Whoever was at the gate was certainly impatiently. Aden quickly put on a grey hoodie and a pair of tekkies before taking the stairs two by two.
The cold night air smacked him in the face but he was too shocked to care. The sight in front of him made him freeze on the spot.
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
"Where are you, chomma? You've totally ruined my surprise." Zoë murmured to herself while waiting in the corridor outside Aïda's flat.
She had been tried to get hold of Aïda but to no avail. All the calls went straight to voicemail.
She had been waiting for her friend for nearly an hour, after returning from Tuis Kombuis and finding out that Aïda had taken the afternoon and night off, to go to a rugby match. She had called Aïda later on and found out that she was out eating with some friends. Of cause, she did not reveal to Aïda that she was in the Mother City.
Hanging out in a corridor in the middle of the night all by yourself is not a nice situation.
She tried calling her chomma again, for the umpteenth time in about an hour.
"Please answer!"
"The number you have dialled-"
"Argh! Damn!" Zoë nearly threw her phone down.
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
"Good evening sir, we're looking for a Mr. Aden van den Heever."
Aden looked at the two police officers in front of him. One male and one female. The man was the one speaking. Aden was frozen to the spot.
"Sir, are you okay?" The male officer said.
"Why are you here?"
"We're here to see Mr van den-" Aden cut him off.
"I am he. Erm... again, why are you here? Did someone...die?"
"No. No. Not yet."
Aden gave the officer a quizzical look. He motioned for him to continue. He couldn't make a statement like that and say nothing, however, the officer seemed starstruck.
Aden cleared his throat, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well sit, we need your help in saving a life. I'm officer Justin Plaatjies and this is officer Najwa Dawood," they showed their identification to him, "we need your assistance."
"I don't understand."
"We'll inform you."
And that's what they did.
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
"Zoë! What are you doing here!" Aïda exclaimed upon seeing her bestie laying in front of her door.
Zoë got up, "Well I wanted to surprise you but the surprise was on me: you apparently got a life while I was gone."
The friends hugged each other.
"Oh come on. An evening out is not that exciting more importantly, are you back for good?"
"Unfortunately, I mean fortunately,no. Although it's also unfortunate because, we'll, I missed you but I love Gauteng."
"So I've been thrown aside now."
"Of cause, chomma."
"It's okay, Zoë. I understand."
"Chomma, I love you but please open the door. It's already way past one and I'm freezing out here."
"Okay. Okay." Aïda dishes her keyes out of her bags and the two went inside the flat.
"Far how long are you visiting?"
"I have to be back in Johannesburg by Tuesday. We should have a coffee date tomorrow well, today, don't you think?"
"I'd love that."
"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude on your work."
"Zoë, I want nothing more than to hang out with my bestie. Okay? I need some normalcy in my life."
"Ah! So I go away and suddenly I'm normal. Please don't insult me like that." Zoë teased.
"That could never happen. You will never be normal or average. Crazy woman." Aïda retorted.
The two showered, brushed their teeth and got in bed.
As Zoë soft shores filled the room, Aïda pondered on the night's events.
She had finally switched on her phone and their were several missed calls from Aden and the Harmses. Aden's last call was not too long after she left his place but Johanie had called her only a few minutes prior. She decided to send her a text staying that she was safe at home. Johanie back text stating that she was happy to hear that and that they'll talk.
Aïda did not want to talk. Especially not about Aden however, her mind kept going back to what Tiffany said. We'll Tiffany said alot but, the part that made Aïda's heart slip a beat was the part about him dumping Tiffany, at Christmas. So he's been single all this time and what was it about the jersey? Maybe Burton will know. On the other hand, if she ask Burton he'll definitely be curious about her and Aden. What will she tell him? Aden had always only left her with questions. Just when she thought that she had their relationship/ situation figured out, he left her broken.
Just like that fateful afternoon in high school all those years ago.
*Flashback Starts*
"Miss Völlenhoven, may I see you in my office ? It will only take a few minutes."
"Erm...yes Miss Engelbrecht."
"Good. Follow me and don't worry you did nothing wrong."
Aïda only smiled at the principal. Miss Engelbrecht seemed really tough and ruthless to those who didn't know her or to unruly students but Aïda, being a top student knew she was quite a softie.
Aïda followed the principal but her mind was on her best friend Aden. He had asked her to meet her at their favourite eating place, after school. What could be better then hanging out at your favourite fast-food joint on a Friday afternoon. It was opposite the school and had the best gatsbys in town. In fact, both Aden and Aïda swore it was the best in the Cape.
Aden had asked her to meet him their after school and the ball had already rung ten minutes earlier so, Aïda was in a hurry. Her Afrikaans teacher had kept the class behind.
Anyway, Aden told her that he had something really important to tell her and that "hopefully their relationship will be even better after the talk". Those were his words. To top it off some girls in her class were telling her how lucky she was to have so much power over Aden. Apparently he was putty in her hands. They even want as far as calling her Mrs van den Heever. Most of Aden's mates called her that as well.
