“Have you slept with him yet?” Lauren asks. I haven’t spoken to her in a couple of days and, well, a lot has happened since that first call. Luke and I have spent the past 48 hours snuggled in bed and, of course, doing other things. I don’t think anyone has screwed my brains out like he has. I should have messed around with an Italian earlier, the rumors are true they are great lovers, and not selfish at all. He spends way more time satisfying me than himself, I’m in a continual state of bliss.

“Lolly!”

“Please, don’t hold out on the deets. You’re still there so I can only assume things are going well?”

“I have spent the past couple of days in bed… not alone.” I pull the phone away from my ear as Lauren screams down it, deafening me.

“Fate. I told you fate has her hands in this.”

“Luke has his hands in it,” I joke.

“Oh, my God, who is this person? I don’t know this Lilly at all, she jokes, she’s not so wound up.”

“I’m just having some fun, whatever is happening between us has an expiration date, one month, that’s all. Then I have to sort myself out.”

“Send us a picture, I need to see him.”

“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, 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?”

“Lilly, this place is magical. When the sun sets over the national park, the golds and reds, then you see an elephant walk past or a giraffe. I think I’m dreaming.” This makes me chuckle; the same awe she is expressing is exactly what I felt arriving in this faraway place. It was completely magical, the landscape has this unbelievable light that hits it just right and everywhere you look, looks like you are in the middle of a National Geographic book. 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, 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 going?” The poor guy, he’s lived a sheltered life in Glencoe, going down to London is as overseas as he gets.

“He is blown away. I don’t think he ever dreamt there was 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 are not together, I’m glad that they are experiencing the world. “Have you heard from Rob?” This makes me huff.

“Yes, a very pathetic email.”

“What a turd face. But 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, like you’re some kind of stranger or his Nan. This isn’t the 18th century, ye bastard.” Lauren is a little fired up, I can see.

“Anyway…” I continue.

“I am grieved to find out that you left Africa without telling me. I thought as your fiancé you should have discussed this before one leaves.”

“This man is a total douche. That you need his permission to go away. Hell no. You dodged a bullet there, sista.”

I continue. “I was very upset to hear from your sister the reasons as to 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 is not performing them, he has a right to seek help elsewhere.”

“What the actual fuck,” Lolly screams down the phone. “No, he did not just say that, did he? Is he mental? He has to be.”

“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 will 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 be both 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 kind of just 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 18th Century. His values are so archaic.”

“I know. I’m just realizing now what my life would have been like if we had married.”

“You know Mum and Dad are going to be displeased, because nothing we do pleases them, so really, that’s not a true threat, is it?” Lauren states.

“Exactly, and honestly, Luke has opened my eyes to how I should have been treated. That I deserve to be happy in my work and in 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, boom, I’ve brought out his inner sex God.”

“La, La, La, La. I do not 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 cause this is just weird. Have fun and enjoy the sights.”

“We will. Enjoy your hot Italian and, remember, I want pictures.” I roll my eyes at her.

“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 is having fun, 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 would have been blind about 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 that had to make sure that his dinner was on the table when he came home? That is not at all what I want from my life. Yes, I want kids, but I also still want to practice medicine, even if it was part time, why can’t I do both?