COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A five-hour drive on the ninth day took the group to a ranch near Antimony, Utah. Everyone was left to their own devices for the rest of the day and the whole of the next. Groups and pairs were formed, but not from Lutman’s perspective, not with the person he really wanted to be with.

It was not until the end of day ten that David Lutman had the opportunity to be alone with Claudia again. But he had finally mustered some confidence to ask her out, and was relieved that she said yes without hesitation. It was quite cold that evening, so they put on suitably warm coats. For the first ten minutes she took his arm and then, to Lutman’s surprise and excitement, held his hand.

They arrived at a warm, brightly-lit bar which was as clichéd as Lutman could expect from something in the Western United States. It was busy, filled with jovial chatter, and on one wall a sixties-style jukebox was blaring out country rock. The natives were very friendly, and an enthusiastic hello from the barman greeted them as they approached the counter. Claudia ordered an orange juice whilst Lutman opted for a small beer. They managed to find a quiet corner and spent the first few minutes talking further about their countries and their families.

After forty-five minutes and another two beers, Lutman finally felt man enough to show off a little to Claudia, and decided to take on one of the locals who had invited him earlier to shoot pool. This was a young, unshaven, brown-haired individual in his mid-twenties who was dressed in a blue checked shirt and jeans. Lutman had played pool regularly in the past, so felt reasonably confident. But he lost the first frame quite convincingly, unused to American rules, but to his surprise – and his opponent’s - won the second, forcing a decider. This time, his opponent got a fortunate break-off and virtually cleared the balls in that one visit to the table. Game over, the American shook his hand and complimented him on his pool skills.

Claudia was impressed. ‘Do you play pool a lot?’ she asked as Lutman returned to sit down and complete his fourth beer.

          ‘Not as much as I did,’ he said, grinning. ‘But I felt I still had the skill to give him a game.’

As Lutman felt a new surge of confidence spread within him, Claudia glanced at her watch. ‘Oh,’ she gasped slightly, ‘I didn’t realize that was the time. It’s gone 11. We’d better get back. They’ll’ve probably locked up the ranch by now!’

Disappointed yet again, Lutman had a strong desire for another beer.

*

They took a taxi back to the ranch where, fortunately, there was still someone waiting up to let them in. ‘Actually,’ said the grey-haired but chirpy lady standing at the door with a smile, ‘some of your friends are still outside, if you wanna go and see them. They’re over in that direction somewhere,’ she added, pointing.

‘I'll think we'll pass,’ said Lutman politely.

The pair slowly traipsed up the open creaky wooden stairs to the upper floor and their rooms. Lutman, who had been given a room for himself, hoped upon hope that Claudia would want to join him.

If she would just say the word. He was still too polite to do it. No, not polite, he thought. Too shy. This would be rather direct, too risky, if she refused…

His room was at the end of the corridor, illuminated only by the one ceiling night-light. Claudia’s room – sharing, as usual, with Kathrine – was the first door they approached.

With just about enough alcohol-induced confidence, Lutman slowly wrapped his arms around her. ‘Well, it’s been a lovely evening,’ he said quietly into her ear.

Claudia released his grip and looked at him. ‘I’ve enjoyed myself very much too, David. Thank you.’

They stared at each other then, after a little hesitation, they kissed. But then she forced her lips away from his. Smiling, she then took his hands off her hips, opened her door and entered her room. She said goodnight and told him she would see him tomorrow, leaving Lutman disappointed and confused. He prayed that it was not the alcohol breath that prompted her to go back to her room quicker than he had expected.

          So another day had passed and still he had no idea. He did not want to think this, but maybe… maybe it was not meant to be Claudia, he thought, maybe it was meant to be someone else in the party. But none of the girls have attracted his interest. So if it was somebody else, then who the hell was it?

*

There was a lot of excitement that following morning at breakfast. Marcus and Raoul were especially cheerful, being more than friendly to Jeannie, Marianne, Sylvie, and Cindy.

More than once Lutman had been woken up that night by the excited laughter of those girls entering the boys’ room, which just happened to be next door to his. The girls looked extremely happy, the Australian pair sitting down either side of Marcus and occasionally poking him on his sides with their fingers. They had clearly discovered he was ticklish. Lutman could only look enviously.

Jeannie and Sylvie cheerfully sat either side of Raoul. Claudia, however, sat herself between Kathrine and Andrea, much to Lutman’s dismay. He had sat next to Andrea, leaving one chair free next to him, fully expecting Claudia to take it.

An hour later everything was once more packed and loaded onto the van. A few hours later, the group found themselves in Zion Canyon.

Only Lutman, Claudia, Andrea, Kathrine, and Janet decided to venture into the canyon. The others made their excuses and set off in another direction.

Although they remained close together, Lutman and Claudia did not touch hands. He had expected Claudia to take the inititive. She did not, so once again he felt uncertain about his confidence. Maybe, he thought, he had been too pushy the previous night.

The walk among the bright orange pinnacles and rocks that made up the park was filled with plenty of light banter from the group. Plenty of photographs were taken by everyone, and Lutman’s confidence returned when Claudia quite happily continued to pose for him when he asked. Kathrine even offered to take a photo of them both. They did so with some reluctance, but despite posing shoulder to shoulder, there was no physical touching.

Six hours later they rejoined the rest of the party.

