Day 26
Meh not nearly as much written as I'd hoped also Guybrudsh is sleeping on my hand making typing difficult
Vera stayed with Cory and his family for another couple of months to help him settle in and answer any questions that he (or his family) had. After which Vera made plans to return to Farm Haven. And Lloyd.
“Vera!” Helen greeted her cheerfully. “It’s so great to see you.”
“Hi Helen,” Vera replied, smiling.
She put down her bag and gave her a hug.
“It’s good to have you back, darling,” she said. “Oh, and I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know those haringberries work a treat.”
“Oh yeah?”
Helen nodded.
“Here we are, halfway through the growler season and the northern paddocks’ hardly had a nibble. On the days where there’s no wind or it’s blowing the other day, sometimes we catch glimpse of them, but mostly they harass the other side of the farm.”
Vera chuckled.
“We’ll be planting more of those haringberries around, nice and thick. We’ve told others as well, although I think it might take a few seasons before everyone gets on the boat.”
“What boat?”
“Never mind.”
It might have felt like she had never left, so little had changed, except that Lloyd seemed to be keeping his distance from her. Certainly when they worked together everything appeared normal but their previous friendship was missing. Vera found that she missed his sweet words and gentle caresses. She tried to return to their previous relationship but Lloyd resisted and ignored her advances.
Then the day came where she found out the reason why. And her name was Mandy.
Mandy and her family were amongst the new colonists. Her father was the new doctor of Farm Haven and they had moved into one of the homes that had been emptied by the epidemic. Mandy was not the slightest bit put out by this fact, pointing out that on Earth houses empting because all the occupants had died was not at all uncommon, nor was people moving into them afterwards. Why should this be any different on Jessu?
Vera had met Mandy before, but she had paid the pretty girl very little attention until now. Stewing on the matter later on, Vera decided that Mandy must have had her eye on Lloyd the whole time and took advantage of her absense to swoop in and take him away from her. She cried about it more than once, hating the whole situation and wishing she knew what to do about it.
Vera leant against the railing feeling rather sorry for herself. She always loved this spot but now it was just full of painful memories. Lloyd kissed her for the first time here. This was where their romance had begun.
She heard familiar footsteps and shortly Lloyd was standing beside her.
“Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” Vera replied.
There was silence.
“I’m sorry,” Lloyd said finally. “I probably should have said something sooner.”
“That would have been nice.”
More silence.
“So, how long?”
“How long what?”
“How long before that... that girl got her claws in you.”
Lloyd rolled his eyes.
“Actually we only started seeing each other a couple of weeks before you came back.”
Vera snorted.
“Knew I should have come back sooner,” she muttered.
“It wouldn’t have made any difference, “ Lloyd replied sharply. “I’d already thought about breaking things off with you long before you left.”
“I knew it! I know it must have been going on longer than -”
“Vera, shut up.”
“What?”
“You have no idea how good it felt to say that.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re a pain in the bum, Vera. You’re arrogant, condescending -”
“I am not!”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, y’know.”
“No kidding. It’s has an axis - it revolves around that.”
“Oh hardy ha ha,” Lloyd replied sarcastically. “All you ever do is talk about yourself. This first thing you ever think about when confronted with a new situation is ‘how does this affect Vera?’.”
“That’s not true! I’m not like that at all!”
“Oh please,” Lloyd scorned. “Your first question about Mandy was ‘how long before she got her claws in me’.”
“Well, she obviously did.”
“Well, she didn’t! I persued her.”
“She ran a subtle campaign then.”
“And you would know all about subtle campaigns now, wouldn’t you? Hell, it never even occurred to you to find out how I felt about the matter, did it?”
“Now who’s talking about themselves?”
“This conversation isn’t about me. This conversation is about you. Again.”
Lloyd shook his head.
“But that’s all we ever talked about. You. Your symbiont. What you’re going to do today. What you think. Because apparently your opinion is the only one that matters.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I listen to other people.”
