Distanced but Destined(A South African love story)

Chapter 2

"Money can buy you a fine dog but only love can make it wag its tail - Kinky Friedman

I woke up with a horrible hangover. I could barely remember what happened the previous night but I knew I posted some pictures on instagram. I got my phone and started scrolling through my account. I was amazed. Only one picture with me and the girls with the caption "Squad #AmazingNightToCome #ExamWarmUp". That was probably the first time I posted one picture on a  great night. As I went downstairs I could smell bacon and to my surprise my half brother Percy was making breakfast for us. Percy was my father's first child which made him my elder brother. He was a tall lightskin bald-headed guy and also Nolwazi's boyfriend. We were really close.

"Look what the cat dragged in, Baldy" I said as I ran to hug him. I referred to him as 'Baldy' because he has been bald his whole life. "Hey sis! You were quite the party animal last night" he replied. "I don't know what happened, trust me, my memory decided to give up on me. But the headache means I got I really drunk" He reached for a glass of water and an aspirin wrapped in a serviette. "Not even Mama Sindi knows you like I do" he laughed. "So Nolwazi told me that uMa is forcing you to go to a tea party, the Queen's I assume" "Eish, you know this has been her dream for some time now but I don't want to go. Percy I'm not cut out for this" Percy turned to his bacon, then back to me. "Sometimes you have to be someone else in order to please others. uMa has been wanting this for a really long time, please recondiser this" he said. I gulped down my water and and stared at him for a few seconds. "I'll think about it"

I walked over to the balcony to enjoy the beautiful view. My hangover was slowly starting to fade away and I needed some fresh air. I stepped out to see a young man dressed in denim shorts and a denim tee downstairs. He had a boquet of pink roses in his hand. I rushed down to answer the door. "Delivery for Ms Nkosi" "You again!" It was the traffic cop I had met yesterday. He looked so much better, in denim. "Oh its a pleasure seeing you again. You know I thought you were going to call after yesterday" he said. I stared at him. "I have no intention in finding out why you are a traffic cop and a delivery guy at the same damn time! I'll sign for those" I said reaching for the roses. "Woah, hold on, are you Ms Nkosi?" I rolled my eyes. "No but she's my friend so I can sign on her behalf" I tried reaching for the roses again but he backed away. "I've been given strict instructions to let Ms Nkosi sign and to hand these roses to her, in her hand so would you mind calling her for me" I chuckled. He had to be kidding. I was not about to go and wake Nosipho up for a lousey roses, he had to wait until she woke up. "I can't do that. She's sick, so she's asleep and I can't disturb her" I said sounding smarter and so much better. "I'll wait, can I come in?" Stubborn! He was so stubborn. I let him in and he sat on the couch. Percy instructed me to offer him a glass of juice but I didn't. This guy had to go.

I sat on the couch next to his and turned on the television. I was still in my pyjamas and I had completely forgotten. "Since you're still in your nightwear I assume you just woke up"he said. "Yes. We had a little get together last night and it got a little hectic. So we're still exhausted from the events that happened" I answered. "Sounds like fun". Just then Nosipho came down the stairs. She paused when she saw me and Jacob. "Like did I miss something? Did you call him? Were you lying when you said you erased his digits? Come on say something" she said. I laughed and got up from my seat. "He's here for you. You seem to have a special delivery" I tried whispering in her ear. I went upstairs to wake Nolwazi up hoping that Jacob would be gone by the time I came back downstairs. And luckily he was. I took a shower and then came down for breakfast. Percy had prepared the table and the food looked delicious.

"You were always the perfect chef neh baldy" I said reaching for a slice of toast. "I'm sure one day he'll be the perfect chef for our children" Nolwazi responded. "Nosipho who's the boquet from?" I asked trying to look for it on the table. "Quincey. Its useless I threw it away. Unless you like the colour pink" she said. Quincey was her ex. They had spent four years together and she thought they were going to get married after matric but he made another girl pregnant. That tore Nosipho apart. She couldn't eat or do anything instead she locked herself in her room and cried. When she finally got over him a great guy came along, Sizwe and that's her current boyfriend. "Pink is too girly and disgusting. Red roses are romantic but pink, those are for twelve year olds" I replied. "So girls what does our day look like?" Percy asked. "We wanted to have a picnic at the botanical gardens later today with our better halves. So Nompilo has to go on a couple of blind dates" said Nolwazi. "And by a couple you mean two right?" I asked. "Plus two. Then we'll meet you at the botanical gardens" she replied. I don't know if they thought this was some reality show but I wasn't about to go on four dates.

