Her Forever After. Nani Khabako
And you seem determined to drag it out for both of us. Just spit it out.”
And as if she’d been waiting for his permission, she let him have it.
“Well . . . I think you’re rude. You walk around here like you’re the shit, like the sun rises and sets on your chiselled torso only. You speak to no one unless a question is asked of you. You treat your fellow students with indifference and when they try to change that, you treat them with disdain.”
“That all?”
“I think you should try and be a bit nicer and friendlier, because although some of us may be beneath you, there might come a day when you need a friend.”
He seemed to consider seriously what she’d said, though not with shame and regret, as she’d hoped.
“Do you want to be my friend, Tumi?”
That question had taken her by surprise. She didn’t know how to respond. Was that why he got to her so much? Did she secretly wish they could be friends? And how the hell had he seen through her?
If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that his indifference offended and unnerved her. She was, much to her chagrin, quite intrigued by him.
“Well, I’m not one to impose myself on people who don’t want me around,” she had said, making sure she didn’t seem too eager to accept his concealed offer.
“I want you around,” he had replied quietly, not altogether meeting her gaze but listening intently for her response.
Before she could manage an answer, he was looking so deeply into her eyes that she thought she was going to collapse right where she stood.
“Really? I mean, uhm, that’s to say, why?”
And in the midst of her confusion, before she could even process what was happening, he had kissed her. So thoroughly, so completely, so familiarly.
There had been no prelude to the more intimate part of the kiss; there had been no careful coaxing or hesitant approach. He’d just stood up from where he sat, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her till all the breath in her lungs was out. And even then he did not stop.
She had to remind herself to breathe because she was becoming light-headed. It seemed like an eternity, probably more like five minutes, before he stopped.
And while she recovered, a small smile formed on her lips.
“I’ll see you after class,” he’d said quickly before rushing off.
It had been decided in that instant, Tumi thought as she pulled up in the parking lot. He’d wanted her for himself. He’d decided she was his. He’d claimed her, and before she could protest, before she could make any feminist proclamations, she had been his. In every single way that a woman could belong to a man.
A whirlwind in her life. The same whirlwind that now threatened to throw everything into turmoil.
* * *
As soon as she entered the restaurant, she knew where Mandi was sitting. It was as if some vibration made her acutely attuned to his whereabouts. Or maybe she’d inhaled too much of her own Coco Chanel.
He looked so different, yet also so similar to the young man he had been, only now he was a fully grown man of the world. He had that same ease about himself, the same self-assured elegance that set him apart from the rest of the crowd.
He was looking intently at a glass of what seemed like expensive liquor. She was surprised by that. Mandi had always been a man of simple tastes; he detested any unnecessary opulence, although that might have changed, given his recent status and success.
He was wearing a crisp white shirt and fitted jeans that were too dark to be blue and too light to be navy. A beautiful golden watch was his only accessory. And goodness, was he beautiful!
Tumi quickly took another look at herself in her compact mirror. She still had the same huge dark eyes, attributed to her Swati background on her father’s side. Her braids were tied back and her caramel skin was flawless as always. There was absolutely nothing she could do to change how she looked now. She had to be confident in herself and get this meeting over and done with.
She carefully made her way towards him, making sure to appear calm, composed and unmoved.
“Mandi.”
It was a pity her croaky voice refused to cooperate! She couldn’t afford to let him know how much he unnerved her.
“Tum.” He stood up with the elegance of a panther. It seemed he was doing the cool act very well, if indeed it was an act. “Please sit. I’ve taken the liberty of ordering you a virgin daiquiri.”
How presumptuous of him to think he could order for me, thought Tumi. Never mind that she would’ve ordered the same thing anyway. She couldn’t even begin to wonder how he knew what her favourite drink was. Or maybe he assumed she still didn’t drink and had ordered the likeliest choice.
“I’ve upset you.”
“No, you haven’t, but seeing that I’m now twenty-eight, I can order my own drink.”
“My apologies. I only meant to be civil.”
He didn’t seem the least bit sorry to Tumi. Then again, she was probably picking a petty fight just to get a reaction out of him. It would make her feel better if he didn’t look so unaffected by her presence. She looked good, for Christ’s sake! But she supposed that when a man had had affairs with countless gorgeous socialites, he wouldn’t be affected by little old her.
“So I’m here, against my will. What do you want?”
She really didn’t mean to sound so rude. She hadn’t known she would be so angry until she laid eyes on his perfect and infuriating form.
“Just to talk.”
“About what?”
“Us.”
“That was over a long time ago.”
“I know you’d like to believe that. You’ve certainly acted like I don’t exist these past few years. But you should know by now that I’m not the kind of man you can discard and forget at will.”
He certainly didn’t waste any time spewing up his nonsense! Was this tactic the latest in the player handbook?
“I beg your pardon! You make it sound as if I wronged you.” She wouldn’t let him get away with turning the tables on her and actually implying that she’d played any detrimental part in their relationship.
“That’s hardly relevant now, is it? Please sit, you’re causing a scene.”
She looked around the restaurant and saw that she was indeed doing that.
Tumi sat down and tried her best to drink the delicious daiquiri he’d ordered for her, but it wouldn’t go down her tightly constricted throat. He was doing it again, toying with her emotions so masterfully. Mandi was the same heartless bastard he’d always been, she thought.
“You look beautiful, Tum. More than I’d hoped.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“And you seem to have developed quite a venomous tongue.”
“Or maybe you simply never knew me at all.”
“Maybe.”
He almost looked saddened by that. Tumi couldn’t understand why this conversation was going the way it was. She’d expected a few excuses to explain his horrible behaviour, but he was acting like the aggrieved party.
Before she could probe this point, he changed the subject.
“How’s your mother?”
“She’s fine.”
“And work?”
“Why