“Especially when they’re talking about you.”
Vera stayed with Cory and his family for another couple of months to help him settle in and answer any questions that he (or his family) had. After which Vera made plans to return to Farm Haven. And Lloyd.
“Vera!” Helen greeted her cheerfully. “It’s so great to see you.”
“Hi Helen,” Vera replied, smiling.
She put down her bag and gave her a hug.
“It’s good to have you back, darling,” she said. “Oh, and I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know those haringberries work a treat.”
“Oh yeah?”
Helen nodded.
“Here we are, halfway through the growler season and the northern paddocks’ hardly had a nibble. On the days where there’s no wind or it’s blowing the other day, sometimes we catch glimpse of them, but mostly they harass the other side of the farm.”
Vera chuckled.
“We’ll be planting more of those haringberries around, nice and thick. We’ve told others as well, although I think it might take a few seasons before everyone gets on the boat.”
“What boat?”
“Never mind.”
It might have felt like she had never left, so little had changed, except that Lloyd seemed to be keeping his distance from her. Certainly when they worked together everything appeared normal but their previous friendship was missing. Vera found that she missed his sweet words and gentle caresses. She tried to return to their previous relationship but Lloyd resisted and ignored her advances.
Then the day came where she found out the reason why. And her name was Mandy.
Mandy and her family were amongst the new colonists. Her father was the new doctor of Farm Haven and they had moved into one of the homes that had been emptied by the epidemic. Mandy was not the slightest bit put out by this fact, pointing out that on Earth houses empting because all the occupants had died was not at all uncommon, nor was people moving into them afterwards. Why should this be any different on Jessu?
Vera had met Mandy before, but she had paid the pretty girl very little attention until now. Stewing on the matter later on, Vera decided that Mandy must have had her eye on Lloyd the whole time and took advantage of her absense to swoop in and take him away from her. She cried about it more than once, hating the whole situation and wishing she knew what to do about it.
Vera leant against the railing feeling rather sorry for herself. She always loved this spot but now it was just full of painful memories. Lloyd kissed her for the first time here. This was where their romance had begun.
She heard familiar footsteps and shortly Lloyd was standing beside her.
“Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” Vera replied.
There was silence.
“I’m sorry,” Lloyd said finally. “I probably should have said something sooner.”
“That would have been nice.”
More silence.
“So, how long?”
“How long what?”
“How long before that... that girl got her claws in you.”
Lloyd rolled his eyes.
“Actually we only started seeing each other a couple of weeks before you came back.”
Vera snorted.
“Knew I should have come back sooner,” she muttered.
“It wouldn’t have made any difference, “ Lloyd replied sharply. “I’d already thought about breaking things off with you long before you left.”
“I knew it! I know it must have been going on longer than -”
“Vera, shut up.”
“What?”
“You have no idea how good it felt to say that.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re a pain in the bum, Vera. You’re arrogant, condescending -”
“I am not!”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, y’know.”
“No kidding. It’s has an axis - it revolves around that.”
“Oh hardy ha ha,” Lloyd replied sarcastically. “All you ever do is talk about yourself. This first thing you ever think about when confronted with a new situation is ‘how does this affect Vera?’.”
“That’s not true! I’m not like that at all!”
“Oh please,” Lloyd scorned. “Your first question about Mandy was ‘how long before she got her claws in me’.”
“Well, she obviously did.”
“Well, she didn’t! I persued her.”
“She ran a subtle campaign then.”
“And you would know all about subtle campaigns now, wouldn’t you? Hell, it never even occurred to you to find out how I felt about the matter, did it?”
“Now who’s talking about themselves?”
“This conversation isn’t about me. This conversation is about you. Again.”
Lloyd shook his head.
“But that’s all we ever talked about. You. Your symbiont. What you’re going to do today. What you think. Because apparently your opinion is the only one that matters.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I listen to other people.”
“Especially when they’re talking about you.”