Chapter 17: The stalker

 

Narrated by Mapaseka Mokoena

Three weeks had passed since my car broke down on the side of the road. In that time life had returned to normal, I had forgotten about the bold Zulu mechanic who had refused my money and shamelessly asked me out. That morning I was walking through the office floor greeting my staff and discussing projects with my operations manager. We had several clients to attend to  and I was already thinking about the meeting scheduled for later that afternoon. As I walked past the reception area I froze. Standing there in blue overalls stained with oil was a familiar face.

Before I could even process what I was seeing he looked up and smiled brightly.

“Unjani MaMokoena?” he greeted warmly.

I froze.

He remembered my surname, my heart immediately started racing. How did he know where I worked? I had never told him. I turned around and looked at the security guard.

“Security!” I called out, the man looked surprised, the security guard hurried towards me.

“Yes, ma'am?”

I pointed at the mechanic.

“I think this guy is stalking me,” I said. “He fixed my car three weeks ago and now he is here. How did he know I work here? Please take him out of the building.”

The poor man looked completely confused.

“Hawu, nkosazana” he whispered.

The security guard looked confused

“Stalking you?”

“Yes,” I said firmly. “Please escort him out.”

Before the guard could say anything, one of my employees rushed over.

“Boss, is there a problem?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Who is this man?”

The employee looked confused.

“Boss, I called him.”

“You called him?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Boss my car broke down this morning. I was complaining about it to a friend and he told me he knew someone who does call-outs. He said you can call him and he will come wherever you are and fix your car.”

I blinked.

“You did not know him before?”

“No boss,” he answered. “My friend gave me his number. I called him  he agreed to come, I gave him the address. That's why I asked security to let him in.”

The security guard looked embarrassed.

“So ma’am he is supposed to be here?”

“Yes,” my employee said. “He came to fix my car.”

I felt the blood rush to my face, the poor man was innocent. He folded his arms and looked at me with confusion.

“So now I am a stalker?” he asked with a smile.

I wished the floor would open and swallow me.

“I…” I started.

But no words came out. Instead I quickly picked up my phone and pretended it was ringing.

“Oh excuse me,” I said hurriedly. “Someone is calling me.”

I turned around and walked away so quickly that I almost ran. I did not even apologise to the poor guy. As I entered my office and closed the door behind me, I covered my face with both hands.

“Haibo, Mapaseka,” I sighed. “What is wrong with you?”

The poor guy  picked up his toolbox and continued fixing the car, as though being accused of stalking by a beautiful woman.