“So how was your day?” The girl in the black tight dress asked Mr Ndlovu who was sitting on a bed unbuttoning his shirt. He had become a regular in this brothel but he had never encountered something like this before hence he was surprised by the question. Most of the girls he had been with just want to get down to business.

“What do you want to know?” He asked annoyed.

“I don’t know, you can tell me about your work, family, friends, anything. I can see something is bothering you,” She said applying lotion on her beautiful thighs.

She was a beautiful girl, dark in complexion, average height and her body hugging dress revealed her perfect figure. He could see her big round-shaped buttocks through it, which drove him nuts.

“It was good, I guess,” he said.

She could see he was not at ease.

“OK I’m Zanele, but if you are not confortable telling me about yourself it’s OK,” she said coming closer to him. She continued, “Anyway I’m just a prostitute, you don’t have to tell me anything.” She said, sitting on the bed next to him.

“I’m Mr Ndlovu and I’m a businessman,”

He was starting to feel relaxed now. Zanele was not like the other girls he had been with.

“I think I’m no longer in love with my wife, I have lost interest in her and we are always fighting,” he said staring at the wall.

He remembered the time he met his wife, she was beautiful and full of life. He knew he wanted to marry her the first time he met her. She was working at a furniture shop and had just graduated from varsity with an Economics Degree and was doing her internship. They met at a bus station on a cold afternoon, that day he knew that his life had changed forever.

“You know, after the death of our son she just lost interest in life and herself and our marriage. Going home does not excite me anymore,” Ndlovu said looking at his time piece.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Zanele said. “I can see you had something special, but the good news is that you can still work things out,” she said rubbing his shoulder.

It has been a while since Ndlovu poured his heart out. He had always put on a happy front, he could not even remember the last time he had a heart-to-heart talk like this with his wife. And here he was pouring his heart out to a prostitute.

He had thought of divorcing her, the thought had been in his mind for some time now but he didn’t want to put her through all the stress that comes with divorce. Although he was willing to give her everything she needed and support her financially for life, still it didn’t feel right. He was the only one she had and he still had his parents. Maybe if their son was still alive things would be different.

“I have even thought of divorcing her,” he said looking at Zanele.

“I’m sure you can still work things out,” Zanele said giving him a glass of water. “If you really love her, it’s worth a try.”

Ndlovu laughed at himself, to think that he had come here for sexual pleasure and now get this, he wouldn’t have imagined it, not in a million years. He didn’t want to say or show it but deep down in his heart he knew that Zanele had just given his marriage a second chance. He was willing to try everything in his power to save his marriage. Over the past few years he had been resorting to prostitutes and alcohol to avoid reality. He got up, put on his blazer and said his goodbyes.

“It’s worth a try,” he said to himself as he walked down the aisle in the store, already thinking about that special gift he was going to buy for his wife.

***

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