“Is that your family?” Jake asked, pointing to a picture on my wall. It was a candid shot from the previous summer picnic.
“Yep, my beautiful wife, Nicola and our daughter Olivia. Before you ask, the ugly git’s me.”
Jake chuckled, “If you don’t mind me saying, you all look very happy there.”
“Yes, we were, it was a grand day. Mr A’s summer picnics are usually really good. Though Olivia’s off to stay with Nicola’s parents for part of the summer, so she’ll miss this year’s.”
A wistful feeling washed over me and I reflected on the summers that Nicola and I had had before the complications of marriage, kids and other adulting that we had got sucked into.
~~~~~
The first summer after Nicola finished school was one filled with sex. When we were not working or volunteering, we were off somewhere practising our newly found game. When our parents took their holidays, we moved in with each other and toward the end of summer I bought a small tent and single ring burner, packed up my car and we took off for a week by the coast. It was on the last day there that Nicola dropped a bombshell on me.
“I think we should split up," she said without looking at me.
When I pulled her face around, tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“Why are you crying? That should be me, surely?”
“I don’t want to, but I think it would be best.”
“Because you're going to uni?" She nodded. "Why do you want to split up then?" I could feel anger building and was doing my best to keep calm, "I guess you want to be free to try some rich law student or other!”
I got up and crawled into the tent and I started to pack my clothes.
“No, Dave, wait!” she pleaded.
“What?”
“You know damn well money has nothing to do with how I feel! And rich or poor I don’t want to try anyone else. There was a good reason I applied to Newnham College!”
Her wind blew out a little then, "Dave, I love you, but I'm going to be away for three years to start, then there's going to be another two years after uni and that depends where I get a job. It's not fair on you, you've already waited for me for five years and now I'm about to make you do something similar. I can't ask you to wait all that time for me."
“Time is an illusion,” I said. “Time waiting for your doubly so!”
“Don’t think I missed that, nerd,” Nicola said, but not with the spirit she usually did.
“Did you think I might like to have a say in this? It was up to me to wait before and I did because I wanted to, I know now I did it because I love you. And you know what? I’d have done it again with pleasure for exactly the same reason.”
“I’m sorry, I should have spoken first, I’ve blown it, haven’t I?”
“I’m not saying you haven’t but why do you think you’ve blown it?”
“You said ‘I’d have done it’, past tense.” Nicola had always been shrewd at picking up little nuances in wording, I was convinced from early on that she had a mind for either law, politics or any job that played with words.
“I’d have done it, if it was needed.”
Nicola looked confused now, “What do you mean?”
“Well there’s three holidays each year, add to that you’re only going to be in Cambridge, it’s only a couple or three-hour drive and if I leave from work that’s nearly half an hour closer. So I can visit, if you like, from time to time. When you're done, hell we may have burnt out and moved on naturally, but if we're still together we can cross the bridge of where you get a job when we get there."
“I’m sorry,” she said again, but before I could enjoy my victory, “but you didn’t have to be such a shit either! You dare suggest I'll go with someone because they are rich again and I'll carry out my dad's threat from way back!"
I obviously looked confused.
Nicola leant over and put her hand between my legs, “Remember when he asked if you valued these?”
This broke the tension, a little.
I put a hand on each shoulder, “Just promise, in future, to talk to me before making decisions for us.”
Nicola put her hand on my chest and pushed me back into the tent. I shuffled backwards away from her, but she kept advancing. I gave up and lay back.
