Her Arms, His Sanctuary

Chapter 1

Naledi was unaware of the activities around. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to beat the rush hour. The main mall was buzzing with people, most of them knocking off from work and some packing away their stalls to wait for another day.

She stared again at her mobile phone to check the time. Her heart started to pound in her chest. It was few minutes past the agreed time.

“What if he does not show up?” she pursed her lips, thinking to herself.

She started pacing up and down in frustration. Time and again she would attract stolen glances at herself from some individuals passing by. That however did not bother her that much since she was not even aware of the attention she was getting.

Just then, it dawned on her. She groaned out loud as she slapped her face with her palm. This might not be the right spot. The hotel had two entrances. One was for the Hotel reception but could be used to access the meeting place as well. But, there was yet another entrance around the corner, right in the middle of the mall.

There was a stair way that led directly up to the actual terrace of the restaurant on the first floor. She was sure that could be the meeting place.

She rounded the corner, her high heeled shoes clacking on the pavement as she rushed.

To her dismay, it seemed like no one was by the entrance, on the lookout for her.

She looked at her cell phone and wondered, “Should I call him? I’m already late, what if he does not answer my call…”

Strings of question boggled her mind. She was freaking out. She looked up to survey around her for the last time.

She paused as her eyes noticed a figure making its way towards her. Instantly her eyes were glued to him. Her mouth gaped in sheer wonder as she stared at him. He was tall and had long lazy strides. The way he was dressed could not be a coincidence. It fitted the description, all black!

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Kabelo or Kay as he was popularly known, wanted to come a good fifteen minutes earlier than the appointed time. His reason being that, he wanted to see and study this person he was about to meet. If she did not offer anything different from what he was accustomed to, why would he even bother to reveal himself to her.

The idea was to satisfy himself if indeed she was worth his time. He could be out there making money but instead he chose to quench his curiosity and his wish to see this person.

He burst into fits of laughter and shook his head at his intentions. If he did not like what he saw, he would disappear and not even bother to show himself.

“What would be the point?” He muttered to himself.

He was used to the so called ‘slay queens’ who were at his disposal whenever he felt like having a female company. Money had never been an issue for him. He was able to part very easily with his hard earned cash to finance their fancy lifestyles.

What he failed to understand was why they had to show off their luxurious lifestyles even though they lived in the poorest neighbourhood and struggled to stay on their feet. Instead, they use men to finance their lifestyles.

He thought it was such a mammoth task to always have make up intact all the time. He found it amusing to say the least how they would often use their hairstyles as an excuse to get cash every time. What baffled him was the price for these weaves and extensions. Five grand was fairly a large amount of money for a hairstyle that would probably last for three to four weeks at most.

“If they cannot afford to keep up with their fancy looks, why bother in the first place” He shook his head at the silliness of it all.

On the flip side of the coin most men were attracted by beauty and prized extreme beauty above everything else. So, it was only fair to these women... As for him, he had his reasons but nothing along the attraction line.

He leaned back on the bench to make himself more comfortable. The spot he chose was perfect, it gave him a full view of the place where they were to meet. That way he would be able to see her as she came in, giving him ample time to study her and make a decision based on what he was seeing.

It was her idea to meet in a public area like this and only then after making acquaintances they would go up to the bar area together for a drink as they get to know more about each other.

The time was five minutes past the hour. Already she failed to honour the time. If there was anything that Kay could not stand in this world was people who had no value for the essence of time. It actually says a lot about such people.

“Typical of these young women”, he thought to himself as his patience wore out.

He was already frustrated, he fumbled into his pockets to look for a lighter. He could use a smoke right now.

He quickly dismissed the thought from his mind.

He was debating whether to leave when something caught his eye, the royal blue colour by the entrance, exactly what he had been on the lookout for.

A tall young woman in a royal blue outfit appeared from nowhere. He squinted his eyes to take her in.

The first thing that struck him was the basic hairstyle, it was an afro, and none like any other he had seen, in fact, very rare to say the least.

His heart caught in his throat, he was already interested. She was dressed conservatively and that impressed him and was a shock to discover.

He had expected the usual mini skirt that clung to every curve in her body as most girls he had seen. The peplum top and the matching knee length pencil skirt enhanced her beautiful curves. The high heels were giving her the poise that he found extremely attractive.

She looked at her cell phone and that caused him to get into action as he jumped up and walked over to her. All of a sudden, he had no intentions of making her wait in fear that she might disappear the same way she appeared.

He glanced around, gave a curt nod and what was apparent, a signal. However it was not obvious to ascertain the intended recipient of the message.

With a self-satisfied smile he strolled over to her. He could not take his eyes off her as he studied her with keen interest, his stare was unwavering.