answered and looked at him curiously, wanting to know why he asked.

"But I've not seen her before," Jimmy said. "Oh, that's true. It is because she was born and brought up in London. She hardly comes home, maybe once in two years, there about" Shelly answered.

"Oh I see, which explains why I haven't set my eyes on her before," He said. "Why all these questions though," she asked him. "Nothing, I just wanted to know," he said. She sent him Diamond's number.

Rita was forced by her parents to stay with her grandparent. They threatened that if she didn't go, she would not resume on time, saying they would delay her. While in the village, she tried to call Shelly and the rest of her friends, but there was no network.

She didn't know what to do, she was frustrated. She would have to deal with it until the holiday was over.

Peter was at home, he didn't visit anyone. His father was not happy with him, so as his punishment, he was to stay at home throughout the holiday and read his books. His phone was taken from him, so he could not reach anyone.

Later in the night, Shelly was in her room listening to music, she was carried away by the wonderful melody of the song.

John was at the door, wanting to say goodnight to Joan, he knocked on the door with some trepidation because of the presence of Shelly, but Joan opened the door. "I just want to say goodnight," John told her. "Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow," she told him and he left.

Joan went to where Shelly was and removed the headset from her ear and told her it was time to sleep. After a short prayer, they went to bed.

The next morning, Shelly was the first to wake up, she went outside and the sky was a pale translucent blue revealing the fading luminescence of the sky.

At 7 am, she woke everyone up and told them to get ready for the day, but she did not wake up John. They did a little devotion before everyone went to do their various works.

Later that day, she followed Jimmy to the supermarket, while at the supermarket, Jimmy asked her a question. "When last did you hear from your cousin?" he asked. "Which cousin," she said. "The one you mentioned yesterday, remember, Jessy," he said. "Oh yes I remembered, I heard from her while at Lilly land.

You know she is a very busy person, due to the nature of the course she is studying, she is doing her master's degree" she answered. "Oh, I hope I'll meet her one day," he said. "You'll surely meet her, and I bet you will like her because she is so hilarious," she said.

"By the way, it seems you and my brother are quarreling. Is everything okay with the both of you?" he asked. "Oh yes, there's nothing to worry about. I guess we are still in a state of shock, but we will soon get used to it" she said with a fake smile on her face.

How time flies, it was remaining two weeks before their holiday was over. All this while Shelly never noticed the presence of John. Even when he was there, she would pretend as if she did not see him.

It was on Wednesday, Jimmy was not at home and Joan went somewhere with a friend. Before she left, she asked John to accompany Shelly to the supermarket.

Shelly decided to dress cooperate that day, she wore a two - piece suit, like someone who was going on a business trip. She had to allow John to accompany her because of Joan.

While shopping, John tried to bring up a conversation but Shelly seemed less interested, one thing John was uncomfortable with was the way everyone looked at the both of them while shopping.

"Are you still not talking to me?" John asked. She didn't even look in his direction. "Can you please say something?" he said. "Well I'm trying my best not to disrespect you, I can remember vividly what you told me the first day I came.

So I'm minding my business, so I won't do otherwise" she said. Then John walked away angrily, as he was going he stepped on Shelly's foot and fell. She immediately helped him up, took him to sit down, and went to pay for what they shopped for.

Seeing John's condition, she called Jimmy and she told him what happened, he came as quickly as possible. He drove gripping the wheel in a trance, hardly aware of his surrounding.

They took him to the hospital and he took treatment, then they went home.

Joan was worried when she did not see any of them, as they arrived she ran to meet them. Shelly told Joan everything that happened and they helped John inside, Jimmy told him to be more careful.

It was finally time for Shelly and John to go back home, their holiday was over. Shelly hugged Joan tightly and her cheek was wet with tears, she bade her goodbye. John and Shelly boarded the same plane and flew back to Lilly land.