Clutching Hope

Chapter 3

"How was it over in SA?" I asked when he kept his gaze on me too long and wouldn't relent.

He'd been back for about a year now but I still hadn't found the guts to do more than wave at him when in close company or just weave and dodge until I was able to leave.

He sighed. "It was fun, I loved every thing that German Jeweller and owner of the African Gems brand could teach me. His assistant though was a Khoisan guy who tolerated chill like a nun at work but when it came to showing me around, the fellow African's he introduced me to that I worked with over there were a treasure. I went to some mines with him, put the theory I'd learned into practice, got a really portfolio too, lived it up and then it was time to come back."

I smiled at his fond tone about his previous employ. "Must have made mad connections too."

He came to sit beside me his knee touching mine while his perfume and smell of good food outside seemed to hug me. I relished every breath, short of turning so I could nuzzle him.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'll admit, I didn't expect it to be such a seamless transition but I was lucky. I'm grateful to the team I had."

I beamed at that.

"Was is too soon to come back?" I probed.

"Nah, it was time. You stay in one place to hone skills too long and you get comfortable, but they taught me a lot."

"How is it over there compared to Kenya?"

"It felt more western in some places. Since it's the one place most westerners think of about Africa and has more population of them. The environment there was more eye opening. Kenya has that influence too but it's a bit more in the line of goods tranfer to the outside world than here."

And by his artwork display around his house, he'd learned a thing or two. I don't know how bare the walls would be had it been the Sion of the past. Not to mention most houses had a penchant of having more Jesus and/or mary paraphernalia hanging on the walls in Africa.

"Would you ever go back?"

"Yeah, for a visit now and then. I could show you around." He said.

Show me around? I mean, I wasn't averse to the idea but that would mean...

He leaned back on the window, facing me. "How is your baby doing?" He asked out of nowhere.

Baby?

"Ba...baby?" I asked, my eyes getting wide by the second.

"Your bussiness venture. You were getting it started around the time you started university. Brian told me you used it as your project for the bussiness management unit."

"Oh, yeah, I did. And it worked well on my part. I was able to smooth over kinks I could have taken too long to fix if I had been starting out after graduating. To answer your question, it's fledgling outside of the safety net of my lecturers but I'm managing it well."

Sion's eyes creased as he smiled at me, dimple all out. The happiness he must have felt regarding my progress filled me with vigor. He took my hand and played with my left pinky finger absently.

"Have you expanded outside of Kenya, with clients?"

His touch was distracting. "Yeah, it's a slow begining but I have hope."

He nodded. A thought I'd let go thinking I'd assumed things last year hit me.

"I had a few orders last year before you left and the delivery was a little obsecure because I'm sure the client was from S.A judging by the number but the delivery was here. Brian delivered them for me actually, did you...?"