Beyond the Frame Chapter 6

“Victoria, you ran off,” Eric accused when he reached the two beautiful women at the bar. “How can you leave me to my own devices?”

“You were getting along quite fine.” Victoria sipped her drink and glanced at Olive. “This is my best friend, Olive. She’s a doctor at the Nairobi Hospital. If you ever need a checkup, she’s the one to call.”

Olive held out her hand to Eric with a dazzling smile. “Nice to meet you. And you are?”

“Eric Kabuto, photographer,” he said. “Victoria is supposed to be my date, but she keeps leaving me alone.”

Olive chuckled. “Why don’t you join us? Grace told me to keep Vicky up here.”

Eric ordered a beer from the bartender and moved closer to Victoria.

“This is why you should have listened to me. Nagging Grace will only get her irritated with you. Is that why you ran up here?”

“No, I was running away from you,” Victoria answered, looking at him. “Did you abandon your job again?”

“You keep forgetting Linda is here with me,” he said, thanking the bartender when his beer arrived. “Olive, is it just Olive, or should I call you Dr. Olive?”

“I should make you call me Dr. Olive.”

“What do you call her?” Eric asked, nudging Victoria’s shoulder. “I’ll call her the same.”

“Olive, but that’s because we know each other,” Victoria said. “You’re a stranger.”

“I’m a stranger?” he asked, pressing a hand against his chest, feigning pain. “Victoria, after we had such a good time earlier, how can I be a stranger?”

Olive laughed. “Just how close did you two get at the photo shoot?”

“She knows my biggest secret,” Eric said with a serious tone. “I’m amazed that she guessed it so easily, too. So, you can imagine we’re close.”

Victoria shook her head. “Your secret is too obvious, Eric. I’m surprised no one else knows.”

“Olive doesn’t know.” Eric sipped his beer. “Olive, tell me something I don’t know about Victoria.”

“What would you like to know?” Olive asked. “Me and this chick, we went to college together. I even know her eating habits.”

Eric glanced at Victoria and winked. “What should I ask first?”

“Don’t tell him anything,” Victoria said to Olive.

“Eric, I think I have to turn this against you,” Olive said then. “She’s my best friend. I can’t tell you anything when she tells me not to. Why don’t you tell me about you instead?”

Eric shrugged.

“Ask anything,” he said.

“Where did you go to high school?” Olive asked. “You look like a Dagoretti Boys student.”

“Do we have some kind of stamp on our foreheads?” he asked with a laugh.

“It’s the way you act,” Olive said. “Comfortable, like nothing scares you anymore.”

“A lot of things scare me,” Eric said with a small smile. “Like Victoria here, when I first saw her, she wouldn’t even crack a smile.”

Olive chuckled. “She has that effect on people when she doesn’t want to talk.”

“Hey, I’m sitting right here,” Victoria complained. “And this is supposed to be about Eric answering questions.”

Olive turned to him with a small grin.

“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” Olive asked.

Eric sipped his beer, his gaze turning thoughtful before he answered. “You won’t believe me.”

“What is it?” Victoria asked, shifting in her chair so that she could see him.

“I went to the Maasai Mara once for an assignment,” Eric said. “My guide and I ended up in a situation where we had to stay inside a vehicle for a day and a half, waiting out a hungry lion.”

Olive burst out laughing.

“That only happens when you provoke the wild animals,” Victoria said. “What did you do?”

“I needed to pee,” Eric confessed in a matter-of-fact tone. “My guide stopped the car near a bush, and I got out to do my business. The next thing I knew, I was running to the car because a huge lioness appeared, and she wanted me for lunch.”

“You could have died or lost vital equipment, you idiot,” Victoria said, glaring at him.

“Again, with the name-calling,” Eric complained.

Olive laughed harder.

“Your story is insane and sounds very untrue,” Olive said when she stopped laughing. “Tell us another one. Something that’s actually happened this time.”

****

Eric took in the frown on Victoria’s forehead and could not help hoping it was concern. He wanted it to be, because then he would know she at least noticed him. He had spent the afternoon watching her and decided that she was worth getting to know better.

