Just doing my job

Epilogue 2 - The morning after (Bath)

On the M4 near Bristol - 9.50am

He was really disappointed not to be able to share her special day yesterday and he knew Molly would have loved him to be there with her. But only three guests were allowed at the investiture and, after discussing things, they had agreed this particular occasion should belong to her family. He would have had to displace Molly's mother or father or grandmother and he could never have done that; they were all so desperate to go. But in any case it wasn't really practical for him to travel over 100 miles each way at the moment, not in his current state of health, so the decision had been made.

He had noticed such a change in her, talking on the phone yesterday and again this morning. The occasion and the day had obviously had a huge impact. Gone was the usual "just doing my job" response to any praise or the guilt at receiving any award at all. Miraculously almost, she now seemed really proud of what she had done and the award she had received. She believed in herself at last. He wondered what had happened, to bring about this change.

He had tried to convince her so many times since that magical first date but with little success. Perhaps it was the fact that the future king had told her he was in awe of her, perhaps the fact that the press and TV were clamouring, queuing, to interview her. Having the Military Cross actually in her hands may have bought it home to her. He just didn't know. Whatever it was, it didn't really matter in the end; the positive change in self-perception and self-esteem that he had detected in those two long phone calls yesterday was all that mattered.

Now he had to psyche himself up to losing her for three months. In just a few days she'd be flying back to Afghanistan. But it was what she wanted to do, had to do, the closure she needed. And she would be brilliant at it, he was sure of that. In any case, if she was going to remain in the Army, and he thought she should, then he would jolly well have to get used to her being away.

He'd already decided what he'd get her as a going away present. That's why he was now being driven by his mother, early in the morning, to John Lewis, just outside Bristol. He was going to get her an iPad. What better present could he get? There was still good quality Wi-Fi at Bastion (or what was left of Bastion) so it would be perfect for frequent Skype calls. The added bonus was that the iPad would also be invaluable for any research she needed to do, for making notes and for visual aid production. At least with easy access to Skype he would be able to see her regularly as well as talk to her. That might ease some of the agony of separation.

Charles felt very relaxed being driven by his mother. She had been a successful amateur rally driver in her twenties and was probably the best driver he knew. She was asking him for details as they drove. "Well, what did the Prince say to her?" "Did the BBC interview her?" "What did they ask her?"

"Mum, I really don't know. I only got snippets. I do know Prince Charles told her he was in complete awe of her. I also know that she was more in demand with the media than several TV celebrities... But she did say that she was upset that nobody asked HER for an autograph!"

His mother laughed.

"Turns out she was there for over half an hour doing interviews after the ceremony, the celebs had all finished long before her. You'll have to ask her yourself for details when she arrives this afternoon."

"I will. I am SO looking forward to meeting her, you know", said Mrs James , now concentrating on finding a space in the car park.

"You'll love her Mum, you really will"

Charles's leg was improving day by day but the shopping centre was vast and a round trip from the car park to John Lewis's I.T. department was almost a mile. It was as far as he wanted to walk at the moment. He'd done all his research on tablets so knew exactly what he wanted. He sought out an assistant standing near the dedicated Apple display area and gave her the order.

"I'd like an iPad Air 2 in Gold please", he said, "128 Gig. Oh, and a proper Apple case for it, matching colour."

"Certainly Sir, just wait there and I'll go and get them for you. Back in five minutes and we'll go over to the till" said the assistant.

To kill time, he wandered off into the video and TV area. All around him were televisions of every possible size, from the small bedside variety to massive wall hung screens almost 6 feet across. There must have been 50 of them at least, all with exactly the same picture but all with the sound turned off. Fifty identical newsreaders were reading the news in complete silence.

He wandered aimlessly between the screens, marvelling at how picture quality had improved over the last few years. All of sudden every single television had a picture of an attractive female soldier on it, in dress uniform, standing outside the Palace, holding her medal in front of her in its presentation box and talking (silently) to the camera. He was completely surrounded by high definition pictures of his lovely Molly as far as the eye could see. On some of the bigger screens she was more than twice life size! It was quite a surreal moment. He froze momentarily in disbelief and then searched desperately for a remote to turn the sound up on one of the sets. He looked around for his mother but she had already disappeared to go and buy her Daily Telegraph. Eventually he found a TV with a remote and searched for the volume control on it but by the time he had located the appropriate button, the news item had finished; it was obviously a very short recap on yesterday's ceremony. Molly had gone and the newsreader was back speaking silently on the 50 or so screens.

The assistant returned, carrying the two boxes she had got from the secure store, and found her, slightly shell-shocked, customer in the middle of the TV display area. "Would you like to come over to the till."

...

He met his mother, as arranged, at 10.15 in Costas, a stone's throw from John Lewis. She was sitting at a small table by the window with a cappuccino in front of her and had placed a double expresso opposite her, ready for her son's arrival.

"You'll never guess what just happened in John Lewis", he said pulling the chair out to sit down.

"Never mind John Lewis," she said, "Have a look at my paper."

"Not now, Mum, I'll just savour my coffee if you don't mind. Anyway, I was standing in..."

"Thought you might be interested in this," interrupted his mother.

She rummaged in her bag, pulled her newspaper out and laid it out flat on the table towards him. "Page twelve" she said with a grin. He flicked the pages over.

It was a full page report on yesterday's investiture. There was a picture of Prince Charles knighting somebody with his sword and two pictures of minor TV celebrities (who he recognised but couldn't put a name to). But the biggest picture by far, far bigger than the others and purposely positioned centrally just under the page headline, was one of Molly holding her Military Cross.

"Well, you were right," said Mrs James, "she is lovely".

He smiled at his mother in tacit agreement.

Molly's mother and Nan were also in the picture, standing each side of Molly, and her Dad was just behind her right shoulder. They were all smiling and obviously very happy and very proud. The page headline in very large letters summed up the picture perfectly.

It read, "OUR GIRL".

That completes this story but there is a sequel being written which moves things on to the meeting in Bath. "Back to Afghan (via Bath)"

All characters belong to Tony Grounds and the BBC. (For Goodness Sake BBC - OG The Series 1 was a universally acclaimed success - announce Series 2 !)