Chapter 2 of 'A Life Unknown

Andrew wanted to be shocked by this morning’s events, but he was too busy trying to avoid being seen by his students sitting three seats ahead of him on the bus. Whenever people described him as a snob he tried not to blush at the compliment. As far as he was concerned being seen on public transport would do nothing for his reputation as a successful University Lecturer, although it might make him more popular with the environmentalists at work.

He groaned with relief when the students he recognised got off at the next stop. This gave him time to think about who might have vandalised his car in such a brutal way. He pondered this question for the time it took the bus to travel another three stops, then he posed himself a new question: Why would anyone want to vandalise his car?

Andrew, like most people when put into these situations, chose the most palatable answer: It must have been teenagers up to no good.

By the time the bus arrived at the University, Andrew had turned a shade of burgundy courtesy of the gaggle of students that got off at the bus stop with him. He was wondering if they were laughing at him, but he also noted with relish the two attractive girls that had sat just in front of him. Even public transport had its perks it seemed.

When he walked into his office in the snow-covered building at the opposite end of the campus, it had just gone 9:15; he was surprised it wasn’t later. The rest of his morning was mercifully uneventful, having dealt with the emails he had put off yesterday he began the task of marking the mountain of assignments towering over his desk. He immersed himself in his work and shed the stress the morning had provided.

His solitude was interrupted at lunchtime when there was a soft tap at the door. A familiar face poked his head from around the corner, “is this a bad time?”

Andrew smiled. Old David Collinson could be painstakingly dull but he was nevertheless a good source of knowledge and advice. He stood up and gestured for his colleague to enter the room. “Hello David, how can I help? I was about to head for lunch actually.”

“Ah,” replied Collinson, “in that case can I tempt you to accompany me into town for a bite to eat and something to drink?”

Andrew was hesitant to leave his work but the rumbles from his stomach put forward a good argument. “Why not, but we’ll have to walk I’m afraid. I’m having car troubles.” He neatly stacked the pile of papers in front of him and put on the jacket he had left to warm by the heater.

The two discussed work during the short walk into town. David Collinson was a senior lecturer in the English Department but had in recent years taught fewer and fewer classes as he approached retirement. Despite this he still managed to provide sound advice for Andrew and his other colleagues.

Once in town Andrew realised that Collinson was leading him to the Green Tree, a small pub that would provide a suitably cosy environment to spend his lunchtime, as long as there was space for them. The food menu was limited, the ales weren’t. They managed to obtain a small table in a nook by the bar that looked out onto the busy street the pub resided on.

“I had an ulterior motive for coming to see you today Andrew.” Andrew watched as Collinson took a sip of his pint before continuing. “The truth is Andrew, I’m worried about you. You’ve worked at the university for what, seven years now?”

Andrew nodded, he felt uncomfortable when people spoke this directly to him.

Collinson continued, “well in that time I’ve kept a close eye on you, I tend to keep a close eye on most of the young men who join our department.” He cleared his throat and went on, “This is rather crude of me to say, but in our profession there are those of us who sometimes give in to temptation; and you Andrew, I know will agree, have given into temptation once or twice. Am I right?”

Andrew was stunned, “what the hell are you trying to imply?” Andrew knew exactly what he was trying to imply, but he couldn’t believe the audacity of the man.

“Andrew please, I haven’t brought you here to make accusations or to threaten you. Far from it, I’m trying to help you.”

Penny is a beautiful girl Andrew, when I met her at the Summer fair I was impressed with how charming she was. I was happy you’d found someone again.”

Andrew’s eyes began to hurt; he realised that the entire time he’d been listening to Collinson he’d forgotten to blink. “David, I don’t think…”

“Please Andrew,” Collinson cut in, “let me continue. I know what you think of me. I know you think I’m boring and overly cautious, but I haven’t managed to last half a century in this profession through luck alone. I just wanted to remind you how fortunate you are. I understand you moved in with Penny this weekend? That’s great news. You’ve spent too long sowing your wild oats, and that business with Sarah was embarrassing for all concerned I imagine.”

Andrew pictured a woman in tears; he felt an uncontrollable urge rise to the surface. “Who the hell do you think you are to lecture me? I’m not one of your bloody students. If you think I’m just going to sit here and let you rake up my past then you can go to hell!”

Collinson seemed to sink inside himself. He put his pint down and fidgeted with a frayed beer mat. “Andrew I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I just wanted to urge caution.”

“Urge caution? What the bloody hell do you mean?” Andrew’s anger seemed to calm when he realised how scared Collinson looked.

“I’ve seen it happen before. Young men like you with their whole lives ahead of them, they take what they have for granted and end up like me: sad, old, alone.” He returned to his pint, it seemed to give him strength.

“I heard two students gossiping about you. About you and some waitress. Something about a Christmas party? I…” Collinson seemed to choose his words carefully, “I hope this doesn’t get back to Penny, that’s all.”

