Chapter 5
The Next Morning …
Daphne and I both groaned simultaneously when a soft knock echoed through our tent suite at 5:30 a.m. It was our “wake-up call” so to speak, which gave us exactly thirty minutes to get dressed and meet our group outside for the game drive. I normally needed double that to get ready in the morning, but we both agreed we did not want to give up any more of our precious sleep than necessary since we had been so tired the night before.
“So, this is what hell feels like,” Daphne whined, her voice thick with sleep as she fumbled for the light switch. “The last time I got up before six, I was wearing diapers.”
I laughed. “Sounds like you’re still a baby.”
“The afternoon game drive would have been perfectly fine, you know.”
“August knows I’m not a morning person, so he would never expect me to get up this early,” I said as I slid out of the bed. “This is my best chance to avoid him, for at least half the day.” I straightened out my pajama top, then opened the door and smiled at the two employees. “Good morning.”
They both smiled, then the first employee said, “Good morning to you. Here are the two coffees and assortment of fresh baked pastries you requested.”
I gestured to the table against the wall. “Right over there is fine. Thank you so much.”
“My pleasure. There is much more available in the main tent. Help yourself when you get hungry.” He turned back toward the other employee, taking two safari jackets and pith helmets from him. “We also brought you these. The early mornings can be crisp and cool here in Kenya. You will just need them for the first hour, then the heat will come quickly.” He hung them on the stand near the door, then turned back to me.
“That’s perfect. Thank you for the thoughtful provisions,” I said.
He smiled. “My pleasure. You are expected at the front to leave on your game drive in twenty-eight minutes.”
“We’d better get a move on then,” I said, grateful we’d requested the coffees before we had gone to bed.
Daphne walked over and took a cup. “Nectar of the Gods.” She took a sip and sighed. Then she took a bite of the pastry, closing her eyes and smiling.
After the employees left, I reached for my coffee, but before I took a sip, I said, “See? This is much better than running into August at breakfast. It’s rude that he showed up out of nowhere.”
I was very aware that I sounded slightly bitter. Last night, Daphne and I had dinner alone on our deck, surrounded by the soft sounds of the African bush, just to avoid August. Even though it was beautiful, and the pan-African cuisine was exquisite, the undercurrent of my ongoing efforts to steer clear of him tainted the evening. What made it worse was I could hear the other guests laughing and enjoying their dinner together at a large communal table on the main deck.
“Veronica,” Daphne started, her tone softening as she continued to munch on the pastries. “I know he hurt you, but isn’t this a bit much? He’s not a bad guy.”
I turned to face her. “Breaking someone’s heart doesn’t exactly qualify one for sainthood, Daph. I need space from him, and this game drive is the way to get it. He’s not a morning-person either, so it’s the perfect plan. Sorry I made you wake up so early, but it’s for a good cause—my mental health. Plus, you won’t have to see my brother either, even though age has never been a deterrent for true love.”
Daphne shook her head, looking amused. “Nice segue. Okay, let’s relax then and just go with the flow. You never know what the day will bring.”
That was true, but how was I going to relax and enjoy my vacation when I needed to plot every move to avoid August? I would just have to worry about that later. There was no time to waste.
We finished the coffee and pastries, brushed our teeth, then changed out of our pajamas in record time. With our jackets on and a sense of adventure, or perhaps it was just the caffeine and sugar seeping into our veins, we headed out. The main tent was just a short walk away, but the path felt different in the early morning silence, almost sacred.
Nakul, our safari guide for the morning, greeted us with a broad smile. “Good morning, ladies! Ready for an adventure?”
“We are,” I affirmed, managing a smile back as the first hints of dawn began painting the sky in beautiful strokes of pink and orange.
We got some muffins, still warm from the oven, and more coffee before heading out to the beige 4x4 safari cruiser parked nearby. Just as we were about to climb into the vehicle, Sabrina and Simon appeared, their faces bright and eager, like two schoolchildren on their first field trip.
“Good morning, everyone!” Sabrina exclaimed, wrapping us in warm hugs like we had known each other for years. “What a wonderful surprise. I’m so happy we’ll be going on this game drive together! Youngsters aren’t usually morning people, so we thought we might miss you today.”
“This is going to be fun!” Simon looked around, his brow furrowing slightly. “Where are the men?”
