DAKALO
"Last installment! Apology debt fully paid." the coffee and donuts safely settle in front of me.
"And now you're forgiven, Pula." I grin widely knowing I'll miss the free breakfast, I had even stopped getting something to eat before leaving home and I must admit, I liked the idea of us sharing breakfast before starting with work. Maybe I'll continue this little tradition but I'll have to substitute the donuts. Four days of them is enough.
"Pula?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought I'd give you a nickname, but if you don't like it I'll go back to your full name."
"No, It's not that I don't like it. It's just that everyone around me calls me Mo."
"Then I'll be the different one." I'm still grinning, I need to stop. "We will be having an outdoor day today. We need to meet with some of the investors to put them up to speed the projects they've invested in.
"Alright, I'll be quick then." She settles on her chair and starts eating.
"No rush. It's still early."
When we are both done we pack up and I lead her out of the office locking it behind me. Just as we are walking down the hallway my worst nightmare aproaches us.
"Baby, are you going somewhere?"
"What are you doing here?"
"You won't answer my calls so I thought I'd come see you."
"I told you, we have nothing to talk about Sindi. Why do you keep doing this?" I feel myself tense up next to Pula and I hate that there's an audience present for what Sindi might do.
"We need to talk, Dakalo. Are you just going to let four years go down the drain because of one mistake? Just one? I've apologized already. What more do you want me to do or say?" her voice grows loud.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes my love, tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it but you can't keep ignoring me like this, I'm your girlfriend."
"Ex girlfriend."
"Uhh, I'll just wait over there." Pula says starting to walk but I stop her.
"No, Sindi won't be staying." I say to her then look back at Sindi "I won't keep repeating the same thing to you. We are done. Now stop bothering me and I never want to see you here again. This is my workplace and I won't tolerate you coming here to do whatever you call this. I've got work to do." I say then start walking not giving a damn if she stays rooted right there or goes home.
Pula rushes from behind me and I hadn't even realised that I had sped up my walking because I'm already worked up. When we reach my car I get the door for her and shut it then move to my own side.
"Are you okay?" She asks when I'm in the car.
"Yeah, I just got annoyed for a moment. I hate it when she does that. " I start driving, still not believing that Sindisiwe dragged herself to my workplace. What the hell will it take for her to stop bothering me?
"Yea, it kind of was awkward." She says and I catch a glimpse of her. I don't know how to react or respond to that so I just keep driving.
We make it on time to our meeting and our day goes like that. It's quite a busy day with a lot of explaining to do but I do it without faltering. Investors need to feel that they are taken care of and that includes thoroughly explaining details to them, even those that might seem minor, they need to feel that they are held to a high regard and that's exactly what I do for them.
By the time we finish, it's almost 5 o'clock and we are in our third restuarant and all we've had is soft drinks. I suggest that we grab something to eat right there and Pula doesn't object so we pack away, place our orders and relax. I just want to unwind a little.
"You have a hectic job. Having to keep people happy " She says and I chuckle.
"That's not even the hard part."
"Really? What is?"
"Making sure that projects go as planned. It can get challenging sometimes."
"I can only imagine."
"Can we cut off on work talk? I feel tired of it already and it's a friday, it's supposed to be a fun day."
"Sure, What would you rather talk about, Mr. Netshia?" She asks all serious like but I see that she's just messing with me so I narrow my eyes at her making her giggle shyly. She's cute.
"Maybe we could have a sort of let's get to know each other kind of thing."
"I'd like that, but you first." she quickly says and I lean back on my seat.
"Okay, well uhh, where to start? I'm the first of three kids. We are two guys and one girl. I come from a big family, I've got my aunt and uncles and cousins. A grandmother in Venda and a grandfather here in the Cape. I've got one good friend and we both love a good party. I like to believe that I'm a pretty chilled guy hey. There's not much to know."
"You forgot to mention that you have a scary girlfriend" She says teasingly.
"Ex girlfriend."
"She's still scary." she says and I laugh a bit. I've never been scared of Sindi but I know she's a mean girl so I can try and view her from Pula's point of view and yeah, it's not a pretty side.
"Well, she's in the past now."
"What happened there?" she asks looking at me "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want..."
"It's fine, it's no longer a big deal. She cheated." I say and her eyes go wide.
"Someone cheated on you? The whole you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask and she fixes her glasses, something I've learned she does when she's feeling unsure but I hold her gaze
"I don't know, I mean... You're like one of the most popular guys... Or at least you were in varsity so I can't imagine that she would do that to you when there were so many girls that would do anything to get with you."
