CHAPTER 18
HER AGAIN
As I sit in the restaurant called La Veledrome, the name clearly showing its Marseille connections. The owner of the restaurant is a guy called Francois a French expatriate whom I had grown to know a bit personal. Francois is a very friendly guy and usually takes time to speak with his usual customers. With passing of time I had entered into Francois inner circle of his loyal customers, as a result I grow to know him a bit personal. Situated in the heart of uptown Johannesburg the restaurant creates this vibe of a Franco-Afrocentric urban environment, with its safari inspired ceiling which had paintings of savannah animals and some of the French inspired food on the menu. A warm stream of air passes through the room from the air conditioning system, the warmness inside is in stark contrast to the prevailing cold weather outside. The cold weather seems to have gone into overdrive since the turn of June, light showers start to trickle down as I enter into the restaurant. Inside the restaurant I sit on comfy genuine leather chair. There is this cosiness and laid back nature about the La Veledrome I like about. I reminiscent about the love filled and joyful Easter I had back home with my family, Tinotenda is now processing, travel documents for his wife, his son Leroy and daughter Louisa. He wants to have his family close with him back in the States as for Ruvarashe she is back at university and my mother with some financial help from me and Tinotenda has opened a boutique in the CBD of Harare. The restaurant has this intimate feeling about it, since I started working at Old Mutual I always come here for lunch. Just as I take a sip of my coffee I almost get choked after laying my eyes on something I thought I would never see. Maybe the glare of the sunlight rays penetrating through the window is messing with my sight and it’s just an optical illusion. But as I stare profoundly at the moving figure I discover it’s no chimera. Right there before my two eyes walks past the beautiful and vivacious looking lady I had seen at the cricket match over five years ago who had mysteriously disappeared when I wanted Bongani to see her, dressed in a green pencil skirt, matching blouse, green wedge heels, blue earrings and a neatly tied ponytail. The wedge heels accentuated her tall legs. The only things not green on her, were her nice faired skin tone and her silky dark hair even her nails had green polish on them. I kept my eyes on her as she walked towards a table which lay directly opposite to me. Avoiding direct eye contact with her I steal glances at her. I was taken aback as she majestically turned her head towards the window as she took a deep stare at the people who were walking past the restaurant, through the north facing glass wall which runs the entire course of the northern side of the restaurant. Right in the middle of the northern glass wall there is a sliding glass which acts as the entrance and exit to and fro the restaurant. My attention quickly moved from her head to her hands as I tried to see if she had a ring on her left finger. I blew a sigh of relief when I saw she had no ring on. My only worry was that she was waiting for someone and by the way she was staring at the window it seemed so, my only hope was that it was not going to be her boyfriend. I sat there as I marvelled at nature’s sample of beauty. I knew it was now or never. I was going to ask her out now. I could hear my heart shouting go for it. As I gathered the courage to walk up to her I took one last look at her before I stood up. As I usually do, I engage in my pre courtship ritual of knuckle cracking and a good sign for me as all my knuckles sounded. This time I am not going to use any pickup line I am just going to be spontaneous and original. I am going to say whatever comes to mind. My heart is beating at an alarmingly high rate. The more I get closer to her, the more increasing my heart beats. Without further thought I open my mouth. “Is this sit taken?” I asked pointing at the vacant sit which was opposite to where she was sitting. “As you can see there is no one.” said the beautiful lady in a sweet soft voice. I am immersed by the beautiful lady’s tantalising and voluptuous lips and can’t remove my eyes from them. “Can I take this sit?” I asked. “At you own peril.” “Why do you say so, are you dangerous?” I asked as I sat down. “Only if you push the wrong button.” “Tinashe Mushayabasa, at your disposal.” I said as I looked deep into her beautiful almond shaped hazel coloured eyes. I am a bit dumbstruck that she replied me so politely. In the back of my head I am thinking what has a simple guy like me have to offer such a classy and gorgeous lady. “I hope I haven’t pushed the wrong button yet.” “Not yet.” she replied. “Out of inquisitiveness, what is your name?” I asked. “Take a guess.” “Beauty.” I replied. “A bit corky ehe!” she replied with an almost raised voice. “Because