ChiZul Wedding chapter 2 Officially Friends

Chapter 2 Officially Friends

Thandi slowly opened her eyes and stretched out arms as she realised it was the morning.A ray of sunlight shone into the room through the small window across from the bed. She turned over and reached for her cell phone on the side of the bed and she opened it to check the time. It was 8:15. It was time for her to wake up. She groaned, lifted her comforter and turned over on the pillow to look at her roommate who was still in her sleep but slowly open her eyes and their eyes met. "morning sleepyhead" she said " rise and shine it's time for a long day " she said " it's the weekend and I'm still feeling groggy from yesterday's wine"

" It was just a little bit of wine, seriously" Thandi exclaimed. "so I don't really drink that much, even two glasses is more than enough for me" Madi explained "oh okay ,well I can finish a whole bottle of it if I feel like it. yeah I'll get a little bit of hangover but it doesn't do that much to me" Thandi responded. S"oh "wow good for you " responded Maddie "okay I guess it's time to get the day started but I need the loo first, I'll see you in a bit" Thandi slipped off the bed slipped on a nightgown and slippers and walked towards the door. "and don't forget"she added " today we're going on a dinner date with our new friend" She opened the door and walked out closing it behind her and walked down the corridor towards the bathrooms.

Madi hopped out of bed and started cleaning her side of the room. She made her bed and as soon as she was done, Thandi walked right back into the room. "hey" she said "I feel about now okay, so this is what we have to do for today. We are going to go and look pretty for our dinner date yeah but first I think I'm gonna meet up with some friends over lunch. You want to come? or should we just meet after that?" "yeah I think that sounds like an idea" replied Madi " I also have people that I would like to meet today okay, I'm going to go have a shower and I'll see you just now" she picked up her toiletry bag and walked out the door. Thandi sat on her bed and started thinking about what she would wear today, but for now she was going to hang out with some friends. So went into her cupboard and retrieved a pair of sneakers, a pair of socks, underwear and a plain t-shirt and she took her toiletry bag and the towel and also left the room to go clean herself up.

After the bathroom, back in the room after taking the showers and they were getting dressed in simple jeans, t-shirts and sneakers, they started talking about breakfast. "Are we having breakfast together?" Madi inquired. "oh yeah, why not" Thandi responded "okay, just give me a few seconds and I'm coming with you" Madi responded "okay that sounds good I'm ready when you ready" Thandi said "okay let's go eat something" They walked out of the room and down the corridor and as they reached outside they could see it was a nice warm sunny day with a breeze through the trees and the birds to be heard as the wind whispered. It was going to be a lovely day and one could smell the autumn leaves and see the autumn colours all around them. They silently strolled towards the cafeteria and when inside, they each ordered some cereal and sat down to eat with a mug of coffee. They admired the scene from the cafeteria window and how cool it was when it wasn't so full like on weekdays. They both chatted and laughed for a while . " I don't want to eat too much now because we still gonna have to eat later" Thandi announced. " I know that feeling looking forward to a date" Madi chuckled , "I'm gonna go now, I'm gonna go to meet up with a friend I by the library" Thandi announced" yeah okay we will chat later" Madi responded. Thandi took her phone started scrolling and typed out a message. A few moments later someone responded on the other side and then she made a way out of the cafeteria towards the library.

"Khanyi! Ayanda! I'm here!" Thandi shouted at two girls, also dressed in jeans, T-shirts and sneakers, that were standing outside the library. "Oh, finally!" One of them said. "You made it! We've been waiting for ages!", " Hey!" Thandi said." Girls gotta eat in the morning. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." " Yeah, right!" The girl responded. "Ayanda, please tell her." " Hi! Big hug, my friend!" Ayanda responded." I'm glad you're here. I'm glad we're all back together again. And we're going to be together again this year. Okay, even if it's not in the same classes, but at least we are together again. Big family hug here. Come, come. Come, Khanyi." "All right", Kanye said. And the girls came closer for a hug. "Okay," Kanye said. "Let's go bowling". "Oh, cool. Is the bowling room, like, empty today?" Ayanda asked. "It should be. Can you say okay then let's go" Khanyi responded. They started walking through the corridors, walking across the patio towards the gym on the other end of campus. Near the gym was the bowling alley was for the students entertainment , especially on the weekends ,so they do not have to leave the campus to find entertainment. This was a place where they had spent the previous three years almost every weekend morning just enjoying themselves as a group of friends.

