MINE ALONE

The air conditioner had been broken since the power surge fried it around August but the weather was fair then so there was no urgency to fix it. The days were windy and perfectly sunny and the nights had the necessary amounts of chill required for getting under the covers, cuddling and talking in quiet tones as the night turned into morning. However, perfect August had turned into terror October and the neglected air-con was quickly remembered. Mark stood on the stool fidgeting with the central part of the air-con, he was an investment banker for goodness sake and he had no business getting on stools to ‘fix’ things. African summers could make anyone do anything just to cool off, he had no idea what he was doing, but he was going to try. Everything looked like it should, he wiped off some dust, tightened some screws just to look busy in front of Yande who was looking up at him like he was superman. She had a tool box in her arms, there were little droplets of sweat on her small defined nose and she looked dehydrated but she was hopeful. He was initially going to get off the stool and just tell her they would have to sweat a little longer until he called in a professional but the look on her face urged him on and he decided to just check the socket and plug to pretend to be doing more ‘man things’. He reached over and unplugged the air-con and the problem revealed itself; the power surge had caused a fuse to blow. Mark wasn’t Bob the builder but he could fix that.

“Pass me a screwdriver and a new three way plug.” He said to Yande.

“It’s the thingy that goes into the wall right?” She asked.

“Yes baby, the white thingy.” He said and laughed. She giggled and passed him the plug.

Yande knew exactly which one the three way plug was, matter of fact she knew the fuse had blown right when it happened in August but when Mark grabbed his shiny new tool box and started running inspections of all the air-cons before finding the central one, she didn’t have the heart to tell him that she knew exactly how to fix the problem. Instead she allowed the humidity to shrink her hair, she allowed her face to get oily and she took the hot Sunday afternoon as an opportunity to just walk around the house barefoot in his T-shirt. She would bare it until he found a solution. Yande knew he wasn’t a handy man, which is why it was so cute that he tried. Mark was a genius with maths, finances, investing, multiplying and fixing money, not appliances. The room he had tried to paint was still rather patchy and she occasionally fixed things herself without letting him know they are damaged. It was nice to see him try to find a solution constantly pushing his glasses back to the bridge of his nose while wiping dust off a random part of the air-con. He was her nerdy man, and even though he hadn’t saved and protected her using brute strength, his mind and heart had done all the saving and protecting she would ever need.

After what felt like an hour, Mark finally finished replacing the plug and then nervously put it in the socket, he wasn’t confident it would work but he wouldn’t have minded if it surprised him. There was silence, then it coughed and came to life, blowing cool air that had a slightly dusty smell. Mark stepped off the stool and let the cool breeze meet his face and then he raised his arms to let it cool him off everywhere.

“You did it!!” she said.

“Yes, I did! The air does smell like dust though.” He said

“Nah, it smells like triumph. We have cool air again!” She said and leaped into his arms.

The force was a little more than he expected and they fell on the floor, right under the blowing air conditioner. Yande started laughing, little giggles that reminded her of the many times this happened. She always leaped at him and he always failed to catch her in time. How did he ever make it through primary school games with his terrible motor skills? Mark chuckled uncomfortably and leaned against the wall, watching Yande freely laughing. She was his little opposite, while he was tall, dark and lanky, she was short, brown and full; full hips, round belly, round face, large almond eyes with a perfect nose and cheeks that went a little red when she was happy or really angry. They were red now, he was glad he made her happy. He had always felt like him and his society didn’t mesh quite well, people preferred things that were not practical and put too much importance on things that didn’t matter. So in a world were guys worked out, wore trends and had six packs, he was slim and preferred primary colours. That is why he knew he had to have Yande in his life, she made him feel like he was in the right place, and around her his idiosyncrasies were okay. People said he was lucky to have ‘scooped’ her. He didn’t feel lucky, he felt like he was in the right place because she was in his life. He felt normal and loveable even when he was rumbling about figures or failing to fix an appliance. He knew that sometimes she was just being a good sport and he loved her for it, he loved her for loving him just as he was.

Yande saw from his face that he was lost in thought but it wasn’t numbers or strategy on his mind, he wasn’t thinking of the most practical and efficient way to cook dinner, he was thinking about her. It startled her, she was constantly shocked at how they naturally bonded. She met him when she was just alone and the chemistry was instant but when their relationship was tested by on lookers she felt embarrassed of him and avoided him. Every waking second away from him was haunted by his clever comments, memories of how his laugh made his face come alive and how he was so earnest in his demeanour. It was already too late for her, so she picked up his calls and met up with him for being away from him was more taxing than accepting that her match was far from the world’s ideal. He was perfect for her. Yande looked into her beloved’s eyes and took off his glasses, it had been five years and the man actually looked sexy to her, she leaned in and placed a kiss on his forehead and then his lips, lingering there before he took over and plunged in for a hungrier kiss.

The sweat that was on their skin earlier had dried, relaxed and cooled off they sat on the floor, kissing and celebrating their rare love.