Wednesday - An Archipelago Story

“You know, I find it difficult sometimes,” Edward said. He looked for a reaction from Maria but there was none. “I’m not quite sure what to do really. I feel that all I can do is stand back and listen. There’s not much for me to do. You know, actually, physically do.”

Maria looked up from her sandwich, a look of resignation and annoyance on her face.

“What did you expect?” she asked. “This is a health centre. You don’t have medical training. Of course there are limits to what you can do.”

“I know. But at the community centre. I thought that...”

At this moment the door flew open and Jette stormed in, beaming at Edward.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked.

“The kitchen’s cold, I’m afraid,” he said. “The power’s not back yet.” He pointed at Maria’s plate but apart from a few crumbs, she had finished her sandwich.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Jette said. “I’m starving.”

She checked the cupboard to evaluate her options and slammed the doors shut almost immediately.

“Fuck this.” She threw her soaking raincoat across the room and turned to the door. “I’m going into town.”

“In this weather?” Edward asked.

“Thunderstorm’s over.” And without saying goodbye, she closed the door and she was gone.

“That was quick,” Edward said, a little dumbfounded. He watched as Maria got up and rinsed her plate in the sink.

“I’m going to bed,” she announced, leaving him standing in the middle of the room.

“Goodnight,” he managed to say as she disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.

Edward looked around the room for a moment. Then, he bent down and picked up Jette’s raincoat and draped it across the back of a chair.

“Revenge?” Chloe asked. “Revenge for what?”

“You know, that time when I took you along to David’s birthday party and you didn’t know anybody there?” She waited for a reaction from Chloe but there was none. “When I hooked up with Charlie and left you all alone?”

“Oh no, not at all!” Chloe had to suppress a grin. It was true. At the time, she had been annoyed at first. Everything had changed for the better, however, when she had been introduced to Edward and they had gotten hopelessly drunk together.

“So you can promise me that you’re not going to run off with some ex-boyfriend and leave me stranded in the company of what sounds like a bunch of idiots?”

Chloe was about to make her promise but a flicker of her eye gave her away.

“Wait,” Louise said. “There is somebody you’re after. I can see it by the way you can’t stop grinning.”

“I’m not after anybody,” Chloe insisted but Louise was not having any of it.

“Well, whatever it is, please tell me now and don’t make me look like a fool in front of everybody.”

Chloe sighed. She knew that Louise had a right to know the backstory and the reason why she was being dragged to Potters Bar on a rainy Saturday night.

“I’m not chasing anybody,” Chloe repeated. “But Seb and I were an item once. Back when we were all in Brighton together.”

“I knew it,” Louise said. She raised an eyebrow to tell Chloe to continue.

“It was a quick thing. Only a few weeks.”

“But?”

“It was quick but intense.”

“Shit.” Louise grimaced. “So, what is there to know? Without going into too much detail, of course.”

Chloe shook her head. She could not suppress a snigger.

“Well, I had just moved in with Jaz and she was helping me through a bad breakup. I was really quite low when I met Seb and she warned me off him from the beginning. He did have quite a reputation but I didn’t care. I was kind of flattered that he’d put up with somebody like me and I was glad for the distraction. It wasn’t anything spectacular. We hooked a couple of times and Jaz kept telling me to get rid of him.”

“And, did you listen to her?”

“Of course I didn’t,” Chloe said. “I was having casual and pretty mediocre sex with this guy who had this reputation of being a major womanizer but it changed after two or three weeks. One night we got talking. He played me Brel and Edith Piaf and he was stunned that I knew them. Then we got talking about Victor Hugo, Rimbaud and Baudelaire and that night he made love to me. Like, he really made love to me.” She stopped to spare her friend the details.

“And things became serious?” Louise suggested.

“For me they did,” Chloe said.

“But not for him?”

Chloe sighed. “We had another two or three weeks together. Then Jaz caught him when he was drunk and he kind of told her that he’d been fucking around elsewhere all the time. She told me about it the next morning and I went to his flat and told him what I thought of him in no uncertain terms. I think he was quite stunned and it was over there and then.”

