Behind The Mask

Chapter 7

Michael’s POV

I am still facing her in silence. This may go down bad, so I tone down my macho mode, melting into the most innocent smile I can give.

“I’ll be on my best behavior, Anouk. I promise. I just want to spend time with you, no pressure, no promises and no expectations. Please? Could you do this for me? Pretty please?”

“You are not fooling me with that sweet smile.”

“Oh, so you think it’s sweet? Aww, thank you!”

“Michael, don’t!”

“Don’t....what?”

“I don’t know. Whatever you have in mind.”

“I only had in mind a nice dinner up on the roof. It’s a lovely view. Your mother is a sweetheart. She left everything prepared in the heater and ready to be served. Come on, join me for dinner and some wine.”

“I happen to help mom with the hotel, so this means cavorting with the staff.”

I try to stop myself from laughing, but I just can’t. The way she said it is just too funny.

“Girl, you’re killing me! Please...just have dinner with me...again. You survived your first dinner with me, so this time it should be easy.”

She eyes me warily. Something in her seems ready to step up to a fight. But then she shrugs her shoulders.

“Let me shower and change clothes.”

I sit on the roof again, waiting for her to appear. The door creaks ever so slightly, and there she is in a simple black girlie t-shirt and light faded jeans.

“This ain’t a fancy restaurant, so I’m not dressing up” she informs me belligerently.

“You look just fine the way you are now, Anouk. Come sit down by my side. So...how you’ve been these two months?”

“Just looking after this place, doing the accounts...Usual stuff. Adjusting to a life without that scumbag dad, which is not a hard thing to do...”

“It’s such a wonderful place here. So peaceful and quiet. I need this vacation” I end with a sigh, as I reach for the bottle of wine to pour into our glasses. “And I want to get to know you, really you. No false pretenses, no games. Anouk, just give me an honest chance...”

She is drinking her wine and looking straight in my face.

“Michael I...I am truly shattered in my faith in men after I found out what my dad did.”

“Then let me prove you that I’m a good guy! Let me prove you that I’m nothing like the tabloids make me to be...”

“I don’t read tabloids. I have no time for that kind of trash.”

I smile and nod. So, she doesn’t share the world’s prejudices against me. This is good...really good.

“But you do have some questions, do you?” I ask pointing to my face.

“That nose is kinda cute, really. And you’re not the first Black man with Vitiligo that I’ve seen. In your case it really spread out fast, which is a blessing in a way. You know which way to even it out.”

She speaks very calmly and without any hint of making fun of my suffering.

“So, you know about this?” I ask thoughtfully.

“Our neighbors in Pretoria had it. He and the kids. The wife was OK, but both kids got it. He did nothing about it, just walked about with the patches visible, but the girl used foundation, like you, to conceal it. The boy was just 12, he just had it on his arms.”