Chapter 79: Chapter 80

As we leave, Richard murmurs, “Keep your face straight.”

“You might have warned me….”

“What? That you were my ace-in-a-hole?” Despite his advice, his mouth is twitching. “Not a chance. It worked out so much better that you were surprised when he finally realised who you are.”

I glance over my shoulder to see that we are safely out of range, then stop and turn to face him.

“Richard, who am I? I’m an architect. A good architect granted, but….”

He lays a hand on my shoulder. “You, my friend, are the architect who will have changed the face of the City. Not many can make that claim. Your immortality is going to be standing as evidence around us for generations to come.”

It’s an interesting thought.

“I never expected to be famous.”

He rocks a hand back and forth. “Perhaps not with the Common Man, but I looked through those Get-

Well cards at the hospital. Did you?”

“Er, no.”

“You should. I asked Michael to keep them for when you left the hospital; for when you finally got around to noticing how many people think you matter. The university sent you a card and it was signed by the Chancellor.”

*****

Richard I’ve seldom seen James so completely flummoxed. He clearly has had no idea how well regarded he is.

I get a couple of beers in and put one of them in front of him. Michael re-joins us only a few minutes later and performs a visible reality check:

Happy faces: two.

Glasses of Beer: two.

All okay….

Then he looks around. “Where’s Charlotte?”

“Gone shopping,” says James.

He glazes over. “Shopping? When did Charlotte ever go shopping? She hates shopping.”

James takes a long mouthful of beer. “It’s a university town. She’s just discovered the street with all the second-hand bookshops….”

“Ahhh.…” Michael rocks on his heels. “Right…. Might as well get a beer then.”

James sucks in his cheeks. “Several beers I should think.”

When he returns from the bar, glass in hand, “How did it go? Got her course details sorted out?” He tosses a couple of bags of peanuts on the table, opens one and tosses back a handful, then shoves the bag across.

“Yes,” I say, “and we’re both quite pleased with the result. James said, and I suspect you agree, that, for her own safety, he’d be happier having Charlotte close at hand, rather than away for long periods….”

Drinking, he flashes eyes at me, then, “Yes, I am happier with that….”

“Good. So, we’ve arranged with the university, that she can cover a lot of the material by distance learning and online training. So long as she can pass the exams, that covers all the academic material.

And the practical experience presents no difficulties. I’ll make sure she works her way around everything that’s available in the industry within fifty miles. James here can handle that. He has a better grip on that side of things than I do.”

“Sounds ideal. And the university is okay with that?”

“I’m making sure they’re okay with it. They lean on the Haswell Corporation for a lot of favours. I’ve called some of them in this time.”

Michael places his glass on the table. “You like getting your own way, don’t you?”

You noticed, eh….

“Privileges of wealth. I can recommend it.”

“I imagine you can.” He stirs a finger over the table top, drawing patterns through a little slopped liquid.

Then he locks eyes with me. “And by the way, you’ve not pulled the wool over my eyes, about at least one of your reasons for wanting Charlotte close by….”

Damn….

But I keep my voice and face neutral. “Meaning?” I take some nuts, chewing on them slowly.

He gives me another You’re not fooling me look. “Charlotte is not Beth’s bodyguard.”

And you’ll look after Charlotte no matter what….

Fair enough….

James is silent but watchful.

“Mmmm….” I suck at my beer to give myself chance to think about my reply. “She’s done a better job of it than Ross. On his watch, Elizabeth has been kidnapped twice, and Charlotte herself escaped when he was supposed to be guarding her.”

His face is set and his eyes narrow. “That still doesn’t make it Charlotte’s responsibility to look after your wife….”

And who does he think will stop Charlotte? If she sets her mind on it….

“Are you going to explain that to her? Or would you like me to try it?”

His fingers tap a tattoo on the table top as he eyeballs me, then he sighs and looks away.

When he looks back again, his tone is much milder. “And Charlotte, is she satisfied with your arrangements with the university?”

“She seems to be, yes.”

