Michaela wished everything could change with just one blink of her eye. She had no idea when sleep claimed her. The sound of the alarm woke her up late the following morning. She took a shower quickly and went to the kitchen where Irene was washing her bowl.

“You should call off sick today ntombi… you don’t look well,” she advised.

“Ungakathazeki ke mgani wami, as a matter of fact, l need a lot of work to focus on, rather than my break-up with that liar,” she said sounding angry.

“Let’s go to work then. Let’s not mention the ‘I’ name again.”

As they got into the car Michaela looked at her best friend and said, “l know you don’t want to see me hurting and want the best for me, but with time l’ll heal and put everything behind me okay.”

“Isaac sengihlukene naye and I need to look ahead and see what the future holds for me”.

“Whatever you need, please let me know, because l’ll always stand by you. l know you’ll do the same for me,” Irene said with a smile.

They drove in silence. All the while Michaela was thinking about how Isaac’s uncle would treat her now, since she wasn’t his nephew’s fiancé.

“Well if he gives me a hard time, l’ll have to look for another job”, she said to herself.

Just as they got to the reception the receptionist said, “Miss Dube, l’ve got some flowers for you that were delivered this morning.”

“Who could possibly buy me a bunch of beautiful red roses so early?” Michaela asked.

Reading the message on the card and the name at the bottom; she threw the flowers on Ayanda’s desk.

“You can do whatever you want with them Ayanda,” she said walking to her office.

“Oh ngiyabonga ma’am, they look expensive hey,” she said with a huge smile on her face.

The whole morning she worked on Mrs Dlamini’s project and didn’t have any tea-break at 10 am, like she usually did. She received a text from Lanre that he would like to meet her for lunch but she ignored it.

That day lrene kept to her work also because she realized that Michaela wasn’t in the best mood to talk. Five minutes before lunch time Lanre opened her office door. Ayanda was right behind him.

“Miss Dube l tried to stop him because he didn’t make an appointment, but before l knew it he was heading to your office,” she gasped.

“It’s ok Ayanda, l’ll take it from here,” she said.

“That one is a drama queen for sure,” Lanre said with a smile, “anyway, how are you doing ladies?”
.
“Doing great as ever,” Michaela and Irene said in unison.

“Let me go and take that file from Sipho before he goes home,” lrene said giving them a chance to be alone.

Isaac came to sit on a chair opposite Michaela. He noticed that she didn’t have her engagement ring on her finger.

“I didn’t tell you that info so that you would go and break up with Isaac,” he said, “I just wanted you to know that l did send you mail and looked for you also, but my family didn’t know your address.”

“I did it for myself, Lanre. Thank you for telling me otherwise l would have believed the engagement was from his heart not knowing that it was arranged,” she said.

“Let’s go to Boulders Beach restaurant for lunch; l’m sure you’ll love it there,” he suggested.

“I can do with some fresh air,” she said standing up, “you’re always a life saver you know.”

“Noma ngabe yini for wena, noma kuthiwa ngiya phesheya kwezilwandle namazwe ngizoya,” Lanre said softly.

They passed the crystal blue ocean and the beach which was packed; schools and universities had closed and students had a two week vacation. Simon’s Town was such a breathtaking place and many tourists loved to come there. They chose a secluded table which was overlooking the beach.

The waitress came and she ordered sesame prawn salad, whilst Isaac had lamb racks. The food was so delicious. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the food was in front of her.

“Wow lokudla kumnandi,” she said wiping the corner of her mouth with a serviette, “l was really hungry you know.”

“I could tell by the way you were devouring your salad. Are you up for dessert?” he asked cheerfully.

“You want me to gain weight now,” she said.

“A slice of carrot cake won’t make you gain weight,” he teased.

“Haibo ngisuthi munchkin,” she said then covered her mouth when she realized that she had used his nickname.

He took her hands across the table and held them for a while without saying anything. All they did was to look into each other’s eyes. It felt so right being with him, rather than being with her ex-fiancé.

“I came to take you back with me. Michaela but l don’t know whether you’re prepared to leave your job; to start something new in UK,” he continued, “l’ll help your dad with any financial assistance he needs and will get him a new business advisor.”

As Lanre spoke Michaela just listened to him in disbelief, not uttering a word. She couldn’t believe he was living up to his promise.

“Well aren’t you going to say something at least?” he asked.

She looked at his handsome face and said, “Looks like you had it all planned, hey.”

He took out a small box and took a beautiful ring out of it, “This ring is a promise to you that l’ll never leave you again. I want us to start again from where we left off. I want you to be my wife now that all the lies are over. Michaela will you be my girlfriend again?” he asked.

“It has been so hard for me to live without you and l ended up being with Isaac because I didn’t know if you were still waiting for me,” she said “Ngiyakuthanda Lanre and l can’t wait to be your wife. Yes, l want us to rekindle what we once had.”

“So tell me how did the lunch go? Did he get to propose? Or do your fingers just attract diamond rings,” Irene teased.

“Well he did, but we are taking things slow for now,” she said with a smile, “Let us get back to work before Mr Van Rooyen fires us… especially me.”

“Speaking of him, are you going to continue working here once you’re married? ” lrene asked with concern.

“Not at all, ngiqubekhe ukusebenza nalendoda,” she answered quickly,”Lanre wants us to go oversees and start a new life there.”

A year later Lanre proposed to Michaela. They used Louise as their wedding planner. Lanre only changed Isaac’s wedding venue to Groenvlei Guest Farm. It was situated 17 kilometers from Stellenbosch. Michaela’s parents bought a beautiful gown for her and they called her to see it and check whether any adjustments had to be made.

“Oh mum and dad this dress is so out of this world,” she said giving them a hug.

“Anything for you my dear, it’s going to be your big day and you’ve got to look your best,” her father said.

They had helped her with sending out fifty invitation cards to close friends and family. Lanre and Michaela wanted to keep the wedding very private, but of course it was impossible being the daughter to a well-known man like Mr Dube.

“You’re going to make the best wife ever,” said Michaela’s mum, ‘l’ve always known you to be a girl who stood up for what she wanted and l’m very proud of you. Lanre is a very down to earth young man and will make a good husband.”

“Mama ngiyabonga ngamazwi, they mean the world to me,” she said.

“You can join us for dinner tonight, if you don’t have any plans,” her dad suggested.

“Irene uyangifuna endlini, she didn’t say why and I have to go there and check,” Michaela said, “We’ll see you tomorrow then.”

She felt good to be close with her parents again, especially her dad. The arranged engagement with Isaac almost tore apart their happy family. Michaela was surprised to see the lights off in her house as she parked her car in the garage.

“Where’s Irene?” she asked herself.

***

Let’s chat: What do you think of Michaela and Lanre? Could she be moving too fast?