Where Are You Page 3

  The pub fell silent as people turned to look from as far away as the juke box.

  And then the haze fell, clouding Erin’s vision. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. What happened?” She didn’t think her grip had been that strong, but she definitely felt something break. Poor Scruffy, what had she done?

  Scruffy doubled over in agony, gripping his wrist, his face a contortion of suffering.

  Mikey, put a hand on Scruffy’s arm. “That sounded worse than the cycling accident.” He looked to Erin and shook his head. “There goes his engineering degree. What did you do to him?”

  Erin looked, pleading to Gia who’d already stepped in front preparing to launch some kind of defence. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I did. I just shook his hand and I felt something break.” The sudden urge to crawl under the table and curl into the foetal position was overwhelming.

  Scruffy slowly looked up, a wide grin stretched across his face, then a crushed can dropped out from below his sweater. He laughed at Erin’s hopeless expression before grinding his double-jointed wrist about the socket. “Gotcha.”

  Erin breathed, realising a crowd had gathered to view the commotion. The heat rose to some unbearable temperature and she knew her face had turned scarlet. This was not the tearing of the band aid she had in mind.

  Gia hit the pair of them with fists clenched. “You mean boys. That’s the worst thing I’ve seen…Ever! How could you be so horrible?”

  The two men were in such hysterics they struggled to take their seats, almost knocking over their drinks as they did.

  “And now you want to sit with us?” Gia demanded before rattling off some lightning quick Italian that unsettled Erin but not the guys in the least. Indeed, they seemed to revel in having wound her up the wrong way. “This is how you two boys go around meeting girls is it?”

  “I’ve never seen anybody fall for it so hard.” Scruffy gestured to both girls. “I’m sorry, but you’re both obviously freshmen. We just couldn’t resist.” He pointed to Erin. “And you were truly petrified.”

  “I have no idea what you’re even saying.” Gia said in retort, prompting yet more laughter from the two men, which annoyed her even further. “It’s getting hot in here all of a sudden.” Gia said as she unzipped her jacket and threw it on the seat.

  This was the first time Erin had seen Gia without that damn thick winter jacket on. And even if she couldn’t admit it, she spent a few seconds glowering at the lean and athletic figure beneath. She still wore a thick long sleeved red jumper, her breasts stretching out the material impressively and Erin definitely noticed both Scottish idiots ogling them in not such a subtle way.

  Erin would need to come in on Gia’s side, even though she wasn’t the confrontational sort. “You should see a doctor about that wrist of yours. It can’t be healthy having it dislocate like that.” She noticed Gia nod her head, which Erin took comfort in.

  “Ah, it was just a wee bit of fun. I’m sure you can forgive us?” Scruffy asked, pushing a thick clump of matted hair from his eyes.

  “I’ll forgive you when you take a bath.” Gia said, prompting even more laughter.

  “I take it getting your number is out of the question then?” Mikey asked with mock seriousness.

  Erin turned to Gia and awaited her answer. Neither guy was unattractive and they both possessed confidence in abundance. What’s more, they had a warm quality about them. But how would she handle being asked for her number, even if it was a joke?

  “I’d rather spend a night alone in the Catacombs of Rome. And I told my friend this was a friendly student crowd.” Gia said, though she had now visibly eased up and her harsh words in no way mirrored her demeanour as she sat back in her seat, almost flushing.

  “Ok, listen…How about a peace offering? Let us buy you another drink and we’ll call it evens. Deal?” Scruffy offered.

  Their wine was approaching the empty side. But Erin didn’t think the peace offering was necessary. She was more than happy to have met them; it would sure make a memorable first time in a Cambridge student pub even if the situation that had unfolded was a scene from her worst nightmares. At least the nosy students who watched had gone back to their own business now.

  Gia hesitated and then nodded her head. “Ok then, we’ll accept your peace offering. But I think we’ll have a beer this time.”

