Beautifully Broken

The woman smiles professionally. “Are you here for holiday?”

Cara freezes suddenly, then mutters, “Give us a moment.” She grabs my hand and pulls me away from the counter. When we’re out of hearing distance of the woman, she whispers, “Neither of us has a license. We can’t hire a car.” Her eyes dart around us to make sure no one hears her.

Fuck, I totally forgot about that part.

“Wait.” She points outside. “We can get one of those taxis. It looks safe enough… I think.”

She’s pointing to a beaten-up white car. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

When we get to the car, a man smiles at us. “One-stop taxi service with a smile. Where can I take you?” he says in a funny-sounding accent.

“Thanks, uhm…”

Cara glances at me, and then the man starts to ramble in a language I know abso-fucking-lutely nothing about.

“Ooo… julle’s Afrikaans. Jammer man. Waar wil mevrou-hulle gaan? Ek kry julle daar in ? jiffy.”

Cara starts to laugh, and she shakes her head. “My Afrikaans sucks. Let’s stick to English, please. Uhm… could you take us to a cheap hotel close to Bedfordview?”

“Oh, sorry, man,” he laughs and then opens the back door. “Sure, there’s one in Edenvale. It’s close to the shops.”

I keep the bag with us as we climb into the back, and soon we’re on our way to the hotel. I don’t know what I expected to see once we got here, but it all looks pretty normal.

Cara nudges my arm, and I glance at her smiling face. “Did you expect to see wild animals roaming the streets?”

“Of course not,” I chuckle.

“The only animals here are the people. Trust no one.”

The smile drops from my face as I’m reminded of why we’re here.

When we reach the hotel, Cara deals with the cab driver. Once we’re settled in a tiny room, I take a deep breath. The first stage has gone down okay. It sucks that we don’t have a car, and it makes moving around harder because this country’s public transport is almost non-existent.

We’ll manage.

Cara sits down on the bed and then stares at the floor. I crouch in front of her and catch her eyes. “What’s going on in that mind of yours?”

She shrugs and gives me a sad smile. “I’m thinking about the last time I was here.” Her eyes meet mine, and I see the sadness. “Every Sunday, my parents and I used to drive out to the Vaal dam. We’d spend the day there… just the three of us. I was so happy back then, Damian. I loved my parents so much, and they were just ripped from me. I didn’t even get to go to their funerals. Uncle Tom just shoved money at me with the stupid passport and told me to run. I was only eighteen. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t understand anything back then, and I still don’t.”

I brush the palm of my hand over her cheek and press a kiss to her lips. “Let’s just get this over with so we can get our assess back home.”

“Sounds good.” Her teeth tug at her bottom lip as her eyes dart shyly to my face.

I tilt my head and take hold of her chin, so she has no choice but to look at me. “What’s that look for?”

“Uhm...” she bites at her bottom lip again, clearly nervous about something. “I was just wondering if… uhm… did I ruin things between us with the panic attack?”

Fuck. Cara thinks she scared me off?

I shake my head and smile at her. “Never. I’m just taking things slow with you.”

She stands up, pulling me up along with her. Her hands settle on my chest, and she tilts her head back to meet my eyes. “So… you still like me a little bit?” She pulls the cutest face ever, and it makes my heart melt.

“I more than like you a little bit,” I murmur, but then I get serious. I’ve never told Cara how I feel about her, and that’s probably why she’s unsure of us. “It’s not just about the sex, Cara.” Her eyes dart away from my face.

She’s obviously very uncomfortable with the word sex, and I make a mental note not to use it again.

Her hands start to slip from my chest, and I quickly grab them, holding them in place. “I live you.”

Her eyes dart back to mine, and then I see the confusion wash over her features, which has me explaining, “Love is too much like hate. They’re emotions that come and go. Life, now that’s a different ball game. You only get one life.” Leaning a little down, I stare deep into her eyes. “I live you, Cara. You’re my life.”

Her chin starts to tremble, but a smile still breaks through. “I am?”

I press my lips to her mouth and whisper, “You are.”