As soon as the plane lands, everyone is standing up and ready to leave. I am not sure where they are going since I can see through Henry's window that they are still attaching the stairs to the aircraft. That doesn't stop a line from forming. Henry switches on his phone and starts using the wifi that is still working. I did not know people actually paid and used the wifi until I found Henry did in the middle of the night while I was fast asleep. Luckily, I did not drool on him so all is well. Eventually, the doors open and we are free to leave.

The first thing I feel when I get off the plane is the heat. The leggings I am wearing need to go and I am already rolling up the sleeves of my shirt dress. I search for my sunglasses as I am walking. Henry holds on to my elbow steering me while I hunt around my bag. The contents became messy sometimes along the 12-hour journey. I find them a little too last since we enter Cape Town International Airport so I put them on my head.

I stop Henry when I spot the second bathroom on the way to immigration. I don't want to use the bathroom. I just want to take off my legging. While the inside of the airport is airconditioned, I've had a taste of the heat outside and it's still early morning. It's only going to get worse as the day passes. I pause to check myself in the mirror and I look zombified. I can't believe Henry did not mention anything! I should not be walking around in public looking like this at all.

"When were you planning to tell me I looked like I mess?" I ask Henry while we wait in the moving line for immigration. I have my passport and boarding pass in my hand.

"What are you talking about, Evelyn?" Henry replies. I don't think he slept at all on the flight. Whenever I woke up throughout the night, I found him watching different movies. If I hadn't seen that, I would've thought that he was perfectly fine.

"I looked like I walked off a set of a horror movie earlier, and we are going to meet people now when we get out of here. It would've been so embarrassing," I explained. Ava set up a meeting point for everyone who took this flight. Apparently, there is a lot of us and I am sure the group is buzzing with people.

"I assure you, they probably look worse." He puts his arm around my shoulder as we get to the front of the line and takes me with him when the next desk is free. We give our passports and they are handed back stamped after answering our reason for visiting. He only lets go of me when he goes to get a trolley for our suitcases while I found our carousel.

The only problem with checking in early is that our suitcases are usually the last ones to come out. When Henry spots his suitcase, we expect mine to come out soon. Apparently they split up and so we are among the remaining people waiting for the last of their suitcases.

I am a little worried that if I don't get my suitcase then I am screwed since I need another dress for the wedding and most of my belongings are lost forever. There is always that risk while travelling internationally. My suitcase might end up in Japan while I am in South Africa if anything goes wrong.

When Henry pulls off the next suitcase and confirms that it is mine. I am hit with instant relief. He places it on the trolley. I link my arm with his arm while he pushes the trolley through customs and towards arrivals. The big sign 'Cape Town Welcomes You' marks the end of the journey and the start of the holiday.

"Let's get coffee, please," Henry suggests when we spot places a Mugg and Bean. I agree since I want to check the menu. I know we are not going to have a full breakfast since we need to Check-in at the hotel and get rid of our luggage before we have a chance to explore properly.

Henry orders a dirty chai while I order a hazelnut iced coffee. I don't know how he is able to enjoy a hot drink with the heat we will face once we step out the door. I spot a sign for Ava and James' party while we are waiting for our coffee. There a quite a few people waiting by the sign with their own trolleys and suitcases. It's one thing to see a list of people on a Whatsapp group, it's another to see them in real life. Like on social media where 100 people is not a lot but if you stand in a room with 100 people, that is a lot.

Henry waits by the trolley while I get our coffees when our numbers are called. They are not super busy but with the steady crowd from all the flights that are landing, we are fortunate to get here in the lul. Henry takes a generous gulp of his dirty chai while I take a sip of my iced coffee. I should've got iced tea instead. I think the best part of this experience is that I realise that I still prefer tea no matter where in the world I go.

Henry and I walk towards the man with the sign to say hello. He is happy for us to join and lets us know that we are not the last people in the group to join. That's good because it would've looked bad to rock up here with coffee while people are cranky and ready to go to the hotel. The last individuals to join us don't take long and apologise since Customs decided to randomly search them. I am not surprised since the two of them have five suitcases between them. This gives a whole new meaning to packing your whole house for a week's trip. We find out the couple is one of James' cousins and her husband that moved overseas and are planning to stay a few months instead of a week. I take it back, it does make sense why they packed their whole house. I don't blame them.

