by April Autumn
“It’s Friday, it’s Friiiidaaaay, la la it’s Fridaaay,” Ashton sang with joy as she swung her bag onto the coffee table.
Chrissie smiled. Ashton was always in a good mood on Fridays.
Steph flopped down on the couch and said, “So, any ideas where we should go tonight ladies? This is our last chance to party before we start studying for finals. I want to dance all night.”
“Let’s try that club in New Town,” Ashton suggested. “What’s it called…the one that just opened on Sauer Street?”
Steph agreed, “Oh yeah, I can’t remember what’s it called either. It has a funny name but I know exactly where it is. Let’s get going.”
Chrissy started chanting, “Party time, Party time” and her friends joined her, dancing around the coffee table in their small lounge.
Chrissie, Steph and Ashton had grown up together and all three of them wanted to become teachers. Since the arrangement was convenient for everyone, their parents jointly paid the rent for their three-bedroom flat in Parktown, very close to the Johannesburg Teacher’s Training College.
The girls started getting ready for the night club. Several outfits were pulled out from the closets as they deliberated on what they were going to wear. Chrissie called out from her bedroom, “Has anybody seen my eyeliner?” Steph shouted back from the bathroom, “I am using it; I will bring it to you in a sec.”
Ashton said excitedly, “Let’s all wear our new mini dresses.”
Chrissie protested, “Don’t you think it is a bit cold?”
“We will dance till we are warm,” Ashton said, wiggling her hips and spinning around.
Chrissie called, “Hey Steph! Do you have any shoes I can borrow that will match this dress? None of mine do?”
Ashton sulked, “It sucks that you get to share shoes and I am left out due to my small feet.”
Three hours later they were all ‘dolled up’ as Steph liked to call it and were ready to go. They decided to take Steph’s car because she did not drink and was perfect in the role as designated driver. The club in New Town, a mostly revamped part of central Johannesburg, had plenty of secure, paid parking.
Although it was spring, it was still chilly outside. “Mmmm,” Steph said, “I hope we bump into that hunky Marco tonight, I would love for him to warm me up.”
There was a long queue at the new night club; it seemed like everybody in Johannesburg wanted to party at the new club and it was a weekend as well. Chrissie was already regretting the fact that she had worn a mini dress on her friends’ insistence. The stockings were not enough to keep her legs warm. Her friends who were in similar outfits were also feeling the cold. They started to dance to keep themselves warm. Chrissie had no idea that further back in the queue somebody was looking at her, admiring her beauty and suave body movements.
Eventually they made their way into the club. Chrissie and Ashton bought Sherries to warm themselves up, Steph bought a coke. Steph did occasionally have a drink but having an alcoholic father had given her a permanent distaste for drinking. He had not touched a drink for 10 years now but Steph still remembered the trauma his drinking had caused to her childhood.
Shrugging away the memories of that unpleasant time, she joined the others on the dance floor. Three pretty girls on the dance floor turned a lot of heads. Chrissie spotted the most handsome guy she had ever seen standing close to the bar with his friends. He was a tall, Indian guy and when he smiled the most gorgeous dimples appeared in his cheeks. She could not stop herself from sneaking a peak at him every now and then. She felt that he was also stealing glances at her but she wasn’t sure. She sure hoped he was.
Steph was so happy when “hunky Marco” arrived alone and walked straight to Steph and asked her to dance. Chrissie and Ashton decided to take a break from the dance floor.
Chrissie’s heart started pounding hard against her chest when she realised that the handsome guy was coming towards her. She hoped he was not merely trying to get closer to Ashton. That often happened to her. Men were always falling for the pretty, petite, blonde and blue-eyed Ashton.
He came and stood right next to her and said, “Hi” and then added, “Nice club.”
Chrissie smiled and said, “Hi, yes it is.”
The guy said, “My name is Sajan and these are my friends – Rick, Mark, Mohan and Thabo.”
“I am Chrissie and this is my friend Ashton.”
Sajan said, “Chrissie and Ashton would you ladies like a drink?”
Chrissie and Ashton replied in unison, “Yes please.”
Sajan got the drinks and Ashton went to dance with his friend, Rick. Chrissie had no idea of knowing that Sajan had pre-planned the whole thing. He had told his friend Rick to ask Ashton to dance so that he could talk to the tall, beautiful girl with brown hair. Rick took one look at the hot blonde and said, “No problem bro.”
Chrissie and Sajan sat down next to each other and started talking.
Sajan started telling Chrissie about himself, “My family lives in Durban but I came here to study programming at the University of Johannesburg. After varsity I was offered a job here so I stayed, I suppose I am a complete computer geek.”
Chrissie offered in return, “In a month, I will be finished with my Teachers Training; I am going to be a junior grade teacher. Fortunately I already have a job to go to in January at Wethery College in Sandton. I am going to be teaching Grade 1. I won’t be going out for the next few weeks as I’m writing exams.”
