amberfocus | A Sky Without Zeppelins: Chapter Twenty-Seven

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                                                                  Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Hello, Mum,” Rose says weakly pushing away from her lover. The eager expression on Jackie’s face fades as she takes in the pair of them. She quickly pulls the open sides of her dressing gown closed over the rather too flimsy negligee she’s wearing. Rose has never seen her mother blush that deeply before.

“Oh, sorry, to interrupt sweetheart. I thought you were Howard. He just stepped out for some milk,” Jackie says looking embarrassed that Jonathon just saw her in her night clothes. She pulls her dressing gown tighter around her, secures it with the tie, and steps back into the flat.

“Hello, Mrs. Tyler, lovely to see you again,” Jonathon says a bit sheepishly.

“Dr. Smith,” she says nodding at him but still looking caught out that she’d been seen in her state of undress. “I’ll just leave you two to it, then.”

“It’s fine, Mum. We’ve said our good-byes already,” Rose says. She brushes another quick kiss over Jonathon’s lips. “See you tomorrow then?” she whispers.

“Yes, sweet dreams, Rose.”

She smiles. “Oh, the very best ones, I think.” She stands on her tiptoes and whispers in his ear. “Good-night. I love you.”

He returns her smile and says in a husky voice, “Good-night, love.” He hugs her tightly then pulls her in for one more kiss after a quick check to see that her mum has wandered back into the flat and left them alone. Five minutes later Rose enters the flat and leans hard against the front door, savoring the last delightful kiss and the whole fantastic weekend in a bit of a daze. She’s not sure she’ll ever stop smiling.

“I guess I don’t have to ask you how your weekend went,” Jackie says with a smile. “You’re practically floating. Was it everything you wanted, sweetheart?”

Rose nods shyly. “And so much more.”

“You were careful?” Jackie asks.

“Every time,” Rose says only a little embarrassed. “Howard stayed over?” she asks uncertainly.

“Well, you were away for the whole weekend,” Jackie says with a shrug. “I wasn’t entirely sure you were coming back tonight, either.”

“I told you I was,” Rose says.

“When you’re in the first blush of new love sometimes rational thought out plans go by the wayside,” Jackie says. “I’ll bet you wanted to stay.”

“Yeah,” Rose replies thinking about just how badly she had wanted to and if she hadn’t been so afraid of completely losing herself in the relationship, in Jonathon, she would have done. “But, you know, real life calls. I have school in the morning and I have some news.”

Jackie gives her a brilliant smile. “So have I, Rose.” The doorknob turns and Howard enters the apartment with a jug of milk and a bag of groceries in his arms. Rose moves to take the jug from his hands so he can shut and lock the door behind him.

“Hello, Rose,” Howard says with a soft smile.

“Hi, Howard,” she says and leans up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek. “It’s been weeks.”

“I know. Wasn’t sure I’d see you again before graduation, you’ve been so busy lately.” His eyes move past Rose to Jackie. “Did you tell her?” he asks.

“Thought we could do it together,” Jackie says with a tender smile and the three of them head into the kitchen to put the groceries away. Jackie pulls out a packet of Rose’s favorite biscuits while Howard pours them some milk.

“Milk and biscuits?” Rose asks with a laugh. “I feel a bit like a little girl.”

“This isn’t about you being a child anymore, Rose. It’s about you being a woman,” Howard says.

“Mum! You didn’t tell him?” Rose is close to freaking out. The last thing she needs is her mother’s long-time boyfriend knowing about her sex life.

“Honestly, Rose, don’t be so paranoid. No, this is very much about the fact that you’re an adult now and well…” Jackie sighs and looks at Howard.

“I’ve asked your mother to marry me, Rose and she’s said yes. After you’ve graduated from university we’re going to have a small ceremony and then Jackie’s going to come live with me,” he says. “You’re welcome to come too if you want to. I have the room, but if you don’t…well, you need to have enough time to make plans.”

“I…I…” Rose stops, swallows hard and then pushes away what this means for her and thinks about what it means for her mother. “Congratulations,” she says. “I’m so happy for both of you.” A thought occurs to her. “Wait a minute. You weren’t waiting on me, were you?”

There is silence. “Mum?” When Jackie doesn’t meet her eyes she turns to Howard. “Howard?”

“You’re mother thought your education should come first, Rose and I agreed. You didn’t need the stress of trying to move and set up a new flat or moving in with me during your last semester of school,” he tells her.

“Do you want me to move in with you and mum?” she asks slowly.

“Rose, you know I love you like a daughter and I’d be happy to have you living with us,” he says. “You’ve always been a joy to have around and you’ve always welcomed me into your life. It’s about what you want. You and your mum.”

“Mum?”

Jackie sighs. “In all honesty, Rose, I think it’s time you were on your own. You’re an adult and I think you’d be happier out there on your own, experiencing all life has to offer. And I’d like to…well, be alone with my husband during the honeymoon phase.”

