Chapter 4

There was no way Andrew could get up to pee without waking Helena but she just mumbled something and went back to sleep. Leaving her asleep in bed he went for a run, although it was bloody freezing and threatening to rain. On days like that there was always the temptation to cut short the run but he forced himself out north of the town, past Girton College and made it to the Golf Course as usual before finally turning round and heading back into town. By the time he was back at College it was raining and it was freezing. The first five minutes in the shower were spent just warming up before shaving and getting cleaned up for meeting the Innes’. Helena was awake, barely, in both senses of the word, when Andrew got back to the room and he changed as she lay in bed watching him.

Andrew helped her into his dressing gown so that she could just carry her clothes back to her room. Knowing that Helena would take a while to get ready he tidied the room and made sure he was ready to leave after lunch. When Helena was ready it was just after 11.00 and so they stuck a note on the door and went to brunch. 20 minutes later the other three members of the family showed up and joined them. The grilling was not very subtle but still polite. It was only natural and Andrew was at the stage now where he tended to be honest and blunt rather than hide behind obfuscations. What was funny was Helena’s parents had not prepped Tony, her little brother, so he just blurted out the questions that they were interested in but couldn’t think of a polite way of asking.

“Are you Helena’s boyfriend?”

Andrew almost laughed at the utter artlessness of the question. Helena was trying to strangle Tony but he just laughed.

“No I am not Helena’s boyfriend. I am just a friend that happens to be a boy that’s all.”

This distinction seemed to confuse him but her mother smiled and nodded but Tony was not to be denied.

“Why not?”

Helena really was ready to kill him now.

“Too busy, too focused on our studies and too young.”

Andrew wasn’t answering Tony so much as the parents. Tony was actually really proud of his big sister.

“But she is really nice.”

“I know this Tony, which is why she is my friend. What about you? Helena was telling me that you have lots of girlfriends.”

The denials were immediate and vehement but it changed the subject. Once they were back at the rooms loading only took a few minutes, Andrew pointed out where his room was and grabbed his pack before helping get all of Helena’s stuff down to a cart to take it to the car. Helena was the loudest in proclaiming that she was bringing half as much the following term. He was given the front seat as he was not sure he could have managed to sit in the back of the car. Other than a 10 minute drive with Nikki and Fran he hadn’t been in the back of a car since he was 15. This meant that Andrew had to keep up a conversation with Mr. Innes for the journey. He was a man who liked the sound of his own voice though so Andrew would ask him a question about his work and he would drone on for ages. He worked at Lloyds, and seemed to be a senior partner in one of the syndicates there. But it kept the interrogation to a minimum for the trip. They turned off the M3 and were at her house a few minutes later.

The guest room was like a granny flat or nanny quarters, in a small addition at the back of the house about as far away from Helena as it was possible to be. Andrew smiled as he thought about Helena visiting in the summer and just staying with him at the flat. It was later when looking at a map to orientate himself that he realised that the Innes’ living in the midst of a large number of army installations, some of which Andrew would be attending if he was commissioned as a Territorial Army officer. The Royal Military Academy was less than three miles away, one of the main depots for the Sappers was five miles away, there was a large training area less than 10 miles away. He had always thought of the south of England as crowded but there were still significant areas of Army training ranges scattered throughout the region. Smaller and more hemmed in than in Scotland or Northern England but they were there.

The trip was a bust and Andrew felt sorry for Helena. Her dad was a world class arsehole and went out of his way to be to be a snob, snide and unwelcoming. It started on the Sunday night with one or two comments but Andrew had been a guest in the house for less than four hours so just brushed it off. He and Helena had a fun time on Monday, they set out to achieve nothing and succeeded. It was mostly spent driving round the area letting Helena show him where she had grown up. It was interesting to let her reminisce about life before Cambridge, to see her Helena in her ‘natural environment’. But the fun of the time spent during the day was washed away in the evening when Helena’s father returned home. Andrew didn’t know if he got drunk every night or whether this was a special occasion but it was clear from his attitude that he thought little of Andrew and was regretting allowing his daughter to invite him into the house. He acted like he was a Hanoverian and Andrew, because he was Scottish, was some kind of Jacobite; it was quite the display. On another day it would have to come to words if not blows but Andrew saw how upset Helena was and so just laughed at him. He retired for the night early and was packing up his things when there was a quiet knock on the door.

