Regrets

Chapter Two-1

Chapter Two

My internal alarm clock awakened me at exactly 0600 hours. For the first few seconds, I was confused as to where I was. I heard water running from an adjoining bathroom. After a few minutes lying supine and looking at the ceiling, I decided to get out of bed and take a shower. The bathroom and the adjoining bathroom shared a dividing wall. I could hear what I thought was Julia humming a popular song of the day. My mind began to wander. My thoughts turned to what Julia would look like in that shower. I’ve had these kinds of thoughts in the past, but it was usually about one of the few women I took classes with at the university. But those thoughts were fleeting since I knew little or nothing about them. Julia was another story. Her image was burned into my memory from the time I spent with her the night before. I was tempted to knock on the wall and request a conversation, but I thought better of putting that impulse into action. I finished my shower and got dressed.

After waiting in the room until around 0700 hours, I made my way downstairs and into the dining room. The table was set for breakfast and I had been the first one to arrive. One of the maids spotted me at the table. She asked if he would like some coffee. I nodded in the affirmative. She poured me a cup and left the room. There was a Raleigh newspaper alongside the plate in front of me. There were several articles about Germany taking over all of Europe. The Luftwaffe was bombing London on a nightly basis. Its U Boats were sinking British supply ships in an effort to starve the country in submission. There were calls for the United States to enter the war and support its British allies. But, the American public was against entering the war. It had only been twenty-three years since the First World War and many Americans had died in that conflict. The majority sentiment was ‘war in Europe is none of our business.’ All of the articles on the front page of the newspaper were very depressing, especially for one who was facing four years of military service.

As I was sitting at the table feeling depressed and contemplating my future, I was startled out of my black mood when someone touched me on the shoulder.

“Good morning!” Julia said.

I almost came out of his chair. Julia knew that she had momentarily disturbed me. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

I moved my chair back to stand and face her. Julia moved to my side and sat down in the chair next to mine. I sat back down as the maid came back into the room with a fresh pot of coffee. “Would you like some coffee, madam?” as she refilled my cup.

“Yes, thank you, Marie.” Julia turned to me. “Did you have a restful night?”

“Yes, it was very quiet and peaceful. The dorm where John and I occupy a room is always very noisy in the hallways. Many of the young men go out at night and when they come back to the dorm, they’re usually slightly intoxicated and cause an aggravating disturbance.”

After a momentary silence, Julia took a sip of her coffee and said, “I’m looking forward to spending the day with you. My parents are happy that John has you for a roommate. Some of the young men that he brought home in the past were a bad influence on him. At one point some his grades were unsatisfactory according to dad. Anything less than an ‘A’ is frowned upon in the family. My father’s counting on him to take over the family business in a few years.”

Two of the servers came into the room and placed breakfast on the table. There were eggs and sausages, toast and orange juice. John entered the room and sat across from Julia and me. “I see that the two of you are early risers,” he said.

“I had a great night’s sleep. I can’t remember sleeping so soundly. I’ll come back here anytime you want to invite me,” I commented to John.

Julia took a pause before she said, “If you don’t have other plans, why don’t you spend Christmas with us? We would love to have you.”

“That’s very kind of you. However, I have a family that lives on a farm in South Carolina and they’ll be expecting me. Christmas is a special time for us. It’s the only time of the year that everyone can get together.” I took a pause, and then I said, “I could arrange to come for a visit just after Christmas and spend New Year’s here if you wished.”

“That’s perfect!” Julia said as John moved his head in the positive.

“If you’ll give me the directions to the farm, I’ll make arrangements to pick you up and bring you here,” John offered.

“Then we have a commitment,” I countered.

They continued eating their breakfast when I asked, “Where’re your parents?”

“Dad has breakfast around 0430 hours every morning and many times mother eats with him. After breakfast, he drives to the office in Raleigh. He’s an early riser and works long hours. I’m not looking forward to doing that once I graduate,” John said.

After a moment, Julia said, “I’m looking forward to spending the day with you, Robert. It’s not every day one has an opportunity to spend time with an intellectual.”

“I’m hardly an intellectual. I work hard to ensure my scholarship. A lot of people have put their trust in me. I can’t afford to let them down,” I assured her.

We continued eating our breakfast and when we finished, John mentioned that he had promised Lauren that he would pick her up around 0900 hours. He informed me that it was a half hour ride to her house, but it’s on the way to Raleigh. The three sat and had coffee and made small talk for the next half hour. Eventually, Julia excused herself. As she was leaving the table, she said, “I want to fix my hair and change my clothes. I’ll be down in a little while.”

After Julia left, John looked across the table at me and said, “I think she has her sights set on you. If you’re not ready for a relationship, be careful.”

