Part 4

“What the bloody hell???”

Terry stopped the car and stared in disbelief at the two-storey, red-bricked house across the street that had now appeared in front of him 5 times within the past 10 minutes. How was it possible? Could it be that there was an identical house like this one in every corner of this neighborhood? He supposed that for architectural reason it was entirely possible… but the identical “Lovejoy & Sons, Funeral Services” horse drawn cart that was parked outside each and every one of those ‘identical’ houses was a little too big a coincidence… so after a sigh of exasperation he finally admitted what he suspected all along: he had been driving in circles.

“I think we are driving in circles, I’ve seen that house over there from every angle possible in the past 10 minutes” Candy said in a quiet voice. He turned to look at her and to his greater frustration she was not even talking about the same house he was. If he needed proof that they were in the same spot they had been 5 times already during the past 10 minutes this was the one.

Terry drove the short distance to the red-bricked house and parked the car behind the cart. He put his hands on the top part of the steering wheel then rested his forehead there and closed his eyes. His head was still throbbing mercilessly. He was still mad at her for suffering Neal’s harassment without asking for help; but he was also angry at himself for wasting the precious little time they would have together instead of enjoying her company and having fun. If things continued this way he was certain she would tell him she wished he hadn’t come at all before the day was over!

“Terry…”

She sounded sad and Terry would have kicked himself. Damn it, he didn’t come here to make her sad! And he was going the wrong way if he was hoping to get her to agree to move to New York with him. He slowly turned to look at her.

“I am very happy you are here, Terry…” she said in a low voice. “I am sorry, I have been b!tching and bleating most of the time since you arrived about one thing or another and… well you are only going to be here till Sunday and I don’t want to make you mad at me or… make you regret coming…”. The corners of her mouth dropped and her eyes filled with tears as her voice trailed off. It broke his heart to see her upset. He brought his hand to her face and caressed her cheek looking deep into her eyes. She cupped his hand with hers, laced her fingers with his, closed her eyes and held his hand in place enjoying the feeling. Once it was clear she had checked her emotions he leaned over and hugged her. She hung onto him tight and he didn’t want to let her go.

“And thank you for taking care of Neal for me” she added slowly.

“Oh, believe me, my Lady Freckles, it was my pleasure! And… I am sorry too…” he said in a low voice. “I shouldn’t be taking my fatigue and frustration out on you … I came here because I was dying to see you and… there is nowhere in the world I’d rather be right now, but right here with you…”

“Really?”

“Yes, really…and arguing is not what I want to be doing with you this weekend…”

She pulled a little away from him to look at him. “So, what do you want to do this weekend?” she asked, a smile cracking her mouth for the first time.

“Do you really want me to tell you?” he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Terry!” she said turning a deep shade of crimson and hitting his arm lightly. “I was asking if you wanted to do something special during this weekend, like…”

“And I was just asking if you wanted me to tell you what the special thing I have in mind was…”

“Your mind is dirty so no, I don’t want to hear it!” she said getting even redder.

“Dirty?” he asked assuming an innocent look. “I swear I was thinking about how special going to Pony’s Hill with you will be, Freckles, what’s dirty about that?”

“Oh…”

“Why, what did you think I meant?”

“Uh… never mind…” she sat back in her seat avoiding his eyes.

“Ts, ts… and I am supposed to have the dirty mind here!” he laughed still watching her.

“I was not thinking about that!” she said exasperated.

“About what?”

She gave him a mocking smile then she said: “Come, let’s get moving, we are already late and we have no idea how far we still are…!”

Thinking that she was looking way too cute when she was embarrassed, Terry pulled her towards him again and kissed her for a long time. How long a time he couldn’t have said but it was a while before she started pushing him away.

“Terry… come on… we are late already…” she said. Terry noticed she had injected some urgency in her voice but he was not fooled.

“You know, you could have fooled me if only you were pushing a little bit harder, Freckles!” he said kissing her again despite her playful protests. He went for her neck next and pretended to bite her. She squealed in delight still trying to push him off.

“Terry… come on, stop it… STOP IT!” she squealed again as he was now tickling her also.

“Oh, my goodness! How dare you?”

“Oh, my God!” Candy said in an embarrassed whisper in his ear and this time she managed to really push him away from her. She quickly sat back in her seat, red as a beetroot with her head down. “Please let’s go, quick!” she whispered. Frowning, Terry turned around to see what was going on and… “Oh, crap!” he exclaimed as he came face to face with a whole crowd of mourners filling out of the red-bricked house, heading for the funeral cart. People were watching them in evident disapproval, some shaking their heads at the audacity and lack of propriety of modern youth.

