"David's father did it, and his mother is trying to protect him, pretending that she's helping them."

"Why would she help him? She stole his first big research work. Plus, David suggested he doesn't believe she's really interested in helping Lucy."

"Did he tell you why?"

"No."

"Maybe it's just a feeling, maybe he just senses that, because she's lying for his father."

I shook my head.

"But, Africa, why would he do it? For what purpose? Besides, we are forgetting something here. In order to find out about my work, he would have had to look for it specifically. I didn't share it with anyone apart from Luke. Not even Professor Abbey knew about it. So why would Hugh make efforts to follow my steps, if he didn't have a lead about what he could find?"

"Maybe Professor Abbey did know about it. Maybe he didn't tell you because he was waiting for you to tell him, but he shared it with his dear old-friend Hugh." she said, imitating Professor Abbey, and she made a face. "God, I still remember the way he said that at Fleming&Florey's party. He is almost in love with that man, Tessa. He found out, and he told him. It has to be that way."

David and the rest of the girls were still laughing downstairs.

"We should have a look in Hugh's room." I whispered.

Africa nodded. We made our way through the corridor, and we finally found a room that looked  like a suite at the Four Seasons.

An immense, white four poster bed stood in the middle of the room, on top of a dark blue and beige Persian carpet. The sun was rising, and the orangey morning light that entered the window drew shadows on the blue flower-patterned high curtains. An open novel and a pair of glasses were the only objects on the white wooden table in front of the window, apart from a white rose centrepiece.

Africa run to the table and quickly passed the pages of the novel, then tossed it at the blue suede armchair next to the table.

"Africa, leave things exactly where you found them." I whispered.

"Oh yeah, like he will actually remember where he left his copy of The Notebook."

I chuckled, then walked to the window and looked at the astonishing view of Holland Park. The trees were naked, but the sunshine glistened through their branches as if it was a leafy forest. There were hardly any flowers, but I could spot some English daisies and some purple pansies on a far corner. Nature was still fulfilling its cycle. We weren't. We had ceased to be a part of nature. We had been artificially modified. We had been polished and programmed.

"Hey, Tess, come and look at this."

Africa was kneeling in front of an ivory dresser. She had opened every drawer, and had taken some papers out of the one at the bottom. I run to her and she passed them to me.

"What?" I asked, as I superficially screened the sheet. "This is just some stuff about the house."

"It's the selling contract, Tessa. And look at the date."

I quickly shifted my eyes to the top of the first sheet.

"January 4th... Gosh.... This was two months ago!"

Africa nodded.

"Now we know how an ordinary doctor bought a detached house full of ivory and marble at Holland Park."

"It can't be true." I said, frantically shaking my head. "It just can't be. This isn't proof. This might have another explanation."

Africa raised her eyebrows. My hands were sweating as she took the papers from them and took a picture.

"It might, that's true." she said, and she shrugged. "Did David tell you they just moved?"

"No, but maybe he doesn't think it's important... Because he clearly doesn't know where all the money might have come from..."

"And doesn't it seem strange to him, that he suddenly lives like a millionaire?"

"I don't know, Africa... I just... Let's go. Let's go home."

Even if Hugh wasn't as honest as his son, I didn't believe he would steal something as big as that just to buy a posh house. That would make the money so... filthy. Maybe he had another motive. Maybe he wanted permission to be a grandfather. That seemed fairer. Even if it wouldn't make a big difference, I wanted to understand my traitor. I wanted to know that at least something good had come out of the catastrophe of handing my discovery in. I wanted to believe the reason was not selfish and frivolous. But stealing wasn't usually done in Robin Hood's style, I reminded myself. Most of the time, it more closely resembled Spring Breakers.

"Africa, Tess! Are you upstairs?" David exclaimed, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Ye-yeah..." I said. I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't know what to say. "I just... wasn't feeling well. Too many emotions."

"I'm coming up!" he yelled, and I stared at Africa, horrified.

"No! David, don't come up! She'd rather be just with me right now."

"Oh, okay." he muttered, and I could tell he was disappointed that I didn't want his help. That made me smile.

Africa glanced at me, and I knew her fiery eyes were shouting: "Let's get the hell out of here!". So we went downstairs, asked the girls if they wanted a ride, and felt relieved when they said they would stay there until late in the morning. Lindsay was lying on David's couch with her hair messed up and her legs wide apart. And David and Alex were... almost cuddling in another, smaller couch. He was holding her hand, and she was inclined towards him. A stab of jealousy smack me.

