Covid-19 Diaries - Lockdown Day 56 - Love in the time of the coronavirus

It was our 9 year wedding anniversary on Thursday - another special event celebrated under lockdown.  We spent the morning trying to remember where we had been for each one. 

Beautiful Sienna for the first... a British seaside for the second? Was it two years ago that I was 8 and a half month pregnant and we moved into an empty flat and had a picnic on the carpet?

We pieced the memories together. For each one I'd made an effort to make a personalised card. There had been collages and paintings, pop-ups and puzzle cards. Not this year, though.

As I settled down to put Sol to sleep in the evening, I thought: next year we'll do things properly. Next year we'll celebrate the birthdays, father and mothers' day, and anniversaries that had quietly passed by during confinement.

Sol was quietly snoring. I replaced the side of her cot and left her room.

As I passed by our bedroom I noticed my flowery dress had been laid out on the bed. There was a note beside it that said: Put this on and follow the signs! :)

Feeling a mixture of uncertainty and excitement, I did just that. On the back of the front door, another Post-It read: This way to Sitges!

Sitges was where we got married. Friends and family had come from all over the world to join us for a party in a beautiful rustic villa. There had been sun and rain and thunder. There had been moving speeches, salsa dancing and rum in the hot tub.

Along the corridor outside the flat, there was another note with an arrow. I headed up the stairs, my smile growing with every step. This way to London. This way to Mallorca.

I reached the apartment on the top floor. It belongs to a Swedish couple who use it for holidays. The key was in the door. Clearly my husband had asked them a favour.

Candles glowed on the steps up to the terrace. I picked up another Post- It. Up the stairs for a taste of our future!

My husband was waiting for me at the top with a bottle of champagne and a table laid out for dinner. His happy guileless grin was the same one I'd fallen for twelve years earlier in a bar in Camden Town. He hadn't needed to wait until next year to make things special.

It was perfect. It was love in the time of lockdown. It was an anniversary I wouldn't forget. 

It was also a little windy so after our meal we cuddled up under a blanket and beneath the full moon we listened to old songs and laughed and reminisced.

And we toasted to love and imagination and our future together.

We also toasted to my new novel Tipping Point! 

Finally, I can share it. 

TippingPoint is inspired by my love of multi-character storytelling, and books by Liane Moriarty and Deborah Moggach. The e-book is out now and the print book will be released next month, lockdown permitting. 

It goes a little something like this:

George and Ellen have retired to sunny Mallorca. Social butterfly Ellen is itching to make yacht-owning friends while George's heart is set on an isolated farmhouse in the country. In fact, now that they're no longer living busy London lives, they're beginning to realise they have very different ideas of happiness.

Private investigator, Salva, specialises in cases of adultery. That's why it's particularly embarrassing that he didn't realise his long-term girlfriend has been cheating on him. He has no time to nurse a broken heart since his family are the victims of a property scam they urgently need him to solve. 

Robyn Chase is giving talks on her self-help book No More Toxic Relationships - 7 Years, 7 Lessons. She's finding it awkward being a relationship guru when her own boyfriend is avoiding her.

The sun is shining in Mallorca and everything looks beautiful. But the residents of one particular apartment block are about to discover it all might be too good to be true.

Buy Tipping Point Online. 

Note: For those who would rather not buy from Amazon, please get in touch to buy direct. In the future, I hope to have a smooth direct sales system in place! Thank you.  

Note 2: No, you're memory isn't failing you! I did change the title last minute from Melting Point to Tipping Point!

Covid-19 Diaries - Lockdown Day 30 - Cardboard Joy

"Spain relaxes lockdown..." say the international papers. 

Have we?

Gosh, that sounds nice. We still can't go outside for a walk, though. More importantly, I still can't walk the toddler. I see people in the UK posting pictures of lush green parks and river scenes and I think, Whaaat? Lockdown is easy if you can go out for walks!  But I know it's not easy. I know mostly families are cooped up. Some more cooped than others.

I was reading an article in El Pais about entire families confined to a bedroom. A mother with a 2 and a 4 year old in a bedroom for thirty days. A mother, father, and two preteen kids sharing one room with a bunk bed. It made me cry. The worst bit is that even after lockdown they will still be living in one bedroom...

