Marrietjie

Marietjie only hears the sounds of a phone ringing when she wakes up in the morning, the warmth of the sun shines sharply through her black curtains, she raises herself slightly and picks up the house phone.

"Hello," She said with small eyes and a sleepy voice.

"Good morning Marietjie, are you still sleeping?" Ask her work colleague, Sandie, she lies back on her back and rubs one eye with her free hand. "Of course Sandie, what do you think? it's Saturday morning." Sandie giggled and cleared her voice and took a deep breath.

"I heard that our boss is going to take the business further and we have to be at the Flower Salon at noon, he urgently wants to talk to us all." Marietjie lifts herself a little and stares at the alarm clock on her small bedside table.

"Good gracious Sandie, it's already 11 o'clock, couldn't you have called earlier?"

Marietjie could hear how Sandie annoyed herself on the line. "Forgive me, Sandie, but I have to go." They greeted each other and she hastily hums the phone, she jumps out of bed and rushes to the bathroom, she brushed her teeth and combs out her brown curls, she folds them into a bun and squeezes a few pinches along the sides, Marietjie has long brown curls on her bottom hang, when she's in a hurry she just folds it into a bun, she moaned slightly and hurried to her closet. She puts on long black trousers with black high heels and a comfortable satin light orange button-down shirt, she glances at herself in the mirror, Marietjie is just a dead ordinary woman with no style, or that's what she always lets herself believe,

She rushes to her small living room and grabs her handbag on the sofa, on the way out she grabs her key and phone that are on the small table by the door, she closes the door behind her and locks it.

"I wonder what we're talking about again?" She questions herself, she knows that if Mr. Gereld calls a gathering, then it is important but he can also exaggerate party selection.

Half an hour later she arrives at the shop, she sits in her little car and gets lost in her thoughts, for as long as Marietjie can remember flowers have been her life, and the idea of the fresh smell in the shop attracted her to flowers.

She shakes her head and looks up at the man standing by her window with a familiar smile. "Bert, it's good to see you again." Bert is her best male friend, they have known each other for years.

"Yes Marietjie, this is inconvenient for all of us that he organizes a gathering at the last minute, I wasn't even aware of his plans, Sandie called me." Marietjie turns her window and opens her car door and gets out.

"Me neither Bert, Sandie called me too, 11 o'clock." She slammed her car door and pressed her alarm button, she walked into the store with Bert.

"It was said our Boss, Mr. Gereld, is going to expand the business and today he is going to choose candidates who will stay or move to the new store in Somersuid West."

Marietjie's eyes flew open when she listened to Bert's whisper. "are you serious Bert? Where did you hear that? Sandie mentioned something like this morning, but I was in such a hurry that I didn't listen." Marietjie whispered back, she was interested in their boss's plans because she really hopes that she can escape from this drop, they have a shop in Randfontein, she hasn't been here very long and she was already tired of the town's noise. Bert gently nudges Marietjie on the arm and giggles, "Nice review neh." Marietjie giggled with Bert when they walked into the gathering office, a few people looked at them in surprise as they giggled, how could they giggle in such a situation as now? This is what everything surely thinks of the two of them, they take their seats and Mr. Gereld immediately walks into the office, he stands proudly in front of his black chair and gurgles his vocal cords.

"As you know, we are trying to expand the business and we have finally opened a branch in Somersuid West." Everyone claps and speaks softly to each other, Mr. Gereld gurgles his vocal cords again and everyone looks disappointed at the group of people. "But unfortunately I can just send one person for now, I'm afraid the branch there isn't big enough yet."

Everyone looks at him in surprise, you can hear them whispering slightly. "I decide at the end of the week who goes, but you have to understand that I can't afford folds, thank you all for coming, enjoy the rest of the weekend." Mr. Gereld turned around and walked out of the office, Bert stared at Marietjie with wide eyes "What I said, I just know it's you" "How can you be so sure Bert?" Marietjie is surprised by Bert's words when she questions him, she knows she is reliable and hardworking but she doesn't know if Mr. Gereld will choose her

"It's not that hard to believe, Marietjie, you are everything he needs and so much more than you realize, you are perfect for Somersuid West" Marietjie turns her head and looks at the other people who whisper, she can feel her cheeks burn with shame

"It's not to say he's going to choose me, Bert, there are other people here who work just as hard as me" Bert moved his chair out and stood up "Do you want to go have a coffee?" Marietjie smiles at him and moves her chair out as well, she stands up and straightens her long black trousers, she picks up her handbag and shifts it over her shoulder, she takes her key and phone from the table

