Mie and Sarah

The next 6 weeks passed in a blur. Each day Sarah's excitement grew, and like a child her questions were never-ending. It was endearing to a point and then tiresome, but this was the biggest step we had taken. I knew her actions were coming from a place of nerves realising the significance of the trip as well as excitement. The morning we had to leave, I finally had enough when I saw she was trying to pack most if not her entire wardrobe and toiletries.

"Sarah, what are you doing? There is no way you're going to need even a third of all that," I said maybe a little too loudly when I noticed her suitcase.

"It's my first time going, I have no idea what to take," she said to me in a tantrum.

"I get that, but most days are going to be casual. Just pack clothes you'd wear on a casual Sunday at the pub, some comfortable shoes to walk around in, a few swimming costumes, and a couple of light jackets. You can pack a dress or two if you want, but I doubt you're going to need it," I said trying to remain calm.

"But what if I need something else?" she pouted.

"Then we'll buy it over there, it's not like we're going to the Arctic. There are plenty of places to buy things. That's the other thing, you're not leaving any room to bring anything back, presents for our mates, trinkets for the house. Pack for like a week, maybe 10 days tops, apart from the hotel in Cape Town, we're staying at Dad's, he has a washer and dryer just like us. If you wear more than leggings and a hoodie while we're camping I'll pay for you to take the girls on a spa day when we get back."

"But babe, your suitcase is full why aren't you taking anything out?" she replied, trying to find a chink in my argument.

"Now you're just being silly. You know full well half the stuff in my suitcase are things that Dad and Marie ordered and asked me to take back for them," I replied sternly before softening my tone. "Look, I get it you're nervous but seriously go through what I've packed, just match me. You'll be fine."

"And if you're wrong, I get a spa day with the girls?" She replied in a childlike voice.

"Yes babe, you get a spa day with girls if I'm wrong."

"Can I invite Scar and Becca?"

"Yes, you can invite Scar and Becca, they'd love that," I replied gently.

"Okay," she said in a slightly stronger voice, before kissing me. "Thanks, I knew I was being ridiculous. I was packing out nerves and not being practical. You know if I get rid of most of the stuff in my case we can share all the stuff you're taking for your dad, and make your case lighter."

"That's the spirit love, now let's get a move on so we can get to Mum's in time for dinner."

It was on the train when she had her next panic attack, "Mike we're fucked. We don't have any presents for your Dad and family. He's paying for half our flights, the hotel in Cape Town and hosting us, and we forgot to get him and Marie a present. It's just rude."

"That's what Duty-Free at the airport is for. Gin for Marie, rum for Dad and chocolates for Maggie and everyone else. I've done this a few times you know," I replied hoping to calm her down.

"Okay, I should've known you had a sensible plan, but you could have clued me in" she said getting comfortable against me for the rest of the journey.

When we got to Mum's, she was in the middle of making dinner, she was the best cook I knew and big family meals were her speciality. The fish pie she made was a thing of beauty, and Sarah made the appropriate noises having never had her home cooking before.

"Amy this is delicious, I thought Mike was the best cook I had ever met, but now I need to rethink my rankings," she said politely.

Mum laughed, "Who do you think taught him?"

"It was always their thing when he was a teenager, Mum would cook and Mike would do all of her prep work," Scarlett added giving Sarah some context.

"That's sweet. Thank you for teaching him Amy, I'm benefitting now," Sarah laughed.

"You're very welcome dear. Are you excited about your trip then?" Mum asked changing the subject.

"I'm almost too excited, Mike had to tell me off this morning for overpacking. I can't work out what I'm most excited about, Table Mountain and the camping trip are currently top of the list."

"It will all be amazing dear, and I'm sure Mike has a few surprises planned for you," Mum added giving me a knowing wink.

Sarah got her first surprise on the flight, I had upgraded us from the economy seats we had picked to the premium economy cabin. I didn't normally bother with seat classes but when it came to a 12-hour overnight flight, I would take every comfort amenity I could afford.

"Mike, did you forget the bit where we were supposed to discuss every expense related to this trip?" She hissed at me as we took our seats.

