YOLANDA
“Girls, hurry up!” Dad shouts downstairs.
It is vacation time, and dad is taking us to Seychelles in East Africa. To be honest, I am so excited about this trip, and I cannot wait for us to get there. Maybe this is what I need, especially after what I have gone through with Kyle. Kyle has become very obsessive lately, but in his defense, he tells me that he just wants to protect me.
From what? From who? My father would never hurt me, no matter how much I upset him. Okay, maybe he did hurt me, but that was only once and I kind of understood that he was in a bad space, I mean, my mother – his wife had just died then, and I don’t think that he would ever do something like that, ever again… I really hope not.
“Daddy, my luggage is too heavy!” I shout for him to come up and take down my bags as I drag them out of my bedroom. I check one last time to see if I am not leaving anything behind before I walk down, texting Kyle just to let him know that I am sad that I will be leaving for a week and that I wish this vacation was just for me and him.
I love Kyle and I cannot stay mad at him for too long. It has been three days since that other day he was being irrational towards me, but we are back to being Bonnie and Clyde now, although he tends to be controlling. Maybe this is something that I missed about Kyle when we were getting to know each other. He really knows how to make me feel bad for being myself.
“Really, Yolanda… two large suitcases? What is it with you and Thando?” Dad complains, coming down with my luggage.
“You can never predict the weather, and besides, I have two different outfits for each day,” I respond, mindlessly.
“Two outfits for each day? We will be on an island for a week!”
“Yeah, for pictures and clout, daddy!”
“Cloud? What is cloud?” Anele laughs out loud, and I join her.
“Clout, C-L-O-U-T, clout! Anele, please explain to your dad because I can’t with him,” I say, heading out of the house.
“Actually, I know the worst meanings of clout and whatever you girls mean, I don’t think I want to know. Yolanda, why are you leaving your luggage? It’s on the ground floor so you can easily drag it to the car,”
“But you can do it for me, right dad?” I wink at him.
He grins and tilts his head.
“You sound just like your mother,” He mentions, and I see the spark in his eyes. That is the eyes of love that he used to give my mother.
I shyly look down, smiling.
“Our first vacation without her. I am glad Yolanda is here because at least when she is here, I can feel mommy with us,” Anele says, holding dad’s hand. “She is the only mom I know, even though it was for a short period of time. Daddy, no matter what, please don’t let go of Yolanda,”
Out of surprise, I raise my head and my eyes meet with Daniel’s eyes. So warm and caring, and they make me feel so safe.
“What are we waiting for? Let’s go, people! Seychelles is calling my name!” Thando screams excitedly, coming from her bedroom.
***
If there is anything that I hate about travelling long distances, it definitely has to be flights. We have been in the air for almost ten hours, and we are still far from getting to our destination. The only thing that I enjoy is that we are travelling in dad’s private jet, so it is a lot more comfortable, and we can move around as much as we want, there are two sleeping beds, unlimited Wi-Fi, and unlimited food for the twelve-hour trip. Dad has been on his laptop catching up with work, Thando and Anele are lying on the bed, watching movies, and I was listening to music on my headphones, but I am exhausted, and I want to sleep off the last few hours until we arrive at our destination.
Before I could get up from my seat, dad’s phone rings and I can tell his mood changed after he read the caller ID. He sets his MacBook aside and answers the phone.
“Yes?” He says. “I am on the plane with my family. What do you want? Well, it is the perks of flying in a private jet, not a domestic flight where phones are forced to be turned off. What do you want? Just because you and I are in a situation does not mean that you can call and ask about me and my family. I am still your boss, and you probably know that I hate interruptions during my family time… well you thought wrong, Petunia…” I quickly stand and head off to the sleeping area. I don’t want to hear a thing about Petunia. I used to respect her, but now, I don’t like her one bit. Whatever she is being scolded for serves her right.
They have been trending in the media lately. They have been spotted together a couple of times in hotels and restaurants, and people are trolling dad for moving on in less than a year. Dad hates media, so he ignores it as much as he can. He keeps telling everyone but does not convince them that the media is always looking for something for people to talk about, meaning whatever they are assuming are just lies. Well, I know the truth, and as much as it makes me upset that I know, I am going to die with it. Dad and I have been at peace, and he never touched me inappropriately, so arguing about this will just take us back to square.
Thando and Anele had passed out and realising that there is no space for me on the bed, I sleep on the other, and it doesn’t take me long before I dose off. I guess dad will have to sleep on the reclining chair if he needs to sleep because these two beds are actually made for one person, I mean, it would be funny if the whole King bed was to fit in this Bombardier Global Express.
