Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Lessons Learnt
Chapter 8
"So what do you think?" He asked.
"I like it. Do you?"
"Yeah it's just a bit on the small side though."
"It's cheap". Said Molly. "The best you can afford, this close to town anyway."
"Yeah. Might make you right there." Charles replied thoughtfully.
They'd been looking for a few weeks now for somewhere for |Charles to rent. Each one they'd seen had been way too expensive or too far away from his school. The house they were now standing in was a small two bedroomed house that ticked almost all of the boxes. Affordable, close to school and Molly, just it was pretty bloody small. The second bedroom was more of a cupboard than a bedroom Charles joked.
"It's small… less furniture to buy. How are you going to furnish it?" Asked Molly gazing into his face, distracted for a moment by his looks.
"Ah well that's the easy bit, I have quite a bit of stuff in storage. Collected it over the years. I'll get my parents to bring it across... see the place... and maybe at the same time...". Charles hesitated looking at his boots, "Maybe…they could meet you to?"
Molly snapped around to look at him.
"Yeah?"
"Yes Molly. I'd like to introduce you to my parents."
It had been nearly three months since they first met. Charles no longer felt she was special, he now knew, and for the first time ever he had wanted to let his parents meet his special lady.
"Oh. Ok then. Thank you". She bashfully cradled herself into his arms. "That will kind of be a first for me."
"Me too." He kissed her hair. "They're great my parents they'll love you."
"We'll see. Have you never introduced a girl to them before?"
"Not really." Said Charles. "Not in this way. So I guess if I'm going to show you mine….when do I get to meet yours?"
"Let's get you moved in and let me meet your parents before I inflict mine on you." She laughed desperate to change the subject.
The new term had started and Charles was now busy with his classes. His time now much more in demand and their mid-week meet ups were precious times tiding them over to the weekends, when if Molly was free, they dedicated themselves entirely to each other. Molly now, with the students back, couldn't stay at Charles' so he frequently stayed at hers. She had however met him at school once or twice since and had been blown away of the sight of him in a suit, smart, and nothing like the teachers she'd had at her school. Teasing Charles that if there had been then she would have definitely gone every day. This made Charles blush but secretly loved how attracted to him she was. Staying at Molly's though still wasn't great, it was not ideal and not very private. If, they figured they could hear exactly what Molly's neighbours were doing then they were certain others would hear them. So finding Charles a flat was vital.
"Ok I'll take it, sign today. They reckon I can move in as soon as I like." Charles decided. Happy he'd made a decision, besides there were only so many places one could look at each weekend before becoming totally bored by the whole thing, regardless of the ultimate goal.
And that is exactly what he did the following weekend when Molly was on a Hen do. With the help of Elvis and a few students, wanting to earn some extra cash, Charles' boxes were moved into his new home. It was the following weekend they agreed that Molly would meet his parents. They were to arrive on the Saturday and move the furniture in to the house. Giving Charles such luxuries as a table, chairs and a bed again. Something he'd gone without in the past week. Because of Molly's shift pattern they hadn't seen one another for over a week, she hadn't even seen his house since he'd moved in. It was therefore with excitement, and a lot of nerves that Molly knocked on Charles' new front door. Double checking her appearance, wanting to make the right first impression, and wanting to see the house now it had been made in to his home.
She was amazed when she arrived by how sorted everything was and by the amount of furniture he had and the general quality of it. It was old, expensive, and very tasteful. She would have pondered on this more if she hadn't had the daunting task of meeting his parents at the same time. They were just as Charles said….. lovely. They were kind to Molly and seemed surprised at her job. They too found it difficult to see this tiny, beautiful, delicate girl in such a tough male dominated environment. Realising that she obviously was some special type of woman, just as Charles had described her. Happy their son had met her. They asked her lots of questions, and seemed genuinely interested in her. They were however even more amazed that she worked happily with Elvis and hadn't killed him! They told delightful stories of Charles' happy childhood, as their only child. Elvis factored heavily in a lot of their stories, and Molly could see that Elvis and Charles were more like brothers to each other. It was obvious Charles' parents loved him very much and were vastly proud of who he had become. More than once they complimented him on finding Molly, and told her their delight in finally meeting her. They stated much to Charles' embarrassment that he had talked a lot about her to them over the past weeks, then slyly mentioning he had never really done that before regarding his love life.
As the evening drew to a close they said their goodbyes and set off back to their own home. A long journey ahead of them. Leaving a happy Charles and slightly bewildered Molly behind.
"Well someone loved you." Charles said after waving his parents off, holding Molly close. "Thank you."
"They're lovely Charles. I really like them."
"Good. It went really well. Thank you." He drew her in for a kiss. A proper I've missed Molly kiss, something he had been desperate to do all day. The chaste kisses he'd been able to drop on her face during his parent's visit had not nearly satisfied him enough. He needed Molly in his life, he now knew that. Her meeting his parents helped him to conclude that.
