"Oh my god. Did you girls see that handsome guy on the first floor?"
Eric's eyes glided to the same group of girls from before.
They were coming from the entrance of the 8th floor. Their South Sudanese accent, as strong as any native's.
"Yes girl, did you see his eyes. He must be a foreigner. Why did you not get him? Go and look for him before he leaves." Her friend said, her voice box perfect for public speaking.
The entire tables of families and friends turned to look at the group of girls, laughing. Eric father also heard their loud plotting and began to chuckle. The girls walked to their table in embarrassment, each girl portrayed to their friend, their anger in the form of glares and the kissing of teeths. It just so happens that their table, table 9, was right next to Eric's and his father's table. As the girls came closer, the girl who informed her friends of her attraction for Eric's father made eye contact with Eric. She quickly averted her eyes. The entire floor's atmosphere was engulfed in silent chuckles. The chuckles of the customers rang, almost like a bell. He averted his eyes to his father, only to find a wide grin stretched across his face. As if the timing couldn't had been any better, the very last ember of the sun set shined on his face. Eric's father's face was glowing. His black curly hair sitting on top of his head as if it was some kind of crown, his green eyes, like gems, combined with the last remaining sunlight gave off the illusion that they were glowing. His lips were thin, painted by the colour of pink, just like his mother's. He had a athletic slim body that of a sprinter, with muscles to enhance his appearance. His father's physique was the complete contrast to Eric's physique. He may have had his father's and mother's features, but not their charm over other people. Eric often stear at himself in the mirror everyday, when he wakes up to go to school and wouldn't help think his body was no different from a hippo. He remembers going to the doctor for a physical, and he found out he weighed 124 pounds. That was the day that Eric got hit with the harsh reality that he was fat. All of a sudden Eric's world began to shatter, he was no longer fast enough for football and his stamina would deplete rapidly. He would start to be neglected by his peers and no longer seemed relevant to the football team. Eventually he quit the team, but deep down, he wanted someone to come up to him, to encourage him not to quit, not to give up, to keep pushing. But no one came up to him, no one, not his coach, not his teammates, and not his friends, who were all in the soccer team by the way. No one had faith in him anymore. They gave up on him, without even trying. That's when he realised he was easily replaceable. He accepted the fact that maybe he wasn't as good as he thought he was, and that he was just a nobody, just a average Midfielder that was easily replaceable. In South Sudan, soccer is easily the most dominated sport in the country, that means every single boy in his school wanted to join the soccer team, so of course he was replaceable. Realising this back then he didn't have any idea how he made the team. As he finally accepted his harsh reality, he began seeing his father in a different way recently. He would often stear at his father's body, admiring his physical traits. His broad shoulders, his bulky biceps, his veiny forearms his spotless skin, and his towering height. Eric would stand for hours naked, stearing at himself in the mirror thinking, why can't I be like him, why can't everywhere I go people stear at me too, why is it always him and not me, what's the differents between me and him, am I not his son. In frustration he would pull his belly rolls violently, until he just stopped and continue stearing at himself in the mirror until the maids called him for bed.
Noticing Eric zoned out, his dad said, "That could never be me," trying to get Eric to laugh. But Eric was used to these types of situations, he just gave a quick smile followed with a brief chuckel to appease his father.
At the corner of Eric's eyes, he saw a group of staff coming from the lower floors, mostly women. He was impressed by their impressive ability to balance huge trays full of food and drinks in both hands. As they walked toward the tables, the glass of drinks cluncked together making a clunking noise. Like a bright light, his mind flashed back to the past. A memory full of nostalgia. It might seem stupid to other people, even to his peers, but Eric always wished if he had to be reborn, he would want to be reborn into a fantasy world, with taverns and adventurers. Just like the amazing fantasy animes he watched from the start to the very end. It's just a life he knows he will never have, not again anyway. In otherwords, it's simply a fantasy to him right now. To be admired and respected by others, and most importantly to him, is to be loved by others. when he was just a little boy he watched as people admired and respected his father, not just for his good looks, but for his success in business. And to Eric, the very symbol of success was his father. He may not know much about his fathers past, but he definitely knew his father wasn't always rich. His father was born and raised somewhere near the Nile river in the Nu'er tribe. But to escape from his childhood lifestyle to what he is now is almost like a miracle to him. A new lifestyle of a in home gym, a swimming pool and businesses generating millions of pounds per month. Despite being his father's son, he often feels like he will never succeed his father in anything. He can't imagine himself being his father. And that scares him, he knows that his father gives him everything he needs, a good education in a good school, good food, and personal items, and to disappoint his father after all that he has done for him is no better than stabbing his father's dreams and expectations for him. Not just academically, but in terms of one day ready to inherit everything his father owns.
Their young waiter for the night, was approaching their table, carrying a single tray of their food and drinks.
"Here is your dinner for this lovely night sirs."
