Transitory (adj.) – Lasting only a short time; brief; temporary
‘Honey, I’m home!’ I sang, pulling my key out of the sticky lock of our front door. It came loose with a tug. I flicked on the lights, illuminating the dark hallway, which was filled with cardboard boxes waiting to be packed for the big move.
‘In here, babe,’ Ben called from the kitchen of our flat. The soothing smells of spaghetti Bolognese currently simmering away in there flooded my nostrils. ‘You’re back late.’
I tried not to trip over the death-trap boxes lining my path and went to wrap my arms around his broad frame, leaning my head against his back. ‘Time ran away with me, again.’ I sighed. ‘Fancy a glass?’ I nodded at the bottle of wine I’d picked up from the off-licence on the way home.
‘Yeah, go on then. Only a small one as I need to be up early and clear-headed tomorrow.’
‘Ah yeah, or should that be ja?’ I put on a pretty crap Finnish accent, making him laugh.
He turned to face me, and kissed my forehead. ‘I think that’s Dutch not Finnish.’
‘Hmm, languages never were my forte. I know you’ve told me before, but what time’s your flight?’
‘Some godforsaken hour, waaaaay before you wake up. But at least it means I’ll be back here tomorrow night to help with more packing. Speaking of tomorrow, you all set?’
‘I’ll need to do a little work after dinner to make sure it’s pitch perfect, but I think we’re nearly ready.’ I smiled and poured out two glasses of wine.
The bank had an entrepreneurial scheme that we had been trying to get involved in for almost six months now. When I’d received a call saying they wanted to meet us to pitch to them, along with two other companies, the pressure had been on to impress them. If we nailed this, it could mean a major investment into Lonely Hearts Travels, allowing us to expand our services, and hire more dedicated staff. There were still markets we hadn’t branched out to where I was desperate to set up one of our tour groups. We were doing well, but our profits were always ploughed back into our business, so trying to free up extra cash to develop what we offered was tricky; this scheme could really help us out.
‘Dinner and relax first, and then you can run through it with me if you need an honest opinion.’
‘Deal. To be fair, Kelli has been awesome. You should see the video montage she’s pulled together. If they don’t get goosebumps when watching it, then they must be made of stone.’
‘You’re forgetting they’re a group of bankers.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘They were probably born with a chequebook instead of a heart.’
‘I’m telling you, after watching this and hearing what we have to say, even they can’t fail to be moved to put their hands in their pockets.’
‘I’m sure; it will be perfect. I know it will, just like everything else,’ he winked.
I smiled; he was right. We were going from strength to strength with our joint business, Lonely Hearts Travels. Our second office in London had been making enough of a profit for us not to worry about the bold move to open it, and many customers were returning from their group travel adventures with praise, five-star reviews and great word-of-mouth recommendations. Until now, we’d been juggling the workload of our flagship store in Manchester with a fairly normal home-life routine, but the time had come for us to take the plunge and buy a place in London, as commuting was taking it out of both of us. I was excited about being a homeowner with the person I loved most in the world, and as much as I adored Manchester, I couldn’t wait to embark on a new life in the capital. Plus, I was sick of the sight of these bloody boxes, crates and bubble wrap in every room of our flat.
Ben turned and spooned some Bolognese into my mouth. ‘Well, life will be perfect, once you’ve tasted this.’
I licked my lips and swallowed the tangy tomato sauce. ‘Hmm, maybe a little more black pepper,’ I teased, as he tickled me in my side.
‘Oi. This is seasoned exactly right, you horror!’ He laughed and began plating up dinner as I topped up our wine glasses. ‘Perfection in a bowl, I’d say.’
We negotiated our way around the boxes and wandered through to the lounge. I flicked on the television. ‘Netflix or Sky?’ I asked, as he gently put the steaming bowls down on the coffee table. It had been ages since we’d snuggled up on the sofa together. Sadly, I would have to limit myself to one hour of relaxing, then I needed to have another read-through of things for tomorrow.
‘Babe?’ I repeated.
