Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
M y first full day alone without Drake was normal except for Drake’s absence. Sophie and I did our usual routine of walking along the boardwalk, eating lunch, and she played while I did work in my office. I checked my watch and saw that it was already three o’clock and time for Drake to call and say goodnight.
“Sophie, come and play in my office. Daddy’s going to call soon to say goodnight.”
“Okay, Mommy,” she called up from her playroom.
She appeared in a few moments, her coloring book and markers in her hands.
“Come and sit on the sofa and you can color on the coffee table. Daddy should call any time now.”
Sophie went to the coffee table and knelt beside it and was soon immersed in whatever picture she was coloring. I wrapped my iPad and got it set up next to her on the coffee table and then sent Drake a text.
KATE: We’re here waiting breathlessly for your Skype.
There was a pause before I saw that he’d seen my message. He typed back.
DRAKE: Sorry, was just going up the elevator to my room. Michael and I had a late dinner and spent some time talking about work. I’ll be in my room in 5 and we can Skype then.
KATE: Okay. We’ll be waiting.
“Daddy says he’ll be calling in five minutes,” I told Sophie, who looked up from her coloring book and nodded.
“Is he getting ready for bed?” she asked, laughing as she said it like it was too preposterous to believe.
“Yes, he is. He spent some time with Uncle Michael having dinner but will be ready for bed and to say goodnight to us.”
She nodded and continued coloring, unconcerned.
I glanced down at her coloring book and saw that she was coloring none other than one of the Disney characters from her favorite movie. Frozen … I didn’t think that anything would ever replace it in her heart.
Soon enough, my cell and iPad both rang with the tell-tale sound of an incoming Skype request. I tapped the icon on the iPad and a video image of Drake appeared on screen, and in the small corner, one of Sophie and me behind her. I’d arranged the iPad so that it could capture us both so Drake could see us together.
“There’s my two girls,” Drake said, a big smile on his very handsome but very tired- and jet-lagged looking face. “You both look beautiful.”
“Hi, Daddy,” Sophie said and then held up her coloring book. “Look what I’m coloring. Do you know what it is?”
Drake squinted his eyes dramatically. “I have no idea who that could be. Is that Olaf?”
Sophie almost squealed in response, for of course, it was Elsa in a long ice-blue dress, and not the snowman who is one of the beloved characters in the movie.
“Olaf? It’s not Olaf. You’re joking, Daddy.”
He dramatically moved his face closer to the camera and then closed his eyes. “Oh, of course it’s not Olaf. What was I thinking. It’s Elsa.”
“Funny Daddy,” Sophia said and shook her head.
“How was your day without me? I’ve been up all night working because I slept on the way from London to Nairobi.”
I put on a sad face. “We missed you this morning. We missed saying goodnight to you.”
“I missed both of you, too. I’m here in the hotel after spending the night and day at the hospital because of the jet lag and time difference,” Drake said and moved his iPhone around so we could see his nice room. He then walked over to the sliding door, which led to a patio surrounded by trees. It was dark and we could see lights of the city sparking in the distance. “It has the nicest view and is close to everything.”
I told Drake about our plans to go out to the island with my father and Elaine before we came to Nairobi, and he thought it was a great idea to spend the weekend at the beach house with my father to celebrate me finishing my first article.
“It’s good that you’ll spend some time with Ethan before you come here. We would have spent time at the beach house with them if I was still there. Your father would really feel deprived if you went without seeing him and celebrating your first bona fide article.”
“That’s the way I feel,” I said. We chatted about the hospital for a moment and Sophie listened with half an ear while she continued to color. Finally, Drake yawned, and I decided we’d delayed him from sleep for long enough.
“Time for bed, Daddy,” I said, and Sophie agreed. “Don’t you agree, Sophie? He looks very tired.”
“Yes, it’s time for bed.” She seemed to enjoy telling Drake it was bedtime instead of the other way around.
“Okay, if you two say so,” Drake replied, smiling. He blew us both a kiss, which we blew back.
Then, the call ended.
I felt a twinge in my chest, hating the fact we were so far apart, but Sophie was unconcerned and went right back to coloring.
Ah, the resilience of youth. Don’t yet understand how fragile life is…
We spent the rest of the day following the usual routine, with Sophie working away at whatever she was coloring or watching a movie on television, while I worked in my office. We had a quick supper, and then spent the evening watching a Disney movie together. I put her to bed, and the only difference was that Drake wasn’t there to add his kiss goodnight.
“When will Daddy come home?” she asked as I tucked her in.
“Soon,” I said. “He’s got another three or four weeks if they can find some new doctors and get them all set up at the hospital. Then, after we go to see Gramps and Grandma at the beach house, we’ll fly to Nairobi and meet him and go to Africa and see some giraffes. How does that sound?”
She smiled and opened her eyes wide. “And elephants?”
“And especially elephants. Maybe we could go to the Sheldrake Trust Elephant Refuge.”
“Yes, I want to see the elephants…”
I kissed her cheek, and she snuggled down into her covers.
“Good night, my love.”
“Good night, Mommy,” she replied, her eyes already closed.