Eric cringed at his horrible American accent mixed with his unnatural professionalism, it made him feel second hand embarrassment for him."
"Thank you." Eric and his father said one after the other.
"I will regularly come check up on you guy's if you need anything else, or you could just wave me over."
The more he talked, the more Eric wanted him to stop talking and just leave.
"Ok." His father said.
The waiter walked away and descended to the lower floors.
As soon as he was gone, they helped themselves to there hot steaming dinner. But out of the corner of Eric's eyes he could see the girl's from the opposite table, taking quick glances at them. Eric felt a little uncomfortable but decided to ignore it. He took a spoon full of his fried rice, and paused, appreciating the warmth of the heat descending his throat. He mixed it with his sweet and sour chicken, the only differents this time was the sweetness that strangely enough, compliments the heat of the fried rice and covered his tongue in sweet gravy, with a sweet after taste. When he was done, there was not a single rice grain left on the plate. He then washed it down with his sprite. He thought his drink was sweeter than usual, but he didn't pay it anymind. He gulped it all down and released a burp, that should've escaped his mouth, but escaped through his nose, with a slight burn. He was so caught up in his feast, he didn't notice his father finished his, long before he did.
"You finished before me, you were that hungry." Eric said in amazement.
"I'm on a diet, so I really didn't eat anything from this morning till now."
Before Eric could respond, he noticed someone was standing in front of their table.
"Excuse me sir, could I have a moment with you please?"
It was the same woman who was staring at them.
"Is there something wrong, or something I could help you with, Miss?" His father said.
"Oh no, I just want to talk to you privately, if you dont mind."
His father took a second to ponder before deciding to go with her. As they were walking away, Eric heard chuckles coming from her friends table.
He sighed, taking out his phone from his pocket, and browsed through the internet. As he was scrolling, he came across a thumbnail, which was of a man looking directly at the camera. Eric knew who he was, his name was Sean Makuei. A well-known podcaster whose fame quickly spread across most of the English-speaking African countries. His fame rose from his unmatched humour and knowledge about a lot of things. He was once a South Sudanese politician before retiring 2 years ago. Knowing how entertaining his podcast and videos can be, Eric clicked on the video and retrieved his wireless AirPods from his pocket. As soon as he connected it to his Bluetooth and put them on, the first thing he heard was, "YOU ALL CAN'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU ALL ABOUT THIS."
Eric smiled, thinking, what is he talking about now?
Makuei cleared his throat.
"For those of you who don't know about the news, the South Sudanese and the United States gave the world just a few hours ago. I'll inform you. At 2:25 p.m. this afternoon, the South Sudanese and the United States government came together to discuss the Asteroid that spans 4 and a half miles that is on a course to hit either Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, or South Sudan. And at 5:47 p.m., both governments came on live television on every African News channel and even the United States news channels. To inform us that they have decided not to destroy the Asteroid for reasons that they won't tell us, and that if the Asteroid hits in South Sudan, which apparently, South Sudan has the highest probability to be the strike zone of the Asteroid, they will not sell or give it to any country, including the United States. A representative of the United States states, I regret to say that the South Sudanese government has decided not to accept our offer to buy the Asteroid. But still we will offer our services in order to protect the South Sudanese people, and to strengthen our bond as 2 countries. And with that, it shifts to them talking about the consequences it might have on the African countries, and how they can cushion the impact. Just so you all know, every African country has decided that if the Asteroid hits their country, that they will sell it for half a trillion dollars to the U.S. Only the South Sudanese government refuses to give it to them if it strikes here. I can only guess it's because they think they don't need the United States anymore. With the South Sudan economy skyrocketing, and life for the South Sudanese people is improving, alongside their growing military strength. South Sudan isn't really reliant on any country right at the moment. But what's so bad about this, you all may be wondering? What's so bad about this? It's their silence. Both governments didn't give us any information, other than it might hit in some African countries and how big it is, they didn't tell us the date, they didn't tell us the area it might hit, they didn't tell us why the United States even wants the Asteroid and why our government refuses to sell it to them, despite how close the 2 countries have gotten since 2027. I know when the government is trying to hide something. I don't know what makes the Asteroid so special, but whatever that makes it special has the worth of numbers we can't even imagine. That being said, I hope these days aren't the calm before the storm."
And with that, the video ends.
After watching the clip of one of his hour long videos, Eric felt strangely calm.
"They must be overreacting, there is no way, they would really let the Asteroid hit without some kind of plan". He said, trying to pass the news as one of those news where you think something terrible is about to happen, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
A few minutes later his father came back, with a smirk on his face, so was that woman. It didn't take too many guesses for Eric to guess what happened. At the corner of his eye, he could hear the women whispering to one another. It reminded him of the girls that would sit on the grass and watch him and his former teamates play soccer all evening, sitting and giggling with one another.
"You ready to go". His father asked.
"Yeah we can go".
His father waved over the waiter to pay the bill and they left the restaurant soon after.