Marrying Her Husband

Twenty-one

“You’re a messy roller. Your blunts always hit too hard,” Banele says to his sister who laughs. He came into their room looking like a mess and after one bottle of dry red, he’d told her about Thuso and most of what they’ve done. Lisa had only thought that he had a crush on her and was even surprised to learn he was her first. On the second one, he let her rant and they cursed at females in general together. Now they’re on the weed, something she’d stolen from Ethan and decided to try it out with her brother. He lights it up and inhales, closing his eyes as the smoke fills his lungs.
“I really loved her. she… she’s the only girl I’ve been with in those six years. I spent two years celibate because of her. stupid, I know,” Banele says, taking another puff.
“She’s the stupid one. I doubt she’ll ever find such loyalty and someone who’ll love and treat her how you did. You were too patient but that’s love, right?” Lisa says in comfort and her brother chuckles.
“Love is patient. How do you feel about your best friend being in love with your boyfriend?” Banele asks. He’s feeling a lot of better now and though they’re drunk and on the way to getting high, the two seem to be having a sober conversation.
“I honestly don’t want to be a part of it. Things haven’t been the same between us since we got back together, and the man did hide my supposed best friend’s interest in him. I feel I don’t know them like I thought and that I should have listened to my mother about her,” she says.
“so, you once broke up? What the hell for?” Banele slurs, the alcohol now getting to him or maybe it’s the blunt.
She rolls her eyes at the memory. “He said I lacked ambition and I guess wanted someone with drive then. It changed after I got a job though and Thuso is the one who got us back together. Now that I think about it, maybe she wanted to have him closer through me. I can’t say I know what goes through your girlfriend’s mind,” Lisa says, and the man scrunches his face.
“Firstly, she’s not my girlfriend and secondly, you might be right. Is there someone else?” he asks with a raised eyebrow and she giggles, trying to hide the blush. It comes whenever she thinks of Ethan.
“No,” she says, and he scoffs.
“try telling that to someone else. Is it that guy who was here? I think I saw a wedding band on him so do you want to fuck with that? A married man will never leave his wife for you Mona,” Banele says and she sighs. She’d expected some judgement from him so it’s surprising.
“So, if he is…and a big if, you wouldn’t have a problem with it? I mean it’s adultery,” Lisa says, and he chuckles.
“Who am I to judge? I’ve done some pretty fucked up things too. I just think you have to know what you want from it and not keep your hopes up. The last thing I want is for you to get out with a broken heart,” Banele says and she nods. She suffocates her brother in a hug, catching the man in surprise but he returns it eagerly almost instantly.
“I love you, Bhuti” Lisa says, and he chuckles.
“I love you too little one”
*****
The familiar headache hits her immediately when she opens her eyes, not even waiting for her to lift her head. She clears her throat, in need of some moisture to ease the dryness. Her brother is right next to her, one leg over her which is sure heavy as hell due to muscles of a submarine. She removes the leg from her torso, looking to her phone to see what time it is. Her eyes widen when she sees the time – 10:45 am.
She also notices the myriad missed calls from her boss and the thought of having lost her job crosses her mind. He’d told her, Nathan, that is that she is hanging on thin line and God knows it’d break her heart if she lost that job.
“Damn it,” she cusses under her breath as she gets off the bed, ignoring the headache and heaviness of her head caused by the hangover.
“I called your boss and informed him you won’t be able to make it after you snoozed your alarm for the third time.” Banele mumbles, eyes still shut.
“And did you give him a reason?” she dumbly asks.
“Told him you’re sick. Better get a note,” Banele says then groans, turning to face the other side. She plants a kiss on his cheek then proceeds to the bathroom where she takes a long, warm bath that helps in waking up her body. A knock on the door summons her out of the tub, wrapping a towel around her body and quickly putting on slops. She knows her brother won’t get it, especially since he’s sleeping. A part of her does it so that if it’s Thuso, her brother won’t have to deal with it.
“I need to talk to him,” Thuso says immediately when the door is opened. She seems distraught, nose pink, eyes puffy with eye bags under them. If it was another case, she’d be feeling sorry for her but seeing her disgusts her to the core.
“You’re brave,” Lisa states, looking intensely at her supposed best friend.
“I…I’ve given him enough time to calm down and-”
“Enough time according to who? You hurt my brother and are going on to dictate when he should be calm, are you fucken kidding me?” Lisa spits, unable to believe the taller woman’s audacity.
“I hardly slept,” she bristly states, making Lisa snicker.
“Suits you right. Leave my brother alone Thuso, you’ve done enough. Him and I want nothing to do with you”
With that said, she shuts the door on her face and exhales, leaning her back by the doorframe. She remains in that position for some minutes. There’s a knock on the door again and the anger surges through her like an attack as she opens.
“Are you fucken- boss… I mean Mr… Ethan, hi” she stutters, and he chuckles.
“Sick, huh?” Ethan asks as he lets himself into her apartment. He had been worried when he received a call from her brother telling him she’s sick. The man had meetings he couldn’t get out of at the firm until now, having been able to free himself for lunch.
“I…it won’t happen again,” Lisa nervously says.
“I thought you’d be tired when we arrived last night, so I hadn’t been expecting you to report for duty. I did clear it up with HR, so you have nothing to worry about. What happened last night?” Ethan asks curiously. Her stomach growls before she can answer and giggles shyly at that. If she were light, her face would be red with embarrassment. She lets out a sigh when she reminisces on last night and another when she remembers the anger that had filled her when her brother had told her all that had transpired with Thuso.
“My brother needed me.” Lisa says and he nods at that. She wants to tell him more but can’t due to her brother’s proximity.
“Want to talk about it over lunch? Your stomach just let me know you haven’t eaten anything. You might need to go dry up before you catch the flu. I’ll make myself a cup of tea in the meantime,” Ethan says and plants a kiss on her cheek then lips.
“OK”
Her brother is still asleep when they leave, Lisa having gotten dressed warmly because of winter’s cold. She doesn’t really know where they’re going, and Ethan isn’t letting anything slip.
“There’s this new restaurant I want us to try out. It’s about half an hour from here so you think you can hold on until then?” Ethan asks and she nods. “Tell me about last night”
She’s the only one talking on the way there, her voice the only noise except for sounds from the car. She wonders if he’s listening as she rants, the anger coming back in her reminiscence. She even goes on to tell him about Thuso’s visit in the morning and how she’d thought it was her when she opened for him.
“What are you going to do with this Thuso girl?” Ethan asks.
“Nothing. I want nothing to do with her and my brother as well. I guess it’s time for little me to make new friends,” Lisa says, feigning excitement which makes him chuckle.
“You don’t even have friends at college or work so where will you make them?” Ethan asks and she pouts.
“I’ll be more open to the idea from now on. My weekends are going to be lonely,” Lisa says. “We used to have movie nights every Friday. We’d drink until we both pass out and go for ice-cream the next morning. I’ll miss those little things,” Lisa says with a sigh.
“It’s OK baby. We’re here,” Ethan announces.
He gets out first then opens her door, taking her hand into his as she gets out. The restaurant is in what seems like a cabin in the outskirts of the city. The pleasant smell of food is what greets them as they walk towards it and her stomach grumbles once again.
“This is the perfect spot for a hangover,” Ethan whispers in her ear and her eyes shoot out. How did he know?

_________
A/N: Would be lying if I say I felt this one. The drama is coming though so buckle up!