Fantasy World
Chapter 5
I drove down to Berkhampsted and parked outside Tom's house. When he came down the road towards the house I watched him. He looked sad, his eyes were dark ringed the same as mine were. He didn't leave home again that day so I returned early the next morning to watch again. He left to go to Uni, I noticed he had no car, he just caught the bus, which I followed. It must have been a light day for lectures because at lunch time he caught the bus home. I realised that he hadn't been with anyone so I assumed he had made no new friends since I had left. When he got off the bus I drove ahead of him and got out of my car in time to talk to him as he closed on me.
"Hello Tom, I'm Charlie Watkins, unfortunately not the one you loved. It's so good to see you walking without any sign of a limp. I guess it was worth the pain in the end to get it right, wasn't it?"
He looked at me a little quizzically before replying.
"Yes it was, but how would you know?"
"I know everything that happened between the two of you, everything you said, and everything you did. I know that Charlie loved you so much he nearly lost his mind going back to his other life. You see, he only ever loved two people in his life with the same fire, you were one and the other one was where he went to when you no longer needed him. He wasn't given any choice otherwise he may not have gone, then you would have needed to be there for him."
"I don't believe you, I don't think my Charlie would ever have told another soul."
"He didn't Tom, I have a very special relationship with your Charlie, we don't need to talk to know what is happening to each other. I probably shouldn't have come, but I needed to see that you were still doing ok. I hope you are going to tell me you have a new boyfriend as well. I know Charlie wanted that for you more than anything in the world."
"Of course I don't, Charlie was my world, there will never be someone else to replace him. I'll love him until I die."
"Oh no Tom, you have so much love to give, I'll be devastated if you don't have a mate to share it with."
"What do you mean, you'll be devastated, I hardly know you."
Oh dear, I had screwed up again.
"Sorry, I meant Charlie. He wanted you to share the joy you always exhibited when you made love. He hopes the little squeals got quieter as well."
I smiled with that remembrance, but again it got me an odd look from Tom.
"Zoe used to say that my Charlie talked like her grandfather. We both loved his old world language, now you are doing the opposite. You are talking like Charlie did just before he went away. It's almost like you are the same person and that's freaky."
"I'm sorry Little Man, perhaps I should go, maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
Tom grabbed me and looked me deep in the eyes.
"You have his eyes, you have the same look in them he used to have when he called me Little Man. This is creepy, but are you my Charlie?"
I nodded, I needed to make the connection with him that we always had.
"I'm sorry Tom, I'm going to do so much damage coming back aren't I? It was selfish of me, but after Max died I only had you left."
"Who was Max?"
"Max was my true love for nearly forty years. I was taken from him to help you. Some great power was able to make me look like an eighteen year old again to come and help you. I don't think anyone expected me to fall so deeply in love with you that it would tear me apart when I had to go back to being me. I had to tell Max because I was going mad. He helped me get back to normal and a few months ago he died. I shouldn't have come."
"Can't you be made young again Charlie, we could have our whole life together then."
I shrugged. "I don't know how nor do I know anyone who I could ask."
"I love you so much Charlie, we can still be together now can't we even if you are old?"
I was shocked almost beyond words, but managed to splutter out.
"You mean you want us to become lovers again, even though I'm more than fifty years older than you."
He nodded, "You are still my Charlie and I still love you more than anyone else in the world."
"Oh Tom, you have no idea how much I would like that, but it's an impossible situation."
He threw himself into my arms and almost screamed at me.
"Please Charlie, please don't leave me a second time. I beg you stay with me, we'll work it out."
Oh God, how I wanted to say yes.
"Let's go round to your uncle and see what he says, although I suppose he's not your uncle really is he?"
"No Tom, but it's the only lead we have."
I was surprised to see my Audi in the drive and Reece answered the door.
"I've been expecting you Charlie, you'd better come in, and you Tom."
"What do you mean, you've been expecting me?"
"You weren't supposed to come apart at the seams leaving Tom, and Max wasn't supposed to die."
"Well they both happened so where does that leave your master manipulator? He appears to be doing a great job of fucking up our lives. If he is so clever, why did he let Max die?"
"I told you many times he doesn't control everything."
"No, of course not, just enough to ruin lives."
"He wants to make amends to you and Tom, Charlie, so don't be hard on him. I want you to go back home and sell up everything. Come back here when you are cash rich and we'll work out your life for you. Please don't ask any more questions, but try to trust me."
I sneered at that, "Some hope, but as Tom wants us to try to take up our lives together again I might as well."
I looked at Tom who was looking increasingly frightened. I took him in my arms and kissed him gently on the lips.
"I'm going home Tom, I don't see what else I can do. I promise I'll come back and we'll see how it works out."
He threw himself into my arms and cried like a little boy, in between sobs he kept telling me he loved me. Reece watched and when he saw me looking at him he smiled and nodded.
I said my goodbye's to Reece and my very tearful and frightened lover.
I sold my house and my boat so quickly I was sure someone else's hands were involved. It was a little over a month before I saw the last of my packing cases loaded to return them to the UK. I couldn't leave the memorabilia of my life behind.