it’s the only name I think you should have.” I injected. Looking a bit teasing as she seductively winked at me, she replied “Flattery, you sure trying to rub me the right way.” “Is it working?” “No it’s not.” she replied. “You just hurt my ego?” I said as I put a wide smile. “For trying to impress me I will tell you my name.” as she took a pause before continuing, “I am Thandiwe.” “Thandie I shall call you then.” I said. For the next thirty five minutes we spoke and I could see by the glow in her eyes that she was enjoying my company. Bending her head to look at the time on her wrist watch, she says “Lunch is almost over. I have to return to work.” “What’s your number so that we can have this talk again?” I asked. Standing up and taking her handbag from the table, she says “Unfortunately I can’t give it to you but if you come here same time tomorrow, maybe I will change my mind.” “It’ a big maybe, so don’t hoist your hopes up to much.” said added. “Okay, that’s fair at least let me walk you out.” As I walked her out I discover that she is driving a Porsche Cayenne S.U.V. In our conversation we hadn’t spoken about our line of work, we discussed mostly on the cold winter weather and what we did during the winter periods as young children. She vehemently refused to give me her surname for now I only know that she is called Thandiwe, tomorrow can’t just arrive any faster. All I want is to speak to Thandie again. From the chic clothing she is wearing and the top of the range car she is driving my best assumption is that she is from a well to do family or that she is an executive at one of the big companies. Seconds evolved into minutes and minutes into hours as time went past. All I could think of as I tried to get sleep in my bed was the sight of Thandie which had been enshrined in my mind. This is the girl who I had seen five years back at the cricket match she hadn’t changed. Maybe it was fate, that our paths would cross each other again. My alarm rang out as I woke up. The day had arrived. I paced through my normal routine, where I would wake up at 5 am, bath, dress up eat before leaving for work. Lunch time arrived, and without further delay I left for the restaurant, in the hope that I would meet Thandie. As I sat there eating my lunch two hot cross buns and a cup of cappuccino, I crossed my fingers in the hope that Thandie would walk into the room at any time. I start to become a bit anxious, it seems that Thandie might not come. Maybe she is not having lunch today. Just as I am about to lose hope I see Thandie entering the restaurant. As soon as she gets sight of me, I wave towards her from where I am sitting, she smiles and wicks back at me, as she starts to walk towards where I am sitting. I feel like I have won the national lottery at that moment. As she walks towards me thoughts start to race forward and backwards of my mind if she didn’t like me she wouldn’t be entertaining the idea of having lunch with me and then as I reassure myself of this another thought races past my mind. Thandie might not be interested in me, she could be one of those girls who are just friendly and do not just blow off every guy that approaches them. Maybe to her I am just a potential friend. Fingers crossed I hope she sees me as potential husband, I do not need any friend zone problems. Thandie is smartly dressed in a blue floral inspired demure paled strappy top and matching tube skirt. The tube skirt nicely shows of her hourglass figure, as the tightly fitting tube skirt showed of her hips. Her eyelashes nicely styled, with red lipstick which matched the nail polish on her nails both of which had been applied with due care, providing that look of sheer splendour and beauty. From her dressing and nicely applied make up I could fully tell that she was a fashionista. I smile towards her as I get hold of the chair that is directly opposite to me on the table I am sitting on. “I thought you would never come.” I said showing a bit of chivalry as I moved the chair for her to sit in “No greetings.” replies Thandie as she sits down placing her leather purse on to the table. “Where are my manners, How has been your day so far?” I said as I moved back to where I was sitting. “Hectic.” she replied in her seductively hot voice which surely milts even the hardest ice blocks in the Arctic sea. “Hectic, what were you doing” “It was paperwork after paperwork.” “Thandie, you never told me where you work.” “Take a wild guess, then.” “Lawyer” “You are wrong, I work at a brothel.” “You kidding right.” I replied. “No jokes.” “I can tell you are lying. You are eyes are not moving that much.” “Seriously, you think I am lying.” “I can prove that you are lying” I said as I take a pause before continuing “Its proven that if a person doesn’t move his or her eyes, there is a 90% chance there are lying. By doing so a person will be trying to make their lies seem true.” “You caught me, but just out of curiosity