by JA Low
I must fall asleep at some point because I’m awakened by my phone ringing.
Jumping up, I quickly grab it and notice it’s Lauren.
“Where the hell are you?” I scream into the phone.
“Um… where the hell are you?”
“Excuse me… I’m here in your bed, and there’s a fucking stranger in mine.” I raise my voice.
“What the hell are you doing in Scotland?”
“I’ve come home. It’s a long story, one that I want to tell you in person, not over the phone. Where are you?”
Lauren bursts out laughing.
I don’t think any of this is funny. At all.
“Alistair and I decided to come and surprise you… in Kenya.”
The world stops.
Did she just say Kenya?
“You’re seriously not in Africa, are you?” My brain is computing the words she’s saying, but I’m not really understanding because, seriously, this can not be happening.
“Yeah, we’re standing right here with Rob. He seems very confused that you’ve disappeared all of a sudden. What’s going on, Lil?”
I shake my head, the tears falling instantly, thinking about that man.
“Lil. Come back,” I hear Rob call down the phone.
“Lauren. Please, don’t hang out with Rob.”
“Hold on…” The voices in the background become fainter. “What’s going on?”
“He’s the reason I’m halfway across the world,” I say with my hands shaking thinking about the bullshit story Rob is probably telling them.
“What the hell did he do?” My little sister is tiny, five-foot-two at best, but she is feisty. She always looked out for me even though she’s two years younger.
“I’ve caught him numerous times screwing around with the nurses.” Tears fall freely now, and it feels good to finally be telling someone.
“Oh, babe, I had no idea.”
“I tried to keep it in, deal with it myself because I was stuck there. I had signed on for two years, and I couldn’t break the contract, plus, I loved being there. I loved helping. Thankfully, one of the other doctors had fallen in love, so we swapped. It was last minute, and I didn’t have time to tell you. I just wanted to leave. I didn’t want Rob to know anything about me leaving, so I had to go.”
Being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a cheating partner is hell. The first time I busted him, I’d woken up because it was so hot that night I couldn’t sleep. I stumbled from my bed and out into the night, the light breeze cooling me ever so slightly. I heard some strange noises around the corner of my tent and went to investigate. That’s when I saw Rob screwing one of the nurses up against some boxes. She was this beautiful, sexy French nurse, who had been flirting with Rob ever since we had arrived, but I never thought for one minute he’d cheat on me.
The diamond ring on my finger I thought gave me security, but I was wrong.
This is when I should’ve made a scene, screamed and yelled at him, told him what a horrible asshole he was, but I didn’t. Instead, I turned around and made my way to the food tent to grab a bottle of water where I sat and cried by myself. Then I trudged back to my tent and went to sleep. Pathetic, really. I pretended the next day as if nothing had happened, not because I thought it was okay, but because I was stuck.
A couple of other times, late at night, I have stumbled upon him, and each time it chipped away at my soul. I never said a word, that good old English stiff upper lip coming in handy.
I simply waited for a chance to leave, and when it did, I took it.
I messed around on Rob once too. So, I guess I’m not so innocent, but it was after the fifth nurse when I just couldn’t take it any longer. This gorgeous Canadian peacekeeper came into the camp—he was my new escort around the villages. While we were out, a huge storm started to brew, and we were too far away to safely make it back to camp in time. We had to wait it out in a tiny hotel room in the city. After a couple of drinks, I told him about Rob. How I had caught him one too many times fooling around on me, and that I was waiting patiently until my tenure was over where I’d leave and never look back.
The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine, and we ended up in bed together. Not going to lie, it was amazing. It felt like a big ‘fuck you’ to Rob.
Once I got back to camp, I felt guilty even though I shouldn’t have because Rob was most definitely not feeling guilty about his hook-ups. It was the one and only time for me, I never did it again.
“You bastard,” Lauren screams down the phone, pulling me from my memories. “You fucking bastard. How could you cheat on her?”
I can hear Rob trying to defend himself from Lauren’s onslaught.
“Lolly… Lolly… stop! Lol…” I’m trying to catch her attention, but it’s as if she’s dropped the phone.
“Lil.” Alistair picks up the phone.
“She’s making a scene, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, and to be fair, Rob’s acting like a pussy, telling her he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. That he never cheated.” My eyes roll so hard—the damn coward. “But Lolly isn’t backing down. Oh, shit! I think security’s coming. Gotta go. Will call you if we don’t get arrested.” And with that, he hangs up the phone.
I stare up at the wooden ceiling of the cottage, hundreds of years’ worth of structure, and I laugh. I laugh and laugh until my stomach hurts. I can just imagine my little pocket rocket of a sister slapping and hitting Rob, where she can reach, that is, and him trying to protect himself from her.
I love my sister so much. The fact she has flown halfway across the world to surprise me means everything, but even more so that she’s defending my honor.
Moments later, my phone rings again.
“Lolly… are you okay?”
“Yeah, I am. But Rob isn’t.” She sniggers. “I kind of caused a scene, and, well… told everyone he works with he’s a cheating scumbag. That my sister’s way too good for him…” I let out a loud laugh. “At least now everyone knows. They were all sad to see you’d left, you’re very much loved here.”
