Chapter 14: Ending

The floor was empty, and people continued to come in through the double doors behind us, pause, look around, and join their friends at tables. Robyn nudged me when she recognised some older girls she knew from the Girls High School, but they were with guys I didn’t know, and it didn’t seem appropriate to try and join them without an invitation. So we stood there, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. There were a dozen staff and their wives and partners sitting with the Head and his wife at a couple of tables just inside the door, and Mr Smythe gave me a smile, but there was no help there.

Eventually Jack Gavin took pity on me. At least that is what I thought at the time. Later, I wasn’t so sure that he didn’t have an ulterior motive even at that stage. Anyway, he caught my eye and waved us over to sit at his table. There were five other couples and us, and we were in elevated company. I didn’t know about the girls, but as far as the guys were concerned, we were sitting with the Deputy Head Boy and two other prefects, the fullback of the First XV, and the guy who was probably going to be Dux and would certainly get a National Merit Scholarship. Jack Gavin introduced us around, and I promptly forgot three of the girl’s names.

I remembered his partner was Julia. She was a prefect at Girls High, and Cresswell, the Dux, was partnered with a nerdy looking girl called Myra, but the most noteworthy things about the round of introductions, were the way Robyn lit up for Jack, and the way Jack fell all over himself to make himself pleasant to Robyn. Julia was at first surprised, and then as the chemistry between Jack and Robyn became more and more obvious, slightly pissed off, but like the well bred girl she was, she did her best to hide it.

Their mutual attraction/fascination/obsession became more and more evident as the evening progressed. Jack talked mainly to Robyn, and Robyn had eyes mainly for Jack. He danced with her more often than she actually danced with me, and I found myself partnering Julia more than I would have expected. She was a very good dancer, and I encouraged her to teach me. She was pretty grumpy.

Jack and Robyn weren’t doing anything outrageous. No smooching, no hands all over each other, nothing the staff could possibly object to, but psychically they had stripped each other naked and fucked each other to a string of noisy orgasms on the bandstand before the evening was half over.

Many many years later, Harry would meet Sally, and like the older woman in the restaurant observing the result, everyone in the gymnasium wanted ‘whatever they’re having’. Well - almost everyone. Julie and I talked over club sandwiches, sausage rolls, and punch at supper.

“Looks like I’ll be going home on my own.”

“Nah. Jack’s a gentleman, and I’m taking Robyn home for sure. How long have you known him?”

“Second date! And almost certainly the last!”

“I’ve been in a ‘temporary girlfriend’ relationship with Robyn all year. We really love each other.”

“Doesn’t bloody look like it!”

“No – it’s not like that. We both acknowledge that what we have is lovely, but it’s not troo lurve and it’s not happily ever after. Not forever.” Julia screwed up her nose, and I went on. “I’ve never seen Robyn light up for anyone like this before. What’s happening with her and Jack is new. It certainly looks like troo lurve!”

“Hmmpf!”

“Don’t be too hard on him. Sure, He’s being very rude and discourteous to you – behaving like a lovestruck puppy, but it’s obvious to me that lightning has struck and he has no idea what he’s feeling or how to deal with it.” Julia looked at me shrewdly.

“Jesus! – How old are you?” I smiled, and Julia thought some more. “We’ve only had one date before this, and he doesn’t do feelings. He wouldn’t know a feeling if he fell over one, and if he did, he’d run a mile.” She had another thought.

“Do you two fuck?” The question was a shock, coming from someone of her elevated status, and the answer must have shown on my face, since Julia assumed we did and that Robyn would be available to Jack.

“We don’t discuss what we do without the other person’s permission.”

“Don’t need to – the answer’s obvious. We hadn’t got that far.” She paused and looked a little sad. “I was planning to surprise him with a hand-job later, but I think that ship’s sailed!”

“There’s certainly something deep and meaningful starting. At least from the look of it. Robyn and I have lotsa connections, but nothing like what’s happening with those two right now.”

“Whaddya mean by ‘connections?”

“We study together three times a week, we work together at ‘Mary’s World’ at least one night, and we jointly take responsibility for some of the cooking and most of the washing and cleaning at my house.”

“You mean your parents’ house?”

“Nah – I rent a room from my Uncle Frank at his place by the railway in Newmarket.”

“That’s a lot of time together.”

“Yeah – we get on really well and we are strongly attracted to each other sexually.”

