Chapter 22: Abducted part 2
Few days have passed since Sbu had gone to see his wife and its seems they may manage to fix things in their marriage after all as he had accepted Buhle's invitation to have dinner with them. This is so much of a relief to him as he can't imagine being divorced by the woman he loves very much.Even though there's progress as far as his marriage is concerned, he still has another bridge to mend as far as his friendship with Tsepo is concerned. He hadn't spoken to him since the day Tsepo confronted him about Grace. He misses his friend but he realizes how much he messed up the friendship with him and he understands just how much it will take to make things right again. So today he's come to his friend to try and make things and he is not under elusion that things will go smooth between them.
"Thank you my friend for agreeing to see me and I know I'm the last person you'd want to see. But I really wanted to just come and make things right with you Tsepo, I miss our friendship and..." Sbu who sits opposite his friend says but he's cut off by an annoyed looking Tsepo who says, "But whose fault it is that we are in this state, you and I?" as he looks away to try and avoid eye contact but Sbu also cuts him off, "Look man, I know it's my fault" he says. "I screwed up big time. I was vulnerable that night and I don't know what got into me. It's not an excuse though, I shouldn't have done what I did and I'm really sorry about that" as he looks down in shame.
"Look man, I can't promise you that things will immediately go back to normal, not after that thing you pulled. But I'm willing to try and fix things with you and our friendship, baby steps" Tsepo says as he looks into his friend's eyes. Even this gives hope for Sbu as he smiles to his friend.
"Uhmm, thanks man. It's a real relief to hear you say that. Thank you" Sbu says with a half nervous smile as he tries to re-establish eye contact with his friend. "I promise man, I will work very hard to restore and regain your trust" as he breathes a sigh of relief. "It's okay man, baby steps okay?" Tsepo says to which seems to burst Sbu's bubble a little bit who looks down again in shame. "But, here's another news that I think I should tell you" Tsepo continues. "Uhmm…I proposed to Grace and she said yes. So we are getting married" as his face lit up with excitement and a wild smile, looking at his friend. "What? Oh wow man, congratulations man..." Sbu says with a bright face of excitement himself as he stands up to invite his friend for a hug.
Tsepo stands up too as he accepts the invitation and they hug for about 3 seconds or so. "Thanks a lot man, yeah I'm very excited" Tsepo says as they break the hug. "Grace is a really great woman man, she's going to make you happy" Sbu says as he sits down. "Yeah I know man, I know" Tsepo says as he goes over to the fridge and takes out to beers. He gives one to his friend as they lift them up before taking a sip. From there they sit in the lounging talking for a while, as they enjoy a cold one.
***
While Tsepo is hosting his friend Sbu in the house, his now fiancé Grace is meeting her best friend Lumka at a restaurant. There is an air of excitement in this environment as Grace can't seem to stop smiling, at almost nothing at all but even just people passing by. They are seated outside on the balcony of this beautiful restaurant close to the beach. Both dressed in sexy summer dresses, enjoying the sea breeze of the Friday afternoon the girls are sipping on their favorite cocktails.
"Alright, I have had it with you" Lumka says as she smiles at her seemingly smitten friend. "You have been greening at every person passing here, girl. And dare I say that I can't help but the glow on your face. What's going on with you my friend? Oh my gosh, are you guys finally pregnant?" she screams in excitement as she holds her mouth, looking around to see if anyone heard her.
"What? Are you crazy" Grace shouts back as she looks around looking to see if anyone is eavesdropping. "Hahaha don't be ridiculous my friend, I'm not pregnant. You are so silly" she continues as she blushes at this but Lumka just looks at hear with a raised eyebrow “Spill friend, spill" she says with a curious smile. Grace gives a sigh as if to say Alright I give up. She comes closer to her friend and leans forward, "Well, so you say I'm glowing, huh?" she asks with a smile. "Is that the only thing you have noticed?" she says looking away with a naughty smile, which seems to confuse her friend who is clearly oblivious. But Grace decides to give her friend another few seconds to see if she can't figure anything out. It doesn't seem to work out.
