Unhinged Love

CHAPTER 43

MELISIZWE MNGUNI

I have been in love before. I have loved a couple of women in my life. Hell, I loved my ex-wife enough to marry her. But I have never felt for another woman what I feel for Hlengiwe. The love I have for her, it is out of this world. It’s the type of love that has you saying you would forgive your partner for whatever transgression as long as they love you. Some call it toxic; I call it unconditional.

The past few weeks, she hasn’t given me a reason to not trust her wholeheartedly. After the weekend we spent together, we just grew closer to each other. We never did sexual intercourse but we connected intimately and I was very content with that. Us men, we do love sex, a lot, but sometimes just sitting, chatting and cuddling with our partners is enough.

Hle was supposed to leave Sunday afternoon after our weekend together but she ended up leaving Tuesday morning because we just couldn’t get enough of each other. Sunday night we had dinner under the stars which she prepared. We then went to bed and spoke almost the whole night. I told her a lot about my family and she also told me about her brother and mother. She never mentioned anything about her father and I didn’t want to pry. Monday morning, she woke up and her ankle was in pain. So, I had to nurse her back to health and spend the whole day with her indoors just watching movies. The following morning, I drove her home because she had an important meeting she needed to attend.

That was the last time I saw her and it’s been two weeks. We talk over the phone every day, but I would give anything to spend even a few hours with her. She has been busy planning for the opening of the farm they bought which is where they get their fresh produce from. She is very business minded and she is always thinking of ways to grow her business. That is such a turn on. And nothing turns me on more than seeing an independent woman spend my money.

“Daddy.” That voice snaps me out of my daydreaming. It’s my daughter, Zama, walking inside my office.

I am not a rich man, but I can afford things that I need. A long time ago, I decided to invest in property. I would buy worn out or burnt houses at a low price, have them renovated and turned into beautiful townhouses or mansions. It didn’t end there. With the profits I received, I started building flats to rent and student accommodation. I registered my company and years later, I am what you can consider a property mogul. I do own a few buildings in Durban, Richards Bay, Pietermaritzburg and two buildings in Johannesburg. I am planning on acquiring more but it will all happen in due time. The name of the company is Qwabe Properties, not very original, I know. But it does represent who I am and the legacy I am building.

“Nkosazane yako Mzimela, how are you?” I ask, closing the folder in front of me and giving her my undivided attention.
She smiles and comes to hug me before sitting on my desk. “I was here to take you out and ask you for some money, but you have an important person who just came in the building and they are here to see you.” I frown. I wonder who that person.

I take my phone out and go to my banking app. I transfer R20K to her hoping she won’t bother me until her allowance comes in. “That should cover whatever you want.”
She looks at her phone and her smile widens. She squeezes me before jumping up and down. “That’s more than enough but I am not going to act ungrateful. Thanks, best daddy in the game. I will see you soon. And hey, we should do dinner tomorrow night. It’s on me. I have to go to Cape Town for this wine and food festival, apparently, I am a VIP there. So, I want us to spend some time together before I leave.”

“And let me guess, you want a new wardrobe?” I ask already knowing the answer. But she surprises me.
“No, I have known about it for a long time. They sorted out flights and accommodation for me and I bought my outfits long ago. I won’t be asking for more money, dad. You know I am not that troublesome.” I chuckle, yeah right. She laughs and kisses my cheeks before heading out.

A few moments later, four men in suits walk inside my office and they are followed by Queen Melamina Zulu. She smiles when she sees me. “Mzimela, I am sorry for stopping by so early. I know we were supposed to meet earlier but I have an emergency that needs me at home. I am hoping we can do our meeting now. I also hope I am not inconveniencing you.”

I quickly stand up. She might be in my office, but she is still the queen of the Zulu kingdom, the most important queen in South Africa. “Not at all. As you can see, I am not busy.” I extend my hand for a shake and she shakes her head with a polite smile.
“Abadala baphezulu mkhulu. So, I don’t wanna end up telling you your news. At least not in your office.” She is also a spiritual person. One of the guards opens a chair for her and she sits down. “But I don’t need to touch your hand to know that your life is about to turn upside down. But your ancestors are happy with your new person. You just have to keep her happy because she has been through a lot. If you hurt her in anyway, they will retaliate. And they don’t consider what she had with your son a relationship.” One of the guards clears his throat. Queen Melamina looks at him and she chuckles. “Xolani thinks I have said too much. But don’t worry. Everything will be okay.”

Spiritual people have a way of scaring me because they see things that we don’t see and they communicate with our ancestors in a way. It is a very unique gift that is scary. “Thank you for that. I will keep everything you said in mind. Now do you have what I need?”

She extends her hand and one of the guards place a rolled sheet on her hand. She unrolls it on my desk and smiles at me. “This is so exciting. Yeah, I have built a few malls before, even help renovate a few but not once had I assisted in building one from scratch here in KZN, aside from one in Nongoma. That’s why I wanted to head this project personally. Now here is a layout of how the whole thing is supposed to be like. You said a three-storey mall with underground parking, right?”

I look at the sketch in front of me. I am not illiterate, but seeing things on her perspective is hard, especially just lines in black and white. “I don’t see the vision.”

She laughs. “Of course you don’t. Men. that’s why I am the architect and you’re the developer. Here is a 3D of the whole thing.” She hands me an iPad and a video starts playing. As I look at it, it is exactly what I envisioned and more. This is perfect on many levels. Queen Melamina is a genius and she is very great at her job. To think she does this part time now since she is a full-time queen and a mother to dozens of kids.

“This is perfect, Ndlovukazi. I am taken on many levels.” On another lifetime, she would be my type, but this woman’s worth more than her husband. She probably has millions on her personal account that she rarely checks. We love independent women but not someone with more money than us. “I love this. when can we start working on this?”

She smiles. “As soon as possible. I will instruct my team to start working and they will send you the paperwork necessary. I can’t wait to get started. I will be sure to come on site at least a couple of times while they are still building. It’s a pleasure doing business with you.” She stands up. I also stand. She looks at me for a few moments before extending her hand. I shake it and she groans. She squeezes my hand and looks straight into my eyes before letting go. “Good luck on life. You are going to need it.” She chuckles and turns around. She heads out and her guards take her things before following her.

What a weird and fruitful encounter. I have a lot of plans about the future. Now I just have to start layering them. This mall is the first step.