*Trudy.*

We met up with some of Jasper's friends in Egypt. They all greeted him happily.

He said all of their names.

Craig, Carlos, Carmen, Danny, Richard, Tasha.

One of the men said "Aw, he's hiding something. What, did you bring yourself a pet?"

"No, Richard. Just give me a minute." Jasper turned to me.

"OK, my pretty. Do you want to meet them?" He asked me gently.

I nodded and he turned me around. There were only five people there.

"OK, on the left is Carlos. He's the youngest of our group. Next to him is Danny, who is just three months older than Carlos. Next to Danny is Richard, our joker of the group."

Richard said "I'm a complete and utter freak a lot of the time."

"Yes, you are." The woman spoke.

"That's Tasha. Tasha, where's Carmen?" Jasper asked.

"Gone getting us all cokes. She was getting hot just standing about." The one named Tasha answered.

"OK. Next to Tasha is Craig, who is our leader in this whole doodah." Jasper told me.

Just then, a woman who was clearly Egyptian, wearing a really pretty sundress came over, carrying eight cokes. She was pretty and I was surprised that Jasper had brought me instead of just coming to see her.

"Ah, Carmen." Craig said and they kissed. That figures, he brought his girlfriend.

Carmen looked over and spotted Jasper.

"Long time, no see, Jasper." Then she saw me. "Ah, now I get it. Lady friend. Are you going to tell us your name, love?"

This Carmen woman was nice, too? I'm surprised all of these men aren't after her.

"Her name's Trudy." Jasper spoke for me, which I was happy about, because I was so nervous, my mouth felt like cotton wool.

"Is she OK? She looks kind of ill." Carmen asked Jasper.

"Um. Trudy?" He looked at me.

"I'm fine." I whispered quietly. Richard cheered, and I almost fell over in surprise.

"She does have a tongue. I was beginning to wonder." He said. Well, good thing I don't get easily offended.

"Richard..." Craig warned him.

"Oh, yeah." He looked at me apologetically.

Jasper gave me a kiss on the cheek. "OK, I better take her to the hotel."

He got me to a hotel nearby. It was the Mena House Oberoi. They had a restaurant there called the Khan El Khalili restaurant. It was lovely.

The room we got was number one hundred and two. The room itself was beautiful. I saw the bedroom had creamy walls and a blue-grey carpet with a pretty Egyptian rug. The bed matched the rug and it had cabinets with lamps on them at either side. Our bathroom had white walls except around the bathtub, which had a sandy shade on the walls and the tub was the same, white on the inside.

I saw we had only those two rooms, but we were OK with that. We didn't need anything more. We stored our things and I opened my suitcase and a cooler and showed Jasper that I had two chilled lattes I bought at the airport.

"I got us coffee. I thought it'd make a nice treat." We had our lattes, then unpacked and went to have a peek around the pyramid.

Jasper showed me the way out of Amenemhet's tomb, which was, no kidding, a complete maze. He got us into the burial chamber and he got us right back out. He'd even drawn up a diagrammed map to get me out if I got lost, which, knowing me, I would.

It was so much fun in there.

The others met us.

Carlos said "Aw, showing your lovely lady friend around the pyramids. I hope you've taught her well, or she'll end up buried alive."

*Jasper.*

As soon as Carlos said that, poor Trudy went white and passed out. I caught hold of her limp form and cradled her in a half-standing, half-lying position. She was purely gorgeous, she made Danny, Richard and Carlos drool a bit.

Tasha was very slender, not much to her. She was Carmen's little sister. And even though there was only a year between them, you wouldn't think so.

Poor little Trudy's eyelids fluttered as she sighed, coming around. They all thought she was putting it on. I knew better. Trudy could never fake a faint. She wasn't that kind of woman. She'd never really fainted before. She'd fallen and lay still. The first time she did that, she was faking death. When I'd caught her out, I'd yelled at her.

I regretted that, she didn't stop crying for two hours straight.

"Are you OK, Trudy?" I asked her gently. Well, asking gently would be better than shouting at her.

"Mm, just a little bit dizzy. Uh-oh, I think I'm going to-" She had to run. She hid herself away and we heard her throwing up.

Carmen sighed. "Aw, the sweetheart. She's probably not used to the heat."

I shook my head. "I doubt it. She's lived in England all of her life."

Trudy came back, clean and her breath smelled fresh and clean. Her teeth were sparkling white and she smelled minty.

"Sorry." She looked apologetic. Apologetic? For what?

"Why, sweetheart?" Carmen asked her, acting like Trudy's mother. Trudy went bright pink. She wavered again.

"Oh, God." I caught her and held her up. She was really pale and weak.

(That night.)

We were in our bed. She was already tired. She snuggled up to me in her sleep and murmured quietly. Could this woman get any more beautiful?

I fell asleep.

*I was talking to someone in the library. The person looked at Trudy. She fell forward and landed on the floor. I thought she'd fainted, so I went to her side.