And there I was having lunch with a darksin guy. He had two consecutive gold teeth. I hated that. He treated women like they were slaves and disrespected them including the waitresses at the restaurant. He irritated me. I got up and excused myself, leaving him to handle the bill. After all, all we had were drinks. I headed straight to the cafe at Sunny Sun Boulevard. Time to meet the second guy.

I sat down and ordered a lemonade. "Oh my word, Nompi Sono? I can't believe it!" I looked up. I was blinded by the sun but I could recognise that voice anywhere, Lesa Motene. Lesa was the prettiest girl in Primary and she still reigned in high school. I enjoyed spending time with her because we had a lot in common. Party-goers, with rich irritating parents. Unlike me Palesa had been very lucky when it came to love, and I just wasn't.

"Lesa Motene. You're still so beautiful" I got up to hug her. She had a sweet smell like strawberries, she still smelled so good. "What are you doing here? By the looks of things you are not alone" she said. I sighed. "Nosipho and Nolwazi are forcing me to go on these useless blind dates. It sucks cause I don't want to meet anyone" "Well let's hope you'll meet your soulmate. Anyway I have to love and leave you, we'll catch up some other time" "Sure. It was great seeing you" and with that she was gone. I sat there for about twenty minutes, all alone until I decided to leave.

Blind dates were not my thing, I don't know how I agreed to do this. I picked up my phone and dialled Nosipho's number. "Date number one was disgusting and date number two didn't pitch. Mom called I have to go and try on dresses for the tea party and then we're going to have dinner so I won't join you guys, luckily" I could hear her laughing at the other end of the line. "Its okay girlie. Like we weren't about to force you to join us. And like Teejay is flying in from Durban today so you weren't going to be alone. Anyway see you at home" she said. I joined my mom at her friends boutique. She had already picked out three dresses, I just needed to make a choice. "Mom they are all pink. That's a disgusting colour! Isn't there something with a little bit of purple? Or black?" I stared at myself in the mirror, I was disgusted. "Nompilo Sono you will not speak like that in my presence. Pink is a colour of glamour and it compliments your skin tone" she looked at me. I had no choice but to take the dark pink dress. It was the closest to purple. It was a pink mermaid sweetheart dress. It suited me, a lot but the colour was just horrible. We got to the restaurant and sat down.

"Its not everyday we go shopping together" my mom said. "That's cause you have your eyes on the money, more than you do on your family, just like dad. My dad was more focused on getting his business to the top than making his marriage work. His business trips got longer and longer until one day he never came back. He still continued to support us but he never visited. "Can I take your orders?" The waitor asked. I looked up to see the traffic cop slash delivery guy. I was getting tired of seeing his face. "Gosh not you again" he just winked. "We'll order a little later" my mom brushed him off. "I just want you guys to be happy. It wasn't easy when your father left me. I had to take care of you, your little sister and Percy" "Well it wasn't fun mom! You,the one person who was supposed to give me relationship advice neglected me. I haven't even had a single stable relationship in my life!" I shouted. "I'm sorry Nompi but here you are in the best private school, getting everything you want, looking beautiful. All because of my hard work" "You know what Mama, money means nothing without love" I got up and left. I tried keeping it together but I couldn't help it, I just broke down.

I got home before the others and went straight to bed. I was a very emotional person but I couldn't cry. I plugged in my earphones and started listening to music. My heart was pounding. I felt a feeling of loneliness longing for love but at the same time happiness. I longed for a kiss, to be held. I wanted someone to look me in the eye and tell me how they can't breathe without me, I wanted to taste true love.