Unrestrained (Unrestrained 3)

Sefton made a face at that, but didn’t push. Claire, however, had another glass and her voice became even more ebullient than usual, her cheeks flushed. All of us were a bit sunburnt from our day on the savannah, and the wine made everything more relaxed.

At about nine-thirty, our guide stood up and announced that if anyone was interested, he would lead a trek to the makeshift observatory that had been set up with a telescope and would spend some time looking at the stars. We were welcome to take photographs if we liked. This was something I looked forward to so I stood up and prepared to join the small group who was going with the guide.

"You like astronomy?" Sefton asked, standing up when I did.

"Yes. I have since I was a child. I was really looking forward to this since we first made plans to come to Africa. The skies at night are amazing."

"I think I'll join you," he said and turned to Claire. "Are you coming as well?"

She shook her head. "I'm too tired. I think I'll stay here and listen to the stories. You two go ahead and enjoy yourselves."

Claire smiled at me and I wondered what she thought of me going off with Sefton. If she disapproved, she said nothing nor did her expression speak of disapproval.

Before we left on the bus, I texted Drake, glad that one of the luxuries of the camp was cell phone coverage.

Hi there. Had a great day drawing elephants – can you believe it? I'm really enjoying myself, and now we're going out to do some star gazing. Sefton is no problem and the only thing that would make this perfect would be if you were here to enjoy it with me. I can't wait for us to go on safari together some weekend when you have time off.

I watched and sure enough, he'd received my text. The three dots showed he was writing back, and I smiled as I waited for his response.

That's great! I can't wait either. I'm so glad you're having a good time. I was worried that Mr. deVilliers would be pestering you and would ruin things. So glad things are good on that front.

I texted right back.

They are good. I'm not going to let him ruin things for me. How are things at work?

After a moment, he responded.

Hectic, as usual. Typical Friday night in Nairobi, shootings, stabbings, collisions, beatings. There is no risk that I'll be out of a job any time soon, sadly! Looks like I'll be up late tonight as we have a couple of trauma patients who will need emergency surgery. Wish I was looking at stars instead of patient charts…

I smiled.

I'm sure you love what you're doing. Tell me the truth – you love having to cut into someone's brain and fix things. :)

He responded right away.

You got me. It's a privilege to be working here, somewhere that I’m needed. But I miss you, Ms. Bennet.

That made my heart swell.

I miss you, too. Have to go now as our bus is leaving. I wish you were here… I love you.

His response sent a jolt of desire through my body.

I love you, too. How I miss you in my bed so I could touch you, kiss you…

I put my cell phone away and joined the others on the bus.

The trip to the observatory was short, and I was a bit apprehensive about going out in the middle of the African savannah at night, but I reasoned that this was done every safari and the guides were experts at what they did. I expected that I'd see glowing eyes in the distance as lions and other predators stalked us, but was too busy watching the guides set up the telescopes and the astrophotographers set up their tripods and cameras to worry too much. Sefton stood and spoke with one man who was talking about taking photos of the Milky Way while I watched a guide point the telescope to see the planet Jupiter.

The evening passed quickly, and we all got a chance to see the planet, even the giant red spot and I was glad that I decided to go, even though Sefton was there. He left me alone, spending his time with one of the other travelers who had a camera and was doing time-lapse photography.

We trundled back into the bus and made our way back to camp, arriving before midnight. Claire was already in bed, her bed covered in a mosquito net. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and then crept into bed, pulling the mosquito net around me. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, I woke to the sounds of Claire in the washroom showering. I yawned and stretched, then lay on my back, my eyes adjusting to the light. I felt pretty good, despite the strange bed and sleeping alone.

Claire and I dressed and went to the dining tent for breakfast before we spent the day with separate groups again. This time, our small group went to another location and spent time watching and drawing giraffes, having found a small family group with a young calf. I used Sefton's binoculars to look at the baby, trying to decide what would be considered 'art' versus plain mimicry, Sefton's words to me from the previous day playing on my mind.

Instead of trying to do a large picture, I decided to do some small studies so I could concentrate on the details of the giraffe's anatomy – the eye, the snout, the ear, the stumps that I took for horns. Small sketches so I could figure out the detail. I wouldn't try to do a full drawing that day, preferring to spend my time practicing. I'd focus on the elephant picture when I got back to Nairobi.