"Trudy? Can you hear me?" I asked her.

"Yup!" She jumped up and gave me a hug. The man I'd been talking to had left and the building was empty except for us.

"Trudy, that was stupid! If you really do faint at some point, I'm going to think it's a joke and I'm not going to bother coming to help you! I honestly expect more from you! You're not some teenager. Grow up!" I yelled.

Tears formed in her pretty and massive eyes. She ran away, crying. She couldn't get up, she cried so much. And after that, she didn't talk to anybody. She was quiet and refused anyone's help.

I tried to say sorry to her, she walked away. At the ball, I seemed to make things much worse between us. I watched the Collector leave and I knew she was watching, I'd heard her pattering little footsteps.

I caught her coming out of her cupboard.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I, um. I had to... had to adjust the hem of my dress. I thought I'd spare everyone having to look at my legs." She was fronting, but I let her have it. "Uh, do you mind?"

"Uh, no, not at all. Sorry." I averted my eyes and stepped away.

"Jasper?" She spoke tentatively.

"Yes?" I hoped that she was going to be saying something not stupid or completely unanswerable.

"Who was that you were talking to?" She asked. And there's the stupid and unanswerable.

"Mind your own business." I told her and walked past her.

After Jerome's little rap thing, the moved trays, then Vera came to overtake for her. Trudy was out of there and I didn't see her until the next day. Even so, she was particularly quiet and she refused to talk to me.

"Come on, Victor. Is that too heavy for you?" She asked him politely.

"No." He answered her in his usual manner.

"Well, I think we can say that last night was a roaring success." She dumped her bags and put her hands on her hips. Then Mr Sweet came over. Trudy backed against the bush.

"Jasper, Jasper, there you are. I found this on the ground. You must have dropped it."

He handed me the key.

"Of course, thank you." I took the key and saw Trudy bend down to the bags out of the corner of my eye.

"You know, you really ought to take better care of that. I found someone in there last night rummaging around. You should be thankful that nothing was taken." Victor said to me.

"Oh, I'm sure that Jasper's well aware of the gravity of the situation, Victor." Mr Sweet said before he left us. Victor gave me a look and left. Trudy shot me a look and I can't remember a time I ever saw her give anyone that look. She was saying 'I did as you said and kept my nose out.' Then she walked back inside.

Sometimes I honestly loved that woman. That was one of those times. She would do anything to please.

We went more days without really talking unless one of the students or staff was with us, when we pretended everything was good between us. We did a film thing, and she was really interested the first time. The second time, she fell asleep.

We had a talk over the replica sarcophagus.

She was cleaning it, then she did a routine thing, seeing if she had her facts right.

"And here we have a replica sarcophagus of..." She held up a finger, telling me to wait a second. "Nefferaro-Cari Carci."

I smiled. "B+ for effort. Nefferaricari Carci."

She started cleaning something else and I felt her embarrassment. "I'm new at this. You've been studying it for years."

"Uh, guilty. When I was Fabian's age, most guys were dating girls. I was mainly dating carbon." We smiled, even though I knew it was true. I loved seeing that smile. My dream skipped to when we had our little talk.

"Jasper?" Trudy's careful tone. It meant that this was important to her.

"Mm?" I replied. I didn't want to get involved if it was girly chat.

"Why did you choose me to work here?" She was so sweet and lovely, why wouldn't I?

"Because you were the right person for the job, of course. Why?"

"Well, it's just... you and Vera seem to have a lot in common..." She seemed slightly envious.

"Trudy, are you a little bit jealous of Vera?" The slight change in her expression was the tell-tale sign. "I can understand, it's only natural." She started playing with her earring. Aw, precious.

"To be frank, Vera just doesn't have your ambition. You are far more useful over here with me." I gently patted her hand and went back to typing. She shot a look my way, then looked back. I glanced at her.

I sighed. Beautiful little thing. And way out of bounds for me.*

Trudy's pretty little face was there when I woke up. She had a beautiful little concentrating face on. She was reading a huge Egyptian mythology book. I kissed her arm.

"Oh, good morning, sweetheart. I didn't notice you were awake." She was pink-cheeked again.

"It's OK, gorgeous. You just enjoy yourself." I told her. Trust her to be cute, even when she's just reading.

"Well, I woke up at about midnight and I had the desire to read, so I did." She smiled at me, then returned to the story she was reading.

I checked the clock. It was six in the morning. She'd gone to sleep at nine. She'd only had three hours of sleep.

"Trudy, my love, you know that you've only had three hours sleep?" I asked her.

"What?! I thought it'd been a lot longer!" She panicked. I gently grabbed her arms.

"Now, calm down. It's not so bad. Lie down. You have a sleep, I'll get some food out for you. You have a sleep." I gently pulled her into a lying down position.

She did as I told her. She was so sweet. I don't think I've ever seen her without her makeup, but she looked even more beautiful than she did with it.

