Melokuhle



It was shy after 7 when we walked inside the dining hall, the hall had a few early diners but it was still relatively empty.

We settled down in an empty table, with our plates before us. It was a bittersweet moment, as our honeymoon was coming to an end, and soon I would return to school while we will have to start the search for a place to call our own, even though Melusi has dozens of houses all over, I need something that will be ours and ours alone.

As I began to enjoy my meal, a voice sliced through the air, capturing my attention, as the voice called Melusi’s name. I looked up from my plate, searching for the source, and there she was—the woman who seemed to have descended straight from the heaven itself.

Her radiant presence was undeniable, adorned in a flowing red dress that gracefully danced with each step she took. Her luscious curls framed her face, showcasing her beauty perfectly well. A pang of jealousy twisted in my gut as I observed Melusi’s reaction. His composed demeanor wavered for a moment, and I could see a flicker of interest in his eyes.

“Oh my God, it is you,” she exclaimed, striding confidently towards our table. Her voice, melodious and enchanting, it seemed to command attention with every syllabus she breathed. I had never been a jealous person, but an unfamiliar bitterness surged within me, straight from the depth of my heart.

“Zandile.” Melusi greeted her back after a brief pause, his grip on the fork tightened with each second that passed.

He knew her.

This stirred a storm of questions within me. Who was she? Why had I never heard about her before? Melusi had never shown such a break in his character in forever well, that is until this moment.

“How have you been? It’s been forever.” Zandile said, paying no mind to my presence.

Her words dripped with familiarity and nostalgia, making me feel like an outsider, in this moment I might as well be, Melusi never once mentioned her in all of our time together when we talked about our past.

Melusi responded with his usual brevity, “Good.”

Observing the interaction, I noticed Zandile’s gaze wandering towards my hand, specifically my ring finger as she extended her hand towards me. A flash of hurt flickered in her eyes, only to vanish as quickly as it appeared. She withdrew her gaze, dropping my hand with an air of detachment.

“You’re married.” she remarked, her voice now softer than before. A bitter smile played on her lips as she nodded, and pointed behind her, gesturing to her friends in the distance. “I should get back to them. It was nice seeing you,” She turned to me “Melokuhle.” She nodded. Her parting words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken history that Melusi and the Zandile character shared.

As she turned to leave, the weight of the encounter settled upon me. Who was Zandile, and why did she provoke such unease in Melusi? The atmosphere grew tense, and silence enveloped us during the remainder of our dinner.

Melusi’s avoidance of eye contact intensified the air of discomfort between us, leaving me with countless unvoiced questions.

The walk back to our lodge was filled with awkwardness and an unspoken tension had already been built.

My mind buzzed with curiosity, yearning to unravel the mystery surrounding Zandile and Melusi’s shared history. But in that moment, I found myself grappling with the complexity of my own emotions that was surrounding me, uncertain of how to voice my concerns or confront the shadows that lurked between us, I decided to let it go for now.