How We Met

Did I say how Fransa and I met? It was the last day of February this year, or the first day of March, or around that time.
I remember I was struggling to shake off a recurring strep throat, and eventually went to the doctor. I asked him, as a fellow cyclist, to recommend a good multivitamin as a way to make sure I could prop up my immunity, and float beyond all these petty infections. He suggested APEX, and said that it was quite a specialised product so I couldn't expect to find it at a pharmacy. Well, where would I find it. "Supersport gym," he said.
After giving a sample of blood and collecting more antibiotics, I asked the pharmacy where they stocked it, and the pharmacist was really surprised, because he said, "I've never heard of it, and it isn't even on our computers."
Confident in my doctors credentials, I went to Supersport gym. This is basically the place where the local celebs and pretty people strut their stuff. I'd never set a toe there before since I'd been at the Health & Racquet Club on a 5 year contract, and then stuck with them after they became Virgin Active. Supersport to me seemed a bit wannabe, a bit of an imitation, but I'd also heard a lot about them that impressed me. Supersport is afterall one of the channels on the pay TV station in South Africa called M-Net, and also our version of DSTV.
I had never actually been inside although I'd walked by plenty of times on the way through the waterfront, or to Primi.

I noticed Fransa immediately. She was, afterall, selling the stuff and getting her commission off each sale, although a guy (who I later learned was Owen) kind've stepped into our conversation and recommended this and that. She has a great ability to open up a conversation with people and get them to open up to her. I'm not sure how but we were soon talking about Thailand, and she was saying how she would 'definitely' like to go there. Her enthusaism stayed with me.

I went upstairs to look at the pool and the gym, and asked if any of the staff knew Tammy Flint, the sister of an ex-girlfriend of mine who had just left for a job in Johannesburg. I wondered whether she had any friends here, since she had worked for years at Supersport while she studied Diet Science and lived with my father. She made a real name for herself with the Irish Rugby Team, who wanted to take her with them to a game in Cape Town, all expenses paid. That's another story.

Once I came down the stairs, I bought a water bottle, and Fransa and I got talking about the Argus. On impulse, as I was about to leave, I gave her my card, and said if wanted to plan a trip or if she'd like to know anything about travelling to Thailand in the future, she should email me.

What I didn't expect was that she immediately grabbed a piece of paper and gave me her number. It was a peculiar window that opened when we met. I was slowly improving healthwise, but there were some other contentious issues in my life, and the Argus and Ironman were looming and hanging in the balance. I needed a breath of fresh air. I realised, that day, that my evening was completely open, and I felt like I wanted to talk about Thailand and travelling, so I later called her and invited her to join me for dinner. She initially declined, citing a 'meeting' and 'fatigue', but later relented.

We had about a 5 hour conversation over mushroom steaks and one glass each of red wine, at the Dros.
I found her to be a very positive, open and happy and uncomplicated person and I hoped I'd found, at the very least, a new friend in Bloemfontein. When I invited her to join me in Korea, I knew she would really appreciate it and it would be a special experience whether or not within the context of anything romantic. The amazing thing is that we had only seen each other over the course of about a week, and knew each other otherwise over a few phone calls and emails. I still felt a strong urge that I wanted to do that for her, and I'm glad we did.

She often said how beautiful and clean it is here, and it made me revise some of my own cynicism for Korea that has developed over the years. We shared over the two weeks she was here, what seemed like the charm and whimsy of an extended picnic together.

She emailed me today to say it's 5am and she is back at work, and it is freezing cold in Bloemfontein, and there is absolutely no one or nothing moving around her.