“I find your sister beautiful and charming. She also appears to be well read. There’s nothing like intellectual stimulation,” I said with a smile.

Both of us stood from the table. “I’m going to freshen up before we leave,” John announced. “I would recommend that you do as well. It’s about an hour’s drive into Raleigh.

I made his way to the bedroom. Since we were going to be spending the day outside, I decided to break out a heavy sweater to wear over my cotton shirt. Then I proceeded into the bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair. After inspecting myself in the mirror, I picked up my coat and descended the stairs to the library to await John and Julia.

A few minutes past before Julia entered the room. She looked radiant, I thought. “It looks like you’re ready for the day.”

“I can’t wait to pick your brain about Civil War history,” she said with a flirtatious smile.

“And I’m looking forward to learning Civil War details from an expert,” I countered.

“Then we both have something to look forward to,” as she began to put her coat over her shoulders.

John entered the room, retrieved his coat from the closet, “Is everyone ready?”

We left the house and walked to the car. John walked around to the driver’s side, and I held the rear door open for Julia before I got in on the front passenger’s side. We drove down the winding private road to the public thoroughfare. As we passed through the North Carolina countryside most of the leaves from the fall season had fallen and the trees were bare.

We drove on for another few minutes when John commented that his father didn’t approve of his dating Lauren. He said that he met Lauren when she was in high school and invited her to his prom at the private school he was attending. She didn’t have the money for a dress since her family is relatively poor. “Her father works at a mill in their home town of Garner and he only makes less than a dollar an hour. When my father learned about the family, he strongly suggested that I find another girl to ask. He didn’t forbid me to take her, but he made it clear that if I did, he wouldn’t approve. I had some money saved from my Birthday and Christmas, so I took Lauren to a shop and let her pick out a dress. After she graduated from high school, Lauren couldn’t go to college due to financial reasons. She now works part-time in the same dress shop where I bought her prom dress.”

Lauren lived with her parents on Maple Street just off of the main street in Garner. It was a modest little house. I didn’t get a chance to see the inside, but I guessed it didn’t have more than four rooms. John knocked on the door. Lauren came out and was ready to go. I got out of the car to greet her. We shook hands. She got into the front of the car on the passenger’s side. I got in the back of the car with Julia. Julia greeted her in a friendly manner and complimented her on her new coat. Later, I learned that she had saved enough money from her meager wages to purchase that coat.

Lauren inquired as to where we were headed. John explained that I had never been to Raleigh and was interested in seeing it. He told her that our first stop was going to be the North Carolina Museum of History. Lauren began to tell us about her one and only visit the museum when she was in high school. It was a history field trip. She said the curators there explained the various exhibits. According to them, the South had won the war.

“How could that be?” I inquired.

Lauren said, “The curators pointed out the South was in a great need of reconstruction, but they didn’t have the money to do the necessary rebuilding. After the war, the North provided those funds and the South was rebuilt.”

I thought about what she said and it made a lot of sense. John had been to the museum in the past and he knew exactly where it was located. We turned onto a street named Edenton. After driving a few blocks, we stopped in front of a building. The name ‘North Carolina Museum of History’ was embossed across the top of the doorway. It was Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and there only a few cars parked on the street. As we got out of the car, John hurried around to the passenger’s side and opened the door for Lauren. He helped her out onto the sidewalk. I followed his gesture and took Julia by the hand as she stepped onto the pavement. I made a slight effort to release her hand, but she held on firmly. The four of us climbed the front stairs of the museum walking hand in hand.

Julia was the first young women I had ever touched in a romantic way. A kind of rush swiped over my entire body from the warmth of her hand in mine. Since the majority of my time had been spent in academics, there had been little time for any kind of social intercourse. I must say that I was happy with myself for having accepting John’s invitation to spend Thanksgiving with his family. I was further glad for the opportunity to have met Julia. I know it’s presumptuous of me, but I had a strong feeling that a relationship was going to develop between the two of us. She was giving me signals that she was becoming romantically interested in me. It was the way she would turn and look at me. Our eyes would meet and there were a lot of unspoken words. These feelings were new to me and I liked them.

John purchased four tickets that allowed us the complete run of the museums seven floors. There was one floor that completely dedicated to the Confederacy. The few battles that the Confederate Army had won were elaborated. The Confederate Generals who led those armies to victory were also saluted.

Julia, through her extensive knowledge of the period, painted another picture of what took place during that unfortunate conflict. She was a walking encyclopedia of what had taken place in America from 1861 until the end of the war in July 1865. John, Lauren and I spent the time just listening to Julia and learning about the Civil War.

To say that I was impressed with Julia’s historical knowledge would be an understatement. I was not only drawn to her physical beauty, but to her intellect as well. If it was her intent to impress me, she succeeded. I knew that I was going to spend a lot of time getting to know this young lady.