All in black and with scowling faces, the mourners, reminded Terry of the nuns at St Paul’s. He felt the devil poking him in his back with his spear and he was seriously tempted to kiss Candy again just to get everyone even more worked up. He figured however that Candy felt embarrassed enough as it was, so he let it go. With a last defiant look at them, he started the car and drove off. As soon as he could he took a left turn just to get them out of their rearview mirrors’ view. He then turned and looked at Candy who despite still being red to the roots of her hair looked at him for a second then they both snorted with laugher.

“Let’s go back to your place and spend some time together talking and … uhm, talking…” he tried a few seconds later.

So you know how to get back to her place from here, my boy?

Man, anything to get out of the camper gig!

“Urgh… we arranged this months ago, I don’t want to disappoint them”, she said but he was pleased to realize that there was a tone of regret in her voice as if she also wanted to get out of the camper gig and spend the time with him instead. “And besides” she continued an ironic little smile carving her mouth, “do you know how to get back to my place from here?”

Terry gave her a swift look through half closed eyes with a forced smile on his face. “It must be really gratifying to you to speak my mind all the time…” he said finally.

“Just so that you know I am always right!” she giggled looking ridiculously pleased with herself.

“Nah ha ha ha...!!!” he mocked but it appeared that their communication was on another level so he was delighted to no end himself.

His mood had improved remarkably within the last 5 minutes and so had hers. He still didn’t know where he was going so he was very surprised when mere minutes later Candy exclaimed excitedly:

“Oh, look here we are! The camper is over there!”

Terry released a deep sigh that doubled as one of relief – for having finally found the place (even though he didn’t have a clue how he had found the place so fast after driving in circle for what had seemed forever) and of acquiescence – at having to go through with the gig after all. He parked the car resigned – there was no getting out of it now.

“So come on let’s go meet them…” Candy said opening the door, ready to get out.

“Why…?” Terry breathed silently.

Candy closed the door again and turned to look at him frowning.

“Did you hear me saying that?” he asked, assuming an innocent smile.

“Loud and clear! Let me tell you something Terrence Grandchester” she started, poking a finger on his chest. “If you start making fun of my friends, I don’t care how tired you are, the only special thing that will happen to you this weekend will be to sleep outside and on that hill you so want to see!” she said and her tone left him in little doubt that she could actually follow through with her threat.

“Oh that’s OK...” he shrugged her off anyway. “I slept on pretend Pony’s Hill once you know… on mother earth…”

“Uh ha…! I’m pretty sure there weren’t two feet of snow between you and mother earth at the time though… or coyotes roaming the area…”

“No snow, I must say, but Sister Grey was about…”

Ha! Was that a flicker of a smile he detected on her oh so kissable lips? Terry was certain it was, although she did her best to hide it. She didn’t say anything but opened the door and hurried to her friends. Reluctantly, but unable to do anything else, he followed her.

He almost laughed aloud with the scene that greeted him. There was a frenzy of activity going on but everyone froze half way through their movements all of a sudden as they realized who was following the marching Candy. All of them apart from Albert that is, who just sat where he was watching the scene bemused. Obviously he had not told anyone about Terry’s arrival.

After they got over their initial shock however, everyone seemed quite pleased to see him. Albert and Stear greeted him enthusiastically and the two girls managed a few giggles once they got over their embarrassment crisis – what they felt embarrassed for Terry was not sure but he couldn’t be bothered trying to figure it out. From the lot of them however, Dandy Cornwell was the one less than happy to see him to say the least. His jaw tightened so much Terry was certain he might need some help opening his mouth again. Well, Terry himself was not going to offer him any assistance!

Mere minutes later however, he reconsidered this resolution of his. The Dandy’s cold reception and the mean looks he was giving him every time Candy was near him, could only mean that he still had his eye on her. Well, Terry thought, he might as well keep the other one on his creepy cousin – for it was clear that neither of the Dandy’s eyes were on his own girlfriend. As soon as Candy went to help the girls finish setting the table, he nodded at him to join him somewhere further from the rest and out of earshot. Archie joined him, albeit reluctantly.

Terry got straight to the point. “Did you know your creepy cousin is harassing Candy?”

The Dandy thought for a minute then exclaimed: “Neal?”

