She got there, knocked and Lawrence opened up for her and told her how beautiful she looked. With a very friendly smile she responded to him saying, “Ke a leboga,” (thank you). Before they got straight to it, they spoke, ate snacks, watched a movie until now things got real in the room.

The kissing got very real. Lawrence took Rea’s clothes off and Rea did the same.
Remembering that Lawrence had never told Rea he loved her, but told her he cared. He always claimed his love only when he was undressed her, pointing to that hair in her arms and thighs.

As he was busy with his hands, touching her thighs, his lips touching hers, Rea told Lawrence to stop for a while because of the pain she couldn’t handle. He said pain was good.

Bam! It happened.

Rea was no longer innocent. She didn’t have any regrets because she did it with a person she loved so much. She was too attracted to Lawrence. The day went well and she would take it in her heart. She would always remember how Lawrence made it special to her. Her favourite thing about Lawrence was his smell. The love she had for him was too deep and to think that he was not hers hurt her.

What hurt her was that she always let him tell her how exquisite she was and believed it. It made her believe there was a high chance of them being together. She thanked Lawrence for making the day special. It was even more than how she imagined it to be.

She sometimes wondered if Lawrence felt the same way. This really broke her whenever she thought about it. The way Lawrence would put his girlfriend as his WhatsApp profile picture and put a heart emoji, as if Rea did not exist in his life.

Poor Rea wondered if she was only meant to be Lawrence’s side chick. The second best and nothing more than that. It tore her heart and she cried to sleep as she thought of it. She would cry because he was not hers, he belonged to someone else.

It was really painful that Lawrence wouldn’t be around the following year as he would go to university. Rea had fallen deeply in love with him. Lawrence, having a girl didn’t stop her from seeing him because she loved him. Lawrence could see how much Rea cared about him and he cared too. He told Rea that he was done policing his feelings for her. At least, that convinced Lawrence that he cared about her.

He asked Rea over the phone.

“Rea, thing is, will you keep in touch with me and meet December and next year?”

“Of course, I will.”

“If I never break up with Lesedi?”

“Then you don’t break up with her, what am I going to do?”

“Yes, what are you going to do?”

Rea thought about it before she answered.

“I just don’t know. I want to enjoy this little time I have with you, Lawrence. Your girl Lesedi is not my worry and will never be. If you guys don’t break up it’s fine because it shows the deep feelings you have for each other. So what choice do I have? I will leave you guys alone and let you stay happy.”

“Then if you leave us, won’t you regret all you would’ve done with me?” Lawrence asked.

“No, I would not. Though it will be hard but I will have to do it then. What I would have done with you would be because of the way I feel about you and how I valued us,” she said in an emotional tone.

“I care about you. I don’t want you to get hurt especially cos of me. So as long as you know what you are doing and are enjoying it, I am happy.”

***

Tell us: Do you think Rea can handle being his side chick?