A/N – Thank you for the reviews. I hope you're still enjoying the ride!
Anthony woke early next morning to the sound of a light rain pitter pattering on the bedroom window. Edith was burrowed into his chest, her head tucked under his chin still fast asleep. Anthony had both his arms wrapped around her. They had stirred little during the night, both needing the security of each other's touch.
Indeed Anthony had barely let her go since they left the restaurant the previous evening. It was almost as if he was frightened that if he let go of her, she would disappear again and he couldn't bear that.
He softly kissed the top of her head and breathed a contented sigh.
A short while later, Edith began to stir. It took her a moment or two to get her bearings and realize where she was but when she did, a smile washed over her face and she kissed Anthony's chest.
"Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?" asked Anthony.
"Hmm, I did. Did you?"
"Indeed, as if I had been cradled by Morpheus himself!" chuckled Anthony
"What time is it?"
"A little after 8am"
"I'm going to be horribly late for work and my boss is an absolute tyrant!" laughed Edith.
"You leave him to me!" chuckled Anthony, playing along.
Eventually, the couple dragged themselves out of bed and after a quick breakfast, they were soon on their way to the Museum. The opening of the Mac exhibit was only 6 weeks away so they had a lot to do.
"So, whats on your agenda for today, darling?" asked Anthony as he negotiated their way through the Cambridge morning traffic.
"Well, the bods over that the university computer lab have finished programming the interactive elements of the exhibit so I'm going to be spending most of my morning over there putting them through their paces before the team from Glasgow arrive next week."
"That sounds wonderful, I can't wait to see it."
"Neither can I! I am so excited to see this part come to fruition. If its been executed correctly then our visitors will be able to put on a special headset and walk through the corridors of the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland Street School and the Hill House. They'll be able to experience Mackintosh's design as he would."
"I am so proud of you, Edith. Never in a million years would I have been able to come up with something as creative as this."
"Thank you. But its all thanks to your faith in me. You gave me the opportunity."
"And I thank my lucky stars every day that I did. For all sorts of reasons."
Soon, they were pulling into the staff car park.
"Alright my love, have a wonderful day. Give me a call if you have time to go for lunch." said Anthony.
"I will. I love you." Edith replied
"I love you too."
A quick peck on the lips and she was out of the car, off and running. She had a busy day ahead.
Anthony meanwhile, sat in the car and watched her make her way into the Museum.
He still couldn't quite believe that she was back with him and couldn't believe how close he had been to losing her for good. The thought of it caused an actual physical pain in his chest. Pushing away the ugly thought, he took a deep breath and got out of the car to begin his day.
Anthony passed Elsie's office on his way in. He stuck his head round the door.
"Morning Elsie!" Anthony said brightly.
"And good morning to you to, my lad! It is a good morning, isn't it…?" Elsie asked cautiously.
"Elsie, its just about the best morning I've ever known!"
"Oh thank God for that!" Sighed Elsie
"No, thank you and Anna Walker. I'll never be able to repay you both for what you did for me, for us. Thank you."
"No thanks necessary, my lad. Just you keep that wee lassie safe and happy, y'hear?!"
Anthony raised his hand in mock salute "yes, boss!"
"Seriously tho', Anthony, I'm thrilled that you and Edith are reconciled. I don't think I've ever seen a better matched pair. "
Anthony gave her an appreciative smile.
"But to get back to the business of the day, anything I should know about?"
"I've finalized all the arrangements for the visit to the Glasgow team and I've put them all in a folder on your desk. Shout if there's anything you'd like me to change, okay?"
"Thanks Elsie, you are a wonder."
"And you're a big flatterer! Get back to work!" she laughed, blushing and waving away his compliment.
XXX
"So what do you think, Edith? Have we done justice to your vision?"
Tom Branson, the young, newly appointed Head of the Computer Science department at Cambridge was pacing nervously up and down the lab while Edith put their technology through its paces.
Removing the headset, Edith shook out her curls and grinned broadly at Tom.
"Tom! Its absolutely amazing! Honestly, its almost as if you were able to see right inside my head to what I was thinking. Thank you so much!"
"Oh thank heavens! The team will be delighted, a lot of midnight oil has been burnt on this project!"
"Well, its been worth the effort. Truly, you and team have pulled off something extraordinary here. Thank you!"
"Great! Well, now that we have your go-ahead, we can formalize a program of user acceptance testing and volume testing and look at the formal roll out hopefully in time for the big 'show and tell'.
"Um, I've no idea what that means, Tom, but I trust you!"
"It means we need to make sure that 'ordinary' people can use it without too much difficulty and that it can support multiple users at a time. In any respect, we'll be ready to show the team in Glasgow next week. "
"Thanks Tom, you're a marvel!".
It had been a busy but productive morning and Edith was elated by how well the computer 'boffins' had understood her ideas. This was going to be brilliant And now? Now it was mid-afternoon and there was only one person whom Edith wanted to talk to.
"Hello you, do you have time for that lunch that we talked about?" asked Edith, walking into Anthony's office.
"For you? Absolutely! How's your day gone so far?"
"Anthony, its been just the best of days! Tom and the computer team have outdone themselves on the interactive stuff. Seriously, its mind boggling! I can't wait for the team to see it next week!"
Anthony marveled as Edith enthused about their project.
"Well, darling. That all sounds incredible. The meeting next week cannot come soon enough!"
Anthony was in awe, of the project but mostly of her. The opening gala for the Exhibition was 6 weeks away and was going to be a special evening for everyone involved. A lot of hard work had gone into bringing it all together but Anthony couldn't help but think that the evening could be even more special…
There was something about a public declaration, of showing the world that he belonged to this bold, creative, intelligent, beautiful woman. Anthony knew without a shadow of a doubt, that he wanted to belong to her for the rest of his life – almost losing her had brought that into stark relief for him – and so the germ of an idea was hatched. He was going to propose to Edith on the opening night of the Exhibit.
A/N The Art School, Scotland Street School and the Hill House are all real, Mackintosh designed, buildings in Glasgow and environs.