Chapter 11: Simon

"Brilliant," Brenda chided herself. "I've just driven off my one and only boyfriend. Wade has fallen for Petra, his new paralegal, and I'm out in the cold once more. Fantastic!"

There wasn't a lot of point in kicking herself over it. After all, hadn't they both agreed their relationship was one of "friends with benefits?" Of course they had. It's just that she was getting used to having the big lug around ... especially in her bed a couple of times a week. It helped keep the edge off ... and he was good company.

She remembered when she came back to Fairmount that summer after her freshman year. No guy at college and no guy in sight in her home town. Had her graduating class been that devoid of possibilities? She pulled out the class annual for her senior year and went through it page by page. There wasn't that much to see in a graduating class of only sixty-one students. There were some good looking guys but somehow or other none of them appealed to her. Hell, that was almost eleven years ago. She was going to be thirty this year. An old woman. An old, lonely, single woman.

She shook her head, trying to clear the depressing thoughts. It was crazy. She wasn't old. Thirty was only a number and she was definitely not past her prime. She could easily have more children ... that is ... if she met the right man. But if there weren't any in Fairmount would she have to move away? No ... not going to happen. Her parents, Pete's parents ... they'd never forgive her for taking their grandchildren away from them. But in the back of her mind she began to think that a change of scenery, even a temporary one, might be a good thing.

"What's the matter, Brenda? You look down." The face her mother made told her that she wasn't just making conversation. It took her a few moments to respond.

"I'm frustrated, Mom. Wade and I aren't seeing each other any more. He's involved with Petra, his new paralegal. I don't want to interfere. So ... I don't have anyone to talk to ... you know ... personally."

"I understand. It's been very difficult for you since Pete died. Wade helped you get over that, didn't he?"

She nodded. That's exactly what he had done. He bridged the time between the grieving and the next stage of her life. But ... what was that next stage? She couldn't see anything on the horizon. Marietta would be in school and Pete Jr. would be in kindergarten and she could have some time for herself. But what about the rest of her life? There had to be more than just raising kids and keeping house to look forward to. She loved them dearly but she had a life to live as well.

"I can almost read your mind, Brenda. You're wondering what you're going to do with yourself, aren't you? You don't see anything but the children and us in your future. You need more than that. I understand that ... and so does your father ... and the Polsons. You know we'll always be here to help with the children. They feel as much at home with us as they possibly could. Why don't you get away by yourself for a couple of weeks? Take a vacation. Goodness knows you can afford it."

"Oh Mom, I don't want to burden you with the kids. I know you love them and they love you but they're my responsibility."

"Brenda, you've gone through a very difficult time in the last three years. I can see the signs of stress on you and I'm telling you that you need a break. You keep going the way you're going and you're headed for a breakdown. That would be disastrous for the children.

Brenda sat thinking about what her mother had said. She was right ... as always it seemed. So ... what might she do with herself for two weeks? The question was what to do and where to go? Did she have anyone she could go with or was she going to have to be on her own?

She was browsing the travel pages in the local newspaper when she saw an advertisement for a tour of Great Britain. She had never been off the North American continent in her life. Perhaps a guided tour with a bunch of strangers would work. New people to meet, new places to go, and safety in numbers. The more she thought about it the more she warmed to the idea.

Marietta was quite upset that she wasn't going with Mommy on her trip. Brenda's mother-in-law promised she would take her to Playland at Legion Park and that seemed to placate her. Pete Jr. was not so worried since he would be staying with "Oompa" Polson part of the time. Besides, he had become attached to all his little playmates at school and didn't want to go away and not be able to see them.

And so it was decided. She would fly to England to meet up with her tour. She added a couple of days in London to see the famous city and its sites before the tour began. They would be off to the west along the south coast, north to Wales, then up to Scotland as far as the Isle of Skye and then across and down the east coast back to London. Twelve days on the road in one of the big tour buses should cure her wanderlust and maybe ... just maybe ... bring a little peace of mind.

The first two days in London flew by in a blur. She shopped, visited the famous sites at the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Greenwich. She walked for miles along the Thames and through the City of Westminster, stopping at a gallery or museum now and then. Life in this city was expensive but fascinating. She reminded herself that it wasn't about the cost, it was about getting away and enjoying herself. Besides, money wasn't an issue and wouldn't be for the rest of her life.

