Mr Not Quite Good Enough by Lauri Kubuitsile Page B

was only about thirty years old and yet seemed to know so much. He seemed to understand things she’d only begun to know the names of. If there was such a thing as an old soul, Ozee was one. She remembered Stunki’s words that night at the party, “He’s gonna be great one day”, and Gorata had to agree. She could see this was a man with greatness written in his future.
    Ozee lay back on the sofa and pulled Gorata on top of him. He kissed her cheeks, one after the other, then her forehead, then her lips, then he slowly, gently, like a delicious torture, kissed her neck. One tortuous kiss after another.
    Her breathing became heavy and she was sure she would die from pleasure. Then he stopped. She looked at him, confused. He smiled, stood up and lifted her in his arms, then carried her to his bed. Gorata said nothing. She was breaking every dating rule she’d ever made – but it didn’t matter.
    Nothing mattered except being in Ozee’s arms. Finally she understood that.

Chapter 9
    9
    Gorata heard birds singing and then a cat meow, making her wonder what was going on. She opened her eyes, looked around and then remembered. She was at Ozee’s flat. Remembering the night before, she smiled. She sat up and looked around the sunny room, but didn’t see him anywhere.
    She lay back down and Chinua settled himself on her stomach. For a cat with an attitude, he seemed to have taken to her. Gorata ran her hand down his tabby fur. She’d never felt so happy, so contented. It was hard to believe that she had nearly let all of this slip through her fingers.
    Gorata shook her head to get rid of the thought. Stupid ignorance nearly made her pass by the most fabulous man she’d ever met. Life was all about the decisions. Choose this and you get that, choose that and here she was. It was a scary thought. One wrong move and she could have been every other place but here.
    Ozee was so interesting. He was giving and loving and honest. He was wise and sensible. He was proud and caring. And just because he worked as a petrol attendant, she nearly gave him a miss. Who was that superficial woman? Did Gorata even know her any more?
    â€œHello! Are you awake?” Ozee came through the door carrying a shopping bag. “I needed to go out for milk. It takes a lot of protein to keep Chinua in shape.”
    Ozee set the bag on the kitchen counter and came over to the bed. Gorata put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
    â€œHow did you sleep?” he asked.
    â€œWonderful. Last night was special,” Gorata said. “Very special.”
    â€œSpecial? I thought you might be able to come up with something a bit better. Aren’t you a public relations officer?” Ozee teased. “Aren’t words your stock in trade?”
    â€œOkay . . .” Gorata thought for a while. “How about magical?”
    He shook his head.
    â€œThe best night of my entire life?” Gorata tried again.
    â€œBetter,” he said. He took her in his arms and kissed her. “Are you hungry? I’ll make waffles.”
    â€œAnd he cooks too! My gosh! Will these wonders never cease to amaze?” Gorata climbed out of bed and pulled on Ozee’s shirt from the night before.
    He let his eyes travel the length of her. “That looks better on you than me.”
    She smiled. Waffles and the most wonderful man in the universe – what could go wrong?
    * * *
    At Sunday brunch Gorata sat on one side of the table and Amita, Mmandu and Kelebogile sat on the other side, their hands folded in front of them, waiting like a panel of judges knowing that Gorata’s answer to the next question would give them enough information to grant her parole or not. They were waiting for her to answer the question Amita had asked, “Do you love him?”
    Gorata knew the answer, but she wasn’t ready to make it public. How do you have one date with a man, spend the night at his house and fall