A Princess for a day

Episode 1, A Princess for a Day CHAPTER 1 A PRINCESS FOR A DAY By Nanette Spurway for Star Writing CHAPTER 1 “Louella over here honey,” her grandmother called. Louella smiled and made her way through the wine vats which had been planted with olive trees to a table under a large white stinkwood tree where her grandmother sat. They hugged each other warmly and sat opposite each other. Almost immediately the waiter brought their cappuccinos billowing with froth. “Hello Gran, it’s good to see you.” Her happy lilting voice made anyone feel welcome. She was a beautiful twenty year old young lady with a compassionate composure, although steadfast in her goals, she was full of wonderful ideas. Louella was a student at Stellenbosch University and on her December holiday break. “Gran I have so much to tell you, but how are you and all the sewing, what have you been up to?” As Louella sipped her cappuccino, her grandmother chattered away, hardly taking a breath, while Louella interjected with “Uh-Huh! That’s nice Gran, really?” “Oh, but that’s enough about my life, now I want to hear all about your life; any romance on the horizon?” “Gran,” she blushed a little, “I think you are more of a romantic than I am, but no, nothing too serious, I have met a couple of nice young men; the thing is Gran, I have seven years of intense study ahead of me at University, which means a huge amount of concentration and hard work, so I cannot become seriously involved now.” “What a sensible young lady you are my sweet, but do give yourself some leisure time too; you don’t want to become old before your time you know.” “No, that won’t happen. During holidays, I relax and have fun. I love being with my Dad and two siblings and of course you Gran.” “Ow, come on, I’m just an old fuddy, duddy.” “Now, now, you know I love you to bits and would never think that of you, look at what you do, and how much you put into a day, you set an extraordinary example for us, your grandchildren, and I hope one day to fit into your shoes.” Louella said seriously. “Let’s talk about you, what are your plans for December and January? Will you and Dad be going on holiday?” Her grandmother continued. “Well I think so, but my Varsity roommate has asked me to spend a few weeks with her on her Uncle’s wine farm, I’d love to go although I really want to be with my family too. I’ll try to fit both into my schedule, if at all possible. “Sweetheart you must go to the wine farm, you will enjoy that very much, and when you drink that bottle of Merlot, think of me.” Her grandmother grinned. “You bet, I’ll bring you half a dozen bottles Gran.” Louella winked and smiled back. After a scrumptious lunch and much chatter, the two women left the restaurant and went their separate ways. The holidays would continue for at least another six weeks and Louella wanted to cram as much entertainment into the period as possible; this included a short holiday with her father, sister and brother. Her mobile phone rang and it was Priscilla, her Varsity room-mate. “Hi Lou, are you still considering going to the wine farm?” “Hi Priscilla; I said I would go with you and meant it. Why is something wrong?” Priscilla could hear the disappointment in her friend’s voice and thought it only fair to explain her recent developments. “Oh! My friend, I must tell you everything. Got a minute or two?” A little taken aback Louella replied, “Of course, what is the matter?” “No, nothing’s wrong, in fact everything is right; but let me explain. The day after I reached home, my parents had a house party. I thought it would be boring, but there were a number of young people there too. We all congregated in the Gazebo, played our own music, swam, played pool, danced and had an absolute ball. A-a-n-d,” she took a deep breath before continuing, while Louella knew she was in for a long story. She hoped it was going to be good and from the excitement she could hear in her friend’s voice she knew it would be. “Well, c’mon, c’mon, tell me; spill the beans, I can’t wait to hear.” Louella said excitedly although she felt it also had something to do with her stay at the wine farm. “I met a guy, an absolutely gorgeous and wonderful guy, Lou. I have never felt like this about any guy before. I am sooooo in love with him.” Priscilla gushed. Louella thought that this would be number four she had met and fallen for in the year she had known her, but it was useless telling Priscilla to ‘go slow’, she always went in head first and then bumped it. There was just no stopping her, so she might as well enjoy the ride with her friend. “My friend, I am truly happy for you and hope your happiness continues.” Immediately Louella realized she had said the wrong