But then David insisted we should stay, and stopped repeating it as soon as I said I needed some time away. I felt horrible, but then I looked at his proximity to Alex again, and I doubted he really meant it. Besides, he had suggested the same thing when he had pulled my robe closed. I almost felt cheated and used, even if we hadn't done anything, watching him holding hands with a friend of mine. I looked away, Africa opened the front door, and we walked into the absorbing, evoking light of late dawn.

I had thought Africa would want to drive to Oxford first, but when I opened my eyes after what seemed like a short doze-off, I learned we were only twenty miles away from Brighton. I smiled, feeling as touched and alleviated as I hadn't in a long time, and I put my hand on top of Africa's.

"Thank you so much." I whispered, grinning like an idiot.

Home felt like the solution to everything. I felt so out of myself... I needed to let go in order to regain control. Maybe if I unwound, I would get the perspective I needed to figure out Hugh's riddle. Because now I was sure it had a lot to do with him, whether it was directly, or indirectly.

But before I disconnected, I needed to make sure my family too was protected from death. I couldn't risk losing them for another second. And I had to talk to Professor Abbey, and indirectly ask him about Hugh and his ex-wife. Remembering all the tasks I had to accomplish triggered my anxiety again.

"You were muttering something in your sleep." Africa told me.

"Could you make anything out?" I asked, curious.

"Something about a riddle... And a... how did you say it?" She pushed her front locks out of her face as she thought. "Malignant... trust?"

I sighed.

"I was probably having a nightmare about Hugh. The day I met him, he advised me to keep investigating, to keep my eyes open. He said that Medicine and life are constant riddles."

"That is an understatement." Africa said, in her most sarcastic tone.

"I'm going to call Professor Abbey."

My heart raced faster with every beep. How was I supposed to present this situation to him? Hey, Professor, is your friend a thief and an asshole?

He picked up.

"Tessa." he said, in a sleepy voice.

I had forgotten it was still early in the morning. I didn't feel capable of breaking the news to him right then.

"Hi, Professor. I called you because... I was wondering if we could meet up." I blurted, and, without wanting to sound to panicked, I added. "As soon as possible."

"Yes, of course. We could meet up later today whenever you wish. Are you feeling alright, though? Your lovely friend Africa let me know you were recovering at St Thomas yesterday afternoon."

I didn't like how he had to add sweet adjectives to every person he referred to.

"I'm fine." I said, dryly. "Should we meet at the Turf Tavern at eight?"

I didn't want to go back to London, back to... the battlefield. And I didn't want to be overly anxious at Brighton, at my zen zone, either. Therefore, Oxford seemed like the best place to meet him.

"That's alright, I'll see you there."

I hung up and puffed.

"I slept with Luke."

Africa choked.

"What? When? How?"

"Tonight. I mean, last night." I felt very disoriented. Images of Luke caressing me and moaning mixed with David's tears, and my own. "Camille told me where he was staying, and I went there, and he didn't open the door, but then he did..."

"Wait, Tess. You slept with him after all that's happened? And what does Camille have to do with any of it?"

I could only answer with more questions.

"When did you become such a prude? Do I have to remind you that you were the one that insisted I should have as much sex as possible?"

"Yeah, but not with Luke! Not with someone who hurt you that much. Not with someone you love, unless he loves you back forever and you like that. Gosh..."

Africa shook her head, and as she pulled into Lewes Crescent, the view of the sea made me think of how easy everything felt before they assigned us that research project. How I complained about sitting on the beach and having nothing to write about, because nothing extraordinary had happened. Now it had, and I missed the eagerness, my innocent concept about how the extraordinary I longed for would feel.

Sex also seemed like something extraordinary back then, something Africa talked about and I loved listening to. Some strange and improbable combination of circumstances that I hoped, but couldn't actually believe, would ever happen to me. I used to think about it a lot, but I didn't know how good it would really feel. I didn't know it could be cold as well. I didn't believe I would ever regret it.

Still watching the grey sea, I felt for a second as if all my former illusions had disappointed me. And, somehow, right at that instant, I understood that exact feeling was what made people old and stale: Feeling out of moving, enthralling motivations.

"The days I spent with Luke were full of possibilities of all my wishes coming true. Suddenly, I could be immortal, and I could be madly in love. I became addicted to that rush of being aware that... dreams were suddenly... feasible. That's why I go back to him. Because that feeling... drives me crazy and consumes me in the most pleasurable way you can imagine."

Africa stayed silent for a while, and as she was pulling over in front of my house, she said:

"And did it, this time? Did it give you that kind of pleasure?"