Chrissie wouldn’t usually give out information about where she worked or studied but she instinctively felt no danger from this handsome stranger sitting next to her.
She told him that she was an only child that she had grown up in Sandton – a suburb of Johannesburg – and that Ashton and Steph had always been like sisters to her.
Sajan told her that he had two younger brothers his mother loved them dearly but she always wanted a daughter. He laughed, “My Mom asks me every week if I have a girlfriend yet. She complains that I work too much and that I will never find anybody.”
Sajan asked her to dance just when a slow song started playing. Sajan usually hated romantic songs – he thought them to be girlish – but he was glad for any excuse to put his arms around Chrissie.
In the early hours of the morning they all decided to go home. Sajan took Chrissie into his arms and kissed her. Snuggled tightly in his arms, she felt as if she never wanted to stop kissing him. Ashton eventually pulled them apart saying, “Okay guys, it’s time to go home.”
Sajan asked Chrissie, “Please can I have your phone number?”
Chrissie felt as if she was floating in the air. She had a broad smile on her face. Steph had spent a similar evening with Marco and had the same goofy look on her face. Ashton said, “I am horribly jealous, the two of you are love struck.”
Rick, Sajan’s friend, had the same smitten look on his face. Boys were always falling for Ashton but she never showed any interest in them. Chrissie and Steph were always teasing her about being a heartbreaker but she would get annoyed with them and say, “I never ask guys to like me and I never make any promises.”
Chrissie did not get much studying done the next day as she kept watching her cell phone, hoping that Sajan would call any minute. Around midday he called her. Chrissie invited Sajan to visit her but he refused saying, “I will see you when you are finished with you exams.”
As soon as the phone call ended, she started dancing around the apartment shouting, “He called me! He called me!”
Ashton shouted from her bedroom, “Chrissie now that the entire neighbourhood knows that he called you, go and study.”
When the girls finished their last exam they went out to celebrate. They decided to have a girl
s’ only night as they only had a week and a half left in the flat and then they would all be going their separate ways.
They went to the club and danced till they were out of breath and finally sat down, away from the dance floor, to talk about their future. Ashton said, “Girls, I have big news, as you know my parents are moving to Australia but I was not sure if I would be accepted in a university there. I got the news two days ago that my application has been accepted. I am going to be studying for another two years in Sydney, specialising in Special Education which is something I always wanted to do.”
Ashton’s little sister was autistic, so working with children who had special needs had always been Ashton’s dream.
Steph made a drumroll sound before exclaiming, “I also have big news. I have accepted a teaching job in Cape Town. I am going to be teaching at a prestigious academy that has a huge sports program.” She had always been a sporty girl and aimed to be a physical education teacher one day. She had colours for athletics, hockey and swimming.
Chrissie could barely speak, she started sobbing. She could not believe that her two best friends would be moving far away.
Ashton hugged her, “Don’t worry honey, we can email each other all the time and you won’t be totally alone. I bet you and that gorgeous Sajan are going to be so absorbed in each other that you won’t miss us at all.”
They had a lovely fun evening but Chrissie still felt sad and depressed. She knew that their lives were never going to be the same again.
The next day was very special as it was Chrissie’s first official date with Sajan. Since they first met, Sajan had called Chrissie every day and they spoke for hours on the phone. They went ice-skating together. After a few hours on the ice rink, their feet started getting sore and Sajan took her back to her flat. He asked her to be ready in a couple of hours as he was taking her to a fancy restaurant for dinner.
Sajan was pleasantly surprised when she opened the door two hours later. She was wearing a long, red dress with a low cut back. A high slit showed off her shapely, long legs. Her long straight brown hair was held up in a silver clasp that made her look very stylish. Ashton had insisted on doing her hair and she had done a great job. A few locks of hair teased her slender neck, making Sajan go crazy with desire. Sajan noticed for the first time that her beautiful brown eyes had golden flecks.
Sajan himself looked like a model in his suit and Chrissie noticed with delight that even though she was wearing high heels, Sajan was still much taller than her. Being close to 6 feet tall, she hated it when she towered over men; it made her feel like a giant.
They went to a beautiful Indian restaurant. Chrissie noticed that there were no other people in the restaurant and candles were lit everywhere. The waiter greeted them with a smile, “Welcome Chrissie and Sajan, come this way.”
Chrissie whispered to Sajan, “How does the waiter know our names and why is there nobody else in the restaurant?”
Sajan smiled at her, “The restaurant belongs to my uncle; we are the only people here tonight. Do you eat curry?”
Chrissie replied, “I love curry.”
Chrissie felt like a princess the entire evening. She was treated to the best food she had ever eaten. She felt so comfortable with Sajan.
