HIS ROYAL BRIDE

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 45
(UNEDITED)

[LARONA]

‘Lala, wake up’
I keep trying to ignore Kago’s voice but she’s persistent. What does she want? The sun is not even out yet.
‘Lala weeh’
‘Yoh yoh! Kago I was on the road for almost the entire day yesterday. I’m just begging for just two minutes of some rest. Is that too much to ask for?’ I lose it. I did not intend to snap at her like that. I can see that she’s shocked at my reaction. ‘I’m sorry. Ke eng?’ I retreat.
I love my cousin slash best friend but sometimes she has zero emotional intelligence.
‘No man. I just want us to talk. I’m worried about you’
‘You want us to talk?’ I resound because I don’t understand. I check my phone and discover that it’s almost half past four in the morning.
‘I don’t like the vibes I’m getting in this house. It’s almost like you’re unwelcome here’
‘It’s okay. We’re just here for a couple of days’ I respond.
‘Why do you sound so unbothered by this whole thing? You are getting married to this guy’
She’s not going to give up on this topic so I sit up on the bed. My bonnet has even come off from my head full of yarn braids.
‘Not so long ago, you were crying till you were red in the face about coming here and now it’s like you do not care. What is going on Larona?’
I let out a sigh.
‘Let’s just say… I’m seeing the bigger picture. The grand scheme of things’
She raises her brow.
‘Kago, what do you want from me? You were the one who was put up to encouraging me to accept this mess. Now that I have, you’re suspicious. What do you people want from me?’
‘I know but that does not mean that I want to see you unhappy. What are you planning in that smart head of yours?’
I can’t stop the giggles.
‘I have decided to look at this in a different light. It’s been two years now of trying to secure articles and my dad has been getting in the way every chance he got. What does the universe do? Puts me in close proximity with one of the most successful advocates in SA. Do you see where I’m going with this?’
‘I do not because from what I know, you wanted to be an attorney. Since when are you into advocacy?’
‘There’s always room for redirection. He could be my mentor. For pupillage’
She’s quiet. My excitement slowly dies down and I pull my blanket. I wasn’t looking for her approval anyway. I feel her hand on my shoulder.
‘Look, I just don’t want you to be disappointed, again. You’ve been through a lot of that while trying to kickstart your career. What if he thinks like your father? What if he believes your place is in the kitchen? Speaking of the kitchen, I bumped into him in there and he doesn’t seem like one of the nice ones babe’
‘I am not looking for friends here Kago. I am looking to build strong connections. He’s the perfect person to shadow if I want to pass this bar exam’
‘And what’s in it for him?’
‘Nothing. I can sense that you’re about to be negative and I’m not going to have that. I’m going to shoot my shot and if he turns me down, there will be no point in me staying here. I’ll go back home. My father can keep his inheritance and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine’
‘I am not going to sit here and listen to you being disrespectful to your elders Lala’
I roll my eyes. She can be such a killjoy sometimes. I am certain that she would’ve been the perfect biological daughter to my father. She’s such a patriarchy princess, it’s so sickening.
‘Anyway, do what you must but make sure you don’t end up getting disowned by the whole Kgoro at the end of it all’
I just find comfort in knowing that my mother would never abandon me. If it was up to her, we would be living in our house far from anything that has to do with dictator she chose to be my father.
‘But he’s not that bad right? In fact, he’s not bad at all. He’s quite hot’ Kago says.
‘Huh? Who are you talking about?’
‘Your new husband. Duh…’
‘Do you always have to be thinking about men all the damn time?’
‘It’s true what they say. People who are always in luck rarely ever see it. If I was given the opportunity to be married to a financially stable man coming from a royal family? Honey I wouldn’t see the need to even lift a finger for anything. But here you are wena mbokodo, wena corporate baddie. Instead of trying to secure your place here as a wife, you are thinking about advocacy’
‘The fact that a man has money does not always mean he has a working head between his shoulders; that he can successfully lead a family. Move, I need to get some sleep’
‘Where should I sleep when you have your booty on my side of the bed?’ she complains and pulls the blanket. I pull it back with greater force. Kago is childish and I don’t see her growing up any time soon. I get out of bed to go sleep with my aunt, even though I am going to wake up to a lecture about my nose-ring. She has been on my case about my barbell nose ring.
‘Lala, earrings belong on your EARS. But no, you are so unruly you had to put it on the side of your nose. What kind of a child are you?’ she kept on saying all the damn way here but at this point, I’d rather endure that than Kago’s barbaric ways.