“Jeez,” said Louise.

“And I’m still grateful to Jaz for getting me out before I had the chance of becoming truly involved.”

Louise nodded without saying anything.

“We did get on really well, though, and I often wondered about what would have happened if... That sort of thing.”

“Sure,” Louise said. “How come you’re seeing him again when you say that you severed all ties back then?”

“Pure coincidence,” Chloe said. “I ran into Ronno and he’s still friends with Seb. It turns out that Seb wrote his dissertation on Baudelaire. He claims that it grew out of one of our conversations and he asked me to meet up so he could give me a copy of the book.”

“...and they lived happily ever after,” Louise giggled.

“In your dreams,” Chloe said. “He knows that he’s got no chance with me.”

“And still you’re on your way to his housewarming party...”

“I told him that I’d be bringing a friend.”

“Oh fuck off,” Louise said. “After everything you’ve just told me about him?”

“Well, he’s clever, he’s a charmer and he’s good in bed.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Are you still after that German journalist?”

“If it’s Michael you’re talking about then, yes,” Louise said. “And if things keep going well, you’ll be able to meet him when you come and visit in August.”

Chloe gave her a sceptical look.

“What’s that?” Louise asked. She grabbed her bag and followed Chloe along the aisle. “Are you scared that I’ll take revenge and drag you along to a party you don’t like?”

“I’m terrified that you’ll take me clubbing.”

For the moment, Edward had to content himself with welcoming Irumba’s mother and leading the way to the community centre where he had prepared a bed for the visitors. On a table next to the entrance he had set up a snack which Prissy had prepared from leftovers from the Reverend’s dinner.

Neither Irumba nor his mother were hungry though and Maria suggested that they leave them to rest and come back to see them early the next morning. Lena and Joe decided to stay on a little longer but Edward and Maria headed home.

“What happened to Irumba?” Edward asked once he and Maria were alone.

She did not answer him straight away. She just sighed and buried her face in her hands and when they arrived at the volunteers’ house she dropped onto to the pile of cushions in the living area without saying a word. She looked as if she could go to sleep there and then but Edward did not want to let her off the hook without knowing what had happened.

He filled the kettle and got two mugs ready, knowing that Maria would appreciate a cup of tea before bed.

“Did he have another seizure?” he asked.

“He had one yesterday,” Maria said tiredly.

“It must’ve been a bad one. Judging by the state of his face...”

Maria hesitated and it was obvious that she knew that Edward knew that there was more to the young man’s injuries than a few bumps suffered during an epileptic fit.

“He lost his job at the plantation last week.” Maria took the steaming cup from him; then she continued. “He hasn’t had treatment and his fits are getting worse. He had a couple of attacks while he was at work and they fired him.”

“Who?” Edward asked. “The guy who showed us around the last time?”

“I don’t know. But it could have been him.” She took a careful sip of tea but it was still too hot to drink. “His mother told Joe that he’s being bullied.”

“Bullied?” Edward asked. “By whom?”

“His workmates. The people in the village.”

“Why? Because of his illness?”

Maria nodded thoughtfully. “They say that he is bad luck for the plantation. There has been less rain than the previous years and the crops aren’t growing as well...”

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Edward said.

“That’s why they beat him up.”

Edward was speechless. When he had witnessed Irumba having a fit a few weeks ago, he had sensed hostility from the onlooking crowd but he had not expected them to turn violent.

“Is that the reason why Joe agreed to bring him here?”

“I think so,” Maria said. “He wasn’t too happy about it at first. The last thing he wants is for the villagers to turn against us. But Namata kept pleading. She’s terrified for Irumba. For his health and also for his safety.”

“Does he have a plan? Joe, I mean. For when they return to the village?”

“Nothing yet,” Maria said. She took a sip of tea and she looked as if she was lost in her thoughts.

“Reverend Kankunda’s going to have questions,” Edward said.

“He’s going to be livid.”

