Wanderlust

December 1: Chapter 4

The following morning, Minnie woke up to the sound of someone knocking at her door. She rolled off to find the time on her phone. It was seven-thirty in the morning. Why was someone knocking on her door at seven-thirty?

She kicked the sheets off, her feet touching the wooden floors. The person knocked on her door once again. She wanted to shout at them to go away but she didn’t want to be rude. Whoever the person was, they were going to have to deal with her morning breath and lack of bra. She stumbled to the door.

When she opened it, she found a black girl, around her age with her hair braided into thin cornrows. She had deep brown skin and she looked exhausted. She wore a black maids dress with a white apron, she was pushing a cart filled with breakfast food.

“Good morning.” She greeted, her English was forced with an underlying Township accent.

“Hi.” Minnie smiled, polite. “What's going on?”

“This is for you.” The girl answered, “Are you not Minenhle Ntuli?”

“That’s me but I didn’t order breakfast.” She looked down at the cart in front of her. She ran through all the options, she couldn’t deny food, but she doubted that she wanted to pay extra for it.

“It’s part of your package, breakfast every morning at this time.” The girl didn’t have a nametag much to Minnie’s dismay.

“Oh.” She frowned at the cart, everything on it looked so delicious she didn’t want to waste. “Kebongile.” The girl smiled pushing the cart inside. “Thata.” She offered the girl a few twenty rands from the back of her phone cover. The girl was about argue against it when Minnie told her. “I can tell you’re tired, if you want you can take a quick nap here.”

“He’ll fire me.” The girl’s eyes widened in fear.

“I’ll tell them you were helping me.” She excused the girl, nobody should look that dead on their feet. It was unhealthy, as an art student she could vouch for it. She had spent many nights overworking herself and she knew how it felt to always be tired. The girl had the very same eye bags etched under her eyes.

“Usure?” The girl asked, her eyes darting between the bed and Minnie.

“Ya.” She nodded, removing herself from the path that blocked the way there.

“Dankie.” The girl made Minnie’s bed before crawling on top of it, resting her head on the soft pillows. The moment her head hit the soft pillow, she was out like a light. Minnie smiled at her, picking a pancake from the cart. She ate it slowly, before leaning over her bag to pick an outfit for the day.

Nic had told her to bring her swimsuit. She picked a pale blue bikini and a pair of grey shorts. She decided on a white crop top to match. She showered and dressed in the bathroom.

When she took a step back into the room, the girl was still sleeping. She tucked the two hundred she had offered her into her dress pocket. She sat down on the couch in the corner of the room, eating a fruit salad (from the cart), scrolling through her w******p’s.

She had a quite a few from her friends. There was at least a thousand from their squad group chat, a few from her sibling group chat and one from her mother. The one from her mother was short, her mother was never a big fan of texting.

Please call.

She didn’t wustant the prospect of the day ahead of her ruined by her meddling parents. They would most likely find her another driver and a tour guide in two seconds flat.

I’ll call real, I’m in a loud place right now but I’m fine. Love you.

She sent an accompanying kissy face. She doubted that the would warm her mother up, but she had to try.

She scrolled down the friend group chat, everybody was laughing at something one of her best friend, Kiara had done. She was the clumsy one, tall and lean. Always stumbling over her own feet.

She had fallen over at the airport the day after Minnie had boarded her flight. She left herself out of the conversation. Her siblings were bickering over who had done what and who was in trouble. She didn’t say anything, she was on the other side of the country. What she was doing wouldn’t matter.

A few moments later, the girl asleep on the bed woke up. She looked around the room disoriented for a couple of seconds before glancing at Minnie. She sprang off the bed.

“Thank you.” The girl tugged at her dress, fixing it. It was slightly wrinkled on the side that she had slept on.

“What’s your name?” Minnie got up off her couch, placing her empty fruit salad bowl back onto the cart.

“Zinhle.” The girl studied her own toes, avoiding Minnie’s gaze.

“Buo phuna you can come here at anytime and just relax.” She told the girl, giving her a warm smile.

“That’s-” The girl began her protests before Minnie stopped her.

“I don’t mind at all.” She smiled at the girl who finally met her gaze. Her eyes were still tired, but she was looking a little better. “Just give me a heads-up.”

“Dankie.” The girl left the cart in the room, scrambling towards the door. “I must get back to work.”

“Have a good day.” Minnie said, sitting back down on her seat.

“You too, madam.” The girl called in reply. Minnie felt aged by the statement.

“Call me Minnie.” It was an instinctive thing she did without thinking about it.

