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Seasons In The Sun
Chapter 2 :Nicola
You're never too tired to care, you're never too busy to just be there
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Regardless of what I expected, Mark rang me at least twice a day. No matter how tired he was, or pressed for time, he always rang any time he was available. No matter how much I plagued him to get more sleep, he always said that the thought of me alone kept him awake. I couldn't have hoped for a better soulmate. Any chance he got, any time off, I was down in Dublin, meeting his family, or just curling up on a sofa with a soppy video, wiping each other's tears. |
Six months later, we moved in together, in a regular flat near Dublin city centre. There I could look forward to seeing him anytime he flew in to change his suitcase. When he would creep in, in the middle of the night, finding me awake anyway. I always seemed to know when he was coming home. During my time in Dublin, I grew to be best friends with Georgina, who lived a couple of streets away. We spent our time searching for things to cheer up the flats with, and picking out little presents and welcome home cards when they'd been gone more than a week at a time. I'd only been going with Mark nine months, Georgina had been with Nicky for twelve years. She had a ring on her finger since New Years Eve 2001, but there had been no date set, they were happy as they were, and they wanted planning to be meticulous as it was a private affair. We often talked of the day that would see them tied together. "I don't want any press coverage" she told me, "It's our day, it's got nothing to do with anyone else." "Yes, but Nicky is a very popular guy, his job is in the public eye, I'm not saying splash it everywhere like Victoria and David Beckham, but it should warrant a few photos." "Do you want your wedding splashed all over OK! magazine?" "No, not splashed, but they'll be photos published - Hey! You're way ahead of me! We've only been together nine months!" "Yeah, but what a nine months huh?" She was right. In those nine months our relationship had taken off like a rocket. I was still getting used to the press following me, and remembering the last relationship I'd had that had taken off in a similar fashion, I was trying to hold off giving my entire heart to Mark, just yet. I did love him, don't get me wrong. But I was terrifed of emotional dependence, just yet. And I missed him. He was gone for weeks at a time and even though he called every night, sometimes two or three times a day, still it wasn't the same. And so, I missed him. If it wasn't for Georgina, I think I'd have lost my mind. She'd been coping with this for twelve years, I don't know how she did it. One night we welcomed them home coming up to Christmas when Nicky suddenly asked Georgina how she'd feel about getting married on Valentines day. "Nicky, are you serious? We said we'd wait for a while." "Yeah, but G, the bottom line is I love you, and I want you to be my wife. I'd like to be able to travel the world and tell of the beautiful wife I have waiting for me at home plus..." he went on, sliding on to the seat beside her, "If we were married, you would be able to come on tour with us." "Oh Nicky, I've been wanting to set a date for months now, but I thought you wanted to wait." "So, do you think you could arrange yourself to get married on Valentines day?" "I'm sure between Nicola and me we could get everything ready" Mark and I had been sitting quietly by the fire watching this happy scene cosily, now I told Georgina, "I'm sure we can G, we've got plenty of time on our hands with this American tour coming up." "That's only three weeks-" "Hey, you don't have to sit at home, twidling your thumbs!" "I was just trying to cheer you up." "Well, this will fill the days and nights better." "And at least we'll be here for New Years" I got up to answer the doorbell while Georgina and Nicky started throwing ideas around about colour combinations, Shane and Kian were at the door, wanting the lads to go down the pub. I cuffed Shane on the arm, "They're only home and you're trying to take them away already! Anyway, we're all going, we've got something to celebrate." "Oh yeah? What?" "Nicky and Georgina have set a date" "Fantastic! Are we invited Nick?" "Oh, the guest list! We'll have to start that soon!" And so, the pub was out the window while we all pitched in names for the guest list. It ended up with a hundred and twenty people altogether. All the management had to be invited, plus their families, It wasn't going to be a star studded bash, they wanted to invite the Boyzone lads and Nicky's old football team then there was a vast number of family and friends. Not much later, Bryan joined the party and huffed that we hadn't rung him. His mood didn't last long. The feel good atmosphere was catching, I honestly thought Mark might propose to me that night, but I think we both realised at that stage that we were just too innocent of each other yet. But it was from that night on I realised that Mark and I were meant to be. I let my fear go, and let myself fall over that edge into the abyss of true love, hoping that I'd never hit the ground.