the fairest of them all. As for you, my friend, this dress fits you nicely.”
“That’s a relief! I couldn’t handle parting with it if you wanted me to return it. Getting a nod from the fashion editor is always good. But wait, there’s more!” Zandi quickly went back to her room.
“As if you don’t look beautiful enough already!” Neo called after her. “You’ll have to forgive me if I replace you as bridesmaid.”
Zandi reappeared holding a black suit, a white shirt with coral stripes and a coral tie. She held the clothes up for her friends to see.
Tondani was confused. “Is that a man’s suit?”
“Please don’t wear that to my wedding!” pleaded Neo.
“It’s not for me, but look at how the tie matches my dress. And the tie goes really well with this shirt, so I couldn’t not buy both. And then there was the suit. Doesn’t everything just go together so well?”
Tondani was still confused. “Sure, but I still don’t understand why you’d buy men’s clothes when you look this good in this dress?”
“It’s for my date, silly. If I’m going to be looking this gorgeous, then my date also needs to look the part, don’t you agree?”
Neo wondered if she had missed something while focusing on the juice she was drinking. “But I thought you didn’t have a date for the wedding?”
“I don’t have one yet, but the wedding is still two months away. That’s plenty of time to charm a man into being my date, right?”
“I totally agree, except I don’t know how you can buy a suit for a man you haven’t met yet. What if you do meet him, and he’s too skinny or too fat or too tall?” Tondani couldn’t understand what had gotten into Zandi.
“I’m not thinking about that right now; you’re the one who told me to forget about the what-ifs. All I know is that my date and I will make a great couple in these outfits. Just make sure your photographer friend shows up, because this is the stuff the fashion society pages are made of.” Zandi had it all figured out. She had found a dress she looked amazing in. She had also found an elegant suit that went perfectly with her dress. How could she possibly not find a man to wear it and be her date for the wedding when everything else had worked out so perfectly?
“I bet you bought the suit with Jeffrey in mind. Look at it; it’s his size!” Neo had emptied her glass of juice and now moved on to sipping Zandi’s juice, which had hardly been touched.
“What?” was all Zandi managed to say, so shocked was she by her friend’s suggestion.
“I’m simply saying maybe you should ask Jeffrey to be your date.”
Tondani looked a little shocked at how Neo had just brought up his name. “I disagree. How can you waste a suit like that on him? No way!”
“And quite honestly, Jeffrey hates suits. He would never wear this!” Zandi concurred.
“I was just making a suggestion. Maybe as a last resort, just in case,” Neo persisted.
“How could I ever ask Jeffrey? After what he did to me?”
“Forget about him; we’ll find you a date for the wedding and he won’t be a lowlife like Jeffrey,” Tondani tried to resolve the situation before it got worse.
“I thought you were the one who broke up with him?” Neo blinked innocently as Tondani shot a warning glance her way.
“Well, I did,” replied Zandi, close to tears. “What else was I supposed to have done when the guy I’d been with for five years told me he wasn’t ready for commitment?”
“You did the right thing. Jeffrey didn’t deserve you. Neo, please pass some tissues,” asked Tondani, giving Neo a see-what-you’ve-done look.
“Anyway, what did he mean, he wasn’t ready for commitment?” Zandi asked as she started to sob. “Am I controlling? Is that what he meant?”
Tondani rescued the suit from Zandi and placed it neatly on the couch so that her friend would not damage it by sobbing all over it.
“You know what? It doesn’t matter,” Neo tried to console Zandi. “Whatever he meant, it’s really not important any more. Don’t cry; you’re going to ruin that beautiful dress.”
Zandi gasped as her attention turned to the outfit she was still wearing, but then she seemed to decide that it didn’t matter any more because she started to cry again. “He’s ruined everything, absolutely everything. How could he be so cruel?”
“Jeffrey has always been like that,” Neo retorted. “That’s why I never really liked him.”
“So why do you insist that she comes to your wedding with him?” Tondani asked Neo.
“Remember the time we all went to the festival in Mafikeng? It was five of us: you and Lutendo, Zandi and Jeffrey, and I was alone. I was the only girl who didn’t have a boyfriend. Remember what Jeffrey said to me? He said he didn’t think I was anywhere close to finding a man. That’s why it would be great for me to have him there when I get married, just to see the look on his cruel face.”
Tondani sighed at Neo’s explanation. “Don’t mind her; the wedding is stressing her out,” she said.
But that didn’t make Zandi feel better. “I’m alone because I’m clingy and controlling. Look at me, buying a suit for a man I haven’t even met yet. What’s the matter with me?”
Zandi didn’t want to think about the wedding gown that was in her closet. She wondered if she would ever get to wear it. Why had she even bought something like that with no marriage proposal in sight?
“It means you are in control, which isn’t the same thing as being controlling,” Tondani said and then continued, “Say you meet a handsome man a day before the wedding and he doesn’t own a suit? That would be disastrous, so I think it’s good that you take charge like this; it’s very sexy.”
Zandi managed a laugh and started to dry her eyes with a tissue.
“You’ll be okay, girlfriend. You’ll find a date for the wedding, and in time you’ll find a really wonderful man who has eyes only for you. Uhm . . . you know my brother has always liked you,” Tondani joked.
“Is he still single?” Neo asked. “I’m surprised, because you market him any chance you get. I remember you said exactly the same about your brother to me before I met Thabo.”
“I did? It just bothers me that he always goes for the wrong type of girls and they always break his heart. He’s a real sweetheart.” Tondani looked affectionately at Zandi, who raised both hands.
“No offence, but I’m not that desperate. Your brother isn’t my type.”
“Don’t give up, Zandi. I’d already given up all hope of finding a good man worth spending the rest of my life with when Thabo came along and swept me off my feet.” Neo could hardly hide how happy she was.
“I thought you just stalked the poor guy,” Zandi said.