Sunday had always been the day of the week that was reserved for herself and Edward and since he had left for Africa she had almost always managed to fill it with seeing friends or family. Not today, however. She browsed through the list of people she had last spoken to. David and Fiona were in Scotland to see his parents before the arrival of the baby in little more than a month. Jaz had been taken to meet her new boyfriend’s parents for the first time and Sarah was in the middle of hosting a birthday party for her six-year-old daughter.

For a moment, Chloe considered calling her parents but, right now, she was not in the mood to talk to her mother. She looked at the photograph of Edward that was sellotaped to the wall behind her desk. Speaking to her mother would mean pretending that she was fine, that she was not feeling lonely; that she was not feeling neglected.

For a moment, Chloe stared at the photograph of Edward. She had taken it the previous summer when they had had breakfast on the balcony of his flat and she loved how the sunlight was caught in his curls. It reminded her of happy times. Times that seemed far away now that he had been gone for more than half a year.

She took a deep breath to fight the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Once again, she tapped her phone into life. She checked the time. In Uganda, it would be late afternoon. The chances of him answering his phone were minimal and the odds of the connection being good enough to hold up a decent conversation were even slimmer.

At this point, she did not care, though. She remembered the promise they had made a few weeks ago. The only way of keeping the relationship alive was to make an effort and to try and speak on the phone more regularly.

“We’re fine,” Lena said. “But there’s this young man. Maria says that you’ve met him. His name is Irumba and we think that he’s got epilepsy.”

“Yes, I remember him,” Edward said. He had not forgotten how he had witnessed the boy having a seizure and the villagers looking on in shock and horror.

“Well, his condition has become worse. Maria says that it’s treatable but we don’t have the means right here. He needs to be seen by a doctor.”

Edward nodded. He had known as much when he had met Irumba but the village was thirty miles from the next hospital and they had been unable to help.

“Joe is okay with this,” Lena continued. “We’re taking him and his mother to Fort Portal tonight. Could you get in touch with the hospital? Get him an appointment and find accommodation for both him and his mother? Maria thinks that he should be admitted to the hospital but they won’t take him unless they’ve seen him.”

“Okay,” Edward said, taking notes while he listened.

“But Joe says that they can stay at the community centre. Could you prepare somewhere for them to sleep?”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll get on it straight away. Is there anything I need to know for the hospital?”

“Lena counted down some stats and details about the young man’s condition and Edward noted them down as best as he could.

“We won’t be back until late,” Lena said. “And we’ll try the hospital first. But they probably won’t see him before tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” Edward said. “I’ll try calling you later. Once I’ve spoken to the hospital.”

“Alright,” Lena said. “Thanks for everything.”

“Me too,” Dan said. “Theresa’s perm looks terrible. And she isn’t even that old, is she? I dread to think what she’ll do to herself once she turns forty...”

He looked at his sister, waiting for a reaction but she did not even smile at the well-intended joke.

“It wasn’t about that then,” he said.

“It was about Ed,” Chloe said quietly.

“I’d thought as much,” Dan said. “Did anything happen?”

“No,” Chloe said. “It’s just been tonight. It sort of highlighted how things have changed since he left.” She noticed the look of bewilderment on his face and she continued. “You know, at Christmas I was upset because everything people seemed to want to talk about was Ed and how I was dealing with him being away.”

“But that’s changed?”

“Totally,” Chloe said. “It seems like people have forgotten about him. At some point they simply stopped mentioning his name. David and Fee are the only people who talk about him every now and again. But it’s become less frequent since the baby arrived.”

“What about Sarah and Jasmin?”

“Only every once in a while,” Chloe said. “Jaz is head over heels in love with Oz and Sarah’s got the kids and the job to think about. Ally’s about to start school, they’re in the process of hiring an au-pair and she’s preparing to go back to work fulltime soon. They’ve got more important things on their minds and I understand that. It’s just sad that nobody seems to remember him.”

“What about Mum?” Dan asked. “She’s always worried that he’s doing okay.”

“Not today though.”

“Well, with all the guests, she’s probably had different things on her mind.”

“QED,” Chloe said.