“You have an even creepier one I don’t know about?” asked Terry unable to disguise the irony in his voice. The dandy furiously opened his mouth to say something but his four-eyed brother joined them at that moment and he shut it again without saying anything. Terry ignored him and addressing the Inventor briefly related his encounter with Neal.

The Dandy swore under his breath. “Why did she not say anything to us about it?” he raged.

“Who?” asked Terry raising an eyebrow. “You mean, Miss-I-can-handle-anything-by-myself-and-I-don’t-want-to-bother-anyone-with-my-problems?”

“TERRY!” Candy’s angry voice came from behind them and all three boys turned to look at her. She was glaring at Terry, angry once more.

“What did you have to go tell them for?” she fumed.

“Tell them what?” asked Albert from the table and Candy rolled her eyes exasperated. A furious Dandy burst into a tirade about Neal for all to hear; his brother was nodding agreeably at the Dandy’s every word; Albert was listening to the him frowning; as for the two girls… one brought her hands over her mouth in shock the other one started crossing herself also in shock and both of them moved at each side of Candy and hugged her tightly as if someone just told them she will be vanishing into thin air any moment!

“Candy, you really should have said something!” Albert said once the Dandy had managed to put a plug to it.

“How did this all start anyway and when?” Terry asked curiously.

“I told you just a few weeks ago!” she said angrily.

“But what happened did he suddenly decided he fancies you and started bugging you to go out with him?” Stear asked.

“It was after that night I got him out of trouble with some thugs that were trying to robe him…”

Six pairs of eyes stared at her in disbelief for a few silent moments. Terry was the one to recover first. “Let me get this straigh,t” he started. “He was being robed by some thugs, one night, and you got him out of trouble…then he decided he likes you?”

Candy didn’t answer but rested her hands on each side of her waist looking at him, as if saying: isn’t that what I just said?

Dandy Cornwell was the one that got the meaning of that statement first and started laughing his head off. To his immense surprise that he would ever do so, Terry actually follow the Dandy’s lead. The rest of them followed one after another and even the two girls managed a few giggles… though by looking at them Terry was not entirely certain they had figured out exactly why everyone was laughing.

“I will consider myself eternally unlucky to have not witnessed ‘Neal’s rescue’”, Terry said in between fits of hysterical laughter.

Half an hour later he still could not stop himself from laughing every time he would imagine Candy ‘saving Neal’ from the thugs.

“Maybe he is afraid to get outside after dark now and he needs a chaperone…” he said and everyone laughed again.

“Can we drop this, finally?” Candy asked but even she was laughing.

“We certainly can not! I swear I will remind him every chance I get” said the Dandy who was shaking with laughter and had to actually set his glass of red wine back on the table or he was in danger of spilling it all on his cashmere jacket.

They were eating outside and although Terry had initially questioned the wisdom of such a venture in so low a temperature, as it turned out, he needn’t have worried about all of them catching pneumonia while devouring the turkey. Inventor Cornwell, had placed four what he called ‘heaters’ at the corners of the table - 4 black large metal containers which he had filled with coals and lit just before they sat down to eat. The coals, he explained, were placed on the top of the container and a mechanism was releasing only a few at a time so that they can provide even heat throughout the time they were on. The heaters worked for the most part and even though two of them broke down before desserts were served and the other two were straggling to perform, they served their purpose and kept them fairly warm.

So in the end Terry had preferred eating outside rather than get cramped up with all of them inside the tiny camper. Quite apart from the lack of space, there would have also been no escaping the overwhelming smell of the Dandy’s perfume. Terry recognized its expensive scent for it was one he himself often used. But the Dandy had obviously marinated himself in it and it was actually worsening Terry’s headache to sit in close proximity to him even outside. So with the excuse that he wanted to catch up with Albert he had picked up his plate and moved to the other end of the table.

Candy was right, Albert was not himself. Less chatty than usual, he kept mostly to himself and seemed to be around mainly so that he wouldn’t disappoint Candy rather than because he wanted to. Terry felt sorry for him. Perhaps if he was around he could spend some time with him and help him recover his memory. Guilt tore in him for not only being unable to be there himself but for also planning to take Candy to New York with him; and so he once again put off asking her to do so.

