1976

Chapter Twenty-one

I couldn't think straight, and how could I with all that was running through my mind. everything just seemed to have turned upside down and there was no way to make things go back. I looked blankly at the piece of clothing I was currently ironing, the iron was steaming hot, so much so I could see the steam oozing out of it. but something about it wasn't calming me down, instead the heat made me more anxious. What was I going to do? How was I going to save my family and still be with Henri? The situation I was put in told me I could only choose one, and that one was more important and valuable than the other. My dorm room felt smaller now, I felt boxed in with no way out.

"Oh, boy." I mutter to myself.

Suddenly my door opened and before I could turn around, a large body pushed me against the wall. My mind couldn't process the situation until I felt warm lips crash into mine relentlessly. A heated rush ran through my body as I felt his large hand caress my cheek and the other ran down my body and squeezed my waist gently. His lips broke away from mine and he lightly left tender trails along my neck; my mind steered clear of any thought but the pleasure of this moment until one puzzling thought came through.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" I exasperated, God knows how much strength it took not to drown in this forbidden pleasure. He didn't answer me, instead his lips crashed into mine again, silencing me; but something told me there was something on his mind other than me. I pulled away from him and gently pushed him. "Henri, did you hear me?"

he huffed and nodded, "Yes I did." And he continued to kiss me again. He was avoiding me, a confusing rush between concern and passion flowed through my body as his kisses became more needy. Something was wrong and I think he could sense my resistance because this time he pulled away.

"Runaway with me." he whispered in my ear before planting a kiss at my earlobe.

I frowned at the random question, "Runaway?"

"Yes."

"W-with you?"

"Yes."

"uh-where would we go?" I uttered, his kisses were a little too distracting; I was starting to lose focus.

"Cape town." He said, and suddenly I realised his hands were fiddling with the buttons of my apron; unbuttoning them one by one.

"What's in Cape town?" I huffed, my hands ran through his hair, tugging him closer to me.

"My grandfather's vineyard." I felt my body lift up as he picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist; and he was walking towards the matress on the floor. "It's perfect, it's in the middle of nowhere...in the countryside." He gently placed me on the bed and laid on top of me. "You'll love it. Come on, just the two of us. We can leave tonight if you want." He spoke hastily but my gut feeling sensed something wasn't right.

I pulled away, "what's the rush?"

"I just want to get out of here and be with you."

I fronwed, thinking very hard about this. "But, I can't just leave." He paused and looked at me with a frown "why not?" he asked, before his expression eased into understanding and he sighed. "Right, your family." I nodded.

"I can't just leave them." He sighed again and lifted off my body and sat beside me on the bed.

"well, we could go just for a little while..." he suggested softly, his eyes full of hope.

"what's the point of running away if we're going to come back?" I shrugged. Silence filled between us, and I could tell something made Henri think of this rash getaway. I shifted closer to him and held his arm, when he looked back at me. "What's really on your mind?" I asked softly.