You are Definitely Going to Hell Ch. 02

I then go on to rewrite some of the coding to give a smoother transition from one room to another, and I add some extra graphics to provide a better look to the game. I spend most of Sunday playing around and improving things just for the fun of it. Once I am satisfied with the game, I copy that version onto a separate set of discs.

I go down to the cafe and met with Paul, "Hey Rob, what's this about a hot chick spending the night?"

"What has Len told you?"

"Oh, some hot blond turned up and spent the night out of nowhere."

"It wasn't out on nowhere; she told me she would come round. I just didn't advertise it."

He laughs, "you're a dark horse, my man. I must admit, it's rare my brother gets in a flap about a girl."

"You mean like Lisa Lovegood," I say with a knowing smile.

"Oh god. Is he still obsessed with her?"

"Didn't he tell you? He met her at some Playboy promotional thing."

"Did he get to sign his Playboy?"

"Yeah, you should have seen him when he returned. He was like a kid who got what he wanted for Christmas."

"Well, if he's something, he's persistent."

"You don't know the half of it," I say.

"What do you mean?"

I smile and wonder, "Paul, can you keep a real secret?"

I sit and tell Paul who Bec is, that Len sat in these very seats and didn't recognise her. Paul is in tears of laughter. "Shit Rob, you've made my year. Are you ever going to tell him?"

"Yeah, but at the right time. I'm not sure how he will react."

"Anyway, time for business. I can't believe you've done this already."

"Yeah, it gets addictive. Once you start, it's hard to stop." I hand him the first envelope. "This is your original useless game." Then I give him a second envelope. "This is the fixed program with nothing changed."

"You haven't had a play?"

"Yeah, this last envelope has the game with some improvements. Have a look; if it upsets the writer, then ditch it, but it will give you an idea of what I can do."

He smiles at me, "I can't wait to see what the morons I pay a vast fortune to do this think about it." He puts the three envelopes in a suitcase, "Rob, if this is half as good as I think, you might be not only in for the five hundred, but you will be in line for a game bonus. When this game goes on sale, you will get half of one percent of sales."

"Oh right, so how much could that be?"

"The average is around ten grand. I will need your bank account details so I can forward your fee."

I get my wallet out and toss my Barclay card at him. He writes the details on the back of one of the envelopes. He closes his briefcase back up and stands. "Thank you, Rob; I knew you would be an asset. I will be in touch with your next project." We shake hands, and he disappears out of the door.

******

I'm woken Monday morning by the phone ringing. I wait a moment to see if Len is up yet and then get out and quickly pick up the phone before it rings off.

"Hello, Robert Johnson speaking."

"Hi Rob," a very familiar voice says.

"Hey Charlie, is everything okay?"

"No," she answers, and then she goes quiet.

"Judging by the tone of your voice, you have been told where I got my scar, and when you asked your parents, they confirmed it."

I hear her start to cry, and I feel my resolve begin to crumble. The pain I've been trying to get past comes flooding back, and I have to sit down.

"Rob......"

"Yes, Charlie?" I say, trying not to cry as well.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice is now reduced to a squeak.

I close my eyes, squeezing the tears out. I can't talk but just sit there trying to breathe.

"Me too, Charlie. Me too," I say after composing myself. That's it, and I can't take anymore as I start to cry.

I hear her hang up and put the phone down myself. "Is everything okay, Rob?" Len says, looking out of his room.

I look at him and say one word. "Charlie." I get up and head into the bathroom and wash my face.

******

After a week on the sick, Stewart Kean, Charlie's Dad, is back in his office. He hasn't been sleeping and has decided what he will do next.

"Could you have Paul and Dave pop up and see me before they go out on deliveries, Gloria?"

"Certainly, Mr. Kean," she replies. Gloria calls down to the customer service desk, "Hi Denise, is Paul and Dave still here?"

"Uhh, yeah. They are sorting the yard out ready for the delivery."

"Okay, can you give them a shout on the tannoy to come up to Mr. Kean's office?"

The next thing Gloria hears is, "Staff announcement, can Paul and Dave please come to customer services. Thank you."

Fifteen minutes later, "you want to see us, Boss?"

"Yes, come in, close the door and take a seat."

He looks at the two men sitting in front of him. He thinks what to say, "right, remember back to last year when we dealt with a young man outside?"

The two men suddenly become uneasy in their seats, "yes, Boss?" Dave says.

"Yes, Boss." Paul finally says.

"Right, what I need to know is what happened after I came back in?"

The two men went silent and just looked at each other. Dave is the first to say something. "When you came back in, we bundled him into the back of his car and drove him to the hospital. We left him near the A&E, so when he woke up, he could bang on the car and get found."

"So, you never did anything else to him?"

"Well, we might have kicked him a couple more times."

Stewart sits there thinking for a moment, "and who got the guilty conscience and phoned the police?"

Again there's silence, but Dave's eyes are on the floor. "It was me, I had a bad feeling about it, so I rang the police."