I arrived back at Reece's house just after dark. Reece had dinner ready for me and told me I was not to contact Tom until the morning.
"Please don't screw this up Charlie. There is a plan and you must follow it. Have a good night's sleep and you can go to see Tom after breakfast."
What else could I do? I wanted my baby lover so much and greater forces than I could comprehend were at work here. I slept badly. When the first light of day filtered in through my window I got up and went for my morning pee. I passed the mirror in the bathroom on my way to the toilet and nearly died. I was looking at the same face I had the first time I was here. I was nearly twenty now though and the extra little maturity showed. Reece was not the happiest individual being woken at 5 o clock by a deliriously happy young man.
"How long am I going to be allowed this time?"
"Good morning Reece, sorry to wake you so early', don't you think that might have been a better greeting?"
"Yes, yes, how long?"
"Another seventy years if you want it."
I sank on to the floor of Reece's bedroom and wept. It must have been after 6 when I stopped bawling like a big baby. I was going to have the second great love of my life forever if I wanted him.
There was no way in a million years I was going to eat breakfast, drink coffee or anything else. I grabbed the keys to the Audi and drove like a maniac to Tom's house.
A very bleary-eyed Mr. Hector opened the door and nearly fell over with shock.
"Sorry Dad, I have to see Tom."
I almost flew past him, up the stairs and straight in to Tom's room. Despite the fact that I had made about the same amount of noise as herd of charging elephants, enough noise to wake the dead, Tom was still sound asleep. I sat on the edge of his bed and gently stroked his hair, his face and on down his body to his waist, where the bed covers had stopped. He stirred, rolled over and opened his eyes. I expected shock or surprise, instead I got a bleary, "I wish you were real Charlie, I love you so much," and then he rolled over and was asleep again. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Dad poked his head round the door, saw the bemused look on my face and grinned.
"You know he's not a morning person, why don't you slide into bed with him until he wakes up?"
I grinned as well, my clothes were on the floor and I was sliding into bed almost before dad could move. I didn't sleep, I just spooned him and caressed his beautiful body, taking in the smell of him. I knew I could pick out Tom in a crowded room without looking, he smelt like love. Don't ask me what love smells like, you can only know by experiencing it.
About an hour later he stirred and tried to roll over, but couldn't because I had him so tightly spooned into me. Then he woke up properly and forced himself away from me before turning over and looking. The eyes were as big as saucers and then he burst into tears.
"I don't believe it, please tell me you are real and are here forever."
"I'm real, and I'm here forever, and I love you more than I will ever be able to tell you or show you."
An X rated couple of hours followed. No not really, we just kissed and cuddled. We had the remainder of our lives for sex, now we just needed to touch each other. I loved being a teenager again, it was stupendous, and knowing I had more money than I would need for years was just amazing.
All of what had happened to me for the last two years came tumbling out. He was amazed and cried with me when I got to the part where we found out Max had leukaemia and was dying.
"I was still quite fragile from the devastation of leaving you, so when Max's condition was discovered I nearly lost my mind. I had lost you and now I was going to lose Max. I wasn't thinking clearly when I came to see you, I just needed to know that at least one of my loves was ok. I had no intention of letting you know the old man was me, I guess I just wasn't clever enough to hide it. I never dreamt you would want me because I looked old enough to be your grandfather."
"I don't love you for what you look like Charlie, I love you for who you are. What you look like now is just a bonus," and he grinned at me.
I was going to have my youth all over again now, with another man that I loved to distraction. I couldn't judge the difference between Tom and Max by degree because I was really two different people. All I knew was that I was incredibly lucky. I would start my second period of adulthood with a wonderful lover, a load of money in the bank and a reasonable writing talent. I know I had lost a year at university, but that didn't matter, I would do a degree in journalism to help my writing, I did, after all have another fifty years to improve it, I might as well do it from a solid base.
I decided to buy a house, an old one that needed lots of work because my degree course left me with loads of free time. I had always been good with my hands so it was a work of love for me. The roof was sound, but the attic was a mess, it was also huge so I was going to line it and turn it into a big play room. We could have all our entertainment systems here. We were into a hot summer so I go into the habit of working naked. Tom surprised me there one day and disappeared very quickly only to reappear a few minutes later with a camera. He got me a hard on and then took some pics. He was laughing, telling me he now had something for his side of the bed. On my side of the bed I had the picture of him I had taken that last summer at the beach. I still marvelled at the gorgeous semi hard cock in it.
When he looked at the double pic he looked at me afterwards and said, "I never realised what a yummy butt you have. Do you think I could lodge my little Tom in there?"
I had never suggested it because he was always such a happy bottom, but the thought of him reaming me out with his monster had me instantly erect again. Tom saw it and sniggered.
"I take it that is a yes?"
Was it ever, the feeling as he slid his glans over my sphincter defied belief, only a little pain because I was so relaxed, but it felt huge. He really worked me over having learnt exactly how to excite me from my action with him. I don't know how many times I orgasmed before he pulled out of me and fell onto my chest.
