My Fairy Queen Anne

the only thing i wanna do is make it up to you

The train ride had been exhausting, and Gilbert had just returned on Sunday at midday. He had greeted Alex and Zachary, met his bed for an hour with a relaxed sigh, and then rose groggily to catch up on the week's work. Zachary had gone out with a girl while Alex was ever the faithful beau, picking up the groceries for dinner.

It had been an hour when he heard a knocking on the door. He got up tiredly to open it, his mind positively weary with chemical symbols and diagrams. 

In front of him was his friend in all her glory. Her black ringlets were curled and coiffed more extravagantly than usual and her long white lace dress was more subtly revealing, just modern enough to hint at all her womanly curves beneath the dress without risking a reputation as a trollop to the campus.

"Gilbert, where were you this week? I nearly failed a test without my favorite partner!" she whined, stepping closer to him slowly. 

"Good to see you too, Christine," he laughed before stepping aside to let her in and asking, "Would you like some tea?"

"That sounds delightful." He poured them both a mug, and she sat down across from him on his small dining table. "Anyways, Gil, where were you? We missed you over here."

"A family affair quite dear to me. I had to rush right out. Sorry for not writing," he apologized sheepishly, and she offered him a pleasant smile. 

"Family affairs? A wedding or something? Not yours, I hope," she said innocently, even though Zachary had told her where Gilbert was. She reached out to pat Gilbert's hand, and he appreciated the gesture of sympathy, although he didn't consider any implications. 

"No, a funeral," he sighed with a solemn shake of his head and a deep frown.  "Anne's father's. Heart failure. He... was like a father figure to the whole town. I never knew him well, but he was always so kind to me. Anne is the one that's really shaken about it. I felt terrible having to leave her."

"Oh Gilbert," she breathed, squeezing his hand tightly. Even if he was dratted Anne's father, she wasn't a monster. She did love Gilbert enough to truly feel sorry for him. "How heartbreaking! Are you alright, dear? I know how you get all caught up in other people without really thinking about you." 

With a conciliatory smile, he pulled his hand back into his lap, much to her dismay. "I'm just fine, thank you. I'm really very sorry for my Anne. He was her father."

"I'll bet. Poor little girl," she said with a saccharine smile. "Dearest Gil, don't take this the wrong way, but isn't it hard having to court a woman who is grieving? After all, you are her suitor, not her babysitter."

"I don't mind it," he said with a strange sort of lilt in his tone and a deep frown, not quite comfortable with her pet name. "I've loved her since I was fifteen, and I want to be there for her."

Christine's gut panged with longing. All her life, she'd been told she could have anyone she wanted, that she could break anyone's heart with her beautiful deep indigo eyes and rosy complexion and raven curls. All her life, she'd had suitors in droves. All her life, she'd turned them all down to pursue her ambition of medicine, so difficult to do as a woman. And now, when she'd finally fallen in love with a man more accepting of ambition than anyone in the world, he didn't want her. 

It was time for her to stop dallying. She was Christine Stuart, for God's sake! It was time she made good on her mother's promise that she could have anyone she desired. 

"Gilbert," she said, her heart beating fast but her tone unwavering in its confidence. She took a deep breath. "I don't want to pretend anymore.  I don't think you do either." She stood up and he stood up with her, his face blank.