May 1974

One Year Later

"Today, is a memorable day. Today, you go forth from this educational establishment and take your place amongst the cream of society's legal professionals. Today, is the beginning of the rest of your lives. Some of you may have found it easy, others may have found it hard, but you have all finally made it and for that fact alone, you should be proud of yourselves." The Dean smiled at all of the people gathered in front of him, "Congratulations."

The large room erupted with the sound of clapping and cheers as the class of 1974 prepared to graduate and leave Harvard forever. Ben joined them, but his enthusiasm was far dampened by the absence of one person in particular. Evelyn.

After Whitworth's revelation that Evelyn had dropped out completely, Ben had spent the best part of six weeks trying desperately to find her. He had repeated the searches he had carried out over his summer vacation, even going as far as trying to track down the cops who had dealt with her brother's case. They had practically laughed him out of the station.

"This is stupid, Ben," Craig had said finally, "You're never going to find her."

Ben hadn't wanted to agree with his friend, but as time passed, he had begun to realise that he was right. It didn't matter how hard he looked, if Evelyn didn't want to be found then she wouldn't be. He had applied for, and got, the apprenticeship with the DA's office in New York and was due to start on July 1st. As the year had progressed, he had allowed himself to get more excited about the prospect of his future, about moving to New York and starting again, but Evelyn was always at the back of his mind. Even when he walked across the stage to get his diploma, he was thinking about her.

"I'm so proud!" Kathryn Stone blubbered covering him with kisses when he met up with her at the end of the ceremony, "You've done so well!"

"Thanks," he replied, watching as Senator Phillips gave his son a manly handshake. Nick looked over in his direction and sneered at him, no doubt thinking he had contributed to Evelyn leaving.

The days and weeks that followed graduation went by in a flash. He spent a couple of days just hanging around the house, listening to music, trying to put her from his mind and reading the real estate ads from New York. His mother had made the ludicrous suggestion that he could commute, but Ben had vetoed that straight off. He was twenty-seven years old, it was time he struck out on his own.

The first few apartments he had circled, he visited on a weekend trip to the city. But none of them were particularly appealing. Grotty and cramped with landlords who wore coffee stained white tank tops. Not what he had envisioned. As July 1st grew closer, he began to despair of ever finding somewhere, until Craig mentioned that his uncle was looking to rent out his apartment in the city. Ben jumped at the chance and was glad he had. It was small, but it was clean and Craig's uncle was also a lawyer, so he knew he was in good hands. As he sat in the living room the night before his first day at the DA's office, Ben felt as though he had finally come home.

SSSS

His first day didn't go well. He got a ticking off from his boss, ADA Patrick Bowyer for a case summary he had written. Bowyer claimed it had too arrogant a standpoint, and that Ben, being a new start, should learn a little humility. Ben had been stunned. He had never considered himself as arrogant, but after Patrick's rebuke, he began to wonder.

Days two, three and four didn't go well either. Neither did weeks one to six. Nothing he did seemed to be right and if he was honest, he was about to throw in the towel when DA Alfred Wentworth called him into his office last thing on a Friday night.

"Sit down Ben," he said, gesturing to one of the chairs in his office.

"Thank you sir," Ben replied.

"So," Alfred regarded him from his desk, "How are you finding it here?"

Ben paused, wondering whether he should lie and claim everything was great, or tell the truth and badmouth a senior member of staff.

"You don't have to say anything," Alfred spoke for him, "I can see by your face."

"I'm sorry sir," Ben said, "I didn't mean…"

"Forget it. It's not you." Alfred came and leant on the edge of his desk, "We put all our new boys with Bowyer. It's a way of weeding out the men from the boys. He's the toughest guy to please in this office, tougher even than me." He smiled, "But if you keep your nose clean, listen to what he says and learn from it, you'll do just fine." He walked around his desk again, "I've been hearing good things about you, Ben."

"You have?"

Alfred smiled, "Bowyer knows how to play the game too." He lifted a case file from his desk and tossed it to Ben. "Read this over the weekend. Give me your opinion first thing Monday morning."

"Yes sir," Ben replied. As he left the office, he felt much better.

SSSS

That weekend, he poured over the case file, taking copious notes, wanting to make absolutely sure he got everything down for Wentworth. He was so engrossed in it that it took a good few minutes for him to realise that the phone was ringing.

"Hello?" he said, picking it up. At first, there was no reply, only the sound of static. "Hello?" he tried again.

"Ben?"

The voice was faint, but he recognised it instantly, "Evelyn?"

She let out a long shuddering sigh at her end, "Yeah."

"How did you…Where are you? Are you all right?" He had a million questions.

"I'm…" she broke off, "No, stop it."

"Stop what?" he asked, confused.

"Not you," she replied hurriedly, "hey, I said knock it off!"

"Evelyn?"

"Stop it!" she shouted again.

"Evelyn, what's going on?" Ben demanded.

"I can't…Ben!" she sounded desperate.

"Where are you?" he asked again, this time shouting it at her, "Evelyn, where…?"

"Ben, Ben I'm in Times Square! Ben…" the line went dead.