I shrugged. “Being lazy, I guess. I’m sure they’re still sleeping.”
Just then, a familiar voice chimed in from behind us, one I was hoping not to hear for most of the day. “Not quite … We just prefer a more dramatic entrance.”
I turned, my heart sinking as August and Caleb approached, both looking far too chipper for this unearthly hour. The sight of August, here, now, sparked a slew of emotions inside me, the strongest one being plain irritation.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
August shrugged. “Going on a game drive, from what I can tell.”
“How did you know I would be here? You know I’m not a morning person.”
August’s response came with a slight, knowing smile, the kind that always managed to both irritate and unsettle me. “Well, I figured you’d do exactly what I wouldn’t expect, just to avoid me. You’re far too smart to be predictable, but you should know now I know you better than you think.”
I felt a flash of frustration—how dare he turn my own tactics against me? I wanted to wipe that smug look off his face.
“Like now, for instance,” he continued. “You probably think I’m being smug.”
I blinked twice.
His chuckle was far too composed for my liking.
“That’s what I thought,” he said.
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to admit even to myself that his presence was more disconcerting than I’d expected. Smart, confident men had always been my weakness, but he also had the charm and good looks to go with it.
August watched me for a moment, his expression softening. “Look, Veronica, I didn’t come here to make things difficult for you.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “But you also know me very well, and I’m not so easily deterred, especially when the prize is worth the effort.” He winked, then turned to the group. “Who’s ready to have some fun?”
Simon, Sabrina, and Caleb simultaneously said, “I am!”
Daphne shot me a look that was part sympathy, part surprise. “Looks like we’re all set for a real adventure now.”
“Adventure is my speciality,” Caleb said, with a confident smile. “It requires stamina, and thankfully, I have plenty of that to spare. It’s one of the perks of being the young gun here.”
Daphne laughed lightly, shaking her head. “You can have all the energy in the world, but it’s about using what you”ve got wisely.”
His grin widened as he responded to her playful skepticism. “Oh, I’m all about resource management. I assure you … I use my energy precisely where it matters most.”
“Are they talking in code?” Simon said.
“I’ll fill you in later, honey.” Sabrina clapped her hands. “I just love these two. I hope you end up together. Can we vote?”
“You’ve got my vote!” Simon said.
As Nakul briefed us on the day ahead, I struggled to focus. The African bush was awakening around us, the air filled with the calls of distant birds and the rustle of the breeze through the grass. It was breathtaking, yet my appreciation was clouded by August’s unexpected presence.
Nakul handed out binoculars and went over the safety rules, yet I found myself only half-listening. The thought of spending so much time in close quarters with August was unnerving. I glanced at him under the brim of my hat, catching him already watching me with a look that was all too knowing. I used to love that look. Now, it only stirred resentment.
Sabrina and Simon eagerly hopped into the first row of seats behind Nakul, the chill in the air causing them to wrap their jackets tighter around themselves. Daphne followed suit, sliding into the middle row. Before I could claim the seat next to her, Caleb darted in front of me and plopped down, his grin mischievous.
“Best seat in the house!” he declared, clearly pleased with himself.
I crossed my arms. “What are you doing? I’m sitting next to Daphne.”
He glanced down at his seat. “It doesn’t look like it to me.”
“Move,” I insisted.
Caleb’s eyes twinkled with humor. “Oh, come on, Veronica. It’s all about the wildlife today, not seating arrangements. Besides, Daphne’s a great buffer against any potential attacks, right? She’s much lighter and easier for me to toss to the lions.” He laughed.
Daphne playfully shoved his arm. “Just so you know, they like fresh, young meat, so you’d be the first to go.” She chuckled and glanced at me. “It’s fine. Sit in the back. There will be plenty of time to swap seats later.”
“That is true!” Nakul chimed in cheerfully. “We have practically an entire day in the bush! Please, take your seats and we’ll be on our way.”
I shot Daphne a glare. “Traitor.”
With a heavy sigh, I slid into one of the seats in the back row, the last place I wanted to be, knowing it left only one spot open. Next to me. For August.
As he climbed in, settling into the seat with a too-comfortable ease, I pretended to look off into the distance.
