It was five years after Molly had returned from her second tour. She had gone to see Charles in Bath on her return and they had been reunited briefly but she had decided to pursue her career in the army and they had drifted apart. He had resumed his duties and was now a Major and Molly had finished a degree and officer training at Sandhurst, she was now Captain Molly Dawes.
Their paths miraculously, or more by design on Charles' part had not crossed during this time, it hurt too much to see her, even though he was happy that she had fulfilled the potential he always knew she had, losing her again had almost been too much to bear and he had guaranteed a physical distance between them in order to cope with re-establishing an emotional distance that he had convinced himself would allow him to move on.
It had broken Molly's heart to leave him but no matter how much he had pleaded with her that it didn't matter they came from different world's, she couldn't see how they could be together in the long term. In the theatre of Afghan she had believed that love was stronger than army regulations, but back in the real world she needed to let him live the life he should and find someone more in his league that he could make the life with that he was supposed to have. The life everyone expected him to have, the one she couldn't stand in the way of, she loved him too much to do that.
They had both had a couple of brief relationships since, nothing serious the army made it difficult but so did the fact that nothing compared to them being together for either of them. Much as they both believed they had moved on neither of them really had.
She sat in front of the mirror putting the finishing touches to her make up, she was getting ready for a forces charity dinner that she had agreed to speak at, it had been something she had been asked to do many times over the last few years, over which time she had become much less nervous about doing. She carried herself like an officer these days, it was the aim of the training to pull out the natural leader and develop the authority and confidence to conduct yourself in that role.
She pulled her coat over her shoulders and left her room down to the hotel entrance where her cab was waiting, she jumped in "Drapers Hall please" she had been to this venue for one of the first officers dinners she had been too it was very grand, it reminded her of the inside of Buckingham Palace. As the cab snaked through the busy streets heading across town from Marylebone where she was staying, to the city she took her notes from her bag and began skimming them even though she was prepared as always it helped calm last minute nerves that had crept up on her, it was strange she didn't normally get these feelings anymore just faint butterflies dancing around in her stomach. They pulled up outside the Hall it was even grander than she remembered it, she paid the driver and made her way to the entrance.
She was guided to the drawing room where a pre-dinner champagne reception was being held, it was framed by huge crystal chandeliers that cascaded light around the room, at the centre was a huge marble fireplace and around the outside edge where a series of sumptuous blue silk chaise langue, she was offered a glass of champagne and she headed straight to perch on one of the chaise so that she could get her bearings and observe the room from a distance for a little while.
She could see that she knew one or two people in the room but was content to stay on the sidelines for now, she was startled by a voice to her immediate right "Captain Dawes!" she turned to be greeted by another familiar face, she got to her feet "David Armstrong, lovely to see you, I take it you are here for the auction later, doing your bit?" David was the son of Major Peter Armstrong who had been a mentor to Molly during her officer training, he had made his money as an investment banker declining to follow his father with a life in the army. Molly had been introduced to David by the Major at a similar event and they had hit it off and been on a couple of dates but never taken it any further than that, much to David's disappointment more than Molly's. There was no awkwardness between them though as a result and whenever they had caught up at similar events to these since they had always enjoyed each other's relaxed company. Tonight was going to be no exception Molly thought to herself fleetingly considering he also looked quite handsome in his tux.
David gave her a kiss on the cheek "Yes, dad convinced me to come along, although when I heard you would be here and giving a speech, I have to confess I didn't take that much persuading" Molly smiled at him, she was saved by the master of ceremonies calling everyone to dinner, David took her hand "shall we?" They walked towards the table plan, she began scanning for her name, "no need Molly you are with us, near the front of the room, ideally placed for your performance" she blushed and laughed "don't tease me, you will make me start to feel nervous about it again" he smiled back at her "you will be brilliant as always Captain Dawes, now let's go and get some dinner" They took their seats at the table and once everyone had settled, brief introductions were made and the usual polite dinner conversations began. Major Armstrong had been delighted to see Molly again and catch up on the latest developments for her, he had rarely seen officers with such special qualities and aura in his army career and was certain Molly was one of them. she had already accomplished so much and was convinced she would go on to do so much more. David had whispered to Molly at one point "you are dazzling as usual Molly" he was flirting with her a little but nothing she couldn't handle.
Dinner over it was time for her to do her thing, Major Armstrong had gone up to the stage ahead of her as he had agreed to provide an introduction, there were over five hundred people in the room this was one of the biggest audiences she had spoken in front of, as The Major finished his introduction Molly gathered herself, David patting her hand and telling her "good luck" as she made her way to the stage, through the applause.
She stood in front of the lectern and flattened out her notes, she took a deep breath, relaxed her shoulders and briefly glanced out into the audience, before she could release the breath there in a split second she caught his gaze, her stomach did a somersault, oh my god, she needed to compose herself, let out the breath Molly, the room had gone into slow motion, everyone was looking at her but one pair of eyes was penetrating her soul. She cleared her throat quickly composed herself and began her speech.