by Elsa Kurt
“You did it!” She grabbed him into a hug and nestled her head into the cradle of his shoulder, while his arms easily wrapped around her.
“Yeah, we did.” His tone sounded wondrous as they stayed in the embrace.
His warm body felt safe and she thought of how she never noted how easily it was to get caught up in the small moments, yet she didn’t step back.
“Why were you staring at the night sky when I found you earlier?” It was an odd question, one she surely didn’t expect after the great news they had just been blessed with.
“Uhm…” She awkwardly let go of him and stepped back. “I just slipped away for a bit, but I also had to see the view before we left.”
He frowned at her, clearly, her lie didn’t work, but she couldn’t admit she needed a break from it all and mostly him before she made even bigger mistakes.
“You helped make this place happen,” she added, as she looked around and appreciated how beautiful everything was. “Just like this evening and all, it will continue to be.”
Guilt crept in again, knowing she would not be there for more of them, and for a moment she wondered if she should tell him. Yet Salexis protocol prohibited daters from revealing when they would stop their contracts with their clients, for whatever reason, in order to protect both sides.
“May I ask you something? It’s maybe inappropriate,” she began cautiously, but she needed to change their conversation away from her.
“I’m intrigued. Ask away.” He eyed her warily, and she suspected he knew she was diverting.
“Why do you stay in the Breitenbach Building when you can easily afford any other home, with far better views than the Mother City’s CBD?” she bluntly asked.
He gave a dry chuckle and looked at the floor, before looking back at her. “I suppose tradition. My entire family, while running the firm, stayed in the building.”
“Then break tradition. You’re always there. Do you ever leave, or have you even seen anything outside Cape Town?” she asked with a chuckle, realising only then how sombre it was.
“Rarely, but yeah, I think I’m slowly realising I need to get out more.” He grew quiet, and as she was about to ask if he wanted to leave, he continued. “Machi hated the penthouse. Right before she passed away, she said I should find a better home, but all our memories are there.” The last part of his sentence came out as a whisper.
“I appreciate you sharing that with me. And I agree with her. You can make new memories somewhere else. She won’t be forgotten just because you changed your address,” she offered with kindness, but she meant it, as he clearly needed the change as much she did.
He nodded his head in silent agreement as the server brought her the piece of cake. “What on Earth?” he asked, incredulous.
“Thank you very much,” she directed to the server, who seemed even more surprised to see her standing with Simeon than when she asked for the cake.
As the server left, he eyed her suspiciously. “Do you owe Abel something, because I assume it’s cake since we’re standing near one.”
She chuckled and eyed the cardboard takeaway container with the restaurant’s logo on it. “Something like that,” she said with a chuckle still brewing inside her.
“Jip, you owe him big time,” he joked with one of the most genuine smiles.
“Ready to go?” she enquired and he simply held his arm out to her, so she could clutch onto it while they headed in his family’s direction to say their goodbyes.
Simeon watched Amahle wave at the paparazzi as if hours and even moments before meant everything, and he knew it might have been a front, but deep down she was pleased with how things had worked out, for he definitely did. She was still holding onto the takeaway container with the cake in it, as if it was absolutely normal while striking a pose. He offered to hold it for her, to which she only responded that Abel would appreciate the limelight cake, as she left his side while wearing a cheeky smirk.
The event had gone far better than he had expected and this was the main reason why he knew she cared for his wellbeing as much as he cared for hers. Yet through it all, he knew this evening was far different than any other. Their conversation from earlier impacted them in some way he was not yet sure how, as the way she kept her eyes on him felt new, exciting, and even a little wrong at times.
Later, as they sat in the limo, while steadily heading out of Camps Bay, and as they hit Cape Town’s CBD with the narrow lanes, they were quiet until he looked at her beside him.
Her smile was ever-present, and the way she fiddled with her dress’ hem, gave the idea of nervousness, but he knew she was a busybody, and the fiddling was merely her way to not get bored.
“You looked beautiful tonight,” he softly whispered and she smiled at him, while the street lights played over her face in patterns.
“You clean up nicely yourself and thank you for opening up earlier. I know it must have been hard.” Though she sounded like the psychiatrist she was trained to be, he understood she meant it in a more personal manner.
He mulled it over in his mind, it sure wasn’t something that was easy to speak of with anyone, but she made it easier than he ever expected. He felt safe from judgment and her confessing her own loss, after such a long time, made him realise he never was alone.
“I can say the same, you telling me something like that was the last thing I ever considered.”
She merely smiled at him.
“But thank you. I was in a dark place, and you made me see that there’s a lot more I can do to prevent others from feeling this way.” He nodded his head in agreement, as if it only fully sunk in at that moment, of how much she had helped him.
They were quiet for the rest of the drive. Outside the Breitenbach Building, he noted several unfamiliar cars and just beyond it, as the limo drove up to the curb, he saw Jody standing with Abel in the building’s foyer.