Rose giggles. “Gee, don’t know why,” she says flippantly. “The thing is it’s six weeks until graduation. I don’t know if I can get together enough money for first, last and deposit in such a short time. Maybe you ought to have told me sooner.”

“Actually, we’ve got that covered,” says Jackie.

“I’m not taking money from Howard,” Rose says. “You know how I feel about taking money I haven’t earned.”

“Yes, I do. Howard’s been helping me with the bills the past few months, Rose and I’ve been putting the money you give me for the mortgage and utilities into an account. It should be enough to get you started.” Jackie stands up and goes over to one of the kitchen drawers and pulls it open, removing a bank book. On her return to the table she hands it to Rose.

Rose flips the book open and reads the amount of the total deposit. “This is…Mum, it’s too much.” She pushes the book back to her mother.

“Rose, this is how much you contribute to this household,” Jackie says pushing the book right back at her daughter. “You’ve been doing it for years, taking care of me for years, and you shouldn’t have had to. I should have been able to provide for you better.”

“But Dad--.”

“I shut down after your father died, Rose. I had opportunities I could have taken but didn’t. You’ve had to pay the price for that. You took care of the both of us and now you don’t have to. I’m just sorry it’s only six month’s worth of expenses. I wish I could pay you back for the past six years, Rose, for taking on a responsibility you never should have had to assume,” Jackie answers.

“Mum, I didn’t mind,” Rose protests.

“I know you didn’t and I love you for it, but now it’s time for you to take care of you. Can you survive on your Temmel’s paycheck? Maybe you and Georgie can take a flat together after graduation?” Jackie suggests.

“I suppose,” Rose says. “But I’ll be working at Illuminate then and the pay will be quite enough for me to live on my own if I want to.”

“Rose, I know that has always been your goal, but there’s no guarantee you’ll actually get hired on there,” Jackie begins. “Don’t count your chickens--.”

“Don’t have to,” Rose says. “I signed a contract for James Lumin this weekend. I start part time tomorrow after classes and go full time after grad,” she says.

“Tomorrow? Don’t you need to give notice?” Jackie asks.

“Mr. Lumin owns Temmel’s. He wants me on bad enough that he’s taken care of everything. Apparently he’s been watching me since I got my first scholarship from him. I’m the only one who has ever gotten that particular scholarship four years running. He’s very interested in my work in robotics,” Rose explains.

“That’s wonderful!” Jackie says.

“Congratulations,” offers Howard.

“Thank you. So,” Rose says looking back and forth between her mother and her future step-father. “Is there a ring involved in any of this?”

“He gave it to me yesterday,” Jackie says moving her left hand from her lap and placing it on the table in front of Rose.

“Oh, that’s gorgeous,” Rose says picking up her mother’s hand and studying the ½ carat diamond surrounded by a circle of ruby chips. The band is either white gold or platinum and judging from Howard’s rather successful butcher shop business, with five in central London, she rather thinks the latter.

“Have you set a date for the wedding?” Rose asks when she’s done admiring the ring.

“June 17th,” says Howard.

“A week after graduation,” says Jackie. “We don’t…we don’t want to waste anymore time.”

“You didn’t have to, you know,” says Rose. “I would have been happy to go out on my own sooner. I thought…well, I thought you needed me, Mum.”

“This is the way I wanted it, Rose. And Howard’s a good man and a patient man. He humored me,” Jackie tells her giving her fiancé a fond smile.

Rose yawns without warning and covers her mouth belatedly. “Sorry,” she says. “I didn’t get much sleep this weekend.”

“I’ll bet,” says Jackie with a snicker.

Rose gives her mother a dark look. “Think I’ll head off for bed now. Again, congratulations. See you in the morning.”

They murmur good-nights and Rose goes and gets ready for bed. She falls asleep relatively quickly, not even having time to notice, much, that her bed is not nearly as comfortable as Jonathon’s and that her arms are achingly empty.

Jonathon is too keyed up to sleep when he gets home and settles in to watch some television, but even then he can’t concentrate. He gets up and paces the living room, trying hard not to obsess about how much he misses Rose’s presence. He’s a grown man. He’s been one for years, not some silly adolescent who can’t stand to be separated from his first bit of puppy love for a few hours. Not that Rose is puppy love, but the point still holds.

He needs to reel this in, ramp it down, make it less than what it is and he can’t. He’s so in love with Rose Tyler it frightens him. And worse than that, he’s afraid if he can’t get a handle on this thing it’s going to frighten her as well. He sighs and runs his hands through his hair, making it stand up on end before smoothing it back down.

He moves over to the mantle above the fireplace and starts rearranging the knick knacks, wiping away the amount of dust that has managed to accumulate in the past two weeks. He picks up his mother’s locket and opens it, glancing at the photograph inside for the first time in far too long. It shows both of his parents in one half and a photograph of himself as a child in the other half.

