the story continues

You may remember the story Iboni and Imenand from the novel I started to write. Well I posted a few extracts on here a while ago and I have continued to write in my spare moments (which were few and far between believe me!) and I'm going to be posting some more extracts over the next few days! Oh and here is one of the pictures that inspired me to base the story in the enchanting land of Egypt. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Iboni

Annoyance seems to be my dominant expression these days, something my brutally honest, mischievous and blissfully ignorant best friend informed me of regularly.

“So there isn’t even one man at the wonderful little soiree that catches your eye?” Neti exclaimed incredulously as she smiled flirtatiously at a passing waiter.

“Yes well it seems that you are doing enough flirting for the both of us”, I snapped at her.

She brushed the slight off and continued as if nothing had happened, which is how she deals with most things in life. “You need to live a bit Ib, I mean, you look sensational! Why not make the most of it?” She plucked a drink off a passing tray and met the eyes of yet another man across the room. This is how Neti’s simplistic outlook works. To her, life is one big party and time passes in men or a change in venue. Anything that does not involve fun is time wasted in her opinion. I realize that this does not portray Neti in a very good light but it is these qualities that endear her to be my closest confidant. When I’m with her I don’t to worry about the responsibility of being the king’s daughter and the constant expectation that comes with it. If even for a couple of hours I can live life Neti’s way and enjoy myself for a change. She is like a Labrador, exceptionally loyal but easily distracted. She is not remarkably striking, with her slim hips, mysterious grey eyes and chipped tooth. But she has transcendent glow that entices the eye. She has an air of promise that hints of exciting and alluring things that have happened in her past and were still to come. As a result men found it hard to take their eyes off her. Neti was still babbling on about some trivial matter than I’m sure was of a great importance to her, but my mind was still on that flippant remark she made earlier…

My mind mulled over her words. Why wasn’t there anyone here that I wanted? There were handsome men, smart men, funny men, rich men- and still, nothing. It was as if they weren’t there, like I just saw through them rather than at them. For some unfathomable reason some were interested in me but I always turned them down. “Why?” I murmured.

Neti stopped talking and looked at me sharply, “You weren’t even listening to me were you?”

“Of course I was dear, that dress does nothing for Isabelle at all”, I hastily added. Satisfied, she moves on. But I couldn’t. My eyes raked the room in a wide arc and I caught a glimpse of a man in a workers uniform slipping out the door carrying some crates. My heart squeezed convulsively and broke into a sprint as I instinctively recognized his strong back and broad shoulders. Enough is enough. I grabbed a drink from a passing waiter, tipped back my head and downed the lot. I turned to Neti’s astonished but wickedly mischievous face and curved my still wet lips into a smile. “Let’s go”, I whispered impishly with a wink and turned my back on his retreating figure to sashay into the swaying crowd…

*

“Ugh”, I groaned as I rolled over to look at the clock beside my bed. The hands pointed at one thirty in the afternoon and the “ticking” noise was like drum beat against my skull. Could I really have slept all this time? I tried to sit up but the throbbing pain above my left eye caused me to flop back down onto the pillows in defeat.

“How does Neti do this every night?” I mumbled. I was not usually a drinker but last night I needed a distraction and now I was paying for it.

“How could I let him do this to me?!” I groaned into my pillow. My mouth felt like sandpaper and my hair was plastered limply across my forehead. I lay on my back and stared at the patterns in the plaster on the ceiling. I hauled myself out of bed to try and make myself at least presentable for lunch with my family, no matter how rotten I felt. As I moved to my wardrobe I found myself thinking of him...

Much love

Danie B