"Evelyn? Evelyn!" he shouted to thin air. "My God." Slamming the phone down, he grabbed his car keys and ran out the door into the driveway and jumped in his car. Gunning the engine he flew backward out onto the street and tore down the road in the direction of Times Square. She was in New York, in the city. She was so close to him…

The traffic was heavy and to his frustration, there were jams all the way in. He could barely sit still, beeping his horn every two seconds until the guy in the car in front turned round and gave him the finger. Ben hoped against all hope that she wasn't in trouble, that nothing had happened to her. He would never forgive himself if it had.

Parking near Times Square was virtually impossible and he had to settle for 34th and Broadway. Jumping out of the car he raced up Broadway as fast as he could go, desperately scanning the busy streets for any sign of a familiar face.

"Evelyn!" he yelled, although his voice was swallowed up by the beeping of car horns, the sound of music and people yelling, "Evelyn!" People pushed past him, intent on going about there business. He was pushed back against a phone booth and felt a sharp pain in his back, but it didn't deter him, "Evelyn!"

Ben roamed the nearby streets for the best part of an hour, constantly calling her name, stopping people and asking if they had seen a woman in her mid-twenties with long dark hair. One guy had immediately pointed out four women fitting the description, and he began to see it as a futile task.

When he was about ready to give up, he stopped and stood, his hands on his hips, not knowing what to do next, when he heard someone calling his name. The voice…it sounded just like Evelyn…

"Ben!" he heard her scream again and he swung around to his left, in time to see her standing on the opposite kerb. Without any thought for the busy evening traffic she ran across the street and threw herself into his arms. "Ben…" she buried her face in his neck and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"It's ok, Evelyn. You're ok. I've got you." He made to pull back to look at her face, but she continued to hold onto him, seemingly reluctant to let him go. Eventually, she did pull back and he took in her tear-stained face "Oh, Evelyn…" Before he could say anything else, she kissed him. He didn't resist, holding her to him, his mouth gently exploring hers until he thought he was going to run out of air. When they broke apart, she shivered.

"It's cold," she said simply.

Despite the fact it was roughly eighty degrees, Ben didn't want to argue with her, so he took off his sweater and handed it to her. She wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks."

"Come on," he said, "my car's parked not far. I'm taking you home."

"Not to my house," she said worriedly, "please…"

"It's all right," he reassured her, "I'll take you to mine."

"No," she said, just as forcefully, "No, I…I don't want that."

"Ok," he scrambled around for a compromise, "how about a motel?" It sounded like he was trying to get her into bed, but if it came across that way, it was lost on Evelyn. She nodded.

"Ok."

SSSS

"Evelyn?" he said quietly as he pulled up outside the first motel he had seen since they left the city, "Evelyn, we're here."

She looked as if she was just hearing him, "What?"

"I said we're here."

She looked out of the front window at the building in front of her, "Right."

"Come on," he opened his door and got out. She sat completely still, as she had done for the whole ride out, so he walked around to her side of the car, opened the door and held out his hand, "Evelyn?"

She let him guide her out of the car and towards the reception area where he quickly asked for a room. Evelyn stood at the door, her back to him, the light evening breeze causing her hair to blow slightly around her shoulders. When he'd got the room key, he touched her on the shoulder, causing her to jump.

"I've got the key."

She nodded and didn't protest when he put his arm around her waist to steady her as they walked past the rooms until they reached the one they'd been allocated. Ben put the key in the door, opened it and let her go in first. She switched on the light and the room was bathed in a sickly yellow glow.

"It's not paradise but it'll have to do," he told her.

"It's fine," she replied quietly, sitting down on the edge of one of the two single beds.

Ben closed and locked the door and crossed the room to sit on the other bed. For a moment, he didn't say anything, just sat and watched her. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked finally.

Evelyn raised her head and looked at him, "Which part?"

"All of it. Where you've been for the last year? Why you dropped out? What happened tonight?"

"You graduated. Congratulations. I saw your name in the paper." She made no move to answer any of his questions.

"Damn it, Evelyn!" he declared angrily, standing up and pacing the room, "Do you have any idea what it's been like for the last year? I didn't know where you were! You could have been dead for all I knew."

"I might as well have been," she replied.

"Don't be ridiculous!" he threw back, "you don't mean that."

"Thank you for coming to get me," she changed the subject.

Ben shook his head, realising that he wasn't going to get anywhere with her tonight. "Well I'm going to bed. You do whatever the hell you want." He pulled off his sweater and pants so that he was dressed only in his underwear. Then he yanked the covers off the bed, climbed in and lay down. "Turn the light off when you turn in." He didn't sleep, couldn't, with the light blazing through the room. He was determined not to turn over though. He didn't want to look at her. Finally, twenty minutes or so later, the light went off.

"I dropped out because I was going to fail." Her voice came through the darkness, "Why bother going back?"

Ben turned over onto his back, staring up into darkness, "You could have taken the exams again."

"I'm not cut out for law school."

"You didn't give it much of a chance."

"I lasted a year."

"You should have come back." Evelyn didn't reply. "I would have helped you." She still didn't reply, "Evelyn?" He switched on one of the bedside lamps and saw her slumped over the bed, fast asleep. Gently, so as not to wake her, he got up, lifted her up slightly to pull out the bedclothes and then covered her. As an afterthought, he dropped a kiss on her forehead and then paused, his face hovering inches from hers.

God, he wanted her. He wanted her so badly. But he stepped back and climbed back into his own bed, then turned over onto his other side so that if she were to wake, she wouldn't see him relieving himself of the tension.