After bowling for about an hour, with Thandi beating the two and who made no scores, as she was the more sportier of them and the stronger of them, they decided to stop and go and grab some lunch. They walked back to the cafeteria and ordered some lunch and sat down at a table. Thandi ordered a grilled chicken salad and some juice. "Oh, I see, we're on a diet", Ayanda asked. "Oh, no, no, not really, but I do have to mind it", responded Thandi. "Well, you see", she explained, "we've been invited for dinner at some Chinese restaurant in Durban North tonight by some guy I met yesterday. So we were chatting and then he invited me to his family restaurant." "Sounds like love is creeping up on you" Khanyi chuckled "No way!" Thandi exclaimed. "Tell her I am the devil's never say never ,we'll see what's gonna come" Khanyi responded . " Your parents allowed you to date thus year and you are already meeting the parents , let's see what happens" Khanyi chuckled. They all giggled and carried on eating. Later they said their goodbyes and gave each other hugs and promised to call each other later and update each other on the evening that was about to transpire. Soon after that Thandi strolled back to her dorm room so that she could get ready for the dinner date.

Thandi arrived at her dorm only to find that her roommate was not back yet. She looked at her wristwatch to see that it was only half past two, so there was enough time, two and a half hours for her to get ready, and maybe still take a nap. She walked to her closet and took out a long lilac strappy dress that was tight around the hips and was as long as to her ankles. Then, she took out a pair of sandals that had lilac flowers on them and very short heels, and she took out a denim jacket that was cropped that would make her not look overdressed and not look underdressed, but simply casual. She then took off her clothes and put on her gown, took her toiletry bag and her towel, and went to have a quick shower before her roommate got back. While she was in the shower, her roommate returned to the room and saw that Thandi was back. Madi went to her closet and changed her top to a silky shirt. She wore the silky red shirt and added some deodorant, and then she started doing her makeup and her hair. She changed her shoes to put on some brown boots that had a very short heel, and then she took out a handbag that was enough for her purse and for her phone to fit. And she sat on the bed and watched a little bit of TV, waiting for Thandi to return.

"Oh, you are back," Thandi exclaimed as she walked into the room after her shower. "Oh yeah, we were watching some football for the last few hours with the guys. What did you get up to?", Madi asked. " Oh, we went bowling. Yeah, it's our favorite thing. We've been doing it for the last three years," Thandi explained. "Okay, it's time to get ready. That's why I had to have a shower, because I was nice and sweaty". "Oh dear," Madi said as she watched Thandi put on her clothes and then start to do her makeup. When she was done, she watched her tie her hair up into a French braid and put on some earrings that hooked all the way to her neck. " Oh, those are some pretty earrings. My, my, my, you really look like you are going on a date. You like him that much? " Madi exclaimed. "Oh no, " said Sandy. "I just, I don't know, I just felt like because we're going to dinner and we're meeting family that we should, you know, make an effort to at least look good." Mandy giggled. "Yeah, you really like him. You're making extra effort." " Whatever you say," Sandy said. Then she took out her phone. As she looked at herself in the mirror. " Oh dear," Thandi said. " I hope I don't look like am on a date".

Thandi started typing on her phone. A few minutes later, there was a buzz. And she looked at her phone and then smiled. " Okay, Jin says that the Uber should be here within the next 30 minutes. Okay, let's get going. Let me get my bag. It's 4.30 now. We still have to walk to the main entrance. And he will pick us up there. Okay, by the boom gate. Okay" Thandi reached out to grab her bag, a black sling bag, and put her phone and her wallet in it. Then grabbed a little bit of lip gloss, admired herself again, then looked and said, "Okay, let's go." Madi picked up her bag and they walked out towards the entrance, boom gate. They waited about five minutes before a car pulled up. A white Camry pulled up and called their names and they jumped in. They greeted the Uber driver and he greeted back and asked them if that was the address that they were going to. And they responded, yes. Thandi sat in the front seat while Madi sat in the back. There wasn't much talk but the Uber driver played music all the way there.