*

Day eleven was a visit to Bryce Canyon. There was quite a hard walk up to Angels’ Landing, a 1000-foot plus mountain from ground level. But it was made more challenging by some of the track having to be negotiated by chains. Despite this added difficulty, nobody dropped out. Claudia, however, was terrified of heights. She often gripped Lutman’s hand hard, refusing to let go. When they came to the chains, she held on by putting her arms tightly around him. There was palatable relief on her face when they finally reached the summit, and he was rewarded with a big hug and a quick kiss on his lips. This gesture was witnessed by the entire group, and prompted an enthusiastic cheer.

*

Almost two weeks had now passed since Carl Pickover wrote his blog. Since then – and he would admit to himself that he did not expect anything else – very little. Although his blog had had a respectable one hundred plus hits, most of these being picked up during the second week he posted it, when the world’s search engines finally found it - no-one had felt inclined to comment on anything.

          Now, Pickover decided, was the time to go back and do normal things that a professor should be doing, like studying a few equations or lecturing a few students. Or get a woman. No, better still, take a vacation. Tomorrow. Stuff the university. Now that was a good thought. It felt so good that he felt his spirits uplift; that thought really did mean something.

He would pack a few things, just go to the airport first thing tomorrow morning, and get the next available flight. He would enjoy himself and go and do something completely different. He would find himself a girl, have fun together, marry her, have three kids. From this moment onwards he was going to retire from science and education.

Professor Carl Pickover vowed to hand in his resignation upon his return.

Chapter 13 >

COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

As far as finding out who was likely to end up being his wife was concerned, the first day of David Lutman’s holiday would be uneventful.

For everyone else, there were experiences to be had all the way. After getting up at six thirty, re-packing, and then loading all the baggage onto the roof of their white mini-bus, Janet drove the Indian Adventure group to a local diner for a cooked breakfast. Then they ventured east on Highway 10 away from Los Angeles, collected a day’s groceries in Palm Springs, and then visited the Joshua Trees in the eponymously-named National Park. Their first night was spent at a campsite near Blythe where the group was paired off into their tents. Conveniently, there was one extra tent which spared Lutman and Raoul having to share. Of course, in Lutman’s mind, this was now the tent to invite someone to share with him, but even he did not expect any of the girls to join him on what was only the first night.

Janet, the tour group leader, volunteered to do the cooking for the first night, after which they would then split up into groups of three or four and take turns with the cooking and washing.

*

The following day, the group crossed the state line into Arizona, and visited an Indian museum in Phoenix. Their second night was spent in Camp Verde.

The party had found itself splitting up into their own little groups. All the boys, much to their glee, found themselves within their own group of girls. Raoul, unsurprisingly, joined up with French speaker Sylvie, and Andrea, who also knew a little of the language. Jeannie tagged herself along to Cindy and Marianne, who in turn hooked up with Marcus, whose humour the Australians found rather amusing. David Lutman happily found himself with Kathrine and, as far as he was concerned, also with his current favourite for the potential romantic role - Claudia. Their particular ‘grouping’ had been established when together, all three decided to try out the campsite’s hot tub that evening. Having left the comparative warmth of California and into a cold Arizona autumn, bathing outdoors in hot water was a very pleasant experience. Lutman joined Claudia first, and it was there he finally had the chance to talk to her on his own. Kathrine quickly followed, to his slight irritation, but her infectious personality meant her presence was easily tolerated. The rest of the party tried out the tub after dinner, which that evening had been prepared by Marcus, Andrea and Marianne.

*

After a long drive to the Grand Canyon on the third day, the whole of the fourth day was spent visiting this awe-inspiring natural monument. Although Lutman had visited the canyon before, he still could not help but be astounded at what the Colorado River had carved out over several million years: the immense bright orange rock faces that lined the river several hundred feet below still took his breath away.

As the group slowly made its way down the path into the canyon, Kathrine joined up with Sylvie, to Lutman’s hidden delight. They slowly moved ahead, with Lutman now finding himself with Claudia. There was almost a sense of being alone, now that they were happily walking slowly together. Despite the seven thousand feet altitude, the strong sunshine prompted Lutman to bring out a baseball cap that he had purchased back in Palm Springs: the green baseball cap was now too delicate and precious to begin absorbing moisture from his sweaty head.

Now with plenty of time to converse privately, Lutman learned that Claudia Safarova came from a small village in the Czech Republic just outside Olomouc, and that she had two older brothers. She studied English Philology in Brno, and this was her first trip to the United States. She had spent the past year studying American English and working in a children’s camp, the result of which was an almost perfect American accent.

Lutman was struggling to contain his curiosity. Did she have a boyfriend? But to his surprise she asked him first. ‘Is Jeannie your girlfriend?’

         ‘Well, Jeannie’s just a friend,’ he said quietly, ‘I’m not actually seeing anybody at the moment. I’m quite happy, but I’d like to think that I’ll settle down in the near future. I’m just waiting to meet the right girl.’

She smiled. ‘Is that why you’re on this trip?’

‘Well,’ said Lutman, ‘I suppose it’s one reason why. It’s certainly possible!’ He looked at her and asked, with increasing confidence, ‘Claudia, listen, you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but what about you? Do you have someone in your life, or are you hoping to meet someone here?’

‘No, I don’t have a boyfriend,’ she said, grinning. ‘When I booked this trip, it was because I wanted to see what the west coast of the United States looked like. I’d heard so much about it. This particular tour gives me the chance to see some of the cities, the country, the parks and the people. I hadn’t actually thought about looking for someone here.’