“You don’t have to go Andrew.”

“Best all round I think. There is no point in going through another evening of that tomorrow. We can spend the day tomorrow and then I will get the train to London and head back to College.”

That there was no argument from Helena was pretty telling. They ended up heading to London before lunch and spent the day playing tourist in the centre of the city before he walked Helena back to Waterloo station. She looked glum.

“Relax, it will be fine. I will still wake you in the morning when we are back at College. Your penance is that you have to wear something naughty on a Monday morning.”

She laughed and pulled him in for a hug and a long kiss.

“You are such a guy sometimes.”

With a final hug she was gone and Andrew headed off to find a Tube to King’s Cross. Cambridge was quiet that night but rather than the corridor be deserted, quiet and empty, it was the exact opposite. It was interview week and the College was packed with next year’s wannabe Freshers. Andrew remembered his own visit and most people were acting the same way, quiet tension, not really focused on anything but the upcoming interviews. The following morning he arrived at the Café at his usual time and Peggy looked all confused.

“I thought you said Thursday?”

“I did, there was a change of plans, not a warm welcome so I cut the trip short. Just a full English Peggy, the soup can wait until tomorrow.”

“What went wrong?”

“Many things. Being Scottish seemed high up the list.”

Andrew shrugged, Helena’s dad had been an arse, there was nothing more to be said. Rather than bacon and sausages Peggy gave him a large grilled chicken breast instead, she really did understand that he wanted the protein. Grilled chicken and the rest of a full English breakfast got him a few odd looks but the regulars were used to his ways. For most of them Andrew was the only student they saw up close and on his own, the town was stuffed full of them wandering around but he was the one who sat there in the mornings being normal, well as normal as you can be drinking lentil soup for breakfast. Andrew thanked Peggy for the chicken and left some extra money. She looked out for him, and little things like grilling chicken were lovely personal touches. When Andrew got back to College it was chaotic, the tension was palpable. He dropped his stuff in his room and headed to Hall for a second breakfast. It was oddly quiet given all the people there for interviews but he didn’t question it, just accepted it and sat down to contemplate what he was going to do for the next three days. There was a shadow beside him and Andrew looked up and there was Doctor Wakefield, his tutor.

“May I join you Andrew?”

Andrew nodded and Wakefield sat opposite him so they could talk face to face. Andrew had not been to see him since the first weekend. He was exactly as you would expect a Fellow at a Cambridge College to look like. He could be summed in the one word ‘tweedy’ but there were no idiots among the Fellows. There were a few odd souls but within their disciplines or subjects they were world class. Dr. Wakefield also seemed to possess what much fewer of the other Fellows did, common sense together with a sense of humour.

“If all the students were like you Andrew, my life would be very dull. You don’t need to have a problem to stop by, you could just stop for a chat sometime.”

“That is good to know sir. I will be sure to arrange a mid-term meeting for the rest of the year, if only to make you feel you have earned your money.”

He laughed.

“All joking aside I see that you are doing well on your course. You have been noted as someone who takes Supervisions seriously and is always prepared. What about the rest of College life?”

They talked as the Hall filled up with nervous applicants. Andrew told him about the OTC and the 2^nd eleven as well as general corridor life in Angel Court.

“Oh you are part of the infamous 2^nd eleven.”

Andrew looked at him.

“Infamous?”

“We were having a Fellows dinner and one of the older Fellows got very confused. He had heard that we had beaten Newnham 4-0 and he thought that he was going senile. Newnham has been a women-only College for more than 100 years. This led to some confusion and then one of the new Fellows explained that it was the toast of the 2^nd eleven. It still took even more explaining as of course the women’s team did actually beat Newnham. The Master has had a few notes of concern about the team’s attitude and so all in all the 2^nd eleven hockey team is much better known that the firsts.”

