He clearly earned a higher salary than she did. It's not to say that his place was significantly bigger but he had nicer things than she did. He also lived in a better area than she did. Maybe she was just a little jealous of him... which only made her resent him even more.

She didn't even know what she was doing there other than she figured that nothing would make her feel any worse than what she felt coming out of the store having transferred more of her money to her parents.

"Won't you get into trouble for just leaving?" she asked, trailing her fingers over the ridged edge of his table.

"I was at the end of my shift," he shrugged, hanging up his jacket over the back of a chair.

"How did you get that job anyway?" she felt awkward in his flat. She didn't know what to do or where to go so she leaned over the table, watching him lock up.

He turned around, gesturing for her to take a seat before sitting on the chair across from her. "I took up business management a few years ago when I was working for this guy in Roodepoort. He didn't think I would be able to manage his practice unless I did it and so..."

"So why not practice optometry? It's what you loved, isn't it?" Juri didn't like the feeling she got speaking to him. She didn't like how comfortable it felt. She wanted it to remain awkward and stilted and she wanted him to give her stupid answers so she wouldn't be able to reply back and it would end everything.

But he didn't.

He explained everything, still as open as he always was. He had never held anything from her. He was always happy to tell her everything about himself- good and bad.

"It's a long story." Is'haaq stood up, filling the kettle for them before taking out two mugs and tea bags. He looked too big for his kitchen. He was always bigger than everything else around them, but it suited him. A big guy with a big personality.

"I have time." She winced at her answer. Bad Juri! You do not have time for him!

"My wife cheated on me with one of the guys from out group." He started off slowly, not looking at her as she spoke. Instead, he busied himself digging out whatever biscuits he could find from his cupboard. "He was a real dirty fucker. Drugged out of his mind half the time and she fucked him... several times apparently."

"Seriously?" Juri couldn't contain the slight bit of glee from escaping her voice. That woman cheated on him? Justice really does get served on Earth.

"You don't need to sound so chuffed about it, Juri." He shook his head at her, but he smiled at her anyway. "It was whatever. I don't think I really loved her anyway." Once he started, he didn't really know how to stop. It had been so long since someone had asked him about his life that he didn't think he could possibly shut up about it. "I was pissed about it and when I saw the fucker again, I tried to stab him. My other friend got in the way and I ended up stabbing him instead. I was fucking terrified. The guy was bleeding out in front of me. I'd never seen his wife as pissed with me. Not that he would ever find out about it. He was in a fucking coma when she tore me a new one."

He wanted to laugh at himself. He could barely believe that he had actually lived through that incident. Shit like that only ever happened on TV but, apparently, he was the lucky one. He stood up to fetch the kettle and milk from the fridge, setting it down before her before he sat down once more.

"I went home after that. I needed to get away from everything. From the clubbing and the drugs and from Farah and her bullshit but when I went back home, they didn't really want me there. I could see it in them whenever I tried to talk to my brothers or my mum. They didn't know how to speak to me. They wouldn't even let their kids sit alone with me. And then when my dad died, I didn't know how to stay any longer. He was the only one that was okay with me and with him gone, it was worse than before."

He could feel the tears welling up inside of him. He didn't often think o his dad because thinking of him was too painful. It was the regret that choked him more than the sadness. It was that he had thrown his dad's love back in his face when he cut himself off from his family. All he had ever wanted to do was to love his son and Is'haaq could never accept it. "I got my old job back at the optometrist, but he finally had enough of me. I was hungover half the time and stoned the other half and..."

He felt as if he was pulled out of his head and back into the present when he heard her spoon clatter against her saucer. She was oddly quiet. He hadn't even registered that no replies or prompts came from her as he spoke. The longer he waited for her to say something, the more uncomfortable it became.

"I'm sorry to hear about your dad," she finally spoke. She wouldn't look up at him though. she sandwiched her Marie Biscuits and dunked them in her tea, studiously ignoring his gaze.

"It happened a long time ago." He didn't know how else to reply. "Did I do something wrong, Juri?" her mood had shifted so drastically that he was left entirely perplexed.

She snorted, shaking her head. "Everything you've done is wrong, Is'haaq." She looked up at him, hurt evident on her face before she looked back down at her biscuits and tea.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise without knowing why." She brushed him off. She stirred her tea, waiting for it to cool before bringing the mug up to her lips. "Did you really stab your friend?"

"Yeah. He wasn't all that thrilled with me..." he said, cautiously.

"I'd imagine so..." she quirked her brow at his observations. "What's his name?"

"Mikaeel."

"Does he also get up to shit like you?"

He shook his head, trying to remember when he had last seen the moody bastard. "He left all that shit behind. He's in Cape Town and he has kids now."

She stood up, carrying her mug with her. "Can I sit on the couch? Your chairs are hard as fuck."

"Ya, sure." He followed her into his lounge, stopping as he watched her stare at his sofa.

"What's all this shit on your couch?" she gestured to the dark black hairs across the entire seat.

"Cat hair..."

"You have a cat?" her eyes widened in absolute shock as she took in that bit of information. "You? You have a cat?"

"Ya, he's around here somewhere. He's an old, fat, lazy bastard but he okay."

Is'haaq set his cup down on the table and went in search of the fat beast. He found him relaxing under his duvet- a massive boulder bang in the middle of his bed. He lifted the duvet, ignoring the look of disdain in Storm's eyes as he picked him up and took him into the lounge. "Meet Storm."

"Wow, he really is a fat bastard, isn't he?" Juri stood up, taking the cat out of Is'haaq'a arms before sitting back down with it on her lap. "He's cute." She scratched him on the side of his ears, delighted when he began to purr before he snuggled down into her.

"He's a snuggler. No sense of personal space whatsoever..." Is'haaq laughed as Storm shifted into Juri's crotch.

"I can see that." She carried on stroking her fur, loving the way the long black hairs felt along her fingers. "I never took you for a cat person."

"Me neither but..." he sat down beside her, bumping her knee with his own, "My neighbour was moving, and he had nowhere else to go."

"Is that all?" Juri probed, watching his ears redden as she looked at him.

"It was getting quiet around here and..."

"It's cute, Is'haaq." She smiled, shifting even more so her leg pressed against his thigh.

"The cat?"

She pressed her nose into Storm's belly, hiding her face from his view. "Ya, him too."