Ben was staring intently at his mobile phone. ‘Sorry?’ He glanced up.
‘What do you want to watch?’
He hurriedly flicked off his phone and put it in his pocket. ‘Oh, err, Netflix? We’ve not finished watching this season of Narcos, remember?’
I faffed around with the TV and settled back into the sofa, trying not to feel put off by how distracted he’d been recently. It wasn’t just work; there was something else on his mind, but whenever I asked him he said everything was fine.
‘Oh, I heard from Jimmy today, said Shelley is like a kid at Christmas waiting for you to get over there,’ he said, pulling me from my thoughts. ‘You ready to head down under?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Ready’ was not exactly how I’d describe it. I was working flat out to get things finished before I took annual leave, and we were hoping to finalise the house move before we left, but it had been dragging on unresolved for what felt like months. There was still so much to do before I could let myself get properly excited for my trip to Australia.
‘I’ll take that as a no then.’
‘I can’t wait for a holiday, but until tomorrow is out of the way, I haven’t been able to give it my full attention.’ I flicked on to the right episode and loaded up my fork.
Our diaries were a military operation to organise at the best of times, but it felt like things had ramped up even more in the last few months. A lot of our popularity had to do with the public support that we’d received since appearing on Wanderlust Warriors, a TV show that I’d persuaded Ben to take part in last year in Chile. I still had to pinch myself at how things had developed since we’d first started both the business and our relationship. It was exciting, stressful, hectic and nerve-wracking all at the same time, but there was no one other than Ben who I wanted by my side through it all.
‘You still okay that I’m not flying over with you?’
I smiled and shook my head. ‘Babe, it’ll be wedding central from the moment we both arrive. It’s not that long till you’re joining me and, anyway, you’ll only be roped in to help out. Plus, we need someone to keep an eye on things here with the move; well, specifically with chasing the waste-of-space estate agent.’ I took a sip of my wine to calm down. Although I couldn’t wait to see Shell, I was secretly worried that this trip would be less sightseeing and more wedding planning.
‘For a girl who’s ticking Australia off her travel bucket list soon, you don’t exactly sound like you’re that excited, babe.’
I scrunched up my nose. The question was innocent enough, but I felt like I wasn’t sure if I had the correct answer. So much had changed since I had been jilted by my ex-fiancé, and even though it was a few years ago, I still felt unsure what my feelings were about weddings. Part of me loved the fact we were going to be hanging out together for a big knees-up with our best mates, and another part of me knew it could easily blow out of control. I’d learnt so much since I’d planned a wedding and been in Shelley’s shoes of balancing budgets and family expectations, wanting it all to be perfect. I wasn’t what you’d call ecstatic at getting back into that world again.
‘Mmm, I just know what it can get like when you’re in that bubble.’
‘Oh, yeah, sorry.’ He fidgeted. ‘You and marriage aren’t exactly best mates.’
‘You could say that.’ I finished off my glass of wine. How had we got through a bottle already?
‘Did I tell you that I’ve got a pre-wedding meet-up with some of Jimmy’s mates who can’t make it over for the big day, but wanted to give me some stories for my best man speech?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Shelley’s going to love that. Just run them past someone before you tell the whole room how he got his arse tattooed when you went to Laos.’
‘How do you remember that?’ He gasped dramatically.
‘I remember everything.’ I grinned, waving my fork in his direction, and tucked my feet under his legs.
‘Like an elephant,’ he laughed, spooning a mouthful of pasta into his lopsided grin. ‘Also, don’t stress about the house stuff. I’ll be on to them as soon as I get back from this trip.’
‘Thank you, babe. God, it really feels like the end of an era,’ I mused, nodding my head at the mountains of bubble wrap and flattened crates filling most of the room.
‘Yeah, I guess.’ Ben smiled and gave my knee a squeeze. ‘Or the start of a new adventure.’
‘I’ll drink to that!’ I laughed. ‘Right, less talking and more eating, this is delicious.’
‘Told you, perfection.’ He grinned and turned the volume back up.