“And Wales?”
“Well, the therapist said I should stay close to the ocean to start facing my fear. And he had to come back home for Calan Mai, and since Aberyst—” she butchered the pronunciation, and they both laughed, “is right by the sea, we killed two birds with one stone. We road tripped. Stopped in thistown of books. It was amazing, Sofi, I bought you an old marine biology book.”
Sofia squealed through the phone. They were both book nerds, just in very different genres.
“We came here. I met his mom. She’s super young and fun. And his grandpa, who has Alzheimer. We came mostly for him.”
“Oh… I’m sorry,” Sofia said softly.
“Last night we went to a pub, met a few of his friends. And then... his ex.”
“Dun Dun Duuuun,” Sofia hummed the fatality tune from Mortal Kombat. Alejandra laughed.
“Yeah. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back, she was wrapped around him like a fucking burrito.”
“Tell me you punched her in the face.”
“Ilias is a bad influence on you, you know that, right?”
“Nah. Continue.”
“Callum looked super uncomfortable, so we left. But she kept shouting shit like ‘he’s mine, he was mine before he was yours.’ She was clearly drunk.”
“How does she look?”
“Blonde. Wearing a suit-dress. Reminds me a bit of Jamie. Turns out she’s a politician here in Wales.”
“Ugh.”
“And she’s far-right.”
“WHAT? Wait, how could Callum have dated someone like that? Is he from the far-right?”
Alejandra shrugged. “He said they grew apart. I haven’t mentioned I’m a proud, raging leftist from Spain yet.”
“You need to talk about that. It’s your future.”
“I don’t think he is, honestly. He looked horrified when she was all over him. And then...”
“And then?”
“And then he asked me to be his girlfriend. Said he doesn’t want us to be ‘just friends’, he wants more. Until last night we’d just been tiptoeing around it. We’d fuck, we’d spend the day like a couple, but we never said it.”
Sofia squealed again. “And how do you feel?”
“Happy. He understands me. He knows how to take me.”
“Evidently.”
“Not just sex-wise, Sofi. In everything. Today we went paddleboarding. I panicked a little at the start—because, god, I’m messed up—but he was so calm. We talked about the Blue Mind research. The one you did. My therapist gave it to me.”
“Really? Love her already.”
“You forgot to include a section on what to do when you almost drown and the ocean gives you panic attacks.”
Sofia paused. “Yeah, definitely a little too specific. But maybe I should add it. Is it that bad?”
“Right now, I can’t even think about swimming for long—my shoulder isn’t there yet. So, I’m pushing the thoughts away. But I have nightmares. When I dove today, well, I panicked a little. Luckily, Callum was there and he gave me a pep talk. And the ocean… it’s been my whole reason, and—”
