Love Note Pt. 02

All eyes turned to Ana when the questions popped up regarding the Dream Reality and Karma profiles. She focused on her hostess and, in as relaxed a manner as her nerves would allow, answered them as she had the ones earlier that morning. It wasn't so bad, really -- especially with the experienced interviewers she had that day.

Leo's thumb touched her spine again. The tightness in her shoulders dissolved.

During the ad breaks makeup assistants rushed in and the director and Rose Red conversed quietly. Ana took deep breaths, listening to her companions chat.

In the last five minutes she felt at ease and happy to be wrapping up.

"So, Leo," the gleam was back in Rose Red's eyes. "Forgive me, but I simply can't resist prying..."

Leo shifted in his seat, unintentionally leaning a little closer to Ana as his gaze zeroed in on Rose Red. "Go ahead. I've been baring my soul all month."

"You and Melissa are on speaking terms now, but clearly aren't back together."

"And won't be in the future either."

"Yes," her head titled playfully as she prepared for her next point. "And, though there have also been a couple fleeting rumours about you and Sindi G, I'd hazard a guess at that...?"

"Being no more than overly romantic observers projecting heaven-knows-what onto a gruelling yet completely platonic partnership. Sindisile is young and talented -- I just liked the idea of a new voice rising out of what might be my farewell to music."

Ana rolled her neck a little, finally looking at him. He met her eyes briefly with a neutral smile. No feelings for Sindi then. They were both keeping matters professional for the sake of the interview, but she could tell he was telling the truth.

He'd always been straightforward with her.

"Well, then my next question should come as no surprise. What about you and Ana?"

There was a gasp, one Ana thankfully noted came from Thandi and not herself. Heart pounding she sat as still as possible trying to turn her brain the right way up again. She couldn't have heard what she thought she'd heard.

"Ana?" Leo had gone still as well.

It was strange hearing him speak the shortened version of her name, the nickname he had refused to utter no matter how many times she'd insisted.

"Yes, Anaïs Kem," Rose Red encouraged. "Your assistant."

"My manager."

Her eyes widened. "Well, I was just --"

"Leo is correct," Thandi jumped in. "Ana has run everything while I was setting up future projects in Botswana. I specifically brought her in because I needed way more than just an assistant -- and she did not disappoint. Her reliability and professionalism went way above my basic guidelines."

"And I'm to deduce that it was all just professional, right?"

Leo looked at Ana.

"Right." Ana straightened in her seat. "We've all worked closely and I suppose silly ideas could have popped up about me and anyone on this team. But professionalism comes first to me, Thandi and these gentlemen here... And Kyle."

Laughter.

She looked around at each one. For some reason, Leo didn't seem altogether pleased with her answer. His expression was baffling, but a tv interview was not the place to delve any deeper.

"That does make sense," Rose Red conceded. "But why would all the rumours, though few for now, focus so strongly on you and Leo? I must say, seeing you two together even has me feeling like there's a tangible vibe between you."

"Between me and Leo?" Real amusement laced her question. "He's a huge star -- people are constantly linking him to romance or scandals. This pairing is the most inventive yet, I must say. I'm literally everything he is not."

"They say opposites attract, dear."

"Oh, come on -- we're talking way beyond opposites. I don't even fit in his flashy world. So, it's rather funny that anyone could picture us together."

"That's a no then?" Rose Red asked.

Leo suddenly squeezed Ana close in a half hug. "Anaïs is my hero and will always hold a special place in my chaotic heart... but you heard the lady. It's a no."

The signal was given to wrap it up, and Ana couldn't have been happier to note the floor manager's twirling gesture and hear Rose Red retreat to an update on the next day's show. After the farewells they sat there as the mics were cut and the credits rolled.

"I'm sorry to spring that soapie stuff at the end on you two." Rose Red was still smiling brightly as she apologised. "Fans lap that sort of thing up. I wasn't going to go into it, but seeing you two together made me decide to poke around a bit."

"No worries," Ana, aware of the cameras on them, kept her smile equally bright. "We're all just here doing our jobs, I guess."

Leo was looking directly at her without saying a word.

As soon as the credits wrapped and they were released, she was the first one rushing out door after door, past the other studios, down the elevator and signing out the building. The sun and fresh air were almost like physical blows to her suffocation. She stood there taking deep breaths.

