Lucia was standing at the mirror, admiring her new earrings, her cold magically gone.

“I thought that maybe you could wear them tonight,” he said, smiling. “But you’re not feeling well.”

“Tonight? Why?”

“I thought we could go out, you know, just the two of us. Go somewhere nice.”

“Where are we going?” she asked. “Come on, tell me. I need to know what to dress for.”

“We could check out The Milk in Khayelitsha.”

Lucia shrieked with excitement and without hesitation, she got out of bed and got ready for the outing. Zakhele ordered an Uber and they left for the restaurant. Lucia had been dying to go there and this was the perfect occasion.

Zakhele sat across the table and looked at how gorgeous Lucia was. It was no wonder all the men were after her; she was stunning. The earrings sparkled, the perfect finishing touch to her beauty.

But, “Where does your uncle stay again?” Zakhele asked, unable to let this go.

“In Claremont, I told you already,” she answered, staring at the menu.

“But I thought you said Simon’s Town,” Zakhele said.

“What? No … I mean, yes, he has another house there.”

“You know Lucia, I want to take our relationship to the next level. That’s why I want to meet your uncle.”

She coughed. Choking on her own lies, Zakhele thought. Now, for the first time in their relationship, Zakhele realised why he didn’t know anything about Lucia: because she always lied. Why hadn’t he grasped this before?

On top of that realisation, came another: he never really loved her! He was in love with the idea of her wanting him. That was sad, that was really sad.

When the main course arrived, all she cared about was taking selfies and pictures of the food. Not once did she include him in her photo. When they were done, he told her to order dessert while he went to the toilet.

He got up and walked towards the bathrooms, but turned to look towards the table, to look at his lady. She was still on the phone, taking selfies and updating her social media. She was so beautiful … but she was never in love with him, only with herself.

Zakhele asked for a pen and paper at the bar. He wrote a note and asked one of the waiters to hand it to the beautiful woman sitting at the table by herself.

You look beautiful tonight, but deep inside you will always be rotten. You can call your Nigerian ‘uncle’ to take you home. I hope to never see you again.

Then Zakhele went down the steps and out the front door. He crossed the street and got into the Uber that was waiting for him outside.

***

Tell us: Look at Zakhele’s realisation that ‘He was in love with the idea of her wanting him.’ Does it change your attitude to both Lucia and Zakhele? Why or why not? What do you think of the ending?