Read Online Mr Not Quite Good Enough by Lauri Kubuitsile - Free Book Online Page A

itself.”
    â€œWell, you’d better keep hiding. I just passed his office and he’s pretty annoyed. I doubt the situation is going to change in the near future.”
    Amita looked worried. “And I told him almost an hour ago.”
    Gorata put her things on the desk and sat down next to Amita on the sofa with her coffee and yogurt. “If that’s the case, you might be trapped in here all day.”
    Amita sighed, then said, “So today’s my last day. I’m going to miss seeing you any time I want.”
    â€œYeah. But you’ll still come for brunch on Sundays. And we’ll do things, and it will be more fun because now I’ll give you the gossip from here and you can give me all of the Generations gossip.”
    The two friends laughed, but it was a sad laugh.
    Gorata suddenly remembered something. “Mmandu mentioned that a friend of hers is turning fifty today and asked if she could throw her a party in the garden tonight. Why don’t you come over? We can make it a double celebration. Just a small thing, it’s a Monday night anyway; we all have to be at work tomorrow. But we need to launch your new acting career properly.”
    Amita smiled. “Okay . . . yeah . . . That sounds great.”
    â€œI’ll call Kele and tell her to bring that man of hers, then we’ll make it a real celebration. This is a big deal – you’re going big time!”
    * * *
    Though they left work on time it was nearly 7:30 by the time Gorata finally pulled up at the house. They had to pass by Amita’s place so she could change out of her corporate gear into some party clothes. Then Kelebogile said they should meet her at Mark’s place, but somehow Gorata forgot how to get to his place and Kelebogile’s directions over the phone were pathetic. Gorata wondered how her team ever managed to follow her instructions on the field. It took them an hour to find the place.
    A block away from home, Gorata heard very loud music. As she got closer to her house, the source became clear. She could hear the gumba-gumba speakers pumping away and saw a huge crowd spilling out of her garden into the street.
    â€œOh god! What has she done?” Gorata said, parking the car and pushing through the crowd at the side of the house. At least Mmandu had kept the people outside, that was a plus. Amita, Mark and Kelebogile followed as Gorata marched to the back in search of her sister.
    â€œGorata! Great party!” She turned to see Quentin, her neighbour, completely drunk, with a plastic cup that smelled suspiciously like traditional beer. Was Mmandu brewing beer? Poor Quentin was going to regret drinking that.
    Gorata spotted her sister at the back, ladling out liquid from the largest of the three-legged iron pots she’d brought from Rustenburg. Next to her sat a woman looking very out of place despite a huge grin plastered on her face and a plastic crown crookedly propped on her blonde hair. She looked as if she had just stepped out of her chauffeured limo in Sandton: red silk blouse, pressed slacks and enough gold accessories to fund a small army.
    â€œGorata-wee!” Mmandu shouted when she saw them. “Come! Come, meet the birthday girl!”
    Gorata stood next to Mmandu, her face scowling, though her sister noticed none of it. “Joanne, this is my little sister Gorata, I told you about her, the famous one,” Mmandu said.
    Gorata took the woman’s hand and wondered how Mmandu could think that she was famous. Maybe because sometimes she was interviewed on TV for the company, but that certainly didn’t make her famous. “Nice to meet you, Joanne, and happy birthday.” Then she turned to Mmandu. “You said a small party. It’s Monday.”
    â€œThis is a small party,” Mmandu said, rolling her eyes. She pushed past Gorata to get to Amita, the only one of her companions left. Gorata had no idea where along the way she’d lost