HER….
He watched as she carefully ironed his son's shirt. Pressing the iron box on the tough white, collar and as if to comply the collar straightened back to the intended shape. She did it diligently. To anyone else, it seemed like a usual task. A mother ironing the son's uniform, but to Mark, this gesture spoke volumes. He could see so much love in all that she did. She did not have to but she wanted to and this is what made all the difference.
He scoffed as he thought how it all began. It was a Sunday and on Sundays we brunch or barbecue. Typical middle-class style. On this fateful Sunday, Kevin had invited him to a barbeque at his place. Pot luck as usual. He decided to swing by at 4.00 o'clock with a bottle of wine for the Mrs and Glenfiddich for Kev. It was at the barbecue where he saw her. She was seated alone observing the hullabaloo that booze and beef created. Midnight black, tall, petite with a wide smile that exposed her pearl white teeth every time she smiled. He was smitten. Who was she and what was she doing there. Why had he not seen her before? He wanted to approach her but before he could, his favorite song came on and as usual, he and Kev had to perform to the crowd.
He’d missed her but could not forget her. He asked around for her but in vain. According to Kevin's wife, she was a friend of a friend. As he drove to Junction Mall parking lot on a Tuesday evening, he saw her. She was trying to reverse her tiny Juke out of the parking lot. She was stuck as the owner of the Landcruiser that had parked next to her left no space. He quickly jumped out of his car and ran to the rescue. They exchanged contacts and he would be later seen smiling when on the phone. He was falling. He liked her but who wouldn't she was easy to like. He would trade the dating scene carefully. He had been hurt before therefore wouldn't want a re-run. He also had a son from a different relationship and wasn't sure how this would sit with her.
A day passed, a month and in no time they were celebrating their one year anniversary. It was time he thought as he went down on one knee during their anniversary dinner. She would obviously say yes but their trials were yet to come. Mark would sleep whilst driving. The result a grisly road accident involved in an accident which left him in a wheelchair. He was incapacitated. In his eyes, he felt useless. He expected her to leave. So much was said about her, she wasn't going to last. In his head he was worried would she ride it out with him? Her response to the accident overwhelmed him. She first of all stayed. Took care of him and his son. She drove him to all his physiotherapist appointment and at night she continued his reading tradition as she read to him. Sex was out of the window and for this he resented himself. He loathed the fact that a simple act like an orgasm was a premium he couldn’t give.
But the most important thing is that she stayed when she had the chance to leave him rotting in the wheelchair. She chose to push him around. She chose to hold his hand when his world was bleak. His self-esteem was on the floor and to hide his inferiority complex he threw tantrums. He found every way to push her away. He felt fruitless hence he did not see the reason for her stay. It's now been two years since the accident. He is all healed and back to his feet.
“Babe dinner is ready”. He was brought back to reality. She had made chapatis his favorite.