Cursed To Be A Stepdaughter

Chapter 26

Simamkele's pov:

I haven't seen Ndabezinhle in 3 days and this bothers me for reasons unknown to me. From what I've heard he went back to his apartment because the house was getting full. I'm so glad I'm getting off work early today. I left the site and went back to the office to get my things. My phone rings as I'm packing

"Hey you" I say smiling

"Hey,are you ready?" he asks me

"You really don't have to fetch me"

"Too bad I'm already on my way,are you ready?"

"Almost" I respond and he ends the call after telling me he'll be here in 10. How Andile and I met is a story for another day but he's already becoming apart of my daily routine. Everything is happening so quickly. He calls when he's outside but I have to say goodbye to Nombuso first. When I walk out the building doors he's standing outside his Ford Fiesta. He opens the door for me,he knows how I feel about PDA. We talk about my day and his day until we get to a park.

"Why are we here?" I ask him. I really haven't been talking to him that long to trust him like this

"I want to talk to you" he smiles opening his door. He walks around the car to open the door for me. I make my way out. The summer breeze is just heavenly to my skin. I lean on his car while his hands are in his pockets,staring at me.

"I know you know that I like you" he starts off making me look at him "and I know it's probably really soon but I can't wait any longer" hayibo? "Simamkele please be my girlfriend" he takes my hands into his. I hesitate a little before answering

"Uhm isn't it really soon?I don't even know you like that yet" he comes closer to me,just like Ndabe always does

"I know it is but let me show you who I am and what I can do for you" now that just sounds really wrong. He pulls me to him and our bodies collide. I don't even have a second to think about it. We kiss. I haven't been kissed in so long. My arms  involuntarily wrap around his neck bringing his head closer. His hands grab my buttocks. He's such a good kisser. I finally pull out,breathless. His phone rings and as he takes it out of his pocket, I see 'Wife' written on the screen. He declines the call

"I guess that's a yes from you?" he says staring at me with his sexy eyes,probably trying to hypnotize me

"No" I quickly say and he raises his eyebrows "you're married" I quickly remembered Ndabe telling me how I shouldn't allow to be treated any less than my worth. I am not a side chick.

"And so? You just kissed a married man" he said walking back to his side. I opened the door "are you riding home with a married man now?" I took my bag and my phone. He sped off as soon as I closed the door. I sit on the pavement not believing what just happened. I haven't seen a taxi pass by here. I'm going to be late. Loretta can't babysit today because she has a family emergency to rush to. I type in the 'exact location' feature on the Uber app. The price is around R350 to go home. Now this is just crazy. I don't want to disturb Snothando,she already has so much stress as is. I know the twins are busy with exams. Shit! Chloe can't be home alone. She's 4. What will she eat? I breathe in and out. Pride aside. This is going to be a tough call.

"Hello" he answers

"Uhm hey" I say not knowing where to start

"Finally decided to put my number to use I see" he chuckles "everything okay?"

"I'm kind of stranded"

"What do you mean stranded?"

"I don't know where I am and the price of Ubers to my place is crazy and there aren't any taxis around" I stutter because it's getting windy. I don't even understand why because it's not even 2pm yet.

"Eish" he says

"It's okay if-"

"Send me your location,I'm coming" he says and I hear shuffling in the background

"Listen Ndabezinhle"

"Are you going to send the location or not?" he seems to be getting annoyed. He ends the call. I really don't know what I was expecting calling him. I send him the location and just sit there in hope. Cars start passing by. I don't touch my phone,just in case Ndabe can't arrive here and I have to look for plan B. I think I need to get cleansed. Thami is following me around and causing me bad luck. It can't be that there's a story with every man I come across. I also want to get married and have a happy family. His car stops in front of me. He opens the door from inside,I stand up and get in the passenger seat. He's wearing a soccer shirt,I don't know which team this is but I've seen it somewhere.

"Are you okay?" he says putting my seatbelt on. I nod "what happened?how did you even get to such a secluded area"

"I took your advice and realized my worth" he looks at me confused "I told a guy no because he has a wife and he left me here" now I just sound bitter and I'm really not,I'm just really confused as to why I can't just date normally like other people

"How long have you known this guy?"

"We met 3 days ago" he hits the steering wheel. I jump up in shock

"Simamkele this is South Africa and you're letting a man you met less than a week ago take you around in his car!?" he semi shouts "do you know how dangerous that is? First of all you're a mother,who do you think is going to raise your child?"

"Yho I'm sorry ke, I just didn't think that far" I say because he's scolding me as if I'm a child

"Next time you should think that far"

"Why do you even care?" He looks at me before starting the car

"Because you're my sister's best friend and if anything were to happen to you she'd be devastated" right. There's silence the whole way to my place. He parks at the gate. Chloe is about to arrive. I search for my purse and take out two R100 notes. He looks at me and then the money

"For your petrol and your time" I say putting it on his lap. I open the door to get out and Chloe's transport comes our way. I walk towards it. I greet the driver and Chloe runs to me

"Don't run" I say picking her up and hugging her. She giggles holding my face

"Sorry mommy. I'm just happy you're back early today" I put her on the ground and as we're about to go in I notice Ndabe's car is still here. We walk towards it. I knock on his window and he looks up from his hands. He looks at me,then at Chloe. He rolls down his window

"Is everything okay?" I ask him. The money is still on the exact same spot I put it. He nods. I don't know what to do or say next "Chloe say hi to uncle Ndabe"

"Hello uncle Ndabe" she says hiding her face behind my buttocks. Ndabe smiles at her

"Hello Chloe" He takes the R200 and gives it to Chloe

"So much money,thank you uncle. I will buy you a sweet" she screams jumping up and down. I look at Ndabe in disbelief. He stares at me until i get uncomfortable

"See you" I say turning back to walk in. That was one weird encounter. I really don't know how to feel about Ndabe's weird behavior. Why is he making things awkward between us when we were just fine? I can't wait until the wedding is over and I don't have to see him anymore.