Chapter 19

Westfield College

It took a bit longer to reach the campus than what Basil was hoping, but once they walk around the grounds, he liked the way the college's structure. The university he went to was a bit dark, but this campus was warm and bright. The morning classes were ending, so many mice were also walking around. They stop and stare as Basil and Olivia walked pass.

"Is that Basil of Baker Street?" they hear them whisper and many gave excited looks.

"Olivia!" a voice calls out and a female mouse with white fur and blue eyes who was roughly Olivia's age rushes up to them.

"Claudia! I missed you!" Olivia exclaims and they hug.

"I missed you too, I am so sorry about your father," Claudia replies, but turns to Basil and her face turns red. "Mr. Basil! Oh, Olivia you didn't...I mean we were not expecting him!"

Olivia introduces Basil to her friend, Claudia Jaminson, who was in charge of the school's newspaper. "She really wants to be a journalist," Olivia adds and Basil raises his hat.

"What are you two doing here?" Claudia asks. Olivia explains of her hopes of coming back and finishing the semester. "You know something, I think you should not audit. I mean it would not be fair to not get credit for something you've worked so hard to do," Claudia said and Basil nods in agreement. Then, an idea comes to his head.

"Olivia, why don't you tell her the big surprise?" he asks and Olivia looks at him in surprise, but then gets it.

"Big surprise?" Claudia replies, but then Olivia shows her her engagement ring. "Oh my...!" she gasps, looking at Olivia and then Basil. "You mean, you two...?" She giggles with excitement and hugs Olivia, again. "Congratulations!" she exclaims.

"How about this for your next news story?" Basil asks, "You do announce engagements, do you?"

"Oh yes! Yes indeed!" Claudia exclaims and pulls out a notepad and a pen. "Um...so when do you plan to have the wedding? That's the most important question," she asks.

"Haven't set a date, but we're hoping when this semester ends, so maybe in December," Olivia answers with Basil nodding.

"Do you plan to have it here in London? Or did you pick a place," Claudia asks while she writes.

"We are still deciding," Basil replies, "I was thinking about having it in Olivia's hometown of Linlithgow, but she wants it here in London." Claudia nods as she writes the answers.

"Last question, do you plan on staying at your residence at Baker Street or move into a bigger home? That is, if you plan on having children, trust me my parents had to move out after my younger brother was born. House was too small," Claudia said. Olivia and Basil look at one another, they haven't really thought of leaving Baker Street to raise a family.

"We actually never thought of that, but for now we plan on staying at Baker Street," Basil replies and Olivia nods.

"Oh yes! I need a photograph of you two!" Claudia exclaims and takes out a small camera.

"My word! How did you...I mean it must've been expensive," Basil said, but Claudia chuckles.

"Actually no, it didn't cost me much," she replies and moves them to an open space. "Need to show your engagement ring or no one will believe me," Claudia said and has Olivia place her hand with the ring on Basil's chest.

"Um...oh what the heck! You always look good in that hat," she said, referring to Basil's deerstalker cap. Claudia sets up her camera and takes a few pictures of the two, a crowd forming behind Claudia.

"That should do," she said, "I love this thing, best thing about it is that you can take many pictures, unlike those old ones," she adds. "Okay, I'll start on this and maybe get it into tonight's paper."

"Oh Claudia, I forgot to tell you," Olivia said, "The school's paper here will be the first to announce and maybe, several reporters will come for questioning."

"Really?! Oh that would be wonderful!" Claudia exclaims and adds, "I wonder if one of them will offer me a job after I graduate!"

"Miss Jaminson, I would like to offer my recommendation, for being a splendid journalist," Basil said and Claudia blushes.

The two mice then proceed towards the dean's office of the mice division, where the staff was and they were just as shocked as the students when they saw Basil with Olivia.

"Miss Flaversham!" a voice calls out and Olivia sees Mrs. Silverman wave to her. "I'm glad you made it! Oh my dear, we are so sorry about your father. If there is anything you need, you let us know," her teacher said and Olivia nods. Mrs. Silverman then notices Basil and gasps. "Mr. Basil! Welcome! I suspect some ladies got excited when they saw you," she said and they shake hands.

"Indeed yes," Basil said and adds, "This is a beautiful campus. Olivia's lucky to be here."

"Yes and we're happy you brought her back in one piece. The case was the talk of the college that day when the school's paper reported it. Although I still hear some students talk about it," Mrs. Silverman replies and leads them to a room.

Behind a desk was a middle-aged mouse lady, her attention was on a few papers. She looks up and exclaims, "Miss Flaversham! Welcome back!" Mrs. Silverman escorts them in and they settle in front of the dean.

"I'm Mrs. Dickinson, dean of the political science department," she introduces herself and adds, "Before we discuss your plans Miss Flaversham, I just want to express my deepest sympathy for your father."

Olivia nods and they begin their discussion. "Mrs. Dickinson, I thought of completing this one semester, but..." Olivia trails off and reveals her engagement ring.

"Oh my word!" Mrs. Silverman shrieks.

"Yes, we ran into Miss Claudia Jaminson and we asked her to announce our engagement in the school's paper," Basil said, but the two women stare at him.

