His American Fling (2 page)

Campbell narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Henry laughed. "Campbell, you really need to get your finger out. The woman was a stunner. Didn't you notice? She’s a little older for a student though, isn’t she?"

"That woman was an American twit who
can’t even cross a street without going arse over tit."

"Speaking of tits, do you think hers were real?"

Campbell shook his head in frustration. "I don’t know nor do I care. Besides they weren’t all that big."

"You do need to get out more. They were certainly big enough. She’s awfully pretty, and she has a great smile. Why didn’t you ask her out?"

Campbell refused to answer. He looked down at his friend and frowned, noticing that Henry had gotten a haircut. The blonde wavy hair wasn’t so wavy once it was cut short. "You got a haircut."

"No, I got all of them cut."

"You’re a regular Eddie Izzard." Campbell was glad to see the tenth floor and the doors open.  As he walked to Ward C10, Infectious Diseases/Immunology, he watched as Henry turned to D10, Hematology.

"Cheers. See you Friday night." Henry yelled out as he disappeared through the doors to the ward.

*********************

Riding British Rail from London to
Cambridge on a Friday evening always provided entertainment for those commuters who managed to stay sober. It was seven o’clock, and Campbell watched as the after-work drunks filtered through the carriage doors, dropping things, singing rugby songs, and generally looking knackered. He knew the three lads seated across the aisle from him, although lively and singing the
Zulu Warrior
, would soon be asleep and snoring as most drunks do once the train lulled them into a happy, drunken stupor. Campbell laughed to himself. He remembered his days at University and the numerous tube and train rides he took drunk as a lord.

The summer sun was still up outside and would be until after 9:00 p.m. It wouldn’t really get dark until 10 p.m. Campbell watched as the stops came and went, knowing that as soon as he saw the Rosie, the maternity hospital built adjacent to Addenbrookes, it was time to gather his things together and wait by the door for Cambridge. Standing by the carriage door he smiled as he smelled the freshly mown lawn of the cricket pitches the train passed on its journey into the station. He loved cricket. The white uniforms, the red ball,
the oak bat, the crust-less cucumber sandwiches and squash, all made for numerous pleasurable afternoons on the cricket grounds. Campbell still enjoyed his weekly game, but had to admit his bowling wasn’t what it used to be. Over the last twenty years he’d gone from being an appreciated fast bowler to a respected semi-fast bowler. The games were all friendlies and none of his mates seem to mind that the thirty-eight year old Campbell wasn’t the star bowler he used to be.

As the train approached the station, Campbell turned back and watched the porter come through and wake the sleeping drunks just in case Cambridge was their stop. He heard one of them tell the porter, "Ely," which was a few more stops up the track. Campbell walked out to the gravel parking lot and found his bicycle. Unchaining it, he took off for home, which was a three-story Georgian townhouse next to Parker’s Piece, one of the large parks in the town center.

The park was mostly used for friendly cricket games. On the north side of Parker’s Piece was a small cottage, Hobbs Pavilion, which housed the changing rooms for the cricket games. On two sides of Parker’s Piece stretched rows of Elm trees. They had once encircled the entire park, but Dutch Elm disease had infected the east row, quickly spreading by wind to the north side. The city culled the infected trees to stem the spread of the disease, leaving only the west and south rows of trees to border the park. Campbell loved Parker’s Piece, not only because he had played many games of cricket on its pitches, but because, whenever he walked through it, he knew he was almost home.

After taking a quick shower and putting on a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, he grabbed his bike and took off for the Baron of Beef pub which was on the north side of the city. Campbell waved to some acquaintances and then pedaled into the car park behind the Baron and Beef, locking up his bike. He went in through the front door and immediately looked t
o the back for his friends. Fiona, Henry, Peter and Charles were seated at one of the larger round tables. He nodded to them to acknowledge that he had seen them before stopping at the bar to tell the barkeep that he wanted a Black and Tan.

"Oy!" Henry cried out when Campbell
approached the table.

"Ah, I never thought I’d make it. What a horrid day. I hate these NHS conferences on emerging diseases. They never cover anything of interest or anything that we don’t already know."

"Amen," Fiona said resolutely. "It’s a complete load of codswallop. We’d be better off just having drinks with each other and trading war stories."

Henry gave Campbell a mischievous look and snickered.

"What’s going on?" he asked, staring suspiciously at Henry.

"Turn around," Henry said.

Campbell turned around and jerked his head back in surprise. Behind him was Maggie, trying desperately to serve drinks with a cast on her arm. She looked haggard and worried.

Campbell turned back around in his seat and rolled his eyes at Henry. "She’s everywhere."

Henry chuckled. "She’s been running around in circles. She obviously can’t carry too many drinks with that cast on, so it means twice the trips and long waits. The customers are a little annoyed at her. I’ve heard some grumbling."

"Too bad." Campbell said flippantly to Henry just as he felt someone walk up behind him. Maggie came up by his side and sat the Black and Tan next to him. "Good evening, Dr. Adair."

He turned to correct her, but she was bending down, wiping the table, giving him a great view down her loose peasant blouse of her breasts. He was pleasantly surprised to see that they were pert and round and barely staying in the demi-bra she was wearing. He knew that everyone could see he was admiring the perfectly shaped breasts, but he couldn’t stop looking. It had been a long time since he had been this close to beautiful breasts that weren’t covered by a green hospital gown.

He pulled his eyes up to meet hers, noticing that she had caught him in the act. Campbell cleared his throat. "Hello Miss McGee. Are you working here now?"

"I thought I was." Her brows were knitted and her mouth turned down. "But I’ve been told that once I work this shift, not to come back until I’m out of the cast. I’m just too slow. They called in a barmaid to take my place, she should be here soon."                           

