Chapter 5

"Remind me again why we're having to fix the wall?" asked Scott.

He and Virgil were kneeling by the hole. Scott was mixing up fast-setting plaster and render and passing them to Virgil who was applying them to the wall as if sculpting a masterpiece.

"Oh, Brains needed equipment for the lab and I swung the trolley around the bend too quickly and…you know." Virgil hadn't even attempted to sound convincing so Scott merely gave him a look.

"And the real reason?"

Virgil sighed and sat back on his haunches, "I guess I'm not as over Sophia as I thought."

"And you took it out on the wall?"

"Probably better putting a dent in the wall than Alan."

"Eh?" queried Scott. "How did he get involved?"

"Forget it, it's not important. You know, it's not so much Sophia. That was great while it lasted. It's just got me thinking how impossible any sort of relationship with a female is. Do you remember Sophia, anyway?"

"No", replied Scott honestly.

"She was at Denver when I was. Remember I said that I used to play piano for the theatre group, sometimes, in rehearsals and performances?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well, one of the leading lights of the group was Sophia Westlake, usually main female lead. I used to really lust after her and she's probably the reason I helped out the theatre group so much. Anyway, I was just a piano geek to her and she never took much notice. A few months back I was in Sydney and I bumped into her. Well, our eyes met over a crowded subway platform. We had a coffee and she obviously decided that I wasn't a geek anymore and it went from there."

"I was right about the twinkle in your eye then?"

Virgil grinned at last. "You read me like a book. We had a really great time. She's smart, funny, unpredictable, beautiful and finally getting a sex life was a bonus, too."

Scott chuckled at that. "So what went wrong?"

"What do you think? International Rescue got in the way, of course. I mean, at first it didn't matter. She's actually a professional actress now, not big time but she's in regular work. And she models and does adverts and stuff. She's pretty busy so me not being around a lot didn't bother her. Then she started to want to hang out more with me in between jobs and she was mad at me when I kept disappearing. That's the hard bit."

"What to tell them, I know."

"I didn't feel I knew her well enough to tell her about International Rescue so I just hinted that we did secret work here and she took that to mean something for the Defense Department. But then she wanted to come over to the Island and stay for weekends….it just got complicated."

"I understand," mused Scott, "But Virg, we're entitled to a love life."

"Are we? Look, Sophia is…well…she's wonderful But she's an actress. She lives in a world full of people. She loves to be in the middle of a big group partying, having fun. Acting is her passion and so much socialising goes with that. I am not willing to leave International Rescue and live on the mainland right now. As I see it, for me and her to take the relationship further she would have to come and live here. Then I would have to tell her all about what we do, she would have to promise to keep it a secret and then she would have to live here in solitude. She might be able to keep up with the acting jobs but she wouldn't want to be stuck on the Island for any length of time and I'm not ready to leave." Virgil stuffed some more patch-up filler in the hole, less artistically this time.

Scott collected his thoughts. "I can see the problem."

"I think I need to be more like you and just love 'em and leave 'em. One or two nights and that's that."

Scott smiled slightly. "Yeah, okay, so maybe I do take the easy way out but I certainly think that one day I could have a wife and children and still be involved in International Rescue. I believe it can happen and it will."

"But you just put your finger on it. The wife bit. As far as I can see I can only have a relationship with a woman for over two weeks provided I want to marry her in the end. That way she can know everything and what she's taking on."

"But love doesn't work like that."

"Exactly. But how do I get to experience that middle bit of a relationship without compromising the security of International Rescue and my part in it?"

Scott thought. "Honestly? I don't know, Virg, I really don't."

"When we moved here I thought I'd just be sacrificing a few evenings in jazz bars and a bit of a social life, and possibly a bit of sanity by living with Alan again. But we end up sacrificing so much more."

"And you're beginning to think the sacrifices aren't worth it?" asked Scott.

"No, it's not that exactly. It's like monks."

"I beg your pardon?"

"They renounce their normal life, go and live in a monastery and give up possessions and women, to pray to save the souls of the rest of us sinners. And like us, they think the sacrifices are worth it. Sacrificing yourself to save humanity."

"Steady on, we've only saved 10 miners this month. It's a way to go before we save the whole of humanity," chuckled Scott.

But Virgil was lost in his thoughts and didn't laugh at Scott's words. Instead he spoke to himself as much as his brother. "But do you think monks ever dream of a night with a hot girl or just being able to spend a day without praying? And are they destined for eternal hell if they do?"

"You think too much. I also reckon you haven't met the right girl yet."

Virgil turned to Scott. "It's as easy as that? I just meet the right girl and it will all work out?"

"Virgil, it has to or we're all doomed to be in the same boat as you and you know what happens when we're all in a boat together. We argue about who's captain…."

"…we trip over each other and eventually someone throws Gordon overboard."

Scott laughed. "Exactly. I wish I had the right answers for you but I don't. We do good here and Mom always said that our actions determine what we get. It'll come good, just not with Sophia."

"Ah well, going out with her was a lifetime's ambition realised, anyway," Virgil replied off-handedly. "Thanks for the chat. You're right, I was brooding. Come on, let's finish up here."

Virgil started the painting, whistling a tune, leaving Scott wondering whether he really believed any of the platitudes that he had just imparted to his brother.