Sho't Left

“…so at this point I’m stressed.” Mandla declared as he gesticulated dramatically.

Khethiwe was in a fit of laughter.

Mandla light-heartedly countered, “You’re laughing at my pain?”

“No, no, my lovey.” she responded in between catching her breath, “What happened next?” she implored him to continue.

Mandla shook his head with a smile, “See wickedness” and proceeded, “You see, I was running late. I had been so focused on meeting the crit deadline, that I had forgotten it was the weekend of black Friday.”

“Oh no!” she gave a knowing exclamation.

“So now I’m sitting in this Uber. Agitated. Stuck in traffic. My crit is meant to start in the next 20 minutes or so.” He paused, “Bless the Uber driver for not trying to make small talk.”

“I know you can’t stand that.” she nodded, “Go on.”

“Now I’m thinking, ‘should I just pay and run the rest of the way to my department?’”

“Really?!”

“Well, yeah.” He recollected, “I mainly had design posters; which weren’t too cumbersome. But I also had a model; which was.”

“Probably for the best you decided not to then.”

“Yes, babe. So I figured, I might as well exercise patience.” He stopped for a beat, “Longest Uber drive of my life!”

Khethiwe clapped her hands, and exclaimed “Wa! I know the feeling”

“Keep in mind my phone is blowing up. Our class rep had been trying to get a hold of me. I had explained the situation. And requested to swap out my presentation time slot with someone else who was already in the department. But I was told that wasn’t possible.”

“Why not?”

“Listen, I was just over it at that point. I just wanted to get there and get my presentation over and done with.”

“Fair enough”

“So I instruct the Uber to enter campus by the Medical faculty gate. Because it’s closer to the architecture department.”

“I see”

“We arrive. I pay. I scramble out. I race through our main entrance and make a beeline for my exhibition stand. As I approach I make eye contact with Mrs Ndlovu. Daggers, babe, daggers.”

Khethiwe stifled a chuckle, “How late were you?”

“It was 11 something. All I remember was being told sternly by Professor Kotze that I had 15 minutes to present.”

“How many were you supposed to have?”

“Forty” He recalled, “Yeah, forty minutes.”

“Yikes!”

“Imagine!” he laughed, “And” He pitched up his voice, “I didn’t even have time to pin up the posters I had gone to print!”

“Oh no!”

“Yeah, I just lay them down, face up. And plopped the model on one of the tables in my presentation stand.”

“I see, honey”

“Yes, and then-”

A cell phone rang. Khethiwe fished it out from her purse. She glanced at the caller ID. “One moment, babe. Its work.”

“Go for it, sthandwa sam.” he encouraged

“Hello, Lerato. How are you?”

Khethiwe was a chartered accountant in training. Lerato was her senior. She had called Khethiwe to inform her that an audit report would need to be done as a matter of urgency. It was now required 2 weeks earlier than projected. The colleagues concluded their conversation. Khethiwe bid Lerato a good day.

Khethiwe sighed “Next week is going to be hectic.”

Mandla squeezed her hand reassuringly, “You’re going to pull through, babe.”

She smiled and nodded back in agreement. “Right, where were we?” she asked.

Mandla paused, “Ah yes! So I began my presentation. My lecturers weren’t too impressed with my tardiness.”

“I would hope not!” She jested.

“Anyway,” he overstated with a playful eye roll, “Two of the invigilators seemed to have written me off.” A cheeky smile crept along Mandla’s face, “Luckily, the third invigilator seemed to be giving me a chance.”

“At least there was that?”

“Yes, yes, but that’s as good as it got.” He mockingly grimaced, “I did terribly in design that year.”

“Well, then!” she laughed.

“Barely passed. But, the important thing is: I passed.”

“There you go!”

“Agreed! More importantly that was the day I met Architect Smit.”

“Ah”, Khethiwe said knowingly.

“Yeah, so after the crit I hung about the department a bit. I wasn’t keen to rush home.”

“Why not?” she asked quizzically.

“I was killing time with the gents, getting a laugh or two in. You know? To get my mind off the train smash.”

“I see”

“Yes, baby. So over lunch I was seated outside the main entrance. There’s this shaded area me and the boys used to like. And out stepped Architect Smit.”

Khethiwe listened in anticipation.

“I won’t lie, a part of me wanted to get up and leave. You know, out of sheer embarrassment.”

She laughed heartily, “oh no, baby!”

“But Architect Smit smiled when he saw me. As if he remembered me. Surely for the wrong reasons.” They both laughed, “But he remembered me none the less”.

“I’ll say!”

“So he saunters over. And has a seat on the adjacent bench. Then he opens with: I take it that wasn’t one of your finer moments.”

“Well, he’s always had a sense of humour.” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“I’ll say!” he cheekily exclaimed.

She knowingly smiled back.

“Anyway, I let out a nervous laugh. He had a chuckle. And conversation flowed.”

“Ah”

“I can’t remember all the details. But I do remember him saying he saw potential in me. I just needed to refine it. And, for the love of all that’s good, I needed to get myself organized!”

“Well you’ve certainly done that since then!”

“I’ve tried” he said, feigning sheepishness, “And, yeah, Smit gave me his contact and said to get in touch.”

“Way to make an impression”, she said sticking her tongue out.

“Yeah, yeah” he replied with a chuckle, “So I did reach out to Smit. And I managed to secure an internship at his firm over winter break.”

“That was good”

“Mhmm. And by the time I was graduating the following year, I had a job waiting for me at his firm.”

“That was great of him, baby!”

“Mhmm!”

“Excuse me, sir, madam?” an employee was addressing the conversing couple.

The two rose from their seats and walked over to the counter.

“We are currently out of stock of the Lenovo.” She began, “But we do have the HP you had also asked to see. We have it in black and silver.” She withdrew the two machines from their boxes.

“What do you think, baby? The black or silver?” Mandla inquired.

“Definitely silver.”

“Sorted!”

The couple finished their transaction and left the computer store, fingers interlaced. Their free hands carrying several shopping bags.

“I think that’s everything, yeah?” Mandla asked.

“I’m all good, babe.”

“Right, let’s grab a bite to eat!”

“Sounds good.”

They gave each other a peck.

Mandla and Khethiwe strolled to the food court in the mall and enjoyed lunch together. Mandla always had an entertaining anecdote to share. The couple wrapped up and made their way to the basement parking. They loaded the boot and drove out of the lot.

As they joined the street they were met with traffic.

“Black Friday”, Khethiwe remarked

Mandala smiled, “Have I ever told you about the time Manase came back home without his shoes?”

Khethiwe exclaimed, “What!?”

“I really haven’t told you this one?!”

“I think I would’ve remembered!”

“Well. Well. Well. This is a good one!” Mandla clapped his hands and rubbed them together, “So, it was pouring outside…”

He clasped the steering wheel with a single hand as they inched forward with the traffic.