A Love Like This

by Maria Duffy

  The assistant looked confused. ‘But, sir, I assume you’re looking for an engagement ring? That one is more of a dress ring.’

  ‘Well, can I see it, please? It could be just what I’m looking for.’

  ‘Of course.’

  It was a beautiful ring – white gold with the most gorgeous lime-green stone surrounded by small diamonds. All the other rings paled into insignificance as soon as he’d seen this one.

  ‘Here, take a closer look,’ said the assistant, clearly realising that he wasn’t going to get a sale on the more expensive rings. ‘It’s quite a pretty ring, isn’t it?’

  Will nodded. But something just didn’t feel right. No matter how perfect the ring was, he just couldn’t see it on Silvia. Maybe he was over-thinking it. Maybe he should just buy it and they could have it adjusted if it didn’t fit. He spent a few minutes twirling it around in his hand until, eventually, he placed it back down on the cloth.

  ‘I’m sorry, but I’m going to leave it for today. Thanks for your help. I just need to have a think.’ Will got out of there as fast as he could and breathed a sigh of relief. A loved-up couple were standing at the window of the shop snogging the face off each other and it suddenly hit him. Maybe it just didn’t feel right because Silvia wasn’t there with him. Surely buying an engagement ring should be something they did together. He’d been silly to think he could do it on his own.

  God, he needed a drink after that. He was close to the Westbury Hotel so maybe he’d pop in for a beer. He liked it there, although he hadn’t been in a while. He loved how the bar upstairs looked down on the street below and the seats were roomy and comfortable.

  Ten minutes later he was sitting with a beer in his hand watching the world go by. He loved London but there was something relaxing about being back in Ireland. Although Dublin was a busy city, somehow the pace of life seemed slower.

  He thought of Silvia and wondered what she was doing. He missed her. It was strange how he’d found the whole ring business so stressful. He felt sure he’d ask her to marry him at some stage, but maybe now wasn’t the right time. Although that ring had been perfect. Maybe he’d bring her over in the New Year and they could look at it together. What did he know about rings? It would be much better if she chose it herself.

  It was funny to think that, less than a year ago, Will had thought he’d never see Silvia again. But despite breaking up, they’d kept in touch regularly. And after the earthquake, she’d phoned him almost every day to check up on him. She’d said she missed him. She was miserable in Perth without him.

  He’d stayed with his parents for a couple of months while he was having treatment for his hand but he’d always known he wouldn’t settle there again. As luck would have it, one of his college friends opened a bar in London and offered him a job. By mid-May, he was living in a flat in London and working as a manager in the bar.

  A few weeks later, Silvia had arrived with a whole lot of luggage and a declaration of love. She’d taken him by surprise at first but it hadn’t taken him long to realise she was exactly what he needed. He’d been torturing himself looking for Donna since he’d come back to Ireland and had become more and more frustrated with the process. He’d checked out every social networking site he could think of for Donnas from Dublin but he hadn’t found a match. Silvia had been a distraction and, once he’d settled into life with her, he’d tried to put Donna firmly from his mind. They’d fallen back into an easy relationship and things had blossomed from there.

  He drained the last of his beer and checked his watch. Much as he’d love to stay and have another, he really needed to make a move. He left a generous tip on the table and headed back downstairs and out to join the hordes of shoppers. Just ahead of him, two girls were linking each other and laughing loudly. Suddenly one of them dropped something and when she turned back to pick it up, Will’s heart almost stopped. It was Donna. He was sure of it. That hair, those freckles. He stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds until he finally found his voice.

  ‘Donna.’ The word came out as barely a whisper and he’d already lost sight of her as shoppers zig-zagged in every direction.

  ‘Donna.’ He tried again. Louder this time. But it was no use. He rushed off in the direction she’d been walking but there was no sign of her. He checked inside a few of the nearby shops in case she’d gone in to one of them. It wasn’t long before he realised his search was futile. He couldn’t believe that he’d actually seen her. She’d been right there in front of him. If only he’d been quicker to react. He shook his head at his own stupidity. After all this time of wondering, he’d actually found her. And lost her. Again.

