…Despite this entire merry making, something was amiss with Ndoli. Shanice, his girlfriend had not communicated since her return from the US. Considering the frequency with which they met and talked on phone, there was all cause for alarm.

Ndoli had tried to call her several times but all in vain. Her phone was always off. He checked in at her flat but there was no single soul, save for a black cat that stared from the balcony. All these memories kept on hitting him like torrents.

The two shots of whisky had literally made the rest have "light heads on their shoulders”, except Ndoli, who was still as sober as a bishop.

He excused himself to go to the loos. Actually what he wanted was an excuse to have some minutes alone. The cloud that was hanging over his head was finally about to fall.

Ndoli had this uncanny gift of seeing things before they actually happened. The prospect of losing Shanice was becoming clear every second that ticked away. He moved out of the bar and took a stroll outside to refresh himself.

As he looked in the parking area, a figure crossed his eyes; it looked like he had seen Shanice and Shema in a black Renault. 

He edged closer but the occupants had seen him from the driving mirror. What he left behind was the screeching sound of tyres and a cloud of smoke as the car sped off! 

Ndoli did not say a word, it was simply unbelievable. How could Shanice be flirting with his best friend, Shema…!

Ndoli did not enter the bar again; he boarded a taxi straight to Chez Lando where he downed a whole bottle of John Walker and then home straight to bed.

The memory of the whole incident had made Ndoli seem so aged! He had the look of a man contemplating the end of the world.

Still holding the letter in his hands, he started plotting how he would storm Shanice’s flat. He wanted Shanice to at least deny that it was her who was with Cedric. "Or maybe it wasn’t her after all,” Ndoli thought.

He continued to console himself. Before he could think straight again the engine of a car whined and died down outside. Ndoli looked straight at the entrance with a stern look that could have sent the devil scampering in fear.

He waited to see who would dare visit him early in the morning in his present state. As expected there came the knock on the door. The knock was synonymous with that made by Shanice.

"If only she could deny!” Ndoli prayed. He opened the door and alas there she was, red faced. She did not mince her words. She hit the point head on.

"I am sorry Ndoli for yesterday. Thank you for the good times that we have shared. But you should realise that nothing lasts forever. If you don’t mind, let’s just be friends.”

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