I turned off the overhead light and switched on the night light, and then closed the door behind me. I knew she’d be asleep in no time, being a very fast sleeper like her father.
Then, I went to the living room and switched on a news channel, needing to further unwind before I went to bed myself.
Usually, Drake and I would sit together and watch an hour of news before we headed for bed, and I missed his presence beside me, commenting drolly on whatever antics politicians had been up to for the day, making me laugh.
Instead, I just sat there and missed him terribly.
I checked in to see how Sophie was doing one last time before I went to my own bedroom, and after my evening ablutions, washing my face and brushing my teeth, I slid into the huge and very empty king-sized bed that Drake and I usually shared.
I remembered our promise to each other to never be separated again, and sighed.
Life had a way of intervening.
I couldn’t blame Drake for going, nor could I in good faith, just up and go with him, seeing as I had to get my final paper in to my advisor before the end of the month and it required a trip to the gallery once more before I was done.
I would finish my article and go out to the beach house on Friday. Then, Sophie and I could fly to Nairobi, and I could enjoy my freedom.
With that plan in mind, I switched off the light on the bedside table and lay down, one arm sliding across to the other pillow where Drake would usually be.
That’s what I would do — I’d work like a demon over the next few days and then Sophie and I would arrive three weeks early and spend the rest of Drake’s time at the hospital with him.
I closed my eyes, smiling into the darkness and waited to fall asleep, but as usual, my mind started working feverishly, thinking of how I could finish the article edits as quickly as possible. I had initially planned on taking a week or two, but that was just because I had an extended deadline.
Nothing was impossible — or at least, almost impossible if you really put your mind to it. I’d speak with my editor the next morning and I’d send Sophie to her daycare center and would go every day to my office at the paper so I could get in my editing done as soon as possible.
Then, the three of us would be reunited in Nairobi and would be enjoying the view outside Drake’s hotel.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, as usual.
I heard Sophie talking to herself — or her toys — in her bedroom. I rolled over and glanced at the bed where Drake would usually be sleeping. He’d be lying there on his stomach, a pillow over his head, his very sexy body naked under a single sheet. Most of the time, he was up first, having a shower and getting dressed so he could get to the hospital early, but on weekends, he slept in a bit, and I got to enjoy the sight of him lying beside me.
I rolled out of bed, went to the washroom for a quick shower, and then after I dressed in a sundress and did my minimal makeup, I went to Sophie’s bedroom to see her sitting up, coloring something in her latest Frozen coloring book.
“Morning, sweetheart,” I said after popping my head inside her room. “Feel like some breakfast? What would you like?” I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, should we go out for breakfast instead? Pancakes and whipped cream at Moxie’s?”
“Moxie’s! Moxie’s!” Sophie replied, eye face lighting up. Moxie’s Diner was one of our favorite places for breakfast. We went there on the weekends whenever possible.
“Moxies it is. Get up and get dressed. We can take the limo there and then walk along the boardwalk after.” I messaged our driver and asked him to be waiting outside the building in fifteen minutes.
For the next quarter of an hour, we got ready, getting Sophie dressed, her teeth brushed and were out the door as quickly as possible and down the stairs to the main floor. Then, we went to the limo, which was parked at the curb outside the door. The streets were busy with both vehicle traffic and pedestrians, so it took longer than usual to get to Moxies, but we enjoyed the drive regardless. Soon, I saw the characteristic storefront that belonged to the venerable old restaurant where we went for brunch, and we stopped and got out.
“Thanks,” I said to the driver. “We’ll be at least an hour.”
He nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
Then, we went to the front door and gave the hostess our name for a seat on the patio. Luckily, we arrived just as someone was leaving so we were next in line to get a table. We stood in the waiting area, while a busboy cleaned the table of dishes, and then we went to take our seat at the table by a fence, overlooking the street. There was already a set of crayons and a special paper placemat with an image for children to color to keep them busy.
I sighed as we got seated and glanced around, wishing Drake was there and Liam so the four of us could enjoy our ritual brunch together.
That would be for the fall, when Liam was back with us, and life could return to normal. Until then, Sophie and I would have to make do.
“What’s Daddy doing right now?” Sophie asked as she started coloring on the placemat.
“It’s seven hours ahead of us, so right now, it’s four o’clock and Daddy is probably at the hospital doing work.”
“Can we Skype with him?”
“He’ll call us when he can Skype. He might be in the operating room with a patient, so we’ll wait for him.”
She nodded and continued coloring, being used to the idea that her father was at the hospital doing important surgery. She’d been taken to the hospital many times and visited his office, and he delighted in taking her around and showing her his usual haunts.
“I wish he didn’t go,” she said, her expression sad.
“I know, Sweetie,” I said and took her hand and squeezed. “We’ll see him soon. And later, we’ll Skype with him to say goodnight.”
She nodded and went back to her coloring, the expression of concern vanishing from her face as she considered the page.
It would be hard for her to be without both Liam and Drake at the same time. While she had known Liam would be leaving for quite a while, Drake’s sudden departure would be difficult to accept.
I’d do everything I could to keep her happy until the three of us would be reunited.