With Albert being mostly quiet and Terry not particularly wanting to get in a conversation with any of the rest of them, all he could do was eat his meal quietly while watching Candy chat with mostly the Cornwell brothers whose attention she seemed to be having exclusively, to the evident disapproval of their respective girlfriends – although to Terry’s amazement neither of them tried to interfere. At least the inventor’s girl, Patricia, made some attempts to take part in their conversation and make sure that they knew she was there; the other girl, (Anna, he believed her name was) just sat there keeping to herself eating quietly as if she was trying to make herself invisible. Candy tried to make her feel included at times but all she got was a couple of one-word answers. Amused, Terry enjoyed a moment of fixing the girl with a stare and a smile just to watch her reduce herself to the size and color of a beetroot. (Most unfortunately Candy, who was sitting next to her across the table from him, saw him and her stare made him return to his plate and attack it with vigor – to stop himself from laughing aloud he staffed his mouth with sweet potatoes so much, he was in danger of choking.) A few minutes later Terry asked Anna to pass the butter – she did so without looking at him, mumbled something Terry was sure was not English or any other language he had ever heard and returned to her food, her face scarlet once more. Terry looked at her then shook his head disbelievingly. Much as he tried he had a hard time imagining her with a personality.

“How long are you staying Terry?” Stear asked interrupting his thoughts

“Until Sunday morning” Terry said curtly, hoping no one would ask for more details about their plans, as he didn’t particularly want to share them with the bunch. He particularly didn’t want them to know about spending Saturday evening in Chicago for fear that they would want to join him and Candy again and ruin their last night together. Unfortunately, Candy chose that moment to prove that she was not speaking his mind all the time after all.

“He is coming to Pony’s Home with me today but we will return on Saturday, so we can go out for dinner in the evening. Would you all like to join us?” she asked cheerfully, and Terry got so irked, he felt like throwing a spoonful of mash potatoes to her face. Why could she not realize he wanted her for himself on Saturday night?

“Sure”. Terry heard the Dandy accepting her invitation eagerly and momentarily his heart sunk even more… and he was thinking about how best to make Candy pay for ruining their Saturday night, until to his immense joy he realized the Dandy’s ‘sure’ was drown in Albert’s and the Inventor’s polite declines.

“Oh no” they both said at the same time then Albert continued: “Very kind of you to invite us Candy” – “yes, very kind”, said the Inventor – “but since Terry is leaving on Sunday he may want to have a quick meal then retire early so that he is rested for his trip the next day, don’t you think?” – “yes, absolutely”, the Inventor chimed in again.

Candy smiled cheekily, “You are both right, I didn’t think about it that way,” she said and Terry was able to release a quiet sigh of relief. He still didn’t trust himself to speak without being downright rude so he just gave a short, forced laugh.

“In fact” Albert continued, sending a swift, meaningful glance at Terry, “I will see if I can stay over at a colleague’s place on Saturday night so you can have more peace and space” he concluded sipping his drink, seemingly indifferent. Terry noticed the Inventor’s reluctance in agreeing with him this time – he frowned slightly but tactfully he didn’t say anything, he merely took a sip from his drink.

No such tact from the Dandy however. “Don’t you think a hotel room would be more comfortable for you in this case then?” he asked in a flat voice looking at Terry coldly. Terry got irritated with the Dandy’s blatant display of disapproval and distrust and met his gaze with a defiant look on his face.

“You are right” he said matching the Dandy’s flat tone. “Albert thank you for your offer but you don’t have to go out of your way on my behalf. We can easily get a hotel room for Saturday night, right Freckles?” The Dandy’s expression changed instantly from cold to menacing. He opened his mouth to say something but at that moment the heater that was closer to him started shaking and throwing sparks from the top. All of them turned their attention to it and to Stear who said it was nothing serious, it had only stopped releasing coals and that he could fix it in no time. However, the thing was so hot all he could do was to take the wooden spoon from the potato salad and hit the mechanism into working again with it. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was to make it start constantly releasing black shoot that turned the Inventor black from top to bottom and made the Dandy give his brother an earful for the shoot had dirtied his silk shirt.

After they had managed to move the heater to a safe distance and had settled back down to finish their meal, Albert took it upon him to steer the conversation away from Saturday night. “So Terry, how are the rehearsals going? Are you ready for your big night?” he asked casually.

Admittedly, the premiere was not something Terry wanted to discuss as one of the reasons he was there was to forget about it, but he knew he had to do it, for the sake of peace. He tried to not talk about the premiere itself and talked in general about how well the rehearsals were going, told them that the shows were fully pre-booked until the end of March and that expectations were very high on him from his director, agent and also from his very own self as they were all seeing this premiere as the make or brake of his career.

