Venda is turning out to be quite great. I did not expect it to be such a nice trip, but I am loving it. I have met Thomas’ brothers and they have been quite welcoming of me. Their wives are a bit hard to read, but they haven’t been mean, so I suppose that’s acceptable.

My phone rings as I laze around on the couch waiting for Thomas to finish doing Lord knows what. I answer it. It is Palesa.

“Hi Palesa”

“Hey Elle. How are you?”

“I’m well thanks. How are you?”

“I’m good thank you. Listen, I won’t take too much of your time. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Blake has passed away”, she says.

“Yeah, eish. May his soul rest in peace”, me.

“I absolutely agree. However, his position has become vacant and I’d like to be hired into it. I’m going to need your help and as office politics will have it, there will be something in it for you – something like a management position in my team. You are very knowledgeable and I could use someone like you in my camp”, she says.

Interesting…

“So, how can I help?” I ask her.

“I will require you to work some longer hours. I will be reporting directly into Mthunzi and he is a position away from Tom, which means I will have a dotted line reporting into Tom, so I will need you on call now more than ever. I know that you are expecting and Pearl is trying to find a way to get you out using this pregnancy of yours – especially now that there are rumours that you are carrying Thomas’ child. But I really need you”, she says.

“Pearl wants to fire me?” I clarify.

“She’s been wanting to fire you since the day Thomas laid eyes on you.” She says.

I am silent.

“Can I rely on you?” She asks me.

“I’m supposed to be on leave and Thomas is insisting that I be on leave and take it easy. We are even in hot-ass Venda. But I have my laptop here. When you need me, just text me and I’ll make my way to my laptop. I’ll be very slow on emails”, I say.

“Thanks so much, Elle. I promise you that I will keep you in my camp”, she says.

“Let’s make sure you get that position”, I say.

“I have a meeting with Mthunzi and Thomas in a few minutes. Do you think you can be on standby?” She asks me.

“I’ll go sit by the pool when he joins the call.” I say.

“Thanks Elle. I owe you one”, she says then hangs up.

Pearl is going to pay for this. She doesn’t know who I am.

My phone rings again. It’s my mom this time.

“Hi mom”, I answer my phone.

“I’m at your place and you are not here. Where are you?” She says. She sounds pissed off.

“I’m away for a few days”, I say.

“Are you with Thomas?” She asks me.

“Yes, I am”, I say.

“What do you want to see happen before you let that man go?” She says.

“Mom, please!”

“Please? You want to bring my grandchild into a scandal? Do you have any idea what Pearl will do to you if you carry on seeing that man?” My mom.

“I’m not scared of Pearl. She’s been trying to get me fired from my job since the day I started working. Pearl’s insecurities are beyond me”, I say.

“Lydia!”

“Mah! Please!” 

I start sobbing. She is quiet, sounds like she is sobbing as well. I speak through my sobs saying, “Mah, I need you. Ever since we lost all my siblings I feel like I lost you and dad too and I’ve been alone ever since. I gave you space mah, but now I need you. I’m scared, mama. I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t want Tom to be my only pillar of safety and comfort. I need you, mama. Please.”

She is crying too.

After both of us have had a good cry, she finally says, “I love you, my child. And you are not alone. I am here for you and my nunuza. I’m going to be a gogo. I’ll get your dad to phone Thomas and fix this. Leave Pearl to me. I will sort her out”, my mom says.

“Thank you mama. Seriously, thank you”, I say.

We hang up.

I turn around and find Thomas standing behind me.

“Hey”, I say. A bit shocked.

He looks at me. I cannot read him. He hugs me. I reluctantly hug him and we share a moment.

“My dad is going to call you to see how best we can fix this”, I tell him while still in his arms.

“I don’t want you to worry about these things, Lydia. Let me deal with it, okay?” He says.

“I just don’t want you denying me again”, I say.

“I won’t, I promise. I’m sorry I ever did, my love”, he says.

I am slightly comforted by this.

