Lost in Wanderlust

6. The First Day

I couldn't believe what I saw. My eyes popped out seeing a gorgeous red convertible Beatle! This has to be one of the best moments in my life. I've always been very fond of cars. The beauty, the ease, the comfort of a car is what makes it so lovable. I have my own silver Volkswagen and I treat it like my baby. But of course we couldn't drive in that till South Africa. So we thought we'll rent a car here for a month. Aria said she'll book the car but she didn't tell us which car she booked. Looking at this beautiful red Beatle, I thought she did the best thing!

"Wow Aria. You booked this car? It's such a beauty!" I was checking out the car. I looked at the car from all the possible angles I could. The cream and peach seats were just on point and complemented the red colour of the car. This car was all that we needed.

For about 30 minutes, all three of us were checking out the car. The seats, the music player, the outer look of the car, the tyres (yes, we didn't even leave tyres), everything was just perfect. This car was perfect.

As I loved the car, I wanted to drive it. I couldn't control myself from driving this beauty. As we were tired of the 22 hours long journey, we  checked-in in a hotel that was close to the airport. Our first day in Johannesburg included spending the whole day in our hotel and giving ourselves a break from from all the traveling.

As I drove to the hotel, Jen was fast asleep in the backseat of the car. Aria was just enjoying the view. And I was enjoying driving the Beatle. It was really quite in our car. Seems we all are tired and just want some silence now. We enjoyed silence. There's this thing about silence that just makes you feel calm and relaxed. And that's why whenever I am mad or annoyed, I just don't talk. I read a book or just climb up to my roof and sit there looking around me. It makes me calm and relaxed.

I didn't have any problem reaching to the hotel as the car had inbuilt map feature. The hotel we were staying in was 'The Protea Hotel'. We had booked one deluxe room which could accommodate 3 people. 

When we arrived at the hotel, Aria asked if we should wake Jen up or just carry her. Jen was small in size. But we had no energy even to carry our own bags! We decided to wake her up.

"Jen, wake up. We've reached." I tried to wake her up.

She opened her eyes slowly "We've reached already?"

"Yes Jen. Come on, get up. We're checking in." Aria answered.

We walked to the hotel reception lazily and took our room key. The helpers took our bags to the room. It was a great room. We each had our own beds. As soon as we reached our room, we took a shower one by one because the room had only one bathroom. We had some lasagna and Mexican rolls. We then jumped to our own beds and drifted to sleep.

****

I was having a sweet peaceful sleep when a doorbell made me wake up. I lazily got off the bed and opened the door. It was the housekeeping. I let him in and waited till he cleaned everything. After some 20 minutes, he left and I went back to my bed. But I couldn't sleep. I lay there awake staring at ceiling. 'Urrghh. I can't lay here staring anymore' I thought. I got up and changed into jeans and a plain shirt. It was 7 in the evening. I left a note for Aria and Jen in which  I stated that I'm going for a walk around the vicinity. I took my phone and sling bag and left the room.

Our room was on the 5th floor of the hotel. I took the stairs to go downstairs. It's sometimes good to climb down the stairs. The ground floor of the hotel had really nice interiors and beautiful paintings. I was exploring the paintings when I heard a voice behind me. "Having a good time ma'am?" It was the manager of the hotel, Michael. I saw his name on the badge that he was wearing.

"Oh yeah. The paintings are beautiful." I smiled.

"Thank you so much ma'am. If you need anything, just let us know." He offered.

I thought it would be better to ask him about the vicinity. "Uh, can you please tell me if there are any good places to visit close to the hotel?"

"Oh yes. Sure. There's this museum just three blocks away and there's also an eatery where you get delicious country food." He replied.

"That's great. Thank you so much."

And with that I left. I was having a hard time deciding if I should go to the museum first or the eatery? Hmm, I won't like to eat without those two idiots so let's go to the museum. I had a physical map with me of the city. So reaching the museum wasn't difficult.

I entered the museum. It was small and really old. There were just a few tourists in there. It was a local museum which had some nice paintings and antiques and it mostly had the cultural things that the people here in South Africa use for performing a cultural dance. I came across a costume of the ancient tribals of South Africa. They were made up out of tree branches and leaves.

I also saw an instrument which looked like drums. The only difference was that these drums were played by bare hands and not sticks. They also allowed me to try it and when I was trying that instrument, I heard my phone ring. It was Aria.

"Yes Aria. Tell me." I answered the call.

She screamed through the phone "Where the hell are you?"

"I left a note saying I'm going out for a walk. Didn't you see that?" I frowned.

"Forget that thing Sofia. Just come to back as soon as possible. Jen is not waking up. I don't know what to do." She sounded worried.

"Just try splashing some water..."

"I have tried everything Sofia but she's not even moving a muscle. Please just come soon. I am really worried."

"Oh damn. I'm coming Aria. Just don't panic okay? I'm coming."

I rushed out of the museum and made a run for the hotel. My heart was pounding real fast. I was scared to death. What if something happened to Jen? What will I say to her parents?

With all these questions coming up in my head, I reached the hotel. I took the elevator and knocked at our room door. I was breathing heavily.
The door opened.
"Aria, where's...." I stopped when I saw that Jen opened the door. What the hell is this?
Before I could try to figure our what was happening, I saw Aria coming from Jen's back and they both started laughing.
I had my eyes and mouth wide open.

"What the fuck is this?" I said frowning.

"Oh, nothing. We just wanted you back in the room that's why we made this up." Jen answered.

"Jen, are you crazy? Do you have any idea how worried I was? This time you went way too far. And Aria? I thought you never took part in any pranks?" I was mad at them.

"Look Sofia, I'm really sorry but we both were missing you and Jen convinced me to do this." Aria said sheepishly and pointing at Jen.

I sighed, "what shall I do with you bitches?"

"Look who's talking. The bitch herself." Jen and Aria laughed and I joined them.

These girls were really something I cannot describe! But they are the best thing happened to me in my life.

We had our dinner and slept. We had to get up early tomorrow morning and continue with our trip. We were going to explore the Panorama Route tomorrow and were going stay at Hazyview town for two nights. 'Goodnight' I smiled to myself.

****

A/N
So this was their first day in Johannesburg.
Time for some adventure now.
Stay tuned for it and wait for the next chapter!
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