As soon as the Uber car stopped outside Jin's parents' restaurant, Jin was already at the door of the car and opened the front to let Thandi out of the car. This was a very nice gesture. She stepped out and smiled at him. "Hi" They both smiled shyly at each other and, "Well, glad you made it", Jin said. Madi stepped herself out, feeling like a third wheel, and said, "Hey, yes, we did make it. Nice spot you got there." she said, " Thank you, "Jin said. " Come on in." The three of them walked together towards the entrance of the restaurant. As they went in through the front door, the jingle of little bells could be heard, as if they were at a distance, but somehow close. They walked towards a counter as they followed Jin.

There was a tray on the counter with tiny tea cups and a teapot. Jin poured the contents and held the cups to the girls. They obliged. "welcome drink, spicy peppermint tea, Cheers", Thandi found herself looking up at Jin, smiling, and the three of them found the nice warm liquid that had an inviting scent, an aroma. "Come this way," Chin pointed as he headed towards a table that had people standing around it. "Hello," one of the ladies greeted. "Um, mom, dad, "Chin said in English. "Thesebare my friends, Thandi and Madi. Thandi and Madi, this is my mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Chi. This is my brother, who is in high school, in Matric this year, and his name is Chan. And this is my twin sister, and her name is Jing." The family extended a short bow towards them and they followed suit "thank you for coming" Mr Chi greeted " please make yourself at home and have a seat."

Everyone scurried around and found themselves a seat. Jin sat between Madi and Thandi and across from them sat his brother and sister. On the opposite ends of the table sat the parents. "Wow, thank you for having us, sir, Mr. Chi." Thandi said softly . "It is our pleasure," Mrs. Chi said. "So, please tell us about yourself and how you met my son."

"Well, I'm a student in education at the university and Thandi's roommate. I met your son, with Thandi, during lunch at the cafeteria. She introduced me to him" Madi said. "Well, I met him at the library. We were sitting next to each other and ended up leaving at the same time. So we started chatting and I invited him to lunch where he met my roommate. It was still the first day, so there was nothing much to do. And that was just yesterday. We were just getting to know each other. I am an honours student in psychology at the university. She's from Umlazi, originally, and I am from Nkandla. My parents are both government workers. They work for the municipality as administrators. I've lived in Nkandla all my life. I went to high school and a boarding school in Eshowe."Thandi explained.

"Oh, that's great", Jing said. "We're all at the same university. We could all move around together. I'm a fourth-year medical student, but this young one here, Chan, is in matric high school. He'll only be joining us next year. He's still not even sure what he is going to study. He is thinking of law". "Oh, wow," Thandi exclaimed . "Your family is really well-educated, I must say." " Well, actually", Jink said, "it's just us. Our parents really struggled to raise us through businesses. They don't have much of an education, and they don't speak a much of English, but they understand the colloquial terms. Like, they learned how to speak the spoken language. It's not always grammatically correct, but they understand". Thandi took a look at her surroundings. Her surroundings felt very warm. The room was spacious, and every corner had leafy plants coming from vases or little boxes that were painted in red and black. The floor was crystal white. There were red lanterns on every table. All the round tables and chairs were made from bamboo and were black. The walls were red, and the blinds at the windows were also red. The blinds were open right now. There were red lanterns also hanging from the ceiling, which was also crystal white. There were many paintings of ancient Chinese, and paintings of dragons, especially around the bar area and the kitchen area.

"We're serving starters now". Jim announced. A Chinese waitress, dressed in white, came to serve them. Little plates. A little chatter. Jim had started around the table as they tried to make conversation. After the waiter had left, Jim introduced the dish to Madi and Thandi, looking Thandi in the eye. "Okay, this is a traditional starter. It is made out of shredded potato, smacked cucumber, sweet dates, spicy chicken feet, and some pickles. Please enjoy." He grinned.