It had been two weeks since she saw Aden and the redhead girl. Initially she had planned to and their friendship but when she saw Aden that Monday morning she changed her mind. Aden had bough her a bouquet of tulips ( which he gave infront of other students) and apologised for his distant behaviour. She could not ignore those puppy eyes especially with those enlarged pupils. He looked at her as if she was the only girl in the world.
When Aïda entered the principal's their were students from all grades: 8-12. Five from each grade. The principal had assembled all of them to discuss the upcoming interprovincial sports competition. Actually it was a track and field day. They had to teach sports anthems and dances to the kids at assembly every morning untill the competition.
Aïda couldn't believe her luck instead of being with Aden she had been enlisted to be a mascot. Seriously.
The meeting was about forty five minutes because, Ms Engelbrecht had actually brought along a CD for them to listen to. She bragged about how their school had the best anthems every year. Aïda was beyond irritated but every time she or one of the other students tried to leave she'd ask for "only five more minutes".
She was certain that Aden had no idea about her whereabouts. What it he thought that she had rejected him? She could never do that to him. Yes, she saw him with another girl but she was certain that there was another explanation. The girl must've been his cousin or something.
The meeting wad finally over but just as Aïda was about to leave the building, she remembered about some notes that she had forgotten in the science block. She was hoped that Ms Cloete was still in class or at the very least that the caretaker was still around.
She was nearing the first classroom in that block, when she heard her name. It was coming from inside the room. The door was slightly ajar, so she stood still and listened.
"Aden, this madness had to end. You've had your fun with her, now move on. She will be a stain on our family's lineage." Aïda recognized that voice it was Aden's cousin, Craig.
Who were they talking about. Why was Craig suddenly silent. Another second went by.
"She's not our type. Yes, we might all be coloured but she is a different kind. We're of mostly European and Asian ancestry but she is mostly African. We want to eliminate that from our DNA. None of our family look anything like her. End this silly game immediately, Aden. Before it goes too far."
Realization hid: Craig was talking about her.
Laughter erupted inside the room. A cold, guttural sound. Did he find this amusing? Aden interrupted her though process.
"You're right, Craig. I'm ending this silly game today."
Aïda was too shocked to confront them so she choose to leave, quitely. She did not want to hear another word from them. Those idiots but...but she had been the biggest idiot.
How had she ever thought that Aden was worthy of her affections or time. He gave off player gives from the start. He toyed with her like a cat does with a mouse. She hated herself for being so stupid.
She has to forgive him but, she swore to never forget.
*End Of Flashback*
Aïda's tears were rolling on her pillow. She wiped with the back of her hands as quietly as she could. She did not want to wake Zoë.
Aïda had only finished the first quarter at that school and went to boarding school where she had met Zoë. She left school that afternoon and went straight home. She called her dad and told him about her desire to head his advice and go to the best boarding school in the province. He was delighted. When Aden met her outside outside the school premises the following Monday morning, She told him that she never wanted to see or speak to him again. If cause, he was too shocked to ask any questions so she continues with her verbal assault (which was actually a defence) and told him that she only used him for his mathematical knowledge. He was the top mathematics student in his grade, in fact, in the entire school. He looked hurt but Aïda did not care. She would not fall for his acting ever again.
"Aïda are you still awake?"
"I was just about to fall asleep, Zoë. Go back to sleep. Okay?"
"Okay but, you too. Love you, chomma."
"Love you."
Minutes later Aïda fell into a deep sleep, grateful for her one true friend presence in her dark and messed up life.
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
The next morning Aïda and Zoë went to their favourite coffee shop. It was qaint café on the first floor of ab office building. They had cutest cupcakes so they both ordered two each and a cappuccino for Aïda, while Zoë ordered an Americano.
"So do you want to talk about it?"
"About what?"
"About what happened last night."
Aïda almost choked on her redvelvet cupcake.
That Burton! He couldn't keep his trap shut for one day. She felt like strangling him.
"Aïda?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you going to talk me why you were struggling to sleep last night? Is that a normal thing? Or were you do excited to have me back that you couldn't sleep. I think that's it."
Sorry Burton you were wrongly accused. Aïda smiled.
"You wish! No. I was afraid I'd have nightmares about rugby. It was probably what that other team was doing last night."
"On yes, our boys slaughtered them and you saw it all from the VIP booth. Nice."
Aïda was happy that Zoë took the bait. She did not want to talk the previous day. She knew it would not be long before Zoë talked about all the "hotties" (as Zoë referred to them) in both teams.
The conversation was flowing and so was the hot beverage. Yes, you can never have just one coffee or two cupcakes. Both of them had one more coffee and several more cupcakes. They even ordered a brunch meal which was really only breakfast.
They left past midday when both left for Aida's flat.
Throughout the entire morning Aïda felt like someone was watching her but when she scanned around, she saw nothing suspicious.
She was not wrong though, someone had been watching her.