Andrew felt his legs numb; it was either guilt or fear he was feeling. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You crazy old bugger, you bring me into town to rake up my past and make wild accusations based on students’ gossip? You know what? Sod you.”

Andrew got to his feet and moved to the exit. His path was strewn with pub stools and when he knocked one over he was too livid to even notice. There was a man sat at a table across from where the pair had been seated making notes in a leather bound journal, he stared at Andrew as he crossed the room.

Andrew stormed out into the street and turned his collar up to the blizzard that had begun whilst they were in the pub.

How the hell had students found out about that girl last Christmas? They hadn’t even left the restaurant; he couldn’t even recall her name, perhaps she was a student herself...

He’d had intimate encounters with students before, not that he was sure the waitress was a student, but she was his only infidelity during the entire time he’d been seeing Penny. God how he’d tortured himself after sobering up. He had never seen the girl again and had assumed that’d been the end of it. It was the work’s Christmas party and one of those days that Andrew struggled with every year, although he’d invited Penny for support, she’d chosen to go visit her mother instead.

Still, why was Collinson interfering in his business? The daft bugger had been giving him advice for years about marking, where to drink and how to pronounce Chaucer, but he’d never presumed to pry into his personal affairs before. This troubled Andrew as it felt like there was more to this than met the eye, but he’d be damned if he went back and asked Collinson. He trudged back to work through the snow in a foul mood.

For the entire journey back to the University Andrew dwelt on the event Collinson had referred to at the pub.

When he had first proposed to Sarah five years ago he had thought he was in love. But it can be easy to ignore problems when you’re in love and their relationship was doomed from the start. Whenever he thought back to the day he had broken off their engagement he felt guilty. He hadn't left her waiting at the altar, nothing as clichéd as that, but he had left it until just before their wedding rehearsal; which was of course just as bad. Nonetheless he did not regret leaving Sarah, simply the timing of it.

To hold that incident against Andrew was unfair of Collinson, even Sarah admitted it was for the best in the end. That was all there was to it, Sarah was now married with a new baby on the way and she even occasionally emailed him to ask how he was. No animosity remained so why should he feel embarrassed or ashamed?

By the time Andrew got back to his office he had calmed down. He had assumed Collinson was merely being an old busybody and enjoyed lording it over his younger colleagues. He hung his coat back up over the heater and sat at his desk. He tried to prevent snowmelt dripping onto unmarked essays but he saw the name at the top of the paper and realised the quality wouldn’t be impeded.

He checked his emails. Miraculously the inbox was empty apart from a lone email from what looked like an anonymous address, spam perhaps? [email protected]. He double-clicked on the email to open it and read:

‘Andrew, the answer is sinister and clear, you should bear this in mind.’

He didn’t know how to react. After the day’s traumatic events he wasn’t sure whether this was another threat like the vandalism done to his car or another warning like Collinson had tried to burden him with. Perhaps it was both? He printed the email off, folded it carefully into a square and tucked it into his wallet.

He decided he would not dwell on the email or on the day’s other events. Instead he spent the rest of the day working on a new project he was designing as well as marking students’ assignments. The snow outside had turned to drizzle and rain tapped on the office window like an executioner’s drum.  Daylight had long since expired and it was only his eyes straining to see the pages in front of him that made him realise he needed to switch on the office light.

After turning the light on it became much easier to see the clock sitting on his desk in front of him. It showed 6:30 PM. Bollocks Andrew thought. If he didn’t leave now he’d have to wait another hour for the next bus.

He grabbed his bag and coat and dashed for the exit. He took one final look over his shoulder and glanced around his office, he smiled contentedly and flicked off the light switch.

On the bus home Andrew was excited to see the two attractive girls from his earlier journey this morning, but then he thought of the conversation with Collinson and stared out of the window instead. For some reason this made him think of the contents of his wallet. He unfolded the piece of paper and read it again:

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

‘Andrew, the answer is sinister and clear, you should bear this in mind.’

He didn’t know why, but he decided he wouldn't show the email to Penny.

Author's Note

Thank you for taking the time to read my work, best wishes - TP

Reviews

[Delmar Cooper]

I enjoyed the chapter. This reader is ambivalent about Andrew at this stage. Some compression might be considered in the revealed history of Andrew. Not saying it became tedious but it verged.

Please consider incorporating the paragraph that begins , Penny is a beautiful girl... into the preceeding paragraph or reconsider usage of quotation marks if you leave it alone. Being an American I'm not a native English speaker, but here the quotation marks are misleading. I'm overlooking the substitution of "s" for "z" in words like "organize." Nobody is perfect.

[Tom Pollard]

Thank you! The paragraph in question has bothered me ever since I wrote it, now I know why...
I will also take on board the comments about Andrew's history, I admit to walking a fine line between revealing essential plot points and fluff! TP