The Pulse Pt. 06

"Thanks Mrs Thorne..."

"It's Valerie, Jake. Mrs Thorne is my mother."

"Right...err...Valerie. I was just wondering if you might be able to help. This has all been a pretty serious shock."

"Of course, Jake. What can I do?"

"We're trying to track down who started these rumours and so we're asking people to find out where these chinese whispers started. Most people just heard it from a friend of a friend but I was hoping that you might be better connected than us."

"I'll marshall the teachers, Jake. I'll get them all finding out. There's no way that we can let this happen to someone like you. The Head will be supportive too."

"That's wonderful Mrs...err..Valerie. You're really kind, thank you."

"I'll be in touch, Jake. We'll find the buggers that have done this to you."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I leaned back in my chair and felt so much better than I had just twelve hours ago. But my stomach was still churning about my meeting with Fiona. I realised that it was some measure of how much I liked her that our relationship was the thing that I was worrying about most. Not my job, not my reputation. Her.

I went back to bed and couldn't resist using the Pulse.

I pictured her and reached for a purple thread.

Pulse.

Just like before I was whisked towards her location rapidly, only slowing down as I descended through the roof into the office at the garden centre. She was standing there talking to Mr Mayhew looking very tired and quite upset. My heart went out to her, seeing her looking like that.

It was maddening that I couldn't hear what they were saying, maybe if I blended in...

PULSEPULSEPULSE

Suddenly there was a rush of noise and I wasn't just hovering there above them I was standing in the room. I was linked back to my body lying on my bed using purple, red, and yellow threads. But I was standing there as if I was in the room.

"...of course I'm not going to give him his job back, he's a rapist."

"But it's just a rumour and it can't be true. Not of Jake. You know what he's like. He's conscientious, hard working, popular with the customers and his colleagues and always on time. He's been the model employee and you've just cast aside all your experiences with him based on a rumour."

"Not just any old rumour. I trust this person and I know they're not the only one that said it."

"Who? Who was it?"

"Never you mind. Now I appreciate that it's a shock but that's the end of it."

Pulse.

I reached for a blue thread and tried to find out who it was that Luke Mayhew trusted so much to believe a rumour like this. The blue thread reached out from my incorporeal body as I moved with him back into his office.

Nothing. I needed physical contact dammit!

Maybe if I...

I moved behind him and put my hand out on top of his head. He swatted at my hand absently as if a fly had landed there.

....trouble...rumour...truth...Lenny...solid...emotional women...old friend...

I started sweating and could only hold the contact for a very short time. As I severed the thread to him and stopped concentrating on Fiona I snapped back into my body. I sat up on my bed gasping for breath. I was shaking and gagging, desperately coughing to get air back into my body.

I was elated and yet terrified. While I could project myself, in a way that could hear and see as if I was there, it was at the expense of my own body. I had literally stopped breathing for the minute that I was at the garden centre and had been totally unaware of what I was doing to myself.

I could have died.

Fuck.

But I had a name. Lenny. I just needed to figure out who that could be.

I lay back exhausted and as my breathing slowed I drifted off to sleep.

I was woken by hunger pangs. I went downstairs and realised that it was well past lunch time. I raided the fridge and found leftover lasagne which I made short work of.

I spent much of the afternoon hoping that the phone would ring with some news about the rumours. And trying to figure out what to say to Fiona. I eventually got so tense and jittery that I went outside and mowed the grass at the back of the house.

The physical work helped calm me. More rational thought returned as I walked up and down behind the mower. I needed someone to talk to.

I missed Jamie. We usually spent a lot of time together over the holidays and it was rare for us to spend more than a few days apart.

I called him and brought him up to speed on what had happened today minus the Pulse related stuff. It was encouraging to hear that he didn't seem to be the target of the smear campaign and he said that he was working on his parents to see sense. I passed on the name I'd learned but it meant nothing to him. We were both depressed and not even Blackadder insults raised a smile.

By the time my parents were home my nervous energy had made sure that the grass cuttings were all bagged up, the house was hoovered, the washing was done and a chicken curry was bubbling on the hob.