“Nawe Minnie.” The girl gave her a small smile before closing the door gently behind herself.

****

She had at least an hour to kill before Nicholas would show up. Minnie picked up her sketchpad, studying the last drawing she had worked on before Nic had come along. It was mostly done, the sea a different shade to the sky. They met at a point, blending into each other. It was good, she had to hand herself that, but she wished she had done it in colour. She needed to capture it in colour. She started on a clean page before her attention shifted back to the other piece.

She shut that page of the book, looking at the new sketch of Nic. It was half-done. It was an outline, mainly of his face. Nothing much besides that but she decided to make it more. She added the texture to his face. The shadow along his jaw, the odd twinkle in his eyes and the way his smirk was glued to his face by magical forces.

She lost herself in it, the motions of her hand. She started her shading light before pulling darker pencils from her bag. Each defining him even more until her hands were covered in graphite, drawing up and down her skin. She worked herself further, he came alive under her hands and when she pulled away. She saw him, in the drawing. He was real, immortalized in the paper.

But she could never do him justice.

She could try but she could never reach a level of artistry where her drawing would beat seeing his face in real life. She checked the time on her phone and saw she still had a few minutes till ten. She packed away her sketch pad, opting for a smaller one in her bag. She tried to wash off the graphite and whirled to the elevator.

When she exited the front door of the hotel, she found his 4x4 truck parked right there. She ran up to it, only to find him not in it. She looked beyond it, on the beach and there he was. Laying down a sea blue towel onto the sand, his surfboard standing in the sand.

She stood there, watching him as he checked his phone and turned back to the hotel building. She swore their eyes connected over the road and she wanted to sprint across the street to him. But she held herself, contained her excitement and safely crossed the road. He gave her a warm smile once she reached him.

He was wearing his full body swimsuit once again, this time he was dry. Not a drop anywhere on him. It framed his muscles and she wondered how good he would look without it.

“Hey.” He greeted.

“Hey yourself.” She walked with confidence, knowing and feeling his gaze on her. “Am I late?”

“Not by much.” He told her, “Slept in?”

“I may have gotten distracted.” She placed her bag down, next to the blue towel. She didn’t feel like sitting down, she had been for so long, she was worried her butt might fall off.

“By what?” His head was leaned to one side, his gaze studying her.

“What do my hands suggest?” She held them up for his inspection. She knew that even after she had scrubbed them hard, it would still be visible and most likely also stuck onto some other part of her body.

“Ahhhh, I would know that substance anywhere.” Nic nodded his head, “Graphite. Was it troubling you, my lady?”

“Terribly so.” She feigned a faint, “I might have washed off my nail polish.”

“I will make it pay.” He proclaimed, a wide smile on his face. He was so dramatic, but she liked it.

“But you’re a pirate.” She reminded him. Pirates weren’t known for their care to ladies.

“I will steal its treasure.” They both started laughing.

“So, what are we doing?” She looked around the near empty beach. The sky was a clear blue, the sun beat down on them and she grateful that she was wearing sunblock.

“Have you been out surfing before?” He asked, nodding at his board.

“No.” She shook her head, looking out at the waves. She wasn’t scared of the sea, but she wasn’t fond of it either. It was odd, but she had never wanted to go surfing up until that moment.

“Well today, I’ll be your instructor.” He said, grabbing his surfboard under his arm. “Try not to stare too much, you might fall off the board.” And as if he forgot he added onto the end. “I also only accept one payment method.”

“Which is?” Minnie raised an eyebrow in question, the glint in his eyes seemed to glow whenever he was about to say suggestive things and she knew what his payment would be.

“A kiss from the fair lady.” Nic gave her a noteworthy smirk. She would have wet her underwear had she remembered she wasn’t wearing any and hoped that her knees weren’t going to give way. But she rolled her eyes at him, punching him gently on his arm. “It was worth a shot.”

“Keep trying, captain.” She danced around a little giddy. “I wanna ride the waves.” She pulled the shirt over her head and the shorts down her legs, exposing her to the view of everybody.

He watched her every movement, she didn’t mean to make it seem s****l. He bit into his bottom lip and she wanted it to be her teeth that did it, or his teeth that bit into hers. She wasn’t picky, but she wanted him, she couldn’t deny it.

She took a step towards him. He must have been naked underneath the skin-tight suit and she was practically in easy to remove underwear. Her eyes stuck to his lips. They looked thin and smooth. She could bet they were like velvet. He didn’t seem to mind the closeness, as he realized the affect he was having on her. He smirked.

