The North

Chapter 5: Smokescreen

"It's good to meet you." Lesedi said, extending her hand towards KB's.

"It's good to meet you too." KB responded as he confidently shook Lesedi's hand. He no longer avoided her gaze.

Lesedi appeared much friendlier, suddenly a different person, and KB couldn't help but marvel at how adaptive she was, how she could transform into something else - a different character better suited for a particular situation. And as she hung dearly to Tau's waist, beaming from ear to ear as their bodies occasionally brushed against each another, it became obvious that her current role was that of a doe-eyed girlfriend eager to please.

"You must be a big deal then? Working as a banker." Lesedi questioned.

"I'm just trying my best." KB responded "I've worked hard, but I've also been really lucky." The lie no longer left a foul taste in his mouth.

"Babe, KB is the kind of gent who is definitely going to go places in life" Tau interjected.

KB was not expecting such a statement - let alone any statement - from Tau, and by the look on her face neither was Lesedi, whose gaze was now fixed on Tau in a strange combination of surprise and amusement.

"Is that so?" Lesedi answered, still keeping her gaze on Tau. "Okay...well it's always nice to meet Tau's friends. Especially those that are going places."

Lesedi was searching for something behind Tau's eyes, something hidden.

"Well...I hope you guys can excuse me, I've also got people to greet." Lesedi finished, forcing a smile.

Though she addressed both KB and Tau there was something in her voice aimed only at Tau.

***

"Don't mind her." Tau said once Lesedi had disappeared "It takes a while for her to trust new people."

"I guess you don't stay at the top by trusting everyone." KB responded, placing both his hands at the back of his head "No hard feelings", he continued, laughing.

Tau laughed too. His was a hearty laugh, the endearing kind that made you forget about things, and within no time Lesedi had become a distant memory - a figment blown away by the cool afternoon wind.

"So KB, what's your story?" Tau asked, placing one hand on KB's shoulder and sipping from the champagne glass in the other hand.

There was an electricity to Tau's touch, a jolt that made KB feel alive. Is this the magic behind the Stars? He wondered to himself. 

"My story?" KB repeated "I doubt someone like you would care to hear it." he responded with startling honesty.

"Don't let all this bullshit fool you - Stars, Come-ups, Fans - we all have a story." Tau said in a lowered voice. He finished what was left of his champagne, his eyes scanning his surroundings.

"What do you mean?" KB asked, fanning at the smoke signalling a fire of sorts.

"This social circuit has no meaning other than that which we give to it. Five-ten years from now no one will give a shit whether you were a Star, a Come-up or whatever. It's all an act, an elaborate performance - smoke and mirrors" He finished. The words hose-piped out of Tau's mouth with a barreling force that left him flustered. "That's why I admire what you've achieved for yourself." Tau continued "And it's all because of your own efforts. Not because of the way you look or how popular you are."

"It's easy for you to say that from the top" KB added, suddenly feeling guilty about Tau's genuine belief in the Banker story. Also feeling ashamed at having kept the charade going.

"Who would know better than me? Stars are probably the most fucked up people you'll ever meet in this entire city...myself included" Tau answered, his voice breaking off towards the end.

KB was speechless, and he wondered why Tau was being so candid with him.

"I'm only telling you this because you're beyond this superficial shit, Mr Banker" Tau laughed, concealing something that had momentarily revealed itself only a few moments before.

KB felt tickled by it; the discovery of Tau's pain, his Achilles heel. And he wanted to know how deep the scars ran because KB himself wasn't a stranger to pain.

KB had his fair taste of it four years ago, when his father woke up one sunny Saturday morning and seemingly decided that he no longer wanted to be with his family. He had given KB's mother a week to move out of their shared Sandton mansion and seek refuge elsewhere with their kids, making room for his mistress to move in, with whom (they would later find out) he had fathered two other children. That was how it ended. That was the last time KB saw and spoke to his father.

"And Lesedi?" KB asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"This life...it's all she has. There's a lot that she did to get to where she is, and she would die before giving it all up." Tau responded. "I should probably get going" he added abruptly, "I'm sure my people are waiting for me" he finished.

***

It was only after Tau had left that KB noticed the number of people on the roof deck staring at him, some even with their camera phones pointed towards him. They watched as KB turned back towards the table where he had left Mbali with her friends.

"Where's Mbali?" KB asked Toby after noticing the empty seat next to her. Toby was still busy editing the pictures she had taken earlier with Tau.

"She stormed off and left" Toby said without lifting her eyes from her phone.