Tag: covid

A Covid Romance (Pt. 4)

Sean found himself anxiously waiting for Serena’s return. He was hungry when she left, but now he was positively starving. Perhaps, he thought to himself, he should have given her a smaller list so that she would return faster. Then his mind quickly switched to how pretty she looked in her mask, with her shoulder length blond hair. The memory of her sweet rose tinted perfume drove his mind wild. Perhaps, he just needed to be round women his own age more. Just as quickly, his mind switched back to food and thoughts of a tasty burger. He could almost taste it.

He switched through the different tv channels trying to find something interesting to take his mind off his predicament but they all taunted him with food advertisements. Then, there was a flicker of light outside emanating from the house next door. His heart started to beat that bit faster as he wheeled towards the front door.

It still took another few minutes before she rang the doorbell giving Sean enough time to put on mask. He hated having to put them on, but it was what was recommended and made him feel that bit safer.

“Hi Sean, here is your shopping. Will I bring it in for you?”

Sean hesitated for a second. It wasn’t ideal for her to enter to enter the house, but he was unsure if he would be able to carry all the stuff inside himself.

“Yeah, brilliant If you could just leave things on the kitchen table for me, that would be great. I’ll just reverse and get out of your way a bit, to keep the two metres.”

With that, she walked past not quite giving him the distance that he had hoped for. It may have been somewhat lost in translation.

Sean noticed that she wasn’t wearing any gloves as she put his second bag down. His Personal Assistant had been wearing them for some time. It almost seemed erotic to see a naked hand. He wondered what it would feel like to touch, would it be cold from being outside? Then the sound of her voice brought him back to reality.

“So, will you be okay now? Your change is there on the table.”

“Yes, that will be fine, thanks a million.”

“Ring me, if you need anything or to talk. It’s good to talk.”

Sean nodded in agreement and with that she left.

It took quite some time for Sean to pack everything away and get something to eat. But, he did enjoy that burger.

As he lay down in bed he decided to send Serena a text message.

  • Thanks so much for earlier. Was a huge help.

Her response was almost immediate.

  • No worries, did you cook something nice.

With that, they began to text each other back and forth about their jobs, the pandemic and what food they enjoyed into the late night.

A Covid Romance (Pt.3)

Serena was cooking a bigos, a traditional stew dish of meat and vegetables from her native Poland. Anything to take her mind off things. It was best just to ignore the crisis, at least for now. The constant worry and fear was too much. Better to do something she loved, even if she was the only one who was going to get to eat it.

Then she heard the buzzing sound of her phone. Thinking that it was probably someone from work looking to talk about the pub being closed, she didn’t check the caller id.

“Yes, Serena here.”

“Eh, this is Sean. I live next door to you. You called a few weeks ago.”

For a moment Serena wasn’t sure who it was. But then she realized.

“Oh yes Sean, how is everything? Do you need my help with anything?”

“Well, you see my PA is not able to come and she usually gets my groceries. And well, I’m not really supposed to leave the house and -“

“You want me to shop for you?”

“Eh yeah, please. That would be great.”

“Okay, I will call over in an hour. You can give me the list and money.”

“Grand, see you then.”

Serena put down the phone.

After her meal was cooked and eaten, she wondered if she should go and put on some make-up. She went to the mirror and was less than impressed with what she saw. Her hair was unkempt and her eyes looked dull. She hadn’t worried much about her appearance when she was meeting “the couple” but somehow this felt different. Maybe cause he was a man and much closer to her own age. He actually sounded quite sexy on the phone and anyway it was important to look good. So that was that, her decision was made. If she didn’t hurry though, she would be late and it’s not like she could blame the traffic.

Finally, when she felt presentable and walked out the front door. It was wet and breezy, probably undoing much of her good work getting ready.

Within seconds she was knocking at his front door, feeling an unexpected tinge of excitement.

Sean opened the door more fully this time. Even though a mask covered half of his face, she could tell he was handsome and found herself gazing into his piercing brown eyes He was wearing a denim short and trousers. Now that she could see him better she reckoned he was in his early thirties just like herself.

“Here is the list and thirty euro should cover it.”

He reached out and handed it to her.