“Of course old mate, how do you know me? I have good news to tell you" Bert stared at her with wide eyes as they started walking "It's not a guy Bert, calm yourself down" He giggled shyly "It better not be" Marietjie stared at him in surprise "Marietjie, speak please" She turned herself around and looked at Mr. Gereld

"Of course Sir" She excused herself and walked with Mr. Gereld to his large office, he directed her to sit and closed the door behind them, he gurgled his vocal cords and took his place behind his large brown table "I have nice thought about this and I decided that I'm going to send you to Somersuid West"

Marietjie's eyes flew open in surprise, she felt quite uncomfortable in her seat "Sir, it's a great honor..." He interrupted her immediately, he groped around on his table and pulled out a large pack of papers, and handed this to her "I want you to fill in the forms for me please Marietjie and on Friday I will make arrangements for Somersuid West"

Marietjie takes the papers from him and smiles, she puts them on her lap and gently moves them back comfortably "Mr. thank you very much, it's a great honor" Mr. Gereld shakes his head as he smiles, the smile on his face looks satisfied with his decision

"Please keep it quiet for now Marietjie, I will announce on Friday who is going, but if you get the job Marietjie, you can build yourself up to be able to start your shop, I know Somersuid West's branch is still small but, I know you will work hard there and I know I won't be a jerk" Marietjie's eyes couldn't widen, she didn't know that Mr. Gereld noticed her, she was true all those words he announced but, that's great for her, her heart couldn't beat faster for the occasion

"Thank you, Sir, I'll keep it quiet until Friday, it's a surprise" His smile gets even more comprehensive and he gets up "Now then Marietjie, go enjoy the rest of your weekend, and then I'll see you Monday morning” She stood up and pushed the papers to the other hand and greeted Mr. Gereld with her empty hand

"Thank you again Sir" He shakes his head in joy and she leaves his office, she can’t help the broad smile on her face, she stands as far as the great chance to manage the branch there and she knows it's an adventure she has to grab

Bert smiled funny at her as they sat in the small coffee shop "And now? That smile? You've been smiling like that since we got home from work" She looked down at her coffee and doubted whether she should tell him but, she couldn't control her mouth "Mr. Gereld is going to choose me" Bert's eyes almost fell out of his head out as he looked at her “Are you serious? I told you Marietjie, I knew he was going to choose you, when are you going to kiss?"

She looked up at him and her face fell with sadness "And now?" "He said Friday if everything goes well, Bert? What about you and Sandie? I'm going to miss you terribly" Bert's facial expression changed when he heard her words "Don't doubt your decisions Marietjie, we'll be all right, we can visit each other and as soon as things are calmer on that side we can have a holiday arrange and see each other regularly"

Marietjie shakes her head up and down, she feels much better this summer, Bert and Sandie are good friends for her "Where is Sandie anyway?" Bert smiled proudly again and took a sip of his coffee "Going to visit her grandmother" "Oh" Bert squeezed her hand and Marietjie looked up at his green eyes "We are here for you Marietjie, one of these days you will start your flower salon and then we work well together"

He pulled his hand back again and smiled broadly, Marietjie laughed gently as she thought of their group "Yes, it will be more or fewer sports now, Mr. Gereld also said so, but I don't know Bert, it's not that easy and I don't know what life will offer me there, but I also now know that the Lord sends opportunities on one's path" Bert shakes his head up and down "Of course Marietjie, you have nothing to stress about, everything will be fine be all right and you'll be brilliant"

Marietjie's cheeks feel blood red to her, Bert has always known how to make her feel better and remove the doubt from her "Thank you, Bert, you are a friend hundred" "Pleasure Marietjie" They enjoy the rest of their coffee and then walking on in the afternoon, they greeted each other.

Marietjie stops in front of her little house in thought, she knows everything is in the Lord's hands and she thanks him once again for the opportunity and her friends, she also hopes now that she can meet a guy but with the way she spoils herself in her work, she doesn't think there was time for mouse nests.

Evening breaks and Marietjie has already showered and put on her night clothes, she combs out her hair in front of her long wall mirror, she wonders how she would look if she wore it a little looser or dressed a little differently instead of her black trousers, she would be a new person but Marietjie is hopelessly too withdrawn for any other clothes. She got up and walked to her living room,

she makes coffee and sits in front of the television, a romantic movie is all that draws her heart, tears start to flicker in her eyes and she giggles softly to herself because she is crying at a romantic movie, her thoughts turn back to earlier today, it was wonderful to hear how Mr. Gereld sees her for who she is as a worker and she knows she is on the edge, but to leave Bert and Sandie behind breaks her soft heart.

