SOUL TIED

1. SIN

AUDREY

The irritating sound of birds tweeting through my phone speaker pierces through my ears, making me groan in annoyance. With my eyes still shut, I stretch my arm and start searching for my phone on my nightstand until I find it then I use the side button to shut it off before opening my eyes and accepting that night time has passed and it is time to step into reality again.

"Finally, she wakes up, " my boyfriend, Khosi says when he enters my bedroom with only his pants on. Khosi and I have been together for a couple of months now and I know I should be used to his physique but the guy still blows me away each time I see him shirtless, it always feels like I'm staring at a model. I always drool and he loves it, it boosts his already inflated ego.

"Third alarm is a charm, " I sit up and stretch while yawning.

"Well, you need to get up and bath or you'll be late for your shift, hurry so your breakfast doesn't get cold, " he walks closer and kisses my forehead then walks out to check on whatever he's making for breakfast while I get up, make the bed and head straight to the bathroom.

This is my normal daily routine and Khosi and I are always together. We alternate between our apartments and although his is fancier, I appreciate being in my own space. It affords me the comfort to move around freely and not having to worry about where I leave my shoes, or forgetting to fix the cushion when I get up from the couch. His house rules  drive me up the wall sometimes but I guess there's no relationship without sacrifice, right?

I find him busy on his phone when I'm done and he doesn't hear me until I get closer and kiss his cheek "A man who spoils you like this is definitely a keeper, " my mouth waters from the sight of fluffy pancakes set in front of me.

"And don't you ever forget it, baby, " he smiles at me and I take a seat opposite him and grab a fork to start eating.

"Wait,wait...smile" he holds up his phone and I smile for the camera then a few snaps later I enjoy my breakfast.

When my phone pings I know he just tagged me on Instagram. Khosi is a social butterfly and his good looks as well as charisma and sense of humor have earned him thousands of followers, his entire life story can be found on twitter and Instagram. He documents everything from what we have for breakfast to our romantic dates, not forgetting the random snaps he takes of me when I'm not aware. In the eyes of Khosi's fifteen thousand followers, we are the perfect couple or the epitome of "couple goals" as it's labelled lately.

I'd be lying if I say it doesn't annoy me sometimes but I've learned to embrace that this is part of who he is and just as he has accepted me, I also need to accept him even if it means making endless tiktok videos. It also doesn't help that a large number of his followers are a group of women who shamelessly leave thirsty comments on his picture and sliding in his DMs but he always assures me that he pays none of them attention and since I haven't seen any sign that he might be lying to me, I choose to believe him. Khosi is the perfect boyfriend. He's too good for me and the baggage I carry.

I munch down my last pancake then take my plate to the sink to wash it and Khosi gets dressed so he can drive me to work. I work at a restaurant at a five-star hotel not too far away from the complex I stay in at Thohoyandou. If anyone would have told me five years ago that I'd be a head chef at a prestige hotel in Limpopo I would have laughed at them because at that point in my life, this dream was just too far for me to reach it, it was just that, a dream.

We make it to my workplace on time and Khosi heads off to his own apartment to shower and go to work, besides being busy on social media, he is an IT professional which also takes up most of his time but I'm no different because I also work twelve to fourteen hours, only getting a day or two off and that's if there isn't a shortage of staff at the restaurant

Walking in, I quickly head to the lockers to change into my chefs uniform then I step into my office, the kitchen. We start by preparing the breakfast menu, normally its not too packed in the mornings so we dont do a lot of running around, rush hour is during lunch and dinner, that's when we really feel the heat

People start walking in and orders start coming through and thats officially the start of the day, I enjoy cooking, I always have. Growing up, my mother wasn't much of a cook, she hardly stepped in the kitchen but I guess thats because we had a hired stay in chef. I spent a lot of time following her in the kitchen, learning from her recipes and even attempting to make dishes with her, ofcourse we had to keep it a secret because my parents did not approve of me hanging with the help, they always tried to find something more meaningful for me to do like attending their charity events with them to help them promote their company image or have me spending time learning about the business, so you can imagine the shock that came with them finding out I didnt want to go to business school, instead I wanted to become a chef. Their biggest nightmare, having an only child who wanted to follow in the footsteps of the middle class people according to them. I remember every argument we had about it, down to the last one which led to me leaving home and them cutting me off financially until I come back to my senses. Years later, they are still waiting for that day.

I block those thoughts away like I always do by focusing on my work, my friend Rea tries to chat while we work but its almost impossible when we are all running around in the kitchen and I have to oversee that every dish is being prepared accordingly. I always help with the cooking as well so I find that my shifts are very busy but I dont mind. This is the life I chose, the life I want

We make it through lunch and it quiets down a bit but only for a few hours, as soon as we hit seven in the evening the place is fully packed again and everyone is taking orders left, right and centre. Our manager, Theo walks around making sure that everybody is keeping track of time and his voice is on full blast making sure nobody slacks off but we all know its the pressure of making sure the customers are kept happy, ugh who am I kidding, Theo is a rude control freak who gets off on seeing people nervous, he has tried it countless times with me but my unbothered demeanour always leaves him defeated but that doesnt stop him from trying each time so Im not taken by surprise when he stops next to me

"You have a customer who wishes to sing your praises, " he speaks with a bored tone.

"Oh really? Where are they?" I beam at the thought of someone taking time to actually appreciate the work that I do, it always gives that extra boost one never knows they need until they get it.

"Don't look too happy, follow me" he says then turns to walk away. I make sure that I'm still presentable with all the running around that I've been doing in the background then I follow a visibly grumpy Theo to the front where customers are dining. I walk behind him and almost bump into him when he stops without warning and I almost bump his back, he moves to the side and I come face to face with a face I didn't think I'd see anytime soon, especially here.

I look at the one sin I've been fighting so hard to erase from my memory for weeks now, my heart skips a beat and I blink rapidly not believing that this sin is sitting here, looking at me with a smirk on his face and his ocean eyes stare into mine drawing me in like they did the night I crossed a line I shouldn't have. I told myself that I'd pretend it never happened and move on with my life because that was the best thing to do, that night meant nothing, his touch and everything that he made me feel that night meant nothing. It was just a careless mistake, a sin, a betrayal that I vowed to myself to never repeat and now at this very moment, I stand next to my grumpy manager and look at the sin that is Marco Accardi.