Operation get her back

S’bu was disappointed that Thandi didn’t choose his university but had expected it since she was still angry with him. He had hoped to take both Thandi and Mandy to their university in Pretoria and get a chance to speak to her but that didn’t happen either as the two refused to go with him. A park of him was terrified that Thandi would find someone else at the university and completely forget about him but he was not willing to give up. On one of his posts S’bu wrote”She won’t talk to me, she declined an offer from my university, I have lost her, it hurts really bad and I know that I deserve it but I’m going to get her back or I will spend the rest of my life trying. Operation get her back starts now”. He had made up his mind to get Thandi back no matter what it takes. He spent a lot of time with the DOCS and on the phone with Menzi getting tips on how to achieve his goals.

The first month at the university went well for Thandi and Mandy. Its easy to adjust when you have your best friend with you. Being new at the university attracted a lot of suitors for them, they were so tired of getting visitors that they put ‘do not disturb’ stickers on their residence doors. There was so much to do at the university, students from different provinces to meet and many South African officials languages to learn that Thandi was thinking less of S’bu every day. That afternoon when Thandi and Mandy went back to their residence the security guard at the gate handed Thandi a huge bunch of white roses, there was no note on them. The following day it was pink, then blue roses. Thandi was feeling uneasy about the mysterious person sending her flowers three days in a row. She knew that flowers were expensive and these were high quality fresh flowers.

“It’s operation get her back” Mandy told her.

“What?” Thandi asked confused.

“That’s it! you are getting a social media account. I can’t explain these things to you all the time” Mandy said dragging her to the computer lab to set an account for her.

Mandy finished setting an account for her friend, opened S’bu profile and instructed her to start reading. Thandi took three hours going through S’bu’s posts. He had very profile with a lot of friends and followers. The past three and half years he had posted a lot about her, no wonder people she had never met before seem to know so much about her. She read the recent posts with mixed feelings. She didn’t know how S’bu ended up sleeping with Pretty because she never gave him the chance to explain. She blocked his calls and messages the day she saw the video. She read his response to the video, saw Pretty’s photos and messages and her jaw dropped.

“How shameless!” she exclaimed but soon felt sorry for Pretty after reading the comments S’bu’s followers were making about her. Next there were daily messages that he would have sent her but couldn’t because she blocked him. S’bu messages sounded sorry and filled with sadness. The operation get her back became too much for her, she logged off refusing to read and think about him any longer. The following day the security guard showed her an even bigger bunch of red roses.

“I don’t know what this guy did but he’s really sorry” he said handing her the roses.

Thandi took the flowers to her room and placed them next to the previous ones she had received. She looked at them carefully and realised that they were the colours of the beaded bracelet she gave S’bu. She closed her eyes, blocking the memories out. S’bu was trying to remind her of the love they shared, the promises they made and aspirations they had. She took her phone unblocked his number and sent him a message.

S’bu looked at his phone for a long time. It was a message from Thandi. Just one sentence carried so much. It read ‘stop sending me flowers, I’m not the one that forgot’. He knew that Thandi would figure out what the flowers meant. So Thandi thought that he forgot about their love, promises and aspirations when he slept with Pretty. He needed to prove to her that it was not the case but how will he do it? The good news was if Thandi sent him a message that meant she unblocked him, he thought smiling and decided to respond to her message. He wrote ‘I was weak and stupid but I never forgot, you are all I think about.’

Thandi read his response and sneered. ‘You would not have slept with her if that was true’ she responded.

S’bu decided to call his sister and make amends. Mandy was still angry with him for hurting Thandi. Things would be a lot easier if his sister forgave him, he will even have an excuse to go to their university. After coaxing his sister for a long time she agreed for him to come visit her. She gave him a long list of stuff she wanted, it was mostly junk food and gadgets and he could not complain about. The following day S’bu gathered everything Mandy wanted, bought Thandi’s favourite snacks and drove to Pretoria. Mandy met him at the parking lot. He hugged her and realised how much he had missed her. They both went to Mandy’s residence room carrying all the bags with Mandy stuff and Thandi’s snacks. After catching up with his sister S’bu wondered if Thandi would want to see him. He had not seen her in three months, since the day at the movie park.

“I’m not going to ask her to come” Mandy said reading her brothers thoughts. “You are my brother and I love you but she’s my best friend and you hurt her really bad.”

“I understand, please give her this” S’bu said given her Thandi’s snacks. When he opened the door to leave, Thandi was there lifting her hand to knock and they both froze.

“MaDlamini” S’bu greeted her recovering from his shock.

“Hi S’bu” Thandi responded walking past him however before she moved he had pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly for a long time. Thandi’s mind went blank before realising that S’bu was holding her too tight and she couldn’t breathe.

“Stop it, I can’t breathe” she said breathless.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so happy to see you” he said letting go of her.

“I owe you an explanation, all I’m asking is a chance to give it to you” S’bu said looking at Thandi.

Thandi exhaled and nodded her head.

“You gonna have to do that in her room” Mandy interrupted the two.

Thandi lead S’bu to her room, hesitated at the door not knowing whether to close it or leave it open and ended up closing it. She walked past him and stood in front of the window with her back on him.

“MaDlamini” he said standing behind her she could feel his breath touching her skin.

“Please don’t flirt, don’t try to tease or charm me, let’s just talk” Thandi said interrupting him with a stern voice.

S’bu walked forward and stood next to her. The two spoke for a long time before S’bu drove back to his university in Johannesburg. They were not back together but at least they were talking.

Thandi went to Mandy’s room, threw herself on the bed hugging the teddy bear.

“You got it bad, huh!” exclaimed Mandy. They had been best friends for four years now and knew each other well.

“Mandy, save me from your brother” Thandi said hugging the teddy tighter. “He knows what say, how to say it, where to touch and which buttons to press. If I was not the one he wrote his posts about, I would be one of his followers and I would probably be in forefront scolding the girl for not forgiving him already!” Thandi exclaimed.

Mandy laughed so hard tears were rolling down her cheeks.