Blog 10. The abduction of Chloe de Haviland

October 6th 2004

I've visited Kathy several times in the past week and there seems to be an uneasy truce between her and Professor Rowlandson but her work is progressing now. I had quite a long chat with her over an early dinner in the cafeteria today and she said that he had put forward several good ideas which she was following up and he had set up a couple of the experiments himself. My conversation with her was observed by my student who suggested that I might be two-timing Sarah and I'm letting him believe that for he time being. It might help me explain why I pop into her lab every so often. I like Kathy but Sarah's my girlfriend. Rowlandson always looks worried when I enter his lab and his thoughts show a hatred for me but I've not done anything to upset his authority with any of the staff or his students although some do seem surprised that he is now taking an interest in Kathy's work.

Tea with Jean last weekend went very well as I expected it would. We seemed to be laughing and teasing each other all the time. Sarah accused Jean of paying me to abduct her to The Swan on that first night and in doing so had changed the course of her life. "Now I seem to be stuck with him!" she said with mock indignation.

"Well it was one way of getting out of going to Miriam's party," Jean grinned. "Would you rather I had kept him for myself?" My mind quickly remembered the shower and the bed episode that followed but I said nothing. I don't think I even blushed.

I also met Sarah's mother Sally for the first time. Her husband wasn't home and we only stayed an hour but I found her to be a likeable woman. Down to earth and practical. I guessed Sarah takes after her. I learned from her thoughts she was little concerned that her daughter had taken up with a professor (her mind promoted me!) and not someone of her own class. I hope that in time, as she gets to know me better, she will see me as a normal sort of person, rather than a highly intellectual and ineffective being.

I had to come to town on Tuesday morning to visit the library there to consult a local reference book they had so I called in at the bakery. Sarah was out the back and Maggie served me. "So she going to move in with you soon," she remarked.

"First I've heard of it," I answered and Maggie looked at me a little strangely. <<"Ooops! I shouldn't have said that,">> her thoughts told me.

"Sorry," she apologised, "I thought you two had talked it over."

"Don't worry Maggie, I didn't hear anything. We've talked about it but she seems very reluctant to make the decision. The ghost of Terry keeps haunting her." I knew Sarah had considered it but was still reluctant to commit herself and to lose the independence of having her own place. Obviously she had discussed it with her work mate so perhaps she is nearer to making the decision than I know. She does spend as much time as she can with me but with dresses to make and her sewing machine and materials at her place, this was not as much as either of us liked. I'd already argued that it would help her financially if she didn't have to pay rent on her apartment and she might even be able to afford a small car. She knows it will be a little while before I earn enough to buy one for her or even to keep her but maybe in a year or so that might change. I've decided not to broach the subject again to let her decide in her own time. I've had my first real pay cheque and this has increased my bank balance to an amount higher than it has ever been before. I wanted to pay Jean back but she insisted I wait until my next cheque and I knew just what my expenses for a month would be. That was really considerate of her.

Mum and Dad seem to be getting along better now. Dad's certainly more in control of her. He insisted that she went out and got a job, which she did at a local supermarket. She's a shop girl now so she cannot taunt Sarah with that term in a derisory way. According to Jenny, Dad said that if she had so much spare time she had to fill it by going to a sex club, she might as well do a job that brought in some money. Mother of course was dead against it at first but now she is getting to know the others there, she seems to be enjoying it.

I have finished scanning in Joshua's book but for each blog, I have to type it in as text. The main problem is finding the time to do it. I'm not a trained typist but I can get along quite quickly even if I do have to look at the keys. Fortunately I have been able to transfer the JPG files to a laptop and have them up on screen alongside my computer. I can now read the text and type it in without jumping from one programme to another. Here's the next episode that I've just finished typing. The story must have affected Joshua a great deal because he wrote of it in considerable length and with great clarity. I will break it down into shorter parts so there are not very long gaps in these blogs (and to save my fingers! Maybe I will have to try reading it into a voice recognition programme and see how that works.).