Lutman grinned. ‘But you never know!’

She giggled. ‘And why are you asking me, David?’

‘Well,’ he began, slightly uneasily, ‘love can be a funny thing. Comes from anywhere, often from where you least expect it, and never from where you think it’s likely to come from.’

‘So tell me,’ said Claudia after a short pause, ‘how are you and Jeannie… connected? After all, I can’t think it’s easy for a man and a woman to simply meet and remain only friends.’

Lutman thought for a moment, and then said, ‘Well, we’re actually just friends from work, but we’ve absolutely no serious interest in each other. We don’t meet privately, apart from the last few days before this trip. I was supposed to be coming out here on my own but, well, she did have a boyfriend, but they split. She decided to go on this trip after I’d told her about it… which was before they’d split, which is a bit of an unfortunate coincidence, really. As you saw, she seems perfectly happy going off with the others. She’s not really my type, anyway. Too extrovert for me.’

They soon spotted the rest of the group ahead of them pausing for a break, and soon they were all back together again. Although everyone had prepared themselves for a cool day and were dressed accordingly, being in direct sunshine with very little shade made it feel so much warmer. Cindy, being a little more well-built than everybody else, was already looking fairly exhausted.

In the end none of the group made it successfully into the bottom of the canyon: as it was, such a trip would normally require an early-morning start and a whole day’s walk.

*

The evening was spent watching the sunset from a popular viewpoint known as Hermit’s Rest, located on the southern rim of the canyon. Lutman decided to take a few photographs of the sun setting behind the canyon rocks after struggling to suppress a desire to place an affectionate arm over Claudia’s shoulder. Although he felt certain she would not have minded, past experience and lack of confidence prevented him from doing so.

Claudia looked at him and smiled. But there were no exchanges of words. Lutman took her reaction as one of just being friendly.

*

The canyon and the day finally over, they all enjoyed a pizza in nearby Tusayan. Claudia chose to mingle with the Australians, not having spoken to them since the start of the trip. Kathrine lightened up David Lutman and Marcus’s meals considerably with some funny anecdotes, and enjoyed both their companies that evening as they all watched a movie of the canyon on a screen the size of a small office block in the town’s IMAX cinema. Lutman found himself sitting next to the Australian girls, who had now made up their minds to find out more about him. This not altogether unpleasant esperience enabled him to put Claudia to the back of his mind for a while and enjoy their company.

It was now the end of day four. Almost a third of the trip completed. Lutman still had no clues whatsoever as to whether he had already met his wife, but he was getting increasingly confident that there was only going to be one possible candidate.

But was it just going to happen or did he have to do more to make it happen?

*

On Day five the party joined a Navajo Indian guide on horseback. Having never ridden before, Lutman was immensely relieved to dismount when they had reached their destination. He had been nervous throughout the six-mile hike and vowed he would never ride a horse again. Their tents were pitched at the foot of one of the park’s most distinctive natural monuments, a towering bright red outcrop of rock.

*

On day six, after crossing the state line into Utah, the group briefly ventured into Colorado to visit Mesa Verde, a site where numerous ruins of homes and villages had been built into a set of spectacular cliffs by the ancient Pueblo peoples. Lutman took several photographs that deliberately included Claudia in shot. Then it was back across the state line to Moab where they would have tents pitched in the same campsite for the next three nights.

*

Day seven was the halfway point of the Indian Adventure, and this was spent kayaking on the Colorado River. To the group’s relief, the Colorado here was calm and tranquil, fast-flowing only in patches, unlike the Grand Canyon where the IMAX movie presented the river as fast-flowing and treacherous. The guide for their trip was Terry, a dark-haired, bearded, six-foot tall individual with a physique that turned the heads of all the girls on the trip. He was in the large rowing boat that carried all the necessary equipment and refreshments, along with a pair of two-man kayaks. The party would then be paired up for an hour to take turns in these little craft, following the boat. But the pairings for the boats did not go in the way Lutman had hoped: These were Cindy and Marianne, the Australians; Marcus and Raoul; Andrea and Sylvie; Claudia and Kathrine, and David and Janet. Jeannie, who shared a tent with the two Australians, opted out, claiming she was terrified of water. She seemed happy enough to enjoy the ride on the main boat and sit facing Terry.

Halfway. And still nothing happened. Maybe it’s going to be at the end, thought Lutman, but he did begin to feel uneasy about the situation. Claudia did not seem to be making the signals he expected.

*

The group rented jeeps on day eight for their own personal treks into Canyonlands, another of the many spectacular National Parks spread around this west side of the United States.

This time the groups were split into threes and fours. All the men were split up, with Marcus going with the Australians and Jeannie; Raoul with Sylvie and Andrea; and Lutman with Claudia and Kathrine. Lutman was both thrilled and disappointed; Okay, at last, he and Claudia would be together at last after a lot of time being apart. Unfortunately Claudia’s tentmate, Kathrine, was coming along with them too. But Lutman did try to console himself with the fact that, if somebody else did have to tag along, then Kathrine would have been the best choice. Janet took this opportunity to spend time away from the others to take care of some administrative matters.

Lutman took the wheel of their jeep first, and as they left Moab and turned off the main road, paved road soon gave way to rocky track. What initially seemed like daunting terrain to Lutman soon proved effortless in a four-wheeled drive vehicle.

