STRONGER THAN TIME

Hello my dear people. New Year has officially started, so it's time for new challenges. I decided to do something which will definitely get me out of my comfort zone. I have to confess something to you. Ever since I started to read Chelsie fanfictions, I wasn't a fan of modern stories- I couldn't handle the idea of Chelsie in present times, but when I read two or three really great modern stories, I changed my mind and I decided to give it a shot myself.

I have to warn you-this will not be a typical story. It's really freaky and a little crazy, like me. So you may not like it, but I hope you will a bit. It will contain supernatural plots.

Story summary: Elsie is a divorced psychologist, who lives in London and Charles is a widowed headmaster. They are meeting by accident, which will soon turn out to be the happiest accident of their lives and by the way, they will discover something amazing about their past...

Legal note: I do not own Charles or Elsie, but I like to give them any sort of adventures.

Highclere Castle, Summer-2021,

Elsie sat herself comfortably on of the benches of Highclere park. It was a bank holiday and the weather was not wonderful, meaning that there wasn't a full son, but it was warm and nice. Elsie took out the bottle of her mineral water to drink. She and her dog-labrador Max, have just made quite a walk through the park. She took his bowl, that she always carried in her purse and poured a water to Max, who drank it greedily. After taking a few big sips of water, Max obediently lied next to the bench.

Elsie sighed deeply and she leant against the bench, closing her eyes for a while.

She really needed this day off. After all the trauma of last year's divorce, with her now ex husband Joe Burns. They were married for 14 years. They knew each other since childhood, which they both spend in Argyll, Scotland.

Ever since they were children, all their families and friends kept on repeating them, that they should be a couple in the future. They attended schools together, they went to college together, although they chose different majors. Joe decided to study accounting and finances, while Elsie chose psychology.

She always wanted to understand the complexity of a human brain and the connection between events of people's lives and their characters.

After they graduated, they decided to move to London and check out how it is to live in a big city. Joe found a job in one of leading accounting firms in London and Elsie started to work in a psychlogoy centre.

They were both very successful in their careers. Joe was determined to go higher and higher in his career and soon he opened his own accounting office. It was the same with Elsie. She was such a great psychologist, over the years she has helped so many people, that very soon she decided to open her own practice, which turned out to be a great success..

They were both commited to their jobs totally. When they were both 28, they decided to get married, since they were living together for some time. To a great disappointment of their families, they didn't plan a huge wedding in Argyll, like both of their families would expect, but they got married in a city hall, with just few guests invited and a modest dinner after the ceremony.

In the beginning things were going pretty good, but soon, it turned out that there are quite a few bumps along the road.

Joe wanted them to start a family, but Elsie wasn't quite convinced to the idea. When finally he managed to persuade her, they gave up contraceptives and they waited for the results.

As time passed and Elsie was still not pregnant, they decided to ran some tests, to check if either of them had some fertility issues and when they found out about their incompatibility and that their chances to have a baby together were almost none, Joe started to have a drinking problem and Elsie found out that her marriage was a mistake.

When she analyzed it now, when the emotions were not that high as during divorce, she understood, that she should have never married Joe, because she didn't truly love him. It's just all her life, she heard that she and Joe should be together, because they would make a perfect couple. Everyone seemed to think so and Elsie just got used to that idea. It wasn't great love who pushed her to this marriage. It was convenience and other people's opinions.

As things turn out from bad to worse, Joe started to come back home late, justyfing, that he had a lot of work, but after a while, Elsie discovered, that it was not work who kept him away from the house, but other woman.

As cliché as it was, it was Joe's secretary-Miranda, who was only 25. She and Joe had an affair and somehow she got pregnant, which made Joe extremely happy. When Elsie found out about it, she immediately decided about the divorce with Joe. This chapter of her life was definitely closed.

However, she did not predict that Joe will be such a pain in the neck during divorce...He prolonged it and prolonged it, for God knows what reason and as a result, Elsie decided that she will be the one who will move out from their apartment.

Joe was determined to keep it and she was really exhausted with a divorce process. So as a result of a divorce settlement, she has bought herself a new apartment, closer to her psychological practice office, in one of the finest areas of London- Hampstead. It took her only fifteen minutes to get to work, which was very convenient and the apartment was perfect for her.

