“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Aye, I’m waiting for my wife again. I flew over a few days ago, she’s arriving now. We are here visiting one of our sons and our grandkids.”
“Wow! Well, what a coincidence seeing you on our arrival into
Scotland and now on our arrival into Australia.”
“Yes, life has a funny way of working things out.”
“That it does. Well, we’d best be off. We have an Uber waiting for us outside.”
“Take care ladies,” he said, and with that we headed towards the exit.
We must have been only a couple of metres away from Santa, so there really was no need for the volume of his voice when he yelled out, “Letticia! Letticia, is this Leah’s teddy?” He was holding a poor, lost teddy in his hand. It was indeed Leah’s; she must have dropped it while trying to hold onto her iPad. Nice to know which is more important out of the two for her.
The yelling of our names caught the attention of the three wise men. They were at the very front of the crowd gathered at the doors, so by the time they had manoeuvred their way through the crowd, I had made a good head-start to my Uber. I told Santa to throw the teddy, I wasn’t going to back track my steps. The teddy flew through the air like a football in the Super Bowl, I had to catch it to get a touchdown and to my surprise, I caught it first go. I yelled out, “Thanks! Nice arm!” and took off, pushing the trolley at high speed, weaving in and out of groups of people.
I made it to the exit doors and was now scanning the line of taxis and cars. I was looking for a green Toyota Rav 4. “Come on, where are you?” I said under my breath. I checked my Uber App and saw that the car was thirty-seconds away – and there it was! Flying over one of the judder bars like it was in a high-speed chase in the movies. I waved my hands at him and yelled out, “Over here! Over here!” He pulled up right beside us. I said I was in a hurry and to quickly help me with the bags.
The bags and all three of us were now loaded into the car. I turned around and looked out the back window and caught a glimpse of the three wise men coming towards me at a rather strange pace. Paul was dressed in Lycra bike pants and a singlet, was wearing runners, and he had a bum bag around his waist. He was race walking, I remembered him telling the girls over Skype that he had taken up a new sport called race walking, and it’s all about the technique. I noticed Scott and Alistair were keeping up at the same speed, although they didn’t quite have the same technique going or the sway of the hips.
The next thing I saw was Paul pulling out a packet of spicy tomato flavoured potato chips from his bum bag, he offered some to Alistair and Scott but they declined with screwed up looks on their faces.
They had obviously seen me and the girls get into our get-away car, as they too jumped into a taxi. I saw Scott talking to the driver and pointing to the Toyota Rav 4 as if to say ‘Follow that car.’ “Crap, they have seen me!” I yelled out. My driver turned around and looked at me with excitement in his face.
“Who has seen you? Are we caught up in a high-speed get-away chase?” he asked with hope in his voice.
“Yes, everything you just said minus the high speed, I have my daughters in the car.”
“Very well, let the low speed chase begin!” he announced. He pulled out of the pick-up spot, holding on to the steering wheel tight and leaning forward in his seat as if he was speeding off at 150 km an hour, but in reality, he was only going about 50 km an hour.
“Oh wow! This is a dream come true! Ever since I became an Uber driver two months ago I was hoping to be in a car chase. You know, my real dream is not to be an Uber driver, but to be a stunt man in the movies. Working on a movie set must be just the best,” he said.
“Well let me tell you, it is just the best. It’s where all your dreams come true.” I replied.
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, why on earth do you have three men after you in hot pursuit?”
“Well, it is a long story, but one is my husband, another is my lover and the last one is just a really good friend.”
“Okay, enough said,” he replied.
The taxi had gained some ground and was now beside us in the next lane. Scott was waving at me through the window, I gave a little wave back. Thank goodness my girls were still on their iPads and were oblivious to the whole situation. This is why I’m so against screens, you miss out on the real world and what is going on around you, however, in this circumstance, I was more than happy for them to have their eyes glued to their screens.
I said to the driver, “Right, we cannot use speed to get away, we will need to use tactics instead. Take the next off ramp you come to, but exit the motorway at the very last minute possible. Keep your speed down remember.”
“You’re the boss!” he replied excitedly, then yelled out, “And action!” as he took a slow but sharp turn off the motorway, leaving the three wise men and their taxi continuing along the motorway with no exit for the next five kilometres. The driver and I cheered with victory and gave each other a ‘high- five.’
“Awesome driving Luke,” I said as I squinted to look at his ID tag with his name on it, “You will be driving in the movies in no time. Have you ever thought about driving a horse instead? I could maybe talk to some people I know about some stunt work.”
“Oh yes! Anything to get onto a movie set,” he replied.
I thought the three wise men would no doubt be heading to our house, so I decided to go around to my parent’s house instead to avoid them. It was now late afternoon on a Thursday night, so my parents would be home from their Thursday lawn bowls, and starting to prepare their dinner. I was hoping there would be enough for the girls and I. I was a little over plane food at this point.
We took the long way back to my parents in hope that we had totally lost the others. As we drove up the long drive I asked Luke to go even slower and to suss the joint out for a taxi and the three wise men. As we approached the house I could see no evidence of them.