When they reached the end of the road, they were rewarded by a spectacular vista of the canyons. After Lutman parked the vehicle, Kathrine announced that she would like to spend some time on her own. Having agreed to meet back at the jeep in an hour, she wandered off to find a solitary viewpoint.

Finally, thought Lutman, Finally. They were alone out last. After a few moments, he and Claudia left the vehicle and walked in the opposite direction to Kathrine.

‘So, Claudia…’ began Lutman nervously, looking in the direction of the cliff edge, ‘shall we go over there?’

‘Okay,’ said Claudia, not sounding as though she was particularly concerned about anything.

They sat on a bench a meter away from a drop of several hundred, and a spectacular view that seemed to stretch into the distance forever.

Lutman turned to Claudia. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’

She smiled. ‘You know, all my life I’ve wanted to visit the United States for its natural features. I’ve spent a year here but rarely left the cities. And now, well, here I am. My dreams have come true.’

‘And there’s still so much more out there,’ added Lutman, softly.

After a minute, he stood up and offered his hand. ‘Shall we go over there? We can sit facing the sun.’

Without hesitation, Claudia reached out for his hand to assist herself from the bench. To Lutman’s delight, she then put her arm around his right arm.

They wandered to another spot on the edge and Lutman placed his left hand on the hand that rested on his arm. There was an uneasy few moments as both felt too awkward to say anything.

         Eventually Lutman broke the silence. ‘I understand we’re spending the next two nights in a ranch,’ he said cheerfully, ‘and then it’s off to two more canyons, a night in Las Vegas, and then, unfortunately, home.’

‘Oh God, it’s all going by so quickly!’ exclaimed Claudia. ‘I don’t want it to end so quickly.’

‘Hey, we still have seven days, you know,’ said Lutman soothingly.

They found a dry grassy patch. Claudia released her grip from his arm, and they sat down.

Lutman looked ahead at the rocky horizon. ‘You really think it’s that awful this trip’s going to end in seven days?’

‘I do,’ Claudia said quietly, ‘these last seven days have been some of the best and happiest of my life.’

There was a short silence as Lutman was then reminded of work and the unfortunate circumstances that had left him feeling uncomfortably shy with women. ‘You know, Claudia, a while ago, when I spoke to a friend of mine about something awful that was going to happen to me in the near future, she gave me a rather interesting little piece of her philosophy.’

‘Really?’ Claudia replied, suddenly sounding very interested. ‘What was it?’

Lutman beamed. ‘This friend, she said that, if you know something unpleasant or something bad’s going to happen at a set time in the future, but you’re happily enjoying the here and now, then you know that the time up to that bad time is going to be happy – or should be, anyway. So she said, why worry? Between now and then nothing worse is going to happen to you. She often said this whenever she or I were going to something unpleasant like being told to see the boss for some unknown reason. I have this stupid fear of the dentist. I do go, but I’d be unnecessarily be extremely nervous about it days ahead of the appointment. When I mentioned this to her, she’d ask me if the dentist had already made his analysis. I said no of course, and she’d then say to me, look David, until then your teeth will remain in exactly the same place, and you will still work for this council. So relax! So, I often find myself closing my eyes, taking a deep breath, and trying to enjoy the very moment I’d find myself in now, knowing that nothing bad is happening or will happen until that moment arrives.’

‘And does it work?’

He laughed. ‘What do you think? Yeah, it all sounds great in theory, but when your mind’s constantly reminding you that something’ll happen and there’s nothing you can do about it, it’s advice that’s just a little difficult to follow!’

Claudia smiled. ‘I actually think it’s a pretty good piece of philosophy! Was your friend always that calm?’

‘Well, she had her strange moments, and she certainly wasn’t always calm, but she was a lovely girl. Infact…’ – he paused as his expression turned to sadness as he thought about his next words carefully - in fact, she was tragically killed in a car crash earlier this summer.’

‘Oh.’ Claudia did not know what else to say about this. Instinctively, she put her hand on his, and gripped it. ‘I’m sorry. You must have liked her very much.’

Lutman looked up at her. ‘Actually, we weren’t dating, but, you know, I once thought she really liked me. But then what she did to me really upset me. The one time in her life when she didn’t follow her own philosophy.’

Claudia was intrigued. ‘She did something to you? What happened?’

‘Well, it started when she invited me to some club in the city I come from. Now, I don’t like dancing, discos, clubbing in general. But, you know, I couldn’t resist her. Part of the deal was for me to drive her to such a place, but that was fine of course, you know, we’d be driving down together. But when we got there, there was some other guy who was also at the place who she happened to like. Well, after letting me have a dance with her early on, she started to get very friendly with this other guy and afterwards just completely ignored me for the rest of the evening. It was then I started to feel used, betrayed, very angry, angry towards her. She’d invited me to this place and I had driven her there, and what do I get in return?’ His voice then went quiet. ‘In that moment of intense frustration and anger, I… grabbed her by the arm to get her… to dance with me.’

‘Woah, I don’t think she would have been very happy about you doing that!’

‘You’re right about that, but, God, you know, I just felt so betrayed! She’d basically conned me into taking her to a club to be with someone else! Well, after that, I went straight home, almost in tears, and left her there with this guy, who I presume took her home. I was still upset about it all the next day. Unwisely I tried to confront her about it, telling her how she effectively tricked me into getting her to take her there, but that just made things even worse. She shouted at me, telling me what she thought of me and left the building immediately after, getting into her car.’

Lutman then took a long pause for breath, before adding, his voice shaking slightly, ‘A few minutes later, she drove straight into the back of a truck and died instantly.’

Claudia looked genuinely shocked. ‘Oh God.’

‘Yes. And now I am living with… with this guilt, this… Oh, God, if I hadn’t tried to argue with her that morning she wouldn’t’ve got herself killed!’

‘But how can you be sure of that?’

As well as the quivering in his voice, Lutman’s eyes moistened. But if he was about to break up, he held himself back, determined to remain firmly in control. ‘She left the building straight after I bawled at her. The crash, I’m sure, was the result.’

‘I’m sorry,’ sighed Claudia, clasping his hand reassuringly. ‘I don’t know if this is the right thing to say… forgive me if I seem a bit… unsure, but… maybe now you are wiser for the experience.’

‘Maybe so, but the pain's always there. I set off a chain of events that led to the accident.’

Claudia looked at him thoughtfully, thinking over what he had just told her, and then said: ‘Well, perhaps you should think of it this way, another… philosophical view on the situation. You could always say that what happened at the club that night had, in fact, saved you both from having a car crash in your car somewhere else if you both went home together. That incident made sure you left earlier. All right, maybe you did drive home quickly, but at least you made sure such an accident never happened. You could also argue it wasn’t you who set off the chain of events, but her. If she hadn’t tricked you, it was always possible you both wouldn’t be around now because of you both crashing, or if not, a separate chain of events would have started up, she’d still be alive today, and you wouldn’t be here talking to me now. I don’t know if I’m even making sense. I don't even know if I understand what I'm saying!’

Lutman smiled. ‘Well, I think I understand what you’re getting at, Claudia. I don’t know, well maybe. But it’s an interesting way of looking at it, I suppose.’

‘It’s fate,’ Claudia added. ‘They say we all have our futures planned and mapped out ahead of us, from some almighty being up there. You were simply destined not to be with that girl.’

‘And she wasn’t destined to be with me. But fate killed her. Cruelly.’

‘David,’ said Claudia forcefully, ‘there’s no way you can be absolutely sure your anger resulted in her driving into the back of the truck. It may well be just pure coincidence. Maybe the reason you’re out here, with me, here in America, is that you are trying to help yourself, to put those events to one side. Maybe you’re out here looking for something to take your guilt away. Have you actually spoken to anyone about this? Have you seen someone who is an expert?’

‘If you mean have I sought any professional help, the answer is no, and yes, I think I am probably out here trying to help myself.’ Lutman desperately wanted to tell her the real reason he was in America. His secret was now six weeks old, and he desperately wanted to talk to somebody about it. But he could not help but believe that she would think him strange, and would then stay clear of him for the rest of the tour. And if she were the one, then she might not like the idea of being told she could be his wife.

Was everything that he had recently experienced, even the time travel business, a consequence of Caroline dying? And that her death was to ensure that he would finish up with the right girl? Was this the whole point of all this – that he, from the future, was just ensuring that he would not have made the wrong choice?

*

They gazed in silence for several minutes out towards the rocks and valleys in the distance until Claudia’s mobile trilled. ‘It’s Kathrine. She’s asking where we are.’

Lutman looked at his watch. ‘Ooh dear, we’re late!’

*

That evening everybody congregated around large wooden picnic tables that had been shifted from various parts of the campground and that now surrounded a small bonfire. That evening’s meal was prepared by Lutman, Sylvie and Claudia. The mood was jovial, with plenty of anecdotes exchanged about the day’s experiences.

As the fire slowly died and the stories dried up, some of the group said their goodnights and headed wearily back to their tents, including Claudia. Lutman watched as she glanced in his direction and smiled, but her ‘goodnight’ was clearly directed at everybody, and not particularly at him. Now he sat alone at one table for a few more minutes whilst Marcus, Janet and Kathrine were at another talking about the plot for tomorrow.

       Maybe, he thought, it would all come together tomorrow, he and Claudia.

It was inevitable. Who else could it be?

Once again he cast his mind back to six weeks ago. His bedroom, his sweaty future self entering through an invisible door wearing a green day-glow baseball cap, a pink Grand Canyon tee-shirt and green shorts, and…

It then suddenly dawned on him that he had not bought a tee-shirt at the Grand Canyon. Was he supposed to have done so? How on earth had he completely forgotten about that? That surely was not right – this was for sure something that would have been automatic. Okay, he had not entered any souvenir shops on this visit as he had been there, done that at the canyon only a short time before. But even taking that into account, for some reason that he just could not understand, he did not even think about getting a tee-shirt.

He felt a gnawing and tightness in his stomach. He had been to the Grand Canyon, and he had not even thought about buying a tee-shirt. With no tee-shirt, then surely the pieces would not fall into place.

He traipsed sadly to his tent, saying goodnight to the others.

David Lutman did not sleep well that night. He felt certain that he had completely screwed everything up.

Chapter 12 >

COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As with previous holidays, David Lutman’s parents took him to the airport. He never bothered with the train because of its inconvenient connections, and the buses never seemed to run at the right times. But one difference this time was the addition of Jeannie. Dennis and Janice Lutman knew beforehand that she was coming with him, but not for the first time were they to be disappointed when told she was only a friend.

But a part of David Lutman was still trying to convince himself that this was the official line.

After collecting Jeannie from her flat they set off in the Saturday morning darkness; dawn was still over an hour away. Although their flight was not scheduled to depart for a number of hours, Lutman always preferred to give himself plenty of snag time to get to Gatwick, London’s second airport, which was located forty miles south of the other side of city. And as with all the other trips to the airport with his parents, they arrived without a hitch.

His parents dropped them off at the front of the terminal, which was already very busy. Jeannie grabbed a baggage trolley and wheeled it up to the back of the car, onto which Lutman and his father put their bags. They then said goodbye to his parents, and together wheeled the trolley inside the building. They quickly found the departures board to confirm their flight. They still had to wait two more hours before the check-in desks would open.

After processing their bags, it took another forty-five minutes to get through passport control and the routine tight security. Then they had to wait around for another two hours before being able to board the flight, which would in fact leave on time. All this waiting around had elicited a little impatience from Jeannie, and she sat quietly most of that time, entertaining herself by flipping through several magazines she had picked up from one of the departure hall shops.

She spent most of the flight dozing, stretched out over her seat and an aisle seat which, fortunately, had remained vacant. Lutman was next to the window admiring the Arctic ice, enjoying the videos, doing some puzzles from a book he had bought at the airport, and occasionally reminding himself about why he was doing all this.

The uneventful ten-hour flight ended just as uneventfully as the Boeing 747 began its approach to Los Angeles International Airport. This prompted a little animation from Jeannie, who was displaying all the excitement of someone who had never experienced the conclusion of a long-haul flight or set foot on American soil. Lutman obligingly let her have the window seat so she could enjoy the view and the sensations of the landing in all their glories.

It took them a while to clear American customs, having to wait in line for an hour at immigration. Once this was dispensed with, they were relieved to find all their luggage was waiting for their collection at baggage reclaim.

         They ordered their shuttle bus for their hotel from one of the marked special phones at the airport for this service, and soon found the bus stop placed under a green marker just a short distance from the terminal building entrance.

Five minutes later, a small white bus appeared, and they and their luggage duly boarded. Ten minutes later, after collecting three other people from around the terminal, they arrived at their hotel, a low-rise innocuous-looking block.

There would not be any Mr. & Mrs. Smith jokes. Having booked the trip separately, Lutman and Jeannie were assigned separate rooms, informed that same-sex roommates would be joining them later. Whilst the desk clerk dealt with the rest of the formalities, Lutman struggled to stifle a jet-lag induced yawn. Their pre-trek instructions stated that everyone was to meet up in the hotel lobby at 7.30pm. They still had a couple of hours to spare, and so they agreed to meet up downstairs a few minutes beforehand.

After her customary ‘See ya!’ Jeannie entered her room. He continued three further rooms along the corridor.

Closing the door immediately behind him, Lutman threw his bags into a corner, chose a bed, and collapsed straight onto it. As he closed his eyes, he pondered on the fact that so far everything had been running incredibly swimmingly; no disasters, no delays, no problems of any kind. Unless, of course, he counted his little run-in yesterday with Meade, his boss. Normally he would worry himself constantly about these kinds of minor incidents, but for some reason that he could not explain to himself, he felt a sensation of relief, a sense of closure, a sense that his time at the office was over. Finished.

Fate was ensuring he was going to carry out everything he was meant to do. Now all he could do was wait and see what was going to happen next.

*

David Lutman’s roommate arrived about ninety minutes later, his entrance arousing him from what had been, for all intents and purposes, a deep sleep. It would be several minutes before he could rouse himself completely.

His new roommate was Raoul, a young man in his mid twenties. He was a medium-height black-haired Frenchman with a little bit of black fluff on the end of his chin. Unfortunately for Lutman, he spoke very little English. He was not that much better with his French, but somehow they managed to acquire some kind of rapport – enough, to establish, that they were definitely on the same trip.

With still half an hour until he was expected to meet up with Jeannie, Lutman took a quick shower to completely freshen himself up. Afterwards, he put aside the clothes he wore on the flight and changed into something more casual. After a few seconds rummaging through his clothes bag, he found the green baseball cap, took it out and gripped it in his hand. Raoul also cleaned himself up briefly, and soon the pair were making their way into the spacious lobby shortly after 7.20pm.

Jeannie had not yet made an appearance down there, but Lutman could see plenty of prospective fellow travelers who were happily milling around. Some were already interacting, others remaining quiet and alone.

After donning his cap he was pleased to see that the girls outnumbered the men. He was aware that there were probably two or three other groups that were going on separate trips, and that these trips all began from the same hotel, and at the same time.

Although he scanned the group for bridal possibilities, his attention on the girls was soon broken when Jeannie arrived with her roommate, an overweight girl who was very pretty with her long blonde hair but, he thought to himself, would have been extremely attractive without all that fat. After momentarily reunited with Jeannie and exchanging pleasantries, he learned that she was a Danish girl called Helga, and that she would not be joining them on the Indian Adventure.

Jeannie did not waste any time getting to know all the other girls in the lobby. Lutman soon found himself talking to a tall, short-cropped bespectacled Canadian named Marcus, a gangly individual who was wearing a Banff National Park tee-shirt and long shorts. He was on their trip.

More trekkers filtered into the lobby, and then three trek guides – recognizable by the fact that they were all wearing the same polo shirts in the company’s corporate colors – emerged from a small room next to the main desk. Positioning themselves in the centre of the lobby, they called for everyone’s attention.

As everyone fell silent, one of the guides, who announced herself as Janet, produced a clipboard and began to reel off the names for the first group who would be embarking on a trip known as the South Western Adventure Trek. As trekkers peeled off one by one to their assigned leader, Lutman - still standing next to Marcus - watched the girls who were disappearing, mentally crossing them off his list. Along with five men, five girls were joining a blond-haired guide announced as Andy, who was a fit-looking American who was being eagerly eyed-up by his female party, a group that included two young, but very pretty, Europeans. Once they left, Lutman noted there were eleven girls left in the room. But there were still eight men too.

Janet then announced the group for the West Coast Adventure. This time, the slightly hefty Helga, along with four other girls, joined tour guide Brian, along with five other men.

After they all headed to the lobby exit, Lutman looked around to see who was left. These would be the people joining him for The Indian Adventure.

He smiled. All the girls in this trip looked pretty good.

After the West Coast Adventure group departed, Janet greeted the remainder, and reeled off the names of David, Marcus, Raoul, Jeannie, and the remaining six girls, Andrea, Kathrine, Marianne, Cindy, Sylvie, and Claudia from her list. After announcing that she was to be their guide, they were all invited to a bar just five minutes walk away from the hotel.

It was now dark outside. It was only 8.00pm, but Lutman’s day had now lasted well over twenty-four hours.

*

After two large tables had been seconded for the group, Lutman and Marcus continued their small talk, with Raoul and his limited English sitting alongside for mutual male support. Jeannie was already chatting away merrily with the other girls; they were all now relaxed, each of them engaged in conversation with the other. The bar itself was nothing remarkable, and neither was it all that bright inside, but their table was reasonably well lit and close to the entrance. The ambience did, however, allow enough darkness to offer some impression of privacy. Soon the beers, ordered courtesy of StatesTrek, arrived and distributed among everyone that made up the Indian Adventure party.

After two minutes as the thirsty group downed half their glasses, Janet gently rapped a spoon on the wooden table for attention. ‘Hi…’ she began in a west coast accent, ‘…as you already know, my name’s Janet, and I’m originally from Denver, but I’ve spent the last ten years living in Sacramento, California.’

Lutman learned that Janet was only a couple of years older than himself, although she looked more in her mid-thirties, and was slightly plumpish. She was not what he would call glamorous, but with her shoulder-length curly hair certainly not unattractive. She revealed that she had a young daughter, although the father – or for that matter, any man in her life – was never mentioned. He quickly dismissed her as a possibility, but knew very well that love had its own strange ways of deciding otherwise.

The boys were first up for introductions. Lutman voluntarily began the proceedings, deliberately putting on the baseball cap as he stood up, and eager to make a good impression. As he delivered his personal information, he looked at each of the girls. They all sat in polite rapt attention, although apart from smiling courteously, none expressed surprise or bewilderment at either he or the cap. When he finished, he removed it and stuffed it into his pocket. Plenty of time, he thought.

The lean Marcus followed with his introduction. Despite his short cropped brownish/ginger hair and large, thick, black rimmed glasses that gave him a slightly nerdish appearance, he was equally confident and drew a few smiles all round.

Raoul was next. Although his broken English speech took only fifteen seconds to deliver, his very Frenchness was enough to impress some of the girls.

Now it was their turn. First was a brown haired girl, who was a good six centimetres taller than Lutman, and she introduced herself as Andrea from Dresden, Germany. She was a student studying medicine, and despite a heavy German accent and slightly husky voice that suggested she may be a heavy smoker, she had no problems being understood. Lutman stared at her, assessing her, marking her out of ten. She was okay, but in his mind just a little tall.

Then there was Kathrine from Skien, Norway. She was the youngest of the group – eighteen, petite, with quite short, cropped blonde hair and elfish features. She had a lean but very fit figure. Her quirky presentation was such that the whole group knew she was going to be quite a character on this trip, and she hit it off immediately with everyone. Unsurprisingly, she revealed that her favorite activity was keeping fit.

The next two girls had come on the trip together from Melbourne, Australia. Friends and workmates for many years, they introduced themselves as Marianne and Cindy. Marianne was in her mid twenties, about Lutman’s height, and had long, black, slightly straggly hair. Her skin was dark, her features suggesting a touch of aborigine which made her quite attractive. Her introduction was brief and to the point, and made without smiling. Lutman wondered if she really wanted to be on the trip. Not a likely proposition for a wife.

The brown-haired, pony-tailed and bespectacled Cindy delivered her introduction with a heavy Australian accent. She was well built but without looking fat; indeed, it suited her. Lutman was surprised to learn that she was, in fact, just over thirty years of age, and she did look pretty good for it. Although not unattractive, he thought she was perhaps the least glamorous of the group. In her presentation, also short, she explained that she and Marianne had flown in from Australia that afternoon, so she asked everyone to forgive them if they were being a little stroppy. But she held up a video camera, explaining that she was a keen videographer and would be filming the trip. She offered to make copies for anyone who wanted them.

Jeannie was up next, her bubbly personality almost but not quite matching Kathrine’s.

Sylvie from Neuchatel, Switzerland followed, a very attractive girl of Lutman’s age with short, very tidy light brown hair that was tied up behind, and make-up applied with a lot of care and precision that suggested she may be a model. But he had to smile, along with everybody else when they learned she was actually an engineer. Smiling, Lutman then noticed that Raoul had perked up considerably. He now had someone to talk to.