A big kitchen, with a living room, from which she could see her small, but beautifully done garden and two bedrooms, plus a considerable size bathroom. It was enough for her. Elsie didn't need much, but when she was looking for her perfect apartment in the city, she only gave one condition to her realtor-two to be exact, she wanted it to be close to her office and she wanted a garden, even the smallest one, because she knew, that once she will finally end her bad marriage with Joe, she would need a companion- a dog.

Elsie loved dogs ever since she was a little girl, but she wasn't allowed to have it, as her parents said no. Later on, when she and Joe moved in together, she also couldn't have a dog, because Joe didn't like animals.

Now, for the first time in her life, Elsie was blessed with having her beloved companion. She and Max were inseparable.

Max was the only partner in her life right now. When she and Joe divorced, her friends and her favorite cousin Beryl, who was a chef of one of the greatest restaurants in London- "The Star", were trying to set her up with their single friends, but after few blind dates, which were total disasters, Elsie asked her friends to just drop the subject and let her be alone for a while. She really needed to catch a break after her long term relationship and a lousy marriage.

She was 42 now and she felt, that there was nothing missing in her life. She had a job that she loved, the best dog in the world, wonderful friends, a great apartment and as she tried to convince herself, there was nothing missing in her life.

This August bank holiday she spent in Highclere Castle. It was only an hour train trip from London and Elsie simply adored this place. She has disocvered it some time ago, when her friends wanted to make her feel better, after the awful divorce and they took her to Highclere one weekend.

She has never been there before, but as soon as she first walked in there, Elsie felt something magical about this place.

She really didn't understand what it was, but she felt like it was not her first visit here. On the contrary, she felt like she came back home, which was strange, because her home was Argyll. There was a feeling of unedning delight and peace in her, as she walked through the corridors of the castle, with her friends and she was looking at magnificent rooms of the castle.

The park outside felt nice too and ever since her first trip there, Elsie took every possibility to go to Highclere and spent some time there. Sometimes she spent almost all day there, eating lunch, walking, reading a book, along with her boy Max, who was a big fan of those trips too.

It was so nice to finally rest, after the horribleness of last year.

When Elsie opened her eyes and she she brushed away the hair from her face-blonde one, with red streaks, she petted Max, who waggled his tail, happy that his beloved lady was giving him attention. She took one sip of her water and looked around, watching the people who were passing her by. There weren't many of them here today, not as many as usual.

Few in love couples, walking and holding hands, few families with frolicking children, few elderly people, who used walking sticks as a help with their stroll.

But when Elsie looked hard, suddenly she saw a well known silhouette. She moved impatiently on the bench. There he was again. That man that she has seen here regularly. Almost like he lived there. It was simply unbelievable, but he was there every time she was there. Which was against all odds.

From the first time she saw him, he caught her attention. He was incredibly tall, his figure was a little rounded, but in Elsie's eyes it only added him charm. He had beautiful thick hair, in the color which somebody could described as salt and pepper-black, but with little streaks of silver. He had big, brown eyes and a sizable nose. They've crossed their eyes few times and every time that happened, Elsie felt like she was blushing and she didn't know why...

She felt a little silly, because she has passed an age when a man should make her blush, but somehow, he did. He was always so elegant, she has never seen him dressed differently than in the suit. In all sort of colors. This time it was a white one, with a blue shirt, slighly opened on top...It made him look incredibly handsome and very manly..

He was also accopmanied by a dog-a labrador, just like Max.

Elsie sighed deeply looking at him...There was something so appealing about him and so familiar, even though she really didn't know him, she was wondering, when was the last time she has ever felt like that about any man and the answer was-never before...There was one disturbing thought, that couldn't left her mind-will they ever have a chance of being introduced to each other? Right now she didn't know the answer to that question...

That's all for today's chapter my lovelies...Have I managed to intrigued you a bit, or is this story lousy? In this chapter, I presented you Elsie's life story and in the next one, I will present Charles's life situation. That is of course if you will have any interest in another chapter. Please let me know what you think. Your opinions are really important to me. Stay safe and see you soon!