Shrivelled Roses 2: Iyana Kleinbooi

12

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑽𝑬

-Iyana-

The lunch date with Sanda didn't pan out the way Iyana had hope, instead of feeling loved and supported by her friend, she felt judged. Judged that she went back to the same man who belittled her...

Sanda: Look... I know you probably hate me right now and I am sorry if my observations of your situation come across as being Judge Judy, but I am not sorry for loving and looking out for you. That's what friends do.

Iyana: So you are not apologizing... okay.

Sanda: Maybe, because of what you know about me you will disregard my advice and concerns regarding u Zwelethu but babe, the only difference between you and I is that I am in control of my situation. I can end it whenever it gets too much for me, whenever it gets uncomfortable. Can you?

Iyana swallowed, looking at her empty cocktail glass...

Sanda: I can never tell you to leave your man, because at the end of the day you will turn back and say I broke your relationship and as we all know, I am the last person to be a self-appointed spokeperson for anything relationship. BUT, with all of that said, you need to open your eyes Iyana. Clive is playing you and you are too naïve to even see the flags ngoku.

Iyana sighed...

Sanda: But I love you, and all I can do is pray that you will find peace. More than anything, I want you to be at peace.

Iyana: Enkosi friend... I guess I should appreciate your honesty regarding ukubuyelana kwam no Clive. Ewe I don't like the part where you repeatedly insinuate that I am being naïve, but I love you and I know you wouldn't be my friend if you couldn't be honest with me.

Sanda nodded.

They settled the bill and followed each other to the parking lot where they hugged and each went their way. On her way to the office, Iyana kept replaying that day in her head... for some reason, it was as fresh as though it happened a few minutes ago. She could feel the exact emotions, even the atmosphere in the car felt like that of the room she had locked herself in with Clive's luggage.

𝐼𝑦a𝑛𝑎: 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑢ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜 𝑍𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑢? 𝑢𝐻𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜? 𝑁𝑔𝑖𝑦𝑎ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎?

𝐶𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒: 𝐴𝑤 𝑚𝑓𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑢 𝑎𝑤𝑢𝑛𝑔'𝑦𝑒𝑘𝑒... 𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑦𝑎𝑘'𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑘𝑎ℎ𝑙𝑒. 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝, 𝑚o𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑎𝑔𝑜. 𝑇𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒? 𝑀𝑎𝑤𝑢𝑧'𝑏ℎ𝑒𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑢ℎ𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑖 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠?

𝐼𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑎: 𝐻𝑒ℎ𝑒!

Yes... she remembered every detail of that day.

She remembered how he referred to her as "uhlanyo" but then he apologized... surely that should count for something?

𝐶𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒: 𝐼'𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛, 𝑘𝑢𝑦𝑜𝑘'𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑎 𝑢𝑘𝑢𝑡ℎ' 𝑢𝑝ℎ𝑎ℎ𝑙𝑒 𝑛𝑔'𝑦𝑎𝑘𝑢𝑡𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑎.

𝐼𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑎: 𝑈𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖 𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖? 𝐾𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢.