The Proposition - Completed

Part 16

6 Weeks Later

Cambridge was amazing, everything I had dreamed it would be. I loved everything about the university and the city, the oh so beautiful city. Unlike my housemates I had relished the unrealistic workload, I had immersed myself completely in the course. I had read all the books on both the essential and recommended reading lists and was now re-reading them and making notes on each. I needed something, anything to keep my mind from wondering back home, back to John.

"Please say you are coming out tonight?" Asked Caroline one of my housemates, I shook my head.

"I have too much work to do" I lied. She threw her arms in the arm in exasperation, making her scarlet curls bob up and down.

"No one has that much work to do?" She complained. "It's Friday night surely you can spare a few hours, you know let your hair down, maybe even relax a little and who knows maybe even have a good time." I threw her a quick warning glance.

Caroline was the one person here who I had truly made friends with, she had been so intent on me joining her at every fresher events that when I hadn't responded to an exceptionally handsome male student in the way she expected she had guessed something was wrong. I spared her the gory detailed but needless to say she understood my heart was broken and the last thing I wanted was to get back on the dating bus. What she didn't quite understand was that neither did I want to get pissed up or have recreational sex with anyone who asked.

"It'll do you good." She encouraged "All that pent up sexual energy isn't good for anyone, Jesus it's not healthy. If you don't sort it out soon you'll explode." She reasoned.

"Not yet" I sighed "I'm not ready." Knowing she was defeated she again threw her hands up and shook her head.

"This is the last weekend you're sitting in and stewing over your books." She warned "Next Saturday is my birthday and I am not leaving this house without you." She demanded. "So you better get your head straight, cry out the last of your tears for that knob-head and get your shit together." She looked at me fiercely daring me to contradict her. I simply nodded in agreement, I knew she was right, enough was enough, I needed to get a grip I couldn't pine away after him forever.

"Good" she said finally "And you had better be ready for things to get messy, really messy." She concluded with a broad grin. She was still smiling as she left my room and me to my books.

I glanced around my room, thanks to my need to keep myself busy not a thing was out of place. I was unfortunately reminded of the first time I had seen John's bedroom and questioned if he'd moved in, everywhere was pristine and looked unused. I signed and took my French folder off the bottom shelf of my bookshelf and dished my copy of Shakespeare's All's well that ends well and open the book to the scene where Helena confesses to the audience that she is actually not depressed over her father's death, but over her crush on Bertram, who is now leaving. This was one of four monologues I needed to translate for Monday, thankfully I had already completed the other three. Two into French and two into English, all were classics and all were difficult, I also then had to write an essay on the degradation of language using what I had learnt from the monologues. I had made notes throughout and knew it's only take me a couple of hours to put it together

Before I knew it three hours had passed and the translation was complete, I looked at my watch and sighed as it ticked onto three pm, I closed my book and rolled my stiff shoulders. I needed to move as my body ached from being sat in the same position for so long. For the next hour I busied myself making dinner and pottering round the kitchen, tidying up, wiping around and washing the dishes left in the sink. I could hear the rest of my housemates moving around the house but none came into the kitchen. As I finished my meal and cleaned the dishes I made a cup of tea and headed back to my room and back to my essay.