DIANA'S POV

"I once went to a date with a girl and she only ordered something simple from the menu yet kept taking food from my plate. I called her out on it and asked her to order her own food because I was paying. Mind you she ordered every single thing on the menu and what she couldn't finish she asked for it to be packed so she could take it home with her."Kareem recalled.

I didn't intend to but I burst out laughing because the situation was nothing if not comical.

"Maybe she was just hungry, don't tell me you didn't call her again because of that."I said in between laughs.

"No actually was the one who ghosted me, I think she was just using me for a free meal."Kareem replied.

"Well I am sorry you got used."I apologized still smiling.

"What about you? What is your worst date experience?"He asked me.

I had quite a few so I didn't need to think hard about it "One time I met a guy at the bookstore, he was kind of cute, polite and funny so I didn't say no when he asked for my number. Instead of picking me up he suggested that we meet up at the restaurant. He stood me up and never came. When I called him the next day he said that he forgot about the date and went out drinking with his friends and by the time he remembered he was too drunk to come. He asked for another chance but I blocked him immediately and when he came to the bookstore Salome chased him away with a hot pan."

It was actually funny to think about because him not coming saved me the trouble of dating a drunk.

"Well his loss."Kareem concluded making me smile.

Being on a date with Kareem was so much different than I expected, he dressed up, picked me up, chose a nice place, conversation flowed easily and he was actually listening to what I had to say. I had discovered so much about him and it was making me see him in a different light. He was definitely a changed man and the more we talked the more I saw myself giving into him. I was definitely still scared but getting to know him was reassuring.

"Well away from terrible first dates, it is pretty obvious we've had our fair share of bad ones."I concluded.

"Yeah let's call it a draw then."Kareem agreed.

"I have another question, it's personal too but I kind of feel like I need to know. Please be honest."I requested.

"Of course, what is it?"

"If we do decide to actually give this a try, are there any baby mamas I need to worry about. You had a pretty active sexual life in university so I just want to know."I asked.

I had no issue dating a guy with a kid as long as the kids mother was okay with it. Baby mama's ruined relationships and I didn't want to get into one where I would always have to question my place in his life.

"Well you're not wrong to assume that. I did make some terrible decisions in university but I always made sure to be safe in that area. I don't have a baby mama or a kid out there."Kareem assured me.

"That's good to know."I said with a smile.

"If I did have one, would it have been a deal breaker?"Kareem inquired.

"That would depend on your baby mama, not all are okay with their baby daddy's dating. If she would have been okay with it then so would I."I replied.

"You are very open and accommodative."Kareem praised.

"People do stupid things when they are young. As long as they prove to be different and make the effort to change, there's no need to hold their past over their head."I explained.

"So does that mean I am safe and you'll no longer hold me accountable for my questionable past?"Kareem asked.

"The night is still young."I replied trying to sound aloof even though he had already proven me wrong.

Kareem just smiled and waved the waiter over asking for our bill. I was kind of disappointed that he wanted the night to be over already but he was the one taking control of the date. When our bill was brought I looked at the amount and pulled out my wallet.

"What are you doing?"Kareem asked looking at me weird.

"Paying for my half."I replied as if it the obvious thing to do.

"You're doing no such thing, I invited you out so I'm paying. I don't know what kind of douche bags you've dated before but it's now my turn to show you how a gentleman really behaves."Kareem replied putting his hand on mine.

I nodded dumbly because besides my dad or brothers no other man has ever offered to pay anything for me before. I was always used to paying for my own things so it was definitely something new when I saw someone willing to pay something for me.

Kareem smiled when he saw that I had forfeited on paying. He opened his wallet, paid the waiter before pushing his chair back and standing up. He held his hand out for me and after staring at it like a fool for a few seconds I took it. I picked up my bag and we walked out of the restaurant.

It was definitely darker since it was around nine pm and there was a full moon and a sky full of stars.

"Do you have a bedtime or can we stop over at one more place?"Kareem asked as we approached his car.

The part of me that was disappointed the night was ending smiled hopefully that we would get to spend some more time together.

"That's Cinderella's thing not mine, just make my time worthwhile."I replied opening the passenger door and getting in leaving a stunned Kareem smiling at me.

He got behind the wheel and seconds later we were on the road heading back into the city. There was something serene about night time drives that I absolutely loved. I didn't do them often because I didn't have my own car but whenever I got the chance I enjoyed them to the fullest.

"Do you mind if I roll down the window a bit?"I asked Kareem.

"Sure feel free."He replied.

I rolled down the window completely loving how the wind felt against my face. I put one of my hands out feeling the wind flow through my fingers. There were barely any other cars so the drive was very peaceful.

"I take it you like night drives."Kareem asked so I turned slightly to look at him.

"Absolutely, they are peaceful, calm and absolutely therapeutic."I replied.

"I love them too, I sometimes just randomly wake up at night and just drive with no destination in mind."Kareem added.

"You've got to take me with you next time."I blurted out without thinking.