"You mean, you two are?!" Mrs. Dickinson asks and Olivia nods, taking Basil's hand. "Oh my goodness! Congratulations you two!" she exclaims and settles back down in her chair.

"So Basil, I mean Elliott, we were discussing of wanting to spend more time together, but since I made a commitment here, I really want to focus my studies and just finish this semester and come back later in life," Olivia explains and both women mice nod.

"That we can understand, seeing that you two were separated for ten years and I did sense you two would fall in love," Mrs. Silverman said, but chuckles, "Oh ignore me, we're just happy for you two."

"We can work with that," Mrs. Dickinson said, "We'll file a record on your profile and you are welcome to come back anytime or maybe attend another college. We can always transfer your file if you wish to do so."

"And Mrs. Silverman, I would like to work on the assignments I missed while I was gone," Olivia said, but the teacher shakes her head.

"No worries for that, we'll just-" "No, I'm serious Mrs. Silverman," Olivia cuts in, "I'm fine with working on what I missed."

"She is very determined," Basil said, "In fact, it would not be right to skip over some important lessons." The teacher thinks for a minute and nods.

"Well then, if that's all for today, then we'll see you on Monday Miss Flaversham," Mrs. Dickinson said and they stand to leave.

"Oh, I forgot, I wish to stay on campus, seeing how far Baker Street is," Olivia said and the two women mice nod.

"Oh yes, Mrs. Silverman, would you know any hotels near the campus?" Basil asks, "I hate to spend time away from Olivia and if I were to stay nearby, then we could meet over the weekends," he adds.

"I'm very sorry Mr. Basil," Mrs. Silverman replies, "But the closet hotel is ten miles away. And I'm speaking in human terms, it's a bit far for a mouse."

Basil and Olivia look at one another, they would have to face separation once again, but then Mrs. Silverman adds, "I have an idea, why don't you stay at my place? There's a spare room in the upstairs area, you can use that."

"You really mean it?!" Basil asks, excitedly.

"Oh yes, it would be nice to have the world's famous mouse detective in my house and I hate to see you two lovebirds be separated since you got back together. Although, I will put down some ground rules," Mrs. Silverman said and Basil nods.

"Thank you Mrs. Silverman, I am forever in your debt," he replies and they leave the dean's office. Basil feels a hand on his shoulder, Mrs. Silverman was behind him.

"I will allow you two to engage in...sexual activities," she whispers and Basil blushes. "Yes, I believe it is healthy to engage in such activities before marriage. This is the 20th century after all. Oh, I should mention I was a rebel in my family, they never liked my views."

"Thank you again Mrs. Silverman, when do you want me to come?" he asks.

"I do need to clean the room a bit, but it should be ready before Sunday night," Mrs. Silverman said, but she whispers again, "Mr. Basil, I should warn you, there's really no such thing as a "perfect" marriage. You two will argue and fight sometimes, and sometimes it'll feel like the end of the world."

Basil looks down at the floor, he failed to realize that some marriages will show some ugly sides, but Mrs. Silverman places a hand on his shoulder. "Now, I'm not saying your relationship will end in the future. I'm trying to say that marriages usually work when partners discuss their ideas together. That's the best advice I can offer for now."

"How do you know all this?" he asks and Mrs. Silverman gives a little smile.

"I actually divorced my first husband, he was controlling and I realized that our marriage would not work because he didn't like my rebellious behavior, but unfortunately, my parents were not happy. They had the old belief that you only get married once, well I actually disagree. Well, the late Mr. Silverman was a wonderful mouse and we had three children together," the teacher explains and Basil places a hand on her shoulder.

"I am very sorry Mrs. Silverman, but I am glad you told me all this. Are you a philosopher?" he asks as sort of a way to lighten the mood.

"I must be," she chuckles and the two bid farewell for now.

"What did Mrs. Silverman tell you?" Olivia asks, but Basil gives a nervous chuckle.

"That's something I need to tell you in private," he replies and they step back into the sunshine. Then, a crowd of students spot them and they swarm around them.

The women mice ask about the case, their engagement, although some were skeptical about it and a whole of other questions. "Ladies!" Mrs. Dickinson shouts and orders them to leave the couple alone.

"Sorry Mr. Basil, but they just can't get enough of you," the dean said and then adds, "Oh, why don't you come to give a speech or something? Encourage them a bit about new careers that the female gender was not allowed to do."

"I'll think about it, women should be allowed to expand their horizons," Basil replies and takes Olivia by the arm.

"Oh, before I forget, although it's bit of a ways away," Mrs. Dickinson said, "There will be a masque ball on Guy Fawkes Night. The college holds it every year and both of you are invited if you like."

"A masque? Sounds wonderful, Basil has plenty of costumes, I mean disguises," Olivia said and Basil nods. They leave the campus and find a trolley that would take them back to Baker Street.

Basil notices that the sun was shining bright and there was no haze, a welcoming sight for him. He feels Olivia lay her head on his shoulder and Basil feels the same hunger he experienced last night. He keeps it under, he wanted to be gentle from here on out.


From the author: Yeah, this chapter does mention that there is no such thing as perfection in a relationship. Although, Basil and Olivia might go through some ugly periods in life, but we'll see how they work things out.