‘So good,’ she whispered, forehead pressed to his.
‘The best,’ he said hoarsely.
And together they unravelled. Her cry mingled with his groan, leaving them trembling and breathless.
She collapsed onto him, both of them slick with sweat, hearts pounding in sync.
‘I think I’ve just earned my street cred,’ Shona said quietly.
Sen looked at his watch. 2am. He had to be in court at 9o’clock and he really didn’t want to leave Shona’s warm bed, or more specifically her arms. But their rules were clear: no staying over, for both of them.
He dragged himself out of bed and began to dress. Shona was still asleep when he left her bedroom. He stopped at the dining room table. How did Shona get any work done, he wondered, as he surveyed the chaos. He picked up her notebook and leafed through it. He knew nothing about wedding veils, but Shona was obviously brilliant because her business was soaring.
He couldn’t understand why she didn’t take it to the next level. Why was she still working in her father’s shop? He couldn’t ask her because their relationship was not about getting to know each other better. Maybe that was what was bothering him; he wanted to know adult Shona better.
By the time he reached his apartment, he was groggy and moody. It happened whenever he got back from being with Shona. He felt as if he was missing something. He knew that ‘something’ was her, but he wasn’t ready to explore that feeling.
Three o’clock. Although he was sleepy he made no attempt to get into bed. Instead, he had a quick shower and started the coffee machine. While the coffee was brewing, he sat on a high stool at the centre island and scrolled through his phone. He knew exactly what he was looking for, having developed this habit a couple of weeks ago. He found Shona’s business page and lazily scrolled through it. Her last post had 50000 likes and several comments asking for her contact details.
The coffee was ready. He poured himself a mug and sat in front of the TV. With Shona on his mind, he forgot about his coffee on the table in front of him and drifted off to sleep.
Shona emptied the contents of her closet onto her floor. For someone who worked with clothing, she was pathetic when it came to storing hers. Most items were shoved in at the bottom of the closet. She fished out an orange tee and dark denim jeans. This was ridiculous. The town’s social committee had decided that everyone should wear orange to demonstrate their support for something Shona knew nothing about. Ordinarily, she would have ignored it but her mother, who believed she was the Queen of the Women in Business forum, had ordered her to show up in something orange.
After getting dressed, she shoved the discarded items back into her closet and searched for her shoes. She usually wore comfortable sneakers to work but today she’d planned to wear her new flat, gold sandals. If only she could find them. She searched ‘the chair’ where she dumped everything that didn’t have a place. They weren’t there. Under the bed. Not there.
She looked at her watch. She had 20minutes to get to the store. It was two blocks away from her apartment. She gave up looking, pulled on her sneakers and pushed two thin, silver bangles over her right hand as she left her bedroom. She surveyed her dining room. I’ll deal with it later, she told herself as she raced out the door. Her parents were strict about work ethics and arriving late would be frowned upon, or more like her mother would nag about it all day long. That’s if her mother was even there.
She was rounding the corner when a car slowed down next to her. She jumped back, startled.
‘Sen! What are you doing here?’
He’d opened the passenger window and was leaning out.
‘Good morning. I just finished a meeting and was heading back to the office when I spotted you.’
Shona looked at her watch. The store opened at 9am and staff had to be there an hour before. It was 7.45. How early had his meeting been?
He interrupted her thoughts.
‘You really take this orange thing seriously,’ he teased. She frowned, unsure how to interpret his mischievous smile as his gaze fell on her chest.
Shona looked down. Oh no! She was wearing the wrong shirt. The words ‘Let me be your Fanta-sea’ stretched across her breasts.
‘I have to go back to change. Oh no! she looked at her watch. She was cutting it fine but she couldn’t go to work in a tee that Anni had bought on her bridal shower weekend away.
‘Get in. It’ll be quicker by car,’ Sen said.
As she slid into the passenger seat, she took in the image of Sen, hair perfectly styled and wearing a grey suit, crisp white shirt and a ridiculous orange tie.
As soon as he parked the car, she leapt out, ran up the flight of stairs to her apartment and, at the door, impatiently searched her bag for her keys.
‘Damn it. Where are you?’
She eventually found them and, as she opened the door, she noticed Sen casually walking up the stairs.
‘Why did you get out?’
He didn’t answer and followed her into the apartment.