She had this ability to slip in and out of his thoughts. She even managed to distract him from Beth and Taylor’s wedding.

Clearing his throat, Eric turned to Olive.

“My buddies and I took a trip to the Marsabit National Reserve weeks ago to take landscape pictures. The drive there was tough; our car would go for an hour, and a tire would blow. I swear we had fifteen tire punctures. We spent the day taking pictures of the wild. It is so raw and untouched. You can imagine our return trip was on four flat tires. We drove fast over rough terrain. The car bounced up and down.” Eric chuckled, remembering their bumpy ride. “It was exhilarating.”

“Why do you do it?” Victoria asked. “I mean, you could easily take a simple assignment. Why travel to such tough places?”

“Why not?” he asked, meeting her curious gaze. “The pictures we took in Marsabit were accepted by National Geographic. I shared a part of our country with the world. Don’t you think it’s worth the trouble?”

“So, you do it for patriotism?” Victoria asked with a frown.

“In part; the other part is a good time. I had a lot of fun with my friends on that road trip. I can show you the pictures if you visit my studio.”

“Where do you live?” Olive asked then.

“I have a half-acre piece of land on Ndwaru Road near Riruta. I’ve been developing the property slowly for the past six years. Every time I get money, I build.”

“Do you build rental houses?” Victoria asked.

“I do have four rental houses on the property,” he said. “I have kept them at four because I don’t want to fill my compound with people. What I’ve been building is my house that’s been under construction for four years. I finished plastering the walls and tiling the floors a month ago. Now I need to paint.”

“Good for you,” Olive said with an impressed nod. “You at least have solid progress. It’s getting hard to buy land anywhere close to Nairobi. I’m half-afraid I’m going to rent my whole life.”

“What about you, Victoria?” he asked.

“I rent too,” she said. “I live in Hurlingham. It’s close to town and my job. Although I’ve been saving money for a project I want to start at home.”

“Home?” Eric asked.

“She’s from Limuru,” Olive provided, finishing her drink. “Her father owns land that he’s shared between her and her older brother.”

“What kind of project are you planning?” Eric asked, signaling the bartender for more drinks. He pulled a highchair between Victoria and Olive and sat down.

“I like to farm,” Victoria declared with a tilt of her chin. “My dad has greenhouses where he grows different types of vegetables. I figured I’d start a greenhouse project of my own. I love strawberries, so I want to grow them.”

“She has a few growing in containers on the kitchen veranda at her apartment,” Olive said. “I steal them when I go visit her. I can’t wait until she has a full greenhouse…all those strawberries.”

“The kind of farming you’re talking about requires planning,” Eric said, impressed.

“Yes, it does. So far, I have one greenhouse planned. I want to get started by next year in February,” Victoria said with a pleased smile. “I’ve talked to a few people working with hotel kitchens who are ready to buy the fruits. Strawberries have an interesting market as fruit, garnish for baking, or for making jellies. I’m confident in the market. I just need to make sure that I have the right seed, otherwise all my plans fail.”

“You will make it work. Don’t worry. Our Victoria was born with a green thumb,” Olive said with pride.

“Unlike you,” Victoria said, taking Olive’s hand. “I gave her a small mint plant for her kitchen and found it dried two weeks after I gave it to her.”

“I’m never at home,” Olive said with a sigh. “I did try to look after it when I could.”

Olive’s phone buzzed, and she reached for it with a frown. One glance at the caller ID, and she shook her head.

“I must go,” Olive said. “This is the story of my life, right when I’m starting to have fun.”

“Another patient?” Victoria asked with a frown.

“No, same one from the other day,” Olive said as she got up. “Eric, can I leave my friend in your care? I was going to give her a ride home later because she doesn’t have her car.”

“I can do that,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

“Thank you,” Olive said, turning to Victoria. “Thanks for the drinks, my dear. Call me tomorrow.”

Victoria accepted a short hug from Olive, then watched her friend leave.

Eric returned his chair to its place and took Olive’s seat.

****