I begin to tear up again. “I know… I miss them all so much as well,” I state, thinking about the amazing villagers who had become my family while I was there.
“Did you say earlier you were in my room?” Lauren asks.
“Yeah.”
“Shit. Um…”
“I’ve already met the person renting out the house. I kind of stumbled in on him naked.”
“Oh my God, did you have to bleach your eyes?” My sister giggles.
“The total opposite, I couldn’t stop staring. He’s hot!”
Lauren squeals down the phone. “This is fate, Lil. Fate.”
Lauren is the complete opposite of me. She believes in fate, and soul mates, and happiness. She’s a hairdresser and spends her days dressed in bright, colorful clothes with rainbow hair. She’s dating Alistair, a farmer here in Glencoe. They’ve been dating for a long while now, but he still hasn’t put a ring on it. Not that she minds.
“You know I don’t believe in fate.”
“Well, tell me this? Why the hell am I here in Kenya and you’re there in Glencoe? Both of us surprising the other for Christmas.” I love her enthusiasm for fate, but I’m a doctor. I think in logic and science.
“Miscommunication, definitely not fate.”
She scoffs at me. “No. Something’s happening. Fate is up to something. She’s sent a hot guy to our cottage, and you turn up after getting your heart broken.”
“Hot Italian guy,” I add.
“Oh my God, see… you speak Italian, Lilly. See… fate.”
“Let’s forget about fate for the moment. What the hell are we going to do now we’re both on opposite sides of the world?”
“Well, Alistair’s never been overseas, so I want to show him around.”
Selfishly I want her home, but the fact she got Alistair halfway across the world is a miracle, so I can’t take that away from her. She’s been badger
ing him for years to go traveling, but he likes his simple life here in the mountains.
“I’m going to miss you, but you need to explore that beautiful continent. I’ll see you when you get home.”
“You sure?” Lolly asks.
“Yes. I’ll be okay. I miss you so much. But Kenya is beautiful, and I can’t wait for you to see all of it. I’ll email you where to go and what to see in the morning.”
“Thanks, babe. I’m so bummed we missed you. But I’m glad I kicked Rob’s ass. I never liked him.” This makes me laugh because it’s true. Lauren’s always thought he was this rich, entitled snob, who thought he was so much better than everyone else.
Looking back now, she’s right.
“Okay, well, have fun, send me loads of pics, and I love you.”
“Love you, too, sis. And jump that Italian Stallion.”
“Bye, Lolly.”
I fall back asleep quickly, jetlag taking over, and my heart feeling a little less broken.
3
Luca
The smell of bacon and eggs pulls me from my sleep. Last night’s unexpected visitor comes back into my memory, and the way she hungrily looked at me, not going to lie, I liked it. The blatant way she looked at my dick with appreciation—major turn-on. I liked that she was confident enough in herself to do that. She has a beautiful face, almost heart-shaped with big, expressive, bright blue eyes and plump lips. Her cheeks were pink from the cold. She appeared au naturel—her face free of any makeup. Tiny laugh lines crinkled at the side of her eyes, and frown lines were drawn across her forehead. She’s most defiantly all natural, a huge difference to the women I’m normally seen with.
Then she threatened to call the police on me, and all sexiness faded away really fucking quickly. I don’t need trouble with the law at the moment because once they run my name through the system, my safe little sanctuary will be ruined.
I’m not ready to face anyone just yet.
“Morning.”
Lilly, I think that’s the name she said last night, she’s dressed in an oversized white shirt and leggings as she moves around the small kitchen, her light brown hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail. Turning around with a black spatula in her hand, I’m greeted by her nipples staring right at me. Maybe she doesn’t realize how see-through her T-shirt is because I can see the curve of her bare breasts straight through it.
Stop looking, Luca.
Actually, no. She took her time to look me over last night, I’m only repaying the favor.
“I just wanted to say how sorry I am for last night.” She waves the spatula in the air. “I was really jet-lagged…” She smiles. “I don’t normally act like that.” Her eyes look down at my pants as if to say ‘I don’t normally check out men’s dicks so openly.’
I can tell you now, no man will ever make you apologize for checking out their dick. No man!
When our eyes meet again, she seems flustered and waves the spatula nervously in the air as her cheeks burn bright red.
“Please accept a hot breakfast as my apology.”
I give her a genuine smile. Honestly, I don’t think a woman has ever made me breakfast that wasn’t one of my staff.
“Grazie.” Taking the plate from her hand, our fingers connect for the briefest of moments, and a tiny zap travels through my body. She felt it too as her hand moves away from mine quickly like it burned her. I take a seat at the kitchen table and take in what’s on my plate—it’s filled with bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomato, spinach, and a couple of slices of toast.
Was all this in my fridge? I don’t remember seeing any of it. I know there was stuff in the fridge, but I guess I didn’t take in exactly what was there. Once I grabbed the Scottish whisky, I decided on a liquid dinner instead.
