A DAY IN AN AFRICAN LESBIAN’S LIFE 48

‘We have to end this Nto…’

They were sitting on a bench the Zoolake, Nto threw some bread crumbs to the little ducklings impatiently quacking at the edge of the water and collected her thoughts quietly.

‘Why?’ she finally asked, the panic she felt only slightly present in her voice.

‘Danai suspects…’ Eve was feeling very uneasy ,something told her this wasn’t going to be as cut and dry as she had hoped.

‘Can’t we just be more careful?’ there was a plea in Nto’s voice and Eve hoped that she wouldn’t beg – nothing was more pathetic than a person begging love crumbs.

She took a deep breath, ‘no…we can’t, I feel terrible as it is lying to Danai this way, let’s just both stick to our respective partners and close this chapter, OK?’

‘It’s not that simple Eve,’ she said still looking at the water, her gaze centered on a bobbing twig.

‘What do you mean?’ it was Eve’s turn to panic now, this had been a little fling and she’d hoped they both understood that but obviously someone hadn’t gotten the memo, she couldn’t remember if a memo had been sent out to begin with.

‘I am in love with you… I love you… I have fallen for you… see how complicated it all becomes for me?’ Nto said in a gentle yet firm tone, ‘see how impossible it is for me to simply forget about THIS and close the chapter?’ she continued, every word setting Eve’s heart a pace.

All she could think was how did she get herself into this rut.