"Now what do you think of my home Miss Dawes? Comfortable enough for you?" It was so important to him that she liked it, hoping her liking it would add to the draw of her wanting to come and stay over more frequently.
"Bloody hell Charles it's really lovely. Some of the furniture is lovely. Where's it from?" Curiosity got the better of Molly. He had everything one would need to set up a home. She was worried that this maybe wasn't his first attempt. That there was some secret love affair that he hadn't told her about, that resulted in co habitation. She was nervous about his reply.
"Mainly from my grandparent's house. When they died most of it went into storage. I guess just waiting for today. For me to set up home."
"So you haven't done this before?" She needed clarity
"Done what? Set up home?" Then cottoning on to what she was implying. "No Molly, I've live away from home, but not like this, always in rooms, and always on my own." He knew he'd said the right thing as the smile crept across her face again.
Molly looked around. Excited that they now had a place for them. Somewhere where they could be alone….. together. Somewhere that would allow them to see how truly well suited they may be on a more permanent basis. Whoa, thought Molly where did that come from? She was nowhere near wanting to give up her independence to move in with anyone…was she? Besides she knew it was a moot point. She needed to talk with Charles. She had something important to tell him, and depending on his reaction maybe the course of their relationship would change.
Charles was sensing that Molly was worried and hesitant about something. But to be honest, for tonight he didn't want to know. Didn't want to have anything between them except love. He wanted to mark the occasion of his new home with Molly. Celebrate in style as it were.
"I'm knacked." Charles said pulling her closer into him. "How about we go and christen that bed?"
"You're such a romantic." She scolded but dragged him up the stairs anyway, knowing she was delaying the inevitable, but for now not caring. She needed some loving from Charles to take away the badness that she knew was coming. It was cowardly, but Molly needed to have Charles to remind her of what they had, and to banish any thoughts of what she may lose when she told him.
Waking up the next morning Charles appreciated everything he had. Waking up with Molly in this small room, which they had made their own was how he felt it was meant to be. He prayed that they'd have more mornings like this, that Molly would stay over regularly. He rolled over to face her and kissed her, a butterfly type sensation happening across her beautiful skin. Molly moaned, rolled over and snuggled deeper into him and the bed.
"Come on. I know you're not asleep."
"Please can I have five more minutes? Someone kept me up quite late last night." She snuffled into his arms, which were holding her tightly.
"I didn't hear you complaining at the time." Charles pointed out, remembering the fun time they had had with one another's bodies.
It wasn't that Molly was too tired. She just didn't want to face the day. They'd had, in a fit of friendship guilt, invited Elvis and Georgie round for Sunday lunch. Sort of a house warming visit for them and a dip in domestic bliss for Molly and Charles. Molly was dreading it. Ever since the awful night during the week when she'd met up with Elvis for a drink after work, she knew it wouldn't be too long before their secret was out. Too many folks knew now, the gossip was already spreading around the camp. There was no way the truth could be avoided. Molly looked over at Charles regretful that they were in this position.
"Come on get up we have to get things ready for the gruesome twosome." Charles laughed at the nickname that Molly had given their friends. Whenever the four of them got together, neither Charles or Molly really had fun. Molly quite often embarrassed about the way her friend behaved, and Charles embarrassed that his friend was letting a woman make such a spectacle of him.
As soon as Elvis and Georgie arrive. They both knew it was a bad idea.
Georgie slammed past Molly as she opened the front door to them pushing onwards into the kitchen. Shouting at Charles, anger bubbling up.
"So has she told you yet? About him and her?" Georgie screamed. Charles visibly winced.
It was the moment Molly had been dreading. Wanting to tell Charles at the right time. She didn't want secrets from him, just what she had to say she knew was going to hurt him. Molly just wanted to make Charles happy.
"No what? What she on about Molly? Elvis?" Charles turned to them both looking panicked. It was at that moment that he knew, looking at Molly and Elvis sharing guilty looks. Whatever Molly and Elvis had to tell him it was going to hurt him. His best friend and girlfriend had a secret, a secret that they needed to tell him.
"Yes tell Charles your little secret. See what he thinks about it. What he thinks about his precious Molly now." Wailed Georgie desperate for either of them to speak.
"Charles." Molly began "I was going to tell you. I'm sorry."
"What? Molly what is it? Sorry for what?"
She took a deep breath. She'd never done anything like this before. Never had to be the one to put someone threw this. She didn't want to either. She just wished she could climb back into bed with Charles and make the world and it's truths go away.
"We're being deployed. Central Africa for three months. We're expected to leave by the end of the week."
With that all the air went out of Charles' lungs with surprising force. He felt dizzy. It wasn't what he expected, somewhere in the back of his mind he'd expected something more sinister, just not this. This however was hard to hear and process. Molly was going away.
"What?. So what's... I mean... when did you know ... why haven't you told me?" Charles looked at Molly still trying to process the news.
"Look mate sorry. We only found out for def. on Friday. Molly was kind of bound not to say anything." Elvis said placing a conciliatory hand on his shoulder.
