THE ORDER OF KORES

Vier

"Oh my God, you know, I just started watching this show called 'Scandal' it has Kerry Washington in it, and I'm only on episode 4, but I'm hooked," I rambled on as I held the phone to my ear, a wide smile on my face as I laid on my stomach in the bed. My feet were kicking in the air as I was speaking to Kores, who listened to me speak for as long as I had been rambling, which at this point, I was sure had been hours. "Do you know about that show?" I asked him.

"I don't think I do. I don't watch a lot of TV," he revealed to me and I hummed.

"Oh, I love watching TV, hey. I don't like being outside much," he chuckled.

"Yes, I see that hasn't changed much."

I giggled, almost taking myself by surprise.

Kores voice sounded like heaven, especially when he purred my name. Goosebumps broke out against my skin and everything in the world felt like it was falling into place. I was very much so crushing on the guy, and I didn't even know if he was in a relationship or not.

We'd been talking for days, for hours too. Every one of our calls seemed to almost get longer. The first day he called, we talked for 2 hours and 17 minutes, and we talked and talked about everything. We caught up on all of the things going on in our lives. It had been ten years since I last seen him, and I missed him so much. I missed the little boy that I followed around like a lost puppy.

"No...it hasn't," I finished off for him, concurring his statement. "Should I tell you about the show so far?"

"Yes," he answered me, and I heard a bit of movement on his end. "Tell me all about it."

"Okay, okay, so it starts out with this dude and girl, and this girl rushes in and she's like 'omg I don't do blind dates and blah blah blah' and immediately they throw in this plot twist and it's like boom! Guy says 'this isn't a blind date, it's a job interview' then he talks a bunch of things, and then says 'it's not even a job interview, you're hired, we're gladiators in suits'. And oh my word, Kores, I was hooked!" I excitedly spoke as I told him about Scandal and how much of it I've watched so far. I went into too much detail, said oh my god way too much, and gasped about every plot twist including the cliff hanger in episode 4 and how eager I was to watch the next episode.

Most of my days consisted of me staying in the flat that my parents bought for me, while Ama went out with R-P-K and his other friends. I stayed in, and not necessarily studied but watched a lot of shows, since I was a show kind of girl and I liked to binge watch shows and have some sort of opinion on it, and then literally feel lost after watching seasons of a show and I'm done with the last episode. It always has me feeling a bit empty.

"What about you though?" I finally asked him. "How are things with you? How was boarding school? How's your mum now, after all of these years?" I asked him, repeating questions that I had already asked, but still loved hearing the answer to.

"Boarding school was fine," he answered with a soft chuckle. "I woke up, went to class, did some sporting activities, hung out with friends, and all of what you do at boarding school. My mum's fine, my brother's married now though, to a woman named Samantha." He told me.

I nodded my head even if he couldn't see me. "I'm in Jo'burg now, packed up my things and left Cape Town as soon as I had the chance." I told him even though he didn't ask me. "My dad had some horrible corruption scandals about him, and I didn't want that sort of publicity there, so I ran away, I guess." I told him something that I'd been keeping to myself.

My father was a politician, and he was currently undergoing serious lawsuits about suspicious funds in his bank account and whatnot. So I left them all behind and went on my own way, choosing to be away from my family, and it proved to be beneficial because I was out of whatever privileged bubble I'd been in when I was staying in Cape Town. I hadn't realised the disparaging difference from the way that we lived and how the greater majority of the country did.

"To be honest," I began to fiddle with the Barbie diamond necklace that Kores had given me all those years ago. I had never taken it off, "I don't think I want to go back there." I told him, and then paused, "are you still here?" I asked him, "in Jo'burg?" I asked.

"I'm not. I'm currently away on business," he explained and I remembered that he told me he was running the family business and wouldn't be able to talk most of the time, and that he was always away, and at the moment he was in Italy somewhere...I think Venice, he'd said.

"Being away on business trips when you're so young, that must be pretty rough. You should be out here, having fun, getting lit and laid, and having the time of your young life," I argued with him, and he laughed and even though he didn't say it I knew that he was saying that I was one to talk when I preferred to spend weekends and weekdays cooped up in my flat. "When did life get so serious?" I asked him.

"A long time ago, wife."

Wife.

"Oh my God," I started to laugh bashfully at that statement. I could feel my face getting hot as I replayed the word over and over and how it sounded coming from his lips. "I forgot we got married."

"You wouldn't take no for an answer. You kissed me and told me that we were married because that's how Disney movies worked," I smiled like an idiot, giggling as if just a few days ago I didn't have the common sense to tell all the girls who were in love to not be weak in their knees.

"Yeah...you had a way of always giving me what I wanted, even though you knew it wasn't good for me," I said softly, thinking back to all that he'd let me do, or all that he let me get away with. "You made me feel safe, and heard, and liked, and like no matter how much or how little I knew something, you were always so patient." I swallowed, my smile slowly falling off my face as I thought of the monumental role he'd played in my earlier life. "I couldn't have picked a better husband."

We shared a laugh.

"My business will be wrapping up soon, I'm tying up some loose ends. I'll be coming home then, and I'm going to come see you."

I sat upright, my heart pounding in my chest, "you are?" I asked breathlessly.

"Absolutely, wife," he answered me and I heard a sudden loud bang on his side of the phone. I jumped in shock, screaming and he shushed me, "shh, shh,"

"What was that? Was that a gunshot? Oh my God." I let out in a panic, "are you okay?"

"I can think of someone who's not," he replied instead. There was a bit of movement on his side, and then he spoke again, "I'll be there any day now, wife, sleep with one eye open, you might just wake up and find me in your room." and he cut the call.