“Well allow me to give you the background, you can be the star at the next Fellow’s dinner. It was after the tryouts at the start of term. Most of us were there to take part in some College sport but none of us had any illusions about our ability. We would play hard but it was not something to take seriously. So we are walking back from Burrell and this is all being bantered back and forth. And I piped up and said as long as we don’t lose to Newnham 4-0 I will be happy. It took them about a second and a half but then I was nearly thrown in the Cam.”

“The Principal at Newnham has heard and complained that you were being sexist.”

“Far from it sir. I coached woman’s hockey at school for two years and I know and respect how women play the game. Newnham’s team would likely wipe the floor with us. It was the first thing I thought of in terms of a situation that could not happen. It is our toast in the bar now.”

“I hear that the team has been pretty rude to some of the other Colleges as well.”

Andrew smiled at this.

“Some of them play like it is the bleeding Olympics. The usual suspects, like our northern neighbours, as you can imagine. We are the 2^nd eleven having fun on a Saturday morning and there is nothing we would like more than to stand at the bar with the opposing team after the game and talk about anything but hockey. We train every week, we play hard but fair every Saturday and if we win so what and if we lose so what. Some other mathematicians and historians and archeologists were slightly better at hockey than our classicists, doctors and vets. If the Master is getting some grief from St. John’s and the others then I will tell the guys to tone it down. We don’t need to be hauled up in front of the beak over hockey.”

Dr. Wakefield looked at him.

“I am not sure the White Book describes the discipline process in quite those words but thank you. There are the usual stuffed shirts worried about such things but the Master thinks the attitude is positive and refreshing. I do have one further suggestion. I accept your explanation over the phrase that has become your toast but the Principal of Newnham is not pleased. Would the team be prepared to play Newnham, men versus women, maybe for charity? Then when you do get beaten 4-0 you will have to think of a new toast.”

Andrew smiled but thought for a moment.

“Do I look like Bobby Riggs? I will ask the team next term. I think that we would love to play them. As you said, let’s make it a charity thing and have some fun.”

Andrew looked at Wakefield.

“See I did cause you some bother after all. Another successful tutoring session.”

“Good to catch up with you Andrew. Let me know about the charity game and I will get the Master to liaise with Newnham.”

He walked away and Andrew sat there wondering how the team would react to the proposed match. He shrugged and returned his attention to the next three days. As he was walking back round the Court to his room he was hailed. Looking round Andrew saw one of the Student Union office holders waving at him from the entrance to the bursar’s office so he walked over.

“I am sorry I don’t know your name but I recognised you as one of the first years, you are easy to spot. Simon Webster, one of the Welfare officers at the Student Union. A couple of people have not shown up and I am short of guides. Do you think you can spare some time this week to show some of the applicants round the College?”

“Sure Simon, I am Andrew McLeod by the way, I can do guiding between 9.00 and 1.00 both today and Friday and 2.00 until 6.00 on Thursday. Will that help?”

“Bloody marvellous. Can you be back here in 10 minutes and I will give you the first group, okay?”

So there he was Andrew McLeod, tour guide extraordinaire. Of course being the subversive rebel that he aspired to be Andrew did no guided tours round the facilities, 19 of the 20 students that morning had been to an Open Day, instead they sat in Hall and Andrew answered their questions as honestly as possible. He talked about life at the College, the good points and the bad. And there really weren’t many bad ones, at least not Trinity specific. The noise and the drinking culture were really the only things that he could call bad. Of course being the study freak that he was, getting up at 8.00 and studying all day, every day until at least 5.00 was a great thing, most people were a little more balanced. All in all it was an interesting and rewarding time. He could answer most of the questions regarding the science and maths faculties but was much less use to the art course applicants. Someone like Helena or Nigel would have been much more able to answer those questions. Simon came and sat with Andrew at lunchtime.

