Sheline returns into the house to find Audrey seated in the dining area of their expansive living room.

"Who was that?" Audrey asks.

"The man who brought you home the other time."

A smile settles on the old woman's face. "Oh, Moyo. Why didn't he come in?"

"He didn't want to." Sheline shrugs surprised her mom still recalls his name. "According to him, he came to see me."

Audrey's brow rises as if expecting more from Sheline.

The girl scratches her head, picking out the best way to express all that just happened.

"Mama, can I just think for a moment, please. I'll talk to you soon."

"It's okay."

Yes, the nineteen-year-old needs to think things through. Is she now so mature that she can receive marriage proposals? Is she old enough to be called someone wife? This Moyo's visit seems to be re-introducing her to herself.

Head hanging low, she traipses to the sofa and drops into it, lying down. Men have been visiting but this feels different. Very much so. None of her ex-boyfriends mentioned marriage or poked it up her nose like Moyo just did. Even if he doesn't look like the ideal partner, he sounded honest and purposeful.

"Marry me," he said. This is the first time a man ever uttered such. Even if marriage isn't the next item on her wish list, it tickles to hear those words.

Coming from a man much older, Moyo's proposal confirms her friend's words. Back in high school, her classmates considered her too tall. "Leave schoolboys for us; go and look for office workers." They used to tell her.

She then discussed with Audrey who gave her green light. "You're old enough to talk or move with men. Just make sure you bring them home."

Those words always play strongly on her mind. Whenever someone proposed, she carried her mom along, seeking advice and sharing fluctuating moods – when necessary. Being on the big side for her age, mostly older men wooed her. Mother and daughter discussed men issues like friends, holding nothing back.

When Sheline's last boyfriend Mark, a banker, started acting two-faced, she alerted her mom.

"Give him some time," Audrey said, "As long as he's not deceiving you."

"He's not straightforward. I see all kinds of pictures on his phone."

"Patience is sometimes necessary when dealing with men."

Sheline put up with Mark until she realised he was insincere. A playboy per-excellence. Every time they hung out, she would return home relieved of worries bordering on city girls greeting him at every street junction.

The door to the affair closed when she eventually gained access to his Facebook profile, which revealed his romantic activities. Not the one to start her life with a cheat, Sheline dropped the affair, and Audrey made no attempt to convince her daughter.

That relationship proved that she could handle older men, even if the number of guys coming around has now reduced since she left high school, probably owing to her few public engagements, which are now limited to infrequent outings with friends and of course Sunday church events.

While hanging out with friends, Sheline doesn't attend late-night parties with them.

"With your fine figure, you should be in big clubs." Her friends will say.

"A good shape is nice but it can sometimes be a pain. You don't know who's real and who's not."

"How do you manage without guys?" They often ask her. "All of those two thousand guys on Facebook profile mean nothing to you?"

"I'll wait 'til I get to university. There you'll choose from many. Why the rush for a boyfriend?"

Sheline won't pursue men all over town, even if she hopes to have her first kid in her early or mid-twenties. Her mom's marital issues influenced that decision. Even so, getting a degree ranks top on her mind. Marriage can come after school or while she studies. At nineteen, she has ample time.

However, that notion now needs a review.

"Marry me; I've been looking for you for five years." Moyo's words echo around the suede cushion, as Sheline shifts around on the sofa. Is he serious about waiting that long?

Frankly, not in any way does Moyo compare with Mark. For a start, they are facially and structurally different. Fashion-wise, Mark stands shoulder high – a crowd-puller any day. But that's it. He can give you cramps with his womanising habits.

On the other hand, Moyo speaks from the heart. Despite his uncouth ways and an overall lack-of-confidence, he looks and sounds honest and frank. But mere looks can be deceiving. Many guys camouflage their true intentions just to fleece ladies of true love. It will be too early to take Moyo for his words if at all there's a reason or need to consider him.

But then weighing his approach, there's surely more to him than his genteel outlook. Imagine him coming here to drop his phone number as if she owes him control. Does he think brandishing marriage will sweep her off? For God's sake, he doesn't even know her. His five-year stalk talk is all braggadocio.