“I have to dial into a call. Let’s catch up when I’m done okay? We having dinner with my brothers and their wives tonight”, he says.

I nod my head.

We kiss and he leaves to go to his study for the meeting.

I grab my MacBook and make my way to the pool. I sit on the pool chairs and login. Palesa calls me and I can hear the call that they are on. My role is to listen and assist Palesa with talking them through what they need to know. I do just that for about three hours then when the meeting ends, I hang up and shut my MacBook down. I put the MacBook under my pool chair and just rest on the chair. I start rubbing my belly, smiling to myself really. My baby. He or she will be perfect. I just know it.

Thomas’ hand finds its way on my belly too. I look up at him.

“You are so beautiful”, he says to me.

I smile at him.

“And I know you helped Palesa through that meeting. She was just too good, so I looked out of the window and I saw you working from outside my window. Do I need to fire her?” He says.

I giggle.

“Please don’t. I actually like working with her. She’s not as bad as she thinks she is. Besides, this is for you too. You want to see your company do good, right?” Me.

“I pay her a lot of money for her to be needing you to this extent to handle a call like that”, he says. But he is smiling, so I am good.

“I know, but give her a break, baby. The point is that she gets shit done.” I say.

He sits on the floor next to my chair.

“Apparently that Portia friend of yours is doing well under Mthunzi. I must say, she’s annoyingly persistent. Pearl fired her and she found her way back to Mthunzi’s camp”, he says.

I laugh. We laugh together joking about this girl and how annoying she is. This is nice. I like it when we are happy like this.

“I’m just happy that she finally found a home”, I say.

He smiles at me.

Then he says, “Your father called as well”.

I look at him. He is serious.

“I’m sorry, my baby. I’m sorry about denying our relationship”, he says.

I am quiet. When I realise he is not telling me what I want to hear, I ask, “What did he say?”

“A lot of stuff. But for now, I will get my family to go pay for damages. I will culturally and formally acknowledge this child and I promise you baby, I will take care of you”. He says.

Good.

“Pearl will never give me a divorce.” He says.

Okay.

“I can’t promise you that I will marry you, but I do promise that we will raise this child together. I will never take our child from your womb and hand it over to Pearl. You can trust me on that”, he says.

I nod my head. I’m not sure where that came from, but I am suddenly glad that my dad had a word with him.

…

Thomas and I are the last to arrive at the dinner. I look hot, so I don’t care that the wives are judging me. The brothers greet each other and us women, we just well- ja… we just there.

“How’s Pearl doing, Thomas? You know? Your lovely wife? I spoke to her earlier today and she had no idea that you were even in Venda.” The one wife says. Her name is Alicia.

I don’t show her that I’m moved. But she’s a bitch and I’ll never forget this.

“Pearl is fine. I’m here today with the mother of my unborn child and my child who is baking inside this beautiful woman next to me. I’d like to focus on that tonight, if you don’t mind”, Thomas says.

Alicia, Nombulelo and Kefilwe are all surprised. The brothers are happy though. Very happy. They all have a happy bromance, handshakes and hugs. Thomas is a very happy man. Very happy.

Us women look at each other. I cannot read these women and I’m not sure if I should care.

The brothers retire back to their seats next to us, their women. Thomas kisses me. I just smile at him.

Dinner is served and we eat up. I struggle to eat some of the sea food, so I don’t eat it at all. As we finish our meals, Alicia and Nombulelo look at me.

“Let’s take a walk, babe”, Nombulelo says to me.

I look at Thomas. He gives me a reassuring nod. I get up and join Nombulelo, Alicia and Kefilwe on a walk.

“Congratulations on your pregnancy”, Kefilwe says.

“Thank you”, I say with a smile on my face.

“You love him?” Alicia asks me.

What kind of a question is that? I look at her. She sees that I’m not willing to answer to that question.

“We are asking because Thomas hasn’t been happy for quite some time now. He seems a lot happier and if there’s anyone who deserves a baby around here, it’s him. He loves kids the most and he doesn’t even have one. You should see him around our kids. Our ask is that you don’t hurt him”, Nombulelo says.