"Oh, Charlie, that was magic."
I grinned at him, looking like an idiot, "Mmm, I agree, you can do that as often as you like, but won't it spoil your street cred if you tell people you are screwing a seventy two year old."
He looked at me for a minute and then just dissolved in laughter, through his laughter he said, "Yes, but won't it do yours a ton of good. You have to be the youngest looking seventy two year old in the world."
I hugged him to me as we calmed down and thought about what we had both just said. I was a supremely happy twenty year old with my whole life ahead of me again, but with total recall of my previous life and a lover who knew so that I would never have to worry about slipping up with things I said to him.
The house came together gradually while we lived with Tom's dad. I hated lying to Mr. H. but Tom and I had decided it was too bizarre to try to tell him the truth. So we decided that my money had come from my parents and it had just taken a long time to take their will to probate. I wrote under a pen name so there was never any chance of him discovering that I had been writing commercially since I was about ten, ha, ha.
My packing cases arrived and with the rumpus room completed in the attic we decided they should all go in there and we would empty them together so that Tom was up to speed on my previous life. Anything we both liked could go into the main living areas and we would be open about it being from my grandfather. We did try to keep the stories simple because otherwise it would be too easy to slip up, like I had a few times on my first visit and when I came back to Tom when I was still looking like the original me.
Zoe had to be dealt with as well, to her I had only been gone a few months so it was reasonably easy to just brush off my absence as a family crisis that was too serious to miss. She came back into our small circle of friends and was a continuous source of pleasure to me. I had to be so careful though because I kept wanting to talk to her like I would have done a granddaughter. Tom picked up on it a few times, as did Zoe of course, but they both loved it, Tom because he knew, and Zoe because she thought it was quaint and therefore funny.
"Oh Charlie, I wish I had a Gramps like you, it would be so much fun."
That comment nearly brought the roof down. Tom was creased up with laughter and I was so flustered Zoe nearly fell over laughing.
"Not funny you two, I'm going to find a long white beard and dye my hair grey then I can be your granddads no problem."
More laughter before Zoe gave me a hug.
"I love you just the way you are Charlie, my friend and my grandpa all in one bundle."
That was it really, we didn't have any more problems with that one. When our house was complete, Zoe saw some of my memorabilia, passed off as my granddad's.
The pictures of my yacht had her goggle eyed.
"Oh Charlie, that is beautiful, can you sail her?"
"Oh yes, and now that I have my inheritance I may try to buy her back again. I have to talk to Tom about it first."
"Are you two going to be together forever then?"
"You bet. He is my soul mate and I don't see that changing."
She looked all crestfallen and replied, "So there is definitely no chance for me then?"
I looked shocked until I saw a grin start to spread across her face.
I got serious then.
"If I had even 1% straight man in me Zoe I would find some way of keeping you in my life like Tom, but I'm sorry, you'll just have to remain my little kitten, the same as you've always been."
I got a big sloppy kiss for that.
"I'll settle for that, but you do make it hard for a girl to find a mate when she has a friend like you who is everything she wants in a man. I could get to be very jealous of Tom, having you to himself."
That conversation set the tone for a relationship that went on for years. Tom and I never felt embarrassed showing our love for each other around her, and she did get her share of kisses and cuddles from both of us.
We finished Uni and Tom got a job with a software company at a level that left me cold. My computer skills had never become good enough to even pass my GCE in the subject, I guess my old brain took over there and kept the knowledge out. I could do enough to keep my publisher happy with the formatting of my work to send to her and that was about it.
I started writing again seriously and because my life was full of happiness and contentment I found it easy to pile the words onto my computer. I finished a new novel in under six months and it sold quite well. I was gaining in stature as an author with a following that guaranteed a good level of sales as soon as the books were released.
Tom and I did sit down and talk about the yacht.
"Would you like to own her again Charlie?"
I nodded, "Yes, but it was easy last time because I lived with her and could look after her properly. If I bought her again I would need a man to look after her and a mooring that would cost a lot of money. I doubt we could justify it with the amount of use we would get from her."
The idea went on to a back burner then. We were, after all only just into our twenties, we had a long life in which to think about yacht ownership again.
I had one last piece of my old life to sort out. That was Reece, I didn't see where he could fit into my life any more. He wasn't really my uncle, and I couldn't in all honesty say we had become friends. He was just the conduit through which my weird existence had gone.
"What are the plans for me now Reece, and how are you supposed to fit into my life?"
"No more interference Charlie, you are on your own now. Just remember that you have been given a second life, complete with a new love. Don't waste it and don't forget why you were given it. I'll be moving on very soon and when I'm gone you can just say that I retired abroad. People will soon forget me because I was never a very high profile part of your life here. Have a good life Charlie, the master was so pleased with the way you handled Tom. He didn't expect you to fall in love with him the way that you did, but that complication sorted itself out. We were both sorry about Max, but you have wonderful memories to start your new life with."
Reece disappeared a few weeks later, Tom knew the story and no one else even mentioned him apart from Mr. H. who got the edited version.