“Are you nervous?” Albert asked with a slight smile.

“You think?” Terry said reaching for his wine and taking a good couple of gulps of it to calm his jumping stomach.

“So what happens if it flops?” the Dandy asked with a challenging smile and Terry decided that the Dandy was asking for a few punches to shut his mouth.

“It’s not gonna flop!” Candy said indignantly. “Terry is a great actor, you said so yourself last summer after the King Lear show! I am sure you will do just great, Terry!” she finished sending a sweet smile at him that made Terry melt and decided to ignore the Dandy’s challenge once again for her sake. But no, the Dandy was not willing to drop it.

“Yes, but there is a big difference between having a 10-minute secondary role and being the lead character” he said. “I can’t even imagine how it would feel like to mess up your lines knowing that hundreds of people are watching you... not to mention all the critics…”

“I am sure Terry is well prepared and that won’t happen” said Candy categorically looking at him proudly. Terry focused on her gaze and suddenly knew what to do to shut the Dandy up once and for all – even though he knew it would make Candy mad.

“Thank you for your support, darling” he said smiling then stood up, leaned over the table and before she had the chance to react he cupped her face in his hand and gave her a swift but deep kiss. He then sat back down still smiling at her, amused at everyone’s reaction: Candy was looking at him with her mouth open, redder than a cherry (he was not sure if she was just embarrassed or angry, probably both, he concluded), Albert was trying to disguise his chuckles by turning them into cough and failing miserably, the Dandy was looking at him the menacing look back on his face and Stear was staring at the heater that was directly opposite him, silently willing it to blow off to provide another distraction. The two girls’ reaction was the one that amused Terry the most and he nearly told them that there was not need for them to cover their mouths as he was not planning on kissing either of them anytime soon.

They ate silently for the good part of the next five minutes until the Dandy (who Terry didn’t think he would hear speaking again that day), evidently making an effort to keep the atmosphere civilized, had another go at starting a conversation and asked Terry if he ever get to see Eleanor Baker. Terry glanced at Candy, who’s look told him that none of them knew of his relation to the actress and for a moment he considered telling him which part of Eleanor Baker was actually the very first thing he saw of this world (although mercifully he didn’t remember it) just to watch their shocked faces. But now he had the attention of the whole gang suddenly – and to his surprise especially the Dandy’s – so he didn’t think it was such a good idea.

“Yeah… I see her from time to time… she sometimes drops in to talk to Robert… my director”, he explained.

The Dandy dropped his fork. “Oh My God!!!” he breathed, a ridiculous look on his face that had Terry trying to control his laughter once more. The Dandy had a thing for his mother? He was more tempted than ever but he got a tiny kick from Candy under the table that told him to keep whatever comment he had to himself.

“Do you want me to try and get you an autograph next time I see her?” he asked.

“I don’t want her autograph, I want her in person!” the Dandy exclaimed enthusiastically, all of his anger seemingly gone.

Terry had a go at getting Anna into the joke. “I think you need to consider dyeing your hair blond, my dear” he said chuckling.

To Terry’s amazement, she actually spoke: “Actually, both Miss Baker and I should dye our hair red if we want his attention, as it seems to be his preference lately”, she said so loudly and so bitterly that Terry was left looking at her openmouthed. Candy gave him the slightest nod to indicate she’d explain later and to not push it right now, but Terry was so surprised to hear the timid, shy girl say anything at all let alone jab at the Dandy like that, he kept staring at her.

The Dandy didn’t seem to have heard a word she had said, however. “She is probably going to attend your premiere!!! I am so there!!!” he said excitedly.

“Over my dead body you are coming to my premiere” Terry thought. “The premiere is by invitation only and is sold out already” he told the Dandy, who’s face dropped upon hearing this. “Sorry” Terry said again but he was too far away from being sorry. “I could get you tickets for the show sometime after April, thought”.

“That’s kind of you but she won’t be there in April!” the Dandy said sadly.

“You can always camp outside the Majestic’s stage door till she comes out so you can see her” Terry suggested trying to disguise his chuckles as he remember how much his mother hated those ‘loonies’ as she called them that were waiting for hours on end in all types of weather outside her stage door just to catch a glimpse of her. She would still wave at them and talked to them briefly but for some reason she seemed scared of them. And Terry had to drown another chuckle as he imagined the classy, immaculate dressed Dandy getting drenched in the rain while waiting outside Eleanor Baker’s door.