“More press?” she asked, sounding exceptionally annoyed.
“I believe so,” he said, while his suspicions were confirmed as he saw the few people collected outside, were all carrying cameras. “Well, only a few more minutes then you’ll be free of them,” he said, knowing that even if it was her job to make them love her and want to know everything about their supposed relationship, she abhorred faking it.
The limo came to a stop and she ran her hand over her dress before turning to him. “Here we go,” she said as she plastered on a fake smile so convincingly, he had to wonder if she ever showed him any true ones.
Outside, the three or four groups of people were around them like flies, asking if they were getting engaged, married or will they be having children any time soon. They cared little about the fundraiser and thus he refused to acknowledge them, as he only wanted to promote the evening’s event and wanted nothing else to steal the focus.
Entering the building, the press knew full well to stay outside and not trespass, as at the late hour the building became purely residential grounds.
“Welcome back, sir. Hey Amahle, I hope that’s for me,” Abel said, as he got his flashlight from behind the desk and pointed it to the carton box in her hands. “I will go run a patrol,” he added, before heading toward the exit that headed to the back of the building.
“I’ll leave the cake at your station!” Amahle called after him, and the man gave her the brightest smile. Simeon suspected he would have loved to give her a counter-response, but kept quiet due to him being there.
While Amahle set the container down, she grabbed a pen from behind the desk and jotted something down, while Jody approached him with what he could only narrow down to being apprehension.
“Good evening, Mr. Breitenbach.” She nodded her head in greeting. “I’m glad to see Amahle’s late arrival caused no problems. I hope you understand that her practise had a false fire alert, so we quickly stopped there beforehand.”
“Hey Jody, and she never even mentioned it.” He wondered why she didn’t tell him when she arrived, but it was once more clear that
she had been fully focused on helping him deal with his problem.
She gave him a soft smile, but he could tell she was worried he might mention more than he should, for their evening was anything but a normal one. It might have only affected him, but when she cleared his mind of the darkness, it was as if he truly saw her for the first time.
In just over a year, he could deduce that she had known loss, but her opening up to him, allowing him to see her the way he had always suspected she had seen him. An aimless soul. It left him baffled the entire evening, but he suspected the deeply embedded honesty and trust they had shared since the first day they had met, reached an ultimate.
He recalled what Jody had said and gave an appropriate response. “I was also running late. I believe it would have rather been my fault if there had been a delay, so there were absolutely no problems. Amahle has always been extremely professional, so even if there was a problem, I certainly wouldn’t have any complaints,” he said as reassurance to Jody.
Oddly enough, concluding this date of theirs, rather felt like he was thanking Amahle’s mother for allowing him to take her on a date, rather than just simple protocol of procedures that all went well. It was another one of those usual things that simply felt different to a point of making him feel uncomfortable and worried that he was playing on the code of conduct’s lines.
“That’s good. Anyway, I checked the back entrance, but there’s already paparazzi camping out there, as well.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I took Amahle’s overnight bag up to the penthouse,” Jody said with a tinge of worry in her tone. “I hope it’s all right that I took the liberty, but for the sake of keeping them out of the know, it felt less obvious to do it before you two returned. Especially because it’s our first run-in with such a situation.”
Why he was glad and slightly excited for this turn of events, he couldn’t quite yet accept, but he had the urge to spend more time with Amahle and things were definitely working in his favour. It might have been the usual protocol to avoid suspicions from the press and any prying eyes, as Salexis allowed their daters to sleep over at the clients’ to sell the idea of them being an actual couple, but it truly felt like a blessing in that moment.
“A lover is never left out in the cold, I suppose,” Amahle joked, though he recalled from one of their first events, she despised the idea of these situations that could pop up. Even if their contract forbade true affections between daters and clients, she thought it dodgy, as some daters had been caught using the backup protocol to their advantage.
“It will be fun,” he offered, feeling rather odd with the wording he used, while Jody was looking them both over.
“It’s my first time,” Amahle whispered as realisation seemed to have only then hit her and he pondered over how poetic it seemed. For over a year the press never cared more about them than now, when he also felt more drawn to her than ever before.
He offered with a dry chuckle, “I’ll make you some strong coffee if you’d rather wait them out?” He didn’t like the idea, as it still held risks, but it was an alternative to which she only smiled.
“I’m not waiting it out,” Jody interrupted their moment. “I wanna go say goodnight to my little ones. So, if you both will excuse me.” She turned to Amahle. “Five thirty sharp, around back. We’ll debrief at your practise, and then you can go fix whatever mess is left.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Amahle sarcastically said in a military tone, as Abel returned from the patrol and beelined toward the cake Amahle had left for him.
“Uhm, yeah, there’s a topic we can discuss while we pull our all-nighter,” Simeon offered.