Luke pulled up and helped us out with our bags. I thanked him for his skilful driving and encouraged him to follow his dream. He insisted on giving me his number in case I could get him a horseriding stunt job on Outlander or Scotland’s Secrets. I took it even though it was the least of my worries at present.
The girls and I made our way up the path to my parent’s door. Screen time was now over and the iPads were away in the girls’ bags. They were walking behind me dragging their little jetlagged feet and yawning away.
As I went to open the door, my hand stopped as it was about to turn the handle. I heard my dad talking. He said, “What on earth is Scotland’s Secrets?”
Mum replied, “Oh really Kevin. Get with the times, it’s only the best program series ever made, after Outlander of course.”
‘Boom!’ I thought. ‘Finally Mum got one back on Dad for giving her a hard time about Skype before I had left for Scotland.’ Mum’s voice continued, “And this lovely young man sitting in my very own living room is Alistair who plays Ewan in Scotland’s Secrets,”
“Crap,” I said, and pulled my hand off the handle ready to run back to Luke who, for some reason, had not left yet.
‘Why was he still there?’ I thought. My thought was forgotten within seconds though as Leah and Polly were now half way into the house, running towards their dad, grandma and granddad for a long-awaited hug. I continued to stand in the doorway frozen, unable to move, just staring at everyone’s eyes that were now fixed on me. It felt like somebody had hit the pause button on my life, as nothing happened for a few seconds, which felt like a few minutes, until my mum came up and said, “Oh, what a lovely surprise darling. Come in, you have Paul and some friends here waiting for you.”
I couldn’t speak, I was so confused, but it was time to face the music. The three wise men were now standing up, facing me in a line like three naughty school boys that had been sent to the principal’s office. The look on my face prompted my mum to take my dad and the kids in to the kitchen for some pasta. Now it
was just me and the three wise men in the room. I looked at the first wise man, who was Paul, standing there in his Lycra pants and singlet, and still wearing his bum bag.
“What were you doing at the airport?” I asked him.
“Well, I was there to see my daughters, I am their dad,” he answered, sounding rather offended.
“Oh, yes. That’s fair enough and so you should have been there.”
I moved on to the second wise man Alistair, “And You! What on earth were you doing at the airport? And what are you doing in Australia?”
“I’m just a man with a plane, helping my friend,” he looked over at Scott. “Helping him to get the love of his life back.”
My eyes were then forced over to Scott. When they were finally firmly fixed on him, I felt my whole body start to develop goose bumps. It had been three days since I last saw him and my eyes had missed the sight of this man, and now they were back on him I felt relaxed and happy. He started to explain this whole situation.
“I’m so sorry we just turned up at the airport, I didn’t mean to alarm you and make you think I was a crazy stalker. We didn’t know we were standing next to Paul either until he started chasing you out of the airport with us. I asked him if he was Paul and he said he was. I told him the whole story as we power walked through the airport and he agreed to help me and take me to your parents. There was no way I was going to give you up that easily because Letticia, “The Lord has indeed given me a rare woman, and I love her so much.”
Alistair looked over at Scott with an expression on his face that suggested he was thinking, ‘Nice move, mate!’ Scott continued, “I will fight for you no matter what.”
I grabbed Scott’s hand and pulled him off towards the door so we could talk in private, leaving Paul and Alistair alone in the living room. As I left, I heard Paul say to Alistair, “So what do you do for a job?”
‘Oh my God. Really?’ I thought to myself. Paul was always in his own little world and not up with the times. Had he really missed that whole conversation a few minutes before between my parents, when Mum was explaining Scotland’s Secrets to my dad?
Scott and I were now standing outside in the garden, surrounded by garden gnomes and fairy lights – my parent’s favourite pastime when they weren’t down at the bowls club. I was about to say something to Scott when I looked over and saw the green Rav 4 still parked in the driveway. I ran over quickly, thinking something had happened to Luke, but when I got closer I saw him standing up against the side of his car, just waiting. Scott followed behind me. “You alright?” I asked Luke with concern and confusion in my voice.
“I’m more than alright. I happened to see and overhear that you have Alistair from Scotland’s Secrets in your living room when I peeped inside before.”
“What? Why did you peep inside the house? You know what? Never mind.”
“Is he the person who could get me a job as a stunt man on the show?”
“I have no idea if he can, but he will be happy to come and talk to you.”
‘Anything to get away from being stuck in the living room with Paul,’ I thought, so I went to save Alistair from one crazy person for another. He was more than happy to follow me out to Luke and leave Paul playing with the girls.
I introduced Alistair to Luke and they started talking, and by the looks of things, were enjoying the conversation. They were both interested in stunts and fitness so they talked for a good thirty minutes or so out on my parent’s driveway.
In the meantime, Scott and I walked over and sat at the outdoor table, still surrounded by gnomes looking at us. We talked and caught up on the last three days of being apart. Scott told me about his flight over here in Alistair’s private jet.
