The Heart knows what it wants

Chapter 1 There you are said Travis as he entered Madeleine's office I have brought the cheese cake slice you were craving for he said handing it to her to the amazement of her co worker Valerie. Madeleine smiled softly as she greeted her best friend since childhood. they had lost contact for the greater part of their adult life but had recently connected when Madeleine had bumped into Travis 's sister Cathy at a beauty saloon. She had inquired about him and had heard that he was now married with twin daughters. Madeleine reminisced about how they had all grown up in the agriculture town of Chiredzi. Both of them had had great childhood and were family friends. hey earth to Maddy Travis interrupted her thoughts, sorry about that I was lost in my own thoughts .is your boss at it again?. Damn right she is she said with a slight frown to her face. Professer Udhoka was a handful but she was grateful to have a job. She then closed her laptop and looked at her friend fondly. Did you sneak away from work again she asked? He smiled sheepishly like a young lad and said remember I am on speed dial and she chuckled huh I should tell Jeremy to pay you. Jeremy was Madeleine 's boyfriend who was an Geological surveyor based in neighbouring Zambia.... *Travis* Travis was a heavy built man about 6.4 in height; dark and chubby man what in shona we can call "mujaindi" he was a very pleasant man who had a warm heart and seems to wear it on his sleeve. He was soft spoken and cared so much for those close to him. He came from a happy but broken home and his parents had decided to call it quits in his early childhood. He had finished his education and gotten a job at one of the popular food joints in the capital *Food Junkies*, married his college sweetheart four years earlier and together there were blessed with twin girls. He loved his wife desperately and was proud of the growth.and recognition she was getting in her field as a.social worker. The girl he had fallen in love with and the lady he married and the woman who was his wife were all different. He had learnt earlier in his marriage that to keep.the peace he had to keep quiet....it was evident that he lived with his wife but was married to his mother-in-law Margaret Thatcher as he and his best friend Maddy called her pachishona tinoti Mai vaitonga ivavo having raised Rachel his wife single handedly she felt that it was their marriage she being the adult in the trinity and didn't tolerate the biblical notion that Travis was musoro wemba and would constantly remind her daughter that wakadzidza mwanangu neziya rangu ita zvinotiitira tese or iye Travis anechii after all you earn more ndiwe soldier redu hameno taidi usipo or her usual blackmail threat of unashamedly opening her top to remind Rachel of the scars she got from thorough beating she had got from Riot police whilst selling her wares in town in an undesignated area in order to pay up Rachel 's fees decades earlier. Madeleine Life as we know it never seems to go in the direction we sail it and sadly that was the case with Madeleine. Maddy as she was affectionately know to family and friends was a young social worker in her early thirties who had used the top bottom approach in life.a top student who had always graduated top of her class since grade school and a recent Mistress of ... the new gender lens term for people with Masters degrees and are female.Mwana anga akadzidza hake uyu. God had been good to her and her family a daughter of a retired mining manager at the famous Nharire mine and a former banker with one of the big banks in the country she literally grew up with a gold not silver spoon in her mouth. An only daughter to the couple born after a set of twins she was the Apple of her family's eye the only issue she was now past her sell by date a Zimbabwean age where a girl should be married. ... Zimbabwe Like most African countries is deeply entrenched in culture and patriarchy is embedded in everything from the work world; home and even in religious circles. So when one ventures out of the norm society is quick to judge justify or jump into conclusion. There were certain taboos such that when Maddy became career oriented there were rumours circulating around the family circles about why she was not yet married....Munhu wesw aiva nezvekutaura veku church vechivanhu being Maddy she took no hid to such perceptions especially when she got a job at an international organization and this came with the pecks. She like Rachel; Travis' wife worked for nonprofits but she remained humble. A worship leader at one of the international churches JESUS TIMES she lead a busy life between work and church conferences she hardly had time on her hands thats why her relationship with Jeremy was ideal. Maddy sat in her office circling another day off as she did her count down to Jeremy's visit. The two had met through a mutual friend they had both since cut ties with and had been dating for almost twelve months which was almost a life time to them. A single father to a six year old Jeremy was outgoing and outspoken. they shared a love for Art and travel but it didn't end there. ..Suddenly her Skype bleeped to show that Jeremy was online and Her thoughts drifted off to .....

Is the market place a boys zone!

The saying that men are the biggest threat to women's empowerment is slowly becoming a cliché as since yester years women have been pulling each other down and setting unattainable standards for each other for men to adopt. If you dress too well you lack substance if you dress bad to their standards you lack class. Lola worked at Twat and Associates a reputable law firm in the drive through town of Marondera. Unlike most of her colleagues she was an introvert who enjoyed the quiet spaces and looked naive or ignorant. She was always dressed in her simple but elegant outfits but lacked the charisma to add the flare to it and a constant riddle by most of the women in her workplace. why don't you wear make up it will suit you, you should go out more often, that jacket is hideous, your legs a bad for heels even when she won the prize for the regional young lawyers award a colleague remarked why didn't you tell us you had been nominated, do you think its a reputable award? What was sad is that they were men at their firm whose comments were pleasant and professional save for the new intern Nicholas Raum who was known to be a Casanova in the small town. Like Lola statistics have shown that 70% of successful and non successful women have reached the top or bottom because of comments or unpleasant remarks that were said to them by a fellow woman from the family set up or work environment. In teenagers self esteem is crushed by other girls because of image issues. Women will despise your appearance or your achievements before they critic your substance. Hence why few women make it to the top in the market place the few that do are alienated and lack the sisterhood support system hence it remains a men's world