Russ:Hahah! Sorry.
Sarah:You know, if he wasn’t really married, maybe you two could actually be husband and wife.
Ash:Oh GodNO! I would hate to be married to him. He would drive me insane. Working with him is fine, thanks. Got to go. Bye, guys.
I plugged my phone in to charge and walked onto my small balcony, Petal close behind me. The wind wasn’t howling, which was a miracle for Cape Town, especially perched up here on the mountain. I had the best view. In front of me were the bent-over trees that had been disfigured like little old men leaning over walking sticks from the years of gale-force winds. Beyond that, further down the hill, was the sea, its horizon dotted with the lights from cargo ships, and to my right, a perfect view of Lion’s Head mountain.
But tonight, I wasn’t able to appreciate my views like I normally did. Tonight my thoughts were very much elsewhere. Even though I wouldn’t admit it to my friends, Iwasthinking about Maximillian Adam. More specifically, whether or not all those rumors were true. No one could bethatgood at sex, could they? But I was intrigued.
I suppose there was something about him that had had me intrigued long before tonight’s very revealing eavesdropping. Plus he also liked cheese, and in my book, that always said a lot about a person. I had to admit it—there was just something about Maximillian Adam, and I had a sudden urge to email him, not that he would respond at this hour. I paused for a while and thought about it, but before my brain had even made the decision, my fingers were already tapping away on the screen.
Dear Maximillian,
Just come back from eating springbok sushi and drinking Santa’s Little Helpers—sound familiar?
I almost jumped when a response came back immediately.
Dear Leigh,
You should have come upstairs and said “hi.” I’m still here.
A bolt of something deliciously warm shot through me. The idea that he’d been right there was weirdly thrilling.
Dear Maximillian,
Late night at the office? I hope it’s not our job that’s keeping you up?
Dear Leigh,
Not at all. I didn’t feel like commuting home in the busy traffic to Noordhoek, so stayed to work a little longer, but then I got very distracted with something that came up.
Came up? My thoughts immediately plunged into the gutter. Very distracted? Another gutter thought. But he had confirmed part of the rumor to be true. Perfect opportunity to pry further.
Noordhoek? That’s a long drive home.
I’d dropped the formalDear Maximilliannow. So had he.
I’ve been thinking of moving my office there actually.
———
Well, it would make sense with the long commute.
———
And also the people in this office park can be a little intrusive, to be honest.
Intrusive? My thoughts plummeted right back to that now well-visited gutter.Intrusive, as in calling the police because you were making a woman scream so loudly during sex that you had people concerned.Perhaps there was some truth to these rumors after all? I continued to test the waters.
So Noordhoek—are you a horse rider?
It was a perfectly good question: everyone in Noordhoek owned horses. It was the kind of place that instead of normal traffic signs it had horse signs in the road to remind you that you may just bump into one in the traffic.
Never been a horse rider! But I do keep chickens, which I suppose makes me a total Noordhoek cliché.
This was it, my in.
Hahah! Total cliché. And I never took you as someone who conformed. You’re going to have to break out of it. I suggest owning something more unexpected, like, I don’t know, an ostrich, kangaroo, or even a llama.