It made his lips looked even better, she wanted to get closer but before she could, he did. The space between them was shrinking as the sparks and electricity was flying. She looked up to meet his eyes.

They looked better from this close, everything looked much better from that close. His eyes had blue and grey specks mixed with their sea green hue. His jawline, his cheeks. He had a mole right underneath his chin, a few freckles scattered on his face, all small and blended in with his tan skin.

“How is the water?” She asked for the sake of her sanity. She was losing it, the closeness, his face and the fact that she was close enough to smell the fact that he smelled like the sea. Being close enough to see small freckles. She didn’t want to know what ideas ran wicked in his head. Maybe they could compare ideas. His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tight against his washboard abs. How soft his lips would feel against her and if she would be able to breath, at any time after it at all.

“Warm enough.” His lips moved slowly, his voice was thick and vibrated through her whole body. She was melting, she was almost there. Just one more move…

“We should get out there.” The minute she said it, she wanted to hit herself. She had cockblocked herself. He didn’t object, turned to the sea and walked down, the surfboard tucked under his left arm.

****

Minnie knew how to swim. Her parents had forced all their children to swimming lessons from a young age. Out of all her siblings, she wasn’t the best or the worst, but she was still terrified of drowning. The sea was vast and deep, she didn’t want to die in it. She didn’t want sharks to eat her up, but she still allowed Nicholas to lead her into it and place her onto a surfboard.

They were sitting together on one, their legs dangling off the sides. He wrapped an arm around her waist, his hand was touching her bare skin. His touch sent sparks through her body. His fingers were large with small callouses, she didn’t know from what. His touch was gentle and careful. If he wanted he could wrap his other arm around her, if he wanted to, he could drop his head onto her shoulder and place kisses on her neck. She could imagine it, she wanted it.

“Don’t be scared.” Her breath hiked as he used his other arm to paddle them closer to shore. The skin-tight suit he was wearing was wet against her wet skin. He had hard muscle underneath it, she could feel it. He held her upright. His knees knocked against hers as the current tried to carry them out to sea. Would it truly be that bad if it did? She would be free of her parents. She would be free to do whatever she wanted, whomever she wanted.

“I want you to try and stand up on the board.”

She turned back to him, with big eyes. She was supposed to stand up on the board? She knew that’s what surfing entailed but she wasn’t sure if she was ready to do that. She didn’t want to move from how close they were, how intimate this position could seem.

“Oo-kay.” She stammered, she wanted to learn how to surf. Well there she was. She needed to try it, to just do it. Nothing was getting close to how she was feeling and how terrified she was. She was shaking as she placed her legs onto the board.

She didn’t want to think about the possibility of drowning, she could swim so could Nic. She wouldn’t fall and drown. He had her.

She shouldn’t have done this, she knew that the sea was dangerous, but she wanted to try new things. In her head, she could see her mother shaking her head. Telling her it’s silly white people things. She shook the thought away. Well, if they could do it. So, could she.

She squatted on her legs, he reached out to support her. His touch sparked her want to learn again. She wasn’t boy crazy but if anything was going to help her, she had to understand why surfing was so grand and great. And at that moment, it was because he liked it.

He released her, and she stood up. The sea stretched outward for kilometres, to the edge of her vision and all around her. It stretched and stretched. It felt as if she was a tiny rubber duck in the middle of a large bathtub, floating- not alone- but out away from civilisation.

She felt insignificant for a second, she was only a tiny speck compared to the sea, to the world to the universe. She turned and looked down at the man who was teaching her.

“Beautiful.” She said in awe.

“I know, I’m all natural.” He grinned, proud. “I don’t have to do anything to look this good.”

“Not you.” She rolled her eyes at him, if she were closer she would have smacked his arm. Lightly of course, in a playful way. “The sea, you idiot.”

“Ah, also natural. I don’t have to do much to it.” He kept the proud smile on his face, nodding in agreement.

“Can I surf now?” She asked, she was sure it was a stupid question.

“Not at all.” He shook his head, swinging his legs in the water.

“But we spent hours-” She looked down at him in confusion and shock. She hadn’t thought it would take that long to learn how to surf.

“Learning how to paddle, we haven’t really gotten to surfing yet.” He interrupted. He smirked up at her, she had a small frown in her face. “Now, don’t cry.”

“I wasn’t going to.” She pulled her thick lips into as thin of a line she could manage.

“It’s fine, I have lunch for us on the beach.” He shrugged, a warm smile had spread across his face and it made it harder for her not to look at him. There was something in the way he looked at her that made her anxious in a weird way.