"We should have more vile rumours aimed at the family if this is the result," joked Dad as we finished dinner.

"Be careful what you wish for!" said Mum.

"Yes. No more rumours or any other weirdness in my life please. Dad, do you know anyone called Lenny?"

"Apart from Lenny Henry? I'm afraid not, why?"

"Oh, it's just that when I spoke to Jamie he mentioned that when he'd asked around after a source for the rumour one of them had mentioned a 'Lenny' that's all."

"Well, it's the first name that we've got. I'll ask around and when Mr Lathan calls I'll pass it on."

"Thank you. Mrs Thorne has offered to help too. I'll call her now."

"You won't get out of the washing up that easily!"

I grinned and went to pass on the one lead that I had. I left a message on her answer machine and went back to drying up the dishes that Dad had washed.

"When did you say you were seeing Fiona?"

"Midnight."

"Why so late?"

"I don't know. I think it's because she has to sneak out of her house and her parents are being really strange about this whole thing."

"Well, as a parent, I can understand if I didn't know you how these sort of rumours could make me very wary. But you said that you got on well with them didn't you?"

"I thought so. Fiona says that they think that I'm leading her astray."

"But you're back on time and courteous and well behaved. What's the problem?" said Dad.

"It's just their little girl spreading her wings and becoming an adult," said Mum.

"Sounds like they have trust issues. Either you raised them right and you trust them or you don't."

Typical Dad.

Mr Lathan did call that evening and we discussed our mutual lack of progress. He promised to check around for a "Lenny" too though he didn't sound hopeful.

It was several very nervous hours later that I was waiting at the end of Fiona's road. I'd turned the engine off as I rolled the last hundred yards or so down the hill in an effort to be as inconspicuous as possible.

I'd got there a little early but by half-past midnight I was worried that she was trying to teach me a lesson. But that didn't square with what she'd been saying to Luke Mayhew, trying to get my job back for me. So I stayed put.

By one o'clock I was about to give up and go home when I saw Fiona running down the road. She was carrying two big bags and was wearing a coat and a hat. I jumped out of the car.

"What..?"

She threw open the passenger door and started to jam her bags into the back seat.

"There's no time, Jake. Help me!"

I dived back in and we finished getting her bags in the back, my old mini not being the most practical of cars for this. She jumped in, slamming the door shut.

"Please drive! Now!" Her face was set hard and cold but she had tears forming and her eyes were full as she tried to hold it together.

I started the car quickly and drove off just as I thought I caught sight of her father rounding the corner of her road. I looked across at her sad face, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Fiona, what happened?"

"I..." and then she broke down crying. After a few miles I couldn't take it anymore and turned off the road. I pulled into the nearest available space, a primary school car park.

As soon as I had the handbrake on and the engine off I pulled her into my arms. She was shaking with emotion, desperately trying to get out what had happened but totally unable to through her choking sobs.

I just held her and eventually she started to calm down. She'd obviously put some makeup on before coming out and her face was now a total mess. I used a tissue to wipe her face clean and she wiped her eyes before leaning back in the chair and screaming out her frustration, her feet hammering up and down on the floor of the car.

I took her shoulders in my hands and shook her ever so slightly, getting her attention.

"Tell me."

"My parents are trying to have me sectioned as a mental patient."

"Oh my God!"

"They are convinced that you have an evil hold over me using some nameless drug and that the only way to stop me from becoming and I quote 'an even bigger slut' is to get me taken away to a secure location until I no longer insist that you are just a normal guy who I like a lot and yes, have had sex with."

"Jesus!"

"They didn't know that I'd spoken to you last night, so I pretended to accept what they'd said after arguing for most of the evening. Thankfully the bags that I use when we go on holiday are stored under my bed. I packed as much stuff as possible as quietly as I could but the bags aren't that big, so I'm wearing several layers too," she looked slightly embarrassed and I realised that she was wearing enough clothes to get through a Russian winter.

"I lay in bed and pretended to be asleep. Obviously my Dad was suspicious and kept pacing around. It went quiet for ten minutes just before one o'clock and I ran for it praying that you'd still be waiting for me. And you were."

She looked so grateful. She started to speak again and couldn't. I hugged her and she held on to me like a drowning woman.

