63. Who’s Frank?
“The following names are made up, but the story most fucking definitely is not. I’d almost go so far as to say the dialogue is direct quote, but let’s retain a healthy scepticism towards my memory.
Tess was my LTR. I had met her at Uni, and we had quickly fallen for one another, and at this point been together for about a year and a half.
Tess went on a study trip to China with some students she met during her master’s education. I have met them all many times, and I knew she’d be in safe hands. All I worried about was her homesickness and the fact that she’d be in a country where she couldn’t communicate well if something were to happen.
‘Take care, babe. Have a safe flight, and text me when you land, alright?’”
Tess cries and replies that she will. ‘I’m going to miss you. I’ve never gone this far away from home. Please be waiting for me at the gate-thing when I land. I want to see you first of everyone, okay?’
This request was so genuine that I couldn’t help but fall in love with her then and there. This might sound strange, given how the recollection started, but there’s a moment in a relationship—no matter how long you’ve been with someone—where something snaps and you realize that this is it; she’s the one; this is love.
I hugged her, kissed her neck, and watched her go through customs with her friends, waving at me every chance she’d got. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn she’d have chosen to stay if someone had asked her to then and there, but she didn’t. And at that moment, I wouldn’t have wanted to deny her something that had been a dream to her for so long. In fact, even in hindsight I’m happy she followed her dream, despite the consequences.
Two weeks passed. Two damn weeks had passed and I had yet to receive the text she promised. After the first few days I decided to call her and ask if all was well. Nothing. I left a text asking the same, and asking her to call me. Nothing. I kept tabs on her Social Media to see if she was online but ignoring me. Nothing. I called her every morning and every evening of the second week. Nothing. Absolutely nothing—not even so much as a signal of life. Even her parents had told me that they were worried, and though I comforted them over the phone with the thought that she’s a clever girl that can handle herself I kept from them the fact that I had tears soaking my beard as I listened to them speak.
I had no information as to where she’d stay, and since she was the organizer of the whole ordeal, all the university staff could tell me was that they were “somewhere in Beijing,” and that they had not received any contact data from Tess to help me with.
Then the day of her return came, and after suppressing the emotional powder keg I felt was ready to explode I decided to fulfill my promise and to receive her at the gate-thing, if only to see if she’d actually show up.
Two hours passed. Then three, and eventually after the fourth I got a text from her, stating that we needed to talk.
No shit.
The gate-things at Schiphol Airport are connected in pairs, and apparently she had accidentally exited the wrong one, and from there found her way home. I expected her to complain about me not receiving her like I promised, but instead she replied to my text with ‘Oh yeah, you did promise that. I’m sorry I took the wrong exit.’
Tired of texting, I decided to call her to ask for—well, anything at that point, honestly, but instead I get an annoyed response asking me what I wanted. I made my request to meet asap, because aside from whatever was going on I still missed the hell out of her.
‘I have to ask if Frank is okay with that, hold on.’
What the?
‘Who’s Frank?’
‘He says he’s uncomfortable with you coming over, so…’
‘Who. Is. Frank?’
‘Frank is my boyfriend.’”
—WhyTess 
