The beginning of the connection.
The beginning of a Blissful Blur.
How it all explodes…
After a four and a half hour drive from Durban, the car at
last pulled into the parking lot at the entrance to Lions Valley Lodge, within
Nambiti’s bushveld, not far from Ladysmith.
He had been thoroughly looking forward to this weekend of luxury-bush-experience
after a hectic and stressful week of travelling with his supplier, the generous
sponsor of the trip. Unfortunately the sponsor, who had started the week sick
and got progressively more ill during their business trip, had only three things
on his mind: drinking, resting and watching the rugby on the telly.
He climbed nimbly into the open-top Land Cruiser at the main
gate, helped his supplier up and listened to the knowledgeable ranger chat
animatedly about the lodge and the Big 5 waiting to be viewed over the next two
days. Wildlife greeted them on the winding
track towards the main lodge, and he instantly appreciated his surroundings.
Outside the entrance to the main lodge, she sat on a vehicle
– an empty seat next to her with her travelling companion, friend, sitting at
the other end of the Land Cruiser, both in the front row seats, the perfect position
to capture the experience on their top of the range cameras – patiently waiting
to depart for the afternoon game drive.
A commotion beyond the back of the vehicle caused her to
turn her body to investigate. She watched two men climb off another vehicle,
thinking: we must have been waiting for them, the late arrivals. Hurry up, she
silently pleaded.
“You have got the sports channels, ja?” the one with the
bigger belly said to another ranger she had not yet seen. Yes, the ranger
confirmed.
She looked at the man with the shining blue eyes standing
alongside Big-Belly and thought she heard him groan. “Have you taken your
pills?” he said, a British accent evident. Big-Belly sighed.
What on Earth were these two men, one from another
continent, doing at a stunning game lodge wanting to watch rugby instead of
adventuring out in the veld on a hunt for wild animals? And who, in their right
mind, would ever choose to miss sun-downers in the middle of the bush?
He desperately wanted to go on the drive but felt obliged to
stay with his supplier, and so could not wait for dawn – the first game drive
of the day, his first on the trip.
The following morning, just before dawn, felt icy and he did
not have any warm enough clothes. Soon a guard on a buggy arrived to take him
to the restaurant for a welcome mug of steaming coffee, to wake and warm him
before the exploration. His supplier messaged him to say he was not joining him
due to still feeling unwell. He decided to go without him; all self-induced, he
mumbled to himself!
He looked around at the other guests, observing the couples
and families while waiting to board the vehicle; the last space at the back of
the vehicle reserved for him. The drive was cold and windy and they saw nothing
of any interest. Feeling glum, he wished he’d stayed in bed whilst being bumped
around in the most uncomfortable seat ever sat in. Never again!
She welcomed the stop for a hot drink to warm her hands and
biscuits to fill her growling stomach. Once her hands were warmed from the hot
chocolate, she grabbed her camera from off the seat on the vehicle and strolled
around admiring the view overlooking a ravine with a pristine sky above.
She noticed the British man with the blue-eyes didn’t say a
word to anyone. He appeared aloof, disinterested and bored. She considered
asking him where he lived in the UK and how she couldn’t take living there
after 11 years, but thought he looked too snooty to bother with. Yet something
caused her to think of him, which played on her mind.
He wandered off away from the vehicle – worrying about work,
no email connections and his supplier – not feeling at all sociable. Something caught
his attention; a woman with a partner whom seemed totally disinterested in her,
not only now, but also during the drive. He considered removing the white hat
she wore to see more of her, and wondered about her taking photos of the
landscape with a fancy looking camera. He wanted to ask her about them but felt
all words would come out wrong. Why would he even worry about this now?
The biscuits were not safe when she was near and he almost
fought her for the last one. She beat him in the end, which made him laugh to
himself. He wondered if she had hidden any spare biscuits under the puffer-jacket
that clearly protected her from the cold whilst he shivered uncontrollably, but
was it only because of the cold.
Back on the drive, again there was nothing worth
photographing and quite uninteresting until a German man asked for a “pit stop”
where he leapt from the vehicle to relieve himself behind a pile of large rocks.
Within seconds he returned to the Land Cruiser, joking about having seen two
male lions, or so all the passengers thought.
The ranger drove slowly
away towards the edge of the grass to head back to the lodge for breakfast.
Just as the vehicle turned to bypass the rocks, two young male lions
casually followed a lioness out of the tall grass and strolled around the
vehicle stopping occasionally to lie down and take in the surroundings. The
female and the dominant male strode purposely to the back of the Land Cruiser
and mated for only a few seconds, the female making low, deep noises. Everyone
on the vehicle had their mouths agape, cameras in action, attempting to keep as
still and quiet as possible.
She could hardly wait for the afternoon drive to discover
more ‘wild’ excitement and even beat her friend to the vehicle, where she
waited in her usual seat on the left hand side for the other guests to climb on
board. Damn well hurry up, she silently pleaded yet again. The last to arrive,
of course, was British-Blue-Eyes who headed straight to the front of the
vehicle, and climbed up right next to her, to the only available seat in the
middle between her and the friend.
“Shall I get out?” she asked meekly, while he was almost
stepping over her knees.
“No, it’s fine,” he replied, smiling warmly at her. She
smiled back as he sat down next to her.