The suddenness of the open space threw her a little. She barely noticed Leo's sleek Audi pull up.

"Get in."

Leo was wearing sunglasses now, his wrist resting on the steering wheel as if he had better things to do. The two words were stern enough to get her to take two steps towards the car.

She stopped herself at the edge of the pavement. "No. I need to get back to Moyo; you're heading out to Karma. I'll Uber -- or catch a lift with Thandi or something."

A cheerful double honk drew her attention to Thandi waving as she passed in her Mercedes.

"That cow..."

Leo's lips curled a little though it couldn't be called a smile. "Get in, Anaïs. I'm not going to Karma. You rushed out before I could tell you that I gave everyone the evening off. A friend of mine suggested some fun, so we're all heading over to Muti to meet her for drinks."

"Her?" The word slipped out before she could stop it.

This time he did smile. "You're not going to pull that card on me after defending my honour so admirably in there, are you?"

"I only told the truth." Her cheeks annoyed her by actually warming.

Raised eyebrow. "Even when you claimed nothing had happened between you and me?"

"What?" She leaned back in outrage, raising her palms challengingly. "You didn't honestly expect me to tell her I ran straight into your arms the day I met you, did you? 'Oh, funny story, Red, heehee. I jeopardised the biggest gig I've ever been in charge of for some free food and good sex, hawhaw.' Yeah, that would have played out splendidly."

He was grinning at her now. "Get in, sweetheart."

And she did. The man didn't know it yet, but she was in real danger of doing anything he wanted when he looked at her like that. Like he really cared. Like he actually enjoyed her for whom she was...

Sitting beside him, she bit her lip at how at home she felt. Re-establishing their boundaries was going to take some serious work.

"No, I wouldn't want you to put it like that," he told her as he merged with the evening traffic. "I'd want you to tell the truth: That you did all that for free food and phenomenal sex."

Ana thumped him as he laughed outright this time.

*** VIII ***

Muti was a retro African restaurant and cocktail bar. A chic setup in Newtown.

Music spilled out onto the open square as they approached.

The outside tables were all occupied, a range of patrons glancing up at them as they approached. Creative-looking Afrocentrics who might have meandered down from the theatre; slick-looking business types in clean-cut suits; quite a number of well-dressed couples; and a couple of ladies' tables cast with glamorous beauties clearly just beginning their night on the town.

Leo's hand on the small of her back guided her towards the entrance. Ana berated herself for melting at something as trivial as that: having one man's touch make her feel like she belonged somewhere. By his side, no less. Laughable.

He asked for the most secluded table available and they were led to the deserted area around the corner from the bar. The music also wasn't as loud that side.

"You look beautiful," he told Ana whose heart was still doing a silly flutter at him holding her chair for her.

She opened her mouth to protest, but immediately snapped it shut again.

She had been feeling different lately. It wasn't the new clothes or the attention she'd been getting from working with a star. The people around her had gotten her so relaxed in her own skin that she had finally begun to understand that things like acceptability, goodness -- and beauty -- had little to do with their dictionary definitions or even societal trends. They were coloured by being authentic and comfortable in one's skin.

And it was okay to be those things and know it. It was okay to feel okay.

Her cheek dimpled, her eyes large. "Thank you."

"I don't see Kyle getting much done if you keep exploring this new look of yours, though. He couldn't take his eyes off you today."

She ran a hand down the length of her ponytail. "I hadn't noticed."

"Good."

Leo wouldn't allow a single word about work.

They were alone for a good half hour, sipping lemonade and swapping stories about their funniest relationship and sex moments. Which turned out to be more fun than Ana had expected -- she was amused to realise she had crazier stories than Leo, and enjoyed the way he laughed at the sort of tales others would find shocking or even scandalous.

The way his golden gaze stayed on her, taking in every word, still made her stumble a little over her words.

She ended with a story about a "morning after" panic.

"I shouldn't have gone out at all the night before. I mean, I had to be in town early to pitch our drama series concept." She held her amusement in check as she fuelled his. "So, imagine my fury at waking the next morning to find the sun blazing already. Which was made worse by discovering a complete stranger bringing me breakfast -- in nothing but an apron. What fucking episode of Real Desperate Housewives is that shit from??"