“It’s not much to talk about, but during the false alarm issue, I wasn’t at the practise, and couldn’t get in before the event, so I still need to see if all is well. My secretary handled everything, but I still just want to make sure for myself,” she explained.
He simply nodded his head and followed Jody, to open the door for her.
“Goodnight!” both called after her, to which Jody merely lifted her hand in acknowledgment as she walked out.
“Shall we?” he asked, extending his arm to her with a big smile.
“If we must,” she teased, hugging his arm and walking beside him toward the elevators.
The flashlights began fading as they made the turn around the corner and he was pleased to find Amahle continuing to hug his arm as he scanned his keycard. With the doors long closed, it was only on the fifth floor that she stepped away, looking surprised by her actions. Yet she still stayed close enough that he could revel in the warmth her body created, while he could feel his pulse spiking at the proximity.
“So how do you really think the evening went?” He attempted to joke, while mostly distracting himself.
“I was concerned about you, but you eased into it, and well, I enjoyed it more when I saw you enjoying it as well,” she stated with a small smile while watching the numbers on the display cycle to the top.
“I’m glad…I mean, that’s good.” He found himself stumbling over his words, as he had become uncomfortable, but for a reason he knew he shouldn’t have, while he caught her turning her head to silently laugh at him.
When the elevator stopped, he stepped behind Amahle before he headed toward the front door to unlock it. He was dead on his feet while stepping to the side and allowing her to enter ahead of him. Just inside the door, he bent down to pick up her overnight bag.
“Ah, Jody clearly just threw it in here,” he muttered, as she wasn’t his favourite person in the world.
“Yeah, I hope my perfume bottle is still in one piece,” she countered and he noted the smirk on her face, as she knew very well how he felt about Jody.
He merely hummed in response.
“So, um, do you even have a spare room?” she asked with a frown, while looking down the hallway, before adding, “I’ve known you longer than most people I meet, and I’ve been here several times, but I don’t even know this basic thing.”
He chuckled. “Three, in fact, so you even get to choose,” he said with his playful tone.
“I’ll pick door number two, please,” she joked while he shut the door behind her.
“It’s this way,” he said, heading beyond the living area that led toward the hallway where his own bedroom was at the end. “Here we are,” he said at the second door they came across.
“Good you remembered,” she teased as she passed him to enter the bright room, which broke away from the black marble the rest of the penthouse showcased.
He watched her for a second as she ran her hand over the deep green satin sheets on the bed as if they called her name. The exhaustion had begun settling in him as well, so he placed her bag down on the bed and quickly went back to the door.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, as he reached the threshold.
He merely responded with a nod and a smile. “Please settle in, and then I’ll make us a nightcap.”
“Ensuite?” She pointed toward the hallway hidden from his view.
“Yes, it should be fully stocked, but if there’s anything else you—”
“Simeon, relax,” she said sincerely.
He hadn’t even realised he was this on edge, but the last time he had to share a space with someone was over two years ago, and even just having a guest was something he never did.
“I’ll be fine, thank you. Now go, get out of that tux,” the moment the words left her she looked surprised. “Uhm, not like that. Well, like that, just…” She crinkled her face in defeat and the silly joke had his heart calming down.
It was one of her best characteristics; she could calm him and ease back into normality without making it blatantly obvious.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” he said with a smile, as he closed the door and headed toward his own room. Entering, he realised how plain it felt. The absence of colour made it feel rather dreadful, but he pressed on toward his dressing room and headed to the shower.
After a while, he found himself in the
kitchen, melting dark chocolate chips and adding milk. Grabbing the Amarula from the bar, he added the creamy liquor to the mixture and grabbed a teaspoon to have a taste.
“Mhmm,” he said to himself.
“Mhmm indeed,” he heard Amahle say behind him. “Damn, I haven’t had Amarula hot chocolate since university,” she said, deeply inhaling to savour the aroma. She wore yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt, while the big smile on her face showed absolute delight.
“Mystic Boer?” he asked, as it was the only place he recalled from his university days to serve the delightful drink.
“The one and only,” she said, standing close enough that he could feel her body heat warm his side. The sweet citrus scent from her perfume drifted on the air around them. “I don’t know how I would have survived those cold evenings without them.” She ripped him from his trance as she grabbed cups off the hooks near the refrigerator.
He tried imagining her as a student and thought she must have been so much happier back in those days, but he realised he had projected his feelings far more than he should have, while he got the last ingredient for their drinks.
“Oooh and those tiny marsh—” Her smile consumed her face. “You absolutely fascinate me,” she admitted.
“They’re just marshmallows,” he countered.
She shyly smiled and set the mugs down. “It’s just…” she paused and looked him over. “I’ve known you for a year and it wasn’t really ‘knowing’ you, but there are so many things I still wonder about you.” She sounded sadder than he had expected. “But that’s of no concern, it’s just strange that I expected your version of a nightcap to likely be something I wouldn’t even be able to pronounce.”