“Did you know we had endless food and drink on hand? We had sheepskin seat covers, our seats even gave us massages! I must say, it was a far better flight back to Australia than my last flight back to
Scotland.”
“Hey! What are you saying? You had me on that flight though.” “Yes, well you didn’t give me a massage, apart from falling into my lap.”
We laughed as we remembered all the inflight entertainment we provided each other on that trip. Scott looked at me in silence for a few seconds, then pulled something out of his pocket. It was a ring.
‘No,’ I thought. ‘Please don’t propose.’ I wasn’t ready for a marriage proposal; I was still married and I would have to decline. My heart started to pound and sweat started to form on my brow. ‘Please let this be a dream again,’ I thought.
Scott presented me with a ring. ‘Crap, it’s happening!’ I thought.
“Will you do me the honour of wearing one of the original
Outlander rings as your eternity ring, from me to you?”
I let out a big breath of relief. Scott looked at me and said, “Okay, so I won’t be asking you to marry me anytime soon then,” and laughed.
“No, do, please. Just give it a while is all I ask. I want you to be my book, not just a chapter and I think we can write an amazing story together. We can wait a bit longer for our wedding chapter,” I said. “We don’t need to jump in to it by chapter seven, we have plenty more blank pages to fill before we arrive at the wedding.”
Scott agreed, “Whatever you say, my Master.” I looked at my ring with admiration.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“I love it,” I answered.
“It’s the ring Claire wore while doing the wedding scene. Your idol gave it to me and said do as you please with it, fully knowing I would give it to you.”
“Well I shall wear it for eternity,” I said.
We both got to our feet and wrapped our arms around each other. Scott then broke out in song and started singing the Perfect Fudge song which ends with the lyrics:
If you will have me, all of me,
I will love you and never let go.
Just be my Fudge, Just Be My Perfect Sweet Fudge baby.
Love you till the end.
We danced as Scott sang, he twirled me around and under his arm then embraced me in a hug. It was a special moment we shared, a moment that we thought was just ours, but as we looked over we saw we had an audience that included my Mum, Dad, Paul, Alistair, Polly, Leah and Luke, who happened to still be there. Mum had invited him to stay for dinner.
Dad asked Mum, “What on earth is that song Scott is singing? Is it some Scottish jig or something?”
Mum replied, “Oh really Kevin, get with the times. It’s the new Bernard Jack song.”
Boom! Two to Mum, one to Dad. I was even surprised myself that Mum knew that bit of information. I looked at my parents standing there with their arms around each other and hoped that Scott and I would still be in as much love as they are when we are that age. I had every little bit of faith that we would be. Scott looked at me and said, “I hope you have room for two more. Sophie and James are on a flight over right now. They too are going to experience six months of ‘Ozlander’”
I put both my hands up to my cheeks and said, “Are you serious?!” and jumped with joy.
The awesome foursome back together. I wondered what sort of adventures ‘Ozlander’ would present us. It would have a lot to live up to if ‘Scottlander’ was anything to go by.
Chapter Eleven
Ozlander – No Place Like Home
It was obviously clear to Paul that I had used my six-month free pass and that it was now going to be a permanent free pass. I had not wanted to spring it on him the way we did, with the whole airport drama, but I had noticed he was calm throughout it all though and he had not put up much of a fight when it was clear Scott was here for me. It had turned out that Paul himself had indeed used his sixmonth free pass, with a lady called Sheila. Yes, Sheila. It really is funny the way life turns out. Sheila was also a member of the power walking club; they both share the same interest and wear Lycra and bum bags.
The six-month free pass was not at all about having the freedom and permission to move to second base with someb
ody else. It was about finding yourself again and finding out who you are and the values, morals and interests you hold that make you, you. Paul and I had lost that while being together, we forgot who we really were. The six-month pass allowed us to explore, and in doing so we both found ourselves again, and we found our true soul mates. We are still friends and will always have the job of bringing up our children together, but now our children get to see their parents happy again, which outweighs seeing their parents living together unhappily.
That night, after all the commotion had settled down and we had finished our pizza and pasta for dinner, things started to feel like reality again. Scott and I and the kids stayed at my parent’s house. Paul went back to our house. Luke the Uber driver finally left after he had some pizza with us, and Alistair went off to a motel for the night. He was flying back tomorrow.
It was late and Scott was asleep next to me, I was finding it hard to fall asleep. Then I remembered the present Mrs. Wilson gave me and said I was not to open until I reached my destination. Well, by the looks of it, I was now at my destination, with Scott beside me.
I looked through my bags and found the present wrapped up neatly in green tartan wrapping paper. I slowly opened it. Inside was a book with blank pages. I opened it up and on the inside cover Mrs. Wilson had written, ‘A blank book. Fill the pages up wisely. Be sure to rest and recharge throughout by using this bookmark.’ There was a bookmark poking out from inside the middle pages of the book. The bookmark read:
“You can do it!
Your time is valuable.
Your talents are many.
And your future is bright.”
Scottlander Page 19
