Lily was the most loyal, generous, and decent person I’d ever met. She held doors open for people. She let people inat junctions in the car. She never got road rage, even in London. Everything people saw on screen and in her interviews on her podcast was true. She was like that in real life, genuine. I thought I loved her when we first got together, but that love was pale in comparison to what I felt about her now that we’d been together for over eight months.
But the attention was still there in the background. Every now and then, our picture appeared online or in a click-bait article. It made me want to sink into myself and never go out.
Against what I felt like doing, I continued getting ready and forced myself out the house.
***
I met Vicky and Mathilde at a cosy pub called Ye Olde Fighting Cocks. I ordered a craft beer and joined them at their table. The hugs felt warm and grounding. I’d missed them both.
“What you been up to, Rona? I feel like we haven’t seen you in ages. Missed you at fives last week, too.”
You’d think dating a football star would have inspired me to play more. Nope. I was happy to get physical in the bedroom with said star instead. “Not much. Just spending time with Lily, you know.”
“Ah. You guys are still in the loved-up phase where you barely leave the house. Got it. The sex good?”
“Vicky!” Mathilde chastised. “It is not appropriate to ask such questions.”
“It’s okay, Tilly. It is good. Amazing.”
“And long may it last.” Vicky raised her glass to me.
Mathilde gave me a congratulatory smile.
“How’ve you both been?”
“Good, thanks,” Mathilde said, glancing at Vicky. “We’ve been looking into moving to the country. London is too loud. I have my heart set on a cottage by the coast.”
“Wow! That’s great. When are you thinking of moving?”
Mathilde continued. “As soon as we find the right place. We are looking in Kent. I like that mainland Europe is only a stone’s throw away.” Mathilde smiled. “See, I used the correct idiom.”
“You did, babe, well done. Although I really enjoyed it when you merged ‘within spitting distance’ and ‘a stone’s throw’ the other day and said ‘a spit’s throw’. But I’ve probably had a bad influence on you with my overuse of clichés,” Vicky quipped.
Mathilde laughed.
I smiled. “It is closer to Europe down there. It’s nice how you can see France on a clear day.”
“You can?” Mathilde’s eyes went wide.
“Yep. Especially if you’re near Folkestone or Dover.”
“Ah, the white cliffs,” Vicky said.
“I am in love with this new information. I cannot wait to see this!”
“It will be good to be closer to family,” Vicky said. “Especially since both my brother and sister now have kids.”
“Sounds like a great move for you guys.”
“We have more news,” Mathilde said. “We have decided to start fertility treatment. We’ve found a donor and I am going to have IVF.”
I squealed, clapping my hands. “Guys! This is brilliant!”
They were both smiling and holding hands.
“When? When is this starting? Have you started already? Who is the donor? Where are you getting treatment? Doesanyone else know?” I couldn’t help myself with all the questions.
“We’ve started already as in we’re in the process with the fertility clinic. There are a lot of forms and a lot of meetings. They wanted all my immunisation history, and I had to contact my doctor in Germany to get this sent over. That took ages. But now it’s all in place. The donor is from Denmark. We’re getting treatment in London so if we move it might mean a bit of travelling back and forth, but it will be fine.”
