My sister's friend

NEW STORY ALERT!!

BLIND DATE

CHAPTER 1

I was sitting in my office one beautiful afternoon, idling away because on that particular that day, there was not much work to do. I was the assistant board representative of the company where I worked, so, my work mostly involved supervision of how things were being run. I didn’t have to do any manual work. That explained why I had a big office with all the fixings.

I was thirty-five years old, average height, brown in colour, handsome face, and I had the swagger of a college kid in spite of my age. Most of my colleagues at work were married. However, there were a few bachelors and spinsters, too. I happened to be one of them. Many times, people had wondered, and some openly, why I had not married yet. Very few people knew that I was once married when I was only twenty-seven years old. It however, ended badly and we, me and my ex-wife, decided to call it quits.

My ex-wife was a good woman in every sense of the word. She had just one problem. She was too gullible. Many people around her had noticed that quality of her and had always taken advantage of it. I remember vividly while we were still dating, her friends had always used that to cause trouble between us. When we finally got married, I thought it would be different. However, it wasn’t.

Soon after our marriage, she travelled out of the country to work. I was seriously against it, but she pressured me to let her go, a mistake I have regretted to this day. As soon as she left, a lot of things started going bad. Communication became difficult, and soon, we started going first for days, and then, months without talking to each other. I did my very best to salvage my marriage, but it didn’t work out. So, when she came back to the country for a visit after three years, we decided to divorce. It was painful and brutal, but it had to be done.

It was only after the divorce proceedings had been completed that I learnt about the whole thing. The cause of our divorce was primarily, her mother. When her daughter travelled, she felt that because she was in the white man’s country, she deserved a better man. So, she started sowing seeds of discord. Since her daughter was very gullible, she fell for her mother’s schemes hook, line and sinker. I wish things were different.

I remembered the tears we shed at the airport on the day of her departure. I remembered all the promises we made to each other. I remembered the last sex we had in a hotel at the airport. That was all now in the past. I had to move on and continue from where she dropped off. None of my colleagues knew about that part of my life because it happened before I got employment into that company. Since it was a sad chapter of my life, I made the decision to keep things to myself.

My colleagues, out of their ignorance about my past life, thought that I was never married before and it was about time to do that. So, as I sat in my office that afternoon, one of my female colleagues who was very close to me, knocked the door, opened it and walked in.

“Hi Mark Roy.” She greeted.

“Hi Cathy.” For that was her name.

“How are you doing today? I haven’t seen you since morning.”

“I am good. I came early and have been in my office ever since.” I told her.

“Wow!! You see why it’s good to be a boss?” She spoke in good humour.

“I don’t blame you.” I laughed. “So, what is new? What do you have up your sleeves. I don’t think this meeting is for nothing.”

“That is one thing I like about you. You are a good psychologist. It is always easy for you to read someone.”

“Yes, I did a little bit of Psychology in the university. Now, speak. What is the matter, Cathy?”

“Okay, there is this friend of mine whose younger sister is looking for a man to marry.” She revealed.

“A woman looking for a man to marry, shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“Yes, you may say that, but my friend said her sister has not been very lucky with men. So, she needs someone who has a calm and understanding temperament. I think you fit in that picture.”

“So, you want me to marry someone I don’t even know? Are you alright?” I was surprised.

“Not necessarily unless you are interested. If you are, I could arrange a meeting for you guys. You both could meet and talk.”

“You have a picture of her?”

“No.”

“Have you seen her before?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of a girl is she?”

“Well, I don’t know her too well, but they come from a well cultured home. So, I believe she is a good girl. She is also very beautiful, and I know you like beautiful women.” She smiled.

“Alright, but come to think of it, how can you be matchmaking me with another woman. How about you? You are also a beautiful woman, and you are unmarried.”

“Mr. Markroy, forget about me. I told you I have a fiancé who lives abroad.”

“That abroad again? Alright oh. Na wuna di do waka marriage. Me, I be don hang boot.” I laughed.

“Na you sabi. Now, about the girl. Are you in or out.”

“I am halfway in.”

“Alright, let me give you, her number.”

I saved her number on my phone and checked it on WhatsApp, hoping that I would see a profile picture. Unfortunately for me, she wasn’t using that particular number on WhatsApp. Vexed, I decided that I would call her after work. I really wanted to see her face before meeting her.

Later that day, when I was at home, I called her.

“Hello, hello!! Are you there?” The network seemed to be bad.

“Yes, I can hear you. So, who am I talking to?”

“My name is Mark Roy. Cathy gave me your number.”

“Oh! It is you. How are you?” She asked happily.

“I am fine. How about you?”

“I am good. Thank you.”

“So, what is your own name?” I asked.

“My name is Bellange.”

“Nice name. So, let’s go straight to the point. How soon can we meet?”

“Since tomorrow is Saturday, it will be good. Let’s meet tomorrow.”

“Alright. How about the venue and time?”

“Aroma Bakery, 3:00 PM.”

Aroma Bakery. That was not a good venue at all. I loved the place, no doubts about that. However, there was a small problem. All the waitresses there were crushing on me. I was their regular customer, and they were always super excited each time they saw me coming. It was with great self-control that I had managed to, not more than once, held back myself from taking one of them home. They would be greatly disappointed to see me there on a date with another woman, even if it was just a blind date. There was nothing I could do. She was the one who had chosen the venue. I couldn’t at the very beginning start objecting to her choices.