"I'm just sorry you had to see me looking like this. When I wake up, I'll hide the circles under my eyes and spots." She promised.

"Hey, no more make up, you're too beautiful to need it. And your eyes are only vaguely shadowed, you don't have spots and you're gorgeous." I reassured her.

She smiled and kissed my lips. I couldn't help loving it. She was soft and warm. And we had to meet at the pyramid at one this afternoon. I let her sleep for si more hours, then took her to get lunch in the Khan El Khalili restaurant.

She wore a pretty white sundress and sandals to match.

"Wow, look at you!" I smiled and twirled her around. She cooed and pressed her lips on mine.

"Never mind me, what about you? You look amazing."

(At the pyramid.) *Trudy.*

The others met us there and were happy.

Richard said "With you two being together all the time, I didn't think we'd see you. I owe you 100 sterling now, Carlos."

He handed over 100 sterling dollars. I wondered why.

"Jasper" I whispered. "How much is he giving him?"

"In English money, ten pounds." Jasper whispered.

"Oh, so they were betting? Great, gamblers." I sighed softly.

"Yeah, don't worry. They know when to stop."

Tasha and Carmen said "So, Jazz, mind if we ladies steal your lovely little lady friend? We'll give her back soon, we just want to take her on a tour."

Jasper looked at me. "Want to go on a tour, Trudy?" He sounded like he wanted me to see everything.

"OK, yes." I said. "Though, Jasper, I just want one thing before I go."

He gave me some money.

"Not what I meant. Come here." I put my arms around his neck and wrapped my fingers in his hair, then kissed him.

We kissed for a few minutes, then we had to stop.

"You have fun. And enjoy it." He told me, with a quick hug.

"I will. Come on, ladies." I said.

They took me with them on this massive tour. I did enjoy it, especially in some of the shops. They bought me this sort of sweet stuff called Chikki. (Uh, whatever it was, it was nice.) I got a bag of it for Jasper. I knew him so well, he'd love it.

They found some other things that were Japanese (?) called kompeito? Yummy stuff around here. I still saved some for Jasper.

*Jasper.*

I hoped Trudy, Tasha and Carmen were enjoying themselves. I was digging about when I found a scorpion. I think I'd found a whole nest. I escaped it and warned the others not to go near it unless it was a suicide mission.

We found a cobra too. And one or two unwrapped mummies. I was happy Trudy wasn't there to see it, she would freak out. When we got back out, the girls were sat on the side of the pyramid laughing and drinking cola. They had five cans spare.

"...You squealed like a little girl!" Carmen teased Tasha.

"Well, the thing was a constrictor. And if I was squealing, what were you doing?" Tasha laughed.

"Panicking. And so was Trudy." Carmen said.

"She's probably never encountered a venomous constrictor, that's why." Tasha countered.

"Have you, Trudy?" Carmen asked her.

Trudy laughed. "Other than today, once. My dad had one once. It got my uncle in the leg. My gran sucked the poison out and Dad released it into the jungle in Southern America. I've never been that big on snakes."

I climbed up the pyramid, then slipped up behind her and put a finger to my lips and pointed at Trudy. I put a toy snake next to her, then made a snake sound.

Poor little Trudy squealed in horror and fell off the pyramid. She landed in the sand. I got off the pyramid and next to her in minutes.

"Aw, cutie-pie, are you OK?" I asked her in concerned amusement.

"I'm fine. And by the way, I know you did that prank." She giggled and kissed my lips.

"Aw, lovely girl." I helped her up. She cooed at me.

"I'm not lovely, not with you here to compare to. Ooh, that reminds me, I have a present for you, my lovely."

She pulled out a brown paper bag. "Here you go, darling."

I opened the bag and saw the sweets inside. I grabbed her and kissed her. She tasted so sweet without actually eating sweets.

"Trudy, I have something very important to ask you." I told her.

She looked at me with those beautiful big eyes. "I'm listening."

I knelt down in front of her and held her hand, then put a ring box in her hand with a sparkling diamond in it.

"Trudy, I promise to love you for every day of the rest of time. Would you do me the extreme honour of becoming my wife?"

I heard a loud gasp behind me, but the only thing that truly mattered was the gorgeous woman in front of me.

"Jasper, I love you more than any other person could possibly love somebody. This is the most wonderful thing to happen. Yes."

That settled it for them behind me. Crying and sniffling and cheers. I slipped the ring onto Trudy's slim finger. She smiled as I stood up. I wrapped an arm around her waist and supported her neck, then dipped her slightly and kissed her lips.

There were explosive cheers everywhere. I reckoned that people had seen the proposal and engagement. Well, that leads to a kiss usually, right?

Nothing else matters to me now, just my beautiful little fiancee.

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Aw, how sweet! Isn't love so sweet? So anyone got any ideas? PM me with ideas and review if you liked it. Until next update, Random Dizzy. :D