  Chapter 26

  ‘Thanks for this, Donna,’ said Lexie, dropping her suitcases in the hall. ‘Granddad is coming in with a box of stuff and that’s the last of it.’

  ‘It’s no problem. I’m delighted to have you here.’ And Donna meant it. The two girls had been seeing a lot of each other in the few months Lexie had been home but Donna had been finding it difficult to visit her on their old street. When Lexie had announced she’d had enough of living at home, Donna hadn’t hesitated in offering for her to come and stay at her place.

  ‘Here you go, love.’ Lexie’s granddad arrived at the door carrying an enormous box filled to the brim with stuff and left it down beside the rest of the luggage. ‘Do you need me for anything else or can I get off? Your gran has the dinner almost ready.’

  ‘You head off, Granddad,’ said Lexie, placing a kiss on his cheek. ‘We can take it from here.’

  ‘Okay, love.’ He turned to Donna. ‘And I hope you get your problem sorted out, whatever it is. My Anna is saying a prayer for you.’

  ‘My what?’ said Donna, looking from him to Lexie.

  Lexie turned puce and shot her a warning look. ‘She’ll be fine, Granddad. I’ll look after her.’

  They waved him off and, as soon as he was out of sight, Donna turned to her friend. ‘My problem? Do you want to enlighten me?’

  ‘Sorry about that, Donna. It’s just that I couldn’t tell them I wanted to move out because they were driving me mad.’

  ‘So you told them what exactly?’

  ‘I wasn’t specific. I just said you had a personal problem and you could do with a friend so I was moving in with you.’

  ‘Oh, great. Now they’re going to blame me for you moving out. Why could you not just have said you wanted to stand on your own two feet instead of relying on them?’

  ‘I know, I know. It just came out. But no harm done, is there?’

  Donna sighed. ‘I suppose not. Now let’s get this stuff into your room and we can have a cup of tea. Maybe we’ll order in a pizza later. I’ve been feeling shitty all day and have barely eaten anything.’

  Half an hour later they were sitting on the sofa, feet curled up underneath them, mugs of steaming hot tea in their hands. Donna felt quite excited for Lexie to be there. It felt like old times. When they lived next door to each other, they’d slept in each other’s houses regularly. This felt like a grown-up sleepover and Donna was going to enjoy every minute of it.

  ‘So how did Bob take it?’

  ‘Take what?’ Donna sipped her tea.

  ‘Me moving in. I’m sure he’s not thrilled about it and, I swear, as soon as I can get the deposit together, I’ll be out looking for a place of my own.’

  ‘Relax, Lexie. Bob was absolutely fine about it. Almost too fine, actually.’

  Lexie raised her eyebrows. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just being silly.’

  ‘Come on. You can’t leave it at that.’

  Donna put her empty cup on the coffee table and considered how much she wanted to say to Lexie. ‘There’s no story, really. It’s just Bob. He’s … well, it’s just that he seems …’

  ‘Jesus, Donna. Please don’t tell me you two are in trouble. You’re the most loved-up couple I know.’

  ‘No, no. Nothing like that. We’re fine. It’s just that som
etimes I wonder about the type of relationship we have.’

  Lexie said nothing so Donna continued.

  ‘I mean, we definitely love each other and we have fun together but it’s not wildly exciting.’

  ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ spat Lexie, all trace of her earlier concern gone. ‘Is that all? Believe me, you can live without wild excitement in your life.’

  Donna was a bit taken aback. ‘I know what you’re saying but sometimes it feels like we’re both just settling. It’s an easy relationship. We’re comfortable with each other.’

  ‘But is that the worst thing? A lot of people would kill for a relationship like that.’

  ‘But he didn’t even flinch when I suggested you move in. Don’t get me wrong – I’m delighted he’s happy about it, but I just wish he’d have shown some concern for the fact that we won’t have the place to ourselves any more.’