"No, I didn't. I just figured this was one of those ask forgiveness, not permission situations," I replied simply, before she could respond I continued. "Babe look, the flight is 12 hours long, I'm 6'1 that's a long time to sit in a cramped seat, and I'll bet after you've eaten and watched your film, you're going to lift that armrest and use me to sleep on, which I don't mind but the extra space will help. Plus here it's just us, we don't have a stranger to share our row with and you get the window to yourself."

"If you had told me that before I wouldn't have minded, I'm just still a little self-conscious of how much this is all costing and how little I've contributed," She said softly.

"That's why I didn't tell you. I've told you before I do all of this because it's what I want to do for both of us, please stop worrying about it, let's just have a good holiday."

"Mike, are you serious? I can sleep on you through the flight."

"You sleep on me every night, why would a flight stop you?" I answered with a laugh.

"You are the best you know that. I know we have different screens and have to use headsets, but can we watch the same movie?" She said in an irresistible voice.

"Fine, but can it wait until after they serve the meal?"

As we got into the flight I realised she was trying to make it feel like a normal night at home. She ordered the same drinks I did as well as the same meal. When the cabin dimmed, she made me try and get some sleep. I tried to argue that I'd been doing this trip my entire life, and hadn't slept properly during it since I was 10.

"That may be true love, but you've never done this trip with me before. Come on babe just try for me," she whined.

Knowing it would be pointless to argue the point, I pulled out the complimentary set of eye shades. I settled in and felt Sarah make herself comfortable lifting my arm and putting her head on my chest. Her presence was relaxing, and much to my surprise I managed to sleep. I woke up about an hour before breakfast service with Sarah sleeping contentedly. Not wanting to wake her by moving I subtly turned my screen onto the journey tracker. We had about two and a half hours left, and we were flying over Botswana. My heart lifted knowing that 37,000 feet below us, was the only place I could truly disappear from the world. Sarah felt it and woke up.

Taking her eye shades off, she gave me a quick kiss before looking at my screen and kissing me again.

"Morning love. How long did you sleep?"

"I woke up about ten minutes ago, we got about 6 and a half hours of sleep."

"See you can sleep, you just need to try and have the right cuddle buddy," she said before turning her head to look at the journey tracker on my screen, realising where we were she kissed me on the cheek, "That's why your heart started beating faster, we're over Botswana, you're home."

"Not quite we're flying straight over to Cape Town, but I will be this time next week."

"Enjoy the moment, here feel my heart, it's beating faster too."

As the cabin woke up I lifted the screen on her window to allow her, her first view of the Southern African sunrise. She gasped and moved over to the window to watch the savannah and desert land of Botswana pass below us in the morning light.

Sarah's excitement continued as we approached Cape Town, she turned to me with excited eyes as she caught her first view of Table Mountain, the natural landmark that dominated the city. She continued to stare at it as we waited in the queue for a taxi to the hotel.

"Mike, are we really going up there?" she asked me during the taxi ride to the hotel.

"Yeah, if the weather holds we'll go tomorrow morning. There's a cable car to the top, there's a bar and café up there as well as a post office, so you can send your mum and everyone else a postcard."

Sarah turned her attention to our driver and started asking him questions, so I decided to let Dad know we had landed safely. His reply was almost instant.

Dad: Good. We get there around 5. Dinner at 6.30. See you there.

Sarah looked at my phone as the reply came through.

"He didn't say where we're having dinner. Is this something you planned ahead? Are we eating in the hotel?" She asked looking at me inquisitively.

"No, Dad is a creature of habit. They always go to the same pub on their first night in Cape Town. It's about a 15-minute walk from the hotel."

If Sarah was amazed by Table Mountain from a distance she was awestruck by it as we arrived at the hotel, which was in its shadow. She got another surprise when we checked in at the hotel.

"Welcome back Mr Smith, we have you for 5 nights in a Mountain View room with a king bed. I'm sorry but your room isn't quite ready for you yet. But if you leave your bags here at reception we'll take them up for you when it's ready. Feel free to have coffee on the veranda for the inconvenience," the clerk said while Sarah gave me a strange look.

"Here are your key cards to your room, if you and Mrs Smith could just sign for them. You can charge to your room immediately, your father called just before you arrived, his credit card is already on your account, with the instruction to not let you remove it and use your card," she continued.

Sarah signed for her key while continuing to look at me strangely. We had just been served our coffee when she finally spoke, "Mike, why do they know you here? The receptionist acted like you're some sort of VIP."