"Maggie, do you have another job?" Henry asked.

She looked down and bit her lip, "No."

"Why are you here in Cambridge?"

"I’m attending Downing, finishing my senior year in law school through an exchange program. But we’re required to help support ourselves while we’re here. Excuse me, but the barmaid is here. I need to turn over the drink orders."

Henry jumped up. "Come join us when you’re done."

"Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think I’m very good company right now." She said sadly.

"Nonsense, we won’t let you go home without a little nog. Will we Campbell?"

Campbell was uncomfortable; he really didn’t want a stranger at their table. He had been looking forward to some time with his friends to whinge about work. But his manners prevented him from saying what he was thinking, "No, of course you must join us."

She looked around and sighed. "I’ll join you for one."

Henry nodded enthusiastically. "Great! We really don’t bite." He paused for effect. "Although, Campbell gnaws occasionally."

Maggie managed a weak smile.

After Maggie left, Campbell gave Henry a steady glare. "What are we—the United Nations? We give the Yanks our troops and the PM’s undying affection; do we have to also entertain them?"

Henry narrowed his grey eyes and smiled at his aggravated friends. "Oh come now, she’s all alone over here, just lost her position—because of you I might add—the  least we can do is buy her a drink." He tilted back on the old wood chair and drank his pint while balancing on two legs. “She seems a little old to be at University.  But then, she is an American--they do everything different.”

Campbell sneered back at Henry and then began telling his friends about his case involving a zoonotic infectious disease from a soldier just back from Iraq. The doctors at the table were actually interested; it was something out of the norm and had nothing to do with the typical leukemia, diabetes, and influenza they treated on a daily basis. Fiona, Henry and Campbell argued over a recent article in Nature while Charles and Peter carried on a conversation about the last cricket game at
Lords’.

A few minutes later, Maggie walked over to the table with her backpack, her shoulders drooping. Henry grabbed a chair for her, putting it between his chair and Campbell’s, and then ordered her a Pimms with Ginger Ale which the new barmaid quickly retrieved.

Henry handed the drink to Maggie. She looked at it and hunched her shoulders. "I’ve never had one of these. Well, bottoms up." She took a drink and smiled at Henry in thanks.

Campbell remained quiet. He had nothing to say to the Yank. He found most Americans to be loud, insensitive, and moronic. However, he had to admit, in addition to being pretty, from what he had seen down her
blouse; she was quite a piece of crumpet. But, Campbell wasn’t interested in her for anything, unless she was up for quick shag. However, it appeared that Henry genuinely wanted to get to know her, so Campbell decided to be low key and let Henry make his move.

Henry raised a glass to Maggie. "So Maggie, you’re a law student. What Law School?"

"UCLA at home, Downing while I’m here. As part of the exchange program my tuition is all paid for, but I was supposed to arrange my own lodgings and job for the summer. I wouldn’t have come so early, but the university insisted that the exchange students attend a few orientation seminars before school starts."

Henry leaned forward and asked, "Didn’t they help you with employment?"

"I was told that this waitress job would be available for me.” Maggie shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “I need a job to pay for room and board until school starts. Once school starts, I’ll be living in the dorm and eating in the dining hall. I’ll be able to tap into my student loan at the end of August. Until then, I’m footing the bill." She knocked back half of her drink out of sheer desperation.

Campbell watched her, realizing she was deeply worried. It was barely noticeable, but Campbell could see that her hand was shaking. He almost said something reassuring, but then decided not to get involved. Henry took up the mantle for him.

"So, do you have enough money to stay at the bed and breakfast if you’re not able to work?"

"I really don’t want to talk about it," she said.

Campbell couldn’t resist, "But surely you brought enough money to see you through these two months?"

She turned and looked at him like he was crazy. "Do you know how much law school costs? I pay close to $28,000 a semester plus my living expenses. Luckily, I have a scholarship that pays h
alf of it. But, I’m living hand-to-mouth. I had enough between what I brought and what I thought I’d earn. That is, until I lost my job tonight. I don’t have....oh, let’s not talk about it." Maggie’s voice choked.

"So, is the landlady going to let you stay at the bed and breakfast until you can cash in on your student loan?" Henry asked. He sat back on all four legs and scooted nearer to the table.

"No, she’s kicked me out. She wanted next week’s rent, but I don’t have it.” Maggie went quiet, “I’ll think of something, I always do." She took another drink and then a deep breath of desperation.

Fiona had simply taken all of this in, sizing up Maggie as she listened. She liked Maggie even though she seemed so blatantly American. Maggie had that, “determined to make lemonade out of lemons," attitude that
was so annoying. "What are you going to do?" Fiona asked.

"Not sure. I tried a homeless shelter
, but they said I’m not British. They suggested a hostel, but they were all full."

Fiona was a sophisticated woman from a family of politicians, who had recently divorced, moving out of the home she shared with her husband and back into her old flat that she had rented to her cousins. "I’d offer to let you stay with me, but I already share my flat with my cousins." She turned and looked at Henry and Campbell and then focused on Campbell who was looking very uncomfortable with the fact that she had fixed her gaze on him.

"Campbell, you have room, and you live by yourself. Surely you can let her stay until she can either find a job or get that damn cast off?"

Campbell felt beads of sweat form on his forehead. He stammered and squirmed a little in his seat, "Oh, I don’t know. I’m not very good company ..."

"Nonsense, you’re always asking if any of us know a good maid." Fiona fixed her huge green eyes on Maggie and with her broad, thin, mouth barely moving asked, "You can cook and clean, can’t you?"

Maggie turned bright red, "I can see that Dr....I mean Professor Adair doesn’t need any company. It’s okay, I’ll figure something out."