By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, Jenny is wrapped up in a blanket in her lab, grading assignments late into the night. She wants to get the last few out of the way before heading home for the holiday. Laura has invited her to spend the day with her family, which she will, but she also has other plans that include a long-distance phone call to Sunnydale. Not tonight though, Rupert is travelling right now.
He is bringing Willow home for the holidays. Willow'll stay with Buffy when Rupert returns to Bath.
They're still writing after that first call, the one where she fell asleep listening to his voice. She'd woken to a message from him on her answering machine the next morning.
"I thought speaking to you once would be enough," he acknowledges. "But now I am, it's very clear I was naïve to think that. Sleep well, Jenny."
They've spoken a few times since that first night, usually at the weekend, when they have time to talk. They talk about all sorts of things, mundane and inconsequential, other times they broach the heavier parts of their relationship or the consequences of it. Such as a long explanation that her family won't even breathe the same air as her after she found a way to give Angel back his soul. Apparently, that wasn't her call to make nor was it her right to go searching in their family's most sacred of rituals.
She snuggles deeper into the blanket as she opens the next student's work. She looks over their assignment, adding comments to her notes as she checks the code her student has designed.
The sun set over an hour ago and she's trying to remember she isn't alone on campus. Most of the lecturers have left already but janitors move in and out quietly like shadows, emptying bins, cleaning floors and wiping surfaces. She isn't on her own, despite how dark it is in her lab. Her desk lamp is bright and casts light on the first couple of rows, though she can barely see beyond the fourth. She ignores the prickling at the back of her neck, there's no reason for her to be afraid. She hasn't stayed on campus this late since, well, since she left Sunnydale. Two more assignments to check.
She sips at her tea, wishing she'd opted for coffee to give her a boost. However, she'd like to rest when she gets home and lately, she's found tea comforting.
She shakes off her melancholy, tutting at herself as she turns back to her computer. It's a half-assed attempt because she knows what could be lurking in the dark. She resolves to work as quickly as possible, secure her lab and get home.
Thirty minutes later she's closing down her computer and securing the marking in the filing cabinets for when the students are back after the holidays. Jenny hums to herself, giving her desk one last look as she folds her blanket over the back of her chair. She shoulders her bag and turns off the light, casting the room into total darkness. This is the one thing she hates about her room, there are no windows and no direct light from the corridor windows beyond the back entrance, so at this time of night, it's dark except for the green glow from the exit signs above the door. She locked the side door hours ago so she only has one exit.
Keys in hand she strides through the seats, glancing around at the shadows, daring them to jump out at her. She hurries the last couple of feet, closing her door behind her, the click of the lock sounding louder than usual in the echoey hall. She secures the door with the deadbolt key before dropping them into her bag. She needs to head up to the faculty lounge before leaving to put her cup away and do a final pass of her pigeonhole because Laura said she'd leave directions to her house there as Jenny planned to stay late to grade papers instead of leaving with the rest of them.
Entering the darkened faculty lounge, Jenny quickly heads to the sink to wash her cup and place it onto the drying rack. It can stay there till after the holidays.
She yelps when she turns and finds Carl watching her in the dark. "Carl! What are you doing here?"
He smirks, emerging fully from the shadows, holding his hands up to pacify her. The gesture doesn't placate her concern. God, she's woked herself up tonight. "I didn't know anyone else was here until I heard you walking past my lab. Sorry if I scared you."
Jenny breathes in deeply to calm her heart. "I just wasn't expecting you."
His smirk widens into a leer. "Heading home for the holidays? Your guy flying in for the holidays?"
Jenny rolls her eyes. "Uh, heading home, yes," she explains. "My guy and I haven't been able to match schedules this year."
She doesn't wait for his reply and heads to her pigeon to get her latest mail which consists of a note from Laura with her address and directions from the train and a letter postmarked from England. She smiles as she runs her thumb over the address.
"What's that?" Carl asks.
"A letter," Jenny deadpans, sobering. She wasn't expecting a letter but it's a nice surprise.
"I'm sure it is, the way you're looking at it," he quips, eyeballing the stationary in her hand. "Doesn't look official."
Jenny pointedly tucks it into her bag. "Private."
Carl's frown switches between her and the bag, his mind working. "Your guy?"
She nods, not entirely sure how to decipher his question. Not sure he deserves an answer.
"Oh." His frown deepens at the confirmation. "I just didn't think you'd be the type to be swept off her feet by letters. His penmanship must be something."
The type?
"Oh, it really is, Carl," she sighs, keeping a tight rein on her temper. "Not that it's any of your business, but my type is the kind who writes."
"Yeah, but how do you know he's not writing to someone else?" Carl scoffs at her. "You're here all alone and he's where? If you were waiting for me," his gaze flits over her meaningfully. "I wouldn't leave you all alone."
"There's a little thing called trust, Carl," Jenny counters, stepping away towards the doorway. She really doesn't trust Carl.
"You know where I am if letters and long-distance phone calls stop satisfying you," he calls after her as she walks away.
It takes her all of the subway ride home and falling backwards against her front door to close it to get over her encounter with Carl. Pushing away from the door she goes through into her living room, dropping her bag on the couch. She flips on lights as she moves through the apartment to the kitchen. She flips the kettle on as she runs her hands through her hair, still rattled.
