Is love enough?

As Rosie clicked the seatbelt in with a satisfying click she leant her head back into the head rest giving little regard to the thousands of heads that must have rested there before hers. Sat here in this metal tunnel, surrounded by strangers who had little to no interest in her she could finally relax. She thought about her bag, packed full with her kindle, magazines, crossword puzzle books and many other paper based distractions and wondered if she would bother with any of them.

This was it, the beginning of the adventure. Toby had gone on ahead. His new job had demanded his presence before her old job was ready to relinquish hers. He had done his very best to reassure her that aeroplanes were absolutely safe, there was more chance of becoming injured in a car accident than a flight after all. It didn’t stop her mind fluttering to worst case scenarios though especially when the glamorous air stewardess was describing all the things she would need to do in the unlikely event of an emergency. Did they actually know what to do in an emergency if there was so few of them?

Her friends had told her she was crazy. Giving up her entire life to move 10,000 miles away with a boyfriend who had to quickly become a husband that none of them had ever really approved of. She knew his faults, Toby could be arrogant, he couldn’t help but correct people if they were wrong but he adored Rosie and that was what mattered to her. She believed with every part of her that they were meant to be together, no one had ever taken the time to properly know and adore her before.

It had been a shotgun wedding, she wasn’t sure why they called them that. They would have got married eventually, it only brought the event forward not created it. It had been the best day of her life, an old car, the village church where she had had all of her other important life events including the funeral of her beloved Nan. How Rosie wished she could see her now, she would be proud of her marrying a reliable type of man and grabbing an incredible opportunity at the same time. She wouldn’t of minded his tendency towards arrogance, she would of matched his attitude and more.

The last two months had been crazy. Leasing the tiny house they had just bought together as they both hated working to pay a landlord. Telling her friends and family what they were about to embark upon and some very emotional goodbyes. She had only ever seen her dad cry once before and that was when she was going off to America on her own at 18 while she decided what to do with the rest of her life. Her wonderful mum had been heartbroken but would never have told her not to do it. She believed in Rosie and she believed in Rosie and Toby.

“You’ll be out to see us before the year is out Mum”, Rosie tried to stem her mum’s flow of tears with her own broken sobs.

“I know, I’ve just got used to you both being round the corner”, her mum replied, wiping away tears with an already sodden tissue.

“The tea will taste even better in Australia. Sitting in the garden listening to the kookaburras”, she promised her.

Now here she sat with a bag full of distractions and a desire for it to be thirty six hours in the future when Toby would pick her up at Sydney airport. She felt a tinge of sadness at travelling alone, that Rosie and Toby take on the world had different starting points.

Still it was thanks to Toby’s job that they had this opportunity so she couldn’t really complain that he had to come a bit sooner. They would soon be sat together on the patio that overlooked the bush that he had shown her on FaceTime enjoying a gin and tonic. Her conscience wouldn’t allow her to not work her notice and fly out with him at the same time hence she was following two weeks later on her own.

When the offer had come through, to move to Australia for two years they had talked until the sun came up the next morning. The empty gin bottle was soon joined by a couple of empty rose wine bottles before they started drinking the remnants of the alcohol cupboard, some suspicious orange liquid Rosie had bought on a girls holiday to Malia and a bottle of Jagermeister Toby had brought home from a night out with his mates a little while ago.

The alcohol had lubricated the conversation so they both felt they were speaking honestly.

“It would mean making the ultimate commitment. For Australia to issue a spouse visa we need to be married”, Toby cautiously explained. Aware of not sounding too keen or horrifying Rosie by suggesting it was a marriage of convenience!

“Do you call that a marriage proposal Toby Turner,” Rosie had asked teasing him. They had both laughed and toasted themselves, the very soon to be Mr and Mrs Turner.

“I don’t feel like I can ask you to give up your job, your family, your friends, a whole life you have spent building, everything you’ve ever known to move to literally the other side of the world with me”, Toby counted off each thing she would be giving up off on his fingers.

“You’re not asking me to, I’m offering. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, I can’t ask you to turn it down and I don’t want to be away from you for that long so that makes my decision for me”, Rosie replied. Three years was a lifetime when you were already almost thirty with ticking time bombs for ovaries.

That was the decision made and here she sat in eight short weeks. Moving her whole life, only knowing one man, and relying entirely upon him for everything. She had no job to go out to, no opportunity to make friends, just him and the house his job provided. As she sat on the aeroplane, thousands of feet up in the air contemplating all of this, she knew it had been a big leap of faith but she also knew Toby wouldn’t let her down.

Two weeks later

It had been a crazy two weeks! Toby had picked her up and spun her around when he met her in arrivals at the airport. He was tripping over himself with excitement.

“There’s so much to see Rosie. The house is beautiful. The garden is amazing. There’s kangaroos on the road at night....” he took a deep breath and laughed. “Sorry information overload, here I’ll take your bags, work have given me the whole day off so we can get reacquainted”, he gave her a lascivious wink and burst out laughing; seduction had never been his strong point.

