Buying the Virgin

“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.

knock

“Come in.”

enters with a tray.

some.

sit with you for a

“I’d like that.”

“Where’s Michael?”

sure. He’ll not be far away. He never goes out of

and

his words. “Recent events have… strained... our friendship. I’m hoping that he will be less angry with me as

sipping from a mug, idly scanning my heap of books. Then he

don’t look like physics

I’m changing course for next year, to engineering

“Engineering?” His eyebrows arch.

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

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

I’m not sure that I want to be

slowly. “That

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

washes over his face. “You’re right, Charlotte. And yes, that’s exactly how

but then…. you were so angry with me and…. I still don’t really understand what I did,

reacted when you met Haswell…. You were inspired by his project, then you

but some things can’t

a

lot of work to do. You do realise that for engineering qualifications, you will need practical experience to be certificated? You

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,

idea… um, there is a fairly obvious candidate you

“Who?”

company for a hundred miles. If you can get support and sponsorship from the Haswell Corporation, you’ll have all the money

After… what happened?