He turns to James. “You’re unusually quiet. Do you think she’s happy with it?”

“She’s happy enough….” he says, dryly You made sure of it first I think….

She has no excuse this time….

Heaven help her if she disobeys him again….

James continues, “…. And for once in this, she’s going to do as she’s damn well told. She’ll get what she wants this way, so she has no good reason for arguing about it.”

Michael gives him a long look, then turns his attention to his glass, occasionally eyeing James over the top.

What are you thinking….?

You don’t say a lot….

But you do think a lot….

The door bangs open, bounces back and then bangs again against Charlotte making her entry, laden with bags. Obviously full of books, some have corners poking through plastic, all are heavy and some look as though the handles are about to fail.

James stands, relieving her of some of the bags. “Ah, Charlotte, there you are. I see you have enjoyed yourself.”

And he’s right. Her eyes are alive with pleasure, her face alight. “Oh, yes. What a great place….”

James too is smiling slightly. “Mind if I look at what you’ve bought?” The smile turns whimsical as he works his way through her purchases, raising brows at some of her choices.

“’Modern Cosmology and Philosophy’, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, ‘The Mythology of the Ancient Greeks’….”

Michael leans across to look, shaking his head slightly but also smiling.

“…. Asimov’s ‘The Gods Themselves’, ‘Fundamentals of Physics: Mechanics, Relativity, and Thermodynamics’, ‘The Complete Sherlock Holmes’, Lovelock’s ‘Gaia’, ‘Pride and Prejudice’…. An eclectic mix.” He opens a copy of what looks like a volume on astronomy, flicking through the pages and chuckling. “Have you considered specialising?”

She snorts. “Specialisation is for insects….”

James halts in his examination of the volume in his hand, frowning as he stares into space. “That’s a quote, isn’t it?”

Her mouth opens, and her eyes widen on him. “Yes Master, it is.”

Gazing out of the window, he rubs his nose. “I know the reference, but for the life of me, I can’t think where from.”

Charlotte’s eyes are glossing….

What’s going on here?

Michael exchanges a look with me, shrugging and shaking his head.

She almost whispers. “It’s from ‘The Notebooks of Lazarus Long.’ taken from Heinlein’s ‘Time Enough for Love’.”

Tapping his fist against his lips. “That’s an old nineteen-seventies science fiction novel, isn’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever read it. Why would I know the quote?”

“You might not have read it Master, but you’ve had it read to you, in the hospital…. while you were unconscious….”

Oh, my God….

“While I was unconscious?”

She asked me if I thought he could hear….

“You were just lying there, dead to the world, and I was talking to you, hoping you could hear me. And when I couldn’t think of any more to say, I read to you…. and you did hear me.”

Michael gapes. Charlotte is close to tears. Even James is blinking hard and refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

It’s all getting a bit out of hand.

They should have privacy for this….

…. They can talk about it later….

A change of subject I think….

“How’s it going with the spa-hotel development, Michael?” I ask. “‘Life and Beauty’ was it? That’s what you’re calling it? Plans on track?”

The blond man shoots me a grateful look. “For the most part, yes,” he says. “Just the usual snags and hitches you expect with any sizable project…”

“Such as?”

James watches me, a speculative look in his eye. One by one, he pops peanuts in his mouth, chewing and swallowing each one before taking the next.

Has he caught on?

My reason for asking….

As our eyes meet, there’s a twinkle there….

And he’s not objecting….

Michael runs a hand through his hair, sounding harassed. “Um… such as trying to get a swimming pool installed. I’ve got all the permissions in place to convert one of the out-buildings, but the bank isn’t willing to extend the finance any further until I’ve got three years’ trading accounts.”

Really?

“But you’ve been running ‘Life and Fitness’ in the City for years.… and turning a healthy profit, surely?”

“Yes, but you know how it is since two thousand and seven. All the banks have tightened up the rules.”

Bloody bastards at the banks….

Pretty perfect for me though….

How to approach this…?

?