She follows behind me, placing a bottle of water and juice in the middle of the kitchen table. “Would you like coffee?”
“Oh, no… No. No.” That was a mistake I made when I first arrived, tasting the horrendous instant coffee sitting on the shelf. I could kill for some real Italian coffee, but I don’t think I’m going to find any here.
She laughs. “Of course, Italian’s would never drink instant.”
Does she recognize me?
“How do you know I’m Italian?”
“My nanny was Italian. She spoke to us mainly in Italian, so I’ve picked up on some of the words you use.” She takes a seat far away from me with her breakfast.
“So, you speak Italian?”
“I used to be fluent, but it’s been a while since I’ve used it.” She smiles through a mouthful of toast.
We both fall into silence as we eat our breakfast. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating, and it doesn’t take me long to finish it.
“There’s more in the pan.” She flicks her head in the direction of the kitchen.
I stare at her for a couple of beats then realize she means I have to get it myself.
Welcome to the real world, Luca.
I’m so used to people looking after me that I’ve never been self-sufficient. I grab some more bacon and make some more toast.
“I’m going to grab my bag and get out of your hair,” she tells me, placing her plate in the sink.
What? She’s going so soon.
Now she’s in my space I’m not sure I want her to go. Not because I think she’s cute, which I do—I certainly don’t need a cute complication in my life at the moment—but honestly, I don’t think I’m going to enjoy my own company. I had most of yesterday by myself, and it was so damn hard. I had to get drunk to even hang out with myself. For the next month, my only companion is probably going to be my whisky bottle, and I think I like the distraction standing in front of me much better.
“I heard there’s a snowstorm coming. Is it safe for you to go?”
Her eyes widen. “Shit! Is there?” She grabs her phone and furiously taps away on it. “Bugger, you’re right. They have issued a weather warning. I better go.”
“Don’t,” I say, stilling her. “I couldn’t forgive myself if something happened to you.”
Lilly frowns at me. “I can’t crash your holiday.”
“I can’t let a woman go out into a snowstorm.”
Her hands go to her hips, and she looks a little angry. “But you’d let a man?”
Huh, what?
“I… just…” I stumble over my words.
“Exactly. Thank you, but I must be going.” She looks like she can’t wait to get away from me, and it’s the exact opposite of how she looked at me last night. Maybe I was drunk and dreamed the whole situation. I guess that could be a distinct possibility. She picks up her bag and hauls it to the front door, stopping to pull on her coat and scarf. “Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here…” her words trail off.
“Luke, my name is Luke.” Technically, that is true, but she doesn’t need to know any more. It’s not like I’ll be seeing her again.
“Luke.” She smiles saying my name, and I like it falling across her lips. “Well, I hope you enjoy the cottage, it’s truly a beautiful place.” And then with that, she’s gone.
A couple of moments later, the door suddenly opens, and I’m caught still staring at the space she vacated. “Sorry, I left the breakfast cleaning up for you but, you know, the storm and all.” She waves at me and then closes the door again.
Maybe it’s for the best, cuddling up to a cute girl isn’t what I need. The distraction would be nice, but I must focus on the complete shitshow that’s my life at the moment, away from everyone who wants to influence it.
Not long later, there’s a knock at the door.
Who on earth could this be?
I move and open it, swirls of snow hit me in the face, the wind is so fierce out there. Bright yellow lights on a tow truck flash through the white abyss.
“Hi…” Lilly moves from the side and into my view. “Guess you were right. You shouldn’t have let a woman go out in the storm.”
My heart stops. Is she hurt?
“This is Luke, a family friend.” The man eyes me suspiciously. “He’s Contessa’s nephew over from Rome.”
This seems to relax the old man a little. I wonder who Contessa is?
“God rest her soul.”
Lilly appears sad at his condolence. She must have been close with this Contessa.
“Say hi to your wife for me.” Lilly puts a large smile on her face when she bids him farewell.
He nods and disappears into the white.
Lilly lets out a heavy sigh, grabs her bag, and walks back into the cottage. “I’m sorry to be crashing your holiday, again.”
“Are you okay?”
She shrugs. “Just a bruised ego more than anything. Slid off into a snowbank. That was Broden, he owns the mechanics shop in the village. Won’t take long for the village grapevine to kick in and know that I’m back.” She shucks off her jacket and hangs her scarf, then rubs her hands together. “I promise I won’t be in your way. I’ll lock myself in my sister’s room until the storm has passed and let you holiday in peace.”
“It’s fine. Honestly, one day of my own company, and it was driving me crazy.”
She laughs. “Not used to your own company, then?”
I shake my head. “I come from a big family. They like to get into my business. A lot.”
“Sounds very Italian.”
“It is.”
This makes me smile, and I start thinking about my family for the first time since…
Shaking my head, I’m not going to think about it.
I’ve messaged my brother to tell him I’m okay but am requesting time by myself to get everything in order. I just hope they understand.
“They mean well.”
Lilly smiles. “I only have my sister who cares, and she’s enough trouble as it is.”
“Lolly?”