Before Charles could reply Georgie piped up again.
"Oh how perfect. You and Molly alone together for the next three months. You bloody planned it. Nice an cosy this eh!"
"Wind your bleeding neck in you mad bunny boiler." Elvis said. "It's me job. She's me bloody medic. I don't give the orders where to go do I?"
Molly looked at Charles and saw her beautiful man hurting. She was heartbroken too. Leaving him for three months was going it be hard. She'd never really left anyone behind before, but knew that it was going to hurt her just as much as it was going to hurt him.
"Charles?" She said going up towards him and touching his arm. "I was going to tell you tonight. I'm sorry….Elvis only told me the other night….I just couldn't say until then really."
"So when do you go exactly?" Automatically asking questions, his stunned brain was finding difficult to process.
"Friday or Saturday. Details not definite, not yet. But its definite I'm going with the SF this time."
"How can you Elvis leave me again? Well I'm warning you this time don't think I'll be here when you get back. Waiting around like some mug." And with that Georgie stormed out the house.
Elvis looked apologetically at Charles and Molly. "Sorry mate." Then ran out after Georgie shouting " Babes, come on. Babes. I need you…"
Silence rained in the kitchen.
"I wish you'd told me sooner."
"I couldn't." She said. "Partly because I wasn't allowed to and then with your parents here I didn't want to spoil anything. Sorry."
"You haven't spoilt anything Molly. I'm just going to miss you so much." He knew this was hard for her too. He didn't want the remaining time they had to be bad times, he wanted to make Molly have happy memories to go away with.
With those words she ran into his arms. Between now and leaving she
vowed to make as much time as possible to spend with him, to be held by him, to memorise everything about him.
"I'll miss you too Charles." She whispered on to his lips, begging him to kiss her.
He started to move his mouth firmly onto hers, and then stopped suddenly. "Oh no . You'll be away for Christmas!" the truth of just how long they were going to be separated settling heavily on them both.
"Yeah. But we can write and Skype, and maybe text each other. The thing is I just don't know until I'm there. But whatever I can do I'll make sure I do it." She promised, trying to make something right about the situation.
"Yeah I know. Seen it all before with Elvis." No he hadn't, he did really have a clue, a general idea but nothing that was going to prepare him for their months of separation.
He let go of her and sat himself down at the kitchen table. She cautiously approached him.
"You ok?" she asked using his frequent line.
He didn't have the heart to reply. He had to be honest. He knew what he should have said he just couldn't.
"No I'm not Molly. Kind of blindsided here if I'm honest."
"Yeah I know. Please Charles just hold me."
And he did. He held on to her tightly praying that she'd be safe, that the time apart would go quick, and that she would come back to him.
Her departure date was set for the next Saturday morning. They were told that partners weren't allowed to travel to Brize to have their good byes, so the whole team said their farewells to their loved ones on a cold grey early morning in the camp car park.
"Look after yourself please Molly. Come back to me." Charles hoped he didn't sound as beseeching as he felt.
"I will. Don't worry. You too. I know how rough those private school boys can be." She joked, but her heart felt like anything but joking.
In the week she had told him, there had been little time together. Her preparation for the deployment taking over many hours of her time. Charles understood or at least that's what he told himself, and her. But deep down he knew he was starting to resented her job and all its demands on her. He felt like he was competing for Molly's time and was losing. Always second to the Army.
The car park over flowed with couples and families tearfully saying good bye. Quietly with reserve and bravery. That was apart from Georgie who was wailing at Elvis' sudden departure from her life. All there heard and saw. Elvis was cringing, visibly.
"God. She's going on a bit". Laughed Molly. Her laugh was fake and Charles knew it. "Pity you when we go. She'll be over here wanting your shoulder to cry on."
"Yeah. Christ. Don't remind me." He knew time was ticking away. He had to be honest three months was a long time without each other.
"Look Molly. All this you and me it's been incredible. I've loved every minute of it. I'm just sorry you're going away for three months. Well it's a long time isn't it. Things can change and that...but I just… sorry…. you know... I just don't know if I can anymore ..."
"Shit Charles." She whispered. "Are you breaking up with me? Look I know it's a long time, but it doesn't have to be the end... it will be good when I come back. I will come back."
"Oh God no Molly I'm not breaking up with you. I am trying to tell you something."
"Really? Then what you trying to say? Cause it sure sounded like it."
"Molly I'm trying to tell you something important…."
"Five minutes guys... then on the bus." Elvis interrupted Charles' sentence barking out his orders. Orders that didn't exactly have the same weight to them with a grief stricken female clinging on to his arm!
"What Charles? Cause whatever it is you're kind of making me a bit worried here."
"No Molly. It good I promised. At least I hope so." He smiled at her holding her face in both his old hands, she flinched slightly.
"Christ Charles spit it out." She bit back at him impatient, mindful their time was running out.
Charles was a bit taken aback by her, but ploughed on.
"I'm trying to tell you Molly Dawes...I love you!"