My heart was over the moon that I had finally met someone who loved me; a guy who knew how to treat a woman well. The guy who had swept up my heart just like that was called Erick. He was tall, light skinned and very masculine. He was an engineer and girls would throw themselves at him.

“Oh please don’t tell me that you are day-dreaming about Erick again,” asked Tasha, giving me that questioning look.

“Not really. I’m just thinking about something he said earlier on. He wants to take me to Hout Bay for a weekend getaway.”

“Wow! He doesn’t delay in pampering a lady,” my cousin said with a laugh.

“You know I have always wanted to go there and now that the opportunity presents itself, I can’t say no,” I said with a smile.

“I know you love him, but I don’t want to see you hurt again,” she said, patting my shoulders.

“Erick is a very noble man. Being heartbroken is the least of my worries…so chill, Tasha.”

I had to end the conversation or my cousin would go on and on about it. Tasha was very sceptical about relationships and one had to go all out to convince her about anything. Looking at the assignment I was busy typing, I knew I had to edit it some more before submitting it on Monday the following week.

I had a date with Erick to go and watch the Warcraft movie at Cavendish Square in Claremont. It was a bit chilly outside and windy as well, but I wasn’t going to miss that movie because of the weather. My phone beeped and I picked it up to see a message from my boyfriend: Hi boo…will be coming to pick you up in 30 minutes. Love you!

I quickly switched off my computer and rushed to the bathroom to shower. Within ten minutes, I was ready. Tasha came into my room to borrow a novel. “Are you going out this evening Anita?” she asked.

“Yeah Erick will be here soon. We are going to the cinema and I’ll be back afterwards.”

“Have loads of fun and take good care of yourself,” she said cheerfully.

Sharing an apartment with my cousin was like staying with my mum. She made a point of knowing where I was going and who I was going with. She was also like my other younger sister, Sharifa. A knock on the door interrupted us.

“Hey boo,” I greeted him with a smile.

“How is my beautiful girlfriend doing?” he asked as he planted a kiss on my mouth.

I closed the front door on my way out. I lived in Observatory and driving to Cavendish Square didn’t take Erick long. He preferred underground parking to parking in the street. Grabbing my right hand, we walked towards the lift. Erick’s phone started ringing, but he ignored it. It rang again.

“Babe, you have to answer it. Maybe it’s something important,” I advised.

“There’s nothing more important than spending time with you, Tasha. Whoever called can wait,” he said, smiling amiably.

We bought our tickets, popcorn and drinks and moved to where our movie was showing. As we sat down, Erick put his phone on ‘silent’. Just as the movie started, his phone beeped again and when he took it out of his pocket, it showed that ‘Sharifa’ was calling. He has an acquaintance that shares a name with my younger sister, I told myself.

My boyfriend put back his cellphone and concentrated on the movie and my mind moved away from thinking about the girl trying to get hold of him.

“Oh, so you’re here with someone and ignoring my calls?” a girl’s voice asked.

I looked at the girl shouting at Erick and couldn’t believe what I was seeing: “Sharifa! What are you doing here?” I asked her in disbelief.

“I’m here to check who my boyfriend is cheating with,” she said, pointing to Erick.

“Erick is my boyfriend, Sharifa,” I continued, “you must be mistaken.”

“Tasha, what we have here is a player who double-crossed two sisters,” Sharifa said angrily.

Everyone was looking at us and I stood up to leave. Creating a scene wasn’t an ideal thing to do, especially in a cinema. One thing I learned from that relationship is never to judge a book by its cover.