The Seven, and their Wealth. II

VIII - Naledi.

'Uh, what do you mean you were in Cape Town?' Clinton asked, in disbelief.

'It means exactly that Clinton. I was in Cape Town on Friday.'

'And Clinton does not get an invitation?'

Jenner laughed from the other end of the phone call. If you had asked Clinton whether he saw himself growing extremely close with Jenner, he would outright refute it. Jenner proved to be a tough person to get through to; largely attributed to her hardened exterior, the never-ending sarcasm and general appearance to be disinterested in being around him.

But his persistence proved to be commendable because he was able to get Jenner smiling every other day. From occasional phone calls, it grew to be a tradition for them to never conclude the day without hearing each other's voices.

He did not know about Jenner, but their phone calls were always the favourite part of his day – especially when they took place after dinner right before he went to bed or got studying. Jenner was not a secret either; the Motsepes were fully aware of the budding romance between the two and a modest excitement bubbled away.

Even Adelaide, who'd been enquiring on when she would finally meet Jenner without the craning necks of extended family members. Clinton did assure her that it would eventually happen, he just was not trying to give Jenner an excuse to bolt.

'Clinton seemed to be too busy, so I figured I could let him be.'

'But you know Clinton is never too busy for Jenner Fenton. Word on the street is, she is his number one priority.'

Jenner let out an exaggerated gasp before laughing.

'This is new to me,' she laughed.

And he was not lying, Jenner was all he ever thought about. She was etched in his memory, and Clinton could not help but wonder what she was up to every waking moment. The only issue was the fear of coming across as too obsessed. On days he was not so busy, Clinton's response times to Jenner's texts, or calls were frightening – even for him.

Clinton just off-ramped the M1 highway, southbound, made his turn onto Riveria Road, and made a few more turns before he found himself navigating the quiet streets of Houghton Estate.

'Believe it or not, so it begs the question. Why was Clinton not invited?'

'Well, I was not going for any personal reasons. My parents were invited to some gala which a friend of theirs was hosting, and they wanted me there. I left the following morning.'

'Wait, why so soon?'

'Because of my job,' Jenner hastily responded.

'You could always ask for leave, you know that right?'

Jenner chuckled at the suggestion.

'I am barely six months into the job; I cannot be calling in any favours Clinton if I do it ends up looking bad for me.'

'Bad how?'

'I come across as incompetent. I am on a mission to impress the manager, okay? I need good referrals.'

Clinton shook his head.

'That may be the case, but surely a weekend off cannot do that much damage?'

'If you're the newbie, it does a world of damage.'

Jenner was the kind that seldom relented, so this – like their usual debates over the most trivial of topics – could go on for hours, and Clinton had mastered when to prove his case and when to simply just nod and keep it moving. This was one of those where he would just relent, not only because he was not in the mood to explain how Jenner was being ridiculous but because he had arrived at his destination.