  ‘He loves you, Donna. He’s just doing what any supportive boyfriend would do. I’m sure he’d prefer to have you on your own but at least you still have your own bedroom.’

  ‘That’s just it, Lexie. I’m not sure he’d prefer to have me on my own. He’s nearly more excited about having you here than I am!’

  Lexie laughed at that. ‘I’m sure that’s not the case.’

  ‘Seriously. He started talking about what sort of food you like so we can stock up and he was thrilled to hear you like rom-coms too!’

  Lexie drained her tea and left it down with a bang. ‘Do you love him?’

  ‘Yes, definitely.’

  ‘And does he love you?’

  ‘I’m pretty sure he does.’

  ‘Do you have good sex?’

  ‘Lexie!’

  ‘I’m serious. If it’s more of a friendship thing, which you seem to be suggesting, you wouldn’t be enjoying the sex, would you?’

  Donna thought for a moment. ‘Well, yes. We have good sex – not mind-blowing, but good.’

  ‘Right so. I can’t see what the problem is. Unless one of you has been unfaithful, and I don’t think that’s the case.’

  Donna bit her lip.

  Lexie looked alarmed. ‘Please tell me you haven’t, Donna.’

  Donna still hadn’t told anyone about Will but now seemed as good a time as any. ‘Well, I haven’t been unfaithful exactly.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘But there is another guy. I’m not seeing him or anything but I think about him all the time. And sometimes when I’m with Bob – properly with him, if you know what I mean – I picture this other person.’

  ‘Who is it?’ Lexie was looking at her accusingly.

  ‘You don’t know him.’

  ‘But is this serious? Does Bob know about him? How come you didn’t tell me this before?’

  ‘I’m sorry, Lexie. I just didn’t think the time was right. And the thing is, I barely know this other guy and I probably never will.’

  ‘Now you really have me intrigued,’ said Lexie. ‘Tell me everything.’

  So Donna began. She told her about tripping her way into the tourist office that day and into the arms of the most intriguing and handsome man she’d ever met in her life. She told her about going for coffee, how they almost kissed and how she’d dreamt about him all night. And then she began to explain about that dreadful day, but it became too much for her.

  ‘Oh, Donna, you poor thing.’ Lexie moved over to hug her. ‘I’m always going on about my problems and I forget how much you’ve had to deal with this last year.’

  ‘It was such an awful day,’ sobbed Donna, letting the tears flow freely. ‘Seeing all those people trapped and injured and not knowing if I was going to get out of it alive. It was like the end of the world.’

  ‘I can’t even begin to imagine.’

  They sat there in companionable silence for a few minutes, Donna lost in thought. She avoided thinking too much about that day because it was one of the scariest days of her life but telling Lexie about it had dredged up all the horror and helplessness she’d felt back then.

  After some time had passed, Lexie spoke but kept her voice to a whisper. ‘So you never got to see him again?’

  Donna shook her head. ‘When I got to the square, there was no sign of him. But there were people running everywhere, screaming and crying. Pieces were falling off buildings, alarms were going off – the whole place was in total chaos.’

  ‘God, it must have been terrifying.’

  ‘It was. All I could do was make my way back to where I was staying. I don’t even remember walking back. I think I was in shock or something.’

  ‘Of course you were. How could you not have been? And you didn’t have his number to ring?’

  ‘I did at first but I must have lost it in the chaos. And I hadn’t given him mine so there was no way of getting to him. I know that it sounds ridiculous but I honestly think I fell in love with him that day.’ She began to cry softly again.

  Lexie gasped. ‘That’s a big statement, Donna. But do you think maybe it’s down to the situation?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s just such a crazy thing to have happened. The whole thing of meeting him and then losing him because of an earthquake. It’s like something you’d read about. Maybe if you’d found him, things would have been different but because you never saw him again, you’re romanticising about him.’

  Donna just nodded. How could she explain to anyone the depth of her feelings for William? She’d felt it from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him and she was pretty sure he’d felt it too.

  ‘Bob is here, Donna. He’s a reality. And he loves you so much. I can see it in his eyes. Don’t throw it away for a memory.’