Finally up was Claudia, an attractive girl in her early twenties, and who came from Olomouc in the Czech Republic. She was slightly shorter then Lutman with brown hair that reached down to her neck but not quite to the shoulders. She had blue eyes and a few freckles around a little nose which, in his mind, made her look very cute. She was wearing a sleeveless tee-shirt and white shorts which showed off a lean but shapely figure. Her English was almost fluent, and she explained that this was only her second trip outside of her home country. She planned to stay on in the States for a further two weeks to check out the possibilities of working as a nanny. She then hoped to return to the States the same time the following year to do another trek and get a job.

It was Claudia that made the biggest impression on him.

Pleasantries over, everyone relaxed again and congregated into little groups to discover more about each other. Everyone mixed with everyone else, with Lutman spending some time, and feeling comfortable, with Sylvie, Kathrine, and especially Claudia. She seemed to very much enjoy talking to him.

Eventually the introductory party ended, and everyone returned to the hotel at 10.00pm. They all had an early start to make the following morning.

Chapter 11 >

COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 9

For new readers, please click here.

Chapter 9

At five minutes to five, on his final day at work, David Lutman decided that was enough. He switched off his mobile, removed the memory card, and inserted a new one that he had purchased during his lunch break. This was a new telephone number, and so there was no chance of anybody or anything to do with work calling him while he was away.

He cleared the top of his desk in fifteen seconds, shoving everything into its two drawers. His boss had not been anywhere near him all afternoon, so he would be very surprised if he showed up now. With little else to expect, he simply just sat back and waited for the rest of the working seconds to pass by.

But that momentary bliss of completion proved somewhat premature, as the phone on his desk rang. Again. For what seemed like the hundredth time today.

 ‘Eff off!’  

The phone duly ignored him. ‘Will you just -!’, and when this was followed by the inevitable and very audible profanity, all the surrounding partitions suddenly went silent. Heads were now peering out from behind those padded walls. It was a shock to Lutman that he even swore, let alone doing this so loudly. In public relations, self-control was all important in all pressure situations: he had to be cool when it came to dealing with all kinds of individual and the media, whatever the circumstances. He had always prided himself in that self-control. Even so, he could still barely contain himself as his superior, alerted by all the attention he was getting, made an appearance.

The phone continued to ring. ‘You’d better answer that,’ his boss said darkly, giving Lutman a hard stare.

Lutman picked up the receiver. ‘Yes?’ he said tonelessly.

‘Oy! What’s up with you then?’ It was a friendly, but rather surprised, familiar voice, ‘your mobile doesn’t seem to be working.’

‘Oh, hello,’ he said cheerily, thankful it was Jeannie bringing him back to earth. He turned and looked up at his superior, forcing a smile. But his boss refused to reciprocate and stood there, staring, refusing to move, waiting to see how he was going to handle the call. ‘Yeah…’ said the voice at the other end, ‘it’s only me. Listen, fancy meeting up after work to quickly sort out tomorrow’s plan?’

‘Oh yeah, right, I’ll buzz you when I’m ready,’ Lutman said quietly.

‘Oh, right,’ said Jeannie’s voice, surprised.

Lutman put the phone down and looked up at his boss. ‘Well, Mr. Lutman,’ said the tall, unflinching figure, his tone low and dangerous, ‘I can see it’s almost time, and you’re about to leave us for a couple of weeks. I wouldn't like to delay you any further, but we’ll be discussing this little matter and your conduct on the Monday you get back. You understand?’

‘Yes. I understand,’ Lutman replied neutrally. He was not going to make any excuses.

His boss turned and walked away. Lutman immediately grabbed his jacket and case, and left the building.

He felt almost certain he would not be coming back.

*

The Dog & Gun public house was only five minutes walk away from the office. Being Friday afternoon after work, there were several other individuals who had also made it inside, all equally relieved that the weekend was upon them, although a large number stayed outside as smoking in public places was forbidden. This meant that Jeannie easily found a free table while Lutman bought the beers.

‘So Meade wasn’t happy with you then?’ she said jovially.

‘Complete arsehole, as far as I’m concerned,’ Lutman replied testily, ‘and to be frank I don’t really care any more. I feel I’m done with the council.’

Jeannie spoke between several sips of lager. ‘Good for you.’ She then added, ‘Well, I’ve think I’ve got everything.’

Lutman lightened up, the incident now largely forgotten. ‘Oh yea? Passport, tickets?’

‘Of course!’ she snapped back. ‘And you too?’

He laughed. ‘What d’you think?’

She laughed back. ‘You know, I just thought of something.’ She had a slightly mischievous look in her eye. ‘We’re going together, right, and therefore we’ll arrive at the hotel on our first night together.’

‘Yeah?’ Lutman sat up slightly. ‘So?’

Jeannie leaned forward, softening her voice slightly. ‘Look, I’ve got a little idea. Let’s see how they react if we jokingly say we’re checking in as Mr and Mrs Smith!’

          Lutman grinned. He was relieved she was her old self again. ‘Nice idea! Mind you, the joke will be over rather quickly when we have to show the front desk our passports.’

‘Show our passports?’

‘Yeah, hotels in the States always want identification on your arrival.’

Jeannie chuckled. ‘Oh well, that’s buggered that bit of fun, then!’

Chapter 10 >