  Mikey went to the bar as the three of them chatted. Erin studied Gia’s face, particularly the narrowing of the eyes and scrunching up of the skin between her eyebrows as she tried to understand the fast talking Scot; it was an amusing thing to watch.

  Mikey returned with four beers in pint glasses and placed them on the table.

  “Thank you. I guess I was a bit harsh earlier. So I’m sorry for that.” Gia said, changing tact.

  “Aye well, you survived it.” Mikey said.

  “How about we play another game?” Gia offered, leaning closer to Mikey.

  “Aye, what game did you have in mind?”

  She looked at the two of them. “If you can both hold your glasses to the ceiling using only a pool cue for a whole minute, without spilling a single drop then…” Gia smiled at Mikey, “then I’ll give you my number.”

  Mikey shot bolt upright in his chair. “And Scruffy gets her number.” He pointed to Erin. “Hey, it’s only fair after all.”

  “Deal.” Gia said, knocking knees with Erin below the table. What was she getting them both into?

  Erin’s heart shot into her mouth. Both guys were kind of cute, but all she wanted to do at this moment was get to know her new friend, not score guys’ phone numbers. One giant hurdle at a time was more than enough for Erin right now. It was hard enough merely being around people she’d never met before. Giving out her phone number and being expected to go on dates while everything else was changing before her eyes was too much to contemplate.

  Scruffy approached the pool table and brought back two cues. He handed one to Mikey and they both positioned themselves, raising their full drinks with outstretched arms, pressing the glasses against the ceiling with one hand and manoeuvring the cues into position at the base with the other.

  “Remember, you have to last a full minute and not spill a single drop.” Gia said, knocking knees with Erin again.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” Erin whispered in Gia’s ear.

  Scruffy sniggered. “You could at least give us something difficult.” He shrugged his shoulders in Mikey’s direction as they pressed the tips of their cues against the under-side of the glasses, pinning them against the ceiling. They lowered their hands down the shaft of the cues as their drinks were pressed to the festering, brown stained ceiling above.

  “Are you sure this is it?” Mikey asked confused. “A bit easy ain’t it? Shall I just take your number now?” He made a motion with his free hand as if to signal going into his pocket for his mobile.

  Gia stood, grabbed her bag and coat before turning to Erin. “Let’s go babe.”

  “What?” Erin asked in disbelief. She laughed aloud, the realisation hitting her. It was a plan for revenge all along, as she looked at the two men, unable to move lest they drop their drinks over themselves.

  Scruffy and Mikey looked to each other as the ball dropped. They’d been duped by a pair of female freshmen. “I don’t believe it. Fair play girls, but you couldn’t help us out here could you?”

  “Now where would be the fun in that?” Gia asked as she took Erin’s hand and dragged her toward the exit.

  As they neared the door, Erin turned back to look at her friend’s handy work. They stood in squatted positions, trying to figure out what to do as a large crowd gathered around cheering and whooping.

  In the moment, Erin felt invincible, like she could do anything and it was all thanks to Gia. Though as Gia took her hand and they began running along the cobbled street in the rain, she also took a moment to reflect how glad she was that it wasn’t her left in such a predicament.

  Chapter Three

  Memories


  The memories, some hard but mostly fond, had continued to filter through Erin’s mind in the days following the inconvenient reappearance of that damn poem. Events she’d not thought about in so long, assumed forever forgotten, struck her with the emotional equivalent of a locomotive. As she sat in the auditorium, a smile crept upon Erin’s face at the memory of their first visit to The Baron of Beef. In the end they had to apologise to the landlord to save from being barred, she recalled. That day had set in motion events that would define the rest of their relationship.

  Now, while she should have been concentrating on her speech, all Erin could think about was Gianna and that she should be present, sharing in the moment.

  Most of what Robert Smith; Founder of Relief for Heroes was saying had gone straight in one ear and out the other. She cursed herself – This evening was important; not just for her future career but for many of the heroes present; men and women who’d sacrificed so much. She owed it to everybody to be on her usual form tonight.