  ‘You’re right, of course,’ said Donna, wiping her eyes. ‘I should stop putting obstacles in the way.’

  Lexie smiled. ‘I’m glad we have that sorted. I can see you and Bob together when you’re old and grey and have masses of grandchildren all around you.’

  ‘Now let’s not get ahead of—’ Donna paled. It was the grandchildren comment that did it. She’d been feeling sick for days. But they’d been careful. Think, Donna, think. When had she had her last period? Oh God. It couldn’t be … she couldn’t be … Bile rose up in her throat and she had to make a dash for the bathroom. The last thing she remembered was putting her head against the cold tiles and sliding to the floor.

  Chapter 27

  The air was warm but the breeze cool as Will and Silvia walked hand in hand around Hyde Park. April was Will’s favourite month. It was as though the world was suddenly coming to life after the dark winter and the bursts of colour from the newly sprouting blooms exuded happiness.

  ‘Let’s go and sit down for a bit,’ said Silvia, pointing to an empty bench just beside a fountain with a beautifully sculpted figure in the centre. ‘My feet are killing me.’

  ‘I did tell you not to wear those new boots. You need sensible shoes for walking.’

  ‘The words “sensible” and “shoes” don’t go well together, as far as I’m concerned. Unless you’re an old fuddy-duddy, of course.’

  Will pretended to be offended. ‘Are you calling me an old fuddy-duddy, then?’

  ‘Well, if the shoe fits … excuse the pun!’

  She ducked out of his way as he tried to tickle her and they landed on the bench with a thud. The tickling soon turned to kissing and Will could feel himself harden as Silvia’s tongue probed inside his mouth.

  ‘Jesus, Sil,’ he said, gasping for air. ‘If you don’t stop now, I might just take you right here on the park bench.’

  ‘Behave! There’ll be plenty of time for that later. You know how Match of the Day always turns me on.’

  Will laughed. But it was true. Not only was Silvia beautiful, clever and kind, she also loved football. They’d usually spend Saturday night in with a few beers, a bucket-load of nachos and football on the telly. She was every man’s dream.

  A woman walked past with a whole clatter of children, two in a double buggy and another few r
unning along beside her. They all squealed with delight when they spotted the fountain and the woman doled out coins for them to throw in.

  ‘Don’t forget to make a wish,’ she said, as the children ran excitedly towards the water with their precious coins.

  Silvia snuggled in further to Will as they watched the scene unfold. He wondered if they were both thinking the same thing. They’d never discussed the future in any great detail but Will knew that Silvia wanted a big family. Even though she just had one brother, she was very close to her extended Italian family. She’d told him that her mother had wanted more children but sadly it hadn’t happened.

  He thought back to that day just before Christmas when he’d almost bought her an engagement ring. It just hadn’t felt right in that moment in time but he was sure that he’d know when the time was right. He was a romantic at heart and wasn’t given to spontaneity. He wanted to plan it properly. If he was going to propose, it would be with all the bells and whistles. He’d make it a moment to remember for both of them.

  ‘Are you happy here in London?’

  The question took Will by surprise. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘I’m just curious. You worked very hard to get your law qualifications and now you’re working in a bar. Don’t you want to use your degree?’

  Jesus. Had she been talking to his mother? ‘Where’s this coming from, Silvia? It never bothered you before that I was just a lowly barman.’

  ‘It doesn’t bother me, Will. And I never said you were a lowly anything. But it bothers me to be making sandwiches in a coffee shop when I’ve got a degree in business and finance. I want more for myself. I have ambitions.’

  ‘I know, Sil. I have too. Well, I’d certainly like to be making more money. But we’ve applied for hundreds of jobs. There’s just nothing out there at the moment.’

  ‘But what if we were to move – go somewhere else where the job situation is better.’

  Will looked at her in surprise. ‘Like where? Are you talking about moving back to Perth?’

  ‘Maybe. Oh, I don’t know. I’m just fed up earning a pittance and every penny we have is going on rent and bills.’