Page 107 of Death of the Author

Of course Zelu was hungry.

Two hours later, Zelu called the autonomous vehicle and went home. The doorman helped bring her things up to her condo. Only when she’d shut the door behind her and heard the doorman walk away did she let herself cry. She stumbled to her desk chair and sat in it. She shed her exos and then let her body sulk.

“Zelu.” The voice came from behind her.

“What the fuck?!” she shouted, holding her chest. She wiped the tears from her eyes and blinked. “How long have you... Msizi! What the fuck!”

“Got here yesterday,” he said. “I came the moment I saw your broadcast. I was ordering my ticket while you were still running.”

“From Durban?”

“Los Angeles. I’ve been in the US for a bit. Business trip.” He kneltdown and took her hands. She hadn’t seen or spoken to him since she’d left, and a part of her had yearned for him the entire time. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a while.

“I like the sideburns,” she finally said.

“I like your blue braids.”

“I gave my mom a panic attack.” Tears stung her eyes and then dribbled down.

He sighed, letting her feel sorry for herself.

“Did... did you go see her?” he asked softly.

“Yeah.”

Then she spoke the words that she could never have spoken to anyone else in the whole world. “Do you think it was... my fault? She said she hasn’t had that happen since she was a kid.”

Msizi looked at her quizzically. “Were you trying to get kidnapped?”

“No!”

“Then it wasn’t your fault. Plus, your mom is okay.”

Zelu exhaled and leaned back in the chair. “What thefuckdo I do now?”

“You keep living your life.” He took her face in his hands. “Stop beating yourself up over everything.”

“I can’t.”

“You can.” He squeezed her hands, and the warmth felt more like home than anything in the last few weeks had. “By the way, are you aware of whatyoujust did for Yebo? I haveseriousinvestors now.Tenof them!”

“No way.” Zelu grinned, feeling her chest and cheeks heat with surprised joy. “Oh, hell yeah. Man, that app helped me so much that night.That’s awesome, Msizi!”

And then he kissed her and his lips were both soft and firm, and for once she was falling and she was glad for it. Her face was still wet and puffy with tears, but none of that mattered. He smelled of sandalwood, and he felt like joy and security and relief and lightning.

However, she still could not sleep. She didn’t think she’d ever sleep again.

42

Everyone Is Waiting

Msizi stayed. He had a visa that allowed him to remain in the country for two years now that Yebo was one of the most in-demand apps on the market. He could work from anywhere, and every two weeks, he had to fly to Los Angeles and New York for meetings. One evening, they were sitting in the living room listening to some jazz when Msizi suddenly said, “We should get married.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“Yeah. No. I don’t do that.”

---