I clamped my lips together before I said any more embarrassing stuff while Kareem just looked at me and smiled.

"I'll pick you up next time I go on a night drive."He replied the smile on his lips never fading.

"You really don't have to, I don't know why I asked that."I found myself defending saying.

"Because we both enjoy night drives and in good company they are even better. I'd love to take you with me on more of these."Kareem answered.

Tired of making excuses I decided to just go with the flow. If he did indeed invite me, well and good but if he didn't then it was okay too, he wasn't obligated to anything.

"That would be very nice of you."I said giving in.

I hadn't intended to just ambush him with such a request but he had taken it with such ease I immediately relaxed.

"So where are we going?"I asked changing the topic of discussion to something that wouldn't embarrass me.

"Back to the city for one more scenic view point."Kareem replied.

He didn't give me a full answer but I decided not to push any further. I didn't exactly hate surprises and he'd proven himself all night so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"So besides books and night drives what else do you like to do for fun?"Kareem asked breaking the silence in the car.

"I spend a lot of my time at the cafe or working from home so I don't really have a lot of free time. But when I do I like hanging out with my family, shopping with Salome, visiting my brother Silas on set, volunteering at children's homes, knitting with my mom or watching football with my dad."I replied.

"So many questions but first I gotta say you're very close with your family which I admire. Second are you a football fan or just a daddy's girl?"Kareem inquired.

"A little bit of both but my dad got me into it when all my brothers moved out and he didn't have anyone to watch games with him. Nowadays I go over when there's a big match to keep him company. Forty years of marriage and he's never been able to convince my mom to love football so I have to step up."I explained.

"Wow, so what team do you guys root for?"

"Chelsea through and through."I cheered excitedly.

"What a coincidence, I've always been a Chelsea fan."Kareem replied.

"Wow, definitely did not expect that. You look like a Manchester fan."I chided just to get under his skin.

"Take that back."Kareem demanded playfully.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry."I apologized laughing.

"Away from football talk now. You mentioned you like visiting your brother on set. Is he an actor?"Kareem asked.

"Yeah and a model. He stars in the local TV drama "Zuri"."

"Wait, your brother isn't Silas Munyi is it?"Kareem inquired.

"Yeah that's him, don't tell me you're a fan too."I teased.

"No definitely not but my sister is. She's obsessed with him."

"He is good at what he does."

"Next time you meet her and need something from her, just mention your brother. She'll do anything you want honestly."Kareem said making me laugh.

"I'd never do that to her but it's nice to know I have something to hold over her head."I added.

"Yes you definitely do."

"So what do you like to do for fun?"I asked Kareem.

"We'll I actually enjoy and love my job so that's fun for me, but I also like hanging out with my sister and Nuru, I like long drives, listening to music, watching movies, playing video games, watching football and car races or attending the races if I can."He replied.

"Typical male."I commented under my breath but Kareem heard me.

"Hey don't judge, I'm a simple man with simple needs."He defended.

"I totally understand and I'm not judging, I promise."I assured him.

We didn't talk much after that, Kareem just put on some music and we sat in comfortable silence. As we got into the city the lights got bigger as literally every building and street light was on. It was still beautiful and had some magical feel to it. There were still a few people roaming around but most of them seemed to be hurrying home.

I had no idea where Kareem was taking me so I was surprised to see him parking in front of the KICC.

"You do know I've been here before right? Literally every person who lives in Nairobi has been here."I commented as we parked and got out of the car.

The Kenyatta International Convention Centre was a 28-story building located in the City Square of Nairobi, and was a major tourist site.

Surprisingly enough there were other cars parked out front even if it was almost eleven pm.

"I know, just trust me."Kareem requested.

"Are we even allowed to be here at night?"I inquired.

"Trust me."Kareem repeated and I didn't ask any more questions, just followed him.

He showed something to the watchman at the gate who allowed us in with no questions asked.

Kareem took my hand when he noticed I was skeptically trailing behind him and led me towards the elevators. He had asked me to trust him so I decided to do exactly that and hope we weren't doing anything illegal. It took a few minutes for us to get to the top and I was even more surprised when I saw we weren't the only ones there. It was breezy at the top but no one seemed to mind.

"What's going on?"I whispered to Kareem.

He didn't reply, just took my hand and led me to a where there were free seats. There weren't many people there, just fifty or so and it seemed to be a very private and intimate affair.

"Kareem?"I asked once more.

"You remember when we were in university and you came to see Kyle once about him taking you to a Nyashinski concert. He refused and you gave away the tickets since you didn't want to go alone."Kareem said reminding me of one of the reasons I'd broken up with Kyle.

He was never willing to take me places, saying that wasn't his thing. Well it was mine and I would have loved it if he would have at least tried and done it for me.

I didn't really like Kenyan artists except for a few and Nyashinski was one of my favorites. I had really wanted to go that day but I couldn't go alone due to security purposes and none of my brothers could take me. I'd never had chance to go see him live again since all his tickets sold out within hours.

