I looked at a kneeling Bonga in shock, if it was back in high school, no doubt I would've jumped at the opportunity to be his girlfriend. But things were different now, we were both different people, my life had gotten over complicated and I was still hung up on a guy who didn't even seem bothered by my sudden disappearance while Bonga became more mature and grown up.
His smile perfectly reflected his good nature, his ability to be a good partner, and his assurance, it had me thinking, 'No doubt I would feel secure being with a guy like him', and he had already won my parents and best friend's approval. He was truly the perfect gentleman, exactly whom I should have been fighting to be with, I sighed deeply, 'So what is wrong with me?'. I finally got my jaws off the floor, and gathered my courage preparing to turn him down, my sad expression seemed to have given him a hint of what was coming.
I took both his hands and pleaded, "Bonga...please get up"
Bonga steadily stood up from the ground, his smile now faded and only disappointment remained in his eyes, "Okay, let's not date then, but let's go out for lunch tomorrow. As old high school friends", before I could give him my response, he awkwardly smiled, "I have embarrassed myself enough for one day, at least I should try to save face."
Seeing the pitiful look on his face, my heart was instantly overwhelmed with guilt, Bonga was not a bad guy, but my heart could not let me lead him on, I nervously nodded, "Okay, lunch tomorrow. I can do that, besides, I have to eat right?",
Bonga smiled in approval, "Yes, exactly,".
We stayed for a while in awkward silence just gazing at the stars, I found my mind wandering back to the night I once spent with Walter, it was just as peaceful and silent as this one, well, with less tension. Looking back, everything seemed to fit with him. 'I wonder what he's up to?', I let out another deep sigh, alarming Bonga, "Uh-oh, there is that deep sigh again, what is eating you Thandie?"
I hurriedly replied, "Nothing, maybe we should go back inside...", with that, we went back inside the house.
Sandra's parents had already gone back without her, and my dad went to sleep. Bonga didn't waste time as well, he bided his goodbyes, and I walked him out to the gate.
The moment I stepped foot back into the house, my mother and Sandra attacked me with questions,
"He had a long face, did you turn him down?" Sandra asked unbothered while leaking a brown saucy spoon,
My attention was quickly drawn to that spoon in her hand, "Yeew! What is that?",
"Oh, this? this is your mother's chocolate sauce, damn! your mother is the bomb in the kitchen, I wonder what happened to you.", she said giving me a scrutinizing look,
I walked to the couch where my mom was seated with a half chocolate cake, I took a piece, "You know, you win some, you lose my friend", I said in response to Sandra's scrutiny. The cake deliciously melted in my mouth, and the sauce tied it all together, "Hmm Mom, your bakery is wow!",
"Thank you. You know, you can come back and run it, you don't have to go back to that place of yours and face that..."
I didn't wait for my mom to finish her sentence, I gave her a look of disapproval, "Mother, not this again." Ever since the articles and the posts, my mom had been begging me to stay at home and take over her bakery, she was concerned about Walter more than anything,
"I know you said no, but honey, how will I take care of you if-"...
Sandra rushed over with a bottle of wine and three glasses, "No, No, Aunty, you are all off topic, we need an update on Bonga....what happened out there?", Sandra asked changing the subject, which my mom approved, "Yes, Bonga..."
My mood instantly dampened, "Uhm he confessed and I kind of said no." just thinking about his face alone made my heart sink, 'There must be something wrong with me?' and it turns out I was not the only one thinking that,
"Thandie! Please don't tell me is because of Walter?", Sandra asked in annoyance
"Sandra, I need to heal, I can't jus-"
Sandra snapped, "No...no, Thandie, no, that guy does not deserve all the space you are giving him in your head and your heart. He-"
My mom gently held Sandra's hand, and shook her head in discontent, then turned her attention to me, in a soft voice, she said "Honey, you must have really liked him, and the fact that you kind of chose to turn Bonga down (whatever that means), shows that you are a gentle person. Take your time...."
Sandra and I both looked at her in shock, 'Wasn't she the one pushing me to date?'
"Don't look at me like that, I was selfish for pushing you to move on, I underestimated your feelings for this guy. I am going to stop now, as I promised, I will let you heal at your own pace. I was wrong to push you, it was just hard for me to watch you hurt the way you did, I just wanted to fasten the process, but it was wrong of me, no, wrong of us. Right?" My mom turned to Sandra, expecting her to add to her statement,
Sandra immediately shut that idea down, "What? Aunty, don't look at me, I don-",
But my mom gave her an even more stern look, "Ahem!", she cleared her throat, making Sandra cave, "Fine Aunty! Thandie, I was wrong for forcing you to move on, but he is a jerk and he doesn't deserve-"
I threw my arms around both their necks, and my eyes became teary, "I know why you guys are doing this, I am really happy to have you on my corner." I had two people fighting by my side, feeling emotions I could only wish to feel, 'Surely there is something wrong with me.', the tears kept trinkling down my cheeks, I was even more annoyed at myself for still thinking about him and not being able to stick to my resolve.
The two of them comforted me, and we continued to chat while indulging in my mom's cake, the conversation became lighter leading to a more lighter mood. We talked throughout the night, infact, we fell asleep right in the sitting area like a bunch of sleepover high school girls.
The next day, as promised, I met Bonga for lunch at Central Mall. I found him sitting at Le Petite, the most expensive Italian restaurant in the whole of Silverton. Only A-listers dined there, worse, I only found out we were dining there on my way to the mall which didn't give me the chance to put on my best outfit. I had on simple blue skinny jeans paired with a white tank top and black block boots, I also brought my black leather jacket, and I let my box braids hang loose. I was about to approach one of the waiters who were welcoming people at the door, but luckily for me, Bonga saw me first and he waved me over to where he was seated, I wore a smile as I approached his table.
"Wow, you look amazing," he pecked my cheek which caught me off guard,
I giggled to hide the awkwardness "Oh, Uhm, thank you. I feel underdressed though, I thought we were going for something simple-",
Bonga chuckled, "What? Simple? This is our first date, hopefully not our last...so-"
I noticed that he was awfully too nervous, he couldn't even sit still, but I just brushed it off and blamed the events of the previous night, "Bonga, Date? uhm-",
"Kidding, is just lunch..", he said, "I promise, lunch. Waiter!", he waved at a guy, and directed him to bring out the order, 'Did he order for me?', I thought in confusion. In no time, the waiter brought two glasses of wine and a bottle of red wine.
The moment the waiter shifted, I decided to give him a proper response hoping to calm some of his nerves and clear any confusion, "Bonga I can't date right now, I just recently got out of a complicated rel-"
He took a deep breath, then looked at me, "Walter right? That was his name?" Bonga cut me off, surprising me, I never talked about Walter with him,
I widened my eyes in curiosity and with a bit of annoyance, I asked, "How do you know about that?"
He went from being a nerve wreck to being the calmest in a matter of a split seconds, he was still looking directly at me, more like his eyes were looking past me "Your mother filled me in and I did the rest of the research",
I was speechless, and disappointed, the only right response I could find was, "Oh", I gulped down the wine in annoyance, and poured a second one, while listening to Bonga go on about Walter.
His attention was still fixed on my direction and his stare was starting to make me feel unsettled, I took a second sip. Bonga snapped, "I must say, he is a serious piece of work. A jerk!",
"Oh...am I?", A voice came from behind me making me choke on my drink,
"Walter?", I said quietly in disbelief.