Meanwhile, all across the island there are luxury villas lying empty, because we live in a painfully unequal world. Possibly the construction workers allowed back to work today, despite uncertainty about how on earth they'll keep a coronavirus safety distance between them, are building more fabulous dwellings for people who may or may not spend any time in them.

Never mind about the rich. How much would I sacrifice for a more equal world? Would I give up my terrace during lockdown for another family? I like to think so. In the end, we can't expect people to do what we wouldn't. We all have to take some responsibility for the world we live in.   

Do I sound grumpy? I probably need to be walked more often. In fact I did go out today. My second outing in four weeks. I went to the chemist. I saw three police cars in the space of three minutes. The chemist was closed, so I walked back worried that I would be stopped and I would have no receipt to prove my visit.

The highlight of my day came in the afternoon after a few hours at my desk. I walked into the living room to discover my husband had made our toddler a guitar out of cardboard. He has rediscovered his love of guitar playing during lockdown and Sol loves it. She was so excited she was getting her own guitar that she broke into a highly expressive and unintelligible babble, gesturing with her hands, and making certain I understood how brilliant it all was. 

It was wonderful to witness. I sat down on the floor beside her and she gave me a big hug and I thought I'm never buying a plastic toy again...

I also thought, I have the greatest lockdown team ever. This is going to be alright. 

One day we will be able to walk around the block and we will love every minute of it. Until then we will make cardboard instruments and deconstruct cardboard faces and paint empty toilet rolls, and bury treasure in tubs of sand and sing and dance and write and create and feel gratitude for the freedom of our minds to imagine and muster a surprisingly rich life within the confines of four walls.    

Thanks for reading! You can find me on my Facebook Author Page or on Instagram.  

Read previous entry Covid-19 Diaries - Lockdown 26 - Be Bold

Covid-19 Diaries - entry 1

Self-isolating in the hills

They cordoned off the kids' park while we were having lunch. Our terrace overlooks it so we had a good view as the red and white tape went up.

Were they cleaning it? Repainting the climbing frame? If only. We knew the real reason without needing to be told. There had already been mention of swings spreading the virus; so many small hand holding on, so many big ones pushing those little seats to the command of higher, higher!

My stomach twisted. It felt so surreal. I hadn't even heard of coronavirus until about a month ago. "Where have you been?" my mum asked me, when I mentioned it after finally reading a newspaper.

The first to test positive with the virus in Mallorca was a British tourist on 9th February. He responsibly admitted himself to hospital because he had been in contact with a friend who had tested positive in France. Today there are 44 infected, 18 of which were confirmed today.

People have been panic buying in supermarkets despite the Balearic government's assurance that supplies will keep arriving by boat. I overheard that a big store was being guarded by armed Guardia Civil. Photos online show empty shelves. Already the greed is showing as people try to sell hand sanitser for quadruple of the price.

"They're being so stupid. The meat is from the island!" the frustrated butcher at our local supermarket chain said. He was tired after working seven days in a row - with no day off in sight - and angry with the lack of respect and aggressiveness of the shoppers. Since my husband always has time to chat to the staff, they'd kept his chicken order. If he hadn't made that human connection, they might have given it to someone else.

On Wednesday, the Balearic health ministry announced a ban for cultural and social events for over 1000 people. After a month researching and writing up events for abcMallorca magazine, I was tasked to write cancellation notices.

On Thursday there were rumours that schools and nurseries were going to be closed. Our 

daughter, Sol, doesn't go to nursery but she does have a playgroup on Thursdays. I felt too embarrassed to admit to the playgroup Whatsapp group that I wasn't going to take her because of coronovirus, but we decided it was for the best. I stopped feeling embarrassed as schools and nurseries were officially closed and official bodies began advising citizens to stay at home. It's advice which we feel is wise and necessary, and we are going to be keeping ourselves to ourselves.... 

Well, almost.

"If you guys are ready to take our relationship to the next level, we are prepared to become exclusive with you over the next two weeks!" my friend text me. We've agreed. They also have a toddler, so that works well.

On Friday, the Spanish government declared a state of emergency. How did the news make me feel? Light-headed? A little. 

These are such strange and uncertain times and, as a writer, I feel compelled to record them.

You can also find me on Facebook Emily Benet Author