Susan was on the 6:00 bus to Brighton, but the bus didn’t leave until close to 6:30 because the driver was busy chatting with an old friend from a small cafe that served breakfast. By the time Susan got to Brighton, with the bus stopping numerous times, it was almost 8:00.
During the trip, she opened her sketchpad, pulled a pen out of her purse and started writing a goodbye letter to Mel. She couldn’t think of what she could write to James. Her eyes blurred a few times as she wrote, thinking of the wonderful man Mel was and how it was hurting her as much to leave him as it was his son. When she was done, she folded it and put it in her purse, not knowing how she was going to get it to him.
As the bus pulled into Brighton proper, she gave the bus driver the name of James’s street and asked if he knew where it was. She thought maybe she could give her letter to Mel in person before going to her hotel to wake up Lynn. She felt she owed it to him; he’d been so kind to her. She didn’t know what she would say to him after he read her letter, but she wanted one more hug from him.
As it turned out, James’s and Mel’s house was only five blocks from where the bus driver let her off. Quickly she walked in the direction the driver had given her.
She wondered where James was right now, hoping it wouldn’t be at his house in Brighton. She didn’t know if she could bear to see him again.
After an hour of sleep the previous night, she’d woken up and not been able to sleep again, thinking of him and their whirlwind love affair. It was getting so close to leaving him forever, and she forgot about their arguments and disagreements. She forgot about his quick temper and dictatorial personality. She forgot about his arrogance and stubbornness. She only remembered the things she loved about him. Even though she realized they would never be suitable together, she wanted to leave with love in her heart for him, not regret.
As she turned the corner onto his street, she froze when she saw him halfway down, sitting on the stoop in front of the door. She thought of turning and running, but she was rooted to the spot and couldn’t move. As if he sensed her closeness, he looked down the street and saw her. He leaped up and ran towards her. Likewise, she ran towards him, her hair streaming behind her.
They met halfway and embraced each other so tightly they could hardly breathe. James kissed her cheeks, her nose, her eyes, her hair, her neck. She was crying, and all she could say was, “I’m sorry,” over and over and over.
He tilted up her chin to look her full in the eyes, shaking his head at her and mouthing the words, “Why?”
She just kept saying she was sorry, with tears running down her cheeks.
He took her hand, and they walked down the street to his house and went inside. They sat on the couch, facing each other, holding both hands. Neither of them spoke for several minutes, just looking at each other, trying to read the other’s mind.
James was the first to speak. “You know I wouldn’t have kept you out at the cottage, captive or anything if you told me you wanted to go.”
“But, I wasn’t sure,” she said, her voice quivering.
He hugged her tightly to him. “You don’t know how worried and scared I was when I discovered that you were gone. I didn’t know what to think...where to look. I’ve never felt so lost or scared in my life...Susan, I love you so much...I know you have to go...but, please, promise me again you’ll come back.” He looked searchingly at her.
“I’ll be gone two months,” she lied, employing her ‘avoiding the question’ tactics. “That’s only eight weeks. It won’t seem that long. You’ll be in London yourself, making records. You won’t have time for me anyway.”
Then she thought, “Besides, once I’m gone I’ll just be a dim memory to you; you won’t even remember me…”
“I’ll always have time for you. When you get back, I won’t let you leave my side.”
She looked into his eyes. “But, you’re going to be rich and famous, you know. I won’t be so important then.”
“Don’t say that! I know I’m going to be rich and famous; I’ve always known it, even though my dad always says I’m daft. So, when I’m rich and famous, we’ll travel the world together; how would you like that? I can show you some of Germany, and we can go visit your grandparents and explore any place we want.”
There was sadness in her eyes. He didn’t notice.
“That sounds wonderful,” she said, then thought, “And that’s exactly what you’ll do, but just not with this Susan...”
***
It was 3:30 and still James hadn’t shown up for the afternoon practice. Derek was upset and angry. Lynn was worried and scared.
“Where in the hell is he!?” Derek asked no one in particular for the fifth or sixth time. “That damn American girl has him all bamboozled and messed up! Here he shows up at my house in the middle of the fookin’ night and gives me this new tune he wanted us to rehearse today, and he’s not even here, damn him!”
“What new tune?” asked Ian, sounding interested.
Derek reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a few sheets of folded paper. He shoved them in Ian’s hands. “This goddamn song!” he said.
Ian unfolded the papers and looked through them. “I heard him picking through this tune on Tuesday,” he said. “Looks like he finished it then. Why don’t we try it out?”
“Why should we?”
“Well, it looks like a good song, that’s why,” said Ian, picking out the opening notes on his guitar.
Lynn froze. “Does the song have a name?” she asked, knowing already what it would be. “Sure does,” Ian said. “All My Kisses”...Looks like a good tune.”
“James’s supposed to sing the first part, then I’m supposed to join in for the second part. You can join in, Ian. I don’t want to,” remarked Derek sourly.
“Be a sport, Derek,” said Mindy. “James’s just in love, you know. He’ll settle down after Susan leaves on her history tour.”
“Forgot about that,” said Derek. “She probably decided not to leave, which is why he isn’t here.”
“What?!” exclaimed Lynn in alarm. “Oh no! She has to leave! We have no choice!”
“That’s right,” added Mindy. She hadn’t told Derek about any of the bizarre or strange stuff Lynn had told her or shown her. It was too far-fetched. “They’ll be leaving for sure, and James will come back to earth, you’ll see.”
“Yeah, she’s got to leave at midnight tonight,” said Ian. Lynn had also told and shown him all the stuff about the future and how she and Susan had come to be here for a week. He thought it was too fantastic of a story to tell anyone else, but he suddenly realized that Mindy had been told much of the same. He looked at her, and she nodded.
“Right, then, let’s see how it sounds.” Derek picked up his guitar, took the sheets of paper back from Ian and pinned them to an old music stand he’d pulled out from the corner of the room.
Lynn just shook her head, thinking, “Oh, this is going to tear them both up in the end.
She should have come back with me on Tuesday...”