It was Saturday now. I was just from the market where I had gone to buy a brand-new pair of jeans, a spotlessly white Gucci T Shirt and a new pair of sneakers, just for the occasion. I had also gone to the barber’s where I had had my hair cut to perfection and my beard nicely trimmed. When I got home, I bathed, dressed up in my new clothes, applied perfume, looked at my reflection in the mirror to make sure I was good, smiled with satisfaction at what I saw, and then, I left the house.

When I got to Aroma Bakery, the waitresses on duty were very impressed with my coming. However, they were surprised when I informed them that I wouldn’t be doing any purchasing immediately. I told them I was waiting for a lady friend to come, and I would only order something to eat or drink when she came. Disappointed, they abandoned me and moved back to their various posts.

I got a chair and sat down. I looked at my phone and it was 2:30 PM. I couldn’t just sit there waiting without drinking something. So, I called the waitress to bring me a can of Van Pur Malt and reminded her to make sure that it was chilled. She brought it almost immediately and placed it on the table in front of me. I sipped the cold drink slowly while waiting for Bellange to show up.

It was 3:00 PM now and she had still not shown up. What was wrong with her? As I was checking the time on my phone again, it rang, and it was her. I picked.

“Hi Mark Roy, are you already there?” She asked.

“Yes, where are you?” I replied.

“I am outside. I can’t see you. Where are you sitting?”

“Come inside and you will see me.”

“How are you dressed?”

I explained to her how I was dressed, and she came in and saw me. Our first meeting was awkward for good reason. You know we had never met before. She was tall, slightly taller than me, dark skinned, slim and beautiful.

“How are you, Bellange. I am happy to see you.” I began.

“Me, too. You look handsome.” She spoke.

“Thank you, and you are beautiful, too. So, what should I get for you?”

“The same thing you are drinking.”

“Will you eat anything?”

“Nope.”

“Alright.”

I called one of the waitresses to come and serve her. She brought her drink, made faces at me to express her disapproval for daring to come to their bakery with another woman, and left. I opened the drink for her, and then, we started chatting.

“I already know your name, Bellange. So, the next question I am going to ask is what do you do for a living?”

“I am presently unemployed. However, I have applied at one of these companies in town. I have an interview scheduled on Monday. So, how about you? What do you do?”

“Well, I am the Board Representative of my company. It is purely an executive role.” I replied.

“Oh! That is good. That means you have a lot of money.” She smiled.

“You may say so, but you know, money is never enough.” We both laughed at this. “How old are you?”

“I am thirty, and you?”

“Thirty-five. Have you been married before?”

When I said that, she lowered her head and started sobbing slowly. I couldn’t understand what was happening. It looked like she was not happy with the question or was not comfortable with that line of questioning. Surprised by her sudden change of behaviour, I asked…

“Did I say anything wrong? If I did, I am sorry.”

“No, it is not your fault. Please, don’t blame yourself.” She spoke in between sobs.

“So, what is the matter now, Bellange?”

“You asked if I was once married. Yes, I was, or let me say I almost was.”

“Almost? What did you mean almost?” I asked, confused.

“I was in love with someone who promised to marry me. We were happy with each other, and everything was fine. He proposed to me, and I accepted with happiness. Marriage preparations were made, but on the wedding day, he didn’t show up. He abandoned me on the altar. I was heavily disgraced. I was in church, dressed in my white, beautiful wedding gown. All the guests were present. The officiating pastor was present, but he didn’t show up. My groom didn’t show up.” She wept.

“What? So, what did you do?” There was concern in my voice.

“We called his number to no avail. Then, his mother came running into the church and informed everyone that he had gone back to Canada where he lived. My hopes were dashed, Mark-Roy. They were completely dashed. I ran out of the church like a mad woman, went straight home and almost committed suicide, but God saved me.”

“Oh, I am so, so sorry. He must have been crazy. Thank God, you didn’t harm yourself.”

“Yes, I didn’t, but for a while, I gave up on love until my sister told me that her friend, Cathy has found someone for me. That is how you came into the picture.”

“Hmm! A beautiful woman like you should be well pampered and properly treated. Anyway, I had a similar experience as yours. However, mine wasn’t that bad, but that will be story for another day. I think I should take you home now.” I proposed.

“Yes, thank you.”

I drove her home in my car, kissed her goodbye, and then went to spend the rest of the day with my friends, but not before she and I had arranged that our next meeting would be on Monday, after work hours. I couldn’t go back to Aroma Bakery because those girls would make me pay for my actions. So, I called my friends and they agreed that we should meet at Jo’Burg Snack Bar. It was late that night when I finally went home to rest. It had been a long day.

On Sunday, I called her to make sure that she was doing okay. She said she was fine. We exchanged a few pleasantries, and then said goodbye. On Monday, I got to work early and my boss told me that we had candidates to interview for the various posts that were vacant in our organization, the most important of which was that of the human resource officer. He told me that he wanted me to be part of the panel that was going to interview the candidates.

At about 9:00 PM, all the members of the panel were ready to begin the process. The first interview of the day was for the post of the human resource officer. The secretary knocked on the boardroom, came inside and told us that the candidate for the post was ready. We asked her to let the candidate in. She left, locking the door beside her, and a few seconds later, a beautiful, tall and dark lady walked into the board room. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets, first in surprise and then, in delight.

It was Bellange.

TO BE CONTINUED…