Читать книгу From the First Kiss - Zanele Nondzimba - Страница 5

Chapter 2

2

Arriving at work the next morning, Thando called her mother from her office phone. Never did a week go by without her checking to see that the family was doing well.

She smiled when she heard her mama’s warm voice on the other end of the line.

“Hello, Mama. How are you?”

“I’m fine, sunshine. And you? How is your thesis?”

“It’s going fine, Mama. I’ve collected most of the books I’ll need for my literature review. At some point I’ll probably need more, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

“Are you eating well, though? I know how you skip meals when you’re working too hard.”

“Oh, Mama, I eat plenty. Anastasia and I have an arrangement: she cooks, I clean. She makes a point of packing us both lunch every day, so don’t worry. There’s no skipping of meals.” Thando laughed. “How is Papa?”

“He’s fast asleep. I’ll go wake him up.”

“No, let him rest. I’ll speak to him some other time.”

“Did Siphiwe call you?”

“No, he didn’t. I was going to call him after I spoke to you. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. It’s just that there’s a textbook he needs which costs six hundred rands, and our pension is only coming through next week.”

“But Mama, S’phiwe knows that I cover his textbooks. Why did he call you for the money?”

“No, sweetheart, he wasn’t asking us for help, the subject just came up. Would you mind sending him the money and then I’ll transfer it to you next week?”

“Mama, we’ve been through this. You don’t have to pay me back for anything. I told you and Papa that I want to finance S’phiwe’s tuition. That’s the least I can do, considering the sacrifices you both made for us. I’ll transfer the money now and give S’phiwe a buzz. Don’t worry about it, Ma.”

“You’re such a wonderful daughter, Thando. You and your brother make us so proud.”

“I love you, Mama. Please give Papa a kiss for me, neh?”

“All right, baby. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

Thando immediately logged on to her computer and went to the ABSA website to transfer the money to her brother’s account. Moments later her cellphone rang and she saw Siphiwe’s name on the screen.

“Hayi wena, why did you nag Ma for the money?” she teased.

“Eish, T, she was asking me about varsity and if I had everything that I needed. That’s how it came up. Thanks so much, sis; I just got an alert that the money’s in my account.”

“No problem, bro. But remember to call me about these things, because Mama goes into panic mode. You know how overprotective she is.”

“I will, sis . . . So tell me, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just busy sorting out my thesis.”

Just then, the communications intern knocked on her office door. Thando smiled and signalled with her free hand for her to enter. The young woman obeyed.

“S’phiwe, I have to go, I’ll chat to you later. Toodleloo.”

The intern smiled as Thando ended the call.

“Have a seat, Busi. What can I do for you?”

The girl handed her a travel reimbursement form and sweetly asked, “Would you mind signing my form, please?”

“Oh, this is for the training in Joburg. How did it go?” Thando asked while signing. The head of the communications department was off sick for the next three days, so Thando had to sign miscellaneous documents, being her boss’s right-hand woman.

“It was okay,” Busi replied. “Most of the stuff I already knew from varsity. It was like a recap session for me.”

“That’s the problem with some of these courses; they don’t really teach you anything new. Next time, ask for their list of courses and pick the ones that you know you can gain from.”

Thando handed back the form. “By the way, I read your piece on the literacy programme. Well done, it was very well written.”

Busi beamed at the compliment. “Thank you so much,” she said as she headed for the door and left.

Thando opened her diary to check if she had to attend any meetings and saw that her day wasn’t going to be hectic at all. She had completed the stories for the organisation’s bi-monthly newsletter, so it was just a matter of submitting the copy to the design and layout team. She decided that after submitting the document, she would work on her thesis and then hit the gym in the evening to unwind.

She hoped that Mandla wouldn’t be there, considering how dazed he made her feel. Last night she had dreamt about him, and what a sweet dream it had been.

“Get out of my head!” she whispered, slamming her diary shut.

* * *

That evening as Thando entered the gym, lo and behold, Mandla was right there on one of the stationary bikes. All the others were occupied, except for the one next to him. Thando’s routine included warming up first with twenty minutes of cycling before using the gym equipment, so she had no other option but to use the only available bike.

She took a deep, steadying breath, composing herself before marching straight to the bike. She mumbled “Hello” without making eye contact and mounted the bike as if she was ready for a cycling match.

Mandla turned to face her and instantly broke into his charming smile.

“Hi,” he said with an element of surprise in his voice. “You never did tell me your name.”

Without facing him, she replied, “It’s Thando. Thando Msewu.”

Pedal, pedal, pedal.

“Thando. That’s a pretty name. My sister’s name is Thando. She loves to laugh. In fact, all the Thandos I know love to laugh. I suppose you’re the exception.”

She gave him a piercing look.

“Oh my, you looked at me! How can someone with such pretty almond-shaped eyes look so angry?”