Since that wonderful day together Toby had spent every day at work. Leaving at 6am and not returning until 8pm. It hadn’t mattered the first week while Rosie was wrestling with her jet lag and turning her body round whilst also adjusting to the heat. February was still freezing cold at home but it was the tail end of the Australian summer and she found most of the day stifling, enjoying an early morning cuppa in the garden and then preferring to sit in the air conditioned house in the day.

Home sickness was starting to creep in. She hadn’t anticipated being at home on her own so much, which was silly really because Toby had always worked long hours, she just hadn’t noticed so much when she had her own job and friends and family around her.

She had walked to the local supermarket early one morning and when the sun wasn’t too hot. As soon as she had spoken the lady had given her a look and asked her where she was from. It was only then she had realised how English she sounded, and how different to everybody else. The lady spoke animatedly about having English parents and feeling English even though she had never been. This was a conversation Rosie was growing accustomed to. These friendly strangers weren’t English though and it only served to highlight to Rosie that she was different to them.

She woke up on her third Friday in Australia and felt the already vacant spot next to her on the bed. Heavy with sadness at the thought of another long day at home alone in this hot country with their strange accents and without a car as they hadn’t got round to getting one for her yet. She had forgotten to ask Toby to leave her any money either last night, she had been so pleased to see him that it had slipped her mind. That now left her with no transport, no money and in a foreign country. She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer, she sobbed and sobbed until there were no tears left to sob. She wanted to talk to her mum but couldn’t, the time difference meant that it was already past her bedtime in England and anyway she didn’t want her to mum to worry if she told her the truth about how homesick she was.

She finally got up and poured a cold glass of water from the fridge. She resolved to talk to Toby tonight, she couldn’t allow herself to wallow and dwell. She needed a plan of action. She texted him there and then, before she lost her nerve, reminding him of his promise to have at least one day off this weekend so they could spend some time together. She knew his job was important and she understood he wanted to make a good impression but she needed to be a priority too or this wasn’t going to work.

She had a quick, cool shower, put on a light summer dress, found her hat and favourite shopping basket that she had bought at a little market in Turkey and decided to risk a visit to the shop again. She had just enough cash in her purse to pick up a few bits and bobs. Maybe if she didn’t speak she wouldn’t draw attention to herself. She would just get the ingredients to make tapas for their dinner and some refreshing beers and they could relax and unwind together.

That evening she enjoyed putting the tapas together and felt that it had cooled down enough to eat in the garden. She lit the citronella candle to keep the ever present mosquitoes away and sat down and waited for Toby. She tried to read but couldn’t concentrate. She didn’t want to ring her mum or her friends incase Toby came home, she wanted to be ready to just spend time with him when he got home.

Time ticked by very slowly and at 10.30pm Rosie gave up; throwing the now congealed hummus, cold meats and cheeeses in the bin and going to bed. She absentmindedly scratched the new insect bites on her legs and wondered if her friends had been right. Maybe this had been a mistake. She was thousands of miles from home and very much alone. She cried until she was hoarse for the second time that day and wondered what she had done.

When Toby crawled into bed beside her snuggling his cold body close to her warm one she glanced a look at the clock, it was 1am. She didn’t want him to touch her, she knew it wasn’t his fault but who else could she blame? Who else could she talk to about her feelings of sadness and frustration?

When she awoke it was to a pot of freshly brewed tea on her bedside table and her favourite mug with the beautiful milk jug that had been her Nanna’s and the smell of fried bacon in the air.

Toby walked in with the tea towel over his shoulder and Rosie’s flowery apron the only thing covering his nudity and said,

“Oh good, you’re awake sleepyhead.”

Rosie's face was still sore from being upset and she knew she must look a sight but she couldn’t help but smile.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” She hardly dared ask.

“Nope, it is Saturday and I pulled a late one last night so we can spend the weekend together. Just me and my lady wife in the glorious sunshine” Toby almost sang with happiness when he explained.

Rosie smiled and felt her tension from the last week ease a little bit. They would have time to talk, and properly come up with a plan to get her on her feet. She squeezed Toby when he got back into bed, bacon sandwiches in hand and said,

“Thank you wonderful Mr Turner.”

“You’re welcome wonderful Mrs Turner. I’m sorry I’ve neglected you since you got here. I won’t let it happen again. First stop car shopping!” He wiggled his finger at her pretending to be a bossy boots. “We need to get you out and about.”

They had a glorious weekend, bought the cheapest car they could find. It was falling to bits but was roadworthy safe so that was good enough for them. She was having the big car and Toby was taking the red rocket, affectionately named by the person before them with a hideous red car sticker in the back window!

When she woke on Sunday Toby had prepared a beautiful picnic for them. They found a quiet beach with no one else on it and spent the whole day under a striped beach umbrella, drinking champagne and enjoying one another’s company. As the salty sea water dried on her skin after another dip in the ocean to cool off she dug her toes into the incredibly white sand and knew she had been right to follow her heart! They were going to be very happy, just the two of them in Australia.