I am so grateful George didn’t act overfamiliar with me when we met up again the other day. He recognised meimmediately, as I did him, but he didn’t allude to it. I was able to give aslight shake of my head to warn him to keep quiet when Thomas turned around tohim to introduce us. Thankfully, he seemed to pick up on this and my bodylanguage and I think Thomas was none the wiser. Really, why on earth would hethink we would know each other? That would make no sense in Thomas’ head so Iam quite sure if he did see any flicker of recognition or something just notquite right that he would simply brush it off. However, it had been difficultkeeping my cool.
When I saw George, I couldn’t quitebelieve it. It felt as though we had taken a step back in time, the three ofus, reliving the past. And when George said it would be OK for me to stay athis house with Thomas, well it was all too much! I want to be there for myhusband yes, but shacked up in George’s house, I would feel completelysuffocated and on edge. Would he be able to keep the pretence going if I stayedthere? Mercifully, he didn’t pursue it and both George and Thomas seemed torespect the fact I was happy to stay at the apartment.
I have kept this secret throughout ourrelationship and, in the recent years, have convinced myself there was nochance he would ever find out. In truth, I put it to the back of my mind. Butwhen he took off back up here and then I discovered he was staying with George… well I could really feel myself sitting on shaky ground. However, it appearsas though George too has kept things quiet at his end. I have no other optionthan to hope and pray he will continue to maintain his silence.
I reminisce about the first time Thomasand I ‘officially’ met. I left secondary school with decent grades and had mypick of colleges or universities. I ended up opting to study English atEdinburgh University. I was well into my first semester when a friend suggestedI join the debating team. At the time I was quite outspoken and passionateabout environmental issues, so this friend thought it’d be a great idea tochannel this enthusiasm. Imagine my surprise when I attended for the first timefashionably late (as usual) only to find Thomas Taylor in full flow, fervidlystating his case on why the death penalty should be abolished.
There was no denying it was him. He wasolder yes, but it was still clearly Thomas. It was very fortunate he had beenin full flow because otherwise he would have noticed me standing thereopen-mouthed in abject shock. And, also fortunate no-one else had been with meat the time as there was no way I was ready to talk about how I knew of him.
I took a seat in the wings, happy to sitand watch. He was mesmerising. He had clearly done a lot of preparation becausehis argument was compelling, and he wiped the floor with his opponent. I wasintrigued and captivated in equal measure. It was truly amazing how that poorlifeless boy from years ago who had been treated so cruelly at the hands of theone person who was supposed to love and nurture him, had turned into thisconfident, articulate man who stood before me today.
Initially there was no physical attractionthere, but I was inexplicably drawn towards him. I wanted to spend as much timeas I could in his company. At this point, I am quite sure he didn’t even know Iexisted! He was very serious, spending lots of time studying and had verylittle down time. If being a constant fixture in the debating team was the onlyway I was going to get to spend time around him, then so be it. It had forcedme (for once) to get serious about something and I remember the day he firstreally saw me for the first time …
I was passionate about campaigning on anyenvironmental issues so had been thrilled when, finally, a topic came up fordebate which I could really get stuck in to – ‘Climate change is the greatestthreat facing humanity today.’ I threw my heart and soul into it and it wasevident from the start my opponent only had a couple of good points to makewhereas I could have talked all day and night on the subject. I was completelyin the zone and, at this point, unaware of Thomas’ presence in the room. It wasonly when we were leaving, he approached me and I can’t recall the exact wordshe used but it was something along the lines of doing an excellent job and yes,that was it, he was ‘inspired.’
The lines of communication were now open,and we had a mutual respect for one another. After my impressive argument, hesaid he was keen to know more so I seized the opportunity and suggested we goout for coffee. This became a regular thing once a week and I said a silentprayer of thanks to my friend for putting me forwards to join. The romanticfeelings I had for Thomas were not instantaneous, they developed over time.Initially, I was just so intrigued with how accomplished he was and how well hehad done for himself given the unbelievably rocky start in life he had endured.He was studying towards his master’s in finance and had a clear plan on what hewanted to do when he left university – he wanted