"No." I shook my head. "It just gave me ordinary pleasure. It would have been great for a dirty dream, but it just didn't feel real. And I was aware I was lying to myself for thinking there was still a remnant of what we had in him. And I... I couldn't take it. As I started to see I was trying to imitate the past, the present got worse. Even the past, even the memories, got blurrier."

I got out of the car, and Africa walked with me to my front door. The morning breeze was cold, and it smelt of salt. It moved my hair slowly, and made all my pores open; every inch of my skin was willing to drench into Brighton and what it meant to me. I closed my eyes and tried to generate heat inside my red coat. I was eager to hug mum and dad, I longed to see the reflection in their eyes when they looked at me, because they always saw the version of me that I wanted to keep on being.

"It wasn't Luke that made you realize your dreams were achievable. He wasn't the one to let you contemplate that truth. It was yourself. But you've always projected it on different people... people you have fallen in love with."

She was staring at me with her opaque eyes as she spoke, and her fiery hair blended with the morning light. We were sitting in the stairs that led to my front door, and Brighton felt so quiet and lonely; and the sea... The sea felt ours.

"First it was Nora, then Luke..." she continued; now she was staring at the horizon, in the same way she did when she was trying to decipher her own paintings. "It's like you don't want to admit that you are the only one who holds the key to the happiness you're seeking. Everyone breaks your heart when you come to find that they can't open that door for you. You have to do that."

I nodded. I had come to that same conclusion that night too, after sleeping with Luke. This time, it hadn't given me that rush I remembered, and the reason behind it had been that the force to ignite it wasn't in me.

"Do you think I was in love with Nora?" I asked her, but, really, it was a question to myself.

She frowned, and she passed her fingers across her chin and her pouted lips. She was thinking about my question deeply.

"Do you?" she finally said.

"I did love her, and I have had a dream about kissing her several times. But I think I just greatly admired her. She made me feel as if I missed her even when she was with me. I definitely projected my dreams on her, but that was because we designed them together. Right here." I touched the stairs. "And right there."

I pointed at the absorbing, grey sea that connected me to all I had ever loved. Suddenly, I felt exhausted. I hadn't slept in over twenty four hours. I hadn't slept in years.

"Wanting someone that isn't a promise of things to come is liberating. It's liberating, and frightening at the same time, because as you don't expect anything, you have no clue of what might come."

I knew she understood I was talking about David.

"I kissed him too, tonight."

Africa looked at me in disbelief, and we both burst out laughing.

"Remember when I used to say you would end up being a repressed embittered oldster? Well, I don't think that anymore. I haven't had sex in a while. I'm the repressed one now."

"What happened to Brian?" I asked, and I smiled like an idiot when I realized we hadn't had a normal conversation about boys in ages.

Africa shrugged, and looking at the sea, she answered:

"I guess he lives back in the dimension we left behind during these last months." She turned to me, and added: "I might switch to girls after all. The last person I felt really attracted to was Camille. That day at her house I painted her naked."

Her confession didn't surprise me, but a strange feeling of jealousy aroused, believing that she would choose her over me sexually, just as Luke had done at a time. And then I remembered that the painting day, he had chosen me, eagerly, and I blushed.

"Luke and I did the same thing." I confessed, and Africa's eyes grew bigger. "Well, we tried to, and then things took a different turn."

We both laughed. My laughter stopped when I remembered the last minutes at David's house, how he might have chosen another girl as well.

"David was holding hands with Alex when we left."

Africa rolled her eyes.

"Please, Tess. Everyone was happy today. Besides, as we are going to live forever, he might want to have more choices; you know, just to change partners every century or so."

We both laughed again, and I pinched her arm teasingly.

"So, are you completely over Luke?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know. But I closed the chapter of the relationship we used to have. At last, I realized that part of our story is gone. I don't know if I will want another, second part."

"I guess you have time to figure it out."

We both smiled, and I realized the sun was shining much higher than when we had arrived.

"I should probably go make sure my family has time to figure things out too." I said, pointing towards the door as I stood up. "You can bring your family here tomorrow, too."

She nodded, and, when I turned around to open the door, she said:

"But, Tessa: You should get some sleep before you do anything else. Let's see if it's David or Luke who stars in your wet dreams."

Or Nora, I thought, and I stepped into the warmth of my house. It felt flying through time into a few months before; only, this time, I looked at everything only through my own, unsusceptible eyes.

What did you think of this chapter? Do you agree with what Africa said about Tessa projecting her dreams onto other people? Do you think that she was in love with Nora? Let me know in the comments! I am entering the Wattys 2016, so, if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote :)

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