"You've got to find yourself first. Everything else'll follow"
-Charles de Lint
"Honey, we need to talk" my mother said sitting down on my bed. Her face was make-up free and she was wearing a silk nightgown. Her face was wrinkle-free and she had a small smile plastered on it.
I placed my newest read on my nightstand: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
"I don't think I did anything wrong..."
"Oh no, you did nothing wrong. I just wanted to come and apologize again"
It's been a week since the incident but my mother apologises every day and promises to try and make it up to me. I smiled at her and grabbed her soft hands.
"It's okay mom, you can stop apologizing now"
I made space for her and she came closer until she placed my head on her chest. I listened to her heartbeat and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"I invited your friends over, tonight. I want to get to know them" she said placing a kiss on my head.
"You know that you don't have to, right?"
"I don't have to but I want to, truth be told I never liked Peter but I did know that you were safe with him" she spoke softly.
"What about Dad, does he make you feel safe?" I asked as I tilted my head a bit so I can get a look at her face.
"He does. I love him a lot, I don't think he knows how much I appreciate him"
"I do" a voice said. We both tore apart and stared at the figure in the door. Dad was watching the whole exchange with a smile on my face.
"When my girls are happy, I am happy" he said walking towards us as he gave me a kiss on my forehead and my mother, a peck on her lips.
"I came to call you guys, the movie started five minutes ago" my dad said as he broke the comfortable silence and exited the door.
I stood up and wore my slippers with my mother still in my room.
"I love you baby" she said hugging me.
"I love you more"
We walked hand in hand and sat on the couch as all of us watched: Lemony Snicketts; a series of unfortunate events.
Now this is exactly what I wanted.
▪●▪●▪●▪
A knock was heard on the door and my anxiety was growing, turns out it was only the pizza guy. My mother tipped him off and took the 6 boxes of pizza he had in hand.
"Have a lovely night,"she said before she closed the door.
"I have some big news to announce" she said putting her hands together and grinning widely.
We all stopped what we were doing and looked at her.
"Proceed my love,"
"I will be taking a break from working with your father and I want to apply online and take a small course. In the meantime, I will be looking for a small job to keep me busy"
A lightbulb lit up over my head and I knew that you are thinking what I am thinking, it would be great if my mother went back to work with Mrs Mpisane.
I do really love the idea of my mother trying to prove to me that she's really trying to change, but on my opinion I think she might be rushing things.
There was another knock on the door and I quickly checked the time on the wall clock, it was exactly 18:15.
My little brother James went and opened the door. We heard a laugh follow by a huge gasp before James came in followed by Langa.
"Mom, Dad, look at what Langa got me" James said running in with a remote controlled plane.
"Welcome Langa, thanks for the gift" my mother said walking towards him and giving him a friendly hug.
My dad shook his hand and gave him a small pat on his back.
"Ada" he acknowledged me with a small smile on his face. I refrained from hugging him because it was going to give my parents the wrong impression.
"Sit down Langa, we're waiting for one more guest" my father said directing him towards the couch where a soccer match was playing. A few minutes later, laughter was heard.
At exactly 18:32, Charmaine walked in wearing the dress I bought for her at Cotton On carrying a bunch of lilies.
I hugged her as my mother thanked her for the flowers.
"I missed you" I said speaking into the hug.
"I missed you more"
"Come on girls, the pizza will get cold" Dad said ushering us both towards the living room.
James, Charmaine and I chose to sit on the floor on top of bean bags and we watched a nice family movie: Stuart Little.
After we were done eating in the dining room, Langa helped me clear up the pizza boxes and the glasses on the table.
We made our way to the kitchen and he pushed me towards a corner.
"You look beautiful today" he said running his hand on my box braids.
I looked down and he held my head up using his free hand, placing it under my chin.
"May I?" I looked into his dark eyes. This could ruin everything. It was a risk I was willing to take. My heart started beating quickly and I couldn't feel my body anymore.
I slowly nodded and I felt his lips brush against mine instantly. I froze at first but I slowly adjusted and followed his rythmn. I didn't want to open my eyes just yet. I felt him pull away and I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him.
I gave him a part of me I have never gave anyone else before. Its definetly not how I imagined it but I enjoyed it. I looked into his dark brown eyes and I bit my lips.
It felt like someone shocked me with enough electricity to light up a city, in a more satisfying manner
He ran his thumb over my lips and gave me one last peck.
I watched him pull away and throw the pizza boxes in the trash can. He headed towards the dining room without saying a single word to me. He acted as if nothing happened.
I walked back in to the dining room and wiped my sweaty hands on my white off the shoulder top.
I leaned against the wall as I watched my family and my two friends laughing at something my dad said.
I'm afraid if I sat next to Charmaine, she would be able to tell that something is wrong with me so instead I sat on the empty space besides my dad and rested my head on his shoulder.
This is about to become a long night.
"Oh and Ada, you and your friends can pull an all-nighter. That's the suprise. I set up a bed for Langa in the spare room"
Oh no, please no.
"Thank you very much Mrs Launter,but I got a text from my dad saying he needs me back home" Langa said as he looked at me with a straight face.
What just happened?
♡♡♡
Guess who hasn't updated in a while cause they've been experiencing writers block?
You got that right, me.
The official cast for my story is up. Go check it out right at the beginning of the book. Titled "CAST" of course.
Hope it's some people you're familiar with. I tried to make this book an All-South African cast but heyyy...😅 why not throw in an British dzadzy (Asa Butterfield)
Thanks a lot for 1,21k reads. I almost stopped writing this book because I honestly ran out of ideas now seeing people actually reading it gave me some inspiration to carry on writing.
That's a long authors note. Damn. Stay safe 😊
Oh and please vote if you enjoyed this chapter