“Oh my gosh, I've been flipping my hands all over since we sat down here Lumka. You are definitely blind as a bet, hahaha" Grace says as she burst out laughing. "Oh my God, my friend" Lumka screams out of nowhere as she finally notices a big diamond rock on her friend's finger. "You guys are engaged?" she screams again.
At that, Grace flips her ring on her friend's face as she smiles wide in excitement. "Yeah my friend, I'm now a soon to be, hahaha" she says as she burst out laughing. Lumka screams in excitement again as she comes over to hug her friend. suddenly this gets the attention of people sitting in tables around theirs. "My friend is getting married ya’ll. " Lumka shouts across the balcony to the applause of everyone. This makes Grace blush but she knows there's no stopping her friend now, who seems more excited than she is. They then go back to sit down. "So when did all this happen my friend?" Lumka whose eyes have brightened asks as she sips on her cocktail.
"Well, not so long ago actually" Grace responds as she takes a sip of her Long Island cocktail. "Honestly, it is not what i expected hey. I mean I'm over the moon, I really am. But I didn't think it would happen so soon, you know and..." she doesn't finish her thought as her friend cuts her off, "My friend, let me ask you something" Lumka says.
"Is this what you want? I mean, you want to marry Tsepo?" she asks curiously. "My friend, how can you ask me that?" Grace cuts in with a surprised face. "Of course I want to marry Tsepo. I'm really excited about this. It's just that..." she pauses for a second as if to think what to say next. "I'm not sure if I'm good enough of this guy, you know" she says with a voice that suddenly sounds sad. "Friend, Tsepo is such a good guy. He is very considerate and kind. Contrary to what is known of rich boys, he is well mannered and well behaved. He is faithful and honest to me. He is very generous and understanding and I don't think..." she once again doesn't finish as her friend interrupts her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold it right there my friend" Lumka says,
"Look, all these things you are saying about Tsepo are exactly who you are my friend. You are the sweetest person I know, the kindest. Just like your Tsepo, you are also considerate, kind, loving and sweet. Tsepo would be so lucky to have you as his wife. Please, never doubt that my friend, okay" Lumka says as she brushes her friend's shoulder which suddenly brings a teary smile to Grace.
Timing couldn't have been perfect as the waiter brings them their meal. It was beginning to get soapy over here. So they decide to have more drinks to celebrate Grace's engagement and discuss ideas of what the wedding will look like. Lumka seems to be more excited than the fiancé herself.
***
Somewhere else, Katlego had come to see Jabu at his apartment. While Jabu has let it sink in that he now has a little daughter with Katlego, things are still a little awkward between them since they are not a couple, let alone dating. Jabu has a thing for Katlego and he'd love to at least date her but
what complicates things for him is that she was involved with his best friend. Maybe out of moral obligation he feels it may not be a good idea to pursue his friend's ex-mistress. The best thing he can
do right now, he thinks, is to try and establish a good friendship with the mother of his daughter, Ndlovukazi.
As for Katlego, this can't be easy for her as well. From the day she learnt of the pregnancy she's been trying to turn her life around and channel all her energy into her career and raising her daughter in Cape Town. For her she knows it will be hard to earn the trust of her friends whom she hasn't been in contact with since this whole thing with Sbu blew up in the open. But she wants to make sure her daughter knows her father and at the back of her head she knows it's better that Jabu instead of Sbu eventually became the father. It made things less complicated for her. But every time she thinks about this predicament she is suddenly filled with shame, sadness and regrets.
"So you are leaving on Sunday huh?" Jabu asks as he holds in his hands the tiny Ndlovukazi who is wrapped in a cute pink and soft blanket. She's is sleeping peacefully and Jabu can't help melt in his eyes as he watches her. Look at those cute little hands, he thinks to himself as he squeezes a little tighter. He is so tempted to wake her up so that he can witness the dark brown eyes and the cute frown.
"Can't you stay a little longer? I mean I didn't even get to see this one awake." He says with a sad face looking at her tiny daughter. But this brings a little smile to Katlego who is just happy that there's now less awkwardness between her and Jabu. "No, I'm sorry I can't stay any longer" she says looking at her daughter. "I have a busy couple of weeks in Cape Town before I go back to work. I have to sort a few things out first before my first day. You know if I could I'd have stayed a little longer" she tries to console a sad looking Jabu. "But you know, maybe if you could take a week off from work and come down to Cape Town for a visit, if that's not too much" she says as she pulls away from eye contact, perhaps a little embarrassed by how this may come out as.
