Chapter 17

James was awakened by the sounds of the curtain opening. He looked up and saw Michael staring back at him. They were the only ones left in the room; James could hear some of the residents downstairs probably being served breakfast. Michael came and sat on James’s bed. “Alright?” He asked.

“Yeah. I slept well. You?” James replied, rubbing the sleep dust out of his eyes.

“Very well. Nice to have an actual mattress. I missed you though.” He said. A strand of hair had fallen onto James’s face. Gently, Michael pushed it to the side and their eyes met, and they slowly kissed.

James got up. “Let’s see if we can help with breakfast.” He yawned, and Michael nodded. They trundled down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Breakfast was porridge, which looked surprisingly appetising, and not sloppy, like the boys had imagined. Janet was there cooking with a young man who must have been a volunteer, and Josh was serving people and talking to them as he did so. More children were here than beds, these must have been children who had beds but were living in poverty. Josh waved his hand at them, and they walked over to him. James asked. “Can we help?”

“You won’t have to. But if you want to, you can bring round those bowls over there to people and ask if they’re ok, James. And Michael, can you take dirty stuff rinse them and put them in the dishwasher.” He said.

So, they did that. Michael found a rhythm of collecting three bowls and putting them in the dishwasher. And James learnt a bit about everyone there as he greeted them, and figured he probably should get to know people there. They were the eldest their and it made them feel awkward, and that they should be fending for themselves. But he realised that their situation was very temporary, and this was just a stop on their journey.

Once everybody had finished, they began eating. The food was warm and comforting, like yesterday’s dinner, and Janet came to sit with them. “Nice to see you two helping. I must admit I didn’t really know what to do when 17-year-olds walk in, but I think it will be a success.” She exclaimed.

“We’ll do our best. I apologise in advance if we ever trouble you.” Responded James, trying to be as kind as possible.

“Nonsense. I didn’t make this shelter because I had to. I did it to help children, all children who are struggling.” She replied.

“That’s nice to hear.” James said, then asked. “Who’s that guy that was in the kitchen with you?”

“He’s Joe. He’s one of the first kids we helped. He’s at uni now, and he has Monday’s free now, so he comes here.”

“That’s nice.” Responded James, as he saw Joe smiling at the children. “What made you start this charity?”

“Good question. I lost my parents when I was very young, in a car accident. My older sister, I’m one of three daughters, was the only thing keeping our household together.” She explained.

“That’s awful.” Exclaimed James.

She continued. “I met Josh, and we slowly built up a sofa company together. By the time we retired and sold the company we had become multi-millionaires, but we didn’t need it, we lived in the house next-door. We were happy as we were. One day I was walking in the city, when I saw two-sisters begging for money. I realised two things. First, that would have been me if it hadn’t of been for my late sister. And second, there must be so many children who need help. A few days earlier that week the house next-door to us became for sale, and I had an idea of what we should spend our money on. And with some extra donations, we made that idea a reality. Now we must have helped thousands of children, and I’m proud of it.”

“That’s a wonderful story. Thanks for telling it to us.” James replied, touched.

“No problem.” She responded. “My door is always open to you two.”

They helped around the centre for the rest of the day. They cleaned up some areas of the building, they helped with cooking lunch and dinner, and they sorted through some donations. The day progressed very quietly, they got to know some more people, all of which were very friendly towards them. It felt like it had gone quickly, and soon they were tidying up dinner. As they were Janet approached them and asked. “Are either of you good with computers by any chance?”

Michael promptly replied. “James is. He’s a massive nerd.”

“Coming from the guy, who plays chess for multiple hours a day.” James jokingly retaliated. “But yes. I am quite good with computers.”

Janet laughed a bit. “You complement each other nicely.” She remarked. “Anyway, all the stuff on my computer is a complete mess. Can you have a look at them please while I tidy up and get some children to bed? I have a call to make, but I’ll do that in a different room, if you need more time. I’ve written down all the passcodes you should need on a piece of paper that I keep hidden in the picture on my desk.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” James replied.

 James headed into the office on sat on the chair, opening the picture frame where a scrap of paper was very smartly hidden. It was pretty worn down but comfortable. He looked through the files and spent a while organising them in a simple and efficient way. He then did updates and installed numerous programs such as firewalls, antiviruses, and a VPN.

Once he had done all of that it was almost ten and Michael walked in and peered over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Done yet?”

“Just finished. But I have to tell Janet what I’ve changed, so I’ll be up in like fifteen minutes.” He replied.

“I’ll wait down here then.” Said Michael, and he kissed James on the cheek.

James explained what he changed and gave Janet a quick run-through of how a VPN works and showed her his new filing system, which he was very proud of. And they then went to bed with the exact same outline as last night. Making sure to be quiet, so they didn’t wake the sleeping children