“That does not appeal to me” said the Dandy disdainfully. “If I wait out there for more than a couple of hours I will be a mess by the time she gets out”

“And you know, if he is not a mess when she sees him, he really stands a chance!” the Inventor said chuckling, and everyone laughed again. The Dandy looked at this brother displeased and said something that nobody heard as a tremendous noise made everyone jump out of their skins. Stear’s second heater had released all its remaining coals at once and it looked ready to explode. Albert and Terry moved quickly and threw a few buckets of water on it to cool it down then moved it away from the table where they could still see it shaking and hear it rumbling for a long time afterwards.

************

The pecan pie was delicious and Terry felt completely stuffed after having a second helping from it. He then joined the other three guys in thanking and praising Patricia and Anna for putting the meal together.

“Did you two cook all these?” Terry asked amazed.

“No” Patricia said. “We told the cook at the Ardlay Manor what we wanted and he did it, but we baked the pecan pie this morning, didn’t we Annie?”

“Yes, we did” Annie mumbled, clearing the plates away by throwing the leftovers in a bag Candy was holding open for her. Terry realized he had her name wrong all the time and he was relieved he hadn’t actually called her by it once during the whole time they were there. Well, Annie – Anna… he was not so far off anyway.

“We were meant to bring some cookies for the coffee” said Candy giggling, “but we got lost and spend so much time trying to find our way here we forgot about it”.

“I am not sure I can handle coffee alone, let alone cookies too” said Stear massaging his stomach. “I ate so much!”

“We all did” said Albert merrily “it was delicious. And from what I can see from that bag not a lot of it will be thrown out, we did a good job on it!”

“Indeed” said the Dandy while stretching. “I will need to go on a diet for the next two weeks to loose all the extra pounds I just put on!” Albert and Terry laughed at this, but the Inventor suddenly looked sad.

“Just imagine” he said in a low voice. “All those people in Europe who won’t have anything to eat this holiday…”

Terry tried to make light of his comment. “You don’t need to worry they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe”.

The Inventor looked at him very serious. “We have soldiers in Europe” he said. “Those are the people we need to thank today for fighting for us and allowing us to have this meal in peace… And they won’t have anything to eat either” he finished looking awfully sad and pensive.

“Oh, please, don’t start this again!” said the Dandy rolling his eyes but there was something in the Inventor’s voice that made Terry ask him without thinking:

“Are you going to join?”

The Dandy gave a short laugh that hardly disguised his nervousness and tried to sound casual and cheerful when answering. “Aunt Elroy already gave him an earful about it he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon!”

The Inventor glanced at his brother disdainfully, then at Patricia who was crossing herself looking at him frightened then at Candy who was drinking her water seemingly unconcerned but with a deep frown then at Terry himself and with the slightest of brow movements told him to drop the issue. Terry obliged. Obviously though, this was not the first time the matter had come up. A quick look at Albert’s suddenly creased forehead also told him that he was concerned too.

They all made the best of efforts to keep the conversation light for another hour and finally about 5:30pm Terry though they had better get going, especially since he didn’t know how long it was going to take them to get to the station. He didn’t want to get lost again and then miss the train while trying to find his way there – especially since darkness had fallen already and it would be even easier for them to get lost. Stear offered to drive them later on if they wanted to stay a bit longer but Terry, who already felt he had stayed there much longer than he could handle, thanked him politely but declined, saying that since he had Neal’s car he might as well use it. Candy (probably sensing that Terry had already stayed there longer that he could handle) agreed that they had to get going.

“OK, how do I get to the station from here?” asked Terry no one in particular as he was taking a plate full of turkey sandwiches from Candy’s hands to carry to the car – “for the train ride”, she said, as if it was possible for them to get hungry again this week, after pigging out on that turkey only a couple of hours earlier.

“Oh, I know the way to the station I will tell you”, Candy said cheerfully.

Terry looked at her smiling. “Oh good”, he said, giving her the thumps up with one hand. “That’s brilliant, Freckles!” He then turned to Albert serious once more.

“So, Albert… How do I get to the station from here?”

Albert laughed, and gave him directions while Candy crossed her arms over her chest looking at them shaking her head looking offended.