She had been staying at the Mayfair hotel reserved for the tour group. On the morning of the third day they began to assemble with their luggage in the lobby, awaiting their guide and the bus. All the luggage had been tagged and marked the previous night and was collected in a large pile before loading on the bus. About thirty minutes before their scheduled departure, a pale, short, well-dressed middle-aged man approached wearing a badge with their tour name prominently displayed.

"Good morning, I'm Robert Eisley and I'm the tour director for the 'Grand Tour of the Island.' Is there anyone here who is not on this particular tour? I just want to make sure that when we arrive in Portsmouth later this afternoon that you weren't expecting Sheffield."

That brought about some general laughter and then confirmation that everyone assembled was indeed with the right tour group. He went through a roll-call and it appeared that all were present and accounted for. The driver, a stout Scotsman named Ian, began to load the luggage while the tour group milled about, introducing themselves to their nearby neighbor.

As they boarded the bus, Brenda saw there would be quite a few empty seats.

A few more people got on at a second hotel and again more at the final stop. Brenda wasn't paying much attention at the time, busy reading the tour notes on the first destinations of Day One. An older woman slipped into the seat beside her, introducing herself.

"Hello, I'm Carolyn Watters," she said pleasantly, holding out her hand.

"Brenda Polson. Nice to meet you Carolyn."

"Is this your first tour?"

"Yes ... how did you know?"

"Newbies always read the guide front to back several times. I've lost count of the number of tours I've been on. This is my third one in Britain."

"Do you always travel by yourself?" Brenda asked.

"Usually. Sometimes I'm with a friend. I've been a widow for twenty years so I'm used to it."

"I've been on my own for a year and I'm just getting used to the idea."

"But you're so young, dear. You've got so much of your life ahead of you still. An attractive woman such as you will have no trouble finding a man," she said with a nod of self-assurance.

Brenda didn't respond, wondering how to get out of this conversation. We'd hardly started the tour and already she was uncomfortable.

"Where are you from, Carolyn?"

"Why I though you could tell by my accent, dear. I'm from Charleston, South Carolina," the woman smiled.

"Oh, that's a lovely place. I visited there with my husband when we lived in Memphis." At least they were talking about something other than being a widow.

"Where do you live now?"

"A little town where I grew up, Fairmount, Indiana. My parents and the children's grandparents live there or nearby. They're babysitting my two children while I take a break," Brenda said, wondering why she was telling a total stranger all this.

"How lovely. How old are they?"

"Marietta is almost six, and Pete Junior is three, going on four."

"Your late husband's name was Peter?"

Brenda nodded, wishing the topic hadn't come back around to Pete. She looked out the window as they rolled through what she assumed were the western suburbs of London. Everything she saw was different from her experience. She expected that in the big city but this was quite dissimilar from what she would find in America. Row houses, stone buildings, narrow roads, strange names ... everything was unique.

It kept her interest as they moved finally onto what they called a motorway. Being on the "wrong" side of the road was disconcerting, particularly on the narrow roads. She was just as happy she didn't have a good view out the driver's windshield. But it kept her interest and her mind off the earlier conversation with Carolyn.

Their first stop was Oxford, the university town. She had stepped off the coach and stretched. The first thing she was discovering was that tall people were limited for leg room on these big tour busses. She would try to switch to an aisle seat when an opportunity arose. She would also like to lose contact with Carolyn if she could do it without being rude. She was a nice enough woman and certainly experienced but she seemed to keep coming back to the fact that Brenda was a widow, the very thing she was trying to forget for a while.

She was standing looking out over the incredible site of the university buildings when she heard a slight "ahem" behind her.

"Excuse me," a male voice said quietly.

Brenda turned and faced a man about her age and similar height. His dark brown neatly combed hair was matched by dark brown eyes. The regular features of his face were just that, regular. But they were features that in some way seemed vaguely familiar.

"Yes?"

He smiled and it was a pleasant, relaxed smile flashing even, white teeth.

"I didn't think you'd recognize me," he said. "I'm Simon Reiser. I sat behind you in grade eleven and twelve at Fairmount High."

Brenda raised her hand to her mouth. "Oh ... I can't believe it. Simon? Is that really you?"

"Afraid so, Brenda. What a surprise when I saw you were on this bus. Half way around the world and who do I meet? What are the odds?"

Brenda was still in shock as seeing someone she hadn't seen in over ten years. He looked nothing like the little nerdy guy who used to sit behind her in homeroom. She remembered he was very smart ... always at the top of the class but somewhat of an outcast among his other classmates. He hung, if you could call it that, with the other brainiacs. Now ... now he seemed to have grown. And he didn't look anything like the "old Simon."