"Please take me to your house Jake. I've nowhere else to go."

I slowly freed myself from her and looked at her desperate, worried face.

"I had no idea that they'd believe these lies so easily. I'm so sorry Fiona. Let's get you home."

"Are you sure it'll be alright?"

"Of course," though what my parents would think of this I wasn't sure. "Let's get you back and make sure that you're safe."

She looked relieved. Then her face clouded with guilt.

"I'm sorry to have to say it but we still need to talk about us."

I nodded as I pulled out of the car park and drove the twenty minutes back home. Fiona slumped down in the car as we drove back, the emotions of the day having obviously taken their toll.

As I pulled into our drive I saw that the light in my parent's room was still on. Either Dad had fallen asleep reading again or they were up and waiting for me to find out what had happened.

I nudged Fiona who had fallen asleep on the way back.

"Time to wake up beautiful, we're here."

"Oh. I'm sorry Jake. It's just this is the first time that I've felt relaxed for days."

"Well, it may not be that relaxing. I think my parents are still up."

"Oh... Oh No! But I look a complete fright. I can't meet them for the first time like this."

"Of course you can, you're beautiful."

She looked at me in the orange light from the street lamp and then leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"You're a liar Jake Conway."

And then she got out of the car. In just that one sentence she had me so turned on I could barely think. I pulled myself together and helped her get her bags out of the back seat. The front door opened and my parents, realising that they had company suddenly disappeared back inside to cover up a bit more appropriately.

I pushed the door open and led Fiona into the sitting room. She was suddenly extremely shy and looked very young and unsure of herself. She looked adorable with a stylish beret on top of her bob haircut and the ridiculous layers of clothes on. My parents came back downstairs wearing dressing gowns and Fiona was almost hiding behind me as they came into the light.

"Mum, Dad. I'd like you to meet Fiona. She's been forced into running away from home and had nowhere else to go. I hope you don't mind if she stays here until we can figure out what to do."

"Mr and Mrs Conway." She almost curtsied, she was so nervous.

"Oh my dear!" And Mum came forward and wrapped her up in a huge hug. My eyes started to fill and Fiona started sobbing, as all the worry and fear spilled over. Dad looked at me and nodded his approval that I'd brought her back with me.

"Come and sit down Fiona and do take off...my what a lot of clothes...well, whatever you want to take off to get comfortable. You're safe here for as long as you want."

Fiona blushed and started to take off some of the clothes that she'd been unable to fit in her bags.

"I'm so sorry to do this to you. I didn't mean to force Jake to..."

"You didn't force me to do anything. Now, let me get everyone a cup of tea and maybe you could tell them what you've told me."

And she did.

My heart swelled as I listened to her reliving the pain for the second time that night. Mum and Dad made the perfect audience, ready with tissues when it all got too much and just letting her tell her story. There were many looks from Fiona in my direction and eventually I just sat down beside her and held her hand. She clenched mine so hard that her nails were digging into my palm but I wouldn't have moved for the world.

"Well, I hope you'll forgive me, but it doesn't sound like it's you that needs to be sectioned Fiona."

She smiled at my Dad's vague attempt to lighten the situation. He continued,

"What will you do now? Go to work in the morning?"

"I resigned from Mayhew's toda...yesterday."

"You what? You didn't tell me that!"

"It seemed unimportant after all this. Luke Mayhew and I got into a bit of a heated exchange about whether you should be hired back or not. When he made it very clear that he didn't want 'your type' as he put it, working at Mayhew's then I decided that he obviously didn't want my type either. So I left them a letter of resignation, took my outstanding leave and did the final payroll run to make sure that he didn't try to keep anything back from me. He's done that before you know."

"So what will you do?"

"Apply to university. I had decent grades and an open offer from the LSE. I'll figure things out from there."

"You're a brave girl," Mum said, "and doubtless a very tired one. Come on upstairs and let's get you to bed."

I picked up her bags and Dad carried the extra clothes that she'd worn that couldn't fit in her bags. Mum led us up the stairs and into...my room?

