There was a very small scheduled break at Ithemba. At least for classes and such. Of course there was never quite a ‘break’ for the workers. The animals still had to be fed and cared for. Some wild ones had to be rescued. But the break was really for repairs, reviews of how classes were going, and lots and lots of paperwork.
Belie was overloaded with paperwork this season, so Bella chipped in rather than helping out with repairs in the animal habitats. She would’ve much rather been out there with the animals and with Nathan, but the paperwork was an necessary evil. They’d been this busy before, the only difference was that Nathan used to sneak breaks to come visit Bella in the office. He used to maybe even whip them up a light lunch, or something. These days, he was returning to the house later and later. His excuse was always that there was a lot to get done in little time. Especially in the elephant habitat where the young ones seemed to take pleasure in destroying fences and other structures. It was rather late on this particular day when Bella started to worry. Nathan wasn’t answering his phone and it had been dark outside for quite a while. Eventually, she got a call through to Ulwazi, who confirmed that Nathan was working in the elephant habitat. The kids were in bed and Belie was nearby, so Bella decided to head over to the elephant habitat and offer Nathan some help. When she arrived, however, she could sense that invisible wall between them. It had been there a lot lately. Like there was an unseen force keeping them apart. “Need help?” Bella asked. “No, I’m almost finished. Thanks though.” He smiled over his shoulder at him and continued doing whatever he was doing. Bella bit her lip. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing, but soon the words flew out anyway. “You’re avoiding me,” she said. “You keep coming to bed after I’m asleep, or working when I have a break, or… just not saying much to me. Look, I’m really sorry for everything. I’m sorry I kept secrets from you and got to the point where I completely lost it. I promise I’ll never keep secrets again. I want to stay open with you. I want things to be as they were before.” Her little speech finally got Nathan’s attention. “Please don’t shut me out,” she pleaded. “I miss you…” She longed to have him close again. Not just in a sensual way, but emotionally. She missed when he would just take her into his arms and hug her. She missed their silly little conversations and their academic arguments that they often just laughed about later. “Tell me that things would be back to normal soon,” she asked him. But in her heart, she knew it wasn’t that simple. With all the repairs going on in Ithemba, their marriage needed a repair too.
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Isabella Kaylee DwyerWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2017
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