June
In picturesque
Spaniards Creek Nove Leyte was mourning the death of her Mother.
Nove was an
only child and had lived on the island her whole life, and her mother had just
celebrated her 40th birthday when she fell pregnant, and Nove was cherished,
because her parents had given up all hope of parenthood, and she cherished them
in return for the love they showered on her.
So, she was
naturally devastated when her father died suddenly when she was still in her
mid-twenties, and his loss brought her and her mother even closer together, and
she devoted herself to her Mum at the expense of all other personal
attachments, and Nove had never regretted her decision.
In the last
five years of her mother’s life, she had become more like her nurse than her
companion, then at the age of 38 she was suddenly alone.
The Wake was
being held in the private rooms at the village pub, Philips Folly, named after
the King of Spain, who launched the Armada against Queen Elizabeths England.
But Nove
couldn’t face it, so instead of joining everyone else at the pub she went home
after the service at St Clara's to an empty house.
The house she
had lived in all her life and the one she and her mother had shared for 13
years.
When she got
inside she slipped her jacket off and went to the kitchen and poured herself a
drink and then cried.
It was June the
21st, the longest day of the year, which felt to her like the longest day of
her life.
After sitting
alone quietly for about half an hour and wondering why she was all alone at 38
years of age, she was disturbed by a knock at the door, so she ignored it and
poured herself another drink.
A few moments
later there was another, more persistent knock so she ignored it again and
drained her glass.
A few seconds
more and there was another even more persistent knock, so she got up and walked
down the hall and reluctantly opened the door.
It was Oliver
Clarke, the man who had been carrying a torch for her since his twenties, who
she had been keeping at arm’s length while she gave all of herself to her
mother’s welfare.
They had dated,
after a fashion, theatre, cinema, and the occasional meal for special
occasions.
Her mother
urged Nove to snap him up, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
“There will be
time enough for that” Nove would say to her and her mother would shake her head
and smile.
“I was told to
come and get you,” he said
“You’ve been
missed”
“I don’t think
I can” Nove replied
“Nonsense” he
said firmly, “you’re expected”
But Nove turned
around and walked back to the kitchen and sat down.
“You must” Oli
insisted crouching down in front of her.
“I can’t” she
retorted
“You have no
choice” he insisted
“I can’t go;
how many times must I say it?” she snapped “it’s just too hard”
“It’s not about
you,” he whispered in his face “it’s about your mum”
She said
nothing in response, she just looked at him, as if she’d never seen him before
and then inexplicably and right out of the left field, she kissed him.
“That’s not
helping” he shouted and then kissed her back, before he pushed her away and
said
“We shouldn’t
be doing this”
“Shut up and
kiss me,” Nove begged “I thought you wanted to, you kissed me back”
“I do want to”
he said “But I don’t want you to kiss me just because you’re sad”
“Oh, how
precious” she sneered
“Well call me
old fashioned but I want the woman I love to kiss me because she wants to” he
said as he stood up “and because she wants to do it as much as I do”
“Well, we can’t
always have what we want, can we” she snapped
“I’m going back
to the wake” he said “you should come too”
“Why? Because
I’m expected”
“No because
you’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t” he said and walked towards the
door, but he didn’t get far.
“Wait for me”
she called “Please”
They walked in
the pub together and she put on a brave face for everyone and internally
counted the minutes until it was over.
When she got
back home she planned on finishing the bottle of Scotch she’d opened earlier
and would then crash out and not surface for a few days.
But instead,
she tidied herself up, tended to her make up, and went back out, locking the
front door behind her.
She walked up
the short footpath and knocked on the front door of the cottage and waited
nervously until the door opened and Oli smiled and invited her in.
“I came to
apologize for earlier” she said
“There’s really
no need”
“I think there
is” Nove said “so I’m sorry”
“Apology
accepted” Oli said brightly “Come and have a drink”
“There was
something else I need to say” she said nervously “And I’m a bit worried about
how you will react”
“That sounds
ominous” he said suddenly feeling nervous himself, so he sat down on the
staircase
“Saying sorry
was just the first part” Nove said and took a deep breath before she added
“The second was
to ask the man that I love to kiss me”
“Well, that is
something totally different to accepting an apology” he said as he stood up
“and my reaction to it is this”
And he leant in
and kissed her and brought a satisfactory end to her longest day.
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