“What?” Dan asked. “Oh, come on, You’ll be alright.” He moved a little closer and squeezed her shoulder. “How long now until he comes back?”

“Six weeks.”

“You see, you’ll take that in your stride.” He was interrupted by his girlfriend Debra, who put her head through the garden door.

“Here you are. I’ve been looking for you all over the place. Danny, it’s really late and I need my bed...”

“I’m coming,” Dan said but before he got up, he made sure that Chloe was alright.

“I’ll be okay,” she said, a grin slowly spreading over her face. “You go home and take care of your girlfriend. I’ll speak to you in a couple of days. Danny.” She giggled. “I’ll never get used to it...”

He rolled his eyes at her and he placed a quick kiss on the crown of her head.

“And you, Father,” Edward said as they shook hands. He exchanged a quick look with Joe but Joe’s expression was hard to read.

“I see you’ve been entertaining our children,” the Reverend said as he pointed at the book in Edward’s hands.

“I have,” Edward said. He tried to produce an apologetic smile before he continued. “Some of the children caught me reading the other day and they asked me to read something to them. I agreed but I said that I would do it on Sunday after church when more of them could hear the story.”

“Hm,” said the Reverend. He was still looking at the book Edward was holding. “May I ask what it is about?”

“Of course,” Edward said. He handed the book over and let the Reverend inspect it. “It’s an English children’s classic,” he explained. “It’s called The Wind in the Willows and it is about a group of animals who become friends and who have adventures together. It used to be my absolute favourite when I was their age.”

“Hm,” the Reverend said once again. “Do you know it, Joseph?”

“I don’t, Father,” Joe said. “But Edward has told me about it and he said that it is about nature and about friendships and about being kind and helpful to each other.”

The Reverend nodded slowly as he let his thumb run over the pages. “Well, as long as it doesn’t contain anything that could lead young minds astray? You do know what I mean, don’t you, Edward?”

“I do, Father,” Edward said. “And I don’t think that it’s unsuitable in any way.” He watched as the Reverend inspected some of the illustrations and for a moment he panicked. He thought of the chapter called The Piper at the Gates of Dawn that included references to the god Pan. He was sure that the Reverend would not approve of it and he decided to exclude that part in case he was allowed to continue reading the book to the children.

“It is set in the English countryside,” the Reverend observed. “Are you sure that our children understand what’s going on?”

Edward nodded and he smiled at the Reverend. “They do. They really do. We looked at the pictures of the animals before I started reading but then they simply used their imagination...”

“Hmm,” said the Reverend but this time it sounded as if he was approving. “Well, as long as it doesn’t keep them from attending church...”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, Father,” Joe said.

“Are you going to continue reading it, Edward?” the Reverend asked.

“I told them that we’d continue next Sunday, yes.”

Joe and Edward exchanged a short glance and Joe started to laugh out loud.

“You see, Father, no reason to worry. As far as I know them they’ll all be back next week. And they’ll probably bring some of their friends as well, won’t they, Edward?”

“Possibly,” Edward grinned.

“Great to see you,” he said, holding her at arm’s length and looking deep into her eyes.

“And you,” Chloe said. Before – and since – agreeing to meet up with him she had had doubts. The relationship they had had back at university had been short but electrifying and over the years there had been several occasions when she had whished that she had not given up on them so soon.

She watched him take another drag from his cigarette. He had not changed much. There were a few laughter lines around his eyes, his hair was cut shorter and the trainers had been replaced by a pair of Chelsea boots. His eyes were as captivating as ever, though, and he oozed a mixture of great sophistication and boyish charm.

“How was your holiday?” he asked.

“Good,” Chloe said. “It was good.”

“Where did you go again? Somewhere nice and warm?”

“No, sadly. It was just a few days in Normandy.”

“At this time of year?”

“I just needed to get away for a bit. Feel the sea-breeze, that sort of thing.”

He nodded, but it was obvious that he did not understand. He inspected his cigarette and took a very long drag before he stabbed it out on the windowsill.

“Still, France,” he said. “So you haven’t given up on it completely.”

