The Don's Saving Grace (GxG)✔️

7

"Why are you by yourself?" She is seated by the entrance of the trampoline place.

"I thought everyone would feel comfortable without me. Why are you not in there?" Do I tell her I was looking for her?

"I was looking for you, it is rather weird that our boss is not in there doing trust falls with us." She chuckles before standing up.

"You want to catch me?" We laugh but I agree to catch her. Walking to the trampoline, I notice that it is just Tshepo and Lerato.

"You better catch me." Standing in front of me, her back facing me.

"Just do it." She falls backwards and I catch her but I always manage to fall. Thankfully it was on the trampoline.

"Thank you for catching me." She states sarcastically.

"Thank you for falling on me. Come on it is my turn." Standing in front of the girl I call my boss, I fall back hoping that if I do fall it is not painful.

"You are light." She helps me up before leading me to the laser tag area.

Laser Tag was fun and so was all the other activities she had planned for us. We honestly enjoyed it, at least I did. Now we are having lunch together and everyone has funny stories to tell and it makes me a tad bit jealous of their lives when mine is bland.

"Do you have a mind-boggling question for me today?" I ask as I notice everyone breaking into their own conversations and the only person I can talk to is my boss.

"Not today, do you want to ask me anything?" Is there something I could ask her? There is not much I know about her but I guess that is a basis for questioning.

"Okay, what is the best thing you have ever experienced?" She looks in thought as she twirls her wine glass. My best experience was when my father took me ice skating for the first time, we were both awful at it but it made the experience that much better. It was also the day we found out he had stomach cancer.

"There are a couple but the top one was when my ex-girlfriend planned this entire day for my twenty-first birthday. She contacted all my favourite places in Russia and we had a blast." I was expecting there to be longing or hurt but there was nothing of that sense.

"If you do not mind me asking, why did you guys break up?" She looks at my face.

"Wrong person, right time. She taught me some valuable lessons but we were just horrible to each other and my mother hated her." She lets a chuckle out at the last statement.

"You do not date anyone your mother disapproves of?" She shakes her head in a chuckle.

"Not like that, whenever my mother has hated or disapproved of the girls I was with, it never worked out, hence I am here, single as a Pringle. I take her advice with a grain of salt even though she has been right a million times." Mother knows best.

"Are your parents heavily invested in your relationships?" She twirls her glass before shaking her head.

"No. They just assess my girlfriends when I bring them home or tell them about them. My dad never voices his opinion because it is my life but my mom will tell me what she thinks." Sounds like her mom is overprotective. "What are you doing this Christmas?"

"Going to meet a friend's family. She asked me to meet them." She nods before drinking her wine.

"When do you come back?" She does not look at me as she asks her question.

"Before the new year, if it goes well. Why?" A huge gulp before she sets the glass on the counter.

"Wanted to spend more time outside of work with you." That is sweet. 

"Oh. Well, I'm not doing anything until about the twenty-first because that is when I guess we are leaving and it is still November, let us not act as though December is tomorrow." She gives a half-smile.

"Let me ask you something, is there anything you wish you never found out?" Is there?

"I am not sure. I sometimes wish I never knew what pain felt like but there is nothing that I found out that I wish I could never know again, what about you?"

"When my ex was showering, some dude called and he was labelled as smilekeeper but I did not read into it, could be her best friend. I tell her and she acts weird so I ask a friend of mine to find out who this smilekeeper is and my friend tells me that it is someone she met on Tinder and she has been fucking this dude for half our relationship which was two and a half years. On my birthday, she met up with him as I was having dinner with my family. It was fucked up and I could not get the picture out of my head for a long time." That is awful. I wonder why she is telling me all of this.

"Oh, I am sorry about that, Ri." She smiles.

"No one has called me Ri before. I have heard Ami, which I gave myself when I was little according to my mom, Mari from school, Ari, Ama and even Amera." That is a lot, she continues looking at me.

"My dad used to call me Abi or Yaya." Sadness must have washed over my face because she squeezes my hand.

"Those are some cool nicknames, can I give you one?" Sure, I nod to see what she will come up with.

"Bibi. Short, sweet and only for me to use." I blush, what am I doing?

"Thanks, uhm, this wine is bitter." Injecting awkwardly.

"I find it delicious. Just the right balance. You want to go and get ice cream or something like that after this?" I never turn down the opportunity to get ice cream.

"Sure. You want to go now?" She nods and we both stand up and say our goodbyes to everyone at the table. She lets me walk out first. Walking beside me she fiddles with her hair for a moment.

"You ever just not want to do something even though you know you have to and you want to but you also don't." What a peculiar question but I love the way her brain just formulates questions like this and you do not know the context if there ever is any.

"I... I don't think so. I do not have obligations besides eating." And breathing and sleeping.

"Do you do that?" She asks as she leads me along the street.

"What?" Asking for clarification.

"Eat? Do you eat when you are hungry?" I think for a moment because I eat when I remember not when I am hungry.

"No. I eat when my mind is like 'oh shit, we said we want food' otherwise no." She nods and we keep walking. She asks about my childhood which I do describe to her trying to make it as happy as I could

We walk into the ice cream shop and there are a few people in front of us. I rest my head on her shoulder. I realise how weird that is that I had not asked for her permission to cross that boundary.

"Can I lay my head on your shoulder?" She agrees and we wait to get to the front.