The Golden Girl ↠ Finn Shelby

CHAPTER 35 ↠ reconciliation and second-guessing

"Indeed. I spoke to Gina," he affirms as they walk, "and she said that she and Michael ended up not going to the clandestine bar."

"Oh, yes, I already know. Michael showed up not a while ago and he told me. He said he was looking for me, apparently."

"Looking for you? Were you not in the hotel?" Jack asks as he opens the car door for Bea to get in.

"I was," she affirms.

As she sits inside, Jack closes the door and goes around to the other side of the car.

"But I was in another room, not in the suite," Bea adds. "So he didn't know where I was."

"Uh, I see... Gina was quite upset by the way Michael had left her last night. She said it was very abrupt."

"She shouldn't have invited him to go there in the first place," Bea states plainly.

They went to a restaurant that, as agreed, Bea hadn't been in yet. It was nice, but she liked the one she had gone with Michael for the first time better, with the piano music that had reminded her of Finn.

"So you want to return to Birmingham?" Jack asks as they eat.

"I do. I like it here, but I miss... home."

"You consider it home? Correct me if I'm wrong but you've been in Birmingham for a much shorter time that London, right?"

Bea nods.

"But you consider it your home already?"

"Well... I ran away from London for a reason. And it doesn't matter how long you've lived where... it matters how you feel in that place right?"

"Maybe so... Perhaps it is the people that surround in such places."

"I do have my brother in Birmingham."

"And no one else?" Jack asks with a knowing smirk.

Bea smiles shyly. "Don't you feel at home here?" she changes the attention to him.

"No. My home is still very much London. I will return by the end of the year. What if you wait a few more months and then return on the same boat as me?"

"I don't know... I don't think I can wait until the end of the year, Jack Bradley."

"Well... before you leave, we'll have to throw you a going away party. I know Alexander will be upset to see you go."

"I don't think he'll be that upset," Bea dismisses. "And in any case, I still have to have Tommy's approval to leave Michael on his own."

"I'm sure he won't make you remain here when it's against your wishes..."

"Hopefully not. The letter saying so, though, won't be here for another few weeks, so I still have to wait... It would be so much better if we could make telephone calls overseas..."

"It's not that long away. I know that people have been working on it. A couple more years and Alexander will call you everyday."