“I haven’t given up on it at all.” Chloe followed him into the pub and accepted his offer to buy her a drink. “I still go over a lot and I read more French novels than English ones, I guess. It’s just that I’ve given up on academia.”

“A wise decision,” he said as he handed her the drink and gestured towards an empty table at the back of the room.

They spent a while talking about the time that had passed since the last time they had seen each other before returning to the topic of French literature, the subject they had both studied at university.

“Before I forget...” Seb said. He picked up his satchel and produced a book whose cover contained nothing but the author’s name, the title and the publisher’s logo. “It doesn’t look like much,” he said.

“But you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover anyway.”

“Exactly.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said.

“My pleasure.” He looked as if he was eager for her to open it and check the table of contents and the acknowledgements but she was not going to do him the favour. He had obviously asked her to meet him in order to find out if she still fancied him and she thought that after accepting his invitation his ego did not need any more stroking. She was still not sure what to make of the whole situation and she feared that she could not trust her own feelings either. Whenever he looked up at her from his drink, she felt echoes of the joyful pangs in her stomach which had made her fall for him all those years ago. It was that look that feigned shyness and which some people mistook for campness. It was subtly seductive and she reminded herself to keep up her guard.

She picked up the book to stow it away in her bag but when she opened it a letter fell out and onto the table.

“What’s this?” Seb asked inquisitively. “Pen pals? I didn’t know that people wrote actual physical letters anymore.”

Chloe seethed inwardly. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss her boyfriend and him being away and she was determined not to mention any of it. She had felt guilty when she had pulled the envelope out of the letterbox upon leaving the house and she had not opened it yet. It had felt wrong then and it felt even worse now that she was looking into Seb’s bemused face.

“Well, some of us do,” she said. Then she got up and picked up their glasses, ready to get in another round.

When she returned a couple of minutes later, he grinned up at her from his phone.

“What are you doing next Friday?” he asked.

Chloe looked at him blankly. She pushed his drink towards him as she sat down opposite him.

“Seb, there’s something we need to get straight. I’ve got a boyfriend and us meeting up here is strictly for old time’s sake – but it may not be the kind of old time’s sake that you were thinking about.” She took a sip from her gin and tonic and waited for his reaction.

“Oh, right.” He seemed a little baffled but he regained his composure almost instantly. “Well, I’ve just had a text from Ronno. He got us tickets to see this great little French singer. There are people who are calling her the new Piaf. I thought that maybe you would like to come along. Maybe Sarah and Jaz are interested as well? For old time’s sake.” He paused for a second. “And the boyfriend can tag along, too, of course.”

Chloe breathed a little sigh of relief. He seemed to have taken the news very well and from the way their conversation had been going so far, she was not at all opposed to seeing him again. Maybe this was a chance for them to turn a youthful romp of a relationship into something more. Something deeper and more grown-up.

“Is it okay if I think about it?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said. He was trying to look cool but Chloe noticed his fingers nervously checking his pocket for his cigarettes and lighter. “And who knows, maybe you decide to bring along a bunch of super attractive friends who can’t wait to embark on a steamy adventure with a university lecturer.”

Chloe rolled her eyes at him but she could not help bursting into laughter at the same time.

“You really haven’t changed at all, have you?”

“Very funny,” Chloe said while she put away the documents she had been studying. She picked up her phone before she continued. “How is it possible that after all the time you’ve been coming in for these meetings you still don’t understand that it’s not world domination we’re after...”

Henry touched her elbow and pulled her to the side so one of her colleagues could pass behind them. Then they exchanged a meaningful glance and Chloe changed the subject.

“I’m fine,” she said. “You?”

“Fabulous,” he said with the same ironic grin on his face. “I was just wondering if you were going to Hyde Park at the weekend.” He put on a puppyish expression. “Because my date stood me up and I don’t really want to go all by myself.”

“Your date?”

“Well, not a date in that sense,” Henry said. “My mate Giles decided that he’d rather take his missus on a city break to Barcelona than join his best friend and see some bands in the sunshine.”

