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‘What does that actually mean though, if you’re only employing black people to do menial jobs?’

‘Actually, the Employment Equity Law, which covers this stuff, applies to senior roles too. And it’s not just for black people. It covers women and the disabled as well.’

‘That’s good, but I still think it would be nice to see the demographic better reflected in menial jobs.’

‘Yes, but how many of these bars and restaurants employ more than fifty people, do you think? Very few, so most of them are probably exempt from the law. In a place like Cape Town, it’s sometimes easy to forget this country’s history, but change is slow.’

‘You’re probably right. I guess I just thought all these problems would have been solved when Nelson Mandela was president.’

Silence falls for a few minutes while we sip our drinks. I take the opportunity to indulge in some more people watching while Nathan pulls out his phone and unlocks it. I glance across at him, but it’s clear he’s suddenly miles away, his face inscrutable as he looks at something on the screen.

‘Earth to Nathan,’ I say gently, making him turn to me.

‘Sorry,’ he says with a smile. ‘Family stuff. You know how it is.’

‘Is everything OK?’

‘Yes, fine.’ He slips the phone back into his pocket and leans back in his chair, tilting his head towards the sun.

Silence falls again and I turn my attention back to the beach. The volleyball game has come to an end and the players are high-fiving each other. I get the impression this is probably a regular fixture as some of them pair off into couples as they start to wriggle into shorts and T-shirts. After a few minutes, they noisily enter our bar and, from the snippets of conversation I catch, it sounds like the women won this time. The sun has dipped a little lower, and the sunbathers are also starting to pack up. It takes me a moment to realise what has been missing from the scene.

‘Nobody was swimming. Did you notice?’ I ask Nathan.

‘There’s a reason for that,’ he tells me without opening his eyes. ‘The sea here is absolutely bloody freezing. And, if the hypothermia doesn’t get you, a shark probably will.’

‘Really?’

‘To be fair, I don’t think the sharks actually come to this bay, but South Africa is a hotspot for great whites. People come out here just to dive with them.’

‘Mad people,’ I observe.

‘I don’t know about that.’ He leans forwards and I can see a gleam in his eyes behind the dark lenses. ‘I mean, you’re protected by a cage, and I can’t think of anything more thrilling than to get up close and personal with such a powerful predator. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, actually.’

‘Really?’ This is a side to him that I hadn’t expected.

‘Absolutely, and South Africa is, like, the place to do it. I’ve booked to go next weekend. You could come if you like.’

I laugh. ‘I think I’m washing my hair that day.’

‘Fair enough. The offer’s there if you change your mind.’ He closes his eyes again and tilts his head back to catch the final rays of sunlight as, around us, thousands of fairy lights come to life. It’s been one of the most difficult days I’ve had in a long while, what with waking up in his flat and then sharing my story, but I feel at peace sitting here with him now. If our situation was different, I could easily see us dating, and more. But the reality is that our time together is limited and I’m not cut out to be a shark diving widow, either literally or figuratively, so that’s not going to happen.

Pity, though.

17

I’m feeling calm and ready to take on Jeremiah as I head for the office on Monday morning. Nathan and I ended up staying and having dinner in Camps Bay last night before clambering into a decidedly rickety taxi for the ride home. I’d drunk just enough to feel the effects of the wine without being tipsy, and even the realisation that I’d forgotten to call my mother, as I usually do every Sunday when I’m away, wasn’t enough to rattle me. I sent her a WhatsApp instead, saying that I’d been out all day and would call her tomorrow. She didn’t reply, but the blue ticks against the message this morning told me she’d read it.

Nathan and I didn’t speak much on our run this morning, but it was companionable. We followed the same route down to the sea before turning and heading back. While we were looking out over the water, I found myself wondering if it was teeming with sharks, all waiting for a juicy human to devour.

‘What’s the collective term for a group of sharks?’ I’d asked Nathan. ‘Shoal doesn’t feel right somehow. Is it a pod?’

‘Pods are whales and dolphins mainly,’ he’d informed me. ‘A group of sharks is actually known as a shiver.’

‘Apt,’ I’d agreed as that was exactly the effect imagining myself surrounded by them had on me. He’s obviously quite the shark expert though, and I smile as I remember the way his face shone as he told me about the different breeds he’d seen in various places, and his overwhelming ambition to come face to face with a great white. His attempts to get me to join him on his caged dive fell on deaf ears, although I did end up agreeing to go with him on the boat and film him from the surface.

After a quick breakfast, I’d taken one more look through my presentation. Even though Nathan had interrupted me the previous afternoon, it was pretty much finished and only needed a couple of tweaks. I’m feeling so confident that even the sight of Jeremiah waiting for me in the office reception area isn’t enough to dent my mood.

‘Good morning, Athena,’ he says as I approach. ‘How was your weekend?’