"Yeah."I mumbled sadly.

"Well Nyashinski was one of our clients this week and I worked on his car. He loved the work I did so much he invited me to one of his events."Kareem explained.

I gasped and clasped my hand over my chest in surprise.

"Are you saying this is a Nyashinski event?"I whispered.

"Yeah but it's very private."Kareem replied.

I didn't even have time to ask any more questions when the man himself walked towards the small set up stage. Everyone clapped and cheered and I would have too were I not in shock.

"Hi everyone, thanks for coming. I haven't done one of this in a while but I missed performing so I decided to just invite a few of you here. Feel free to ditch the seats and dance to your hearts content. I'll be performing a few old songs and some new ones I've been working on. All I ask for is please no pictures or videos, just be here in the moment. We can take the selfies after. Oh and drinks and snacks are on the house. Enjoy."Nyashinski said and I almost screamed in joy.

I looked at Kareem who was looking at me. Unable to stop myself I launched myself at him and looped my hands around his neck hugging him.

"Thank you so much."I whispered over and over again.

"You're welcome."Kareem whispered back.

I let him go once Nyashinski started singing and from the first song to the last one I was completely hooked. I sang, danced, drunk some juice, munched on the snacks provided and enjoyed the view. Kareem had no idea but he'd just earned major points with me.

"I have no idea how you even remembered that I love Nyashinski but thank you so much. This is one of those nights I'll never forget."I said to Kareem as we danced.

"I'm glad and if you give me a chance I'll be willing to give you many more amazing moments to remember."Kareem replied.

I wanted to scream yes but it was only the first night. Everyone knows you always put your best foot forward first. As amazing as the night was I still needed to be skeptical until I was a hundred percent sure.

"We'll see but currently all signs point to yes."I said with a smile.

Kareem didn't say anything in return just smiled back and twirled me unexpectedly. I laughed unable to contain the joy in me.

"This last song is to the lovely couple at the back, may your love endure always."Nyashinski said on stage and I only realized he was talking about us when everyone turned to look at us.

Kareem just smiled at me and kissed my cheek taking me by surprise. I didn't even have the heart to deny or correct Nyashinski. My heart was too enthralled by the fact that Kareem had just kissed my cheek. Yep definitely floating in the highest cloud and I wasn't even on drugs. The song Nyashinski sang was new but I was spelbound all five minutes it took him to complete it.

After he was done with his performance Nyashinski thanked everyone for coming and invited us for photos with him. Kareem and I waited until everyone was done before we approached him.

"Kareem my man. Thank you so much for coming."Nyashinski exclaimed excitedly as he shared a bro hug with Kareem as if they were old friends.

"Happy to be here. Great performance today."Kareem replied.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. And who might you be beautiful?"Nyashinski asked addressing me directly.

"I'm Diana and I'm a huge fan. Not to gush but tonight you were amazing. It was an honor to be here."I replied happily.

"The honor was all mine."Nyashinski expressed. "Would you like a photo?"

"I would love one."I replied happily.

One of his staff took my phone and took multiple photos of us, some with Kareem in them too.

"You love birds be safe now, it was awesome having you tonight."Nyashinski said during the goodbyes.

Neither Kareem or I corrected him again, just said our goodbyes and left. I was in a trance the whole ride down to the parking lot.

"I feel like screaming in excitement but I'll wait till I can get to my pillow."I said.

"You can scream now, I don't mind."Kareem assured me making me laugh.

I didn't scream though, I really was going to wait until I was in the safety of my house.

The drive back to my place was short and we were there within twenty minutes. Kareem walked me to my door like the gentleman he had been all night.

"Thank you for an amazing night Kareem. You've exceeded all my expectations."I confessed honestly.

"For me it was a dream come true getting the chance to finally take you out like you deserve. Thank for saying yes, I had a great time too."He replied.

Seeing as it was okay and we had grown a lot closer I leaned in for a hug wrapping my hands around his neck since my heels added to my height. Kareem still had to slightly bend over so it was more comfortable for the both of us. He wrapped his hands around my waist and held me tight against him for a few seconds.

He let me go, kissed my cheek before stepping back.

"Goodnight Diana, sleep sweet. I'll text you."

"Goodnight Kareem, drive safe."

With one last wave, he walked away and I watched him until he disappeared around the stairs. I let myself into my house and once the door was locked behind me I let out that scream I'd been holding back as I danced around in joy. I retrieved my phone and proceeded to text Salome. Time to make her jealous.

"Dee do you have any idea what time it is?"Salome scolded in a sleepy voice.

It was past midnight but my excitement could not have waited till morning.

"Sorry I just got back home. You have no idea what happened."I screeched and without giving her the chance to reply ranted out my whole night to her.

By the time I was done, she was fully awake and dishing out for more details about Nyashinski and how perfect Kareem was.

Kareem was definitely an unexpected mystery that I couldn't wait to solve.

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

I think it's safe to say that that went well.

What's the best date you've been on or what is your dream date idea?

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