So in her mind, she heard a loud knock at her front door, she got up and wondered who would want to visit so late at night, she looked through the window and saw that it was Bert in front of her door, she unlocked the door and pulled him open. Bert? What are you doing here so late?" He smiles broadly with a bottle of red wine in his hand "I can't leave my friend alone on Saturday" She laughs at him and invites him in "And, we have a reason to drink it" She closes the door behind them and walks to her little kitchen, she takes out two wine glasses and Bert opens the bottle of wine, he pours them and they sit on the sofa and talk.

After a while their bottle of wine is almost finished, she looks at Bert who is staring at her in thought "And now Bert?" He shook his head and smiled softly "Your hair looks beautiful Marietjie, why don't you wear it like that often?" Her cheeks warmed up from his words, and she could see that Bert's heart had changed towards her "Oh I don't know Bert, not applied for work" He laughed at her and gently touched her dark brown curls, her heart wanted out of her chest jumps, Bert is almost something to look at, he has black short hair and green eyes, he is a little taller than Marietjie

"Bert..." Bert moved a little closer to her and placed his wine glass on the glass table in front of them, he took both her hands and smiled attractively at her "Marietjie I know we have been friends for years and tonight I decided to take the chance with us, my heart is looking for you" Her eyes fly open, she didn't know that he has such feelings about her, she is not sure if it is him talking or if it is the wine, her cheeks warmed up and her heart beat faster than before, Bert sat so close to her,

she can drink his wine breath, he rubs his nose against hers and Bert suddenly presses his lips against hers, she sits stiffly. She doesn't know what hit her now but, she can't choose her lips, she kisses him back, she's sure it's the wine talking, She doesn't want to go back, she missed the feeling so much that she wishes it could happen again, she squeezed her eyes shut and she pulled back and Bert stared at her in shock as she slowly opened her eyes "And now Marietjie? Did I do something wrong? Did I kiss wrongly?”

Marietjie giggled at him and shook her head "No Bert, I think it's the wine that's talking now, is it high you feel about me?" Bert pushes himself back into the sofa, he's not sure if Marietjie can see what he's feeling but they both know they're drunk from the wine and both feel something about to bloom but, once again she strongly thinks it's the wine, Bert comes again approaches her and looks her hard into her green eyes and rubs his nose against hers again, the tickling feeling that his nose gives off makes her want to giggle like a little girl

"I'm sure Marietjie, it might be the wine but, I don't want to leave you alone" He pressed his lips against hers again and she couldn't help herself, it felt wonderful for her to feel appreciated again, and she thank the Lord in her mind that one night she can feel love again.

The next morning, Marietjie wakes up with a soft smile, she can hear Bert's soft mustache, and her smile breaks, she gets up and walks slowly to her bathroom, for a while she stares at herself in the mirror, she is indeed a beautiful woman, Bert made her feel like a person again, after last night she doesn't know what's ahead, but she's sure Bert feels something for her, she dresses in winter and wears her long curls loose, she runs her brush through her hair and muttered a little, she only heard sounds in the kitchen and quickly kissed him "Bert, I thought you drove?"

He smiles broadly and stirs the cups "No, I make our coffee, I think you need it" She only now realizes the headache that insists "I only now feel the headache" He laughs and agrees with her "Yes, we have finished two bottles"

She laughs with him and last night replays in her mind, Bert hasn't said anything yet about last night, and Marietjie wonders if Bert cares about her or if it was just the wine, they sit on the sofa again and have a nice chat, Bert presses his lips against hers and her heart feels like it wants to stop, she stops and realizes Bert is serious, she can't control herself and kisses him back, a few minutes later she pulls away, Bert's face looks for her in shock

"Is everything all right Marietjie?" She nodded her head and stared into his green eyes “Bert, were you serious? Last night?" He stared at her in thought "What do you mean now?" "About your feelings for me?" He nods his head and a wide smile appears on his mouth "I am Marietjie, I hid it for many years but, last night I couldn't control myself, I had to tell you, I had to show you, but it says now or you have someone else in your sights and I made a nuisance of myself last night?"

Marietjie shakes her head with a serious face "No, of course, not Bert, last night was wonderful, I just never thought you felt that way about me" He smiles broadly and her heart flutters, Bert is a nice person to her and last night she still got more feelings.