I laughed, "I'm not the VIP, Dad is. He's been coming to this hotel since I was 11. Every year for a week over Easter weekend, Wednesday to Tuesday for the last 16-17 years now. After a relationship that long, you get privileges. Like them calling you Mrs Smith."

"But Mike, this is the nicest hotel I've ever been to and all you've let me pack is casual clothes. I feel underdressed. I did like them calling me Mrs Smith, it has a very nice sound to it."

"Love, the reason we stay here is because it's close to the start line for the ultra and half marathon this weekend. Most of the people you see over the next few days will be runners. They won't be dressing up, I promise. But seriously don't worry about the cost, every time you see a number I want you to divide it by 22. That's the current exchange rate, when you see what we're actually paying you'll think we're stealing. Look at our taxi from the airport, it cost 250 Rand including tip, that's like 12 pounds at home for an 11-mile trip. We live about 4 miles from the centre of Oxford and pay nearly 10 pounds to get home. Please don't overthink this. "

Sarah looked at me like I was leading her on and took out her phone to double-check the exchange rate. After a few minutes of typing furiously, she looked back at me. "Okay, that makes sense. But your Dad lives here and he's paying for it, it must be decent money to him."

"It is decent money to him, but he lives in Botswana, not South Africa and the Botswana currency is stronger. Look, I don't want to argue about this anymore. Dad chose this hotel I didn't, we're trying to build a closer relationship, and he's trying to prove to me I'm a priority in his life, he's including you in that. Just enjoy the week, please. If it makes you feel better, I normally pay for at least a couple of dinners while I'm with them, we can go halves," I told her trying to end the conversation.

"Okay, if this is part of helping you build a better relationship with your Dad, then I'll forget about it. It's just so overwhelming," she said softly.

Thankfully, one of the staff arrived and let us know our room was ready. In the room, Sarah's mood changed and she became immediately apologetic.

"Mike, I'm sorry for overreacting. We've been travelling for 16 hours. Let's have a shower, and wash the plane off, and have a nap. I'll be better after some sleep."

I didn't answer and pulled her into my arms and kissed her deeply, "Babe, it's partly my fault, I should've warned you. I'm just used to it, so I didn't think it was important enough to mention."

She nodded and led me to the shower. After washing off, She led us to the bed and climbed in pulling me with her. Holding onto me tightly, she spoke again, "Babe, make love to me, please? Make this fairy tale real."

Over the next hour, I invested all the intimacy I had in me into our coupling. I needed her to know she was the priority. The benefits of being my father's son were occasionally fun even if I had spent most of my life avoiding them, I knew I could live without them. I was equally certain that I couldn't live without her.

I woke up from our nap first. I didn't want to wake her, but I knew I had to. Anymore sleep, and we wouldn't get back to bed. We had about 2 hours and the sun was still out, so I gently shook her awake.

"Hey love, let me take you on a tour of the gardens, and we can get a drink before we meet Dad," I said gently.

She groaned but woke up. She gave me a loving look before getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. I was dressed in jeans and a hoodie when she came out, she took note and put on her favourite pair of gym leggings before taking a hoodie out of my suitcase.

Taking her around the gardens was a masterstroke. She was delighted to find the hotel had giant tortoises that freely roamed the gardens and told me off for not warning her so we could have tried to get some vegetables from room service to feed them. My feisty needy girl was back.

In the hotel bar, she got another surprise. The bartender, Albert, was an old family friend, he had been working there as long as I could remember. He welcomed me like a wayward nephew.

"Michael," Albert welcomed me warmly, "You back again to run up your father's bill? Let me guess a pint of the most expensive beer?" he said pouring me a drink without letting me answer.

Sarah took my hand and waited for me to introduce her.

"And who might you be beautiful lady?" Albert asked having noticed her reaction.

"I'm Mike's girlfriend, Sarah" she responded confidently.

"It's nice to meet you, Sarah. I've been serving Mike here since he was barely tall enough to look over the bar. So if you ever need a story just ask Uncle Albert. I always look forward to this time of year, because no matter how slow my night is, if I get Mr Smith Senior and Junior in my bar, I can make up the takings in a couple of hours. What's your poison? I make the best Margarita in Southern Africa," he said in his most charming voice.

