Chapter Two
BEA
One of the worst things about being in a long-distance relationship, other than the lack of regular sex, has to be watching other couples. Not like that—I’m not some kind of pervert who peeks through the gap in her friend’s bedroom door. Besides, if Iwerethat way inclined, I could just leave out my ear plugs because Lord knows Fin and her boyfriend, Rory, are damn loud. I might have even entertained the notion that Rory is some sort of Celtic word for roar because there’s no mistaking when that man is having a good time.
Anyway, according to the interwebz, it’s not.
With the help of said earplugs and my long hospital shifts, I manage to mostly block out their monkey sex sounds. But what’s harder not to see, and harder still not to be effected by, are the million tiny measures of intimacy between the pair. The way they touch almost constantly as if their bodies might wither away without the physical recharge. The making out via eye contact . . . the eye fucking that leads toactualfucking... and the long runs I take as a consequence.
I’m not complaining. Fin is the gold standard of roommates and quickly became a great friend. And I like Rory, too, despite the rocky start the pair had. The man loves my friend hard. Often a littletoo hardfor my delicate ears, but you can’t have it all. Fin and I haven’t been friends very long, but sometimes, you just know when you’ve found a member of your tribe. And then sometimes, that tribe member tells you she’s moving out to live with her love. And you realise you’ll soon be taking part in the whole roommate lottery again.
‘You’re looking a little bleary eyed this morning.’ Fin’s voice is preceded by the shuffling of socks against the wooden floor.
Talk of the horny little devil and she shall appear.
‘Do I?’ I pause, placing my glass of water on our tiny kitchen table. ‘Could it have something to do with the live-action porn being filmed in your room last night?’
‘I’d say sorry, only I’m not,’ she says, unsuccessfully hiding her smile, pretending to fluff her short bangs. But just like any other morning after the night before, Fin can’t help but smile.
‘And why should you be sorry?’ Personally, I’d be singing my satisfaction from the rooftops. I might even be a little jealous. It’s not that I don’t have a boyfriend of my own—I do. It’s just that I haven’t seen him in a while. But it won’t always be like this; we knew living apart would be hard. Three more years of specialist training and then. ..Then what?
As usual, I push the thought to the back of my mind. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so they say. I hope it’ll also make Jon’s dick harder because after our last disastrous weekend together, I could really do with a good hard—
‘Speaking of loud,’ Fin says, filling her cup with hot water from the kettle. ‘I might’ve also heard you and Jon going at it yesterday afternoon over the phone.’
I laugh. Hard. As in, my laughter is hard.
‘I wish,’ I mutter. ‘So not the same. And low blow, Finola. Low bloody blow!’
She visibly winces, just like I knew she would at the use of her full name. As for “going at it”, and coming back to my original thought, being in a long-distance relationship is hard. It’s so difficult to watch other couples. There’s the insecurity and the lack of physical intimacy—it’s even hard to argue successfully!
Not that it stops us from trying.
Especially lately.
Jonathon is... my long-term boyfriend, for lack of a better term.
The father of my unborn children.
The man I’ve always seen myself growing old with.
The person I can’t ever see not being in my life.
We’ve been together forever. Thoughtechnically nottogether—at leastphysically—because our careers keep us apart. I’d followed him once before, which is what brought me here to London. It’s just unfortunate he took a job a seven-hour flight away not long after I moved here.
It’s a brilliant opportunity, Bea. I won’t get a chance like this again.
So I’m here while he’s... somewhere else.
‘I wasn’t prying,’ Fin says with a note of apology. ‘You guys were pretty vocal.’
‘Passionate, sweets, passionate.’ And it seems ourpassionis getting more animated with each phone call. ‘You know what they say, the best part of fighting is making up.’ Despite my sing-song delivery, I don’t feel very cheery about the prospect. Especially given the last time we were together . . .
‘Don’t worry, Jon. It happens to everyone... ’Though not usually for an entireweekend. ‘Trust me; I’m a medical professional.’A sexually frustrated medical professional with an unhealthy interest in dirty Rumblr GIFs, but still.
‘So when’s this mammoth make-up session to take place—’ Fin halts, her face suddenly stricken. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you argue so much that you need a lot of time to repair...’ I wave away her apology. Lord knows Jon and I have argued plenty over the past few months, and it seems to be getting worse. ‘But when will you see him again?’ she asks much more gently.
‘I’m not exactly sure.’ That’s what we were arguing about. It’s been months since we were last together, and he promised he’d visitmethis time. My workload has increased so much lately, and I have tonnes of study on top of that. I can’t keep scrambling to meet him in random European cities at the drop of a hat. To become successful in my field of surgery takes dedication and time—I can’t just keep gallivanting off.