"I don't think I'd have ever recognized you if you hadn't told me, Simon. You've changed so much."

"Yeah, well I was a little later than you were taking on an adult form."

"Where are you living now?" she asked.

"Up in the air. I have been living in San Jose working for a medical science corporation but I'm pretty sure I'm going to quit and find something else. Maybe start my own business. Consulting, possibly."

"What do you do?"

"Oh ... I'm into research on pharmaceutical safety. I review documentation on testing trying to make sure all the proper steps are followed and the data is thoroughly examined. No shortcuts ... that sort of thing. Boring, huh?" he smiled.

"Maybe to say it, but it is important. I often wondered if my husband was given the right prescription or the right dosages."

"I heard about him. I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you ... but, how did you hear?"

"My mother. She kept me informed on local affairs until she and Dad moved to New Mexico a year ago."

"Oh. I take it you don't get back to Fairmount very often."

"No ... when I got a scholarship to Stanford I pretty much left home and seldom came back. I didn't have a lot of good memories of my school days."

Brenda nodded. "I can understand that. I remember when I was a frizzy-haired stick just how lonely it felt."

"It's hard to imagine you like that but I was there for that too," he grinned. "When you changed into a beautiful woman and I got to sit behind you in class ... that was a gift from heaven. Not only that ... you never made fun of me like some of the other girls did. You always said hello even when I couldn't summon up the courage to talk to you."

Brenda blushed. "Thank you, Simon. That's nice to hear."

They stood in companionable silence until Ian and Robert called everyone to board the bus once more.

"Simon, would you mind if I sat with you?"

"Of course not. I'd be delighted."

Brenda took the window seat gladly as Simon slipped in beside her. As Carolyn walked down the isle toward them, she stopped when she saw Brenda.

"I see you've found someone closer to your age, dear. I'm glad you did. It will be much more fun for you," she smiled and moved on.

"Your former seat partner, I assume."

"Yes ... she's a nice lady but we didn't have much in common other than the fact that we were both widows. I'm glad you rescued me."

"My good luck. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you as I got on the bus in Chelsea. At first I thought I was wrong. It couldn't be Brenda Reichart ... not all the way over here. Then I looked more carefully and I realized it was you. You were looking out the window and probably didn't notice me staring at you for a moment."

"I didn't recognize you anyway, Simon. You changed so much. You've become a very handsome man. But you are on this trip alone too. Does that mean there is no Mrs. Reiser?"

"Was. Didn't last too long. Discovered she was more interested in my income than me. She found someone who could improve her status so I was discarded. Luckily, she was so confident in her next choice that I didn't have to give her anything to leave"

"That's terrible. It's hard to imagine there are people like that in this world but I know it's true. How long have you been single?"

"About a year. Between ridding myself of her and my job, it hasn't been a great year. In fact, the best thing that's happened to me in the last year is finding you on this tour."

"Well I hope you still feel that way in two weeks," she laughed.

The truth was, however, that Brenda was pleased that Simon had appeared out of nowhere. Someone she knew, someone she had something in common with, even if it was in the past. What was distinctly different was that this was not the Simon she remembered. This was a much more attractive and interesting man.

Their destination for the day was Portsmouth, home of The Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship. Their first walking tour was on this magnificent relic of the Napoleonic Wars. Incredibly important history had been written on the quarterdeck of this ship. It was a two-centuries-old monument to another time. Brenda found herself fascinated by the history that Robert described so vividly. She began to realize just how knowledgeable their guide was. She was gaining confidence that this was going to be an enjoyable and interesting tour.

"Have you been to England before?" Brenda asked Simon.

"Yes. Several times, but only to London and Manchester for work assignments. I didn't get to do the tourist thing very much."

"So, this isn't all familiar to you then."

"No ... not at all. I love history anyway. I've been to Egypt, Crete, Turkey, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Korea, Australia and probably a couple of other places I've forgotten about," he grinned.

"Oh ... my ... you really have travelled. That would be fascinating."

"It was, but work always came first, so I didn't have the freedom to do what I wanted when I wanted. Nonetheless, I saw a lot of this world and learned a lot too. I got a good appreciation of just how well off we are in America. I think we take that for granted until we see how the other parts of the world live."

"I'm sure you're right. I'm expecting to see a lot of differences on this trip."

It was at that point that Brenda and Simon became inseparable. They were comfortable in each other's presence, silent at times while other times chatting about what they were seeing or thinking. They not only rode together but ate together. They would go their separate ways after their evening meal, yet find each other for breakfast in the morning.