Out of the blue, Linda's ex husband unexpectedly turns up, throwing her life into confusion. Eventually she manages to get rid of him. She is then surprised by her best friend. To top it all, certain people from her past return with the intention of having life long relationships with her.
Excerpt:
"You're not an easy woman to find," said a voice. Linda felt as if she had been thrown into the past. She stopped typing, and looked up slowly.
"Why are you looking for me?" she asked. Her heart was pounding furiously. Jake had aged, badly. She could not believe how different he looked. He was slightly stooped. When she had last seen him, he had stood straight, at six feet.
"The children need you," he said. Linda removed her hands from her laptop, and clenched them tightly in her lap.
"What do you want, Zwane?" she asked. He sat down infront of her desk. She could smell the alcohol fumes from across the desk, and it was still early in the day.
"The girls need a mother's advice on women's issues, and the boys need a mother's love. We all need you. I've come to fetch you home. You should never have left."
Linda looked at him in disbelief. She should never have left? She had not wanted to leave, but he had said...that was not going to help. I use energy on productive endeavours, she told herself. She took several deep breaths, counting backwards from ten.
"If you'd use makeup, no one need ever know how old you are," said Jake. Linda started counting backwards again. She had forgotten that he had enjoyed making snide remarks about her looks. She stood and walked to her office door.
"Get out," she said, opening it wider.
"Linda..."
"Get out!" she shouted.
"Anger doesn't look good on a woman, especially one your age," he said, as he walked past her. She closed the door, and leaned on it. Her hands were shaking. She needed to bash something, but she was not going to. Nothing would be improved by such an act of futility. She decided to focus on work. She was always productive there.
She went home several hours after close of business. She was exhausted. She soaked in a hot tub.
After her bath, she stood infront of the mirror, remembering Jake's words. He had told her many times that she was ugly, and that she had been lucky to get married at all. The naked woman in the mirror was not ugly. She would not win beauty prizes, but she would not win ugliness prizes either. She was five foot seven, curvy, with a natural afro that had some grey hairs in it. She looked like she was in her late forties, which was not bad, considering that she was fifty one years old.
Linda slipped into her nightie, then she went to sleep. She woke up sweating. She had dreamt that Jake was sending her from their home. It had been years since she had thought of that night. She sat up, and took several deep breaths. She looked at the time, it was after two in the morning. She lay down, visualising the success of her meeting first thing in the morning.
The meeting went well, then she returned to her office. She found Jake in reception.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"We need to talk."
"Talk to my lawyer. You made that arrangement, remember? My PA will give you the details."
"Linda..." Linda walked off. Jake followed her. She closed her office door in his face. He opened it and followed her into her office.
"What do you want?" she shouted.
"I won't have you shouting at me in my home," he said.
"Good, because I'm not coming to your home."
"Yes, you are."
"You sent me away."
"Now, I'm calling you back."
"I'm not coming."
"You have to, you're my wife."
"We're divorced."
"I never signed any divorce papers." Linda opened her mouth to contradict him, then she remembered that no divorce papers had been drawn up or exchanged.
"I'm still not coming back," she said.
"The children need you."
"They haven't needed me in years, they certainly don't need me now. They must be married."
"Not all of them."
"I have an appointment now."
"This is important."
"Go away, Jake. I'll send you the divorce papers."
"I won't sign them."
"Go away." Jake gave her a long look, then he left. It took Linda over an hour to calm down after his visit.
At the end of the work day, she sat thinking about the best way to get him to sign the divorce papers. She was not going back to him, under any circumstances. She had recovered from the treatment that he and his family had meted out to her, and she was not going to subject herself to them again. Satisfied with the plan that she had come up with, she went home.
She went shopping on Saturday. On Sunday, she spent most of the day in bed. In the late afternoon, she freshened up, and cooked dinner.
She opened the front door when she heard a car stopping outside her home. She smiled as Bongi and Themba climbed out of Kgomotso's car. She went to hug them, then they went into the house. She greeted Kgomotso and invited him in for dinner. Her heart was pounding, she needed him to come into her home.
At six foot, he towered over her slightly. She noticed that he had some grey hairs, and looked broader than usual. She supposed that was a result of the gymning that the children had told her about.
He was surprised by her invitation, she had not invited him into her home in ages. He locked the car, and followed her into her home. After dinner, the children bade Linda and Kgomotso goodnight, and went to their bedrooms.
