REBEL GRAINED

SMILE CHILE

The clap sound had everyone's eyes follow the glasses that flew and fell to the ground as Thulile's slap landed.

Elije bulged his cheek with his tongue to sweep the sensation before taking a step to pick up the glasses. Thulile rushed to the spot and stepped on them. The gesture destroyed what remained of Elije's two thousand dollars Cartier shades.

The already prideful man bigged up when he wore them, almost believing the accessory made him invincible.

Thulile knew the glasses. She was with him when he went to retrieve them at the Sandton's Cartier store after a six-month wait. Of course, she waited in his car as would a pet dog one told to sit.

The woman's action was petty, but it procured Thulile a form of satisfaction.

"THULILE," Eljie yelled in anger. The man's bloodshot eyes gave Lars the queue. He dropped his laptop case to the ground as Elije sprung up to grasp the woman.

"Hey man, chill. Why get whined up about glasses? Want some coffee?" Lars asked while blocking Elije and preventing him from striking Thulile.

Elije looked up at Lars, "you'reㅡ."

"Leave him, Lars let him come at me," yelled Thulile from behind Lars' back.

The man held her back with one hand, but her agitation made him pull her in front and grab her by the waist.

"If you want compensation for your glasses, I have the paycheck your mom sent at home. Come, it will be the perfect occasion for to meet my family," Thulile said with all the irony she could muster, "all this time I loved you, you saw me as an employee."

"Thulile, Bengingazi uzowenza nje, [I didn't know she would do this] I wasn't aware of my mother's plans I would have stopped her."

"I doubt it. Can your mother have some consideration or respect for me when you don't? She doesn't know me to do that. I bet you didn't even tell her you had someone already when Gisele came along."

"Thulile, I didn't want that."

Elije was sincere despite what he expressed to his friends. He loved Thulile; he wished to keep her in a very selfish manner. The thought she could love and make love to another was something the man refused himself to imagine.

"Ngishade ke [marry me then], marry me instead. Can you do that? Can you stand up to your mother and say it's me you want?"

"Thulile, stop," Lars said.

What he heard was not anger but desperation. Lars detested seeing Thulile in such a state where she bent her knees for someone who didn't deserve an ounce of attention.

"I did everything; I supported and accepted everything. For this, Iqalenini ukuhlelwa i-engagement [since when was the engagement planned]?" Lars felt the woman tremble in his arms. She had cried enough; she didn't need a public display.

Lars tightened his grip around her waist, yet the pressure was less restraining. The impression the hold left was one of a hug. "Thulile, please, stop it," Lars whispered for her ears only.

One had to be blind not to see, what Palesa knew from the beginning, and Elije's shadeless eyes didn't deem to miss.

"Oh, I get it now," said Elije, "so that's how it is huh, I leave you five minutes, and you're already getting fixed by someone else?"

"What?" they exclaimed in unison. They then eyed each other up and down while their mind projected the fantasy of the supposed fix.

"You talk about your reputation, but you seem to be a good job spoiling it yourself," Elije added.