TO LOVE A BROKEN MAN

23

He was on his way to Umkomaas. Nolitha called and gave him the location after he assured her he'll come alone and not call the police. Even though the drive took less than an hour, it felt like it took a lifetime to get here and he could only hope that Anesu's plan works because he needed to get Khanya out of Nolitha's clutches.

It was already nightfall when he arrived, the full moon was in good company amongst the stars and the balmy air moved in tune with the distant waves. Walking up to the door, Lwazi realised that Nolitha had long planned the kidnapping because this house didn't belong to her parents or anyone he knew. It was a simple single storey and what it lacked in opulence it made up for in space, a well-kept garden and an average sized pool.

She answered the door in a spaghetti-strap satin dress with a thigh high slit, her hair was coiled into a bun at the nape and her face was free of makeup.

"I knew you'd come back to me." She smiled, revealing her slender thigh through the slit.

Lwazi trailed his gaze along her leg, keeping his smile brief because it took every ounce of self-control to put his anger aside and play along. He had to remember that the objective was to get Khanya out of here safely when she gave him a kiss he didn't consent to, the forced tongue action elicited a tremor through his body and her breath carried a hint of Chardonnay.

"Welcome home." She pulled him inside. "But this is temporary until we find something more to my taste."

He rushed to the living room to search for any sign of Khanya but was disappointed not to find anything.

"Where is she?"

Nolitha frowned. "You could act a little excited to see me because I did all of this so that we could be together."

"I'm sorry." His jaw clenched as he summoned a smile to his lips, walking back into the kitchen and held her hands. "Of course I'm happy to see you, I'm just worried about Khanya."

"She's fine."

"Can I see her?" He didn't want to spend another second here with Nolitha.

"Not yet. I need to know if you followed my instructions and came alone."

"Yes, I came alone and told no-one that you called."

She looked into his eyes as if to determine if he was to be trusted and all he could see was pain lurking in the depths of her bulbous eyes. There was no denying that Nolitha has had some tough moments in life but all that didn't warrant the stunt she pulled.

"Okay. Are you hungry? We can order dinner because I didn't get a chance to cook."

"I'd like to see my child first."

"No. That's not how this is going to work, I will tell you when you can see her."

"What more do you want from me, Nolitha because I did what you asked for?"

"Do you love me?"

"Yes, I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't." He caressed her cheek, gazing into her eyes to solidify his lie.

"I want to believe you, Lwazi, I really do but you never called me once while I was away."

"The only reason I didn't was because I couldn't risk aunty Sthembile finding out, you know she'll do anything to keep us apart."

"That's true. She's been against our relationship from the beginning."

"Exactly."

"But they won't be able to keep us apart if we got married."

"Married?" He broke into a cold sweat because he wasn't expecting the marriage talk to come up, he just wanted his daughter but Nolitha was one to play mind games.

"Yes, and I think it would be best if we do it tomorrow."

"Isn't that too soon." He tried to reason with her without showing his reluctance.

"No. We love each other, right? So there's no reason to wait."

Nolitha was so far gone with the fantasy taking place inside her head, a dose of reality wouldn't make a difference but that worked out for him because deceiving her was easy.

"You're right. Tomorrow is perfect."

She held him close and laid her head on his chest, taking in his bergamot and cedarwood scent while she basked in her euphoric high and wished to never come down.

"I love you."

There was a time when hearing Nolitha say those words evoked something in him, that time was long gone because now his soul wasn't even moved. There was no moving forward together in any way because taking Khanya was the last straw for him.

"Me, too."

"You can do better than that," she said, looking up at him.

He almost laughed to keep from crying because she was being so unreal and oblivious to the truth staring her in the face.

"I love you, too."

"That's more like it." She smiled coyly like a blushing bride on her wedding night.

"I really need to see my child, Nolitha," he said.

"And you will once she's awake. In the meantime we should get dinner and talk about what you're going to wear tomorrow."