Unhinged Love

CHAPTER 15

Mbulelo has been nothing but a darling to me. Besides that drama with his ex which I hope will never occur again. He has been the one initiating most things in our relationship. He plans the dates, the outings, gives me gifts and all that. So I have decided to be the one to do things for him for a change. So I pass by Capello and order our dinner before driving to his place. He gave me the gate remote even though I hardly go there. He has given me unlimited access to his life basically. It’s just that I’m always busy, I hardly find time to do things for both of him or both of us.

I arrive at his place and drive the car inside. I sit on the driveway and respond to a few DMs on our social media pages. I also respond to comments and repost the mentions on our story. Nothing makes you feel validated like being posted on a story of someone that you mentioned, especially if it’s a restaurant or club or a celebrity. So our customers need to know that we see them and we appreciate them. Ever since the launch, our followers throughout the socials have increased by 50%, so I think we are doing pretty good. I climb off the car and head to the front door. I knock and a few moments later, someone else opens the door. It’s Zamadonda, the food vlogger. Okay.

“Hey, Chef Hle. Come in.” she opens the door wide and walks to the kitchen. I follow her there and find Mbulelo busy cooking. He smiles when he sees me. He better not. “You have a guest, Mbu. The vegan chef.” She wiggles her eyebrows and sits on one of the bar stools. They look good together. Their age gap is not that much, I think. “So, how do you know the chef?”
Mbulelo puts down the knife he was holding and washes his hands. He then comes to me, hugs me and places a kiss on my forehead. “Hey baby. What a pleasant surprise. I don’t know if you have met my baby sister. But most people in your industry knows her. The foodie.”
Zamadonda laughs. “Food vlogger. And did you say baby? You’re dating Chef Hle? Damn bro. When did your standards increase this much?” Mbulelo just chuckles.

They are siblings. She was the sister that he bought that present for. The clothes I ended up wearing at my presentation. No wonder. We are almost the same size. “Hi, Zamadonda. Hey Mbulelo. Sorry for just dropping in unannounced. I wanted to see you but I will leave.”

Mbulelo holds me. “No. You are not going anywhere. You don’t know how happy I am to see you. You brought food for me?” he asks as he takes the paper bag from me and I chuckle.
“Yeah. It was supposed to be our dinner, but I see that you are playing me in the kitchen.”
He laughs. “Sit down. Zama, dish this up and we will eat it while you guys wait for what I’m cooking.”
“Suddenly, I’m no longer eager to eat what you are cooking. Is there a way to bribe Chef Hle to continue with dinner?” Zamadonda whines and both Mbulelo and I laugh. She sounds like a spoilt brat, a cute one at that.

“Unfortunately you are stuck with me, baby sis.” He leads me to one of the stools and helps me sit before rushing to the lounge and bringing an ottoman. He places it near my feet and I elevate both of them.
“Aww, that’s so cute. I want someone who does that for me.” Zama swoons and her brother groans.
“Not anytime soon. Focus on exploring life. You will settle down at 40.” He responds and I laugh while Zama scoffs.

“You’re 24 and you look ready to settle down, but I shouldn’t settle down till I’m forty? Double standards, bafo.” Mbulelo just rolls his eyes.
“I said what I said.” He continues with cooking and Zama stands up and starts dishing out the food. She places a plate in front of me.
“Juice or wine?”
“Juice is okay. I’m off wine until further notice.” I reply and she frowns.
“Detoxing?”
“I was involved in a minor incident a while back, so I am still on medication. You know medication and alcohol don’t mix.”
“Well I have friends who mix both.”
“And you should stay away from those friends.” Mbulelo chirps in and Zama rolls her eyes.

“Anyways, Chef Hle, where are you originally from?” she asks the question I hate the most in life. Like why can’t people get to know you without prying into your past?
“My parents are overseas and they travel a lot so I don’t even know where I’m originally from.” They both laugh and I just sip my juice to avoid the subject.
“Must be cool.” Zama comments and I don’t respond. I am not being rude but I don’t wanna talk about it.

×××

“So you came?” Mbulelo starts off with a silly grin as he closes his bedroom door and I chuckle.
“Don’t get all smug about it.”
He laughs. “I have been dreaming about the day you actually just show up unannounced and I never thought it would make me this happy until it actually happened.” He comes to sit next to the bed and holds my hand. “Thank you for coming. I appreciate it. And I hope you don’t mind my sister’s energy. Dad once fed her Redbull when she was young and she has never been normal ever since.” I break into laughter. That’s crazy.  His dad seems like a cool person.

“That’s wild.”
“Yeah, I think when they divorced, mom mentioned that. She was like “and wena you fed a baby Redbull. So yeah, I am leaving you.” And she did a dramatic exit.” My God. I did not think he had a hilarious bone in his body.
“So your parents are divorced?” that piqued my interest.

“Yeah. Dad cheated and they had a fall out. I’m not saying I am defending dad because he broke mom’s heart, but I love how he handled the whole thing. That girl he was caught with was a one night stand but mom was convinced that it was a relationship. By the time she realized the truth, it was too late. She had said a lot of stuff that she couldn’t take back and dad couldn’t handle that toxic side he saw.”

“Wow. That’s a lot.”
“It is, but every family has its own problems. At least we weren’t forced to pick sides or anything. But let’s forget about that. You wanna take a bath. I can arrange a foam bath type of thing.” I blush.
“That would be nice.”
“Okay. Stay here.” He goes to the bathroom and comes back after a few moments. “Your bath awaits you, my lady.”

I take my toiletry bag and walk over to him. “Join me.” I then enter the bathroom and take off my clothes. He comes in stark naked and I clear my throat. I hadn’t seen him naked before today and I must say I’m impressed, by everything. Even the bits of pubic hair before his umm. I climb into the tub and he also gets in.
“This is nice. I like it. It’s peaceful.” I chuckle. We chat a bit about the day we have had and then he pulls me closer until I’m seated on his lap. “Have anyone ever told you that you’re beautiful?”

“I believe that’s the first thing the doctor said when I came out of my mother’s womb.” He laughs.
“You must have been one hell of a cute baby.” I place my hands around his neck and bring my head down to kiss him. His arms tighten around my waist and he deepens the kiss.