Wednesday 30 January 2013

Awkward Crush


When I got home that afternoon, I remembered why we were friends. Thando stood in the lounge with a bunch of flowers and boxes of chocolate. One of her hands was hidden behind her. She’d taken the trouble to do the shopping for the dinner we were having with her boyfriend and her new crush. ‘I know these are your favourite,’ she said. Then she moved her hand from behind her to reveal a pair of pink stiletto’s from Zara that I’d been eyeing for a month now. ‘For you.’
How could my heart not melt after that? I reached for the shoes. ‘I love them. You know me so well,’ I said. I immediately tried the shoes on. They were a perfect match. I decided to ignore the boxes of chocolate. I didn’t want to upset my diet; I’ve been so good the past few days, even though the scale was still static.
‘So will you help me prepare for tonight’s dinner? Please?’
I nodded. ‘Sure. I’d love to.’
She jumped and gave me a big hug. ‘Yeah! Well let me get ready for the dinner then. I need to do my hair and my nails—’
I grabbed her handbag from her. ‘I don’t think so. You are not going anywhere. If I can’t get ready, neither can you. You’re gonna stay and help with the dinner.’
She looked at me with sad eyes that were starting to fill with tears. The girl knew how to manipulate me. And I let her. ‘Fine. Go.’
‘Thank you, thank you. I love you.’ She left me standing there in my fabulous new shoes, thinking about what I would prepare for the big dinner. Whatever it was, it would be a healthy meal. Now the trick was to make it interesting.

I managed to get the dinner prepared on time, of course it helped that Ed was there. We cooked while Thando and Matt chatted in the lounge. They didn’t lift a finger to help. But that was probably for the best, we didn’t want the food ruined for our guest.
Steve and Sbu arrived. I was a little disappointed. Thando had described Sbu as tall and handsome, well he was tall, but he wasn’t that good looking, which meant he was way richer than Steve. That’s the only reason Thando would trade him for Steve.
We all sat and enjoyed our dinner. Thando kept smiling and looking suggestively at Sbu, who paid no attention to her. She tried everything to get his attention, but nothing worked. Finally, Thando decided to ask him directly what she wanted to know. ‘So, Sbu,’ she said, reaching for her boyfriend’s hand. ‘Are you seeing anyone? I don’t ever remember reading about your girlfriend, who must be really good looking.’
‘I’m actually not seeing anyone at the moment. I’m just too busy,’ Sbu said.
Thando was unable to hide her smile at that response.
‘What about you, Qaqamba? Are you seeing anyone,’ Sbu asked.
I was surprised that he called my full name. No one called me by my full name anymore. I shook my head. ‘I’m single at the moment.’
Ed coughed, hiding laughter. He knew that Thando liked Sbu.
‘Maybe we could double date,’ Steve said.
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Thando said.
Steve looked at her. ‘Why not?’
‘Because Q is…’ She looked at me for assistance. I offered her none. I was enjoying seeing her squirm. ‘Q is not looking for anything serious at the moment.’
‘Neither am I,’ Sbu said. He winked at me.
Ed leaned towards me and whispered, ‘This is a little awkward.’
Things were turning upside down for Thando. She’d organised the dinner so that she could find a way to connect with Sbu and now her crush was hitting on me. Talk about awkward. I decided to put an end to it.
‘Who would like desserts,’ I asked. I stood and grabbed the plates from the table and went to the kitchen to get dessert. Thando joined me.
‘Oh, this is a disaster,’ she said. ‘Maybe he’s afraid of Steve. Maybe that’s why he’s ignoring me.’
‘Thando, he’s not interested,’ I said. ‘Leave the poor man alone. If you don’t, your boyfriend is gonna push him to me.’
‘Fine,’ she said. But I could see in her eyes that she was trying to come up with another plan to garner Sbu’s interest.
I shook my head. It was not my problem and I wasn’t going to make it mine. I served everyone desserts. I was sure I’ll never see Sbu again, but I was wrong. 

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