Terry promised Albert he would see him before he left on Sunday, shook Stear’s hand who said he would go to the station later to pick up the car, waved at the girls and the Dandy from afar – and nearly laughed at the Dandy’s ‘I-will-skin-you-if-you-try-anything’ look – then got into the car to drive to the station.

“God, I am glad this is over”. Terry breathed a sigh of relief a few minutes later.

“Was it so terrible to spend some time in the company of other people?” Candy said sounding irritated.

“In the company of other people no, in the company of these people yes” he joked but she got mad at him.

“What is wrong with these people?” she raged and he started laughing. This seemed to make her even more furious. “What are you laughing about, huh?” she yelled.

“I am only teasing Freckles, don’t take it so seriously”.

“My friends are very important to me I am taking it seriously so stop making fun of them OK?!”

“OK” he said quietly.

Truth was, after spending the last few hours with the lot of them he was feeling kind of relieved that Candy was surrounded by this bunch no matter how weird they were. Even though the atmosphere and the conversations were a bit awkward at times, he had felt that they were all bonded with each other quite strongly (well, maybe not so strongly where the Dandy and his girlfriend was concerned, Terry could see a real problem going on there) as if they would do anything one for another. And the Dandy’s challenging attitude could only mean that he was being overprotective of Candy. He could not complain about that. He also felt a little pang of jealousy. There had never been a person so close to him that he would get so mad if someone makes a joke about them and defend them so passionately. Well… actually, that was not true: there was someone.

“I understand they are important to you, I know the feeling…” he muttered.

“You do? You have a friend? I don’t remember you having friends at college!” she asked but there was no irony in her tone. In fact, there was a definite note of excitement in her voice, as if nothing would have thrilled her more than to learn that he was friendless no more.

“I have you…” he said glancing at her smiling.

She looked at him wide eyed for a few seconds and he would have given anything to know what was going through her mind but in the end all she said was: “Oh Terry…” He took her hand in his then and held it, driving with only one hand all the way to the station. She not only didn’t protest but after a while she moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, holding his hand in between both of hers. This simple gesture gave him the most wonderful feeling of bliss and Terry would have happily stopped the car at the side of the road and stay like that with her forever.

Following Albert’s direction, they arrived at the station without a single hitch and Terry unconsciously was looking for a place to park the car, when he remembered whose car this was. An idea forming in his mind, he allowed Candy out at the entrance then looked around for a suitable target. Seconds later he braced himself and hit the accelerator hard. The impact shook him but he was fine. He got out of the wrecked, smoking car and walked casually to where a horrified looking Candy was standing with a hand over her mouth. He was also very much aware that he had attracted some attention from passers by but he purposely ignored them.

“Let’s go then”, he said casually as he picked up their bags.

“Terry, but…” Candy started and he almost laughed at the look on her face.

“What is it, Freckles?” he asked innocently.

She didn’t answer him immediately. It looked like she was still trying to make sense of what he had just done. She kept walking next to him hurriedly but kept shooting looks back to the wreck he had caused.

“You weren’t expecting me to go park it nicely somewhere now were you?” he asked amused.

“But… but… you wrecked somebody else’s car too!” she said still in a state of disbelief.

“And now your darling cousin will have to pay for it… on top of the damage in his own car!” he said smiling at her triumphantly.

Finally comprehension appeared on her face. “God, you never cease to surprise me” she said then and a slight smile was playing at the corners of her mouth. “You are wicked”, she added now positively giggling.

“Just a warning”, Terry said smiling at her, then threw Neal’s car keys to the trash can he was just walking by.

While waiting in the queue to purchase his ticket, Terry wasn’t at all surprised to realize that he was starting to have another headache. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose for a few seconds. He felt really tired all of a sudden. The last three days had been so hectic, he had had very little rest and his emotions were all over the place about his meeting with Candy… no wonder he was irritated all day today. He opened his eyes and saw Candy looking at him concerned.

“Another headache” he said simply.

“I’ll just have to give you some more medicine when we get on the train, haven’t I?” she said smiling. “You are lucky I am a good
nurse!”

He looked at her smiling. She had no idea how lucky he considered himself to be! His little nurse would look after him, he was sure. He was now looking forward to spend the train ride resting for a bit, preferably in her arms.

They got his ticket and were making their way to the platform where the train was already waiting when he heard someone calling his name frantically. Bewildered he turned around to see who it was. He rolled his eyes, turned around and started walking down the platform faster when he saw Eliza Rangan running towards them. He noticed that Candy was practically skipping to keep up with his pace but he did not slow down. He didn’t want that roach near them. He had not forgotten the trick she had played on them at school that had caused them to separate last year.