  To the many hundreds present, Robert had spoken for the last twenty minutes about the work his organisation carried out. Relief for Heroes, a charity that took care of the many wounded soldiers returning from the war in Afghanistan who were in need of care, home modifications to enable wheelchair access, artificial limbs or money to allow their loved ones to visit as they recuperated in centres across the country. Erin had become involved after picking up more and more physio clients with war wounds. They didn’t encompass all her work, but unfortunately over the years they had become a large part of it. Erin disliked relying so much on money from the charity to keep her practice afloat. The truth was she longed for the day she wouldn’t need to see another wounded soldier who needed to learn to walk again.

  The evening was a £150 per head meal with guest speakers and even a comedian who’d somehow managed to find the humour in having had both legs blown off by an improvised explosive device. Although Erin herself hadn’t been required to pay the fee on account of receiving an award for recognition, she had insisted on paying double, as had Ben.

  “Not long now, I hope you’re ok?” He asked.

  Erin had thus far drunk one large glass of white wine, more to dull the memories of Gianna than the need for courage. “I’ll be fine.” She squeezed his hand and wondered if he was more nervous than herself.

  “And now we pay thanks to the many physiotherapists up and down the country who do such incredible work with us.” Robert Smith continued from the stage. “Tonight we honour one such therapist in particular, and to introduce our honouree, please welcome Sergeant Major Thomas Becker.”

  This was a surprise. Tom walked across the stage unaided and Erin could do nothing other than applaud him, knowing the difficulty he’d be having right now. Tom had sure kept this quiet; she’d only seen him the week before when he’d managed to walk a whole one hundred metres on an incline unassisted.

  He shook hands with Robert and turned to the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen…I first became acquainted with the winner of this appreciation award when I returned from the war having lost the use of both legs. I fully expected to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair, relying on friends and family for such things as going to the park or taking a shower.” He continued to speak for a few minutes about the treatment he’d received at the Cambridge Revival Centre. About how when he arrived he was a shell of a man, unable to stand, and now, as witnessed by everybody, he could walk unaided with his head held high. “I owe all this to one person and I’d like to introduce you all to this very special lady.” He paused, “please welcome Doctor Erin Baker.”

  She stood, kissed Ben on the lips and made her way toward Thomas and the stage. She squeezed him tight. “You are in big trouble Tom.”

  He winked at her. “You deserve this, enjoy the moment.” He placed a small, modest bronze medal around her neck that had engraved the simple inscription Relief for Heroes.

  She had to wait almost a minute for the applause to fade as she strode to the podium and looked out at the large gathering. “Thank you Sergeant Major, my friend Tom. I’m truly honoured to be receiving this award, but I do so on behalf of all physiotherapists up and down the country who carry out similar work with our wounded heroes. I am simply one of their number.”

  Erin spoke about the importance of the work they carried out as well as the difficulties they faced and how the charity was helping overcome the obstacles. There was still work to be done and many of the wounded would require therapy for the rest of their lives. She found Ben’s face and smiled. “I must thank Doctor Ben Harper whose work in developing improved prosthetic limbs has done so much. You have been an inspiration, as well as a rock through the hard times.” She paused to allow the gravity of her words to make an impact. “I also pay thanks to the many people who’ve helped along the way; my parents, Andy Atkins, Professor of Physiotherapy at the University of Cambridge and all the scholars who’ve contributed to the field.”

  But most of all, even though she couldn’t say it, she thanked Gianna for changing everything and making her who she had become. Where are you?

  “I am so proud of you.” Ben gave her a warm embrace back at his countryside estate in Little Thetford. He handed her a glass of wine. “Watching how you’ve grown over the years is really quite something.”

