If you think your man is crazy, then you definitely haven’t met Lethinhlahla Khambule. I thought he was going to let me get used to the idea of introducing me to his family at some point but no, the man is going straight for the kill. I know hearing about his daughter being in the hospital might have freaked me out, but there is no reason for him to drag me to the hospital. What good will it do? Maybe I still have a way out of this. I can just ask his driver to drive me home after he drops off Lethi. Yah. That sounds like a plan. When we get to the hospital, he climbs out of the car and extends his hand to me.
“I don’t think taking me with you is a good idea. Deli can drive me home.”
He gives me cold icy stare like I have taken away his favorite toy. Suddenly I wanna swallow back my words but I know I have to stand up to him. If not, he will just dictate my life and control it. “Lindani, either you get out of this car willingly or I drag you out. Your choice.” Fuck me.
Mxm. I Huff as I open the door on my side and slide off. My courage got me what? A silly ultimatum which benefitted him in the end. Fuck him. He holds my hand as we head inside the hospital. He enquires at the reception and he is directed to the waiting room since visiting hours will start in 20 minutes.
When we get to the nice and cozy waiting room, we find two women, his wife and another woman who is in her forties or fifties. There is also a young man who is around my age. The wife stands up upon our arrival. She frowns when her eyes travel to Lethi's right hand which is still gripping mine. I tug my hand and luckily he lets it go, slowly.
“Khambule, what is going on? Who is this and where have you been?” she asks and Lethi sighs. He turns to look at me.
“Go sit down.” Yes sir. I know better than to disobey him. So I settle two seats away from the young man. “How is my daughter doing, MaHlophe?”
Zoleka scoffs and looks at him angrily. “So now you care? You care, huh Khambule? You went MIA on us for a whole week only to show up with some Somizi wannabe while your daughter is fighting for her life. What would you have done if she died? Where the fuck have you been? Why aren’t you answering any of my questions?” her voice is too high. I’m afraid she might get chased out of here because of the noise. And than comment about a Somizi wannabe, the woman is crazy. I am not that dramatic and I am normal. Somizi is normal. She is extraordinary and I have nothing against her. I am not needed here. I know that. I wish I can shrink myself and crawl out but I don’t wanna get into trouble with Lethi.
“He is not some Somizi wannabe and that’s an insult to him.” Lethi responds, pointing at me. Ow boy. Here we go. “I didn’t want for you to meet him without sitting down and talking about him properly in a calm environment. His name is Lindani and we are together. I am sorry for not being there for out princess when she needed me. I also had to take care of myself. I can’t be a fully functional father and a loving husband if there is a part of me I am suppressing.” That’s deep. He turns to the older woman. “Mah, how is Aphiwe doing?” the woman gives him a small smile.
“She had food poisoning but luckily it was detected early. It also led to the doctors discovering allergies we were all not aware of. She is lactose intolerant, so we really have to watch what we feed her. Also she is allergic to any product that comes from a cow.”
Lethi curses in a low tone and sits on the coffee table in the middle of the room. “What did she eat that led to food poisoning?”
The woman looks at Zoleka briefly before turning to Lethi. “Lot of pancakes, pizza, pasta, ice cream and meat. All in one day. Her mother was kind of stress eating.” She shrugs like she hadn’t just dropped a bomb. Sounds like she is low-key blaming Zoleka for this.
“I wouldn’t be stress eating in the first place if you weren’t busy gallivanting wherever you were. The nerve, Khambule.” Zoleka bites back. You go girl.
“When is Aphiwe going to be discharged?” he asks.
“The doctors still need to run some tests, but as soon as those are done and once she is in a better shape, she will be discharged.” The woman responds. I think she is the nanny or something.
“Thank God.” He sighs. Then he raises his head to look at me. “Mah, this is Lindani Mob. I will tell you all about him soon. Lindani, that is my wife, Zoleka Khambule, uMaHlophe; my mother’s younger sister, MaCabe and my younger brother, Mqondisi Khambule.”
“Nice to meet you all.” I send them my best smile. This is rather a very awkward position Lethi has put me in.
“Khambule, can I talk to you for a moment outside?” his wife asks calmly.
In that same moment, my phone chooses to ring. I frown when I see who is calling. Ralph. Some white guy we used to do modeling gigs with back then. He got picked by a great agent and we somehow lost contact. Luckily for Truecaller, I see who is calling.
“I have to take this. Please excuse me.” I mute the phone as I stand up.
Lethi also stands. “You’re coming back, right?”
I shake my head. “Jet lag is killing me. So I really need to rest.”
He nods. “I will walk you out.”
“I know my way out. And besides, your wife wants to talk to you. Bye everyone. I hope we see each other in the future.”
“Bye Lindsay.” Mqondisi speaks up for the first time and I frown. He knows me? But how? “Durban is very small.” He smiled at me.
I shake that off as I walk out, answering the phone. “Lindsay speaking.”
“Hey babes. You’re talking to Ralph.”
“Ohh hey. What a nice surprise. How are you doing? How have you been? What has been happening in your life?”
“A lot has been happening. We would at least need a box of wine to unpack everything but I’m okay. I know we haven’t been in touch and I have doing this but I am in Durban and kind of stranded. Can you please take me in for a night or two?”
God I hope I am not about to have a squatter in my hands. I climb inside the car and Deli drives off. I think he has been instructed to drive me where I wanna go. “Ohh okay. No problem. We are friends after all. Just tell me where you are and I will come pick you up because I’m not at home right now.”