"Don't get any ideas young man. You're on the sofa tonight. I know that you two still haven't had that talk yet. So let Fiona sleep herself out and then you can both decide on your future tomorrow."

I nodded at her wisdom and Fiona all but collapsed into bed. It was past two in the morning and my yawning parents excused themselves and closed the door, leaving me with a sleeping bag and a pillow.

I woke up to the smell of coffee and my parents bustling around the kitchen. It was eight o'clock. Everyone was very quiet and the house was empty again by nine. I lay back down on the sofa and tried to get comfortable.

I was woken up by a kiss on the nose.

"Morning sleepyhead."

I opened my eyes and saw Fiona wearing a tshirt and panties crouching down in front of me smiling at the ridiculous position I'd managed to contort myself into, trying to fit my frame onto the two seater sofa.

"Mmm...good morning..."

I stretched without thinking and my morning wood was on full display tenting the sleeping bag. Fiona laughed and I flushed with embarrassment and went upstairs to the bathroom. I heard the kitchen cabinets opening and closing as Fiona tried to figure out where everything was. I finally got my cock to go down enough to be able to pee and then joined her downstairs just as the toaster popped.

She took the two slices, buttered them and then started to smear marmite all over them.

"Marmite?!?"

"Uh huh!"

"I'm not sure that you can stay here after all. That's the devil's own food."

"Mmmph mmmm," was her only response as she happily consumed the hot toast.

I put the kettle on and made myself some toast with honey and settled down next to her at the breakfast bar. She looked across at me happily, wrinkling her nose at me as we ate in companionable silence, neither of us wanting to break the mood.

Eventually the kettle boiled and after finding out that instant coffee was not on her list of acceptable food groups I got the filter papers out and dug out the proper coffee.

We retired to the sitting room. I sat on the sofa and she very deliberately curled up on the armchair across from me, looking over the top of her mug at me, blowing gently on the hot coffee. She looked heavenly.

I started to open my mouth to speak and she shushed me.

"Whatever else happens and whatever we agree, I need to say thank you," she held up a hand to forestall my reply, "and yes it very much does need saying. I put you in an impossible situation last night and it's only thanks to your good nature and your parents forbearance that I'm not locked up in a padded cell somewhere. So I mean it. I owe you and your parents and I hope that I'm not in your way here for too long."

"You saw how they accepted you, Fiona. They know that you're no drama queen, doing this for attention. And I'd like to think that I'd help any of my friends that were in need like that. So no, there's no need for thanks."

She smiled and then her expression became more serious.

"So, do you want to do this now?"

"I think we should."

"So tell me again. I need to see your eyes, your face. I need to hold your hands when you tell me that I'm better off without you."

All my rehearsed words went out of the window as she came and sat beside me. She took my hands, looked deep into my eyes and waited.

And I told her again. How I'd been invited. How I was unsure about going. How uncomfortable I'd been when I got there and the shenanigans in the pool. She insisted on knowing every detail of my coupling with Christine. She laughed when I talked about the paddle thinking that I was joking. When she saw that I wasn't she looked shocked but continued listening. I finished by telling her how I'd gone back to the layby that we'd been to the previous night and tried to bring myself to understand how I'd let things get so out of hand.

"And that's when I realised how much I'd hurt you, hurt us."

I couldn't look at her eyes any more knowing that she must hate me.

"And if I can't control myself for the sake of a stupid bitch like Christine McConnell how can I be with a wonderful person like you? I desperately wish that it hadn't happened but I...I think that you're better off without me."

I looked up at her with tears in my eyes.

She simply looked at me and then leaned in and kissed me on the lips much as she had done last night.

"I love you Jake."

"But how could you after this?"

"For your honesty. For your humility. For your empathy."

And she interspersed each sentence with a kiss.

"No one is perfect. But the fact that you have feelings as deep as you have. And that you would give them up rather than hurt me again is a testament to me that I don't need to worry about it happening again. I confess that I didn't feel like that when Christine called me to crow about it. I hate that bitch like you wouldn't believe for what she's done. But the fact that you told me, all unprompted about what happened speaks volumes to me."

I hugged her, vibrating with the emotion flowing through me. She gently pulled my face back into view.