Dating a Gangster

Chapter Five: The Demise

He gets up and puts his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll come pick you up.”, he says calmly. And just like that they walk out, with him in the front and the two pit bulls following behind him, side by side. Is this man some sort of…important person? Why does he have bodyguards that just pop out of nowhere? I’m sitting there absolutely baffled, trying to understand what just happened… “Ma’am!”, the waitress taps my shoulder. I snap out of my thoughts and look up at her. “Are you okay?”, she asks while scanning me. “Yes, I’m okay, thank you.”, I reply with a forced smile. “Do you need anything else? More wine perhaps?”, she asks. I look at my empty wine glass. “No thank you. Can I just get the bill? I need to go back to work.” She looks at me with complete confusion. “Bill?”, she asks. “Yes, bill. So I can pay for the food and drinks.” I respond bluntly. “Ma’am there’s no bill. Everything was on the house.”, she says casually. On the house? What house? “What do you mean?”, I ask. She smiles at me, noticing how genuinely confused I am. “The gentleman you were with is the owner of the restaurant. So if you’re in a rush to leave, you can go anytime. If you still want to order you may, but there’s no need to pay.” She turns and walks away.

I take my bag and walk out of the restaurant. I’m just choosing to focus my thoughts and energy into the rest of my work day because I’m not sure about all of this. Or perhaps that glass of wine was too strong. Lukhanyo owns Sanook? Bodyguards? Istanbul airport? What does this man really do for a living? My phone beeps. “I’m sorry for leaving you like that. I hope Sandy is taking care of you there. I’ll see you at four o’clock.” It’s him. I type back, “Who’s Sandy?”. It beeps again, “The waitress.” So he really does own the restaurant, which also explains how he knows the menu without looking at it, and why I’ve never seen him there on the many occasions I’ve actually gone there. I walk into the office, open my laptop and immediately immerse myself in my work.

I walk out of the last meeting for the day. My body is caving in on me and I really need to get some rest. I check the time and it’s four o’clock. Sam, my colleague has offered to give me a lift home today. I grab my bag and walk out to the parking lot to look for Sam and to my surprise I spot Lukhanyo and his car. He’s on his phone, leaning against the car with one leg folded over the other. He spots me and waves at me. Argh, I pull out my phone and text Sam, “Babe, you can leave me. I forgot that a friend of mine was coming to fetch me today. Xoxo”. “Hey, you look exhausted.”, he says whilst putting his phone in his pocket and reaching in for a hug. We are clearly going to be hugging each other every time we see one another. “I am. I just want to rest, it’s been quite a long day, hey.”, I sigh whilst hugging him back. “Pop in the car and I’ll make sure you get all the rest you need.” He lets me go and opens the door for me. I jump in and he closes it, walks around the car to the drivers side, gets in and starts the car. I catch a glimpse of my colleagues staring at us as we drive out of the parking lot. “I hope you’re taking me home.”, I turn to look at him. “I will soon.”, he responds. I recline my chair and close my eyes. My energy is completely depleted and I still have loads of work to do.

“Amanda.”, he taps me on my thigh. I open my eyes slowly and look at him. “Come.”, he gestures for me to get out of the car. I look around and realize I don’t recognize where I am at all or how we even got here. I climb out of the car and we walk in. It’s a Chinese place, obviously with the name written in Mandarin. He leads me to a narrow staircase and we make our way up. A short man dressed in a traditional robe greets us and hands us some welcoming drinks. There is very little decor here, they really kept everything to a minimal. The theme of the whole place is nude and pastel colors which are easy on the eye and restful I guess. There is relaxing music playing in the background, all around the place and the ambience of the place is honestly tranquil and welcoming.

He takes my hand and leads me into a room. “You’re going to get a massage.”, says Lukhanyo. “And what are you getting?”, I ask. “I will be getting a drink.”, he smiles. He grabs his drink and walks out of the room. I take my clothes off slowly and wrap myself in a towel that was folded neatly and placed on an ottoman. I lie on the bed on my stomach, placing my face on the headrest and slowly close my eyes. Both the bed and the headrest are so soft, the smell of incense burning in the room is so welcoming and soothing, actually smells really nice, not to mention how relaxing the music in the background is. In just a couple of minutes, I find myself drifting slowly into sleep whilst hearing someone walking into the room.