“You poor thing,” Chloe said as they slowly walked towards the door. “Actually, I was planning on going on Sunday. I’ll be going with Jaz and Sarah is going to join us once she’s done working.”

“Me and three lovely ladies?” Henry asked. “That sounds intriguing.”

“Well, you haven’t met them and if I were you I wouldn’t address them as lovely ladies. That may come and bite you.”

“I think I’ve met Sarah, haven’t I? I ran into you when I was jogging in the park?”

“Oh, right!”

“Very briefly,” Henry said. “But I’d love to meet her properly.”

“You’ll like them both. They are just as cynical as you are.”

“Me? Cynical?” Henry asked with mocked outrage but Chloe did not answer. All she did was look at him with a raised eyebrow and a cheeky smile on her face.

“Okay,” Henry said. “I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

They passed by Chloe’s desk and he waited until she had discarded of the pile of documents and papers.

“Which bands were you going to see?” Chloe asked as she fished for her purse. She accompanied him along the row of desks and workstations towards the coffee machine at the end of the corridor.

“I haven’t made any plans yet,” Henry said. “You?”

“Pulp. Everything else is optional, really.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Henry said as he slid a few coins into the machine.

“It all depends on the others. There are a few friends from back when we were at university who may come and join us. I guess we’ll have a bit of a picnic and see what everybody wants to do.”

Henry nodded approvingly. “But you’re only going on the Sunday?”

“Yes. Sarah and Jaz are working on Saturday and as much as I respect some of the bands that are playing, I much prefer the guitar bands to all that electronic stuff that’s on on Saturday,” Chloe said as she counted out the change for the espresso she craved.

“Did I just catch you putting down The Chemical Brothers?” Henry asked.

“No. But given the choice...”

Henry rolled his eyes as he stepped aside so Chloe could buy her coffee from the machine. “And what about The Streets?” he asked. “And Aphex Twins and Kesha?”

Chloe shrugged.

“Come on, it’s going to be fun,” Henry said.

“Maybe,” Chloe said after she had taken a careful sip from the steaming cup. “But I think I need one day to regroup from this place.” She pointed in the direction of the desks as she walked over to the settee in the lobby and sank down into the cushions. She looked over at Henry, who had sat down next to her. He unwrapped the chocolate bar and took out the two pieces.

“Want one?” he asked.

“Thanks,” Chloe said as she accepted one half of the Twix.

“We’re not going to fall out over our choice of music, are we?” Henry asked.

“Of course not,” Chloe said with a cheeky grin. “We’ll agree that my taste in music is miles better than yours.”

“Oi, that’s not fair,” Henry complained. “Your taste in music isn’t better than mine. I’m simply much more forgiving when it comes to bad taste. What was it that you went to see with that friend of yours? Some French harlot howling chansons about ill-fated prostitutes?”

“Careful,” Chloe said. “She’s not a harlot. She’s Zaz and she’s great.”

“Of course she is,” Henry said. He smiled over his cup of coffee and lifted his half of the Twix as if he was about to propose a toast. “Peace?” he asked.

“Peace,” Chloe said as she took a bite from the chocolate bar and washed it down with a sip of coffee.

“So you’ll ask your friends if they’ll have me?”

“I’ll ask them but you’re coming and that’s a fact.”

“Is it?”

“It is.”

“How do you know that they’re okay with me crashing your party?”

“They’ve been pestering me to meet you for ages and this is the perfect opportunity, don’t you think?”

He hummed a response but he seemed unsure what to say next. “What exactly have you told them about me?”

“You’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about,” Chloe said. She emptied her beaker and offered to take his and throw them in the bin.

“Well, I can’t wait to meet Sarah and Jaz,” Henry said. “And the rest of them; whoever they may be.” He got up from his place on the sofa and looked at his watch. “I better get back or Katie will be wondering what I’ve been doing.”

“You do that,” Chloe said. “I better get back to plotting Labour’s next attempt at world domination, too.”

“I’ll phone you for details on Thursday,” Henry said before he stepped into the lift and waved goodbye.