Familiar Faces

caineskiss@hotmail.com

This is the second half of the story "Fireside Chat", again it features Gregory, the Time Lord renegade who regains his memory on 21st Century Earth. Here's the clincher: meeting the ex.

"But you're dead!"

"Do I look dead?"

Gregory had been having this conversation for the better part of an hour and it was beginning to great, Stacey's insistence on his biologically impaired state that prompted his return question.

"No, are you like…a vampire?"

Gregory winced as if struck. Stacey looked shocked at his strong reaction, but memorised it for later.

"What did I say?" she asked apparently innocently.

"Family History," Gregory muttered inaudibly, then he sighed, "No. I'm not a vampire. Did you see me die? Was there a body?"

Stacey opened her mouth to reply but Gregory cut her off. "No and No! You assumed I was dead, and moved on."

Stacey lost her temper, "Well pardon me! When they were dredging the river and hunting for you and Phyllis, was there a post-it on the fridge saying 'Just popped out for six years. Love You, bye!' There wasn't! You just upped sticks and left to god-knows-where. The police told me you were both probably dead. I inherited the lot, a nice cottage that reminds me of you and a sizeable fortune that got me here, through tutorships and hard work."

Gregory raised his eyebrows at her tirade but stayed remarkably cool. The Gregory she remembered would have tried to reassure her. There was an arch smile, but looking into his eyes she saw an almost glacial feeling. It reminded her of something that she could not quite put her finger on…then…

"Enjoying it?" Gregory said softly, mockingly.

Stacey sat with her mouth open. There was no humanity in those eyes, the warmth she remembered from her Greg was gone, replaced by an absence.

"What are you?" she gasped.

"Interesting question. What are you studying for?"

"I asked first."

"And I asked second, you see, time and chronological order is irrelevent."

"A Doctorate in Physics. Specializing in Theory."

"Theory?" He paused. "Time travel, Wormholes, the Fifth Dimension etcetera."

Stacey nodded

He smiled, "How would you like see theory put into practice?"

"You still didn't answer my question."

"I know."

There was a heavy pause; 'Gregory' sat impassively watching her, waiting for something to happen. Stacey fidgeted looking for something to say. 'Gregory' had wrong-footed her, not an entirely comfortable situation but one that was refreshing. It wasn't something she really found with her colleagues or her boyfriend. Stacey had had a string of unsatisfying relationships which failed to stimulate her mentally and physically, Gregory had been bright, cute and caring. Her current boyfriend was a fellow student Marc, he was…well, two out of three wasn't bad. Marc just didn't relate to people well. She shivered and rubbed the bruise on her arm.

'Gregory' gave a look of concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…I bruised my arm on a door."

'Gregory' coughed "Bollocks!"

"Excuse me"

"Your boyfriend has been hitting you."

The statement stopped the natural flow of the conversation.

'Gregory' continued oblivious. "You know ninety years ago, in your society, that would have been perfectly acceptable. I've always found how ideas change so quickly with humans, it's fascinating, it probably comes of being so short-lived." Stacey started to say something, but 'Gregory' handed her a card. "Here's where I'm staying. I'd thought I'd see the sights. If you want to chat some more, you know where I am. It's been fun but I had a guided tour ten minutes ago."

He stood up and walked out, closing the door with a gentle click, leaving Stacey alone with her thoughts.

FIN