thing. “Why shouldn’t I be happy?” “Hey Priscilla, of course you will be happy, as happy as you are now I mean.” "One day you will understand what I am talking about, when you meet someone like Paul. You will know that you fit together and want to be together and you like the same things.” “Okay, okay, I understand what you mean. Now tell me, is there a problem? Will you not be going to the farm anymore?” “Actually; yes and no!” “What on earth do you mean? Looks like Paul has affected your reasoning too?” The girls laughed. Priscilla then decided to visit Louella and sort the whole thing out. “Louella, I’m coming over; I’ll be at your house within fifteen minutes. Will you have time to make some scones; you know I love your scones.” Louella laughed, “Yeah, okay, I’ll make some scones, but I am with my gran at present and I want to spend some time with her. Come after lunch. We can sit on the patio where no one will interrupt us.” Priscilla arrived just after lunch and the girls had their tea on a tray with scones, strawberry jam and cream. They made themselves comfortable and then Priscilla took on a serous air. “Lou, you are my best friend; you know that.” Louella gave her a sideways grin raising her eyebrows. “No, I mean it, and I would not ask this huge favour of you if I couldn’t trust you completely.” Louella had a sinking feeling in her stomach, but waited for the crunch! “You see, Lou… I really do love Paul.” Louella could see she was uncomfortable with what was to come. “He and I want to be on our own for a couple of weeks. We want to go on a trip down the South Coast, perhaps Umhlanga Rocks. His parents have a time share there overlooking the sea. It will be so romantic don’t you think?” “You are a grown woman Priscilla and you can look after yourself. I will worry of course that you will be hurt, but if you trust this man so completely, then who am I to stand in your way? But, I somehow feel that is not all you want to discuss with me?” Priscilla sipped her tea, then put the cup down, took a huge bite of scone, leaving cream all over her lips, and while licking them, she clasped her hands together and turned to face Louella. “I am going to ask you to do something for me which is completely against the grain, and I know you won’t like it either.” Louella raised her eyebrows but said nothing, although she had a sense of foreboding. “I want you to go to my Uncle’s wine farm anyway; my cousins will be there, Luke who is twenty three, his girlfriend Althea and her sister Carmen who is your age, and a few other friends. So you won’t be alone and you will fit into the group easily and have fun with them.” “These people are all strangers and I will be intruding, as I am a complete outsider. This is really too much to ask Prissy. I can’t go.” “My parents think that you and I will be going together. They don’t know that Paul and I intend going away on our own. Look, I will make sure that you are well taken care of. Henry, the driver will fetch you at the airport as planned, but there will be only one of us instead of two.” “Priscilla I don’t like the idea, and you are right it is against my better judgment. I don’t begrudge you going away with Paul; I would prefer that you tell your parents.” “I can’t Lou. Things are not good between my parents right now and I don’t want to make matters worse. Please think about it for a moment.” The girls sat in silence for a while, eating scones and drinking tea. Many thoughts raced through Louella’s mind. She had already organized to go to the farm and during this period her father would be taking her younger brother to meet up with his cousins and they were all booked into lodges in the Kruger National Park for ten days, which meant she would have to stay at home alone. She had many friends around about her home, but it was eerie living in a huge house all on her own, especially as it held so many memories of her late mother who had died a couple of years before. What was she to do? Louella heaved a huge sigh. “Well, I suppose I have to do it, but should your scheme backfire, you are the one that will have to answer for it. Are you prepared to do that, to take the responsibility on your shoulders? I am not going to go through all the ‘what if’s that could happen, but should anything go wrong you phone me immediately, upon which I will hire a car and come and fetch you. Okay?” Priscilla leaned over and hugged her friend. “I will always be grateful for what you are doing for me and even if you are six months younger than me, you are like the older sister I’ve always wanted.” “Heaven help the poor girl if you did have an older sister!” Louella said and they both laughed and set forth making their separate holiday plans.