“Shit, man!” Max’s silken veneer slipped for a moment and she saw the snarl under the grin. “I don’t have time–” He recovered himself quickly. “The thing is–”

“The thing is, you don’t have time Max, certainly not to research a term paper and write a 3000 word essay. Certainly not before 4 p.m., the day after tomorrow.”

She stood up and gathered her books together. She closed her laptop and slid it into its case. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to Miss Kunene’s office and drop my essay off.”

“Wait, Thola.” Max leaned over and grabbed her hand. “Don’t you want to help your friend’s boyfriend? Do it for Desray.”

Once again Thola slid free of him. “Sorry Max. Not for Desray, or you, or anyone. You’ll have to find some other sucker; I’m sure there are plenty of girls who’d be only too willing to help you out. Just not this one.”

“Come on Thola,” Mr Nyoka’s voice was talking in her head again. “Come on, baby girl. Do it for Bandile. Otherwise, you know what’s going to happen…”

She walked away from Max, her heart pounding, her head filled with the images she was trying so hard to work through.

*****

Max stared after Thola, his cheeks burning. He looked around quickly. No-one had seen her blowing him off. The little bitch. Who did she think she was, all high and mighty, holier than thou? He sat for a while, his fingers drumming on the wooden table. That certainly hadn’t worked. And he thought she’d be easy, a pushover. Girls like her usually were.

Like Desray, with her poor wardrobe and bad hairstyle, only too happy to help a guy like him out. He’d had Desray typing up all his papers for the last semester, not to mention letting her make the odd correction here and there, or do the extra research he needed to pad out his sketchy notes. For a BSc student she was pretty good at patching essays together too. All he had to say was ‘Thanks babe’ and smile and tell her he didn’t know what he’d do without her and she’d light up like a Christmas tree, and wag her little puppy-dog tail and fall over herself and try to please him even more. And, when he needed a break from her fawning desire to be with him, he could give another girl a call. Someone sexy, who knew how to give him what he needed.

So Desray was fine for helping him get through his other courses, but this English assignment was a real ball-breaker. Winging it on a few rough notes wasn’t going to be good enough for this one. He needed to do really well, get at least 70% if he stood any chance of making it through. Because, as his father had pointed out to him: “I’m saying this in no uncertain terms, Max,” if he didn’t pass this year, he would be out on his ear. “If you think I’m going to pay for you to waste a second year at university, you’ve got another think coming my boy. How do you think I made it to where I am today? Certainly not by lounging around outside lecture rooms never bothering to go in and learn something worthwhile.”

And Max would zone out while his father droned on and on, always the same lecture with the same message: Max didn’t know how good he had it; Max was wasting all his chances; Max’s father had worked his way up, from the salesroom floor to where he was today, the owner of a chain of hardware stores that stretched from coast to coast. “I earn every single cent I spend my boy, every single one of them, and you think you can swan through life, dipping into my wallet whenever you need cash, scared of doing an honest day’s work.”

Yadda yadda yadda, whinge, whinge, whinge, and Max had to sit there until his mom came in and got the old man to shut up. As least Max could twist her around his little finger. “My Maxie,” she called him. “My baby boy.” But this time, she had come to him looking serious.

“I can’t make Daddy change his mind darling. He’s determined on this one. He’s prepared to give you one last chance. If you fail one subject, that’s it, he says. Your university days are over.”

Max had stared at her in horror. “One course?”

“I’m sorry darling,” his mother said, and she really did look upset. “He’s adamant. He says it’s about time you learned what life is like in the real world.”

Well, as far as Max was concerned, the real world was going to have to wait a few more years until he was out there and in it. He intended to make the most of his time at university. Cool chicks, plenty of beer, a bit of weed to mellow things out a little, hanging with the guys and watching the odd game here and there … this was what Max had planned for the next three years at least, and some prim and proper little bitch like Tholakele Sibaya wasn’t going to spoil it for him. It was time to put Plan B into action.

“Hey Noli,” Max practised the name, a small smile on his lips. “Hey there Nolitha … Noli, Noli baby.”

*****

There was a light knock on the door. Nolitha Kunene looked up.

“Mr Cooper. To what do I owe this honour?”

The young man in front of her ducked his head and smiled. That charmer’s grin. Nolitha had seen him use it often enough on the girls in the tutorial group, seen how they melted under his crooked smile, seen how their eyes slid over his body. If he were an ice cream on a stick they’d all be there, fighting to get a taste of him. All except that funny little thing. What was her name? Oh yes, Tholakele Sibaya. She didn’t fall for his tricks.

And nor did Noli. She knew Max and guys like him only too well. The ones that skated in on their charm and good looks and had all the girls falling over them, dying to please.

Oh yes, she knew Max Cooper’s game alright, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared to play it with him for a little while. Noli Kunene looked up at Max. Her eyes slid to his torso. He knew just the right sort of T-shirt to wear. Gleaming white and a little too tight. All the better to show off his abs and his honey-gold tan. And then the jeans, slipping a little too low on his hips…

If Noli could have, she’d have licked her lips right there and then.

Instead she took off her glasses and waved him to a seat.

“So, Mr Cooper. What exactly can I do for you?”

“It’s my English assignment, ma’am.”

“Your assignment? You mean the one that’s due three days from now?”

“Yes, ma’am.” His voice held just the right touch of deference; he kept his eyes firmly on her face.

Noli smiled. She knew she was looking hot today. Like Max, she knew how to make the most of herself, to show off her curves without being too obvious, to let the fringe of her copper brown wig fall just over her eyes so that when she looked at people, men in particular, she had to flick her eyes up. Flirty, but demure. Those were two of the weapons in Noli’s armoury and she knew how to use them. Just like Max knew that the last thing he should do, at this stage of the proceedings, was to look anywhere but directly into her eyes.

“I was hoping…” Max let his voice trail off.

“Yes, Mr Cooper?”

“Well, ma’am, you see, I don’t know if I’ve managed to research the topic correctly.”

“I see.”

“Yes. And well … I thought maybe you’d be prepared to help me?”

“Hmmm. It’s a little late in the day for that, isn’t it Mr Cooper?”

“It is, ma’am. I know it is, but you see…”

“Yes?” Noli waited. She knew what was coming next. The bumbling explanation. The laying of blame at someone else’s door. Or something else’s. Max was the kid in the class who had the dog who ate his homework, he was the one whose rucksack was stolen during a burglary, he was the one whose computer crashed with all his work on it. And now he was the one standing in her office – looking truly delectable, definitely good enough to eat – and asking for her help.

“You see, ma’am, I’ve been having personal problems. With my dad. He and I have never been close, but lately he’s been trying to make up for that. The only thing is, he keeps phoning me at all hours. Crying. Saying he’s sorry. My mom…”

Max paused and swallowed. Noli had to admire his acting skills. Nothing bumbling about this boy, he had the whole pull-at-your-heartstrings thing off pat.

***

Tell us what you think: What is Noli Kunene likely to do in response to Max’s story? What should she do as his lecturer?