  “That’s kind of you.” Erin wondered if the lack of nerves she’d experienced was because she was permanently over the self-imposed prison sentence that was chronic shyness or because her present emotional state prevailed over everything else. Regardless of everything, sometimes it didn’t feel like she’d changed at all. Outside factors she had no control over still dictated her state of mind.

  “How about we take the wine upstairs?” He took her hand and led her to the bedroom. “Are you ok?” He asked with uncertainty. “You look a little glum considering the evening you’ve had.” Ben threw his blazer and tie to the chair behind.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” She slipped out of her heels, dropping noticeably in height before Ben’s stature and met his lips as he fiddled with the zip at the back of her dress.

  “You’re so beautiful.” Ben whispered, sliding the zip down with one hand while brushing her red hair with the other.

  But it didn’t feel right, not tonight. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m in the mood right now. It’s been a big evening.” She stepped back and took a seat on the bed.

  “So there is something wrong then?” He exhaled and walked to the other side of the room, picking up his wine and taking a large gulp. “You’ve not been right since you shut yourself away, supposedly ill.”

  “I was ill, Ben, I had the flu.” She hated lying to him, but had little choice until she worked out just what was happening inside her head. “I just don’t feel up to my usual strength at the moment,” she pleaded. “Could we just go to sleep?”

  Ben crossed back over to her and lightly caressed the side of her face with his fingers. “If that’s what you’d like. It’s your special evening. But I know there’s something not quite right and I deserve to know what it is.”

  “The Pirate Society.” Erin screeched, surprising Gia with her enthusiasm.

  “It’ll just be some overgrown teenagers who never got to play out their childhood fantasies. Besides, I hated the movie, it bored me to tears. Can you believe they’re thinking of making another? Who would want to watch the sequel?” Gia plucked at a blade of grass, balled it up and flicked it at Erin, hitting her square on the forehead.

  Erin slapped her on the shoulder and watched as she rolled onto her back, raising her hand to block out the sun. The cloister hummed with passing students, only a few bothering to sit on the lawn.

  “Pirates of the Caribbean was awesome!”

  “No it wasn’t and I don’t get the obsession with Johnny Depp either.”

  “You don’t like Johnny Depp?” Erin asked, almost as shrill as when she mentioned joining the Pirate Society.

  “Uh uh.” Gia shook her head and plucked
up another blade of grass.

  “So, you’re more of an Orlando Bloom kind of girl? I guess he’s younger and way less risky…If you prefer playing things safe, which come to think of it, isn’t you at all, as I’m finding out.”

  “Don’t make me flick more grass at you.” Gia nudged her with an elbow.

  “Yes miss.” Erin lay down beside her, using her bag as a pillow. “So, who is your favourite movie star?”

  “That’s an easy one…Monica Bellucci…Oh my God, did you see her in Malena?” Gia rolled on her side to face Erin.

  “Malena? No, I’ve never heard of it, or of Monica Bel…who?”

  “What? Then you have been truly deprived of great films and beautiful actresses.”

  “Ok.” Erin said flatly. “Well what’s this film about?”

  “It’s about this woman…Malena, who everybody suspects is sleeping with the entire town, just because she’s so damn beautiful. But underneath the story is about how people always judge others based on looks or on hearsay rather than actually getting to know a person before making a judgement.”

  “Oh, I see, and what happened to her?”

  “The townspeople nearly drove her over the edge.” She said glumly. “But it all ends well…Kind of anyway.” She perked up and touched Erin’s arm. “Hey, you should come over and watch it. It’s subtitled but I’m sure you can read.” Gia gestured about the cloister as if to suggest being at Cambridge was evidence to that.

  “I’d love to. Just say when and I’m there.” Erin paused as if expecting Gia to continue and when she didn’t… “So that’s it?”

  “It? What’s it?”

  “I half expected you to say Brad Pitt or Colin Farrell or someone.”

  “Why?”

  “Um, I don’t know. I just pictured you with somebody rugged.”