Chapter One

Loving on a borrowed time 

Larry was fixing his gaze on his desktop trying to decipher the numerical figures that were displayed on the spreadsheet in his ledger . He was looking nervous as he was struggling to balance the numbers that seemed to be confusing him every time he tried to look at them. He was having a meeting in a thirty minute's time. "Oh damn", he said as he was re-working on a same column that seemed to be giving him a hard time.

Lucy his assistant, was standing on the other side of the office pretending to be busy with something. She was packing and unpacking a pile of books in a shelf opposite to Larry's desk. She kept reflecting her glances at him occasionally meanwhile sipping her coffee. She smiled a wicked smile and cleared her throat in an attempt to speak to him. " Seems like the past weekend has been hecting, judging by the way you are struggling to get things done around here", she said with a wide smile. 

Larry was alarmed and he raised his head and looked at her staringly. "What are you talking about?", he asked acting surprised and before she answered he interrupted and changed the subject. "Oh! Lucy can you call Mr Langman and arrange our meeting for tomorrow? He asked taking a print out from the printing machine. Lucy put down her coffee and placed her arms across her chest. "Mr Veldtmyan, the meeting is in less than half an hour's time from now and you are telling me to postpone it. How on earth am I gonna do that?" Lucy asked defiantly. 

"C,mon Lu! You are a resourceful woman, that's why I made you my second princess. Make a solid excuse, tell him I'm delayed in another meeting or something", Larry said trying to focus on his work. "Mr Veldtman! You know very well that Mr Langman doesn't like to be dropped at the last minute and besides, he is our longtime client. You can't just play around with clients, because you had a busy weekend", Lucy said picking up the telephone reciever. "A busy weekend? Larry arched his eye brows looking at her questioningly. "Yes, I mean the bridal shower party I was not invited to. "So, are you jealous now? You knew that this was going to happen right? Theodora is my lifetime partner. You knew her before we started this fling of ours". "This fling", she hissed as she was listening to the ringing telephone. The telephone was ringing on the other side of the line and someone picked it up after a few seconds. "Langman & Langman holdings Inc, how may I help you? The voice answered politely. "Oh hellow Nadia this is Lucy speaking, Mr Veldtman's PA. Is Mr Langman around. " Yes, but he is about to leave for the meeting with Mr Veldtman. "About the meeting", she said sternly. " Mr Veldtman said I should apologize for the inconvenience he had caused. He asked me to re-schedule the meeting for tomorrow for he had an urgent call from one of our partners. Can the meeting be scheduled for tomorrow? Lucy asked pleadingly. " Alright then Lucy, can you hold on a sec,  I will inform Mr Langman? She asked refering the matter to her boss. "Hellow again Lucy, Mr Langman said it's okay they can meet tomorrow then thanks bye", the line died down. Lucy was still holding the telephone reciever when Larry looked at her enquiringly. "And?" He asked lifting his shoulders. "His PA said it's fine you can meet tomorrow", Lucy said absent mindedly as she was carrying on with her work. " Thanks Lu", Larry looked at her admiringly. You are my lifesaver", he continued with a smile. " You are welcome Mr Veldtman, I'm always your last resort anyway. 

Larry tried by all means to ignore her. He continued with his work. Lucy on the other hand found it hard too work. Her mind was all over the place. It was obvious that there was something in his mind.  She lifted her head and looked at Larry who was sinking deep in his work. "Larry?" She said with a soft voice. " Yah! Larry answered concentrating in his work. "Do you mind if I go out for few minutes, I need to go to the post office?" She asked looking at him without a blink. "Alright", he said absent mindedly as he was focusing on his work. Lucy grabbed her purse and rushed to the door. Before Larry raised his head she was nowhere to be found. "Good riddance", he thought to himself. Lucy was starting to be a pain in the neck. She was on about the bridal shower party that he and Theodora were hosting the previous weekend without her knowing anything about it. "She must know her place. She and I were never an item. We were just two individuals who happened to spend much time together and developed some meaningless feelings for each other. We have talked about it and came to a mutual agreement that what we had should stay between us and not affect our relationships with our partners", Larry though to himself while he was fixing his gaze in his desk top. He mind was so preoccupied that he did not even noticed that there was someone standing beside him. It was Theodora.

Theodora was love of his love. They were  together even at high school. It was only after they passed their matric when they went their separate ways. Larry went to University of Witwatersrand to study a bachelor of commerce degree while Theodora went to the University of Zululand to study her bachelor's degree in science. After completing his post graduation studies, Larry got a scholarship to study abroad. He went to Oxford University in England to study his master's degree. Theodora on the other got a job as lab assistant at a science lab in Durban. 

Their relationship became a long distance affair. They only engaged in long telephone conversations and would also connect on Skype during their spare time. Their working schedules were so tight that they hardly visited each. That is one of the reasons Larry found himself in the arms of another woman, his personal assistant in particular. It was never something he had planned to do. Larry was not a cheating type. It was a spare of the moment. He and Lucy were attending a year end party and they had too much to drink. Lucy was an out going person and was taking care of all his work related needs but on that fateful day she happened to take care of his personal needs too. They found themselves in bed together and vowed it never happened again. But in some occassional instance s Lucy kept pushing her self in his arms again. Sometimes things would get out of control and he would find himself doing the same mistake all over again. He would beat himself up for not standing firm against the momentary temptations. Sometimes he would tempted into confession to Theodora and get over and done with it. But he would come to the conclusive decision that what Theodora did not know would not hurt her. And besides he did not want to spoil what he had for a fling. So, he decided to keep it to himself and end things with Lucy who seemed to be sticking to him like a chewing gum.