A Week in the Past

"Darren, it was you on Sunday, after all this time." Tears welled in her eyes as she reached across the desk and hugged him, spilling several applications to join the library onto the floor. Darren was a little taken aback, but held her close while she composed herself.

She pulled back from him, and he felt strangely sorry.

"Are you busy, or can we talk?" He asked.

"Give me half an hour or so, so that I can get someone to cover for me, then I'll meet you in the wine bar opposite."

"I don't know that I want to lose sight of you again after all that hugging."

"I won't be long." Gilly insisted.

"Alright, I believe you, I always have." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

Darren sat in the seclusion of one of the booths in the dark wine bar. He put his hand to his to his cheek. The little peck had conjured up his one blocked memory. He let his mind drift back; back to the last time he'd seen Gillian.

His father had gained a big promotion, but it meant leaving for the city. His parents had waited until after the 'O' level exams and this was it. The last night had been Gilly's birthday party, but it had been a sad affair, with both of them preoccupied, primarily with the fact that in the morning he was going. As he'd lain in bed that night, unable to sleep, there had been a tapping at his window. It was Gilly, it had to be, no one else could get to it except him. She motioned for him to come outside. Pulling on some clothes, he joined her in the warm moonlit garden. Together they walked to their old den, a ramshackle hut on the edge of the allotments. Inside, they stood holding hands for several minutes until Gilly spoke, a catch in her voice.

"Well, this is it then. The end of an era."

"Don't Gilly, I hate this as much as you. "

"I bet Cassandra's loving it though. Breaking us up." She almost spat out his sister's name.

"I'll always come if you call, and you know it."

"Yes, I suppose I do." She shrugged. "Anyway, I've decided to give you a leaving present."

"You don't need to do that."

"You don't know what it is yet."

"True." He said cautiously.

"Its something I've never given to any of my boyfriends."

Darren suddenly realised what she was trying to say. "Please don't Gilly, you'll regret it later."

"Darren, I think I love you." Tears sprang to her cheeks. Helpless before her, Darren took her in his arms and kissed her...

And that was that. The end of an era, the passing of innocence. She hadn't seen him off the following morning, and he hadn't seen her until last Sunday. He had always felt strange recalling that last time, which may have been why it had been the last memory to return. Now he felt bad about it all over again, not really knowing why. Darren looked up from this introspection and saw Gilly sitting opposite him.

"So." She said. "Where have you been for the last fifteen years?"

"Around." He replied, embarrassed. "I wrote for ages but you stopped replying after a month or two."

"I did not, I wrote for most of a year even when I got that letter from the lawyer, telling me to stop."

"I don't understand what you're talking about. I would never do that." His voice trailed off. "You didn't send me a change of address card either, did you?" Gillian shook her head, puzzled. "Cass worked as a temporary secretary for a solicitor and a card manufacturer."

Gilly's jaw dropped.

"You don't mean she finally managed to split us up?"

"It looks possible." Darren shrugged. "I'm sorry Gilly, I truly thought that you'd found someone else and didn't want to know anymore."

"Well in a way you were right, but I would have liked to have kept in touch." She smiled. "Still, tell me what brings you back here."

Darren told her how his father had died in a car crash eight years ago, that he'd been in the car and got a serious knock on the head, leaving him with a sluggish memory process. His sister had tried to help him regain his childhood recollections, but he now realised that she had left Gilly out, which was why his recall had always been hazy. Anyway, his father had left him a small amount of capital, so he and a like-minded friend had set up a small printing company. Business had been so good for the past two years that they had decided to open a second print shop here. He'd come down to organise a small workforce for next month, but was having problems getting a manager and how he was now seriously considering doing it himself. The flow of words slowed. Darren sat back.

"Your turn." He smiled.

Gilly sipped her wine before speaking.

"Well, not long after you left I married Joey Williamson when I found out that I was pregnant. He was nice enough for a while, then after Stephanie was born he changed, got bad tempered. Sometimes he'd hit me. Then one night Pop came round and found Joey smacking me. He just picked up Steph, grabbed my hand and took me home. Joey left town and joined the army."

"So you're still married?" Darren asked.

"No, Joey was killed on active service. It means I get a little pension. With that and Pops help I put myself through college." She paused. "It was sad really, Pop never liked Joey."

"I bet he didn't, forcing his little girl out of school and into real life." Darren stopped, a little doubt blossoming into an absolute certainty. "Except it wasn't Joey's fault was it? He was just the fall guy."

"What do you mean?" Gilly asked, a guilty look spreading across her face.

"I just realised why Stephanie's eyes seemed so familiar. I see them every time I look in the mirror. She's my daughter isn't she? She even looks similar to me at that age."

Gilly's face crumpled. She couldn't look into his face.

"Yes." She said, her head bowed. "But I couldn't tell anyone that. They'd have thought you ran off."

"You could have told me."

"Why should I ruin your life as well? It was my fault. I should have stopped when you asked." Tears flowed down her cheeks.

Darren moved to her side.

"You always had to be one up didn't you?" He took her in his arms and held her close, her head on his shoulder, his hand tousling her hair. "C'mon lets go back to school."

She smiled.

"I can't. Steph's expecting me home soon."

"No she isn't, she's round at her Nan's." A thought struck him. "Probably looking through the old photo albums."

They looked at each other. Gillian spoke both their thoughts.

"They'll spot it won't they?"

"I think it's time to make a clean breast of it Gilly, tell everyone."

"Will you come with me?"

"We made a pact remember? I'll always come when you call."

"I know. Maybe I should have remembered."

"So should I." He kissed her gently. "C'mon then." They stood and walked arm in arm from the darkened wine bar out into the warm spring sunshine, knowing that together the future was a much nicer place than the present, but the past was always nice to visit.