Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: The Cooler

"That guy is an ass."

"Which one?" My new colleague, Andi, cranes her neck to look down the aisle.

"That one. Sitting in the exit row."

"Thulani Sibisi? Yoh, I've heard he's like the nicest man in the league."

"Not that one. The other one. Sitting next to him."

The two men in the exit row clearly get on, and probably have plenty in common on the inside, but on the outside they are opposites.

Zondi's hair is a fresh fade, cut tight and clean to the scalp, like he can't go more than seven to ten business days without sitting in the chair. Thulani Sibisi has the same low cut and has simply let it grow out — nobody has taken a clipper to that head in a month and he probably couldn't tell you the last time he saw his barber.

Zondi's skin is deep and even and looks like it gets attention. Sibisi's is a shade lighter, with the burn sitting across his cheekbones from a winter of training outdoors.

Zondi with a gold chain and fashionable gold rings on nearly every finger, while Sibisi wears exactly one piece of jewellery. And it's on his left ring finger.

I'm a single woman. Of course the first thing I notice is a man's hands, especially the left one.

The one thing they definitely have in common is that they are both fine as hell, and I'd bet good money they both know it.

Andi peers down the aisle again. Thankfully we're right at the back of the aircraft and every passenger has his back to us, so nobody can see how obvious she's being.