He went silent, waiting for her response. She felt his gaze dancing all over her body and for the first time she became conscious of the fact that her gym outfit was somewhat revealing. Granted, she was wearing a training bra and old baggy sweat pants that looked unattractive in her opinion, but her entire midriff was exposed. After months of dedication to her exercise regimen, she was proud of her flat tummy and didn’t feel the need to hide it when exercising.

Agh, let him look, she thought to herself, there’s no harm in it.

“You look very good,” he said, interrupting her internal dialogue. “I can tell you work out a lot. But I’m glad you’ve kept your African assets. You’re very well shaped.”

“Look, if you’re trying to get on my nerves, you’re doing a great job. Now do me a favour and get your ogling eyes back in their sockets,” she snapped.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t ogling. I was merely appreciating your physique. I didn’t mean to sound forward,” Mandla replied solemnly.

The truth was, his comment had sounded sincere and not disrespectful at all. But his attention was beginning to make her feel nervous and giddy at the same time, and she couldn’t wrap her head around that.

They continued to cycle as though no exchange had taken place at all.

Pedal, pedal, pedal.

After a while Thando turned to look at Mandla and realised that she had been unnecessarily nasty to him.

She faced him and said, “I’m sorry.”

He turned to face her with an expression of shock at first, and then his face eased into a smile.

“I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have gone on about you looking angry. And I shouldn’t have spoken about African assets and all that. It was f-f-forward of me.”

He had a slight stutter! She hadn’t expected him to have a speech impediment. For some reason, it endeared him to her. She smiled shyly and started to pedal a little slower.

“Many have claimed that I look angry when I’m focused on something. I guess it’s just my face.”

“You have a pretty face, though. Can I say that? I’m sorry, I’m being f-forward again.”

“No. Thanks for the compliment.”

They both fell silent, just looking at each other and chuckling at the ice finally being broken.

“So what do you do, Thando?”

“I work for the government. I’m a team leader in the communications department, and I’m also working on my doctorate in media.”

“Wow,” he replied as though she had just said something awe-inspiring, “that means you’re supersmart.”

She laughed. “I just love what I do, that’s all. When you love something, you excel in it.”

“That’s true.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a businessman.”

“That’s not very specific, Mandla. It could mean you’re a drug peddler or a spaza shop owner.”

He laughed, tilting his chin up and revealing pearly white teeth. He is almost perfect, Thando thought.

“I’m in the trading business.”

“What do you trade?”

“My, my! I’ll bet you m-majored in journalism. I feel like I’m being interrogated.”

“Well, once you stop being evasive, I’ll let you off the hook.”

“Okay,” he conceded. “We do things like cement manufacturing, food processing, freight. That sort of thing. We operate in thirteen African countries and we’re spread all over Europe as well, which affords me the opportunity to travel quite a bit. I’m the group finance director at the Angotte Group.”

“Impressive. Also sounds interesting.”

“It is. But enough about me, I want us to talk about you.”

“So what do you want to know?”

“Where are you from?”

“Well, I’m originally from PE. I came to Gauteng for my studies and work. It’s hard finding work in my field down there.”

“I can imagine. So am I going to see you on television soon?”

Thando emitted another laugh, realising that she enjoyed the effect he had on her. It had been a while since she’d laughed for absolutely no reason.

“I love research work. I’m actually thinking of doing my post-doctorate as well, just to remain in academia. But if I were to work in television, I’d probably be behind the scenes doing research on TV show ratings.”

“So that’s what you want to do?”

“Not really. I want to produce a magazine that targets the youth, especially teenage girls.”

“Why?”

“Teenagers are so impressionable. A lot of them struggle with things like peer pressure, self-esteem issues and boyfriends, to name a few. They feel misunderstood by adults and they long to speak out, but there’s no platform for that. I want to provide such a platform for them. A forum where they’ll feel safe, you know?”

“That’s awesome. Why don’t you start this magazine? I think it’s a brilliant idea, especially for the South African youth. There aren’t many local magazines that focus on them.”

Thando’s timer beeped to indicate that her cycling time limit had been reached.

“That’s my cue to go. It was really nice chatting to you.”

“Wait, would you like to go out for coffee or lunch tomorrow?” he asked, ceasing to pedal.

“I’d love to. But I’ll be busy. A friend and I teach drama at the Jacaranda Youth Centre in Sunnyside every Saturday. Why don’t you join us?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Sounds like fun. What time?”

“One o’clock, 73 Esselen Street. You can’t miss it.”

“I’ll be there at twelve forty-five. I’ll wait for you.”

Thando smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Okay. Well, see you then.”

“All right. Wait, I didn’t get your number.”

Thando smiled. “Do you have your cellphone with you?”

“No. But I’ll remember it.”

“It’s zero eight three, double two three, two four six three.”

“Zero eight three, double two three, two four six three. I’ll remember it, I promise.”

“I hope so,” Thando said as she sashayed over to the leg press machines, feeling Mandla’s eyes on her. She knew that he was watching her and it felt good.