D.L. Narrol Day 5

  Arctic Quest, should hopefully be released at the end of the calendar year.  It is
the fourth book of my steampunk series.

Chapter Two:
It was Monday morning, Colin and the Neanderthal got off the train and plunged their
way through London’s hustle and bustle.  The Neanderthal followed Colin through the
crowds, unnoticed.  Colin was already dressed in his three-piece suit, ready to teach his
Monday morning lecture at the university.  He crossed the street with Neanderthal,
trailing behind him; and made his way to the university lecture hall at the Natural History
Building. 
Rosa walked by Colin.  “Colin! Hello!”  She called out, waving her arms above
her head to catch his attention. 
Colin turned his head and took a few steps toward the beautiful petite figure, as he
cut his way through the gaggle of university students.  “Grand to see ye,” he said with a
smile.
“I see you still have your fine fuzzy friend by your side.”
“Thankfully, he slept on the train ride to London.  I was finally able to order some
breakfast.  It was brilliant, so it was.”
“Colin, you’re teaching a lecture now, and you’re bringing Neanderthal with
you?”
“What else can I do?”
“You can’t bring Neanderthal to your lecture.  Colin, he’s a prehistoric prime
mate.  He needs to be placed back in his time.”
“It’s bloody-well destroyin’ me life.  It’s eatin’ me out of house and home, and it
bloody feck tried to kill me on the ship, so it did.”
She raised her hands to her mouth.  “Oh my, Colin, I’m so sorry this is happening
to you.  What can I do to help?”
“Look, it’s me own mess, so it is.  Lorelei was right in sayin’ I’m always tryin’ to
play God.  So, this is what I get for me own wrong-doin’, eh?”
Rosa lifted one eyebrow.  “Lorelei said that?”  She paused.  “How profound.”
“Why ye miffed that she said that?”
“Because she’s a whore, that’s why.”
“So?”
“Are you sleeping with her again, Colin?”
He stepped away from Rosa.  “Why should ye care?  Yer off gettin’ yerself
married to Sasha.  He’s already married.  Yer makin’ a bleedin’ mistake.”
“We’re going to get married in a Catholic church.”
“Sasha’s Catholic?”
“I don’t really know what he is, but he said it doesn’t bother him.”
“Yer marryin’ him and ye don’t even know what denomination of Christianity
he’s from?”
“So, Amoli Sharma is Hindu, whatever that is.  Something Asian, I suppose.”
The prehistoric mammal started to grunt and poke Colin in the side.
“I’ve gotta dash to me lecture, now.”
“By the way, Colin.”
Colin turned to her.  “Aye?”
“We’re getting married on Christmas day.”
Colin’s lips were parted as he stared at Rosa in silence.
“Weren’t you and Amoli to be married on Christmas day?”
Colin forced a smile and tried to nod in agreement.  The Neanderthal continued to
poke Colin in the side.  “Gotta run,” he paused.  “Cheers.”
Rosa watched Colin and Neanderthal vanish in the crowd.  She continued to stand
amongst the busy crowd, as she saw Colin and the beast no more.
Amoli passed by Rosa, giving a little un-intentional shove.
“Hello, Miss Emanuel,” Amoli said with a partial smile.
“Amoli, hello.  I was just speaking with Colin.”
“That’s nice.”
“Have you spoken to him lately?”
“I think it’s best that we don’t see each other anymore.”
“Are you sure about this?”
Amoli started to bight the ends of her book. “Are you sure you want to marry Dr.
Dimitrikov?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“He smokes a lot of tobacco, Miss Emanuel.”
“So?”
“Now is your chance to get Colin back.”
“I don’t think I can do that, Amoli.” Rosa’s posture changed, demonstrating her
frustration.
“I always knew you wanted him back.  He’s a very nice man, you know.”
“Yes, he is.  Look, Amoli, it’s almost 1911, times are rapidly changing and
women are now allowed to do so much more than before.  If you want Colin back, then,
you have a chance to pursue him.  You see, women can now do the pursuing.”
“It was the most difficult decision that I have ever made to let go of Colin.”
“Me too.”