“Clearly not as strongly as her and Jack!” We left it at that. Robyn and I had the last dance at midnight, we bid the rest of the table a relatively decorous goodbye, and Allan was waiting in the Humber when we got outside.

“Where to madam?” It sounded as though he was giving us the option. Robyn didn’t hesitate.

“I want to go back to David’s. We have lots of talking to do.” Allan snorted.

“I’ll just bet you do!” But he drove us to my place and we both thanked him and promised to come back to the Thomas’ house in plenty of time to give her Mum a complete rundown before our Sunday study group.

We were both pretty tired. Getting out of the ‘ball clothes’ and preserving their condition was a pain, but everything was eventually carefully hung up or folded. We snuggled, but didn’t turn on. I suspected Jack Gavin was there in the bed with us – at least in Robyn’s head. Bulls ‘n horns. I grabbed it.

“We obviously need to talk.”

“Are you jealous?”

“No. At least I don’t think so. But you were totally too much in terms of the way you were both carrying on and I doubt that there was anyone at the Ball that didn’t notice. Julie was pissed off, and I don’t think Jack will be getting lucky tonight.”

“Are you sure you’re not jealous?”

“Fairly. Julie thought you were both very rude, and I’m pretty sure some other people will agree with her, but I understand that for you and Jack it was like lightning had struck!”

“Sure was. I’ve never felt like that before!”

“You want to stray with Jack. Maybe more than stray. That’s screamingly obvious.” I could see Robyn’s blush, even in the low light of our bedside lamp. “I don’t have a problem about that. We’ve both been quite clear from the beginning that we are in a temporary relationship, that it isn’t for ever, and it isn’t troo lurve.”

“But what about us?” Bulls ‘n horns.

“We carry on as usual. We are very good friends, we do a lot of shit together, our lives are intertwined and are probably going to stay that way, at least for the next few years.” Robyn snuggled closer and looked a bit happier. “I love you in every sense other than troo lurve and forever, and I feel as though you love me in the same way.” I paused.

“And?”

“And I’ve wanted to fuck you forever, and probably always will.”

“But?”

“If you want to do the troo lurve thing with Jack, we might stop having sex, but let’s not worry about that until we have to. You certainly have the hots for one another right now, but that may not last.”

“So is it all right if I go out with him?”

“Yup. I think we agreed that both of us are free to explore other relationships by arrangement.”

“Whaddya mean both – white man!” We cracked up and fell to pleasuring ourselves and each other.

We hadn’t considered the morning. Robyn wasn’t keen on getting dressed in her finery again, but had nothing else to wear, and walking from my place to the Thomas’ in dancing shoes seemed several thousand steps too far. Fortunately, Frank and Emma had chosen to spend the night in his ‘new’ bedroom rather than go to her place, and he lent me his van, with the admonition to be back before lunchtime, so Robyn and I piled in and had half an hour for the promised ‘blow by blow’ recounting of the doings at the Ball before Alison and Pauline arrived for Study Group.

Neither of us were what I would later learn to call ‘straight up’ about the lightning strike on Robyn, but Mrs Thomas knew her daughter well enough to know that something was up. As I said to Frank ‘who it was up and where, was obvious, but whose something it was – was less so.’ He was suitably amused, but that was later, and in the moment, Mrs Thomas was very interested, but interested rather than suspicious, and that actually felt quite nice.

Alison and Pauline arrived more or less together. I don’t know how closely they were attuned to Robyn, and whether they would have been aware of the change in her if we hadn’t been actively engaged in trying to explain to Mrs Thomas as much as we had worked out about what had happened and what might happen next. Pauline ‘got it’ on an emotional level, but Alison’s understanding was clinical, and as she readily admitted, she had no experience of being even a ‘little bit’ in love. Pauline wasn’t quite satisfied with that.

“What about Aapi” Alison looked doubtfully at Mrs Thomas, and received a smile that evidently reassured her.

“I like Aapi, I feel safe with Aapi, and it’s exciting exploring sexy stuff with Aapi, but I don’t love him.” Pauline seemed satisfied, but still thoughtful.

“Neither do I, and what I have with Aapi is safe, and at the same time really exciting, but nothing like I felt before, when I fell in love with a Fifth Form Boy when I was in Form II.” Alison leaned forward, and Mrs Thomas had a sort of dreamy look for a few seconds as Pauline went on. “It was troo lurve bigtime. It was hearts and flowers and birds singing, and happily ever after and tingles all over my body when we held hands. He felt it too!” Robyn nodded vigorously.