“I’m in Sydenham.” He tells me the street address.
“Okay. I will tell you once I am there.” We conclude the call. “Deli can we please pick up my friend in this address?” I tell him.
“No problem, Mr. Mzobe. I am instructed to take wherever you wanna go as long as that place is not dangerous.”
I snort. “Well, welcome to Durban.” He smiles and shakes his head.
On our way to Sydenham, I purchase some groceries and drinks in the Checker’s App because I know my house is empty. I then order pizza and a meat platter. When we get to Ralph’s location, I spot him in a shelter. It’s late afternoon but still, sitting in a shelter with bags in Durban is never safe. As soon as Deli parks the car in the bus stop, I rush out of the car and go hug Ralph. Having him in my arms makes me realize just how much I missed him. We break the hug and I take a few moments just to take in his appearance. Despite him being 'stranded' he looks as classy as ever, with Luis Vuitton boots, leather pants, a tight beige shirt and a designer bag. His long blonde hair is straight and neat. He looks painfully beautiful. Luckily I am also wearing some designer clothes I bought in Singapore or else I could’ve been a bit conscious about my looks.
“My God. Look at you. Did you just step out of a magazine?” he laughs.
“Look who is talking. You’re glowing.”
“Power of a great dick, my friend. Now let’s go before we get robbed.” I knock at Deli's window. “Please help us with the bags.” He smiled before climbing off the car. I lead Ralph in the backseat and slide next to him.
“A chauffer? What the fuck are they paying you at DCC? Or is it the new dick?” I laugh.
“You will have to wait till we get to my crib.”
On the way, we exchange meaningless chats about latest fashion trends, celebrity gossips and all those non serious chats. When we get to my house, the Checker’s scooter pulls up behind us. Deli takes the groceries and places it in the passenger seat before driving in. As he parks in the driveway, I climb off the car and take a few moments to admire my house. I can’t wait to show it off to my friends, which is why my house warming party is in a week. If you have a multimillionaire partner, you don’t plan a small event for months.
“You live here?” Ralph asks, unable to hide his shock. I just smile and take one of my suitcases.
“Come on.” He takes his luggage and follows me inside. I unlock the huge front door and switch on the light. My house smells so nice and looks so clean. Home sweet home. I haven’t lived here for longer than a week but I missed it. “I will show you around later. But I first have to show you the guest room. You can use this one.” I point at the second door. “I need to freshen up. I had a long flight. You can get settled and we will meet in the kitchen in half an hour.”
“Thank you for taking me in.”
“I am sure you would’ve done the same for me.” I open the guest room door and he gets in.
I head to my took and find my suitcases and some shopping bags near the closet door. I am glad Deli decided to put them here and not in the bed. After freshening up, I head to the kitchen, smiling at the takeaways on the island. Deli is also chilled on one of the barstools.
“Thank you for all this, Deli.”
He grimaces. “No big deal.” I expect him to leave but no, he is still seated.
“Do you need anything else?”
“Mr. Khambule is yet to assign a guard for you but in the meantime, I will resume the role of being your protector.”
“Protector? That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?”
“Mr. Mzobe…”
“Please call me Lindsay.”
“Okay, Lindsay. You’re not seeing just an ordinary rich man. Mr. Khambule is a very wealthy man. He has many competitors, many enemies and many things who always want to kidnap his loved ones just to get a ransom. Soon, your news will be all over the tabloids and threats will descend upon you. Better get used to having a security detail now.”
“Fuck. Everything is just extreme with Lethi.”
He smiles apologetically. “I will be outside if you need me.” He gets up.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“I will eat but later.” He walks out.
I don’t think I will get used to my new life or reality soon. I unpack the groceries and then dish up the fast food. I then update my friends about being back in the country. I am lucky that it’s Friday. I have enough time to rest before going back to work. I wanna call Lethi just to check up on him but I have to give him space with his wife. Downside of being a side chick.
“You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.” Ralph startles me. I even forgot he was here.
I smile at him. “I am a survivor.”
“That I know.”
“Let’s dig in.” I pass him his plate and then uncork a wine bottle before placing it between us with two wine glasses. We spend the first few minutes just eating without saying anything and then I break the silence. “So how has life been?”
“After that contract with the agency, I relocated to New Orleans 6 months later. All was glitter and gold. I was a hit. I later moved to Los Angeles. I worked with Polo, Calvin Klein, three other huge brands until I was taken by this huge brand where I signed a five year contract. The benefits were really attracting and the pay was big. I got myself a new car and apartment. I even scored a few TV roles. All was well for two years until the big boss invited me to his penthouse one night which I later found out was his fuck pad. He wanted us to fuck and I was down since your girl was single. I thought it was a once off but turns out the guy wanted to have me regularly. He even stopped fucking his regular girls and focused on my ass. He was too kinky for me and I never complained. But one day be was drunk. He came to my apartment and found me with my past agent. He chased me out rudely and fucked me roughly without any lube for a whole night. I was sorry for three days. He apologized with flowers and expensive gifts but then he did it again twice. I decided there and then to come back. I knew he was going to find me in America but he wouldn’t think of coming here. Besides he was just using me for sex because I wasn’t a hassle and I was a safe option.” Yoh. Isgaxa.
I take a huge sip straight from the wine bottle just to down what Ralph just told me. And here people think only straight people suffer in the hands of their partners. Yoh kuningi and Ku wrong.
