“Yes, I would have counted him as a friend. I would have dated him if he’d asked me. My father would have had a fit with him being black, but I’d have done it anyway. I never cared about anyone’s colour. Merlyn was a great chap. He came from such a good family Daddy would have had to have gotten over it sooner or later,” She had a look on her face like she had a completely separate thought, then came back and finished, “But Ollie and Alex…they were well above my station.”
“You knew the twins the whole time you were there!”
“I did. I met them first year, but they weren’t my friends. Not until you came along. Ollie was nice to me, but Ollie was nice to everyone unless they irked him. It wasn’t like he made any effort to notice me. We just had classes together. And Alexander? Well, I don’t know what went on with me and Alexander. There was that short period in time when I thought we might get to know each other. I was terrified!” She laughed, “He was so handsome and so bloody mean! I think I might have brushed him off more than I meant to because after a while he wasn’t anything more than polite to me. He never gave me the time of day again.”
“What are you talking about? Alex was very fond of you! I know he was because he told me! And so was Oliver!”
She patted me on the back, “They may have been fond enough of me, but I was not on their social magnitude! I wasn’t in their crowd! They only chose me because they chose you and I came attached.”
“Social magnitude?” I snorted, “I was invisible, too!”
Sandra burst out laughing, “Oh, Silvia! I always loved that about you! You were always in your own little world! You didn’t know how much you stood out. When you got to Bennington everyone was talking about you. You had all that lovely red hair and those huge boobs!” She laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, “And Oliver was besotted with you from moment one. Oh, he’d sit and watch you like there wasn’t another woman alive. It didn’t matter what you were doing, he couldn’t take his eyes off of you! That really brassed the girls off, but the boys were all jealous of Oliver. There wasn’t one who didn’t fancy you.”
“That’s not true!”
“No, it is! That morning you arrived everyone was chattering. ‘The new girl, you should see her! She looks like a right snob’, the girls said, ‘She was on the quad flirting with the Dickinson twins! It was terrible!’ The boys were all going on about how gorgeous you were. I decided to hate you immediately and then I saw the name on the list of my new dorm mate. Silvia Cotton. I knew it was you! They did everything by the alphabet…why wasn’t there a B that year?” She laughed out loud and squeezed my shoulder, “When you walked into that room and said hello to me I wanted to scream. I was sure you’d be awful, but you were so sweet. And helpful! Remember I found that hole in the seat of my uniform and you fixed it straight away! How long exactly did it take us to be best friends?”
“I don’t know. Six minutes?”
She laughed again, “Bennington was a lonely place for me until you came. No one noticed me. You took the time to see me. You were my first best friend, Sil. I lived for those late nights when we would sit up and talk way past lights out. They meant the whole world to me. I was so sad when you got to move into the game keeper’s quarters. I was happy for you, but I missed having my best friend all to myself. I wanted to throttle Oliver for stealing you away like that!”
“I’ve always missed you since. Isn’t it odd, though? All these years and it’s like we’ve only been apart for five minutes, really.”
“That’s how you know a soul mate. Time and distance make no difference. You just pick up where you left off.”
We sat for a long time. Finally, I asked what I was thinking, “We missed so much of each other’s lives. We talk on the phone often, but now that I’m here, look at me and tell me true, Sandra. Was yours a happy life?”
She looked up into the sky, “I think so. My marriage was a train wreck. My husband drank and philandered. My children were spoiled rotten. They had no respect for me. There were times I was unhappy. It got better once they all left. I got on with my life then, I had discreet affairs. I travelled. I have some regrets, but all in all, I’d say yes. How about you?”
“I could die right now and know I had a wonderful life. I had wonderful friends, a wonderful marriage and wonderful children. I did all I wanted to do and saw what I wanted to see. Yes, I’ve have had a great life.”
“Regrets?”
“None.”
“I didn’t think you would.” We were quiet for what seemed an age. Sandy finally spoke. “You lied to me once.”
“I did?”
“Yes. The night you came back to Bennington after you married Oliver. You told me a huge lie.”
“What was that?”
“That sex was like magic,” She said and we both laughed until it hurt, “It was never like magic for me!”
“I’m sorry!” I said sincerely.
“Ah, it’s all the same, isn’t it?” Sandra still looked like herself when she smiled. I could see that little girl from Bennington peeking through the folds in her skin, still see that little spark of wonder in her blue green eyes, “I got over the disappointment.”
“I was never disappointed. Sex was always magic for me.”
“Well, why wouldn’t it be for you? You and Ollie are the stuff young girls dream of. You don’t hear of a story like yours too often.”
People were always telling us that. “We are very lucky.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t even have to work at it. Your marriage, I mean. Don’t tell me it was always wonderful. I couldn’t bear to hear it!” She pressed her hands to her ears. “I know he’s not perfect!”
“No,” I answered slowly, “He’s not perfect. Sometimes we did have to work at it. Sometimes we still do. We don’t always agree. Sometimes we even fight, but we make each other laugh, too. That’s our secret. We just laugh at each other. And at ourselves. Well, we really just laugh at everything and everyone.”
“You always did.”
“Yes, because the world’s as bloody funny as it is serious!” I explained, “And we’ve always chosen to laugh instead of cry. It’s always been wonderful, though, being with him, even during the hard times. Even when I want to club him in the head with something, I love him just the same as I always have. More, really, if you want the truth.”
“How can you?”
“Because he’s Oliver. Silvia loves Oliver and Oliver loves Silvia. It’s just the way it’s supposed to be. It’s been the only thing constant in my life. I don’t complicate what’s simple.”
“You never wanted another man?”
“It never crossed my mind that I needed one.”
We sat in silence again for a long while. Finally, Sandra spoke, “Fifty years, Sil! Look at us! We’re a couple of old ladies!”
“Speak for yourself!” I laughed, glancing at my plait. The vibrant red of my hair had been washed away with different shades of silver. It didn’t bother me. I always thought those stripes were pretty. “I don’t feel old. I just try not to look in the mirror. It says too much.”
“That it does.”
“When will we see each other again, Sandy?”
She looked thoughtful, “I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter, really.”
“No, no matter. You’re in my heart.”
“And you’re in mine, Sil.”
I hugged my best girlfriend. “We’re going to have to go today. Oliver has to go into the office tomorrow. He said he’d help the new doctor with some of the charts. The poor lad seems overwhelmed.”
“Well, we both knew you wouldn’t stay forever, although I wish you would. Both of you,” She sounded almost hopeful, “I have plenty of room.”
“Oliver would never leave Alexander.”
“And you’d never leave Oliver.”
“Not ever.”
Sandy took my hand and squeezed it, “Then I’ll miss you both.”
“Did I ever tell you that I love you?”