“Right, I will come back with your groceries and change once I’m done.”

With that, they gave each other a little wave goodbye.

A Covid Romance (Pt.2)

Sean had watched the nightly news with increasing alarm each night. The virus was getting closer and closer. The death rate was somewhat uncertain, but he knew that for someone in his poor physical health it would be much higher. He already lived the life of a hermit, which was now a good thing. His aide Thelma, an elderly woman in her sixties was a concern though. She worked about two hours per day, usually during the mornings cleaning up the house and doing errands for him like getting the shopping. Those two hours were vital. He knew that it was a major vulnerability, not only in that she could carry the virus to him, but also that she might be too scared to come help him. There was little he could do about it though.

As if having become paralyzed through a car accident wasn’t bad enough, now he had to face a pandemic. He wished he had relatives close by in case things went pear shaped but his mother had died during the very same accident and he had never known his father. At times, it felt like nobody else knew he existed.

Still, he tried to put his worries to the back of his mind. But, that became impossible after hearing the Taoiseach’s announcement that Ireland was going into lockdown. Nobody was to go to work the next day.

It didn’t take long for his phone to ring. He knew it was Thelma, and this was almost certainly not going to be good news.

“Thelma?”

“Sean, have you seen the news? They don’t want want people to leave their homes. What will I do?”

Her voice was trembling.

“I’ll be okay. Don’t come tomorrow, hopefully we’ll get some clarification on things, if we wait a day or two.”

“Are ya sure?”

He wasn’t.

“Yes, I am. Talk again tomorrow ok”

With that, the call ended. He immediately rolled over to the kitchen and checked his fridge. There was enough for a day or two. He needed a plan in case he didn’t see Thelma for a while. Then it came to him – that Polish woman, but did he still have her number?

A Covid Romance (Pt 1)

Serena shuffled from side to side in her bed, restless and unable to sleep. Normally, she would have no problem sleeping but usually, the News didn’t have her so fearful. The images from Italy kept going through her mind; the faces of people gasping for breath. China had been a distant place in her mind, but Italy really wasn’t that far from Ireland. Ireland played them at the rugby each year and Irish people regularly went there on holidays. She knew that from work. It was inevitable that the virus would now reach here now. She tried to stop thinking about it, it would do her no good as she needed to work the next day.

Despite her difficulties sleeping, she made it into work. It was tough to work behind a bar when you are tired though. The place was bustling as usual with orders for food and drink flying in. But the same topic of conversation was at every table. At one point a chill went down Serena’s spine when she heard that a whole region in Italy had just gone into lockdown. She felt like she had been transported into a horror movie.

The first thing she did when she got home was to turn on the news to see the latest developments. Things were indeed as bad as she had feared. The Chief Medical Officer of the country Dr. Holohan said that it was now only a matter of time before there was a recorded case in Ireland. Serena’s thoughts turned to all the people who were about to die. She thought of her vulnerable neighbours. An elderly couple lived on one side of her and a guy in a wheelchair lived on the other side. She hadn’t interacted with them much till now but she resolved to call into them that night to let them know that she was there if they needed anything. It was the least she could do and it would take her mind off worrying about herself. At least, she would be doing something.

She went to the elderly couple first. Their names were Alan and Mary, both in their late seventies. And wow, could they talk. At first, about the virus then about their grown up children and finally about the forthcoming warm summer they were praying for. Finally, Sabrina managed to say her goodbyes, promising to check in on them if things deteriorated.

Then it was time to check in on the man that lived the other side of her in a row of bungalows. She didn’t know much about him and had only every seen him in the distance since she started renting her house three months previously. It was a very different experience. She buzzed the doorbell and waited. Just as she was about to leave the door opened slightly.

“Sorry, do I know you?”

“Oh! My name is Serena. I’m from Poland but I live next to you.”

“Oh right! Sorry, didn’t recognise you. Hope you don’t mind but I’m in quarantine with this virus and all.”

“Yes, that is why I am here. In case, you need anything. All you have to do is ring me. Okay?”

With that, she put a crumpled page with her name and number on it through the letter box sensing he didn’t want her close.

“Bye, don’t forget to ring if I can be of help!”

“Ehh, thanks.”

With that, she left.