Chapter 59: Chapter 59: The Girl Who Came Back - Chapter Fifteen

“You were right,” says James. “I’ve surrendered my right to have any say in what you do now. But you can’t go anywhere until you are back to full health. After that….”

“After that?”

“…. after that, I ask that you remain here until we can sort out your situation. If you insist on leaving, it’s your choice, but neither of us wants to see you return to that place, that area, that job…. You’re better than that, and you deserve more.”

“My stuff…”

“All here. Michael and I cleared your room….”

“You broke in?”

“You had the key in your pocket. It’s about all you did have on you. Why did you go running out like that? In a place like that…”

I stare at the ceiling, not meeting his eye, but reply. “You know why.”

Michael returns. His eyes I notice, are shadowed, red. James looks drawn. I think he has lost weight.

He says, “Charlotte, or Jenny if you prefer. Please understand, this is a no-strings offer. Please don’t try to leave. You might have been able to walk thirty miles before, but you certainly can’t now. We just want you safe. We will ask nothing of you, make no assumptions about our relationship.”

Michael breaks in. “Please, Jenny, say yes.” His voice is shuddering. “Oh, God…. When you went down like that, I thought you were dead.”

“Charlotte,” I say.

“What?” asks James. Michael looks up.

“I’m Charlotte. Jenny became the fantasy. Charlotte is the real person.”

*****

I settle in. After a few days, I feel well enough to read and do a little work. The room is so pleasant.

Lying in bed, looking out of the window, at the sky and the jade green sea, with no sound but the surf and the gulls…. I had forgotten how beautiful this place is.

A pile of textbooks on the bed, laptop to one side, I work my way through preparations for the next year.

There is a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

James enters with a tray. “Coffee?”

“I’d love some. Thank you.”

“May I sit with you for a while?”

“I’d like that.”

“Where’s Michael?”

“Not sure. He’ll not be far away. He never goes out of earshot of you.”

“Are you and he alright?”

He speaks slowly, choosing his words. “Recent events have… strained... our friendship. I’m hoping that he will be less angry with me as time goes on.”

He sits on the edge of the bed, sipping from a mug, idly scanning my heap of books. Then he looks more closely, picking up one after another, going through the titles.

“These don’t look like physics texts,” he comments.

“No, I’m changing course for next year, to engineering instead.”

“Engineering?” His eyebrows arch.

“Yes, it shouldn’t be too difficult. A lot of the material in the ground year is the same as for physics. I really just have to brush up in a couple of areas to switch courses for the second year. It.… it wasn’t easy to do anything though when I was back there. It was difficult to work.”

“What’s brought this on, Charlotte?” asks my Master. “You’ve never mentioned it before.”

“Well, I’d been thinking about it for a while, that I’m not sure that I want to be shut up in a lab all day.

And then, that day, when we were in the offices there…”

“That day…?” James speaks slowly. “That day, when you met Haswell?”

“Yes, that day, while Michael and I were waiting in Reception for you, I saw the model of the project you’re working on: the rebuilt cityscape. It was marvellous. To take something so awful as that part of town and rebuild it to what I saw there…. It seemed just so … so… hands on. At the end of it, you’ll be able to point at something really solid, and say ‘I did that’.”

“A slow, pleased smile washes over his face. “You’re right, Charlotte. And yes, that’s exactly how it feels.”

“I…. I wanted to ask more about it, but then…. you were so angry with me and…. I still don’t really understand what I did, to upset you so much.”

“Charlotte, I’m more sorry that I can say about what happened that day, about how I reacted when you met Haswell…. You were inspired by his project, then you met the man…. Oh God! If I could undo it, I would.” He sits there, running a hand over his head.

“I know, James, but some things can’t be undone.”

He stares at me for a moment and nods. “I understand.”

Then he scans over my bed at the heap of books. “You have a lot of work to do. You do realise that for engineering qualifications, you will need practical experience to be certificated? You will be required to work in some relevant industry. Typically, it extends a Bachelor of Science course from three years to four.”

Relieved to be talking about something pleasant, “Oh yes, in fact, that’s one of the things I’m doing now.” I wave a bundle of papers at him. “I’m applying to various firms to see if I can get sponsorship of some kind, someone who would employ me for the work experience during vacations, perhaps even pay me something…”

He nods. “Good idea… um, there is a fairly obvious candidate you could ask…”

“Who?”

“Haswell. He has the biggest company for a hundred miles. If you can get support and sponsorship from the Haswell Corporation, you’ll have all the money you need, and training second to none. He has tentacles in every field you can imagine.

“Haswell? After… what happened? But you….”

“It’s not up to me now, is it? It’s your future. I can’t take back what I did, but I can make amends….”

His expression is unreadable, intense.

“Charlotte, I want you to be happy. I want you to be free. I want you to be able to take on the world and shake it by the scruff until it gives you the things you want.…”

He pauses while I take that in. “And in this case, I can put in a good word for you. I think he’d listen.

Especially if you get decent grades in your exams. When do you get your results?”

“I already have them. They came through two days ago.”

His head swivels. “You never said anything?”

“Well, I’m not completely happy with them.”

He reaches to take my hand in his, then, remembering himself, draws back …. “Not so good as you hoped?”

James does not, I notice, look too sympathetic. There is more an air of…. waiting.… about him. What’s he waiting for? The punchline?

I deliver it.

“No, I only got a B in fluid dynamics.”

He tilts his head, a smile crinkling at the corner of his eyes. “And the rest?” he inquires, his tone innocent.

“Oh, yes. I’m happy with the rest. I did better with them.”

He bursts out laughing. “Congratulations, Charlotte! Straight As and a B? That’s wonderful.” He reaches forward, grabs me, and hugs me, planting a kiss squarely on my forehead. Then, “Oh, Charlotte. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean….”

He retreats again, looking confused.

“It’s alright, Master. I don’t mind.”

“Master?” he says slowly.

“Master,” I repeat, holding his gaze.

He leans in, slowly, so slowly, his lips hesitantly brushing mine. His breath is warm across my face, and as I accept his kiss, his arms wrap around me, pulling me tightly to him. His kiss deepens, his hands curling around my head before, encountering the bandage, he pulls back. He rests his head in the hollow of my neck.

“Oh God, Charlotte. I thought I’d lost you.”