Please find sweetcakes wont get you love part 1 here
Susan rubbed the back of her neck. Her dreadlocks which were tied with a rubber band lightly scratching her hand as she tried to massage the kinks out of her neck. She thought “great. Another thing I have forgotten to take care of. My hair.” Her hair was dull and dry.
Susan sipped her strong black coffee as she looked at her favourite painting. It was an oil painting of a ship out in the sea. It helped calm her on most days but not today. Not after her meeting with her part time accountant. He had explained the situation to her. She was bleeding money. The restaurant wasn’t making enough money to cover the expenses it was incurring.
When she had chosen the location of the restaurant 5 years ago it had been in the perfect place. On one side of the restaurant was a movie theatre and on the other side were clothing boutiques and a baby shop. Business had been good. The movie theatre had closed a year ago citing low sales due partly to the habit of Kenyans of buying pirated movies and also because many movie theaters had converted to 3D movie theaters. The other boutiques had also moved soon after to another prime location. Susan had paid her rent for the year in advance so she had to stay there to recoup her investment.
“Why does everything have to spin out of control just now?” she wondered.
Last week her lover Anthony had proposed. They were having dinner at his house and just before desert he had proposed. The ring was a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring that had belonged to his family for generations. The proposal had come as a shock. Ok well she should have read the signs but she had been so busy with the restaurant she had ignored the signs.
Tony had been hinting they should move in together. Susan had resisted the idea. She liked her space and something else. The secret she hid in her heart. That she loved Steve. Tony was a great lover, very considerate and fun to be with. He made her laugh. But she didn’t love him. She couldn’t be herself, the real Susan. She was in the relationship with her body but not her mind.
Susan told Tony she needed to think about it. Tony lived in Italy for most of the year and came back to Kenya to check on his investments. He also came back quite frequently to see Susan who he said “was the love of his life” getting married would mean that she would have to move to Italy. Not that she didn’t love Italy. She loved it there. It just meant she would have to leave behind her restaurant, her family and Steve.
Susan had meet Tony when she was studying in Italy. They had dated when she was Italy but she hadn’t thought of it as being a long term relationship. After all she was moving back to Kenya when she finished her studies. But when Tony came to see her after one year they started going out again. It’s not like Steve paid her any attention and she was kind of lonely. All the people she knew in Kenya had sort of moved on during the 6 years she had studied and worked in Italy.
She really did try to stop thinking about Steve. But it was hard when he persistently brought girls over to her restaurant to eat there. He thought he was giving her business but what he was doing was constantly putting a sword though her heart.
The door to her office opened and Andrew her manager came in. “Steve is here. He is asking for the chef.” Andrew smiled and then said “the girl he is with today is so young and pretty. I wonder where he gets these women.”
Susan said “at basketball. They are always drooling over Steve!”
Andrew said “I think I should take up basketball. Hey boss can I be leaving early on Tuesday to play basketball. I need a girlfriend!”
“Of course you can. I shall deduct that from your salary and you will have to explain it to your wife!” Susan replied.
“Ai boss usikuwe hivyo. You know I have a soft spot for the ladies. I just like to look.” Andrew said.
“Yeah right look. That’s what they call it nowadays.” Susan retorted.
Andrew left the office.
Susan put on some lipstick and put some lotion on her hands. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked tired. She wondered where that beautiful, confident woman she was 5 years ago had gone to. She thought “I need a vacation but I can’t afford one right now. And now I have to go to deal with the newest Steve’s girl who will probably look down at me.” ‘I love my life.” Susan said out loud sarcastically.
Susan practiced her fake smile in the mirror. Then she went out to meet Steve and his new girl.