where did you get that information on how to tell if a person is lying to you.” as she waved her hands towards the waitress. “That was just simple fabrication, I made that up.” I replied. Just as Thandie was about to say something the waitress she had signalled to, greeted us “Good day too you. May I take your order” “Can you give me some pork ribs and some French fries.” said Thandie to the waitress who jotted down the order in a small notepad. As we were sitting whilst Thandie ate her food and I drank my second cup of cappuccino, we had a good conversation. Through the conversation I learnt that Thandie was Xhosa a native of Port Elizabeth. Her father a successful businessman of his own ran a couple of hardware stores in the Nelson Mandela Bay area and her mother had a catering company also located in Port Elizabeth. She was the Regional Chief Financial Officer for Murray and Crusoe, the largest cement company in South Africa and the second largest cement company trading in Africa. She is the head of Southern Region Financial department, which stretches from South Africa up to, Tanzania. With the few minutes I had spent with Thandie I could tell that she was down to earth, and did not use her position at work to override other people. Before she left I was able to take her mobile phone number. With time I get to know more about Thandie and her family. She is the first child in a family of three, her younger siblings namely Irene a girl who is the second is currently at the University of Cape Town studying towards a degree in electrical engineering and Thabo the last child, a boy who is currently in grade 10. As they say in the good old schooled movies the rest is history, after this we had another date, but this time it was less formal and that’s how I started dated Thandie. Fast forward eighteen months after our first date I am standing in my double breast, single vent blue slim-fit suit, a matching blue bow-tie, black lace less crocodile skinned shoes a sliver wrist watch, a clean shaven beard and short cut hair at the altar. Right in front of me stands the shout and stout figure of, Father O’Brien. Dressed in his St Patrick’s priestly robes. A few years ago I had walked into this church feeling worthless and I had reached that point in my life that I felt like it was not worth living, the feeling I was feeling on this particular day was contrary to that one, I was exuberant, I was feeling that happiness that I was lingering for. It was not brought upon by money but it was rather fulfilled by the love not only that I was receiving from Thandie but from my family and those closest to me. Finally after years of searching I can finally say I am happy. If it could be quantified the happiness I had on this particular day could not even fill the oceans of this world. Just like Chris Gardener in the movie in Pursuit of Happiness I had finally found myself in a refreshing and invigorating place. Even though I grew up going to the Anglican Church I decided to wed at All Saints Parish which was a Catholic Church, this parish in particular was where I got my redemption and I saw it befitting to wed here. Thandie was a Catholic, she had grew up as one. I received conditional baptism from Father O’Brien since I had not been baptised as per Catholic traditions, so that I could marry Thandie. For Thandie there was no need for conditional baptism, she had grown up going to the Catholic Church, she was baptised, received her first communion in the Catholic Church as well as receiving the sacrament of confirmation. Thandie walks down the aisle accompanied by her father who is smartly dressed in a grey double vested Calvin Klein suit. I could hear my heart, beat faster, not because I was afraid some scorned and rejected woman was going to walk into the church and cause mayhem, but rather because It felt surreal. My entire immediate family is here as well as the Nkosi family. I had managed to buy air tickets for my family to come to South Africa. My elder brother and his family had also made the trip to South Africa. Thandie was dressed in a white sleeveless white gown with sapphires on it. As Thandie walked down the aisle accompanied by her father who had this unmistakeable hobble like step. I could see her hazel eyes piercing through, the white veil which covered her face. I do not know but I have always dreaded this point in the marriage ceremony, this stage when the priest asks if there are reasons which might make people not to be joined in holy matrimony. Some jaded ex-lover may get to know of the marriage make it their business to cause anarchy. Crossing my fingers in the hope that no one ruins what has up until this point has been a day of joy and pure bliss. I could see the smile on Thandie’s mother, whom when I first met her I thought was Thandie’s older sister. Thandie’s mother is almost like a matured body double version of Thandie. Just by taking a look at her it can