"Are you one of those girls?" I turn the attention to her and I swear I see her blush
"No, plus I've got a boyfriend." She says the last part firmly.
"Okay, your turn now."
"I'm also the first of three kids, Two girls and one boy. My relatives are far so we hardly see them. We lost our mom seven years ago... I'm more of an introvert but I do go out sometimes, I just don't do well in large crowds, My little sister is my best friend..."
"I'm sorry about your mom."
"It's okay, These things happen..." She fixes her glasses again.
"So it's just you, your dad and siblings?"
"No, he remarried 3 years ago... She's amazing and we have a great relationship."
"That's good to hear, it's not often you hear about success step parent and child relationships." I say relating to my own life but my case is completely different, for all my life I've only known one woman to be my mother and she has been beyond amazing and kind to me, even in times when I didn't deserve it.
" That's true, but my dad didn't miss with this one. She treats the three of us as though we are her own children."
Her phone beeps a couple of times simultaneously and she reaches for it. I see a frown form on her face and I immediately get worried "What's wrong?"
She looks at me with a forced smile "Nothing."
"Come on, something just wiped out that beautiful smile of yours, what is it?"
She sighs then puts her phone on the table "My boyfriend told me he's going on a weekend away with the guys... And he specifically told me that it would just be the guys so I couldn't tag along, which is fine because I don't want to a clingy girlfriend."
"But..."
"My little sister just sent me screenshots of his Instagram account. He's tagged on pictures and there's girls there" her frown grows.
"Maybe they just bumped into them there." I say but even I don't believe what I'm saying.
"I know the other two girls, they are dating the two friends he left with."
"So they didn't tell him they were bringing their girls along..." I try to tread a bit further from what appears to be the truth and she rolls her eyes at me. She's not an idiot.
She takes her phone again and unlocks it then slides it over to me and I see the pictures sent by her little sister accompanied by a text saying "He told you it was a guys weekend away. I see 3 guys and 3 girls here. Do the math Mo!"
"Okay, that looks... Suspicious" I say giving back the phone.
"I'm being played here, Dakalo... I can't believe I fell for this again." she huffs shaking her head.
"Hey, he's an asshole and he doesn't deserve you. This is on him." I reach for her hand because I see how upset she is right now and I'm just hoping she won't start crying.
"But I'm the one who keeps putting myself in this position, I'm the fool."
"No, he is. He clearly can't see what's infront of him, he wants to play games until its late then only he starts wanting to chase after you."
"Like Sindi?" She asks and I chuckle a bit.
"Exactly like Sindi, now all she does is follow me around like an idiot and I'm just done with her."
"This sucks." She says folding her arms, judging by her reaction, she's probably caught him cheating in the past but stayed. Chances are he's going to come back from this getaway and sweet talk her into forgiving him and she's going to do just that.
"I think we should get going... My mood has been spoiled."
"Alright, I'll drop you off at home."
"Actually, I left my car at work" she says and I give her an amused look.
"And you're out here calling me a rich kid?" I say and she lets out that cute giggle of hers.
"My dad isn't a billionaire... But he can afford to buy me a car, which I'm supposed to use to help run errands by the way."
"Yeah yeah, fellow rich kid." I tease her and we get going after settlimg the bill.
She's so quiet along the way back to work and I can tell that there's a thousand thoughts running through her mind because of that idiot she calls her boyfriend.
I don't know why I do it, but I intertwine out fingers with my free hand and she turns to look at me but doesn't pull away. We continue in silence, hands joined together and minds far apart but she looks a lot calmer when I glance at her.
When we arrive she leads me to where she's parked and I park next to her then I get quickly get out to get the door for her
"Thank you." She says getting off the car.
"You're welcome, will you be okay?"
"Yeah, nothing a bowl of ice cream can't fix" She smiles.
"Do you mind if I hug you?" I ask expecting some resistance but she shakes her head.
"I do kind of need a hug right now." She says and I move in then wrap my arms around her.
"Remember, he's the idiot here. Not you. Okay?" I say resting my chin on her head.
"I'll see you on Monday, have a great weekend." She says when I let go of her.
"It's going to be a crazy one, we have a family thing tomorrow. What will you be doing?"
"I'll just be at home waiting for Monday." she says this looking at me intensely.
"Okay, drive safe." I say and she gets in her car.
I wait until her car disappears then i get back in mine and drive home smiling like an idiot at the memory of our hands together and my arms around her. This can't be good.