“Lauren,” I groan her name. My sister believes in fairy tales and unicorns, but the real world isn’t like that.
“Fine.” I know she ‘ rolling her eyes at me. “Just don’t close yourself off.”
“I need to work on me. That’s my main focus.”
“Okay, fine, I can handle that. Send us a picture of him. I want to see the stallion.”
“I can’t just snap a picture of him.”
“Yes, you can… a sneaky selfie. Tell him I need to have it as security in case something happens to you, so I know who to blame.”
“Lolly, you sound like me.”
“Oh, how the tables have turned.” She laughs.
“So… what have you guys been up to?” She changes the subject.
“Lilly, this place is magical. When the sun sets over the national park, the golds and reds are incredible. Then you see an elephant walk past or a giraffe, and I think I’m dreaming.” I chuckle at her experiences. It’s the same awe she’s expressing that I felt arriving in that faraway place. It was completely magical. The landscape has this unbelievable light that hits it just right, and everywhere you look, it’s like you’re in the middle of a National Geographic magazine. Each time I went on safari, David Attenborough’s voice echoed in my head.
“Now, see that gazelle striding through the open spaces… what she doesn’t know is danger lurks just under the surface.”
“We went to the Maasai Mara village, too. The colors, the people, they are all so beautiful.” I can tell Lauren has fallen in love with the country as much as I did.
“How’s Alistair doing?” The poor guy, he’s lived a sheltered life in Glencoe, and going down to London is as overseas as he gets.
“He’s blown away. I don’t think he ever dreamed there were such things outside of his village. Like, he was happy there, but now? Now he is like… I want to see more. Let’s do this. Let’s do that. He’s turned into some kind of adventurer.” My heart fills with happiness. Even though we aren’t together, I’m glad that they are experiencing the world.
“I’m so happy that something good has come out of our miscommunication.”
She giggles. “Speaking of miscommunication, have you heard from pin dick?”
“Yes, I received a very pathetic email.”
“What a turd face. What did it say? Read it to me.”
I open my laptop and pull up my emails.
“Dearest Lilly, it starts.”
“Seriously, after all those years, that’s how he starts an email like you’re some kind of stranger or his nan. This isn’t the nineteenth century, ye bastard,” Lauren’s a little fired up.
“Anyway…” I continue.
“I’m grieved to find out that you left Africa without telling me. I thought as your fiancé you should’ve discussed this before one leaves.”
“This man is a total douche. What? You need his permission to go away? Hell, no. You dodged a bullet there, sister.”
I continue, “I was very upset to hear from your sister the reasons why you had left. This is in no way my fault, especially with your lack of communication. How would I know that you were upset? You understand that a man has needs, and if his future wife isn’t performing them, he has a right to seek help elsewhere.”
“What the actual fuck,” Lauren screams down the phone. “No. He didn’t just say that, did he? Does he have some sort of serious stupidity deficiency? He has to have.”
“I’m afraid he’s serious. It gets worse.”
“I believe that living away in the African desert can be quite trying for a woman, and so I’ll give you time back home to recuperate before I expect you back by my side. I do not want to have to tell our parents about this oversight in our relationship. They will both be so displeased.”
“Lilly, I don’t think I hit him hard enough because this isn’t right. How dare he speak to you like that.”
“I know. I ignored it because I was so busy… we worked different shifts at the hospital, and we didn’t live together, so we only saw each other for dates, and they were infrequent due to being on call. So, I never saw this side of him.”
“Seriously, babe, he thinks he’s some Lord from the eighteenth century. His values are so archaic.”
“I’m just realizing now what my life would’ve been like if we had married.”
“You know Mum and Dad are going to be displeased because nothing we do pleases them, anyway. So really, that’s not a true threat, is it?” Lauren states.
“Exactly, and honestly, Luke has opened my eyes to how I should’ve been treated. That I deserve to be happy in my work and my love life.”
“Preach it, sister, good sex will do that every time. My Ali is amazing, the things that farmer boy can do to me, it’s like he’s been repressed all his life and then boom, I’ve brought out his inner sex god.”
“La, la, la, la… I don’t need to know any of this.” My stomach is turning as the crazy visuals hurtle through my mind.
“Fine. Just know your sister is very satisfied by a man who many would see as a boring farmer.”
“Hey, I’m not boring,” I hear Alistair call out in the background.
“You most certainly are not.” Lauren giggles flirtatiously.
“Okay, I’m going to go because this has turned weird. Have fun and enjoy the sights.”
“We will. Relish in your hot Italian Stallion, and remember, I want pictures.”
I roll my eyes. “Love you, Lolly.”
“Love you, Lilly.”
I place the phone down on my bed, and a tiny tear falls down my cheek. I miss her so much, but I’m glad she’s having fun because she deserves it. I close my laptop and try and forget about Rob’s letter. I’m so thankful he cheated on me. Otherwise, I’d have been blind to his true personality.
Would he have made me stop practicing medicine to have children?
Would he have cheated through our entire marriage?
Would I be some glorified stay-at-home mother who had to