Again Stewart stares at Dave and then at Paul. "My daughter told me last week that she saw the lad at the swimming pool. After seeing a scar that wasn't there when she went out with him, she asked her friends what had happened. When you put him in the boot of his car, he had two broken ribs. One of these broken ribs punctured his lung, and if Dave hadn't phoned the police, we would be looking at a murder charge." Stewart takes another deep breath. "Gentlemen, this has not settled with me very well. Although I instigated the violence against this boy, I didn't mean him actual harm. I definitely didn't mean him to have life-changing injuries."

The two workers look at each other, "so what do you plan to do now?" Paul asks.

"I'm not sure yet; I need to talk to a solicitor."

Len walks into the cafe and sits in his usual place. I make him his usual and take it over. "Hey Rob, feeling better now?"

"It was hard; I could feel her pain," I say.

"So, what happens with Bec if you get back with Charlie?"

"Bec and I are just friends. Neither of us can commit to a relationship, so we will play it by ear."

"So she could just turn up wanting sex?"

"Not sure, but we are focusing on our friendship. If we are both single when we meet up, we may have sex. Your brother says your a little obsessed with her."

"Man, when she walked out in that t-shirt. Let's just say you are a very lucky boy. Tell me, does she walk the walk, or is it just talk."

"Len, I will never kiss and tell." I slap him on his shoulder and walk off. I take a deep breathe and turn back. "Len, I need to tell you something." I sit down, "Len please don't be mad, but I need to tell you that Bec is Lisa Lovegood."

Len looks at me in disbelief. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. I get up and clear a couple of tables letting him mull it over. I go back over, "when did you know who she was?"

"When you gave me the Playboy to look at."

"So what's with the name Bec?"

"That's her real name, Rebecca Brown."

"Of course it is." He stares off in space thinking

******

"Thanks for seeing me so quickly, Carl," Stewart Kean says as he walks into his solicitor's office.

"That's no problem, Stewart. You sounded a little desperate on the phone."

Mr. Kean then tells his solicitor the whole story of what he believes to be the truth. From the relationship break up to the so-called assault on his wife, to finally the assault on me.

Carl sits there listening, and taking notes. When Stewart has finished, he sits there and considers what he has been told. "Did you report the assault on your wife before you beat this......" He leans forwards to check my name. "Mr. Robert Johnson?"

"No, no, we didn't."

"And you didn't know anything about him being bundled into his car and driven to the hospital?

"Not until my daughter told me about the severity of his injuries."

He breathes out heavily. "Shit Stewart, you don't do anything by halves.....Right the way I see it, we have two options. The first is just to keep quiet. The police don't know or are actively looking for you. The second and judging by the way you look. We take the initiative and hand yourself into the police."

"What?"

"Hear me out, as I see it. You only acted because of what he did to your wife. This, in the eyes of the jury, is a form of provocation."

"So you think I will get off with it."

"You won't get off, but the worst you will get is some community service."

"Okay, I will need to go home and talk to the wife."

"That's fine, but phone me as soon as you come to a decision."

"Okay, Carl, it's not what I thought, but I guess you know best."

I am writing a letter to Jenny when I hear the phone ring, and Len answers it. "Hi, Bec, how's it going?"

I walk out when I hear Bec's name. Len is trying to talk to her, but she's not playing ball by the sounds of it. I hold my hand out, and he begrudgingly gives me the phone. "Hey Bec, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just thought I'd catch up with my new best friend."

So I sit and chat with Bec about her day and what people she met. She tells me she will be going back to the US next week and filming a couple of pornos. She also tells me that she will be thinking of me all the way through.

I tell Bec about the Charlie phone call and that I've told Len the truth. When I finally hang-up, I have been on the phone for almost an hour.

Len turns to me. "Are you sure you're just friends? You did everything other than telling each other you love them." I get up to go back to my room. "Oh Rob, almost forgot, Paul, rang and said he's got another job for you."

I go back and finish my letter. Jenny is still with the boyfriend and finding it awkward writing to me. She seems happy and has admitted that she misses sex with me a little too much. I write back telling her about Bec and who she really is and the story about Len not recogizing her. But the main reason I am writing is because of the Charlie phone call. I don't want to read too much into it, but I am dying to know what Jenny thinks. I finish the letter with, 'If I 'm still going to hell, you will be right by my side.'

Life is back to normal and going well until I get a phone call from Sargent Smithe. "Hello, am I speaking to Mr. Robert Johnson?"

"Yes, Sargent. What can I do for you."

"Robert, we thought you should know that this morning, a Mr. Stewart Kean walked into our police station and admitted to your assault." I sit, not knowing what to say. "Mr. Johnson, do you have any questions?"

"Ummm, not really; this has come as a bit of a shock. So what happens now?"

"We have your statement and his. He has implicated two others, and once we have gathered all the evidence, we will present it to the crown prosecution service, and they will decide what to do."

"Okay, thank you, Sargent."

"I will be in touch when I know more Robert. Will you be okay?"

"I will be fine, thank you, bye."

I hang up and sit there, not knowing what to do. I should be happy, but all I can think is that this will put the final nail in the coffin of my relationship with Charlie.........

This can't be The End, can it?

Don't forget to score, it's what makes this all mean something.