"That sounds lovely Albert. We're only here for a few days but I hope to get as many stories out of you as I can. We only have an hour, perhaps you have a favourite story to start," Sarah replied politely.

Albert made her drinks before answering her, "I don't know if I have a favourite but this might be the best. It was about 5 years ago you were what 21-22 Mike?"

"22" I replied knowing the story, he told it every year.

"Anyway," Albert continued, "Mr Smith had just finished his tenth race and earned his blue number. So he and Mike were doing their best to empty my kegs. Mrs Smith wasn't happy and came to the bar to demand that Senior spend some time with her instead of just drinking at the Bar. Senior sensing a losing battle, left Mike at the bar. His last words were, 'Mike, have a good night just sign your tab to my room when you're done. Just don't leave the hotel. Albert take good care of him'. So your man over there, instantly demands the cocktail menu and starts making his way through all the most expensive ones. He must have spent 1000 rand. He turned up to breakfast the next day still drunk. Mr Smith was so concerned he asked for a copy of the bar bill from the night before. When he saw it he was angry, he came straight to the bar and confronted me, 'Albert, how could you let my son spend so much money!'. I wasn't worried, 'Mr Smith' I replied 'Your last instruction to me was to look after your son. It's above my pay grade to refuse a special customer. I heard you tell him to have a good night and sign the tab to your room. He just did what any boy his age would do.' Mr Smith good man that he is, just gave me a big laugh, and gave me an extra tip for following his instructions to the word."

Sarah laughed warmly throughout the story "Thank you Albert I think we're going to have a great week."

Albert nodded back politely before turning his attention to the guests who had just arrived at the bar.

We managed another drink before I said we had to go for dinner. We said goodbye to Albert promising to return for a nightcap.

The first thing I noticed about Dad as he stood to welcome us was that he had lost weight. He didn't look unhealthy, but he wasn't the same as when I had last seen him. He saw my concern and shook his head, before turning to Sarah to welcome her warmly before introducing her to his wife Marie and my adopted sister Maggie. Marie was polite and welcomed Sarah warmly. Maggie was infatuated with her at first sight and immediately latched to her insisting on sitting between the two of us. I often felt sorry for Maggie, being so much younger than anyone in the family she often lacked company, I made it a point to spoil her when I was around, but the feeling lingered.

I had just finished catching up with Dad and Marie, while Maggie talked Sarah's ear off when my stomach went cold. I heard the door open and looked up reflexively. It was the last person I wanted to see, my first love, Helen accompanied by a man roughly our age who I assumed was her boyfriend and her sister Nina. She caught my eye before I could look away and smiled warmly. I watched her grab Nina, and whisper in her ear before nodding over to our table and walking towards us. Nina looked up at me in surprise and gave me a small smile before following the man.

Arriving at our table, she cleared her throat. "Hello Smith family, it must be that time of year if you're in Cape Town," she said smiling warmly.

Dad looked at me making it clear this was my show to conduct.

"Hi Helen," I said more nonchalantly than I felt, "You look well. You know Dad, Marie, and Maggie. This is Sarah, my

partner

." I was hoping that my emphasis on the word would reassure Sarah.

"Hi Sarah it's nice to meet you," she said with a sweet smile.

"Hi Helen, it's nice to meet you too I've heard a lot about you," she replied giving me a strange look.

"Mike's spoken about me has he," Helen laughed in surprise, "You must be special if you know who I am and he's brought you on a family trip. Come join me for a drink at the bar. I'd love to talk to you without him trying to referee our conversation."

I looked between them unable to read their looks. Before I could stop it, Sarah got up and excused herself from the table and followed Helen. Dad gave me a warning look but I just shrugged. I turned my attention to Maggie who thankfully due to her age was completely oblivious to what had just happened.

Sarah rejoined us about 20 minutes later as we were getting ready to order. I tried to catch her eye but she shook me off. We ignored the new elephant in the room and managed an enjoyable dinner dictated by Maggie trying to get everyone's attention and remind us she was the star of the show. The big news was that Dad's doctors had refused to clear him for the run, and he would be missing out on his 16

th

run. I could see the disappointment in his eyes but he played it off, he just reminded me I was running in the half, so there would still be a Smith in the lineup. Sarah and I were arguing with him to let us pay the bill when Helen came back. Instead of talking to me, she spoke directly to Dad.