Chapter 13: The meeting with Ben

Afternoon was beautiful, the sunshine brightening the day and making the city look like a coloured drawing. The air was slightly cool and people walked, biked and drove around New York city to experience a lively saturday.
I was inside Nickel's bar and most of the chairs were empty because many people usually preferred to come drink in the evenings. The spot I picked had two plastic chairs and a table in the middle. I sat on one of the chairs as I waited for Ben to come so he would sit at the other. A girl who had earlier come into the bar wanted to sit with me even though there were almost forty five free chairs in the bar. I didn't let her sit as I told her that I was waiting for my date.
I glanced at my watch impatiently, Ben was twenty six minutes late. My thirsty throat protested for a liquid but I didn't take a drink because Ben had always waited for me to come before he took his' anytime we planned to go to a place together and I came late.
I half-heartedly thought about the werewolf as I waited, I really don't know if I believe or not that I'm a werewolf. I was supposed to have shifted by now if I was, right?
Anywhere I looked, I saw the face of the white haired woman in my dream. She said she was the moon goddess, and that she created me. But she looked more of my mate anytime I remembered her face in my heart.
I've started getting migraines from too much thinking, just when I'm at the last step of solving a riddle, another one comes on the way. My attention suddenly diverted to the bar door when I perceived the scent of somebody coming in, I sighed in relief when I saw that it was Ben.
"Hey man." He said when he reached me and balled his hand to a fist for a chop-knuckle.
I looked at him with a bored and annoying face as I refused to hit my fists with his. Ben shook his head stubbornly like he understood what I was doing and sat down on his chair; still not breaking eye contact from me.
"I'm sorry for coming late, an old buddy of mine had a domestic accident and I had to visit him before I came here." Ben said.
I looked at him for a second before I said, "You didn't tell me that you now have an old buddy." I said it so low that I bet Ben hardly heard me.
"What are you saying?" Ben asked, frustration evident on his face. "You are my best friend but that doesn't mean I can't have other friends without your permission!"
I smiled in spite of myself as I pressed the bell on the table so the bartender could come and take our others. A lady in her late thirties dressed in blue walked to our table with a thick black paper on her hand and asked, "What would you like to have messrs?"
She looked at Ben at first but then her gaze lingered on me for a minute. "I'd like to have a glass of stengah and plantain chips." Ben replied.
The female bartender didn't seem to hear Ben, all her attention was focused on my face like I was a beautiful jewel she couldn't stop staring at because of its beauty.
"Hello!" I said; raising my voice in frustration.
The lady flinched and suddenly got back her composure when she heard my voice. "I'm sorry." She said while smiling. "I just got carried away because you look very much like a person I know."
I saw the way her eyes shifted when she said her last sentence and I knew she was lying. She must be really stupid to like and find me attractive even though she know that I was almost eight years older than her.
"Whatever, just go bring the drink." I said dismissively.
She apologised and asked Ben what he earlier said before she took my order and left us to get the drinks.
"Man…she really thinks you're hot, don't she?" Bob said.
I rolled my eyes at him and he asked, "So, what's your dream about?"
I flipped back my hair with my hand as I wondered where to start. The bartender whose badge read "Rose" suddenly walked to us with our order. She placed it on the table and smiled at me before she left.
"I'm a werewolf." I suddenly said.
Ben spilled his drink to the ground when he heard me. "You're what?" He asked, his eyes turning big with surprise.
"A Werewolf." I replied. "It's no big deal, I have a thing in me that talks and calls itself my wolf."
Ben placed his drink on the table and I took up the pineapple juice I ordered to take a sip. "What do you mean it's no big deal? Are you serious? I mean, when did you know? why are you just telling me about it?"
I chucked at the many questions that Ben asked. "I knew on that day that we had an encounter with the three black werewolves." I said. "But that's past now, it's definitely not what I came to tell you, remember?"
Ben nodded his head like he indeed remembered. "Tell me about the dream then." He said.
I stared around the bar for a moment to see if anybody sitting around could hear us. I turned to look back at Ben before I started the story.
"I saw a woman who had white hair that stretched to her waist, her skin was also as white as snow and she hung almost seven metres away from the ground as she spoke to me." I took a sip of my drink before I continued.
"She said she is the moon goddess and the creator of all werewolves. I then told her my name but she said she already knows who I am and that she created me half of the way she is." I looked at Ben's reaction before I continued. "She further said that I'm the hope of the wolf world and that I should fight for it, that She've sent a guardian to me that'll explain more."
Ben's mouth opened more and more as I talked, and when I said the last sentence, his eyes grew so big that I thought they were going to fall out of their sockets.
I thought that he was extremely shocked as a result of everything I said. But then I noticed that he was looking past me to someone at the bar door. My head turned around to see who caught his attention that much before I froze.