A ShOrT StOrY by Zoo Lay Gha

Short Story 1:

She picked up her red Nine West patent bag and let the thought linger a moment longer. It was ridiculous the exuberant prices one would pay for synthetic leather and yet it sold like CDs do on a R50 Musica sale. She chewed the extra hot Nandoes chicken and licked her fingers decidedly, moving a stray hair out of her face, which had just underwent a Arabella Spa treatment two days before and smiled at herself slowly, just for a minute she pretended that he was sitting in front of him. He had insisted on the facial even though it wasn’t really her scene. Nine West Bags was about as girlie girlie she got.

She got up and tossed the half drunk bottle of sprite and climbed into her legal car, she indicated to turn left and went right. She tuned into KFM and after hearing a Celine Dion song pushed her MP3 into her CD Player. An MP3 he made played.

It was aptly called, Sunday with FairyPlum. She can remember that Sunday clearly, they have been sort of dating for about a month, and spent the day at his place, when his overstrict grandmother had gone off on one of her religious rounds visiting all the sick people on the planet. They were hanging out in his room, listening to music, talking ok and kissing.

The front dor opens and in walks his very over protective grandmother with half her troop of equally religious spinster women.

Zara reluctantly hops into the first cupboard just in time before Hitler Granny steps into the room and finds him siting infront of his PC finishing off an Accounting Tutorial.

That song he said he loved played and although she wasn’t all that into Slipknot, listened to each sound, word and note as if she listened close enough there would be a secret message.

Sea Point was deserted, she climbed out in the empty parking lot, she undid the tie she wore with her work shirt and trousers.

*****

He smiled at her soft way she twitched her eyes. The way her nose wrinkles up looking like an overgrown newborn, her hair in an untidy bun, too long to leave loose and too short to plait.

She was certainly different, she had a slightly odd, delicately funkey and absurdly beaurecratic way of compiling an outfit. Especially for someone in Asset Management, very boring, very very ordinary.

He sees her at every corner, she indicates left and goes right, the cars maneuver around her like she is invisible and only he can see her.

She is talking and not listening to a word he has to say, but he doesn’t really mind just seeing her is enough.

He opens his eyes and she isn’t there, he doesn’t know where he is, everyone is walking past him, so fast so quickly and no one realizes his pain, no one can see that his insides have almost vaporized and all that remains is a vague outline.

She drives recklessly, she know she shouldn’t but it doesn’t matter anymore not after the fight, not after saying all those words, words that you just cant take back.

She picks up her cell and dials his number, even hearing his voice message will make her feel better will nourish and feed her insides.

But reception is bad or her phone is faulty she knows she charged it last night but the battery only has one bar.

She has to see him one last chance and drives to his house, only he isn’t there anymore. She knocks on the door but no one answers. She peers through the window and can see the fireplace they used to hang out at roasting marshmallows on sosatie sticks so often but the front room is empty.

She is concerned, yesterday he was there, 24 hours ago, the fight was bad but surely he hasn’t left, surely he hasn’t given up on her on them. Her heart feels heavy and she starts crying. Tears just pour out and she starts sniffing. She climbs into her car and starts driving, she indicates right and turns left, and goes back to Nandoes, where she has forgotten her Bag. She needs to get to his work. Jim is on the Mac working and slaving around, he isn’t there. Jim complains about him leaving and mentions it to David his son who works with him.

It hits her like a rock, he really has left, he has packed up and left.

She should have made up with him, it was such a stupid fight she couldn’t even remember what it was about, he wasn’t at work, he wasn’t at home and she doesn’t know where he is. He could be in Norway with Sammy his best bud, he could be in Joburg, he could do what they were supposed to have done together, he could be in New York.

She could e mail him, that wouldn’t have changed.

Well unless he really has changed his name as he said he always wanted. He never had parents, he grew up in an orphanage and for the past three years they were each others best friends. Sammy his best bud had moved to Norway, Andy was in Joburg somewhere and everyone else, well whom ever else she vaguely knew and would never be able to locate.

Well, except Sherwin, and there was this glimmer of hope, he works at Beroocas in the waterfront so she gets in her car and drives as fast as she can.

It got dark awfully quick, time passes by so quickly she doesn’t keep track of it anymore and everything just seems so different.

Maybe in the dark things seem different, Baruccas is busy, Sherwins the chef there, but he is standing at a table talking to someone, a very special someone. Its him, he looks different older, he is wearing a very odd shirt, its stiff and fancy very unlike him. His hair is neat and short, he isn’t wearing his glasses, he is holding a glass of wine and smiling.

And as she walks closer, he isn’t alone at the table, there is a girl, an its not any girl it’s a girl who is holding his hand, but its not any kind of handholding, he is hooding her hand and kissing it like he used to, like he kissed hers last week.

He is kissing her hand and she realizes, she figures it out.

She couldnt figure out why he was acting so different, why he was acting so distant with her. It was as she wasn’t there anymore.

She did see him for lunch at Nandoes, it was their Truce meeting maybe that’s what he wanted to tell her then. But she was speaking, no shouting no begging him, but he just sat there silently eating as if she wasn’t there.

And here he was kissing this other girls hand.

It didn’t hurt, it made her nauseous, she wanted to vomit but nothing came out. Tears were coming out of her eyes, but her cheeks never got wet.

He doesnt love her anymore, he didn’t care about her and thats why he was so distant.

After all they have been through, she had wanted to make up with him so bad, but it was too late, and then she got angry, she wasn’t too lat, he was cheating on her and she got angry, almost venomous as she usually got when she almost became irrational..

He looked out of the window onto the waterfront and he could almost see her. She was standing there in the rain and he felt guilty.

He heard of being haunted by love, but seeing her everything, even when he made love to the new women in his life she was there looking at him, and orgasms are pretty difficult when your dead ex is looking at you.

The END