But this seems to brighten Jabu's eyes who jumps in, "Oh really? Yeah I mean I can do that I suppose" he says with a smile to which Katlego returns. "I will make arrangements to try and see which Hotels are available that side and let you know when all is set" he says as he turns his eyes back on his daughter who is sound asleep.
"Oh well, if you don't mind, you can stay at my place. It's a big enough apartment, I'm sure there's enough space for the three of us" Katlego says with a nervous smile as she looks down, avoiding eye contact. This takes Jabu by surprise as he really didn't expect it and at least for a moment he seems lost out of words. But when Katlego realizes that Jabu seems caught off guard, she quickly jumps in, "Oh no I meant you know, Hotels are expensive in Cape Town. Since you'll be there for a week, won't that be heavy on your pockets?" as she tries to read the baby daddy. "But what am I thinking?
Of course you're a hot shot attorney, that can't be too much on you" she smiles nervously to avoid awkwardness but Jabu jumps in immediately, "Oh no, yeah I think that would be great thank you for offering. It will give me enough time to be next to this one here" he says as he looks down on his daughter.
"Okay, great" Katlego says with a smile. "You let me know once you're ready to come down, okay?" she says with a low voice but Jabu just nods as he smiles back at her. What follows after is a little silence as it seems both of them don't know what to say to each other next.
"Uhmm, so how's Sbu doing?" Katlego asks as she breaks the silence. But this catches Jabu by surprise as he really wasn't ready for it. "I know that seems appropriate to asks but I thought that..."
Katlego continues but she doesn't finish as Jabu cuts her off, "Oh no, it's okay" he says with a low voice as he avoids eye contact. "Uhmm, we haven't spoken in the last few days but I think he's okay.
He's probably trying to work things out with his wife you know, to try and fix their marriage..." he says as he looks away awkwardly but Katlego immediately jumps in, "The marriage I wrecked, huh?" she says with a sad voice and a regretful face but Jabu doesn't know what to say about that.
"Look, I'm trying to fix my life Jabu" she says trying to get him to make eye contact. "I know I ruined many lives and I'm not delusional about that. I ruined, Buhle's life, Sbu's and yours. I lost my friends...Honestly I cannot blame anyone for all that. I did this to myself and I have to own up to it" she says looking down in sadness.
"But this little one over here" as she lifts her head to look at her sleeping daughter who is in the arms of Jabu, "I believe a second chance at redemption was given to me Jabu and I'm not intending on letting that chance go" now she starts to get teary.
"Me moving to Cape Town affords me a chance to start afresh and give me time to reevaluate what's important to me. I don't know what the future holds but I really hope that one day when I come back here things would be much better. I hope one day, Buhle and Sbu...my friends will find it in their hearts to forgive me for what I did. And I really hope you will too" as she wipes her tears. She is looking really sad and regretful.
Jabu puts the child in her sit and then comes over to sit next to Katlego to try and console her. "Oh no Katli, I have forgiven you a long time ago" he says as he brushes her back gently. "And I should thank you for giving me this beautiful gift" as he looks over to the baby sit their daughter is peacefully sleeping in.
This seems to brighten Katlego's mood a bit as she can't help but smile with a little blush over that.
"Well, under very weird circumstances I might add" she says, seemingly embarrassed by that. "But
honestly, I'm happy she's your daughter. And i really do hope that you and I will eventually get
better and get over what happened in the past. And I promise that I will never shut you out of your daughter's life. My place in Cape Town is your home whenever you come down there" she says as she smiles with a blush. "Well my place is your home too whenever you come this side" Jabu says as he jumps right in. "Thanks to this little one, we are a family now and we should look out foe each other" as he looks at the baby, which draws a smile from Katlego.