"Hey, some of us are just nice people -- it balances out your delightful personality," he admonished. "Besides, I made you breakfast."

"Yeah, but I know you. Plus, I'd invaded your home. That guy gave me such a shock I leapt up to punched him in the solar plexus then threatened him with my taser."

Leo's head dropped back as the laughter bellowed out of him.

"Contain thine self, Boreas -- I'm not done yet," she squinted at him.

"How is that not the end of the story? What more could there possibly be?!"

"Just the minor detail of the poor man who could barely breathe by then having to find a way to talk nevertheless... and explain to me that he wasn't a rapist as we'd actually had a great time the night before -- bits of that did come back to me as he spoke... and that he was definitely no robber as I was, in fact, in his place, not he in mine. So."

"You assaulted a man you'd slept with?"

"Hey, not all of us like to cuddle after sex."

"In his home?"

"All the way in fucking Simonstown. After finally realising I didn't know the flat I was in, I gathered up my stuff -- accidentally stole a tee of his in the process -- and then had to mission all the way to town. Two hours later, I was bullshitting my way through our pitch to very angry prospectives who, I'm sure, would have been supremely impressed with me had they known how hungover I was through that entire pitch."

"And you never saw the guy again?"

"That's what makes it, by definition, a one-night stand, oh, observant one. Needless to say, it was my last."

"I'm glad to hear that -- we live in a dangerous world, Ana."

"Actually, I was more pissed off at having risked such a huge job," she shrugged, "but you're right -- condoms, combat skills and mini torture devices can only protect a girl so much."

He grinned at her. "You're great, you know that?"

They'd been laughing like silly idiots, so the deepening intensity just past his grin took her by surprise. The stories she'd told had never exactly ended in admiration before. He laughed with her at stories others had frowned upon.

She never saw these moments coming. The infinite rolling wave of discovering new elements in him then herself then them together... him, her, them. Other people would be boring and predictable to her by now -- but not this man.

She didn't know what to make of someone this unperturbed by even the wildest parts of her. And who got her to enjoy knowing herself this much.

She was a little relieved when one of the glamorous lady groups came in to find them in their quieter corner. The women stepped forward confidently to praise Leo's work and shower the man himself with compliments. All four of them were very blatantly flirting with him.

"I'm flattered, ladies, thank you." He was nice about it, but clearly maintaining his distance. "I am in the middle of something important, though, so if you don't mind..."

"Ooh, can I get a picture with you?"

"Me, too!"

His eyes flicked to Ana then back to them. "Actually I would rather --"

"The simplest solution would be for me to take all the pictures," Ana interjected, ignoring the look on Leo's face. "Give me one of the phones and I'll take a pic of each of you."

When the first woman to step forward tried to sit in his lap, Leo's refusal was grim and direct. She was disappointed, but settled for posing next to him with the bar and rest of the sunset-lit restaurant in the background. The other three followed suit.

"And now, how about a group shot?" Ana asked.

Leo tilted his head at her warningly, but complied, letting the ladies flank him with big smiles. Ana grinned at him over the camera. Once they were ready, she snapped a couple shots.

Leo was first to step out of the pose and retrieve the smartphone to hand it over. After profuse thanks and lingering hugs, the group left.

"Well. That was unexpected."

Ana's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I find that hard to believe. I picture people -- women in particular -- falling all over themselves to faff over you."

"No, I meant you volunteering as photographer."

"Oh. Only made sense," she shrugged. "Or they'd still be here going in circles over who's taking who's picture with which phone... meh."

The expression she pulled made him chuckle.

"True, but you're still missing my point." He clasped his fingers together. "I'm usually left dealing with jealousy once fans like that leave."

"Jealousy?" Her eyes widened. "Oh, right..."

"Yeah."

"Well... fans are just fans," she said. "This is just part of the job, isn't it? A part I'd have little patience for, I might add."

"It's part of my daily life -- I'm used to it by now. But not everyone understands that."

"And, if you felt the urge to sleep with any of your fans... Well, that's none of my business anyway -- hardly my place to get jealous."

He leaned back. "You know, you're not as good as you used to be at saying things like that as if you really feel that way."

