Chapter 2 - The Frontrunner

CHAPTER 2: THE FRONTRUNNER

THE FRONTRUNNER

Langa Mkhize did not disappoint.

He took her to Hobos Café for their first proper date — arrived early, stood when she walked in, pulled her chair out without making a show of it. He'd done his homework. Ordered a wine she hadn't tried. Asked about her work — the real version, not the polite one.

He talked about his developments. A house going up in the new suburb off the R35. A family that believed in building things that lasted. His father still called him every Sunday.

She liked him. He was attentive and present, and when he walked her to her car afterward, his hand on the small of her back felt right. He kissed her cheek — not her mouth, her cheek — and said, "I'd like to do this again." She said yes. And she meant it.

Driving home, her chest felt warm. Settled. Like something clicking into place.

————

"Your mother must love him," Zanele said the next morning over coffee at her flat.

"My mother is already choosing umembeso fabric."

And it was true — Langa was the kind of man mothers approved of on sight. Stable family, respectable surname. Lindiwe's mother saw safety. Lindiwe saw a future that made mathematical sense.

Zanele watched her over the rim of her cup. "And the mechanic?"

"What about him?"

"You haven't mentioned him once."

"There's nothing to mention."

That should have been true. It would have been true, if the universe hadn't decided to test her system the very same week.

————

But before the universe intervened, there was Thabo.