***
Somewhere else Buhle is hosting her friends, Lindiwe and Lerato for lunch in her beautiful apartment. They don't hang out a lot these days as every one of them seems to be dealing with some drama in their lives. For Buhle, even though she may not show it Buhle, it's a bit of relief to know that Katlego's baby isn't her husband's. She feels there may be a chance to work things out with Sbu because deep down she still very much loves her husband. But as for Katlego, she doesn't think there's ever a chance in hell they'd ever rebuild the bridge of trust that Katlego destroyed.
As for Lerato, things haven’t been easy for her as well. Ever since the kidnapping of Ndoda her man, she hasn't really been the same. Ndoda found her a new place to stay in for a while to keep her safe while he himself has left the country in fear of his life. If only Ndoda knew that she would be out here in the open with her friends but Lerato is tired of feeling like a prisoner in the apartment so she decided to hang out with her friends.
Things have not been going well for Lindiwe since she's going through divorce. Things have been really tense between her and Bheki as both are fighting for what they think they are entitled from this divorce. She really hasn't had time for her friends lately. Most of the time she spends at her business to try and ensure that Bheki doesn't get his hands on any shares in it. She is struggling a little bit to deal with most of this because she feels like an accomplice in most of Bheki's business deals.
"Well, thank you for being the only one here with some sense to remember that we haven't been hanging out lately Buhle, hahaha. Thank you for the invitation babe" Lindiwe says as she jokes to her friend who is sitting opposite her in this beautiful dinning area. They are having supper and lots of wine as Buhle had cooked for her friends out of excitement of hanging out with them after a long time. "Well, I really missed you guys a lot. I know we are all busy with stuff in our lives but I thought maybe we could do with shoulders to cry on girls" Buhle says as she looks at her friends with a smile. "So I'm really happy that we are all here, we have a lot to catch up on guys" as she lifts her glass of wine.
"Well, what's going on with you, doctor? What have you been up to?" Lindiwe asks curiously as she sips on her dry red. This leads to all the ladies to pay attention as they want to know as well. Buhle takes as second to think as if she's not sure if she really wants to discuss this with her friends.
"Well, uhmm nothing much really guys" she says with a low voice. "I mean, Sbu and I are trying to fix things. As you know now that Katlego's baby turned out to be Jabu's afterall, so we are trying to see if we can't rebuild what's been damaged" as she takes a huge sip of her wine. But she can see that her friends aren't saying anything but are just looking at her without showing much emotions. "No guys, please don't look at me like that okay?" she says but Lerato jumps in as she cuts her off, "So after all that he did..." she asks but Buhle cuts right back in, "Sbu is not the only one who messed up here, I did too" she says. "My struggle was with the fact that she impregnated my best friend, which eventually turned out not to be it"
Lindiwe decides to cuts in as well, "Exactly what we are saying friend," she says. "Sbu had an affair with your best friend, how can you take him back?" she asks curiously but Lerato jumps in again, "And if you can forgive Sbu, does that mean you will forgive Katlego as well?" she asks, much to Buhle's annoyance. She really didn't expect that question from her friends.
"Guys come on" she says as she opens her eyes wide. "It would be different if Katlego's baby ended up being Sbu's. I don’t think I'd have been able to forgive him. And no Lerato, forgiving my husband for cheating is not the same thing as forgiving my best friend for sleeping with my husband" as she looks at her friend. "Sbu is my husband. He did me wrong yes but I did him wrong too. I also cheated on him. I would be hypocritical of me to not try and work things out when I know I also did him wrong. But Katlego was my best friend. I never deserved that from her. What did I take that was hers? She broke our trust and I don't think I can ever be able to look past that guys" as her voice begins to sound sad and her eyes begin to be teary.
"Alright, my friend I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you okay?" Lerato says as she moves over to sit next to Buhle and gives her a gentle back rub. Buhle gives a half smile to her as she attempts to shrug off this sopie moment.
"And you? What's your story my friend?" Lindiwe asks Lerato, as she attempts to change the subject that was threatening to create tension in the room. "You know I came over by your place the other day and there was no one. I tried calling you but couldn't get hold of you. I got worried, is everything okay?" as she looks at Lerato who suddenly looks very uncomfortable at the question. "Uhmm, I'm not living at that place at the moment guys?" Lerato says as she looks down to avoid eye contact with her friends. "What do you mean you don't live there anymore? Why did you leave? Where are you staying now?" Buhle asks curiously as she is surprised at what her friend is saying.
