“So when are you leaving?” I asked.
“Next week Monday I’ll be boarding my plane. You have to be there.”
“Of course I’m going to be there.”
I ordered Kate to get back to work, since she had like a week left in Palapye. I had no idea how I was going to manage the shop by myself. Getting a new employee is going to suck, teaching them the ways and all. Plus, it won’t be Kate. I better get my application out there so that I don’t have to work at the shop for long.
We went out to grab some lunch. I was still a vegetarian. Walking to the supermarket and back, gave me time to explain to Kate what had happened to me in the past few days...well, because she asked. I had missed talking to her and telling her everything. She has reassured me that we will video chat every single day, or whenever she can, once she’s settled in America. Although it won’t be the same, with her far away and all, it’s better than no Kate at all. She was stunned by how I had been treated by the boys, she even spit on the ground. Okay, I thought she was maybe overreacting a little bit, but I just kept it to myself. I know I promised that I wouldn’t tell anyone about my first date mishaps, but I can’t help but tell Kate everything that happens to me, even if we weren’t on speaking terms the previous day.
When we got back to the shop, we found Thabang, waiting at the doors of the boutique. My heart jumped and I suddenly felt so nervous. What did he want? I had no idea what I was going to say to him. Something I hate is a confrontation, especially when I had no idea where the problem came from. He was just standing there, all perfect and handsome, and I saw the guy I liked as opposed to the one who stood me up.
“Can we talk, Celeste?” he said when we approached him. I wonder how he knew that we went out for lunch, and that the shop wasn’t closed for the day. He must appreciate his lucky marbles.
I was beyond the valley of hurt, and now I was just bitter. “No, that’s okay. I don’t want to talk to you,” I said, reaching for the shop keys in my pocket. Kate was standing next to me like a bodyguard.
He grabbed my arm and said: “Please, you have to let me explain what happened yesterday.”
His last action almost made me drop my food. Almost! (lucky for him). I don’t get why he likes pulling me. It’s so...wrong...but I like it.
I retreated. “Okay, explain.”
I stood there, staring at him. He looked at Kate, wondering if Kate would go into the shop and leave us to talk in private, but Kate just stood there as well, looking at him like he was the scum of the earth.
“I didn’t mean to stand you up yesterday,” he began, leaning against the shop window. “This is really hard for me to confess, but I have to be honest with you. My cousin and I had a bet, you see.”
“A bet?” asked Kate, butting in. This resulted in Thabang giving her another look telling her to leave, but Kate just stood there next to me. My best friend!
“He wanted to see if we could land the same girl at the gym. At first I thought it was stupid, but then he dared me. So I thought, why not, we will be gone in a few weeks anyway. So he saw you at the bikes and we decided that you’d be the culprit.”
That arsehole! Both of them! And here I was, blaming myself, thinking that they stood me up because I lied. They placed a bet on me? That’s just sick. I wanted him to stop explaining and leave.
“But then I actually started to like you. That first day when I came up close to talk to you, I thought you were so beautiful. Then we talked about our favourite music, and I just don’t know what it was about you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, even though this was a bet.” He paused and walked up to me. “When I asked you out the other day, I genuinely meant it. But then my cousin said some things that messed with my head and I decided not to come to our date. I’m so sorry, Celeste,” he said.
What? I guess he expects me to believe the bullshit coming out of his mouth. He said I’m beautiful...I guess that’s not bullshit. And he said he liked me. There’s no denying that there’s some chemistry between us...then again, I’ve seen this movie before. This is definitely a dream.
He continued. “I know that what we did was terrible, but before you say anything, just know how deeply sorry I am for playing with your feelings like that. But also know that this whole time I wasn’t acting, it was me, genuinely.”
“Okay, you’ve explained. You can go now,” I said, all glacial and unforgiving.
He looked at me, searching for hope in my eyes, but I looked away and entered the shop. Kate followed behind me. I didn’t know what to think or how to feel. I just felt numb to everything I had just heard. So these two boys decide to use me for their bet and one of them falls for me. Big whoop!
I didn’t have much time to think about it though, because after I placed my plastic carrier with good food inside it on the counter, my arm was grabbed from behind and I was dragged away from the counter. It was Thabang (there he goes again, grabbing me). It was sort of dramatically synchronised. I think I almost tripped, but he made sure I didn’t take a bite of the ground. Oh, he’s so strong.
“What are you doing?” I asked, furious about being dragged against my free will. Well maybe not furious, annoyed.
“This,” he said. He leaned over to me and softly placed his lips on mine. He had his eyes closed and everything. I noticed this because mine were wide open, witnessing the miracle. What is he doing, I’m angry here, and he shouldn’t be kissing me against my will. (Oh be quiet!). I don’t think there were any thoughts in my mind after that. My heart was racing faster than before, I even felt a little light headed. When I tried to recover from that, he kissed me again. That’s when my head started to become populated with all kinds of things. I wondered if I was doing it right, kissing. I think my lips were just there, waiting to receive, not giving out anything, just waiting to imitate. How was I supposed to know what to do? I closed my eyes though, until I felt the warmth and pressure I got from his lips, leave mine. It was incredible. I’m not sure that it was Stairway to Heaven incredible, I couldn’t tell. I was too busy, drowning in the moment. This was just like in the movies. I felt like a curse was being lifted and suddenly, my vision was more clear and all. It’s like that scene in the Wizard of Oz when the picture goes from black and white, to coloured. Thabang was smiling and looking at me all weird and in love.
I wanted to see Kate’s reaction, but I didn’t want to look back.
“I’ll pick you up after work,” said Thabang, squeezing my hand all affectionately and stuff.
Then he left, he didn’t even give me time to respond. Not that I would have. I was permanently glued to the ground until he left, and my lips were still recovering from their first kiss. They still felt the impact. I turned and went back to where Kate was. I tried to ignore the incredibly wide grin on her face, but I couldn’t. I started to scream and she started to scream; cue in the victory dance. Yes, yes, yes! Success!
I reserve the right to rephrase any statements I made earlier. In the beginning it was all about being kissed and having a boyfriend. Now I have that and more. The boy who broke my curse is incredibly handsome and he likes me for who I am. He doesn’t care that I’m not skinny and he called me beautiful. I probably won’t go out with him because I’m still kind of pissed about the bet. But he kissed me, and I don’t think that was a bet. I won’t make it easy for him, because I’m not a cheap babe, you know. I don’t know if I can trust my feelings however, because I still think he can make the perfect first boyfriend. I have an amazing best friend and family, and it’s safe to say that I have grown up a lot. Now a person can look at my life and think, “Now there goes a twenty-one year old”, instead of eleven. I used to yearn for life in the movies, romance; now you can add all that to my resume too. All I can do now is mentally go to the land of the happy and stay there for a while. Oh, I think I’m going to like it here.
So in the end, I can safely say that I’m finally getting what I want out of life. My parents’ are supportive of my decision to become a fashion desi
gner (my father says that even if it means selling all his cattle to get my tuition money, he’ll do it. I was so touched by that.), Kate is on her way to becoming a supermodel, my older sister is on her way to being a stepmother, and I have been kissed. So here’s to me, Celeste Seipati Mokone, the girl who has it all figured out...for now.
The end
Being Celeste Page 15