After a few minutes into the drive, spotting rhinos and giraffe,
they easily started chatting to each other. They did not stop talking, and she
soon stopped thinking of him as a rude, aloof, stuck-up, arrogant Brit. She did
not want the drive to end, the conversation to stop; any of this to stop. She
wanted to know all about this foreigner, but didn’t usually talk on the game
drives for fear of missing out on animal viewing. This time, for the first
time, was different.
The drive ended just as it was getting dark and colder; they
all went for refreshments at the lodge before dinner. He chatted to her again,
only her, as they both selected hot chocolate and discussed what they had seen
on the drive. He did not notice her partner was missing. He did not notice
anything other than her.
The chef prepared a braai out on the open deck in front of
the main restaurant that night for dinner. His friend had reappeared and while they
chose some food to take back to their table, she called out to him: “Try the boerewors,”
on her way to a table inside.
"The what?" he
said, grinning at her, feeling as if they were the only two existed in the
entire lodge that night; the chemistry potent.
The chef described the South African delicacy to him and he couldn’t wait to
taste it.
“Don’t forget the tomato and onion sauce!” she reminded him, grinning
widely. How could he forget anything she’d said to him?
He made sure he sat at a table where he could easily see her. Everywhere he looked his gaze always returned to fixate on her and she seemed to be looking back at him, every time. What a lovely smile, he thought, what a happy, warm smile that he imagined would melt any heart.
She wanted the meal to be over with, and to be alone with this man. Her friend
excused himself after he’d wolfed his dinner down to go and have a hot shower
and then to sleep. “I’ll be checking my emails,” she said unconvincingly to him
as he left for the room. The last thing she wanted to do was go to bed, back to
the room so early, straight after a delicious meal.
While finishing her dessert, she watched the two men take their desserts
outside on to the terrace. She decided to pop her head out and bid them good
evening on route to check her emails. Instead of leaving immediately she
accepted their invitation to sit and join them for a chat in front of a blazing
log fire in a sunken hole within the decking.
He could not get enough of listening to her speak, the way she spoke,
and the descriptive words she chose and how frank and brutally honest she was
about everything. Her stories startled him especially when her eyes shone
brightly and he completely lost himself in them at times, as mesmerised as he
was in her presence. Why was it so easy to talk to someone at times? She had a
smile that could light up the globe that night. They didn’t need the glowing,
amber fire or the smoke rising from the logs that disturbed them at times.
Occasionally, he politely acknowledged his supplier who sat opposite him but he
didn’t care about anything other than being there with this woman who
completely captivated him.
She explained about her partner who was a friend from Dubai. She talked about
older men and how she preferred them. “They know what they want and are not
afraid of getting it,” she said, grinning. She moved closer towards him,
leaning in to him. She noticed that he did not take his eyes off her, and
subtly encouraged him by flirting with her eyes – the long, intense gazing at
him. She felt a connection, something happening at an alarming rate.
Unstoppable! He stared into her velvet-blue eyes with a passion stirring deep
from within his core. The intenseness he felt started to overwhelm him, and he
realised that it had been on a slow burn, getting exponentially hotter.
The fire continued to ferociously spit, smoke billowing occasionally in the
evening air glittering with orange sparks.
She mentioned she had to go to bed.
“Oh, please don’t go to bed yet, stay a bit longer,” he implored her more than
once.
She stayed and with each minute he found himself drawn closer and
closer to her. He felt electrified by her.
Eventually she stood up; she had to go to bed. He stood up straight away too,
to say goodnight. She held out her hand. The right one. He took it and briefly
shook it before gently pulling her towards him, their eyes locked like radar on
each other, and leaning in to kiss her on both sides of her beautiful mouth
just touching her lips.
She left, and he turned to his friend. “What a fantastic girl!” He could think
of nothing else from that moment onwards.
He immediately felt unsociable again and needed to return to his room without
delay. He had to hold this moment. He had to look in a mirror! What was going
on? He said goodnight to his supplier, who waddled off to the bar, and hitched
a ride in a buggy to his room in a state of shock and sheer excitement.
Longing to shower, he stripped quickly and thought maybe she might ring
him. He had told her the name of his room. She wouldn’t come. How could she?
But she might. He did not know the name of her room. Could he find out? Who
would answer the phone if he rang? He did not want to compromise anything, but
he desired her with all his might. Where was this coming from? He stood
pontificating naked in the room, his erection now fully uncovered. He turned on
shower and cursed the lack of hot water. He boiled the kettle and mixed the
scalding water in the sink to wash himself as best he could.
He stepped in to the towelling-robe and sat in front of the burning
logs that he’d asked one of the staff to light for him earlier. Thoughts of
this woman pounded his mind and couldn’t felt the yearning she had built up in
him overwhelm. He had so much to ask and say. If only they could have talked
all night. If only she was there with him in front of the fire, a private fire.
After half an hour daydreaming and going through imaginary scenarios
and conversations, he removed the robe and got in to the capacious bed,
stretching out on the crisp white cotton sheets. The light flickered from the
log burner bathing the room in a comforting glow. His erection was there, he
wanted to touch himself but he wasn’t totally sure she would not ring and ask
to meet. He wanted her. There would be an outpouring of passion and lust.
What was she thinking? Was she awake? Asleep? She couldn’t be! No way
could he feel this way if she didn’t too.
What would it be like to make love to her? What was her body like? He
was exploding with desire. His eyes would not shut. Where were all these
feelings coming from?
He could not wait for the morning, meeting up with her for the early
drive, to see her again.
The longest wait of his life!
The understatement of the year.
The End (of the beginning...)
