Good Problem

Thando came running into my office. She stopped at the door when she realised I had a meeting with my writing team. She was out of breath and she looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

I lifted my head when I saw her.

‘Excuse me, Q, I need to talk to you,’ she said. ‘It’s an emergency,’ she added, trying to get my attention.

I excused myself from the meeting, then led her to a conference room and closed the door behind us.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

‘I need your advice,’ she said. She appeared worried.

I wasn’t sure whether I should be worried or not. ‘I’m listening.’

‘Steve, you know Steve…’

‘Your boyfriend, Steve?’

‘Yes, that’s him. He decided it was about time I met the rest of his team, including his business partner.’

‘That’s a good thing, isn’t it?’

‘Yes… no… I don’t know,’ she said, exasperated.

‘If he trusts you with his business, it means he’s taking your relationship serious. So what is the problem?’

‘His business partner is the problem.’

Ed poked his head into the conference room. ‘Hey, Thando, what are you doing here? Finally decided to join the workforce?’

Thando frowned. ‘Please. Me? Working?’ She laughed for a short time as if that was the most ludicrous idea she’s ever heard, then she started worrying again. She grabbed Ed by the hand and closed the door behind him. ‘Come in. Two heads are better than one.’

‘So what’s up?’ Ed asked.

Thando started telling us her story.

Earlier that day at Steve’s Office

Thando waited for Steve’s team to join them in the boardroom. The two of them were early. They sat in the large room alone. Thando was nervous. She didn’t know what to expect. Would these people hate her? Would they feel like she was imposing on them? Would they tell her she knew nothing about business? She didn’t care; this was an opportunity for her to make a name for herself.

But what happened next was like nothing she had expected. A tall, handsome man walked into the boardroom. Thando was sure he was lost. He didn’t belong in the boardroom; he belonged on the glossy pages of a fashion magazine. But what happened next was weirder still.

Steve stood and welcomed the handsome stranger to the meeting. ‘Sbu, I’m glad you could make it,’ he said. He then proceeded to introduce Thando to the hot stranger named Sbu Langa.

Sbu took Thando’s hand, lifted it to his lips, and kissed the back of her hand. His hands were soft and his lips were warm. His lips stretched into a smile.

Thando felt a pleasant sensation in her tummy. She was sure that Sbu was taunting her. She found herself wondering what his tender lips tasted like. She started imagining kissing him and then she came to her senses. She moved her hand away from his and held on to the large, sturdy desk, not trusting her legs to hold her up anymore.

Back at Q & Ed’s Office

‘So you see what the problem is?’ Thando asked us after telling her story.

I shook my head, as my mouth was full of delicious biscuits I’d grabbed from a tray on wheels standing at the corner of the boardroom. I don’t know why they always insisted on serving biscuits to meetings.

‘I can’t fall for Steve’s business partner. What kind of a person would that make me?’ Thando lamented.

‘A whore,’ I said.

She shook her head. ‘No, that’s not it.’

‘A gold-digging whore?’ Ed said.

She shook her head again. ‘No.’

She stood and started pacing. ‘Aaaaagh! You guys are not helping! I came here for your help, for your insight!’ she screamed, exasperated.

Ed and I laughed.

‘Why don’t you get Q to take him out of your hands?’ Ed suggested.

I looked at Ed and frowned. ‘Excuse me?’

‘It’s a great solution. Q is single,’ Ed continued, ignoring me.

‘I’m sorry, Q, I can’t. If it were any other man…’ Then she was silent, thinking. Her eyes widened. ‘Q could take Steve out of my hands. Ed, it’s a brilliant idea!’

‘I’m sitting right here people,’ I said, but I was ignored.

‘No ways, Thando, you can’t shove your leftovers to Q,’ Ed said.

‘Why not? You said it yourself, she’s single.’

‘Again, I’m right here.’

Thando rushed to my side and squeezed my shoulders in an embrace. ‘Please, Q.’

I pushed her away from me and stood. ‘Absolutely not. This is you problem. Now you want to dump Steve, who only weeks ago, you were professing your love to and now you want to date his business partner and friend. This is a new low, even for you.’ And if Sbu was broke, you wouldn’t even like him, I wanted to add, but didn’t.

Thando sat and grabbed a biscuit from the plate. ‘I had a feeling you might feel this way, so I invited them both for dinner at our place.’

‘What?’

She smiled, sheepishly.

‘And who’s going to prepare this dinner?’ I don’t know why I asked, because I knew the answer to that question.

‘You know I can’t cook,’ Thando said. ‘But you two can. Please, I’m begging you.’

‘No,’ I said.

‘Yes,’ Ed said at the same time. ‘Of course, we’d love to. I’ll invite Matt also.’

I looked at him and shook my head. I stormed off. At times, I got tired of Thando freeloading on me. I sometimes wondered why I even put up with her. She paid the rent only when she wanted to. She never went grocery shopping. I was expected to do everything. I didn’t even know why I was friend with her.