smiled in amusement and Nomvula realised what an inane question that was. He knew better than anyone else how to look after Mpho.
She felt stupid and said, “Sorry.”
“Don’t be silly.” He waved off her apology.
“Do you want to come down for supper? I believe Botle’s special today is some kind of curry.”
Nomvula wouldn’t have minded making supper herself, but she was an unpredictable cook at best and thought it better that she should cook only when absolutely necessary.
She looked quizzically at Daniel as she realised that he was quietly studying her face. “What is it?” she asked.
“Don’t you miss it? Working in the city, I mean.”
She thought for a minute.
“No. Actually, I don’t miss it.”
“Not even on a day like this?”
She smiled ruefully. “We all have our bad days. In a way I totally empathise with Mpho. There were days when I also just wanted to bawl my eyes out . . .” She paused for a moment of reflection, a somewhat sad smile on her face.
“And?” Daniel prompted.
“Somehow it was just easier to push all that down to a place where I couldn’t access it. I had this crazy idea that if I pushed hard enough, it would all go right down to my toes and eventually wear through the soles of my feet and into the ground . . . Bye-bye, sadness.”
“It doesn’t quite work like that.”
“I know. Pain has a way of hanging around.”
They were both quiet for a while, lost in their own thoughts.
Nomvula wondered why she had felt compelled to confide in Daniel like that. The words had just seemed to come from her of their own volition. Something about Daniel invited confidences.
“So what do you do for fun?” he asked finally.
“What’s that?” she replied.
Daniel looked puzzled for a moment, then a slow smile spread across his face.
“Ahhh, I see. Amajokes.” He leaned across and tapped the end of her nose with his forefinger. “Before you know it, you’ll be laughing out loud.”
Nomvula couldn’t help but smile. “I do laugh,” she protested.
“I’m talking about laughing out loud. Not from here.” Daniel stroked a finger down her throat. “From here.” His hand settled below her breast for a brief moment and then it was gone. “The kind of laughter that makes your tummy muscles hurt.”
Something did a quick somersault in the pit of Nomvula’s stomach.
“I can laugh like that,” she said, and then soberly added, “Or at least I used to.”
Daniel was quiet for a moment. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze, sensing that now was not the time to delve into the past.
Then he raised himself up from the bed. “So are you coming to eat?”
“I’ll be right down,” she said.
“Good.”
He left and she quickly checked her hair and make-up, then joined him downstairs.
“So, how are things going with the merger?” Nomvula asked while they were dishing up.
“Things are finally moving. Bancroft doesn’t have a leg to stand on now.”
“And this is what you really want?”
“I’ve been working on it for a year now. Parscope has a much wider distribution network than we could ever hope to achieve at Modise, and for the past four years we’ve been their main supplier of electronic components. So it makes sense to merge.”
“I guess it also adds up to millions of dollars?” Nomvula teased.
Daniel smiled, his brown eyes warming up and crinkling slightly at the corners. “And best of all, it frees me to go and annoy the guys in product development with my presence.”
“Ag! Bosses like you can really ruin a person’s plans for a little R & R at work,” said Nomvula laughingly.
“Do I ruin your plans?” he asked softly.
“Of course not. This is your home.”
“And I want you to think of it as yours too.” Daniel was looking at her intently and making her feel a bit hot.
Nomvula didn’t know what to say, so she mumbled a quick thank you and stuffed a forkful of samp and bean curry into her mouth.
Why was this man stirring up all these feelings in her?
8
The next morning Mpho was all sun and smiles, excited about her holiday. She walked into Nomvula’s room and jumped onto the bed and gave her a happy hug.
Nomvula felt her heart swell with love for the little girl and wondered about her mother yet again. How could anyone bear to be parted from such a precious child?
They had just finished packing when the Bhilis arrived. Daniel stayed around long enough to wave goodbye and then left for the office. The house was unusually quiet without Mpho and Nomvula wandered around for a bit, picking up the little one’s toys and putting them away.
Botle had the day off, so there was no one to chat to. Finally she called Asanda, who told her to come over and have lunch with her.
I must buy some books, Nomvula told herself. She had stopped reading for pleasure a long time ago, but now she had all the time in the world.
With that final resolve, she shut the door and turned the key. Maybe she should have gone to East London; she missed Mpho already.
The two friends went to Lily’s, their favourite café in Rosebank. It was actually Asanda’s favourite spot, but Nomvula liked it as well.
Once they were seated at their usual table, Asanda dived right in. “So, darling wam? How are things going at number twenty-seven?”
“It’s number twenty-six,” Nomvula corrected her.
“Whatever! So?”
“Everything’s fine. I like it there; Mpho is lovely and Daniel is a nice man. Things couldn’t be better.”
“Hmm!” Asanda eyed her curiously. “You look great, you know. Better than I’ve ever seen you. More relaxed . . . and happy. That’s it, you look happy. Not over-the-moon kind of happy, but what the happiness books call ‘a sense of quiet contentment’. It looks good on you, this quiet contentment.”
Asanda smiled and Nomvula laughed.
“You
