Lanaya woke up with a jolt. She sat in the silence and darkness of her bedroom waiting for her eyes to adjust. Glancing over to the clock she lets out a groan. It was 4 a.m. Having lost the desire to sleep, partially because of the time and also from fear of returning to that nightmare, Lanaya decided to make herself some warm lemon water. Sliding slowly out of her bed, covers wrinkled and strewn about as if she was thrashing in her sleep, she tried hard not to recall her dream. Wrapping a silky robe around her and slipping her feet into her soft slippers, Lanaya made her way downstairs. 

Lanaya often found herself sleeping alone. This was nothing new. As she reached downstairs, she could hear the snoring of her husband as he slept in the guest bedroom, a regular occurrence. He once told her it was because he had to wake up early and did not want to disturb her, but on the days he started work late or had no work at all, his place of choice to sleep was still by himself. 

Lanaya made her way to the kitchen, using the dim lighting from the countertops to avoid turning on the main lights. She filled the kettle and stood with her back resting on the kitchen counter waiting for the water to boil. Looking at nothing in particular in the dimly lit open-plan kitchen, her mind wandered back to the dream, trying to make sense of what she had seen. Maybe the feelings she buried from her disappointing anniversary triggered her subconscious to vividly display the mess that is her current relationship; talk about adding insult to injury! Having finished preparing her warm beverage, Lanaya sat down at the kitchen counter nursing her cup of lemon water. 

The comforting taste of lemon and honey soothed Lanaya’s mind. Recalling the events of her dream, Lanaya thought about how she met her husband. Her actual wedding day was far from the grim events of her dream. She was happy then, even her husband too. Memories of her relationship flooded her mind as she let out a sigh. She closed her eyes and thought back to the time she met Delroy. 

 Aimless chatter. Raucous laughter. Two litre bottles of various soft drinks lined up on the counter. Boxes of half eaten pizza and chicken wings were strewn across table tops. Loud music thumped out a bassline you could feel in your bones. Lanaya tried hard to enjoy herself at her cousin’s birthday party, but she was not in the mood. Although tired from a long working week, she could not decline the invitation from her cousin Chess. To use tiredness as an excuse to miss the party would not fly, plus a change of pace may be the distraction she needed to not dwell on a bad break up.

Lanaya not long ago ended an almost two-year relationship with someone she still has to see regularly; the drawback of an office romance. Lanaya had thrown herself into her work to keep her mind occupied but the self-neglect was evident and her nosy cousin picked up on it.   

 Franchesca Richardson, affectionately known as Chess, was Lanaya’s Aunt’s daughter. Chess was forever the life and soul of any party and was always surrounded by friends. Lanaya was fairly close to her cousin Chess, but not enough for those bare all conversations. Their personalities were quite different but they got along well although sometimes Lanaya could not take Chess seriously. But for today Lanaya will make an effort, plus hanging out with such a vibrant character may be just the right distraction Lanaya needs.

 Seated on a couch slowly sipping on a lemonade, Lanaya attempted to engage in the conversations around her. Some of the guests she knew quite well, others she met for the first time. Smiling, nodding, and the occasional laughter, Lanaya began to enjoy the party.. Finally able to relegate those nagging negative thoughts to the back of her mind, Lanaya started to relax, until the birthday girl called her out. 

‘Lan Lan'.

Lanaya sat up straight having been startled by her name suddenly being called. Lanaya looked towards her cousin trying hard to ignore the butterflies building in her stomach. 

'I want a song before we play games and cut cake.’

Lanaya, puzzled by the request, but not all too surprised considering who it came from, tried to get herself out of it.

‘Umm Chess, we can all sing happy birthday for you right?’ You don’t need to have me singing solo cuz’. 

Not backing down, Chess responded in a whiny voice, ‘Lan Lan it’s my birthday. You can’t deny me. Let's say it's your gift to me.’

‘But I already got you a gift.’

Lanaya, failed to convince her cousin so she gave in reluctantly knowing she was not going to win this battle. Lanaya stood up from her seat on the couch, placed her cup down and straightened her outfit. The music stopped and all eyes were on her. This was not the attention she was expecting but not wanting to miss an opportunity to get back at her cousin for putting her on the spot, Lanaya opened up her mouth and with all the gusto of a gospel singer, belted out the words from an old radio commercial. 

The laughter that erupted from the small group of party-goers and cousin Chess was everything. Chess held her sides and belly-laughed to the point of tears. 

‘My word Lan. You got me there. Absolute quality. Haven’t laughed that hard in ages. Best gift ever.’

‘Well you did say “a song”. You should have been more specific’, Lanaya responded cheekily. 

The games and entertainment continued well into the night but Lanaya eventually set out to leave because the next day being Monday, she knew she’d regret a very late night. As she stopped by the front door, stooping down to put on her shoes, she heard a voice above her. 

‘Nice song by the way,’ the mysterious voice said.

Caught off guard, Lanaya responded with ‘Um, what?’

Realising that may have come across as rude, she stood up to address the person properly, however misjudged where the owner of the voice was standing and thud! One head back and one elbow collision later, Lanaya clutched her head embarrassed, apologetic, but also stifling the desire to cuss out the owner of the elbow. 

‘Yo, sorry. My bad for standing so close. Is your head alright?’

Lanaya, flushed with embarrassment nodded.

 ‘I’m good. No worries.’ 

She quickly picked up her belongings, opened the front door, gave a quick “bye” to the stranger and made a swift exit. Flustered, shoes still not fully fastened and cringing at what just happened, Lanaya headed quickly to her car.  She threw her stuff on the passenger seat, and she sank into her seat. She held onto the steering wheel and banged her head on it as she let out a groan.

 ‘Aghh! Well played Lanaya. Such a clutz.' She laughed.  'And he just had to be good looking didn’t he? Oh well.’ 

Convincing herself it didn’t matter as they probably wouldn’t see each other again, Lanaya drove off home, smiling.