Helen was bustling around in the kitchen when Rob crawled out of bed at 10am. She turned when she heard a chair being pulled out. "You're awake," she said with a grin. "I was just putting the kettle on. Do you want a cuppa?"

"Yes please." Rob yawned and stretched. "That was the best sleep I've had in ages." He paused, and then added, "I can't remember the last time I was allowed to stay in bed this late."

"You must have needed it." Helen put the pot of tea in the centre of the table along with sugar and milk. "I could cook you some eggs if you'd like."

Rob shook his head. "I'll just have cereal." He pushed back his chair and stood saying, "Is it where it's always been?"

Helen chuckled and nodded. She poured out the tea and waited until Rob was settled with his breakfast before saying, "Do you remember me telling you that everything was going to be okay?"

"Yeah," Rob said with a sigh. "I just don't see how I can fix the damage I've done. The air force is not going to give me a second chance."

"That's true, Rob." Helen patted the back of his hand. She nudged her head and said, "You eat while I talk."

He gave her a grin thinking this was the professor coming out in her, and then scooped up a spoonful of cornflakes.

"The truth is, Rob, you've blown your chances with the air force and probably with any defence force. You just have to accept that." Helen watched his face drop so she continued before he could say anything. "We all make mistakes in our lives, Rob. No one is perfect. The thing is if we were perfect we'd never learn anything. The best learning comes from making mistakes. You do get that, don't you?"

"I guess." He gave her a strained look. "But, I really fucked up. I'm a dickhead. I treated those girls with so much disrespect."

"I'm glad you realise that." Helen gave him an appreciative look and said, "I also hope those girls have learned something from this too, because what you did to them happens to so many people. Both men and women lose self-respect, and then allow this kind of thing to happen all the time. They make out they're okay with lack of commitment but they're not and shouldn't accept it. Not if they have any pride in whom they are."

She paused and took a breath. "What you did created a ripple effect until you got booted from what you wanted to do for a living. You cheated those girls and your mates but, mostly by being a spiteful prick you cheated yourself. There is always a consequence to the actions we take. The outcome for you is that you lost your job, your girlfriend, and your mates."

Helen gripped his hand because she could see her words were hitting him hard but they had to be said. "So lesson number one. Always treat people the way you want to be treated. No matter what or who they are. A garbage man should be considered as much as a brain surgeon. Just because someone didn't need a degree to get their job doesn't mean you should talk down to them, and then suck up to an obnoxious professional. After all everyone needs a garbage man but not everyone needs a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist. Respect and honesty, Rob, are two key factors to having a wonderful, happy life because we never know what lies within another person. We don't know their full story and disrespectful actions can hurt a person more than we realise."

Tilting her head she added, "If you had been honest with Becky about wanting to go to Melbourne none of this would have happened. You lost respect for her because you didn't consider her feelings so a lie turned into a life changing experience."

Rob covered his face in his hands and gulped back his emotions.

Helen left him as he was and continued, "But not all is lost. You've learnt from this, Rob. Hard lessons admittedly, quicker than most and, it would seem all in one hit. Perhaps the real lesson here is that when we're young we have a lot of things to see and do and we never really know what we want because so many things are out there just waiting for us to experience them. You wanting to go to Melbourne wasn't wrong, it was the way you went about it. If your feelings for another girl were getting in the way of your feelings for your current girlfriend then red flags are flying and, at that time you should have analysed what was really going on, but you're young and often at your age we don't look at things like this with clear vision."

"I know I should have talked to Becky," Rob murmured as he removed his hands from his face. "I should have told her how I was feeling." He took a breath and nodded at his aunt. "She broke up with me over a text. That wasn't right either and I did go there to talk because I was sure she was lying but I saw her with someone else. It hurt so much. I just went insane when I realised she wasn't lying." He burst into tears and covered his face once more.

"Maybe one day you'll get the chance to talk to her about it." Helen ran her hand up and down his back. "We'll never know the reasons Becky did what she did unless she tells you. The thing is, Rob, you can only control what you say and do, not what someone else says and does. For example if you'd have spoken to her honestly she probably would have been honest with you."

"Yeah. I get that." Rob wiped his damp face with his hands. "I realise I hurt those girls because Becky hurt me and I shouldn't have done that."

"It's very tricky, Rob. You say Becky hurt you and I am sure you got hurt but, was you lying to her the trigger for her to date someone else. One of those other girls may now go and do the same thing you did to two young men. Is it a good excuse to say, Rob did this to me so I'm going to do it. Imagine if we all took that line, Rob. So yes, Becky may have done the wrong thing but the way you handled it is your responsibility and the truth is you didn't handle it responsibly. Tit for tat never works, Rob."

He nodded his head saying, "You're right. I've learnt a big lesson and now I've fucked up my whole life."

"Now, now." Helen gave him a big grin and said, "That's my next chat. All is not lost." She topped up his tea saying, "You're a smart guy. Your grades have always been good. You could do anything you want." Helen gave him a sorrowful look and shrugged. "Except for fighter pilot of course but, there are so many other things at your feet, Rob. There is never an end to life and what we can do with it until we're dead." She chuckled and added, "And even then, who knows what happens, but while we're here on earth there is always another path to walk. Just make sure it's something that makes you happy. Nothing worse than being in a job you hate for the rest of your life."

He went to speak but she cut him off. "The next university semester starts up in five weeks. If you want, I'm sure I could help get you a place in a course that interests you. You'd have to work hard, study an extra subject, maybe even study over the Christmas break to catch up on missing the first semester of this year but you could do it."

Rob's jaw gaped open. All he'd thought about was how he'd destroyed his military career. To think there were other options hadn't even crossed his mind. "But what would I study?"

"There are many universities in Melbourne, which offer tons of courses." Helen smiled at him and nudged her head toward the office doorway. "Get on the computer and have a look. We'll get your application in for the mid-year intake and see how it goes. If you're not accepted mid-year there's always next year."

"Wow. I could really do this, couldn't I?" Rob said with a beaming smile.

"Yep. And there'd be a few weeks before you start. Plenty of time to go home and tell your parents face to face what has happened, and then you can come back and either move in with me or somewhere else. Share a household or live on campus but you are welcome here, Rob, if you think you could live with an old girl." She gripped his hand and gave it a shake.

"You're the best, Aunt Helen. Wow." Rob couldn't stop smiling. He picked her up and gave her the biggest bear hug ever.

She laughed and said, "How about you call me Helen. I don't want to see you at uni and have you calling me aunt." She chuckled and added, "I have an image I need to protect."

Wow.  Aunt Helen has it all worked out. Who else thinks she's amazing ;)

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