“Ma’am, we are done. You can get up and get dressed.”, the lady taps me on my shoulder softly. I open my eyes and notice that my skin is glowing and beaming from the essential oils. Did I just sleep right through a massage session? I turn and nod my head and she walks out to give me space so I can change. I feel as fresh as an energizer bunny, clearly the trick is to get into a deep, relaxing sleep whilst getting a massage simultaneously. I take my time to get up, walk up to my clothes, get dressed and walk out to go look for Lukhanyo. He is chatting away with one of the Chinese guys I saw earlier whilst sitting on the floor in one of the lounge areas, or waiting rooms rather. “Hey sleepy head, well you look like you just woke up. Come, let us go grab some dinner.”, he gets up. “Please, I’m hungry.”, I mutter in between a yawn. He bids his goodbyes to the man and we go to the other side of the building, which is the restaurant. “How are you feeling?”, he asks as we sit down. “I feel refreshed actually. Thank you for that. I just haven’t seen my phone or where I left it. Can you perhaps find out for me from the masseuse if she didn’t see it?”, I look around. “Oh I have it. You left it in the car so I took it when I went back to fetch my wallet. Sort of figured you would need it when you are done, here. ”, he takes the phone out of his pocket and hands it over to me. To my surprise it’s off, how odd.

I switch it on and immediately receive an influx of messages and missed calls. They are all from my dad, but what could be so important that makes him, out of all people, call and text me off the hook? “My dad has been calling me like crazy, I need to find out if he’s okay.”, I say whilst dialing his number. The phone rings once and he answers. “Amanda! Where have you been?” He asks, with an exasperated tone. “I’m sorry dad. My phone was off and I did not notice until now. What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”, I ask. “I’m at Life Hospital Mandi…”, his voice breaks “Mandi…I don’t know what to do.”, he sniffs. “Dad? Are you sick? What is going on? Where’s mom? Please don’t cry.”, I start panicking. I have never heard or seen that man cry in my entire life. He’s quiet which makes me even more concerned and curious. “Dad please talk to me. What is happening?-”, I beg. Lukhanyo raises his head and looks at me. “It is your mom Mandi. She got into a car accident and…and she is now in the Intensive Care Unit. The doctor said the chances of her making it out of here alive and well are very slim…” he sniffs again, “Mandi. I don’t know what I would do without your mother, I do not know how to live and cope without her in my life. She can’t do this to me Mandi, at least not now.”, his voice breaks even more. That’s it, I get up. “Daddy I’m coming, okay? Just hold on a bit, I’m on my way right now.” I drop the call. “What’s going on? Where are we going?”, Lukhanyo asks. “My mom got in a car accident. I need to get to The Life Hospital in Beacon Bay, now.”, my voice breaks and my eyes well up with tears. Lukhanyo gets up and grabs my hand and we stride out to the car.

We arrive at the hospital and I try calling my dad, his phone rings and eventually goes to voicemail. I try him two more times, and end up with the same result. “Let’s ask the receptionist if she can help us. Sorry ma’am, we’re looking for a Mrs Nzwane? She was involved in a car accident and is in ICU here. Can we see her?”, he asks calmly. How does he know my surname? I don’t recall ever disclosing my surname to him. I stare at him questioningly. He turns and gives me a dismissive look. You know what? My mother could be borderline dying, how Lukhanyo knows my personal details which I never told him, can’t be my biggest concern right now. I turn and look at the receptionist. “Mrs Nzwane, uhm, Mrs Nzwane…” she reiterates while scrolling down her computer with the mouse. “Mrs Nzwane? You’re looking for her?”, says a voice behind us. “Yes!”, Lukhanyo and I chime at the same time. “Follow me.”, the doctor walks off.

He stops in front of a closed door. “I can only allow one person to go inside. Are you Amanda, the daughter?”, the doctor asks. “Yes. How do you know?”, I respond a bit confused. “Your father told me you’re coming before we had to admit him as well.”, he says calmly. “Before what?”, I ask, completely confused. “Miss Nzwane I understand this is a lot for you but you have to keep your voice down. Your father is okay, you don’t need to worry about him. These things usually happen, when a spouse is at the brink of losing their partner. We have put him on a drip and sedated him a bit. By tomorrow we will discharge him, for now you can go inside and see your mother.”, he opens the door. “Sir you may take a seat on one of the chairs in the meantime.”, he gestures and Lukhanyo takes a seat. I hear the machine beeping rapidly and turn to look at the doctor. He pushes me to the side and rushes inside whilst calling the nurses. They all come rushing in, continuously bumping me as I stand dejectedly by the door. After a few mins, the beeping ceases and I see a red straight line on the machine…