“Are we going to continue after that?” She asked, sitting back down on the board. He was behind her once again, not as close as the first time but close enough.

“If it doesn’t start raining.” He answered, swinging his feet to push them closer to shore.

She didn’t argue much but let herself be led back to the beach. By his towel, he had left his backpack. Nothing had been stolen out of it, something she found odd but didn’t question. Inside were two Woolworths lunch bags, both white with dark blue isometric patterns on them. She was certain her mother had bought her one of those during high school.

“Here you go.” Nic handed her one, she took it. Inside were sandwiches, two of them, two store bought 500ml water bottles and a bottle of Coca-Cola.

“Thank you.” She smiled at him.

“You’re welcome.” He returned the smile, pulling out a sandwich from his own bag.

She noticed that inside his was nearly the same thing, except he had three sandwiches. She shook his head at him.

“What?” He asked, noticing her gaze.

“Why didn’t I also get three?” She questioned in response. He gave her a meek shrug.

“I’m sure a dead captive isn’t what you want.” He didn’t respond, and she didn’t press it any further, she wasn’t going to eat the second one anyway. She had a small appetite, she didn’t eat much.

They sat and ate in silence; the sandwiches were both ham and cheese on regular brown bread. Minnie didn’t eat both, only one and drank half of the coke alongside it.

“This is good.” She commented, taking another sip of her Coca-Cola.

“I made it all by myself.” He beamed, puffing out his chest in pride. She rolled her eyes at him. She noticed that it was becoming a constant reaction to him, but she couldn’t think of any other action to define how she felt. But it was not mean, the eye roll was accompanied by a small smile and happy eyes.

“Only thing you can make without burning the kitchen down?” She asked. She leaned back, her left arm supporting her. The wind picked up a little and soared before dipping off into nothing.

“Sadly, yes.” He admitted. She shook her head at him in mock disappointment. “You cook?”

“A little.” She turned back to him. He raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow in question. Did he do his eyebrows or were they always that good? How had she never noticed that before? “I took Consumers.” She nodded, “Most of the pracs were us cooking and baking.”

“That’s a subject at school?” He asked her, his perfect brows furrowed in question.

“Yeah, Consumer Studies covers a lot of the things that are part of business studies but aren’t really about business.” Minnie explained, zipping up the lunch bag.

“Like cooking and baking?” He also leaned back, supporting himself on his elbows. It placed him lower than her, so she dropped down to the same level, looking him in the eye.

“Yeah.” She nodded, pushing her braids off her shoulder.

“What else did you take? He questioned, she looked at him odd. His face had genuine interest and she found it odd. Typically, people didn’t care.

“Accounting and art.” She answered, her head turned towards the sea and its constant roar of waves.

“You did accounting?” He asked, a look of confusion etched on his face. As if he could never see her filling in numbers on a page. Or calculating the interest on loans and gross profits. It was boring but she did it because her parents had insisted she do a ‘proper’ subject.

“It was either that or science.” She shrugged, she lifted her legs, they blocked her view of the sea with brown skin.

“Why not science?” He quirked his right eyebrow, in question.

“Let’s just say, I’m not Einstein.” She cringed, imagining how bad she would have done if she did science. It was never something that she was good at, even at primary school. It was the subject she struggled at, for most people it was math but for her it was always science.

“I couldn’t tell.” He let out a small laugh. She had to fight the urge to lean over and hit him.

“Are you sure you don’t need any eye patch for your eye, captain?” She quirked her own eyebrows in question. “You can’t tell the difference between an old man with crazy hair and a black girl.”

It was his turn to roll his eyes.

“I can tell the difference.” He nodded at her.

“Prove it.” She dared him, a sure smirk spread over her face.

“One, Einstein is dead and you’re alive.” He said with confidence. She shook her head, fighting the urge to laugh.

“How sure are you on that one?” Minnie questioned, a small smile spread on her face.

“Two hundred percent.” He answered before he continued proving his point. “And two, Einstein could never look this beautiful.”

She felt her body heat up under his gaze. She let a small smile take over her lips, a sheepish and bashful one.

“And three, I’m not gay.” He stated. She quirked an eyebrow.

“You sure?” She asked, he nodded.

“Three hundred percent.” She wanted to tell him that percentages ended at a hundred but opted against it.

“I’ll have to take your word on that one.” She pushed up onto her feet, “Come, I wanna learn how to surf before the sunsets.”

“You should wait until your food-” Nic told her.

But she wasn’t listening. She had already run down to the shore, surfboard tucked under her arm. She turned to wave him on and he followed her down.