They are all so unfamiliar. He smiles sadly wishing he had even bittersweet memories of them, but as he tries to focus on recalling a memory of them his amnesia pushes the thought into the back of his head, making their image dance in half-remembered flames. He snaps it shut and puts it back down.

He runs a thumb over his father’s watch but doesn’t pick it up, moving along to the middle of the mantle where the coral sits. He frowns. There seems to be a slight depression in the wood and he picks up the coral to see an indentation. The shelf is starting to bow a bit there. He glances down at the piece of coral and frowns, his eyes focusing acutely on the little souvenir. It feels heavier than normal. He looks it over but it’s the same as it’s always been; small, compact and a pale pinkish orange.

Putting it back down he moves away from the fireplace. A strange sense of loss washes over him and he frowns turning to look back at the coral. He reaches out, touches it, and feels somehow reassured and the feeling of unease vanishes. He picks it up again and takes it with him into the bedroom setting it on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. No, just next to his bed. Rose doesn’t technically have a side of the bed because she doesn’t live here.

He wonders when he can reasonably ask her to move in with him and then startles at the thought. It feels like it came out of thin air. Reasonably he thinks he needs to wait at least six months before asking her something so important. That means October. He can do that, wait until October. Then maybe a further six months before he can ask her to—what the hell is he doing thinking about marriage? He’s known her for a couple of weeks! Why is every fiber of his being screaming out to hold her to him forever?

Jonathon is up and pacing the bedroom again but he can’t help himself. Thoughts of marrying Rose are so ridiculously strong in his head that he can’t even push them aside. He envisions a future with her as if it has been pre-destined, right down to their brilliant side by side careers and beautiful, inquisitive children.

His heart is beating a mile a minute as he grabs his keys and races out into the night. He runs until he is too tired to think, too tired to move and sits on a bench, his head in his hands. The images are fading from his mind, their almost frightening clarity losing the grip they had had on him the farther away from his flat he goes. He sighs as he pulls himself back together. He takes his mobile out of his pocket, glances at the building behind him and the corner street sign for an address, and calls a cab to take him back home.

He collapses into bed grateful when the overwhelming rush of emotions does not overtake him again and he falls into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Timothy Marrow is waiting for Rose when she enters the science building on Monday. He falls into step beside her. “I heard you were hurt at the expo,” he tells her. She gives him a weary smile.

“No, not hurt,” she tells him forcing brightness into her tone. “You and Sarah and Elliot all got out okay?” she asks.

“Yeah. Feels weird to be back in here, though,” he says with a slight shudder as they pass the exhibition hall. “You look happy,” he says a moment later and this time the smile she gives him has far more energy.

“I am happy. It was an eventful weekend,” she admits.

“You and your boyfriend do something special?” he asks.

She blushes. “Mostly we just hung out but he took me to Illuminate and I got a job offer.”

“Oh, Rose, that’s fantastic,” he says turning to her and giving her a brief and enthusiastic hug. “I’m so happy for you. You’ve wanted that as long as I’ve known you.”

“Actually, I think I wanted to be an astronaut when you first met me. That and an Olympic gymnast,” she says with a giggle and he laughs.

“Fine, then since you’ve been serious about your future.”

“And my mum is getting married right after grad. Her boyfriend proposed. She told me last night,” Rose shares.

“The butcher?” he asks.

“Yep,” Rose says. “He’s a good man. He makes her happy.”

“You going to move in with him then when your mum does?” Timothy asks.

“No,” says Rose. “I’ll find my own place to live. I can’t stay at the estate. I don’t really want to, anyway.”

“Sarah’s moving in with Elliot after graduation. Her roommate is looking for someone to share a flat with. She’s a nice girl. Rebecca Hollister. Do you know her? She went to Jericho Street Junior School with us but was one year behind,” he tells her.

“No, I don’t think I know her.”

“She’s an artist. Moves in different circles from us techie geeks. I think you’d like her, though. Her personality suits yours. I can get you her contact information if you like,” Timothy offers.

“Where does she live?”

“A half a mile from Illuminate. It’s walking distance. No more buses,” he says.

“Yeah, I think I’d like to meet her, see if we get on. It’d be a relief not to have to think about finding a place,” Rose replies.

“I imagine you have enough to think about as it is. New boyfriend, new job and your mum’s wedding coming up. I’m so happy for you.”

“You’re a great friend, Tim,” Rose says giving him another quick hug. They enter the robotics lab together and with a brief good-bye Rose goes and unlocks her storage bin and sets to work on her cat. She is surprised at how quickly the morning flies by and though she gets a lot done in this and the following class it is almost like she did it all without ever engaging her brain.

She leaves campus via bus and heads to Illuminate to start her first day, a ball of nerves in her stomach as she approaches the guard shack on her own for the first time. From there she is assigned a guide who leads her to human resources and she begins the long and somewhat tedious process of becoming a true employee of the most important company on the face of the planet.

Ch. 28:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/178601.html