Free Why You Were Taken by JT Lawrence Page A

ages. Mom phoned me and told me to be patient, and that he would come around. If not before the wedding then definitely once the baby was born, she said. His first grandchild! She was right. When I saw him he hugged me (carefully avoiding the bump), and said: “There’s nothing to do but to make the best of a bad situation.” I wanted to say to him: a lovely baby is not a ‘bad situation’, but I was so totally grateful to be forgiven and to feel loved that I just kept quiet and kissed him.
     
    The ‘wedding photos’ are going to be so funny. We got a certificate right away saying that we are husband and wife. Me, a wife?! Ha! I’m so sure! Our wedding song was our favourite song by Bryan Adams: ‘Hearts on Fire’. I got quite emotional, think it’s the raging hormones. But when I looked at P I could tell that he had a lump in his throat too.
     
    We went to a seafood restaurant afterwards and my dad ordered lots of platters and sparkling wine. I couldn’t, like, have seafood or wine in my state but I didn’t feel like eating anyway. I toasted our marriage with Grapetizer in a champagne glass. Totally the Best Grapetizer I have ever tasted.
     
    Afterwards, in bed, exhausted but happy, P lay with his hand on my stomach and we could feel the baby moving.
     
    Happiest day of my life, and I can’t wait to meet my baby.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    ORGANIC
    ARSE CARROTS
     
     
     
     
     
     
    8
    Johannesburg, 2021
     
      ‘Oh,’ his new manager says, greeting Seth with an awkward smile, ‘I thought you would be wearing a suit.’
    At the behemoth reception of Fontus the walls are covered in digital 4D wallpaper of waterfalls, streams and lakes. White noise gushes through the sound system: water splashing and birds chirping.  Seth doesn’t shake his proffered hand.
      ‘I don’t wear suits.’
    There is heavy security at the front door, which is at odds with the holograms of rising mist and darting digital hummingbirds. Men with concealed guns and pepper-spray look serenely on as employees and visitors enter through the metal detectors.
          As they make their way through the building, the moving images change according to which section they are in: the waters Anahita, Tethys, Hydra, followed by the carbonated soft drinks. Anahita is platinum and crystal, blonde hair, and pale, skeletal models. Diamond drops and sleek splashes of mercury. Tethys is dew on grass, rainforests, intelligent-looking people wearing spectacles, good dentures, hands on chins. Cool humidified air streams past them as they walk.
    Wesley doesn’t back down. ‘It’s company policy.’
    Hydra is smiling black children, barefoot, dusty. A gospel choir. Fever trees. Optimistic amateur vegetable gardens. Dry red earth. Seth gets thirsty just looking at them.
    ‘No, it’s not,’ says Seth. ‘I would never have signed the contract.’
    There is an awkward silence until they reach the section where he will be grinding: Carbonates. As expected, there are bubbles frothing and fizzing all around them. There are five different colour subsections in Carbonates. Wesley slows to a stop in the red area: CinnaCola. The décor is like a large tin of red paint has exploded.
    ‘It may not be in the actual contract …’
    ‘Well, then, there’s no problem. Is this my office?’ Seth strides in and slips behind the desk, surveying his stationery. Shrugs off his black hoodie and slings it over his chair. He’s never had a proper desk job before; he’s used to being in a lab of sorts. He uncaps a brand new permanent marker and sniffs it. Wesley tries to not show his irritation. He always attempts to set a good example to the people below him. He looks at Seth swivelling in his chair and purses his lips. Strokes his soul patch with two fingers.
    ‘We have an 8AM meeting every Monday morning to set up our week’s goals,’ he says.
    Y eah, I won’t be making those, thinks Seth, but resists saying so.
       ‘A goal not written down