“You let go of Colin?  I thought he let go of you.”
“Long story,” Rosa said trying to focus on something else.
“You still love him, Miss Emanuel.”
“I just can’t live his crazy lifestyle.  He works too hard.  When would he ever be
home?  He drinks too much alcohol.  When would he ever be sober?  He’s always time
traveling.  When would he ever be living in the present?  He wears his hair too long. 
When would he ever cut his hair and look respectable?”
“I like his hair.  I think it makes him look like a God.”
“A God?”
“When he has a beard with that long hair.  Yes, I very much think he looks like a
God.”
“Interesting.”
Amoli smiled.  “Well, I suppose you have a lot of planning to do for the
wedding.”
“I already purchased my wedding dress.”
Amoli smiled.
“We’re going to marry on Christmas day.”
“I see.  Colin and I were going to do that too.”
Rosa fiddled with her poorly fitted engagement ring.   “Do you still love Colin?”
“Of course,” Amoli paused, then gazed at Rosa’s over-sized engagement ring.  
“Don’t you?”
“Of course I do.”
“So, why are you marrying Dr. Dimitrikov?  Isn’t he already married to someone
in Russia?”
Rosa shifted her eyes a bit.  “He said he doesn’t love her anymore and that he
wants me.”
“Colin thinks you’re making a mistake.”
“What does Colin know about relationships?  He just knows about those
disgusting whores on his ship.”
Amoli’s eyes dropped to the floor.  “Well, I can’t discuss Colin anymore.  I’m
feeling very saddened about our broken engagement.”
“You were the one who broke it off in the first place.”
“I don’t really like that he’s so popular with the women.  It bothers me.”
Rosa lifted one eyebrow.  “Well, um, yes, that he certainly is.”
“I bet if you made a pass at Colin, he would respond to you.  I know he always
loved you.  That also bothered me.”
Rosa’s eyes widened and she smiled.  “Do you think so?”
“You just said it yourself that women can now do the pursuing.”
Rosa fluttered her eyelashes a bit and primped her hair.  “Do you think he would
respond to me if I made a pass at him?”
Amoli’s head hung low.  “I know you want him.  So, why are you so excited
about your engagement to Dr. Dimitrikov?”
“Amoli, Colin and I are no more.  In fact, we never were.”
“I don’t believe that.  I can’t continue this conversation, it’s too painful!”  Amoli
said, turning her head away from Rosa.
“Amoli, you made the decision to end it with him.  He’s very sad about that.  He
loves you.”
“No, he loves you.  I see the way he looks at you. He always calls you love, which
makes me ill.”
“All Irish men call all women love.”
“Too many women flock around him.  I can’t stand it anymore.”
“He never encourages it, though.”
“That’s true,” Amoli paused to think about what to say next.  “He always gets
drunk and ends up sleeping with them.  “I think he encourages it.”
Rosa tried to focus on something else.  “Look, he has Neanderthal to worry about. 
I think that prehistoric creature has become a great burden on him.”
“Poor Neanderthal, nobody likes him anymore.”
“Nobody ever liked Neanderthal.  Neanderthal is mean. He’s always taking shots
at Colin.  I just saw Colin and he looked a bit banged up.  Poor man.”
Amoli’s expression appeared somewhat surprised.  “Neanderthal is misplaced and
he’s so very misunderstood, that’s all.”
“Colin is constantly in a physical confrontation with him.  It was Colin’s idea to
bring that bipedal beast to our time period because Colin was afraid for its life.”
“Colin was right.  We couldn’t have left Neanderthal in 1970.”
Rosa rolled her eyes back and folded her arms in front of her.  “Then you should
mind that beast instead of Colin.  Neanderthal always liked you best.”
“I don’t know if I can, my father wants to get me on a boat to India so I can be
married off.”
Rosa’s eyes widened.  “Don’t tell that to Colin.”
“I don’t know what to do, Miss Emanuel, Colin loves me so much. Tell me what I
should do?”
Rosa stepped back and took a breath.  She focused on anything but Amoli.  “Do
what you want.  If you want to return to India and marry your father’s choice, so be it.”