Nakul started the engine, then the safari cruiser began to move, the rumble of the tires over the rough terrain filling the silence. I took a deep breath, deciding to focus on the here and now—the call of the wild, the breathtaking landscape, the companionship of friends new and old. Maybe, just maybe, I could navigate this day without letting August get too close. If not, I would need to come up with another plan that created some distance.
As we jostled along, absorbing the raw beauty of Kenya, Nakul’s enthusiasm was infectious. He pointed to a group of zebras grazing near a waterhole, and I pulled out my phone to take a few pictures.
“See how their stripes could confuse predators?” Nakul asked. “It’s all about blending in and standing out at the right time.”
“That’s an art form Veronica is still trying to master,” Caleb joked.
Before I could retort, one of the safari cruiser wheels hit a giant pothole, jolting everyone to the left and then to the right. My arm, unfortunately, flew out, striking August rather inconveniently in his nether regions.
He yelped, then leaned over to protect the affected area. “Watch it!”
“Blame the rugged, wild African terrain, not me,” I shot back.
“I see how this is going to be,” he said. “You did that on purpose.”
“Believe me, if I were aiming, I’d have hit a lot harder and narrowed in on the bull’s eye,” I said.
“What exactly is the bull’s eye?” August asked.
“If you don’t know, you need to take an anatomy class,” I suggested.
Sabrina cackled from the front, thoroughly amused. “Oh, I’m so glad we met you two. This is better than the Korean dramas I’ve been hooked on lately. And I don’t even need subtitles!”
Nakul chuckled, then eased the safari cruiser to a gentle stop, his focus on something in the wild. “Look over there, to the right of the acacia.”
We all reached for our binoculars, catching sight of two magnificent cheetahs crossing a path not too far from us.
“They’re gorgeous,” Sabrina said.
I nodded, admiring their tawny coats covered in spots. “Amazing.”
“Does anyone know how fast they can run?” Nakul asked.
“Not as fast as my sister when she wants to leave the country,” Caleb said with a chuckle.
I jabbed his back with my finger. Why did I get the feeling that he was just getting started with the jokes?
“Cheetahs are the fastest mammals on land,” August said. “They can get up to seventy miles per hour. They eat hares, impalas, gazelles, and wildebeest calves.”
“Very good, August!” Nakul said, glancing in the rearview mirror. “And for ten bonus points, can you guess how many wildebeest are with us right here in this conservancy?”
“Over a hundred thousand,” August answered.
“Correct again!” Nakul replied.
I turned to August, genuinely surprised by his knowledge on the subject. “How did you know that?”
He shrugged. “I did a little research on the flight over here to know what to expect and what to look forward to. I know you know most of this stuff too, but the difference is, I observe nature without smacking men in their fiddlesticks.”
Everyone laughed except me.
Instead, I called out, “Could you please drop off Caleb and August at the nearest lion feeding?”
Nakul chuckled and started the vehicle again, driving slowly along the dirt path, filling the air with tales of past game drives, each story more fascinating than the last. His voice, mixed with the gentle rumble of the engine and the whisper of the savanna wind, created a backdrop that made the African bush feel even more alive.
“Just last week,” Nakul continued, “a group of guests witnessed a rare interaction between a young rhino and a massive bull elephant.”
“That’s amazing,” Sabrina exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat with wide-eyed wonder. “What happened?”
“The unexpected …” Nakul smiled warmly, clearly pleased to recount the scene. “It was truly a special moment. The elephant, instead of showing aggression or fear, gently used his trunk to help the young rhino out of a mud pit it had stumbled into. It was like watching a gentle giant caring for a younger sibling. After the rhino was free, they both spent a short time together before parting ways peacefully.”
We were all touched by the story of unexpected kindness between such powerful creatures.
“It’s moments like those that remind us how unpredictable the wild can be,” Nakul added. “Just about anything can happen while we are out here. No two days are the same.”
The morning had been unfolding beautifully with each wild sighting, the towering and graceful giraffes, the massive elephants, and the two buffalos, who we happened to encounter right in the middle of their mating.
Caleb tilted his head to the side during their intimacy. “You’re kidding me …”
“What?” Daphne said.
He turned to her. “I can’t believe I’ve been doing it wrong the entire time.”
Sabrina and Simon hooted from the first seat.
