Beverley had gone through a lot in such a short life time. She was only twenty-three years old, but life had given her tough times. Beverley Khumalo, as she was known by home affairs, had the last name of her stepfather. Her mother past on when she was just an eleven year old girl, and her stepfather raised her as her own and loved her like she was his own, that is, until he got married to his second wife, the ‘Devil’, Bev called her. She made life a living hell for Bev, abused her and treated her like shit. For years she treated Bev like that, but every time her father was around she would act normal. Then, her father passed on, so she decided to run away just after the funeral.

She felt lost, distant and anonymous even to herself, hating the day her mother had passed on, for she was the only true family and connection she knew was real, the only connection to her roots. Bev was never going to be able to know who her biological father was and if he was still alive. She took a journey, one with possibilities of self-introduction, having to meet herself for the very first time. Self-discovery, a psychiatrist would call the journey she took, and he was part of that journey. She planned on staying in one place because constantly moving would not be good since she wanted to know her roots and discover herself.

Not only did she help him a lot, but she might become accessory to kidnapping if the police ever came looking for the baby, but he also contributed a lot in this journey of hers. They needed one another. Not only was he part of her story but she played a big role in this story of his too. The more time they spent together the more he got attracted to her, they took photos together, went to the mall and had meals together. They shared everything.

It had been over a year since she started working for him, and she still has not moved on. They had a connection that even Hope had started to notice, but he had to find out what the dream was about that he was still having one year after Bev moved in. He got home late that night, and he went for drinks with his colleagues. He’d already had a bite so he went straight to bed. At exactly one o’clock he woke up, and he heard something in the kitchen, so he checked it out. It was Bev. He saw her leaving the house.

He went back to bed, and so the following night he slept right through and the night after that. It happened again two weeks after that, a night he had to work late then got something to eat from work so he went straight to bed. Nature called at almost one o’clock that night, and she was going out again. He had to know what she was up to.

She got in a cab, and so he followed her to a strip joint in town where she went every night she would sneak out. One night he followed her in, and she was ”Candy”, her stage name. She was a stripper. He got sick on the spot finding that out. He got back home, feeling heart broken and jealous at once. He had fallen in love with her, and he thought of spending the rest of his life with her. Yes! He wanted to marry her. They spent most of their time together, and at least he thought they had a connection, something special.

She was a stripper. He had no idea how to confront her about this so he decided to move on with his life. Stripping was a tie breaker. He just could not move on from that to seeing himself with her. She never knew and so she kept working for him, but it was not working as such since they had become family. He’d had a couple of relationship, but nothing seemed to work out for him as life went on.

Ten years later they had become one big happy family, and over the years he would go to the strip joint every night when Hope would sleep over at one of her friend’s houses and watch Bev dance. It was a secret well-kept because he could not risk their relationship. He loved her.

People thought they were together because Hope would tell people that. She thought it was funny, but he knew deep down she really wished and hoped he and Bev would date and be her parents. Looking back into all relationships that he had failed every time things would get serious, and when his lady friends would want to move in or start asking a key to his place, he would find a way to make them break up with him without even realizing it. He would bring up Hope and Bev every time they would get into that argument. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. They had strong feelings for one another.

She thought with her secret, at least she thought it was one, he was better off without her. They were best friends until one night, a night that changed the way they looked at each other forever. After that their friendship was never the same again. Weeks, months and years after that night they started having arguments like a married couple, and they became jealous over one another.

Tell us: Is it always a good idea to keep a secret? What do you think?