“Terrence! Wait!” he heard her shouting again but he did not wait. He kept walking until Candy indicated a door on the train to get in. Terry threw the bags in and was getting ready to help Candy on the train when the girl grabbed his arm.

“What do you want?” Terry asked her irritably trying to shake her off.

She did not seem to get the message. She looked at him with a stupid look on her face and said: “My Terrence! Are you happy to see me?”

“I can’t say that I am, no!” Terry spat but still she did not get the message.

“Why did you not say you were coming, I’d have come to pick you up!” To his amazement she then tried to hug him. He pushed her off looking at her incredulously.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked shortly.

“Neal said you are in town… and that you will be here at around 7pm” she said sweetly.

“Neal could speak?” Candy asked and Terry snorted.

The girl shot a look at Candy so full of malice that reminded Terry of an angry lizard he once saw at a zoo, but she didn’t say anything to her, obviously determined to pretend Candy was not there at all. This didn’t seem to bother Candy, on the contrary she looked amused, but Terry was irritated beyond reason at how used she seemed to be to Eliza’s insults and mean attitude towards her. He turned his back to her and offered his hand to Candy to help her step on the train.

“I came to take you home…” he heard Eliza saying sweetly, talking to his back, undeterred. “I can’t have you spend tomorrow alone…”

“I am not alone and I am not staying. Goodbye!” he said curtly while watching Candy climbing the stairs to get in the train. However, the part of Candy that leveled with his face once she climbed the final step sent his pulse racing and his thoughts down a path they had no business going (especially since they were in a crowded train platform). In an attempt to check himself and his thoughts he focused his mind in the blowing whistle that was signaling the train’s imminent departure and averted his eyes from it… by turning to his right… only to come face to face with Eliza whose stupid look was getting stupider by the second.

“Oh Terrence… I am so glad to see you…”she started again. “I can hardly wait to see you in the premier – Mommy is taking me to New York for it, you know – oh, you will be so marvelous…exquisite…” on and on she was going, singing his praises, and all the while all Terry could think about was how ugly she was. “…I expect you were too busy, is that why you didn’t answer any of my letters? But it does not matter you are here now and… I am so happy!” Terry kept looking at her, frowning. Her case, he realized, was as serious as the psycho girl’s back in New York. What the hell? When had he turned into such a psycho-girl magnet? “…and you can stop looking at me like that and come and kiss me!” she concluded looking at him expectantly.

Terry had never met a more audacious person. “I could but that would require me to lick where I spat and as a rule I don’t do that” he said flatly. Somewhere behind his anger-mixed with amusement-mixed with exasperation mood he heard Candy’s giggle and lost some of his edge. Suddenly, he was more amused than angry. None of this seemed to have gotten through to pigheaded redhead however, who after shooting another lethal look at Candy turned to him again, pasting another smile on her face that this time no one could doubt it was fake, as she was also shaking with anger at Candy’s amusement at her expense. Still she seemed determined to ignore that Candy even existed let alone that she was right there.

“You are so funny, Terrence…” she said with a little giggle. “I have forgotten about that little unfortunate incident…”

He took a step towards her then holding her gaze and heard her sharp intake of breath… He leaned his face close to hers and heard a tiny moan of anticipation… he then cleared his throat meaningfully… and watched her jump two feet backwards at what she probably thought was a safe distant. He held her look for one more second, gave her a fake half smile, then turned and jumped onto the train to join Candy who was now shaking with laughter.

“Bad bye, Eliza!”, he yelled to her over his shoulder, pushing Candy inside and grabbing the door handle. “Really awful to see you! Hope to never see you again in my life!” He then slammed the door in her face. Glancing through the window, Terry saw her standing by the now slowly moving train, shaking with anger and with the ugliest and meanest look he had ever seen on someone’s face.

“I will remember this!” she shrieked, looking ready to explode with anger.

“Oh good!” Terry said. “I am hoping you will! And here is something else you should remember”. He hugged Candy who, by the way she wrapped her arms around his waist and offered her smiling mouth to him, seemed to have been expecting this, and started kissing her passionately. Eliza’s angry face, as well as the scandalized looks of the few people left in the platform, faded away… all that remained was Terry and Candy on the deck of the now fast moving train, locked in a passionate embrace laughing heartily in between passionate kisses…

Chapter 5