There were only three days left now before the party. Though Mbali’s family were kept in the dark, she was busy working on the side, making bookings for her perfect venue to hold her blow-out party, and hiring a famous DJ to mesmerise everyone with his choice of music. Surely this was going to take her status to the highest level amongst all her friends! Mpho had agreed to pay for everything by Friday so for now, Mbali was just making sure everything was on track.

That night Mpho had planned a romantic dinner for the two of them in his flat. He had gone out of his way to impress her. Mbali put on her skimpiest, to-die-for outfit and set off to spend some quality time with her newly found lover.

When Mbali entered the flat she was impressed, and felt special. Now I am confident that Mpho really loves me, she thought to herself, as she admired how he had decorated the living room.

It was filled with the sensual scents of the black plum blossom flavoured candles that he had lit. The soft romantic music he was playing almost brought Mbali to tears. No-one had ever done this for her in the name of love.

“Wow! My love, this is so romantic! Red heart-shaped candles! Mmh!” she said, her facing melting into a wide smile of contentment.

“I hope now you will believe that I truly love you. This is just my small gesture to show you how I feel about you, Mbali,” Mpho said, holding her hands, before embracing her. He surely noticed how impressed she was, as she could not stop smiling.

“Where did you get those candles? They smell so divine,” said Mbali, now walking up and down the room admiring the decorations.

Mpho picked up a chocolate ball covered in a shiny golden wrapper, unwrapped it and then popped it into Mbali’s mouth.

“Mm! So yummy Mpho! I have never tasted something so rich and smooth.”

Mpho reached for a bottle of wine, poured out two glasses, and then pulled Mbali down onto the sofa.

“I know some people might tell you lies about me or feed you wrong information, and I just want you to know that you and I were meant for this. So, here’s to us, right?” he said, raising his glass.

Mbali thought about Khwezi’s warning, but she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind. In this moment all doubts were swallowed up by Mpho’s sweetness towards her.

As they began to sip their wine there was a loud knock on the door, a knock that quickly turned into a banging. Mpho jumped to his feet and snatched up one of the big cushions decorating the sofa. Underneath was a gun. He grabbed it.

“No! Mpho what is this?” Mbali screamed.

Mpho quickly tucked the weapon into his jeans’ waistband and then pulled his T-shirt down to conceal it.

“Who is it?” he shouted, as he strode towards the door. Mbali was now shaking with fear. Why did Mpho grab a gun? Why was it under a cushion?

She slowly put the glass of unfinished wine on the coffee table and fixed her eyes on the door as Mpho opened it wide.

***

Tell us: Are you surprised at this turn of events, or were you expecting it?