“I’m sorry. That must be so difficult.”
Amanda took a deep breath and broke into a wide smile. “I told her I was going to come here, to Europe, and scout it out so that when she came back with me in 2 years, I would be able to show her around.”
“Well you definitely have to bring her here,” he remarked.
“Definitely,” she agreed. “I can’t wait for her to see the pictures.”
Viktor suddenly had an idea. “You can use my phone as a hotspot, if you like. You could send her the pictures you took.”
“Oh I couldn’t do that. That would be so expensive. You must be paying a fortune in roaming already.”
“Nonsense, my company pays for it.”
“Won’t they get mad when they see your data usage?” she asked.
Viktor shook his head like it was a silly thought. “No. Here …” He turned on his phone’s hotspot and gave her the password.
Soon she was receiving multiple text messages from various people, including Sheila and her mom. Sheila asked how it was going and said she was staying with Gavin again that night. Amanda simply acknowledged and thanked her for the update.
She responded to her mom’s text inquiring how her day had gone and began sending her pictures of Glen Coe.
“She’s going to love these,” Amanda said as her fingers were a blur, sending photos and typing descriptions. Then suddenly she gasped and froze.
“What is it?” Viktor asked, alarmed.
“Oh crap.” Amanda stared down at her phone.
“What happened?”
She seemed hesitant to answer.
“Is everything okay?” he pressed.
“I just sent my mom a picture of us.”
“I take it you didn’t want to do that?”
“Oh crap,” Amanda looked like she was going to be ill. “I didn’t tell her about you because I didn’t want her to worry … How am I going to explain this?”
An inevitable incoming text read, Who is that with you?
“Oh, God,” Amanda mumbled to herself. “What do I say?”
“It might be better to call her,” Viktor offered.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Amanda groaned.
“Maybe start by telling her my name,” he suggested, trying not to let on how amused he was by her predicament.
Amanda didn’t have time to make a decision because her mother, thinking she was back at the hotel and on Wi-Fi, made it for her and initiated a video call. “She’s calling! What do I do?” Amanda panicked.
To Viktor it seemed obvious. “You should probably answer.”
Amanda tried to quickly compose herself and put on a smile before accepting the call.
“Hi, Mom,” she happily greeted her.
Her mom looked good for someone going through chemo. She wore a scarf around her head but she still had hair, though it had thinned considerably. While she lost a lot of weight, she didn’t look gaunt. She had dark circles under her eyes but other than that you could not tell how sick she was by looking at her.
“Hi Sweetie. Where are you?”
“I’m still in Glen Coe. It’s beautiful here,” she said, trying to avoid the elephant in the room.
“They have Wi-Fi all the way out there?” her mom remarked, sounding surprised.
Amanda wasn’t accustomed to lying to her mother so the conversation became strained as she tried to think of an honest way to answer that without divulging Viktor’s presence.
“Yeah, there’s service here,” she replied.
“Well, tell me about your day. Who was that man in the picture? Did you meet him there?”
“Mom …” Amanda made an attempt at the “mom you’re asking silly questions” tone, in an effort to avoid answering.
“Don’t ‘Mom’ me,” she half-playfully replied. “Don’t think I won’t come over there.”
Amanda huffed and decided to just tear off the Band-Aid and tell her mom what happened.
“His name is Viktor. We came to Glen Coe together. Actually he drove. And he’s letting me use his phone as a hotspot so I can talk to you.” Amanda turned the phone so she could see him and he waved and said hi.
Her mom looked somewhat surprised and a little concerned. “How did you meet?”
“We were at the same restaurant this morning,” Amanda explained. “He saw me eating alone and asked if I was all right. He’s also traveling alone and suggested we see some sights together. At first I just agreed to have dinner but the thought of coming out here, to this beautiful place all by myself was really depressing so when he said he was coming here, I just …” Amanda trailed off as she tried to find the words.
“I understand,” her mom replied, knowing her daughter well enough to not need further explanation. “Are you two having fun?”
“Oh my God, yes!” Amanda broke into a huge smile. “I can’t wait to bring you here. It’s amazing!”
“Just from what’s behind you, I can see that it’s beautiful,” her mom agreed.
“Oh that’s not even the half of it!” Amanda turned the phone so she could see the quiet bay that looked like a mirror below stunning mountains. She brought the camera back to her face. “We went hiking around this really cool lake. It was so pretty. We saw deer …” Amanda continued excitedly describing the events of the day.
Seeing her daughter so joyful and vibrant made her heart glad. “Sweetie, I’m so glad you’re having a nice time,” she said. “But we probably should say goodbye for the sake of your friend’s phone bill.”
“It’s no problem,” Viktor objected from the background.
“Can I talk to Viktor?” her mom asked.
Amanda looked first at Viktor to see if he wanted to do that and he readily nodded. She turned the phone over to him and he warmly greeted her mom.
“Thank you for taking care of my little girl,” her mom said.
“My pleasure, ma’am,” he said with a smile.
“You can call me Brenda,” she replied warmly. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” he agreed.
“I’ll let you two get back to watching the sunset. Amanda?”
Viktor handed the phone back.
“Yeah?”
“I love you. Call me later.”
“I love you too, Mom.