Thandi nervously, slowly dug into the dish. She had never eaten this kind of cuisine before. She lowered her head and tasted the sweet and savory flavors and the aroma that came from the dish. It was delicious. She was used to chicken feet, and she used her fingers to eat the feet, and a fork to eat the rest of the dish. Jin looked at her and smirked," so you've never used these before?" He asked with a chuckle," no, you'd have to teach me", she said. Just smiled and slowly to her hand and put the chopsticks in between the fingers guiding her fingers on how to hold them Thandi looked nervous us Jin was very close to her and she could smell his fresh cologne she followed his guide and was able to lift a handful of food and what is garden place of in-between her lips and eat. Jin nervously looked at her with a smile. She felt her heart flutter a bit, and then thought, no, this is crazy, don't even think about it, she said to herself. Everyone else was engaged in small conversation around them and didn't notice what was going on, which was good for her. It made her less nervous. As they finish their starters, the waiter placed 3 bottles of white wine in front of them and opened them and each person passed around a goblet to drink from each person have their own silver goblet. Jin took one bottle and poured some for Thandi, Madi and for himself as well and then placed the bottle on the table and made a toast, "to lovely beginnings and official friends".

As they chatted and their starter plates were collected, they sipped on wine, and soon afterwards, the waiter came back with a few dishes that he placed in the middle of the table, and placed plates and fresh chopsticks in front of each person. "Ah", Jin said "here's the main course. This is roasted duck, Beijing roasted duck. It is served with steamed pancakes, sweet bean sauce, green onions, cubed roasted pumpkins, and fried cabbage. Enjoy!" The dishes we passed around, and each person helping themselves to a serving of each dish. Everything on the plates looked and tasted like nothing Thandi had ever seen before. She'd just never seen it all together in one plate. She smiled and dug in to the delicious food in front of her. They drank wine as they ate. The room was very silent until everybody had finished eating.

After this course was finished, the waiter returned to clean up the table, and they again had some more wine, and were all engaged in different chatter. The waiter came back again with small bowls of ice cream and mooncake. " Hey, dessert is here. I'm not sure if you've ever tasted mooncake, okay, with a dollop of ice cream. This is vanilla ice cream and mooncake, so enjoy." Jin announced .She was starting to feel quite full, but the wine was making her appetite grow. She quietly ate her dessert, and then sat on her chair, sipping on the wine. When everyone was done and all was quiet,Mr. and Mrs. Chi excused themselves. "It was nice meeting you", Mrs. Chi said. "I think we have to take our leave now. We hope to see you again soon." " Thank you very much for having us for dinner," Thandi responded. "We really do appreciate your hospitality, and this was lovely. I also hope to see you again soon. Good night." Chan also took his leave, while Madi and Jing sat and engaged in some conversation.

"Let me walk you out, your Uber will be here in a few minutes" Jin said, as he pulled out Thandi's chair from behind and walked next to her towards the door. Madi and Jing followed behind, deep in conversation. " I think next time I'll show you upstairs," Jin said. "Oh, okay. This must be a very big restaurant. It's got like three stories." Thandi said, " oh no no no, the restaurant is just downstairs. Upstairs is our living quarters, it's our flat, our apartment. Okay, that's where our kitchen, our dining, our lounge, our bathrooms, our veranda, our bedrooms are, you know, that kind of thing where people live in." He chuckled. " Oh, okay, so there's going to be a next time and I'm going to visit you at your home, literally." Thandi said, "well if you don't mind." Jin responded. He escorted them to the Uber and gave her a hug goodnight before the driver drove off.

Madi and Thandi went to their dorm. They changed and washed their faces, and as they got into bed, they started chatting a little. Thandi had already sent a text to Chin, telling him goodnight, that she was back in the dorm safely. " So, what is that all about? Everything is happening so quick". Madi asked, " What are you implying?" Thandi exclaimed, "Well, you guys were very cozy throughout. We didn't want to disturb you,". Maddy said. She and Jin's sister had observed that they were getting very close, and were cuddling. "Oh, okay". Thandi said, "I wasn't really expecting that, but, yeah, I guess we, it seems like we're getting close." "Yes, and there's a date tomorrow," Madi said. "Yes, it sounded like I was being asked for a date, so I wasn't sure, because he said now we're officially friends. So, yeah, and that hug, it was very lingering. It seems to say I'd like a little bit more than just a friendship, but let's still keep it as friends for now, just to get to know each other. That's how everything sounds like to me right now." Thandi smiled. "Okay, goodnight. I won't talk about this."