CHAPTER TWO:
This world is strange, I don't recall how I got here, I can't even remember what I was doing before this woman hit me with her car; that I was now sat in. I am so grateful for her hospitality and kindness towards me; she seems willing to help me understand, even though she doesn't understand herself.
As Miss Miller drove her car down the streets, I looked out at the city of London; so much had changed since I was there last. The city itself looked more alive and newer than I had ever seen it in all my years of living there.
I was so engrossed with the scenery of the city that I didn't hear Miss Miller speak at first. I turned my head to look at her. She had her eyes on the road in front of her, but she briefly flicked her gaze between there and me.
"What were you doing before you ended up behind my car?" Rosa asked "Surely you must remember something?" She added. I shook my head.
"All I recall is that I was setting out my uniform for our practice charge that was to take place in the morning, other than that after that I haven't a single idea of what I was doing," I sighed. Where had time gone? Why was I even here? HOW did I get here is the biggest question of all.
"Hmm, well, perhaps you may remember more in the morning? Maybe you just need to eat and sleep on it, no one officially loses their memory, it is just stored away in a part of the brain that you can't quiet unlock when you want to," Rosa shrugged. She was so reassuring, I felt like I could trust her.
It had begun to get dark as we continued to drive through London. I continued to look out the window. Every so often Miss Miller would ask me something and I would return my attention to her. She was a pretty woman, her blond hair sat just around her elbows and her deep brown eyes almost looked black; her skin was a nice suntanned shade but what I found most interesting about the woman was her accent, it was not British.
"May I ask why you do not have a British accent?" I asked her, trying my best not to sound rude as I had no intention to be rude towards her.
To my surprise, Miss Miller laughed!
"I am from America, that's why, I came to London for further education after I finished high school," Rosa explained.
"Oh, travelling to Britain by ship takes a very long time," I pointed out. Rosa laughed even harder.
"Oh boy, there is a lot that you need to catch up on if you are going to survive in this time period," She said. How much did I miss out on? I thought.
We arrived at Rosa's apartment. It was a plain building, nothing like some of the other, newer buildings in the centre of the city.
"Well, welcome to my place," She smirked and unlocked the front door. Upon entering the building I realised that there certainly was a lot that I had missed out on. Strange appliances were scattered around the main room. On a short wooden table on the opposite side of the room there was a strange black rectangular box. On the wall was another strange rectangle, but it was a lot smaller than the one sitting on the wooden table.
The walls were a plain off-white colour and the curtains framing the windows behind the strange black box were black. The sofa in front of the black box was also strange, it was plump and looked very comfortable compared to the sofa I had in my personal barrack.
"Would you like me to show you around?" Rosa chuckled. I didn't realise that I was just staring at everything.
"Yes, that would be nice," I replied after a moment. I followed Miss Miller down a small hallway.
"This is the bathroom," She said, pointing to the first room on the left of the hall. I nodded and she continued.
"This is my room," She said, briefly looking in to the untidy room next to the bathroom "Please excuse the mess, I haven't had time to keep anything in order lately with exams and all," Rosa laughed a little, her cheeks flushing a nice shade of pink.
"And this is the spare room, it use to be my friend's but she left London a while ago, so you may use it if you like," Rosa smiled and moved past him and back down the narrow hall.
"This room is the living room and just over there is the kitchen," She pointed out.
"It is a nice place," I said politely.
"Are you hungry? I'm hungry," Rosa said quickly and walked into the room she said was the kitchen. I followed her in and noticed that it too contained weird appliances.
Rosa was leaning into the refrigerator, desperately searching for something that she couldn't seem to find. She then moved on to a small pantry and also came up with nothing.
"Well, I must have forgotten to do the shopping," She sighed "How about we order take out?" She asked. What was that?
"Do you like pizza?" She asked. I nodded, any form of food sounded good to me. I hadn't had a proper meal in a very long time since the war got underway.
Rosa picked up a smaller box that was fixed to the wall and pressed the buttons on it. When she began to talk to the box I realised that it was a telephone.
"Right, so food should be here in half an hour," Rosa smiled and gestured for us to sit on the sofa. I took off my uniform coat and placed it across my lap, resting my hands on it as I sat down. Rosa slouched down into the sofa, pulling her legs up and tucking them close to her small body.
"So what do you do as further education, Miss Miller?" I asked. The woman rolled her eyes.
"I feel like I'm in a job interview, please, call me Rosa," She laughed. I nodded and smiled.
"Sorry, Rosa," I said.
"I attend the university and do a history course which I have just finished and sadly must move on to pursue a career," Rosa sighed. I nodded.
"Wow, I wanted to go to university, but my family wasn't rich enough to send me, so I joined the army," I said.
"So you were in the army before the war started?" Rosa asked me. I nodded.
"Indeed, if I had just started when the war began then I would not have had the ranking of Captain," I explained. Rosa understood.
"I can't get over the fact that you are actually from 1914, I mean, how is it even possible? You aren't joking with me are you?" Rosa asked, eyeing him suspiciously. I smirked and shook my head.
"No, I assure you, I am as surprised as you are. I wish I could remember how I got here," I said. There was a knock at the front door. Was it the food? How long had we been talking?
Rosa got off the sofa and unlocked the door. It was the delivery man.
"That will be twenty two dollars and fifty cents thanks," The young man smiled at Rosa. Rosa handed him cash and took the boxes of pizza from him.
I watched as she set the boxes down on the kitchen bench. I got up and decided that it would be rude to just sit there while she waited on me.
"Would you like me to do anything to help?" I asked as I reached the bench. Rosa smiled.
"Yeah, sit down and enjoy some twenty first century pizza," She said, opening the pantry and getting out two ceramic plates.
I took my first bite of a slice of pizza when Rosa had sat down beside me. It was delicious. It wasn't a proper homemade meal, but it was a lot better than the slim they fed us at the camp.
"Yum?" Rosa asked. I nodded and took another bite. We sat in silence for the remainder of the meal.
After we ate Rosa picked up another strange box that seemed to turn on the large black box sitting on the wooden table in front of the sofa.
"This is a television," Rosa stated. At long last! A name for the box! I thought to myself. Rosa also explained the little box she held that turned on the television was called a remote. She showed me how it worked. Amazing!
"Miss- Rosa," I corrected myself "Thank you so much for all of this," I said sincerely. Rosa nodded and smiled.
"You're welcome, I hope it's not a burden, but there are some things I would like to ask you in the morning," Rosa said. I nodded.
"I will answer the questions I am able to," I said. Rosa smiled and stood up.
"Well, we better get your bed sorted," She said and disappeared down the hall.
Rosa had pulled some clean sheets from a small cupboard at the end of the hall and was placing them on the guest bed.
"Just let me know if there's anything you needs Cap," She smirked and turned to leave the room. I caught her hand just before she left, clearly taking her by surprise. I lifted her hand to my lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles as a normal gentleman would. It made Rosa blush.
"Thank you, again," I said. Rosa tilted her head slightly.
"You're welcome, Goodnight, James," She smiled and began to leave the room again.
"Goodnight, Rosa," I said and shut the door.
I was grateful to sleep in a proper bed that night. However, I was not grateful for the dream that I had, or perhaps it was a memory…
Review! :) Oh! And Merry Christmas for tomorrow :D (Christmas is tomorrow for me being in NZ and all :p I don't know what the time difference is for the rest of the world BUT have a good day everyone c:)
