Love At The Headington Hill

CHAPTER 20 - Illicit Discoveries.

He dug through the hundreds of papers inside, until his eyes landed on a folder called "Arthur Brooks".

What?

He reached inside and toom out the folder. With frantic fingers, he unwound the ribbon. The first one was a birth certificate. It was Arthur's no doubt. But not Arthur Bryant, no. His name was Arthur Brooks. He took out his mobile phone and texted Arthur.

What's your mother's name?

Within seconds, a reply came.

Edith Taylor.

And sure enough, the certificate had the same name. But the father's name wasn't James Bryant. It was William Brooks. Another text popped up on his screen.

Why? Have you found anything?

Felix suddenly felt out of breath. The attic felt too hot. He needed to get out of here. He replied.

I'll fill you in after I return.

Then didn't look at his mobile again. He set the birth certificates aside and dug through more papers. Eventually settling on the old email address and password of James Bryant scribbled messily on the back of the folder.

After around an hour of digging through hundreds of age old papers, he packed some off in his file. Then tried to place everything as it was, closed the attic door, locked the house and finally left. Heaving a sigh of relief.

The fresh air punched him in the gut as soon as he was out. His mind still reeling with shock.

He checked his watch. Half past three. He hadn't even realised how fast time flew by.

He needed to return as soon as possible.

☆♤◇♡◇♧☆

The holidays were over, which meant the return of chaos.

Firstly, she had to write a letter to the Dean and the Vice-chancellor. Which she had no idea how to manage.

On the other hand, almost the whole Physics department was buzzing with gossip about Prof. Brown, or the supposed 'James Bryant' to most now.

Valerie took out her mobile phone and rung Sebastian. She was on her way home. Might as well ask him to meet up.

"Hey" his voice echoed from the other line,"So, what's the occasion?"

"Can't I just randomly call you?" She replied, a smile coming upto her lips. She could hear a light chuckle on the other end.

"I'm actually just heading home. Want to meet up?" Sebastian asked, changing the subject.

"OK. Come on in then. St. Travis Café?"

"Yeah" with that, he hung up.

-

A while later when she had entered the Café, the familiar smell of freshly baked bread and caffeine filled her nostrils. She looked around and noticed a dark haired boy already waiting for her on a seat near the window. She went over to him.

Sebastian asked, mocking her,"So, how're your studies going, future scientist?"

"Yeah, great. Considering that I'm about to fail this semester, I think they're going splendidly." She replied with heavy sarcasm, seating herself opposite to Sebastian.

He chuckled. "You're not going to fail, trust me." Then added, "Have you finished your application?"

Valerie shook her head. Then the waiter, Amelia, Valerie recalled, came and took their orders."I hope I'll be done in two days." Then remembering something, she questioned him, "Is everything alright with Julian?"

"Now that's a good question. I don't even know the answer myself." He replied,"He hasn't been taking any of my calls lately. He wasn't even at class today. I suspect something is going on with him. Maybe its a family matter and he doesn't want to get us involved."

Valerie frowned. Strange, Julian never mentioned anything problematic about his family. But then again, he had never mentioned anything about his family at all.

"Is he there at your accommodation?" Valerie asked, knitting her eyebrows together.

Sebastian shook his head, "Nope, he returned home."

"Ah, a quiet sensible guess then. I think you're right." She replied.

Their orders arrived. Sebastian shot a text to Julian.

They chatted for a while about University and their taste in music and what life will be like after this. They were aware that this time was crucial and they had a lot to do. She had a lot to do, but she needed some peace for mind among these.

The evening breeze was quite strong today and Oxford was freezing in January. As they walked back down the street after getting out of the place, a thought popped up in Valerie's mind.

"We don't know where Bryant is, we need someone to find him out."

"I'm aware." He replied.

"But what if we sent him an email and threatened him with proof." Valerie said more to herself than to him.

"Doubt that email address of his will work" Sebastian murmured.

"It will, because the last time I checked, he had it logged in, in his laptop. It might be a fake, but he does use it." Valerie continued.

"But we don't have any proof yet!"

"We don't have any proof. Your brother might." The corners of her lips pulled up slightly. "He's returning on twenty-first right?"

He nodded.

Less than a week. Valerie said,"We won't show him every proof we have through the email, just enough to scare him and get him out of his hiding. I'll finish my applications and get done with them as fast as possible tomorrow. I will try to contact Felix in the meantime."

"Alright, half-past-five tomorrow then?"

"Yeah." She nodded, then kissed him goodbye.

A/N :

Hey readers, if you are still reading, I'm so very glad. Thank you for everything.

I hope the upcoming chapters will be interesting. We're more than halfway through the book now.

Looking forward to the future of this book. Until then, don't forget to vote and share. Bye!

Have a good day/night!