“Several of the students stopped by on the way out to thank us and mentioned that you had been really helpful. Did you really totally skip the tour and just sit and talk with them?”

“Simon, I had 20 students this morning, four groups of five, and all bar one of the prospective candidates had been at an Open Day. They just wanted to talk to someone who was here already and who had been in their situation the previous year. Look at what you guys do with the Freshers. The whole College family program, I just did an ad-hoc version of that. And I wish I had an Arts student with me as I was not able to answer some of the course specific stuff on History or English whereas I could answer most of the science stuff even although I am an engineer. Surely this has been talked about before.”

“I don’t know Andrew. The way you describe it makes absolute sense, the College family comparison is glaringly obvious. I just don’t want to get the admissions office mad at us collectively and us, you and I.”

Andrew nodded. Things took time to change and adapt, especially there.

“Hey, I showed them all the Hall.”

“Shut up, you arse. I will see you at the office tomorrow afternoon.”

In the afternoon he walked around town and bought two large boxes of chocolates and the biggest jar of chocolates he could find as he needed Christmas presents for Peggy, his bedder and the nurses at the hospital. Andrew and his bedder passed like ships in the night, he had only met her once when he stopped by one afternoon before a Supervision to get something. Sylvia was her name, late 40’s and she looked after the whole corridor. Apparently, he was her favourite in that he was vaguely tidy and, most importantly, never there. Monday nights when he got back to the room there were fresh towels and bedding and the room smelled clean. But other than that one time Andrew and her never saw each other. Science and Engineering were like that, four out of five days they had 9.00 lectures or labs and so the room would be empty. But some of the other courses had no labs and there was a huge amount of self-study and reading. These were the students who were still in the rooms and often still in bed when the bedder arrived. So Andrew had a box of chocolates for Sylvia as a thank you for cleaning his room for the term. He had the same for Peggy for adapting her cooking and routine to take care of him in the mornings. Just small gestures as thanks you to both of them. The huge jar of chocolates was for the nurses, Andrew wanted to thank them and there were tens of nurses during the two week duty cycle in the ward. Everything else could wait until he got back to Edinburgh.

Andrew ate dinner alone and retreated to his room afterwards. As he lay on the bed listening to some music he thought about the plan and the goals for his life. It was a start of term exercise normally but he mulled them over as he lay there. Career was still a complete mystery, Andrew was no further forward after a term at Cambridge than he had been in September. The course was hard but he was enjoying the challenge, he was on top of the work and had completed everything expected of him so far. Working at a lab bench with Olivia had myriad little benefits and his excellent results in lab showed this. Until May and the exams it was all just about making sure he did the work and understood it. Fitness was a daily activity that Andrew enjoyed but also needed. Swimming was meditation for him and his commitment to fitness was reflexive, it just happened even on the most miserable of days. Balance was pretty good, he felt he had a good group of friends across all aspects of his life at College and the Department and had deliberately limited it so he had a group of good friends rather than a wide field of acquaintances. It looked like he and Helena may change their relationship next term, but maybe not. They were friends and were good in bed together. They were each other’s fallback position when the itch needed scratching. Based on her father’s reaction it wasn’t going to be anything more. It was a more explicit and blatant reaction but it was no different than Rupashi’s mother. She might not have been so arsey to his face if he stayed with them but the sentiment was the same. As for karmic balance and making a difference, at the moment they seemed to be interlinked. His time at the hospital was turning into the highlight of the week but he knew that was driven by recent events, the good news from Amy and Mandy about their release. Still he felt like he was making a difference at the individual level now, rather than just making money to support research. The routine was set and this was a commitment Andrew was going to keep through his time at Cambridge and potentially beyond that. It was part of his sense of karmic debt, he had been so fortunate and needed to really challenge himself, work hard to do something for others. Helping a drunk home was not nearly enough to balance the scales. So the goals were all in place.