"Guys I can't tell where I'm staying at the moment but..." Lerato says but she doesn't finish as Lindiwe cuts her off, "Why not? Is this about your boyfriend going missing?" she asks curiously. "Wait, what happened with Ndoda? Are you in any danger?" Buhle asks as she also jumps in looking for answers.
"Guys please, come on..." Lerato says as she raises her voice a little, clearly in frustration. "Can we please not talk about this now? I'm fine I'm not in any danger okay? And yes, Ndoda is fine too. I'm just renovating my place at the moment so I'm temporarily living in a different place" she says as she takes a huge sip of her glass, clearly trying to calm her nerves. "Okay enough about me" she continues, "What's going on with you Lindz?" as she turns to Lindiwe who is sitting on the sofa opposite her and Buhle. This question makes Lindiwe takes a minute to think. She really doesn't know how to respond to it but she sees that her friends are looking at her.
"Look guys, as you know that I'm going through a divorce, things haven't been easy for me" she says with a low, sad voice as she looks down. Her friends both move over to sit on either side of her to console their sad looking friend. "Uhmm, I'm sorry my friend I shouldn't have ask you know..." Lerato says as she gives Lindiwe a back rub but she cuts her off, "No, no, no my friend..." she says. "I'm okay. It's just that I thought it was going to be easy this thing but as it turns out it isn't. Bheki is not making it easy for me either. He wants my business and threatens me with destroying it if I don't offer him a stake in it" she says as she now becomes a little teary.
"Wait, what?" Lerato jumps in as she raises her voice in annoyance. "He wants a stake in your business? What the hell! Babe, you built that business by yourself, he has no claim on it" she says as her face changes to being upset now. "Yeah Lerato is right my friend" Buhle jumps in, "He can't just want to have a claim on the business you've so hard for. That greedy bastard" she's also upset as well.
But as Lindiwe attempts to respond, she's interrupted by a door bell. "Are you expecting someone?" she asks curiously looking at Buhle, who is hosting them. "Oh yeah, I didn't have Ice cream ladies so I ordered one" Buhle says as she blushes with a smile. "Let me get that" she says as she heads for the door. As Buhle goes for the door she is thinking in her mind, there's nothing like Ice Cream to defuse a little tension in the room. Man, things were getting a little sopie in here. As she opens the door, seeing in front of her a person wearing a balaclava with a gun pointed at her was the last thing she expected. Suddenly everything goes cold as she feels a chill down her spine.
Out of shock she can't open her mouth to utter a word, let alone scream. But she stares at the man with a pale face. She can't find her voice, her body has turned stiff that she can't seem to turn around and make a run for it. She is starring at the man right in the eyes but she can't see them, everything has turned blank and dark.
Suddenly she can feel sweat coming from her hair right down to her face. But that's not all, her palms too are sweaty. Her eyes are suddenly teary as it dawns on her that she is starring at death in the face. This is not how she'd pictured she will go. She had never asked herself before how death looks like but today it is uncovered.
This is death. This is it. It is the end for me, she thinks to herself.
The man signals by putting a finger to his mouth to say don't you make a sound. She can't even move her head to signal that she gets the message but she keeps dead quiet. The man in a covered face signals again with his hand that she must turn around and walk. Buhle turns around slowly and walks back inside the house.
At that moment Lindiwe and Lerato are expecting Buhle to come back with 2 liters of delight in vanilla Ice Cream but what comes through is a terrified looking Buhle followed a masked man with a gun. To say they were shocked is an understatement, they are terrified.
"Nobody moves and nobody screams, okay?" the man behind Buhle says as he looks behind him to once again signal with his head to which 3 more men with covered faces carrying guns show up. The girls at this point realize this is real, we are being taken away. "Get up. Stand over there" the mansays as he pushes Buhle to the corner. Lindiwe and Lerato hurry up and stand next to their friend. The other 3 men go in and inject them with something on their necks before covering their faces and carry them out the door.
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