***
Two hours later, dad woke us up to take our seats because we were ten minutes away from landing. After landing, there was a transport waiting for us. Dad never leaves his bodyguards, so if I may, they are also included in our vacation. I will never understand why, but yeah… what an awesome job they have that takes them to expensive places they don’t need to spend a cent!
We all get into the car and head to our Villa. I snap a few selfies of myself and send them to Kyle. I hope that he likes what he sees… oh, and that is my caption. I smile after sending the images.
“Wanna share your smile with us, Yolanda?” Dad sternly asks. I lift my head up as my smile disappears.
“No, I don’t… I just had an idea; why don’t we all take a family photo?” I quickly say out, dismissing him. I know he asked on purpose, and I was not going to fall for it. He will never get used to the idea of me with a boy. I think he is just pretending to be okay with it.
“Good idea!” Anele exclaims.
***
Today is our first night in Seychelles and we are so drained by the flight that no one feels like exploring, except Thando who wants to make content for her followers, so she left for her room as soon as she was done eating. We all just had dinner around the fire on the beach in front of our stay and what we talked about most was my mom. Dad did mention that Seychelles was where they went first on their first vacation, so in her memory and since this is our first vacation without her, we will celebrate her here. At least he still remembers her.
“I am tired. I am going to sleep,” Anele says as she stands.
“Already?” I ask, surprised. It is past nine and I do not feel like sleeping yet, and I also don’t want to be left alone with dad.
“Yeah, good night,” She says as she leaves. Now there is an awkward silence between dad and me. He starts moving, taking a cigar out of its case and I watch him lean forward to light it on the fire before he relaxes back on his seat.
Fascinated by how manly and sexy he is, I watch every move attentively. He puts his leg on top of another and puffs his cigar.
“Are you not feeling cold, baby girl?”
I was until my eyes laid on him. He gives me hot flushes, and I hate it.
“Uhm, uh-huh,” I nod, unable to utter words. He makes me nervous.
“Then move closer,” He orders, looking straight at the calm ocean water. I let out an uncomfortable breath, undetermined whether it was a good idea. He finally turns his face towards me and tilts his head. “Or should I move closer to you?”
I gasp and he chuckles.
“Why are you so nervous, Yolanda?”
“I am not nervous… you are just making me uncomfortable,”
“You are making yourself uncomfortable. I was just trying to make sure that my baby girl is warm,”
“You have motives, and you know it. Are you not disgusted by yourself?” I spit, but he shrugs, laughing it off.
“I am worried about myself too. I sometimes feel ashamed of myself and keep asking myself why it had to be you. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it is how I feel, and I cannot change that. I f*****g have deep feelings for you, and I am so sure that you have feelings for me too, but you are in a relationship with someone else to avoid me. Just because I am letting you be, does not mean I gave up on you… I am just waiting for the right time, and I just want you to prepare yourself because when I come for you, baby girl, you better be ready for me. You are going to give me an heir,”
“No!” I scream with no intention to do so. I move closer to him so that I do not have to scream at him. “You are a sick man, you need help! If this is how you imagine me, it means this is exactly how you see Thando and Anele. Should I feel scared or worried about them”
“Those are my daughters. I birthed them and raised them… my blood! I am many things, but I would never go that far on my kids, and if I was a sick man, do you think I would have waited until you were eighteen to make you mine? I know the differences between a child and an adult, and I would never look at a child the way I am looking at you right now. I am sorry this sounds crazy, and never did I imagine myself doing this, but I am not crazy; I am just a man who wants to experience young love. I am not getting any younger, and if there is anyone, I would want to continue this life thing with is you, Yolanda,”
My tears start flowing out of my eyes.
“So, you never saw me as your child? What if mom was here? Would you be saying all these things?”
“I probably would have told her, but I know she would have taken you away and filed for divorce, or I could have kept it to myself and continued to watch you grow, get married, and have kids with someone else. Anything could have happened, but what about you? Do you want to continue living a lie with a boy you think you are in love with or are you going to wharf your feelings for me? You know how you deeply feel about me, Yolanda; I have seen it and I have felt it.”
I shake my head briskly, disagreeing with him. I am so confused, and I do not know how to even answer him. This is not what I wanted to hear, not on our vacation.
“It is wrong. What are people going to say or think about us?”
“Does my face look like it gives a f**k about what people say or think about me? You shouldn’t either,”
“I love my boyfriend,”
“Keep convincing yourself."
Aksara