Page 6 of SEAL Mates

It was as if he was ready to talk today. That could only mean one thing, he’d had a good sleep and had a good meal. My son was only talkative if those things had happened and the only other thing which kept him happy was his playstation and a meal of satisfaction which he only had when he visited one of his grandma’s. No doubt, he’d been to his dad’s mom’s house.

Summer. Most likely I’ll be on leave then. Is that okay? Can I come home?

He always asked no matter how many times I told him that it was his home. He didn’t have to ask if he could visit. He could come any time.

We would love to see you.

I didn’t hear from him again, but I calculated between going to the mountains with Greg and the kids next being on holidays during Easter. We would make a trip to NY. The kids loved to see their eldest sibling and we all loved NY.

It was crazy to think of all the things that could happen in one day. I’d had inspiration that life could be a lot better than this.

Hope.

Something I’d given up on before was right around the corner waiting for me. I could feel it in my bones.

* * *

I was waiting outside the house for Greg to show up. The idea of having to be anywhere apart from a school run on time, felt a little weird.

I went to university to be a doctor, and somehow came out as an IT Engineer. I couldn’t get the grades for medicine and instead of fighting hard for it, I did the complete opposite and took the easy route.

The easy route resulted in a baby, but I didn’t stop there. I still went to get a degree after being told by his father that my life would stop there. I suppose in a way it did. I got the degree. Had the baby. Worked in my field and rose to the ranks in IT, but it was never enough. It always felt as if I was doing it just to pay the bills, but the headache of office politics used to hurt my head.

Leaving IT. Leaving the office was the best thing for me, looking back but I remember being scared at the time. Now, whenever I go on a school run I see parents dropping their kids and throwing them at the school gate like a piece of trash scared of what might occur if they turn up late.

I never regretted leaving.

The fear of being a parent and letting the whole office know that being a parent came at a price one that could result in you having to take time off, or even worse turning up late to the office every day.

Once I became a writer no more did I have the fear of responding to a boss, or even the politics of it all. No, I had a different set of priorities which involved worrying about if my book would be successful or not. The stress of marketing, editing, keeping to readers ' expectations. A different type of stress and at times I questioned if they were better off than I was. They could take holidays, have lunch with colleagues and have the benefits of working with others. I on the other hand had no one, just me, but whenever I told anyone my profession all they said was, “How cool.”

I’d officially been a full-time writer for over six years now. Yet, I still struggled to say it whenever someone asked about my profession. As if it wasn’t really real. Yet, slowly but surely it was feeling real whenever I received a message or a review saying that I was their favorite author. This part of the whole stressful process made it worth it. It made me feel proud at times, but not often to confess that I spent nearly twenty hours per day in front of the computer.

It didn’t take long for Greg to pull up in the drive. As I’d expected, the way mom had described him, Greg had grown into a little hottie. Well, not a little hottie, but a big one who as I saw him pulling up in his jeep into the driveway. His dark eyes seemed to light up as he saw me standing there. I did the same as I smiled, knowing he had his hands on the steering wheel.

He was married.

Very married.

It didn’t stop me smiling like a Cheshire Cat as he pulled up, and then got out of his car. I imagined for all of five seconds before I ran to meet him on the side of his car. That he would be built. Fit. Athletic. I had no idea, until he wrapped his arms around me, and I thought, his wife is a lucky woman.

See this was the reason men, like him were taken. Perfect shaped abs greeted my droopy breasts. They felt as if they were in seventh-heaven as he pulled away from me, and said, “Perfect Paula, you look the same.”

I laughed, “You still calling me that?” He winked at me. When we were kids, he used to call me PP. It stood for Perfect Paula, he said that I was such a perfectionist back then. A lot more than I was today. He brought back a memory, one long forgotten. I used to love working out and just being fit and healthy in general. My ex said that he loved me the way I was, and part of me hated him more than ever whenever I told him that I was on a diet and he would buy me my favorite bar of Dairy Milk chocolate. I never used to complain at the time, I felt guilty for not appreciating his efforts. I never knew that it was his way of controlling me, and I let him.

Even with his shaven head and dark brown eyes, he was still hot, and charming, that was why we were friends. He had all the girls after him back in high school and he never let it go to his head. He was so down to earth back then. I wondered if he was still the same.

“Are you ever coming back?” He asked, pointing at the case, which was a lot bigger than I realized until I started dragging it out of my room and down the stairs. I heard a snap as I got to the end of the stairs, and I knew it wasn’t the case making that noise, but just my body. I’d hurt myself, but I did a bit of stretching and it seemed to sort it out for now.

I was a bit embarrassed about his question, thinking he was right. I’d never been much of a packer. Not a real one. I remember one time I went on to Enchanted Rock and I did some hiking with the kids. Everyone had like a little backpack for a week. It was silly, because they clearly gave written instructions that there were places to clean clothes so I didn’t need to carry everything, but I had no idea what to talk about. So, like now, I just took everything.

“I’ve never been anywhere cold, and I know we’re going for a week, which feels a little excessive so I packed a little extra, in case. I can’t wear cold clothes indoors, then again I haven’t worn some things for years, and I couldn’t just take what I wore everyday.”

He chuckled, “You were always so excessive, and this is what I loved about you. Your extrainess. This is what got me through middle school, knowing that I wasn’t the only weird one. There was more than one of us.”

I looked at him with a quizzed look, I didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted?

“Yeah, but you turned from the awkward boy to the sex symbol by the time you reached high school. It was as if you woke up and completely changed your life around.”

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