clearly be seen where Thandie’s beauty came from. Ma Thandie as Thandie’s mother is affectionally known by is elegantly dressed in velvet midi dress with crystal stones intertwined onto the side of the dress, and a matching velvet hat. Not to be outdone my lovely mother is adorning a purple skirt, a white blouse. Never had I seen my mother with braids nor had I seen her with makeup, she always did the natural look. My mother had pulled all the stops to brighten up my day, she had mascara, manicured and well-polished nails. Everything is falling into place on my big day even my brother from the States and his entire family are here. One thought almost makes me to cry I think of two important people who I wanted to be present on my wedding to be present were not there, Bongani and my old man, both of them separated from me by death. But what I know is that both of them would want me to happy and I know that even if there are not here in the flesh I can feel their spiritual presence. I look up at the ceiling and blink my eyes before I look down smiling in memory of Bongani and my old man. A bald haired guy standing adjacent to where I am plays the acoustic guitar as he strings out the harmony of John Legend’s all of me as Thandie walks down the aisle. “Do you Tinashe Bruce Mushayabasa, take Thandiwe Mikaela Ngema, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, in times of sickness and health, for richer or for poor until death do you apart” said Father O’Brien, Bruce was my second name my father had given me this name after the legendary and eccentric Zimbabwean and Liverpool goal minder Bruce Grobbelaar. Without hesitation I replied because in my heart and in my soul I knew Thandie was my life soul-mate. “Yes I do.” I said. I could see my mother shedding tears not of sadness but of joy. “And Thandiwe Mikaela Ngema do you take, Tinashe Bruce Mushayabasa to be your lawfully wedded husband to love and to cherish, in times of sickness and health, for richer or for poor until death do you apart.” “Yes, I do” said Thandie smiling as her two dimples showed. “By the power vested in me by the Church, and by the State, I now pronounce you, husband and wife, and let what God has put together let no man but asunder. For what has been tied together here on earth has also been tied together in heaven. You may kiss the bride. I unbuttoned my suit as I stretched my hands, removing with sheer vigour the veil which covered Thandie’s face, before engaging in a long and passionate kiss. I felt like standing on top of, Mount Everest shouting out aloud my happiness to the world. This was the happiness I was lingering for that not even money could buy. It was time for the wedding vows. “I don’t want to sound cheesy, so I will make my vow as original as I can, it’s a small poem for you my beautiful Thandie.” I say after which I took a small paper on which I had written my poem. “I am no Shakespeare, but I wrote this poem for you.” So the poem I had written for Thandie on that particular day was as follows.
I was attracted by those almond shaped eyes, their colour hazel.
Your hour glass shape coupled with that flawless skin makes you to dazzle.
You Thandiwe were that missing part in my puzzle.
By my calculations it would take up to infinite to describe your beauty.
You are not just a pretty face, you are beauty with brains.
I promise to love you and to protect you up until death does us apart.
Let all these people bare witness for my undying love for you, which radiates inside my heart.
I love you Thandie.
After finishing my poem Thandie starts to cry as she embraces me, I fill this instant surge of blood as I hug Thandie intensely. “I love you Tinashe, and you will forever be in my heart, my vows are short and simple. Out of all the girls you could have you chose me and I am happy about that and I make a vow to you that no matter what curve balls life will throw at us I will always love you and will not devout myself to another man. Tinashe you are my one and only my hero. My love.” Everything ran smoothly it was clockwork orange as everything we had planned for our marriage surpassed even our maximum expectations, the reception of the wedding was held on lush green grass of the Church’s half an acre park. This is the same park I used to cut grass when Father O’Brien took me in, now I was having the time of my life with my family, workmates, friends and most importantly the most beautiful woman, Thandie. We had our honeymoon in Victoria Falls, one moment that will forever be engraved in my mind is when we crossed the falls in a helicopter as we made the famous flight of angels which might sound a bit blasphemous. Right beside me was the woman of my dreams as I saw a sight, which made me have this feeling, which felt as if it was an out of body experience. That sight of the water gashing thunderously downhill producing this spectacular after effect which left an almost mist like cloud.