Chapter nine
Charlie was exhausted and in a bad mood when he got home from the meeting. The house was empty now that Georgie had gone back to her parents, and he sat down at the dining table and began to go through the large pile of post which had been abandoned on the sideboard since he arrived home.
There was nothing out of the ordinary. Bills, junk mail, that was it really. He dumped most of it in the recycling bin and then sat back down on one of the chairs with a sigh. How he wished that Georgie could be here with him.
Charlie pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was 5pm. By now Georgie should be back with her parents. He knew that he should leave her to it, she would call him when she was ready, but he just really needed to hear her voice. The meeting with the brig had hardly gone well, and he really needed to talk about it with someone.
The phone rang and rang and he was just about to give up when he heard a click and she finally answered.
'Hey.'
'Hi.' He said, the exhaustion coming through in his voice. 'Did you get home ok?'
'Yeah.' She replied. 'How was your meeting?'
Charlie paused for a few seconds. 'Um.. not great.' He said.
'Did you tell the brig?' Georgie asked. 'About how you're feeling?'
'Yeah.' Charlie said. 'Long and short of it, if I stay in the army then I'll get the support I need. If I leave, it's up to me to find it basically.'
'Oh Charlie.' Georgie said. He could hear concern in her voice. 'We'll get you the support you need, don't worry about that.'
He said nothing for a few seconds, and then he sighed.
'I wish you were here.' He said. 'I can't wait for you to come back.'
Georgie didn't reply. He felt a bit sick wondering what she was thinking. Finally, she said something.
'Are you going to see Molly?' She asked.
'Um... I wasn't planning to.' He said. 'I think we've said all there is to say. I need to see a solicitor and then we can get the ball rolling.'
'Are you sure that's what you want?' Georgie asked. 'Both of you?'
Charlie furrowed his brow. He was confused.
'I told you how I feel, Georgie.' He said. 'I want to be with you.'
There was another silence and then he heard her sigh shakily.
'I think you and Molly should talk.' Georgie said. 'Before you go to the solicitor.'
'Why?' He snapped. 'What's changed since this morning, Georgie?'
'Nothing.' She said. 'I just.. I said we need to take things slowly, do things properly. It wouldn't hurt to talk things through with her properly, would it?'
'Our relationship is over.' Charlie confirmed, and then rubbed his hand across his forehead wearily as if wiping away invisible beads of perspiration. He didn't know why she was being like this now. She sounded almost hesitant. Now he felt even more worried that he was going to end up alone.
'I've got to go.' She said. 'I'll call you tomorrow, ok? But please, speak to Molly.'
And then she was gone.
...
It was still dark when Georgie woke, and the house was silent. She rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 4.30am. She'd had a restless nights sleep, and she pulled back the covers and padded across the room to the window.
There was no sign of the sun yet, the moon was still glowing in the sky and the world outside was quiet and peaceful. She sat on the window ledge and her eyes fell on the drain pipe just along the brickwork that Elvis used to climb up to surprise her in the night. Absentmindedly, she twiddled the ring that still hung round her neck between her thumb and forefinger, closing her eyes, wishing that he could climb up the drain pipe now and be with her.
And then she thought of Charlie, and the warmth of his hands on her body, and the way he looked at her adoringly. She missed him too. Why did this have to be so complicated? It had seemed to simple when they sat together on the hospital bed in Bangladesh, after the police station bombing. They wanted to be together and that was all that mattered. But now they were home there were the complications of real life; their families, Molly, and army regulations. It was even more complicated than she had first thought. So many obstacles.
She wondered how Maisie was doing, and made a mental note to call her and find out. She should be back in the UK now, probably in hospital, and Georgie thought it would be good to visit her.
Georgie heard the flush of the toilet downstairs on the first floor, and knew that her Dad was probably up and getting ready for work. She got off the window ledge and waited until she heard the creak of the bathroom door opening and the sound of footsteps down the stairs, and followed him down to the kitchen where he was just flicking the kettle on.
He didn't hear her coming and the sight of Georgie our of the corner of his eye made him jump.
'Oh hello, love.' He smiled, grabbing another mug from the mug tree. 'Cuppa?'
'Please.' Georgie said, sitting down at the table in her dressing gown.
'It's good to have you back, love.' Max said. 'Did you sleep well?'
'Not really.' She replied, running her hands through her hair and then bringing her knees up to her chest, as if she was giving herself a hug.
'Jet lag.' Max smiled, and Georgie nodded even though it was a lie. Her family thought she had only flown back in yesterday. They didn't know that she had been back in the UK for a few days, with Charlie. Charlie. She felt tears in the corners of her eyes when she thought about how much she missed him.
'What's up, love?' Max asked, eyeing her knowingly. He knew his daughter well, and he knew when there was more to it than jet lag.
'Nothing, I'm just tired that's all.' She said, wiping the tears away quickly.
Max nodded. 'You know you can always talk to me, George - about anything.'
'I know.' She said, but truthfully she didn't know where she would possibly start.
