Mr Not Quite Good Enough by Lauri Kubuitsile

everyone meets Mmandu, whether they want to or not.”
    â€œHave you sorted out things with Alfred?” Ozee asked.
    â€œYes, we had a long talk and he understands that we would never have worked. I gave him his ring back.”
    â€œGood. I don’t want anything between us.”
    He moved closer to Gorata again and put his arm around her shoulder. “Listen, I don’t play games. I like things to be honest and open. I’m not afraid of getting hurt, it’s happened before and I survived. I’m more afraid of not living, of missing out on love.”
    Gorata just stared at him, unable to get out a word.
    Then he continued, “As I said, I like you a lot. So why should I play around and be coy? I like you and I think something important can happen between us. I’m ready for it. That’s all I’m saying, don’t get scared. It’s just me.”
    Struggling to find her voice, Gorata said, “I like you too, Ozee. But I’m not like you, I do get scared and I am afraid of getting hurt. I think I’m realising now that all of the men before tonight were nothing. I thought I had something with them, but it was nothing. I know that now, I know that because of you.”
    Ozee kissed her. First softly and then deeply, and she felt connected to him as if they were one, one heart beating. Gorata could feel his hand moving down to the centre of her back, pressing her into him, and she relented. She wanted to feel every part of him. She wanted to be lost in the feelings he was producing in her; new, exciting, unknown feelings.
    They finished eating and walked hand in hand to the cinema through the busy Melville streets. Hippies and skinheads, rastas and goths – Melville was home to the artsy types, the bohemians of Joburg. Gorata loved the place.
    Still, she was surprised to see a crowd at the cinema. She didn’t think Breakfast at Tiffany’s would have such pull, but apparently she was wrong. They sat near the back and Ozee took her hand in his and held it in his lap throughout the movie. She felt so protected and cared for, so special.
    When Audrey Hepburn searched in the rain for Cat, Gorata couldn’t help but cry, though she’d seen the movie before. And when Paul appeared and he and Audrey Hepburn’s character Holly were kissing in the rain, Gorata knew for the first time what they were feeling. That giving in to what was so strong. She knew she felt that way about Ozee too.
    By the end of the movie Gorata was a mess. Ozee handed her his handkerchief and wrapped his arm around her.
    â€œGreat movie, one of my favourites,” he said.
    She looked at him in surprise. “ Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of your favourite movies? I thought you’d lean more towards The Fast and the Furious .”
    â€œThat’s because you think you know me, but you don’t. Not yet, anyway.”
    They came out of the cinema into the starry night. Late spring in Joburg has to be the most magical time of the year, Gorata thought. Everywhere you look nature is waking up, happy and ready for the first life-giving rains. Potential vibrates in the air. It’s a hum of expectation, of optimism that good things are coming. Gorata could feel it pulsing through her own body too.
    â€œIf you’d like, we could go to my place. It’s not far,” Ozee said. “We can walk from here.”
    â€œYou live in Melville?” Gorata asked. She’d always assumed he lived in Soweto with his mother. This was certainly a night of discoveries. “Yeah . . . okay.”
    Ozee put his arm around her and it felt as if she’d always been there, right in the crook of his arm where her head fitted so perfectly. Gorata could smell rain in the air. A dusty, organic smell, such a blessing in the dry Highveld.
    They turned into a side street that climbed up the hill behind the main street they’d just left. Halfway up Ozee stopped.