She closes her eyes and tries not to equate Carl to Angelus in her head. Angelus is gone; Angel has his soul. There's no need to worry.
Tonight was a one-off; Carl is a creep she can handle by going to Human Resources. She's very aware it's her word against his and he's only made a couple of remarks.
Tonight was the first time she's felt any real threat from him or maybe it was his aspersions and comments about Rupert and the letter he saw in her hand playing on her mind. Plus the fact that she'd let her fear get the better of her in her classroom before he crept up on her in the break room. She'd been looking for monsters in the dark and her mind conjured one.
She checks her watch. Their plane should be circling the airport right about now and Buffy should be driving to LA to pick them up for the last leg of their journey. She won't bother them tonight.
They'll talk tomorrow before she heads over to Laura's; she'll give Rupert her home address so he can direct any letters there and Carl won't be able to make comments on their communication preferences or imply Rupert is cheating. Which is impossible. Because even if Rupert is seeing someone, they're not together. She told Carl that to get him to leave her alone, only now he doesn't see that as much of a deterrent.
The kettle rumbles, low and insistent, only she ignores it and reaches for a tumbler on the shelf instead. She pours a healthy measure of scotch into the glass and downs it to calm her nerves.
It wasn't Angelus, she tells herself. It was Carl, who's a sleazeball.
She pours herself a smaller scotch and takes it with her to the couch. Slipping off her shoes, she curls her feet beneath and turns the TV on for background noise. She definitely won't be sleeping any time soon and she doesn't need silence for company. She sips at the scotch this time as she reaches for the Forster book on her coffee table.
"Yeah, but how do you know he's not writing to someone else?" Carl scoffs at her. "You're here all alone and he's where? If you were waiting for me," his gaze flits over her meaningfully. "I wouldn't leave you all alone."
She shivers as Carl's words come back to her with a surge of jealousy. Rupert hasn't mentioned anyone and she doubts he'd say some of the things he's said on the phone to her if he were seeing someone.
Jenny, you were, you are incomparable.
And he definitely wouldn't send her A Room with A View.
No, she doesn't think Rupert is involved with anyone. With anyone else, she would just come right out and ask the question, with anyone else she wouldn't care what the answer would be. Jenny sighs, wondering how to weave it into a conversation without coming across as possessive or jealous.
She flips open the book, deciding a chapter or four will probably distract her enough and reinforce the vibes she's getting from Rupert.
"I'll be in Sunnydale for Thanksgiving, Buffy's determined to give Dawn a family gathering," Rupert tells her and she feels as though it's more of an opening than a statement. "I mean, it's closer than Bath. I was wondering if you would like, I mean, do you have plans for the holidays?."
"Sunnydale is only about seven hundred miles closer than Bath." She thinks he wanted to ask something else but is glad he didn't so she doesn't have to turn down his invitation because she isn't prepared to return to Sunnydale any time soon. "And I have plans."
"Plans?"
Jenny blushes at the slight inflection of his voice and takes pity on him. "I'm heading to Laura's for the day."
"Laura?" Rupert asks.
"My colleague who spoke with Dawn about the Lit programme here," Jenny explains. "So, how long are you in the States for?"
"A while, Buffy is trying to convince me to stay until the New Year. I don't know if I'll be here that long though, probably until Willow is settled, safeguard against potential relapses. I can do the Council research anywhere as long as the adequate resource material is around."
Jenny can't resist. "If only it was all online."
"Haha, very funny."
They made plans to talk while he was in Sunnydale but neither of them had the nerve to ask each other to meet despite being in the same country. Jenny puts down the book. She pulls her bag onto her lap and finds the letter Carl caught her with. How is this any of his business?
Jenny opens it with the same care she has used with the other letters.
Dear Jenny…
"What a dick," Laura seethes the next day at her house. "I have a good mind to report him myself. Ugh, I thought he was a nice guy, I'm sorry that he cornered you like that."
Jenny waves her hand. "It's not the first time, but yeah, I'm of the same thought. I mean he wasn't physical, just made me uncomfortable, you know?"
"What if he does get physical with someone?" Laura muses with a shake of her head, brandishing the knife she's holding as though Carl was standing in front of her instead of a chopping board full of green beans.
"I know, I know, I'll write it up first thing Monday," Jenny promises. "He mostly pissed me off with what he said about Rupert." Laura does the sympathetic head tilt. "What?"
Laura's eyes widen as she tries to cover up her expression. "Carl might have a point there. I know you said you're taking this slow and you're not sure if you'll ever reconcile in person with Rupert. I've got to admit I was a little caught up in the romance at the start. A lost love, exchanging letters, gifting a romantic book which is a part of your history…it's hard not to."
"But?"
"It's just in the last couple of weeks, it's like you've gone from zero to sixty and it's a matter of when not if you get back together. I just don't want to see you get hurt and I get the impression Rupert is one of the few people who can hurt you."
Jenny mulls that over for the rest of the day and on the subway back to her apartment. She might not have dated anyone for the last few years, but that doesn't mean Rupert hasn't been or isn't involved with anyone else.