Ghungroo - The Siren Call of Lovers (#1 - Completed)

Chapter 52 - Another Heart-to-Heart

Chapter 52

On Tuesday, I tidy up my studio space and meet with my supervisor all in the same day. Half my chores are sorted already.

My supervisor for next year is Prof. Khumalo. He is pleasant enough and is pleased with my final project and execution of it at the student exhibition. He's certain I'm going to get a great result and positive feedback. I will only get my results in February so I'm not going to start stressing about it from now.

I will only need to start handing in assignments and papers by June next year, which means self-management for the first half of the year is crucial. But I'm quite disciplined, so I'm not too worried about that.

By mid-afternoon I make it to Kumari Devi's studio and help with two of her classes. It's the beginner classes for the five to seven year olds and I find them extremely adorable to teach.

By six that evening, I climb up the stairs to my flat, throughly exhausted and ready for a quiet evening in.

Riaan called before boarding his flight and I will not hear from him in a while now. He has a tight schedule and I really don't want to intrude on the issue between him and Stephanie. That in itself will be stressful and I don't want to complicate things by prying. He can fill me in once he's back. If he wants too

I wonder how Stephanie is going to react?

I don't know her well enough to anticipate her reaction. I just hope she's decent about it. She could cause a lot of problems for future business with Riaan's dad and her father.

I let myself in to find Rahul sitting on the couch.

"Hey, La," he says a bit too brightly.

"Hi, Rahul."

Damn! I'm really not in the mood to speak to Rahul now.

But I have no choice. I can't really tell him to leave, can I? Guess now's a good time as any...

"You okay to talk?"

"Sure. Can I cook while we chat? I'm starving and there's nothing in the fridge."

"Of course," he smiles.

"Where's Tina?" I ask.

It sounds so weird asking him this. She was my friend first.

"She went out with some friends. She thought it best to be absent while we talk.

I put down my bag and go straight into the kitchen. I open the fridge and take out some veggies and a tray of chicken breasts for a stirfry.

I'm silent. I put on my serious face. Let him stew a bit. Payback for all the times he's teased me while growing up.

"So, how's everything?"

Seriously? Is this how he's going to go about it?

"Fine."

He sees that I'm not going to make this easy for him, so decides to get to the point.

He comes to stand near the counter where I'm busy slicing veggies.

"Layla...I...I'm sorry about what happened on Friday. You know...between me and Tina."

I look at him, my face giving away nothing. It takes everything in me not to laugh.

The look on his face is priceless. It's not often that I get to see Rahul hot under the collar from embarrassment. He's too straight, a too by-the-book kind of guy to get into compromising situations.