Lerato stood totally still.

‘Formal? You fool,’ thought Lerato to herself, ‘how could you have accepted! And tonight!

What on earth am I going to wear?’

Lerato left her office, and stalked over the carpet to Gugu’s office. She knocked on the door, and opened it when she heard Gugu’s soft “Come in”.

“Lunch,” said Lerato, noticing that Gugu was still looking pale, and very depressed.

“On me,” added Lerato, “but it will have to be fast, because you are going shopping. With me.”

Gugu’s face brightened, and her eyes widened.

“Shopping?” she said, tilting her head to one side.

“It’s called retail therapy,” said Lerato smiling broadly. “I need a new dress. And I’m sure you can find something to buy. And while we’re about it, you can tell me all about it. Date?”

Gugu nodded slowly.

“It’s a date, but I have to tell you, darling, the way things are looking, I’ll be lucky if I’ll even be able to afford to buy a new pair of socks!”

*****

“So tell me why the sudden rush to buy yourself a new dress?” said Gugu, holding the lift door open for Lerato as they rushed out of the office.

“Philane,” said Lerato, “has asked me to accompany him to some do this evening.”

“He asked you this morning? For this evening?” asked Gugu, raising an eyebrow.

“I know,” said Lerato, shrugging a little. “He actually asked me to lunch, and then, well, to dinner.”

Lerato shrugged again,

“It’s fine,” she said, “no big deal.”

“You’re suddenly very keen,” said Gugu, looking at her friend, while a small smile played around her lips.

“We’re friends,” said Lerato, standing back to allow Gugu to walk out of the lift first. “Only friends.”

“Mmmm,” said Gugu, “if you say so, Lerato. Anyway, lunch break is far too little time to go shopping, and have lunch. So, as far as David is concerned, you’re doing some legal stuff with me. Okay? I’ve got it covered.”

“Okay,” said Lerato with a smile, “then let’s eat first. I’m starving.”

The two women found themselves a table at a restaurant nearby. Gugu ordered herself a large salad, and Lerato ordered a large plate of chips.

“Girl!” said Gugu, raising her eyebrows yet again. “Those things are going to make you expand.”

“Leave me alone,” said Lerato. “I eat what I like. Now tell me what’s been troubling you so much.”

“Well,” said Gugu, sighing deeply, “you’re lucky. You’re still as slender as a reed. Anyway, it’s Andile, Lerato. I think he’s in trouble. And if he’s in trouble, then so am I.”

“Trouble?” said Lerato, making room on the table for their orders as they arrived. She picked up a bottle of tomato sauce and began to pour it over her chips.

“I don’t think Andile’s in trouble,” said Lerato, waving her hand in front of her mouth as she tried to chew a mouthful of hot chips. She swallowed hard. “I should have told you already, but I’ve received an email from him. He’s in London, Gugu.”

“London?”

Gugu almost choked on a lettuce leaf, and swallowed a large mouthful of still water to deal with it.

“Yes. Actually he invited me to join him,” Lerato confessed, very softly.

“He did what?” Gugu almost stood up, she was so outraged.

“Lerato, I hope you never accepted! The man’s a criminal!”

“What?” asked Lerato, frowning and pushing away her plate. Suddenly she no longer had any appetite.

“Lerato,” said Gugu, covering her forehead with her hand, “I’ve been suspecting that something is not right for a while now. Only I didn’t really want to think about it. I’ve been in denial, I suppose.”

Gugu sniffed hard, and reached out for a serviette. She blew her nose, and dabbed at her eyes.

“Tell me what’s going on Gugu. I have to know.”

Gugu reached over and patted Lerato’s arm.

“I’m sorry, girl. I should have warned you. I just didn’t want to see it, believe it, or hear anything about it. Even Philane tried to warn me. I’ve been such a fool.”

“What? Tell me Gugu!”

Gugu looked up and composed herself. She reached into her salad bowl with her long manicured nails, and pulled out a green lettuce leaf. She put it into her mouth, and chewed slowly.

“I hope you haven’t lost your heart to him, Lerato?” said Gugu, taking Lerato’s hand, and patting it.

“No,” said Lerato, irritated, “just tell me what’s going on!”

“Well,” said Gugu slowly, “basically Andile has been taking a lot of people’s money. He promised us all a really high interest rate, because he was going to invest it in his development. Basically it seems that he has run away with it all, and there is hardly a house to be seen on that development site.”

“My Dad has always said that if something seems too good to be true, it’s because it is – too good to be true,” said Lerato, thoughtfully.

‘Was it really her Dad who had said that? Or was it Philane?’ thought Lerato.

“I believed him, Lerato,” said Gugu, hanging her head, “I did. I’ve known Andile for ages, and he is a fantastic estate agent. I thought if anyone could do it, he could. I trusted him, Lerato. You know what a charmer he is.”

Lerato nodded. She looked across the restaurant at all the other diners. The shock of the news was just beginning to sink in.

“How much did you lose, Gugu?” asked Lerato softly.

“Too much, Lerato. All my savings. Everything.”

The two women sat in silence for a few minutes.

“We’ll go after him, of course,” Gugu said, “but we’ll no doubt find that every asset of his here is rented or borrowed. And he’s probably in debt as well.”

Gugu sighed again.

“That lovely house?” asked Lerato. “All the furniture? His car?”

“All of it.”

“Oh,” said Lerato, shaking her head.

After a minute she added, “I wonder what he thought I would do. Why did he invite me to go to him?”

“I suppose he underestimated you, Lerato. Maybe he thought you were crazy enough about him. Maybe he thought you would be blinded by his promises. A lot of women would be, you know.”

Lerato sat quietly, and shook her head again.

Suddenly Gugu cheered up.

“Let’s not talk about this any more right now. The clock is ticking, and you’ve got a dress to find! And, by the way, I’ve got the loveliest Jimmy Choo’s that you can borrow! And at least you have that fabulous Gucci bag that that bastard Andile bought you!”

Here Gugu paused to cover her face with her well manicured hands.

“In fact, if you like, I could probably supply you with everything you need. I have a wardrobe of dresses to die for. Hey, darling, you may as well enjoy it all! I won’t be able to buy anything like that again for a while!”

“Wow, Gugu. That would be amazing. I don’t really have much of a budget. Certainly not one that would stretch to Jimmy Choo’s!”

“Come on,” said Gugu, suddenly very excited, “my flat isn’t far from here. We can walk. I have all sorts of amazing things to show you.”

Gugu stood up, pushing back her chair as she did so.

“Come on!”

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think Lerato should wear to her date with Philane?