"How I feel never mattered, Leo," she told her empty lemonade glass. "It's a simple fact that you are free to sleep with whomever you want. As am I."

"No, you aren't."

His casual tone goaded her into meeting his relaxed gaze. "Is that so? And who decided that?"

"Me -- and you," he answered. "We bonded the day we met -- fear and rules can't take away the fact that something inside me belongs to you now, Anaïs."

His words swirled in her chest, making her eyes tear up a little. Why would he not let go of her?

"And you belong with me. That's why this distance between us isn't working, sweetheart." He leaned forward again. "That's why you challenged Melissa just like I challenged Sindi. They'd crossed our lines. True?"

She stared back at him, too afraid that blinking would make her emotions spill over. A kwaito song thumped in the background, mocking their serious moment.

"I must be at the wrong place -- I thought we were getting together for the fun time!"

A woman with pale skin and black hair plopped down at their table. Ana barely had time to react before Leo was grinning at her, flicking the fringe that hung in her eyes with the tip of a finger.

"Anaïs, this is Sabine -- she will be the death of me someday. In the meantime, she has graced us with the extra Dream Reality track I messaged you about. Sabine, Anaïs."

Ana's eyes widened. "You did that? It makes me think of slow dancing in the rain... Shit. I mean, I like it. That's how a normal person would put it: I like it."

"So, this is her, lion man?" The woman's dark eyes took Anaïs in from head to toe.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean."

She ignored Leo and turned to fully face Ana. "You have direct eyes; I like that."

"Thank you, I guess."

"Oh, is a very good thing. These days it's hard to know whom to like and whom to trust. You look like a tough cookie, but a yummy one."

Ana chuckled. "I can honestly say I've never gotten that before: both the instant acceptance and the weird compliment."

"You must be careful of this one," Sabine gestured Leo's way.

"Is that so?"

"I can't believe you're listening to this traitor," Leo cut in. "You don't even know her."

"She seems to know you well enough. And I could do with all the tips I can get."

"His heart is like your eyes, you see, direct and intense," Sabine carried on. "And you both feel the magic within music in a way others would never comprehend. Anges ci-dessus, I beg that you don't let him fall in love with you, cherie. This can be a wonderful or a terrible thing -- so, you cannot allow it unless you are sure you know what you want."

"Leo is not falling --"

"Okey dokey!" Sabine, threw her hands in the air, ignoring Ana as well now. "Party time!"

***

Eddie and Kyle walked in flanking Thandi. The rest of the band entered behind them. Two waiters rushed in to push four tables together so everyone could be seated. The speakers in their area went up a notch.

The formerly quiet section transformed instantly into a party buzz.

Platters of fried rice, pap, garlic potatoes, pumpkin fritters, chakalaka, wors, chops, chicken wings, calamari and prawns materialised on each table, interspersed with green salad. Their lemonades were replenished. Sabine sneered at them and ordered far too much red wine and cognac, making Ana laugh at the waiters' expressions.

The night she'd dreaded, turned into a good time, colleagues-turned-friends sipped drinks, shared stories and even taught each other trending dance moves. Well, Calvin did all the teaching, the band danced -- and Ana protested when Will pulled her into the centre of the group.

"This is the worst idea ever, trust me!" She was stepping to the beat even as she protested. "I'm not good at this."

"You're kidding me, right?" he grinned. "You move like nobody else I know all day. I'm sure you're a natural on the dance floor."

"You should know better than to tease your elders, Will."

He ducked his head a little closer to hers. "Who said I was teasing?"

When she looked up at him, his eyes were all innocence. Ana shook her head at him, smiling.

He grabbed her shoulders and shook hard to loosen her up. "C'mere -- lemme show you Calvin's mega sick moves from 'Sun Rising'."

"Tomorrow's headline..." she muttered, "Daft Hiphop-Immune Black Lady Dies Falling off Her Mile-High Heels..."

Will laughed. But still pushed her to join him. Her slow learning aside, Ana soon found herself laughing her way through choreography that made her feel quite cool. For once, she didn't exclude herself -- she bounced on her heels, brushed dirt off her shoulders, and ran a manicured nail along the brim of an imaginary hat while Will crossed his arms in the middle of a 'tough guy' head bop.