Jack laughs, chokes on the smoke from the hookah pipe and coughs a few times. “You say it like we’re about to kill her.”

Phindi blushes and covers her face with her hands. “It’s Nels’s weed, it’s too strong,” she goes to the glass coffee table in front of the couch and takes a bottle of Savanna from an ice bucket. “Let me balance out the weed high with a drink so I can be fit to take care of business for Mr Blesser.”

“Don’t make the mistake of calling him that in front of the new girls, you baddie,” Krish, the Indian girl, says.

“Guys, the mission is the same as always,” Jack takes a quick sip of his vodka and clears his throat. “We pretend to be the happiest group of friends in the world, the newbies become desperate to be part of us, and Sizwe takes it from there,” Jack says. “We just have to speed the process up today so Sizwe can quickly sleep with this Amahle girl and we make it to the real party before his baby mama gets mad.”

Amahle walks in, trying to hide her surprise. The luxurious interior of the house makes her feel like she’s not in South Africa anymore. It’s like she’s been teleported to some billionaire’s house overseas. Sizwe introduces Jack and the three super beautiful girls as his friends. Amahle and Ziyanda don’t get a chance to feel intimidated by the beauty and the skimpy clothes the three girls are wearing, though. As soon as Sizwe introduces them, it’s all hugs, kisses, smiles and jokes from the three girls until Ziyanda and Amahle find themselves feeling at home.

“The drinks are on the table and in the fridge, ladies,” Phindi cheerfully says. “Drink what you want to drink, eat what you want to eat in the kitchen, sing loud if you want, dance if you want, nobody’s here to judge but everyone is here to have fun. Sizwe chose to spend his day with only his closest friends because he wanted complete happiness!”

“Complete happiness!” Sizwe and his friends repeat the two words after Phindi, pump their fists in the air and then laugh.

Amahle and Ziyanda look at each other, startled.

“Oh my God, sorry guys,” Sizwe laughs when he sees their expressions. “I should’ve warned you about my crazy ass friends.”

“You’re part of us now,” Krish puts her arm around Amahle’s shoulders and kisses her cheek. “Phindi, say the words again so Amahle and Zee can join us this time.”

Phindi takes a deep breath, tries to be serious, but bursts out laughing. “Wait, wait, give me a moment guys,” she tries to be serious again but ends up laughing. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it now. You guys are putting me under pressure here.”

Amahle can’t help but laugh. This is the break I needed from my boring life, she thinks.

“Complete happiness!” Phindi finally says.

Amahle and Ziyanda say it too this time. They pump their fists in the air and laugh along with the group. Amahle feels her body tingle from pure bliss. She hasn’t eaten or drunk anything yet, so she’s sure she hasn’t been drugged. The feeling comes from just being around these people.

“You guys are awesome!” Ziyanda suddenly yells out as loud as she can. Everyone in the room cheers, hugs and baby kisses Ziyanda on random parts of her face. Amahle can’t stop laughing as she follows suit and kisses her friend’s nose.

As the party goes on, the guys and girls keep touching and baby kissing each other frequently without making a big deal out of it. So Amahle stays calm later when Sizwe rests his hand on her thigh. Then he gets up and dances. He sucks at it but everyone cheers him on and joins him. Phindi and Krish start giving very sloppy lap dances to everyone in the room, male and female. When the dancing calms, Sizwe, Jack and Mbuso offer free foot massages to all the girls.

Amahle decides on her own to have a drink and smoke so she can be as happy and free as everyone in the room. Ziyanda is already drunk and she keeps kissing Mbuso. Soon, Ziyanda and Mbuso disappear into one of the bedrooms. Amahle stays with the others in the living room and parties until she finds herself kissing Sizwe and enjoying it.

“Do you want to be completely happy with me?” Sizwe whispers in Amahle’s ear and takes her hand.

“Yes,” Amahle says the word to a guy for the first time in her life and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from her shoulders.

Sizwe stands up and walks towards an empty bedroom, Amahle’s hand in his.

Tell us: What do you think about Sizwe?