Love's courage. Mokopi Shale

but I bet you say this to all the girls. I’m going now before you make me melt and break all my rules. Don’t SMS me, I’m off. Later.

      The sudden ring of her phone makes Lesego start. The screen says Kenneth and she laughs, tickled by his persistence. She lets it ring a few times more before she answers and says, “I said I was going now.”

      “Yes, you said I shouldn’t SMS you; you didn’t say I shouldn’t call. Plus I wanted to hear your voice.”

      “Ijoo, you’re dangerous! I have to watch myself. So, what did you want to say?” she asks, trying to sound blunt.

      “Well – nothing, really . . . I wanted to see what effect your voice would have on me, and whether your being would touch my soul,” he says seriously.

      “What? Are you gay? You must be . . . What heterosexual male says such things?”

      “One who knows who he is and isn’t afraid to express himself.”

      “Okaaayyy . . . Uhm . . .”

      “Are you speechless?”

      “Yes, frankly,” she says, stunned. “So, tell me . . . Did my being touch your soul?”

      “Uhm . . . Your voice went straight to the centre of my being. There’s something about you that I can’t put my finger on, and I’m determined to find out what it is. When can I see you? Let’s have dinner together.”

      “It doesn’t seem like a good idea for me to have dinner with you. You may make me fall in love with you, and a guy as hot as you never sticks around for long. So I don’t think I can agree to seeing you.”

      “Bathong! Lesego! How can you decide just like that?”

      “I’m sorry, I tend to think ahead, to weigh the pros and cons and possible outcomes of all situations that I get into. And unfortunately this doesn’t bode well for me.”

      “But you’re the one who isn’t looking for a long-term thing. Anyway, it’s just dinner in good company.”

      “Why dinner? So you can seduce me? Why not lunch? Or even breakfast?”

      “What? You think I won’t try and seduce you over breakfast or lunch?”

      Lesego sighs, then laughs. “This conversation is getting out of hand. Can I go now, please?”

      “Have lunch with me tomorrow and you can go,” he insists.

      She quickly goes through her budget in her mind. This is a long week and payday is only on Friday . . . And he is a perfect stranger . . . And she never lets a strange man pay for her food because she doesn’t like the strings attached.

      “Hello . . . Lesego? Are you still there?”

      “Yeah, I am thinking.”

      “Ah, at least you’re considering it. That’s a good sign.”

      “Listen, how about this . . . We keep talking throughout this week, and if you still find me interesting by Friday, we can meet for lunch on Saturday. By the way, I like meat. You’re not vegetarian, are you?” she asks.

      “No, I also enjoy meat. Okay, your proposal seems fair. We’ll chat during the week, but I’ll still want to go out with you by Friday.”

      “We’ll see. A week is a long time. You could just decide rather to go with Thandi.”

      “Oh Lord, no!”

      Lesego laughingly says goodbye and ends the call. Then she lies back on her lounging chair, stares at the blue sky and suddenly gets the urge to throw her hands up over her head and kick her legs in the air like an excited child.