The group is lead outside where a coach is waiting for us to load our luggage. Henry grabs my elbow and stops me from joining the queue that's formed to put our suitcases away. He eyes up the coach with hidden distaste. I only know that look since it is one he used when he ordered something different to try something new but hated it. He did not want to admit it even though I knew.

"I didn't know we were all going to use a coach, is this for the whole trip?" Henry asks. We never fully discussed the travelling within the itinerary since Ava claimed to have it covered. The coach makes sense since there are so many of us. It is easy to keep us together too. However, it is quite restricting.

"Well, Ava probably sorted it out since she has to cater to a whole wedding party. Imagine how many people will get lost here if she hired us all cars," I reply. It really does make sense when looking at the big picture.

"Don't put your bag in yet. Just hold on." Henry walks to the driver and has a quick conversation. I move out of the way, allowing everyone to put their bags away. It feels like when you are waiting in line at the shops and then your mum says she coming now and takes the whole basket with her but you don't want to hold up the line so you let everyone pass while waiting for her.

Henry returns with a smile, "Let's go. I've sorted it out."

"Sorted what out?" I am not even aware we have a massive problem as it is. Henry puts my suitcase back on the trolley and starts walking towards the car park while pushing the trolley. We go down a tunnel and come out the other end to a bunch of car hire places.

"I am getting us some freedom. Let's find a car." He enters the first place and asks them about their deals and stuff.

"Henry, we did not talk about this." The sale assistant has turned to his back to us and is busy printing out some forms or something.

"Don't worry about it. This is more for me than you." Henry does drive sometimes. I usually prefer to use public transport since it's accessible and cars are expensive. I also hate driving but let's ignore that.

"What if we get lost?" All the pros of the coach are looking more and more tempting the longer we wait here for the printer to print. It's like printers can sense when someone is in a rush to get something done.

"Did you forget Google Maps exist?" Henry replies before the sale assistant returns with his forms. Henry fills out the forms with ease. The price I see on the form has my mouth hanging open until I remember it is in Rands and not pounds. I leave him in peace, praying silently that we get to the hotel in one piece.

We walk out of the store from the opposite side where there are many cars parked with numbers and companies. Henry and I find the car he chose with ease which is a white BMW X6. I only know that because I saw it on the form. Henry starts recording the outside of the car for it's current condition before allowing me to take a seat and got out the sun.

After we load up the car, by we, I mean Henry. He sits down, playing with the settings of the car. He is telling me something about setting up a profile or something and eventually does what he needs. I watch him enter the hotel address and I am happy to see that it's not too far away. We are staying in Cape Town for the majority of the week and moving to the vineyard closer to the wedding date. This means we will have a lot of time to explore the city since the vineyard is a drive out of the city. I pause and admire more than just the view from Henry's window/

Henry drives with ease, while I take in the view around us. The sky is a clear blue without a single cloud in sight. Table Mountain is easy to spot from the car and I know the ocean is close. I can't wait to go to the beach and enjoy the sea breeze. I don't open the windows, enjoying the aircon when we arrive at our hotel. Ava chose a 5 star hotel for all of us. I don't even know how she managed to pull the strings. I just know I will take it.

When Henry and I jump out of the car, we are easily checked in when I let someone know we are a part of Ava and James' wedding party. We are quick to be served and somehow we arrive before the coach since I mentioned it to them and they said that we are the first people to arrive. They hand us our keys and let us know all about the things we can do in the hotel. At this rate, I might never make it out with the list of things I want to do. Henry and I make our way to the lift while I fiddle with my phone, trying got connect to the Wifi. Once I am connected, I let my parents know I am alive and on my way to my hotel room and all is well. I also message Ava who is quick to reply with 'Enjoy my surprise, you can thank me later', followed by a lot of winky faces. I don't understand what she means until Henry and I both stop at the same room door. I open the door with the key card and we stop.

There is only one bed!

~*~ 

Let the games begin!

Thank you for 200 reads xoxo 

I am writing these chapters and updating same time so update times will vary but I will try to not miss anymore lol

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