Sheline rises from the sofa and dashes into her room, tossing Moyo's paper into the wardrobe corner. Discussing marriage at this stage of her life is a bit preposterous. A man mustn't use his 'marry me' talk to derail her career plans.

For two days Moyo's unexpected overture rocks Sheline to the bones. To watch TV, one of her favourite pastimes becomes boring. Even while flipping through pages of magazines, she gets attracted to couples' stories. It then crosses her mind to seek Audrey's opinion, hoping her mom won't be biased because she met Moyo first.

***

The evening of the third day after Moyo's visit, Audrey sits on her favourite chair by the dining area, studying shares' dividends and daily stock prices. The housemaid places a cup of green tea on the table – a medical prescription for Audrey's ailing heart.

Audrey flips the pages, making faces at the stock positions. But behind her study façade is a heavy concern about Sheline's worried mien. The girl should express her worries soon.

Sheline, who can no longer postpone the talk with her mom, takes a seat by the dining table, trying hard to suppress her worries.

The mother raises her head and seeks to explore her daughter's mind. "Is it about Moyo?"

"Mama, he confused me by asking me to marry him." Sheline crumples her face, turning sideways on the chair.

"Marry?" Audrey's eyes widen as she leans forward. "But you didn't tell me about that?"

"How will I even start? I've not seen him here before apart from that day he brought you home. The next thing: he's talking about marriage. That his instinct told him so."

A broad smile appears on the old woman's face. She always knew the lad will return for a more honourable mission. His incessant stalking, as reported by Mrs Joshua, suggested so.

"What do you think of him?"

"I don't even know. The only thing on my mind is to study."

Audrey lets out a worry-sigh, pausing for a moment. "Yes, I know you want to attend the university, but no one knows the right man, or when he'll come knocking on the door. You may think he'll be at the university, whereas he'll be next door."

A gasp escapes Sheline's mouth.

The passion Audrey brings marriage discussion invokes fear in the young lady's heart. The woman suffered hardships as a widow from an early age, stories she regales often but which Sheline loathes to listen to.

Despite her unpleasant marital experiences, the mother won't impose her opinions on the girl. She'll rather make her stance known on any matter, as she's doing now. "Moyo looks serious and determined – a good quality for a Shona man. But it's too early to tell what he has in mind for you. Men will always be the same. They're serious when you first meet them but with time you'll know who will stay. Just be watchful."

Sheline's face creases up, seemingly confused.

"If you don't want him, don't waste his time. That he drove me here for free doesn't mean I'll hand you over without consideration. No. Issues of the heart don't work that way. But then, there may be a reason we met."

Sheline turns a blank face at the woman who isn't done talking.

"Some young ladies make their future husbands casual boyfriends. Those they think will make good spouses sometimes disappoint them. You'll make a choice because you alone know how you truly feel about him. As for me, I have no attachment to him until you tell me what you have in mind."

The young lady drops her face for a moment. She'd heard enough marriage pep-talks from Audrey, church women and the neighbours that come around for meetings. From them she learned that a handsome face isn't what marriage is all about. It's the willingness to be responsible that counts. Therefore, she won't condemn Moyo.

"If he comes here again, I'll invite him in, so that you can talk to him."

Audrey stares on the green-tea cup on the table. "That's okay. I'll also talk to Margaret who might have something to say."

Sheline smiles on hearing her aunt's name, despite not having met Margaret whose portrait hangs on the sitting room wall. She lives with her children in Soweto, South-Africa. Not the best of siblings, though, Audrey sometimes place distant calls to pick her only sister's brain.

The discussion brings relief of some sort to Sheline. The issue now rests with Moyo, whether or not he chooses to come here again. If not, it's goodbye to him. She'll forget him in no time, just as she did the countless guys who promised to hang themselves if she doesn't date them, only for her to find them with another girl.

As days go by, Sheline goes about her normal daily chores, relegating Moyo to the back burner. Of course, she refuses to call him. What for? He might be the first to propose marriage, that's not a guarantee that he's the right one.