Deep.

“So what happens to Pearl?” Alicia.

Do I perhaps look like I give a shit about Pearl?

I shrug my shoulders.

“Pearl is Thomas’s problem, wouldn’t you say?” Kefilwe says to Alicia.

Alicia is not happy. She doesn’t like me. She looks like the type that will phone Pearl and tell her to come join us in Venda, then I wake up in the morning and find Pearl at our breakfast table. She smells like drama. She is married to the eldest brother, Samuel. Kefilwe is married to the second born, Jerry. I am with Tom and Nombulelo is with the baby brother, Rudzani.

After our chats about pregnancy tips and birthing options, yes this has now become my life, our men join us and each has his hand around his woman’s waist.

“Ready to go to bed?” Thomas asks me.

I nod my head, turn around and kiss him. I think we are perfect together.

We walk back to our car and head back to his house – the vacant mansion in Venda that is everything.

“I’ll drop you off at home then I have to go see my aunt and uncle. They are like our parents since our actual parents passed away. My brothers and I are meeting at their home”, he says as he drives us home.

“It’s 10pm, baby”, I protest.

“I’ll be back soon, baby, I promise”, he says.

I don’t argue any further. I just look out the window until we get home. He checks the house to ensure that all is well. I shower and get into my pyjamas. By the time I come out of the shower, he has left.

I see a message from Palesa asking me for some data. I log into my MacBook and send it to her.

“Free to chat? On a call with Mthunzi“, I get a message on Microsoft Teams from Palesa.

“Sure“, I reply.

“Thomas is not going to kill me, is he?” Her.

“He is out. I have a few minutes“, me.

“Pearl is on the call. Stay cool“, her.

Great.

In a minute, I’m dialled into the call.

“Thank you for joining us, Miss Khalo. We appreciate that it is after hours and we promise you that you will be acknowledged for your dedication”, MthunziMsomi says.

“Thank you, sir”, me.

Mthunzi explains what the meeting is about and what needs to be achieved at the end of the call. He explains the current problem that we are faced with within the company and how the team is working hard at solving that problem. 

Palesa and Pearl give their input as well that just sounds like a perfect textbook answer to a real life problem.

Now that it’s quiet, I suppose it is my turn to give my input.

I also give my input on the matter, using data to support my argument. The team is keen to hear more from me and I take them through a potential project plan that we could put together that may assist in pulling us out of the position that we are in. 

I hear buy-in from Mthunzi and Palesa. Palesa even adds to my point, brainstorming how we can make proper money out of my idea.

“Let’s take five to make some coffee then go into a working meeting? I’ll only take two hours of your time, I promise”, Mthunzi.

I go make myself some cranberry tea. I see a text from Thomas telling me that the meeting with his aunt and uncle is taking longer than expected. I take a seductive picture of myself in lingerie then send it to him.

“I’m coming for you“, he replies to my message.

I go back to my meeting and we spend about three hours putting this proposal together. Pearl said nothing. LUTHO! ZERO! ZILCH! NOTHING! NOT A DAMN THING!

How did she not fall asleep? We even forgot that she was on the call.

“I’ll get my team to type this up for us and send to Palesa. I believe Elle is on leave, so I don’t want to overwork you. Palesa, will you put it in a presentation for us so we can present to Tom tomorrow at 5pm?” Mthunzi.

“Sure thing.” Palesa.

I know she will pass it on to me to do, so when Tom is busy tomorrow, I’ll start on it.

We say our goodnights then hang up. I put my MacBook away and get into bed. I pass out after scrolling through social media and find nothing exciting worth exploring further.

I hear Tom coming back in the wee hours of the morning. He kisses me and passes out next to me. At 6am, I wake up to go to the toilet. When I come back from peeing, he is up and scrolling through his phone. I get into bed and start giving him a blow job. He is enjoying it. I am horny and now that he is just as horny, we bask in morning sex.

Good morning.