Sajan held her hand, “Chrissie will you be my girlfriend? I know we have only known each other for a short while but I know in my heart that you are the right person for me.”
Chrissie could feel tears filling up her eyes as she said, “Yes, I feel the same way about you.”
After dinner they went to Sajan’s apartment. They sat on the couch and almost immediately started kissing each other.
.
Sajan held her tightly in his arms and said, “I am falling in love with you.”
Chrissie stared into his eyes and said, “I am feeling the same way,” with tears welling up in her eyes.
Sajan took Chrissie home late on Sunday night. She was wearing one of his T-shirts. Her friends were sitting in the lounge eager for details on how the date went.
Ashton said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, “You left last night and are only coming back now. What on earth did you do all this time?”
Chrissie blushed to a crimson red and told them about the romantic dinner and the fact that Sajan had asked her to be his girlfriend.
Steph teased her, “Never mind that! What happened after the dinner. Where is your dress?”
Now Chrissie turned the deepest red with embarrassment, “That is X-rated information and I will keep it to myself, thank you very much.”
Chrissie went to bed and lay awake for a while. She was feeling a bit sad as Sajan had to work long hours on a project and they would not be able to see each other for the entire week.
She was also sad that in a week and a half, the home that she had shared with her best friends would no longer be theirs. Sad, that her best friends would be far away from her.
At the same time she was feeling strangely happy. She had found her soul mate and she was in love. Her body tingled every time she thought about Sajan, but she knew it wasn’t just infatuation, this was different.
Ashton, Steph and Chrissie spent their last days in the flat packing up everything. They had lived there for three years and had accumulated a lot of junk. When it came to the household items, they at times could not remember who owned what.
Ashton held up a large yellow bowl, “Whose is this?”
Chrissie said, “I think it is yours actually.”
Steph suddenly remembered, “Wait a minute, remember our house warming party? A weird guy came with that bowl filled with popcorn. He put it down on the table and sat in a corner staring at all of us for the rest of the night. The next day we could not figure out who invited him.” “Oh yeah,” Ashton joined in, “We were all laughing about the fact that he brought popcorn and that he was so creepy.” Chrissie smiled as she thought about their first party in the flat.
The packing brought up a lot of happy memories. They laughed about parties that they had had, boyfriends they had dumped or been dumped by. They took the things that they did not want or need any more to a charity shop a few blocks from their flat.
On their very last day, their parents arrived with trailers attached to their cars to take home their daughters’ possessions. The girls stayed for a few hours longer and scrubbed the flat clean so that the next tenants would have a nice place to move into.
Ashton, Steph and Chrissie were sobbing as they walked out of the place that they had called home for the past three years. They couldn’t even greet the caretaker properly when they handed over the keys. The caretaker was also sad and would miss the girls; they had been good tenants. He looked at them fondly, “Girls, your student life has come to an end but you will always have good memories of your time here.”
Chrissie saw Sajan the night before they moved out; she asked him not to be there when her parents came to pick her. She lied to him saying that her dad was very possessive and she would have to get him accustomed to the fact that she had a boyfriend. She wished the problem was this simple. The truth was her that her mother was very much against inter-race relationships. She was conceited and would object to her daughter being with anybody who did not belong to the appropriate social circle. Chrissie decided that she would in time approach her dad and hopefully he would get her mom to accept Sajan. She was sure if her mom met Sajan she would like him. “After all,” she thought, “Mom likes money and he is very rich.”
For the next few weeks, Chrissie would use the fact that she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her friends as an excuse for Sajan not to pick her up from home. She met with him at whichever club they were going to, with Steph and Ashton. They had a lot of fun with their friends. Marco and Steph were spending a lot of time together as well. Often Chrissie and Sajan would leave early to be alone in Sajan’s flat.
She felt like a sneaky teenager every time she went to sleep over at Sajan’s flat and told her parents that she was s
pending the night at Ashton’s house. She managed to keep up the ruse during the entire December holiday.
Shortly before Christmas, Steph, Ashton and Chrissie hugged each other and cried a lot as Ashton boarded the plane for Australia.
Sajan and Chrissie spent the Christmas Eve together. Sajan told her that although his family was Hindu, he himself was not religious at all. His family did celebrate Christmas as a family holiday and also exchanged gifts. Sajan gave Chrissie a beautiful necklace with amber stones. “The amber stones reminded me of your eyes,” he said as he fastened the clasp of the necklace around her long slender neck and planted a soft kiss on her nape. A shiver ran down her body as she turned to return the kiss.
Chrissie gave Sajan an antique pocket watch that had belonged to her grandfather. Her granny had given her the watch telling her to gift it to someone special. She had been very close to her Granny and sadly never had as close a bond with her own mother. Her mother was interested in what society thought of her more than anything else.