I had to admit it was nice to spend some quality time with my brother outside the formalities of our royal lives—and I did think he was funny occasionally—but I still didn’t understand how he’d ended up on this trip with August. Was he the one who had suggested that August try to find me? I would need to pull him aside later and have a little chat with him, but my guess was that Caleb was there solely to get closer to Daphne, just like August was attempting with me.
Unfortunately, just ten minutes later, we experienced the unpredictability Nakul had mentioned. The safari cruiser hit another pothole, but this time, the vehicle came to a grinding halt. The engine went silent and the lights on the dash disappeared, leaving us in the unsettling quiet amidst the vast African savanna.
Nakul tried the ignition again, but the safari cruiser didn’t respond.
“It seems we’ve got a minor problem—no need to worry,” he announced. “These things happen.”
His calmness was impressive, considering my heart rate was speeding up at the thought of being stranded in the middle of Africa with wild animals all around us.
“I have to check the engine,” Nakul said. “I need one person to watch out for any movement in the grass directly behind me while I look under the hood.”
August shot to his feet without hesitation. “I’ll do it.”
“Thank you. Everyone else, please stay seated and quiet,” Nakul instructed.
They both exited the vehicle, and Nakul immediately popped open the hood.
August took on a vigilant stance, scanning the horizon and the nearby grasses. His readiness to face potential danger head-on wasn’t a surprise, but it stirred a mix of emotions within me—admiration mingled with a piercing sense of worry. If anything happened to him out here, it would be my fault, since I was the reason he was half a world away from home.
The atmosphere inside the vehicle was thick with tension; even Sabrina and Simon, usually so upbeat, held their breaths, listening to Nakul tinker with the engine.
A few minutes into the silence, August stiffened while surveying the landscape. He’d definitely spotted something.
“There’s movement,” he whispered sharply, not taking his eyes off a patch of tall grass a few meters away.
“Can you see what it is?” Nakul asked. “A lion? Or a cheetah?”
The grass rustled again, more definitively this time.
My heart raced even more.
The familiar knot of unease churned in my stomach, reminiscent of the anxiety that had plagued me during August’s travels in South America. Every daring social media post heightened my fears of potential dangers he couldn’t escape … a motorcycle accident, a kidnapping, or maybe a run-in with one of the drug cartels I had seen on the news. Despite trying to forget him after he had broken my trust, deep down, I had dreaded receiving bad news that something had happened to him.
“I can’t see it, whatever it is,” August said, then added, “Now, I can. It’s on the smaller side. Yellowish-brown coat, face like a raccoon, with huge ears.”
I strained my eyes to see what he saw, but the open hood of the vehicle partially blocked my view.
Nakul chuckled softly, easing the tension. “Ah, that’s a bat-eared fox. No worries. They’re harmless. He’s looking for his breakfast, likely termites, dung beetles, or small reptiles.”
August relaxed slightly, watching the small creature with fascination as it darted in and out of the grass with its oversized ears twitching alertly.
“Just a loose battery cable, it seems,” Nakul said from under the hood. “I just need a few seconds.” A minute later, he closed the hood with a confident bang. “That should do it!”
“Thank God,” Daphne mumbled in front of me.
Just then, an elephant emerged from the brush, its massive form looming dangerously close. It flapped its ears, assessing our group with intelligent eyes. Daphne and Caleb both slowly raised their phones to take pictures, while I just sat there in awe, not taking my eyes off the magnificent creature.
August and Nakul quickly climbed back into the vehicle without a hitch. The elephant eyed us for a moment longer, then, as if deciding we were neither threat nor interest, turned and ambled back into the thicket. I exhaled, not realizing I had been holding my breath for so long, then I slumped back into my seat.
Nakul restarted the engine successfully this time, then steered us back onto our path. “And away we go again.”
“That was a little scary,” Simon said.
“Indeed,” Sabrina added. “We were so close to the elephant.”
“As long as we respect their space, the animals will normally not feel threatened,” Nakul said. “We are on their land. We need to always remember that.”
“Amen!” Sabrina said.
August glanced over at me. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
He was still watching me, but I pretended not to notice.
After witnessing August’s brave actions, I faced a new fear: my feelings returning, which was a wild animal in itself. I knew I had to try harder to distance myself. If I didn’t, the fortress I’d built to protect my heart might crumble, risking a renewal of pain I couldn’t bear when he broke it again. I had to disentangle myself from the situation before it was too late. And I knew just what I had to do.