Once she’d left the room, Karabo turned her attention to Isla. ‘Enough, Isla. We don’t even know if he is here, and if he is, it will be awesome to see him. Put your prettiest outfit on and let’s go have an amazing dinner. Please, I need you to be you. You were miserable for the whole of exams. I miss you, the real you. Please…’ begged Karabo, watching Isla closely. Isla blinked, digesting Karabo’s speech, before responding,

‘Fine. Why do you always have to be right,’ complained Isla, getting up and placing her hands on her hips. ‘I need to shower and make myself presentable. If Mzi is here, I want to make sure that whoever he hung out with on matric holiday is forgotten,’ she smiled slyly. Karabo chuckled and started to dress.

The evening air was cooler than earlier in the day, and the warm bushveld smell wafted in through the open bar. Karabo could see Anathi’s back as she and Isla walked into the room. Anathi was talking animatedly to Cedric, who was alone – no wife and no Mzi.

‘See, nothing to worry about,’ said Karabo to Isla, who smiled in return, relieved and disappointed at the same time. Cedric spotted the girls and waved jovially to them,

‘Hello’ he shouted across the bar. Anathi turned around and smiled when she saw Karabo and Isla. ‘Hullo girls,’ she said. Karabo made a point of using her best manners and immediately started to engage Cedric, who beamed at the opportunity to talk about himself.

Anathi mouthed ‘Are you OK?’ to Isla, who nodded quickly. They ordered their drinks and began to chat easily amongst themselves. Karabo was very comfortable speaking to adults. Being an only child who was often around adults, she felt at ease, despite her age.

Suddenly Cedric’s face lit up mid-sentence. ‘There he is! Mzilikazi my boy! Come here and meet these lovely people we are going to spend the week with. Where have you been?’ he stated proudly.

As if in slow motion, Isla and Karabo turned to see where Cedric was looking. Walking towards them, Mzi in shorts and a linen top, glided into the room. He smiled broadly at his father’s announcement and then his face contorted into confusion as he recognised Isla and Karabo.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Cedric, looking at Mzi, then Isla. ‘You know these girls?’ he asked trying to understand what was happening.

‘Isla…what…I mean…how?’ stammered Mzi, his previous cool safari look gone, as he stood in front of Isla mumbling.

‘Mzi, how awesome to see you again,’ interrupted Karabo, walking over to Mzi and hugging him. ‘Can you believe that my mom is your dad’s lawyer? What a coincidence!’ said Karabo, slightly too loudly. Mzi hugged Karabo back stiffly, vaguely distracted from his fixed attention on Isla.

‘You know each other?’ asked Cedric again.

‘Yes!’ exclaimed Karabo, desperately trying to overcompensate. ‘Mzi was our Head Boy this year!’

‘Anathi! Why didn’t you tell me the girls were at Dayeton College?’ demanded Cedric.

Anathi shrugged. ‘I guess it never came up,’ she said. The truth was that whenever she saw Cedric, she only ever spoke about his business. She had been very shocked to be invited to this lodge by him, but was certain that it was for the excellent work she had done. Before things could become more uncomfortable, they were saved by the sound of a clamorous gong that echoed from the dining room. The chairs in the bar scraped on the floor as all the guests started to shuffle to their supper.

‘Time for dinner!’ announced Cedric. ‘Shall we go through?’ he said, eager to make everyone feel comfortable again.

Dinner was a gastronomic feast, with plate after plate of delicious food landing on the table. Karabo continued to try and maintain conversation between Isla, Mzi and herself, yet all her attempts seemed to result in one word responses from her two friends – both of whom were still in shock. Isla would occasionally blink at Mzi and ask tentatively about his holiday. He would respond with a vague answer about the holiday and, although Karabo kept the conversation flowing, Mzi seemed unable to stop himself from looking intensely at Isla as though he was drinking her in. Then just for a split second, he’d return to his former cool self and answer Karabo’s questions about his plans for the following year.

‘I’m going to UCT, to study an LLB,’ announced Mzi when Karabo asked him. ‘My Dad has strongly advised I study law,’ said Mzi, an element of annoyance in his voice.

‘Oh,’ said Karabo. ‘What was your second choice?’ she asked extremely curious to know the real Mzi behind his charade.

‘Physiotherapy,’ he said quietly. Isla smiled at him. ‘You’ll be great at whatever you do,’ she said, the words leaving her mouth before she caught herself. Her eyes widened, looking at Mzi. He locked eyes with hers.

‘Thanks, Isla, it’s so cool to see you,’ he said, a shy smile spreading across his face.

‘Right!’ Cedric demanded everyone’s attention once dinner was finally complete. ‘I’m going to go and see if my lovely wife is feeling better, and then I am going to beat you youngsters at a game of darts!’ he said, the idea of a challenge making his cheerful face light up.

‘Whatever, Dad,’ said Mzi. ‘He always thinks he will beat me but never does.’

‘We shall see,’ said Cedric getting up. ‘See you in the bar.’

Mrs Khumalo didn’t make an appearance, and Cedric returned alone, his disappointment hidden behind his jolly demeanour. As predicted by Mzi, Cedric lost several rounds of darts, and eventually he told Mzi to play a game of pool with Isla and Karabo – because he wanted to sit and talk ‘business’ with Anathi. Isla had grown up in a house with a pool table and a keen teacher in her father. As a result, she was able to hold her own against Mzi. Karabo’s pool left much to be desired and she decided to rather fetch the drinks.

Isla would move around the pool table, her attention completely taken up by delivering the best possible shot. Karabo watched Mzi, whose eyes never left Isla as she set up her shot. Karabo’s heart sank. She felt sad that such a perfect couple weren’t going to be together because they were stuck at Dayeton College for another two years and Mzi was going to university. She sighed.

‘That’s a big sigh, Karabz,’ said Mzi.

‘I’m just tired.’ She lied, ‘Been such a long day. You guys carry on, I’m going to bed’ she said, faking a yawn.

Cedric was talking quietly to her mother. Their faces were serious, and they definitely looked like they were talking work. Her poor mom – she actually never got a real break.

‘I’m going to bed!’ announced Karabo as she came up to them.

‘Great idea, Karabo! We are booked for a morning game drive. We leave at 6am tomorrow, so be at reception at 5:45 for a quick coffee and rusk’ he stated. Clearly he was going to be running this holiday, and Karabo’s love for sleeping in wasn’t going to be taken into account.

‘Um, OK, Mr Khumalo, that’s great,’ she managed to say. Anathi mouthed ‘sorry’ to her, ‘I’ll be coming through soon, my love,’ Anathi said, as Karabo bent and kissed her mother gently on her cheek. She smelled of perfume and wine.