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I step back from the two brothers and give them one last nod before leaving the office and heading off to my next big adventure.
2
Chelsea
“Oh, come on, Chels, surely even you are sick of sitting in your pyjamas every weekend now?”
I look at my friend Penny and smile.
“I’m perfectly happy to spend my free time in my PJs and slippers, thank you very much. Why would I do anything else when I can get cosy on the sofa with Luna and relax?” I ask as we reach our cars in the work car park. I open the back door and throw my bag onto the seat, before opening the driver-side door and grabbing the scrunchy from between the seats.
“I don’t know, because you are forty-two and haven’t had a date in years!YearsChels!” she throws her hands up dramatically to emphasise the fact. I roll my eyes whilst pulling my blonde hair into a high ponytail, glad to finally get it off my neck.
“I tried dating, even got married; look how that ended,” I point out with an arched brow.
“Not all men are like that nut job!”
“I don’t want another man in my life, Penny. I have Luna, that’s all I need.” I turn to look at my friend as she leans on the roof of her car and looks over to me. I know she means well, but I can’t date.
“I’m not going to argue with you; I get it, I do. But you have every right to enjoy your life and don’t give me that crap about you are because I know you’re lying. A part of you is lonely, and you know it.” Penny climbs into her car as her passenger window opens and she leans towards it from the driver's seat. “I will see you Monday, and we’ll make plans for next weekend. Luna can have a sleepover at mine with Ayva watches them. No arguing.” Before I can say anything else, she backs out of her parking space and yells. “I’ll call you tomorrow!” before driving out of sight as I wave.
I laugh to myself as I climb into my car and connect my phone to the console. I quickly check my surroundings, back out of my parking spot and start the short journey to my daughters' school.
I know Penny means well, but I’ve worked hard and endured a lot to be as at peace as I am now. I don’t want to risk anything changing that. So what, if I wish now and again I could come home to someone else having done the housework, or cooked dinner? That doesn’t mean I’m lonely, I'm just a little sick of doing everything myself.
I pull up outside Luna's school and let out a deep sigh. I hate it when people try and assume I need a man in my life just because of my age. I worked hard to get us where we are today, and I will never put myself in a position where I have to answer to anyone but myself and my daughter. No one, and I meanno onemeans as much to me as that little girl, she is my everything and there’s nothing I’m not willing to do to keep her happy and safe, even if that means accepting that it's just me, myself and I.
Who am I trying to kid? Of course, there are nights I find myself sitting on the sofa with nothing but a blanket to comfort me, wishing someone would hug me. Maybe now and again, it would be nice to have an adult conversation in the evening or someone to hold me when nightmares plague me. I certainly wouldn’t say no to the occasional meal out, but the fear of history repeating itself is enough to stop me from ever dating again.
I sigh as I climb out of my car and head up the path towards where I need to collect Luna from the after-school club. Maybe one day, a knight in shining armour will sweep in and rescue me from this lonely life and make me his everything. I stop myself from laughing out loud at the sheer thought of it. Knight in shining armour? Please, knowing my luck, I’d get a twat in tin foil with a horse’s head on a stick.
No, I’m better off on my own. I know that everything else would be a fantasy I know will never happen. Dreams don’t come true for single mums in their forties; they don’t for this one, anyway.
3
Drew
I look around the bar, and it all still seems so unreal.
If you had asked me three years ago where I saw myself now, I would have said in the SEALs, fighting for my country and doing all I could for the America I love. I never thought I would move to England to start my own security company because I was medically discharged from the only job I have ever known.
All my life, I knew I wanted to join the SEALs, and nothing was going to get in my way. From the age of fifteen, I worked out every day to make sure my body was in peak condition. I studied my ass off to ensure I got the grades and constantly checked in with recruitment to see if I was on the right track.
The day of my passing out parade was the proudest moment of my life. I knew everything I had sacrificed to get to where I was, and it was worth every single drop of tears, blood and sweat that went into it. Even my old man was proud of me that day, and that’s saying something as he has had no problem telling me I was wasting my time and would never make it; I soon proved him wrong.
“Earth to Bambi, you in there, buddy?”
“What?” I turn to see my friend and fellow ex-SEAL Logan sitting beside me. He pushes a bottle of beer towards me. I pick it up and take a swig; at least it’s not the warm piss they serve in other bars.
“You were a million miles away then. Everything okay?” he asks before taking a sip of his bottle. I nod, looking down at the bottle in my hand.
“Just thinking how this still feels so unreal. We have been in the country for five months, and I still expect to wake up back home.” I turn to look at Logan to find him looking at me. “Do you know what I mean?”
Logan nods as he takes another sip of his beer.
“Yeah, I do. This is the last place I ever thought I would be at thirty-nine. But here we are, and we might as well get used to it. England’s been good to Cal; otherwise, he wouldn’t have suggested us joining him. We need to trust the process, or whatever they say these days.”
I know he’s right, and I’m sure everything will click into place. We’ve worked hard for what we’ve accomplished so far. It wasn’t easy, especially when we still lived in the States, but we made it work. We conducted interviews via apps like Zoom when we couldn’t come over and do them in person. It’s been tough, but now everything has finally fallen into place.
