Collision

by John Williamson

  “But that’s not the most interesting part,” said Stuart. “You’re close to a unified field theory for physics uniting gravity, electromagnetism and quantum theory. It’s the holy grail of physics.”

  “I know, but that will take months of work,” said Elle. “All I’m interested in is the time dilation effect. Can you help?”

  “This is crazy,” said Stuart. “You don’t know what you’ve got here: this is the kind of thing Noble prizes are made of.”

  “I’m not interested in prizes, or awards,” said Elle. ”I’m quite happy for you and Ben to take the credit for them if you want. But I want to quantify the time dilation effect as soon as possible.”

  Stuart looked at the board. “I think we can do that for you. Look, we can replace theta by a matrix of differential equations. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Just a bit of hard work and then a lot of detailed checking.”

  Elle’s face lit up.

  “Come on Ben, what do you think? Replace this with ...,” said Stuart, as he scribbled a long equation.

  Stuart, Ben and Elle continued to work through the day covering most of the huge white board with equations after equations. Together they were an awesome team. By the end of the day, they were all pleased with the progress they had made.

  As they drove back to Stuart’s house, they continued to chat about the implications of their work. Elle turned towards Stuart. “If the time dilation factor is chaotic, then presumably the timeline can be paradoxical?”

  “What do you mean?” said Stuart.

  “For instance, if we could time travel back into the past and change it; would the present have changed when we return?”

  “That’s the ‘grandfather’ time paradox. If I go back in time and kill my grandfather before I’m born, would I cease to exist? I don’t know the answer. Time travel by its very nature is a paradoxical concept. Why do you ask?”

  “Just speculation,” said Elle.

  “Why the big interest in time,” said Ben.

  “Aren’t there some things you would want to change, if you could?”

  “You mean like kill Hitler before he came to power, or stop some major disaster from happening?” said Ben. ”It sounds good; but what if the change had unintended consequences and the alternative timeline was even worse than the original.”

  “Ben’s right,” said Stuart, “even if you could travel through time and change the course of history, there would be no guarantee that it would be for the better. The knock-on effects of even small changes may be magnified into unpredictable effects. Anyway we are a long way from time travel.”

  “But it’s nice to dream,” said Elle.

  “No harm in dreaming,” said Stuart. “It’s how all great scientific breakthroughs happen.”

  Twenty minutes later Stuart pulled up outside the house. Ben and Elle got out of the car and started to walk down towards the cabin. Stuart walked to the front door of the house and turned to speak to them.

  “I’ll see you at dinner after the sauna,” said Stuart.

  Elle and Ben stopped and turned towards him. “Okay,” said Elle.

  Stuart went into the house leaving them alone.

  “Sauna?” said Ben.

  Elle smiled at him. “Yes. I thought you knew. It’s their sauna night and Kirsty’s arranged for us to Sauna together after the Stuarts have finished their session.”

  “Oh,” said Ben.

  “Is there a problem?” she said.

  “No. Of course not.”

  Elle realised that they were nearly at the house. They had walked up the path to the house together and were approaching the basement door. They were both wearing white towelling dressing gowns and carrying towels. It was time for their sauna. If they had timed it right, the Stuarts should be finished. Ben opened the basement door and turned to look at her.

  “Are you all right with this?”

  “Fine,” she said as she tried to appear confident. The truth was very different; she felt like a teenager on her first date, not knowing what to expect.

  Inside the basement was the changing room, two open showers and the door to the sauna room.

  “Hi Elle,” said Kirsty, who was naked, washing under one of the shower heads in full view. “I’ve nearly finished. Mum and Dad have already gone upstairs to prepare dinner.” She turned off the shower and started to dry herself. “Do you want me to show you how the sauna works?”

  “No need,” said Ben, slipping out of his gown and walking across to the shower unit. Elle’s jaw dropped. Clearly, he had no concerns at all about being nude in front of them. He turned on the water and the water spray cascade over his muscular body.

  Oh my god. A tingle ran down her spine at the thought of joining him. She waited a moment for Kirsty to leave the room before she opened her gown. She slipped it off, hung it up, and walked across the room to the second shower head. She tried not to look at him. It was as if she couldn’t see him, the converse would be true. She turned on the water. The sudden shock of the cold water made her jump. She turned and could see him looking at her. He smiled as if to reassure her. It wasn’t working.

  The water was cold and chilling and made her nipples stand out. She tried to cover her breasts with her arm as she washed. Ben didn’t seem to notice, or at least didn’t say anything.

  Ben turned off his water and picked up his towel. She followed suit.

  “Are you ready?” he said.

  She nodded and wrapped the towel around her middle.

  Ben opened the door to the sauna and walked in. Elle followed. After the cold of the shower, the heat of the sauna took her breath away. Ben lay his towel down on the bench and sat on it. She sat down opposite him, still wrapped in her towel.

  “Take one of the lower benches,” he said. ”You’ll find it cooler.”

  Elle unwrapped herself, laid the towel on the bench, and sat down as modestly as she could in the circumstances. She was already beginning to sweat. She closed her eyes and let the heat warm her body. After a minute she opened her eyes; he was still looking at her.

  “You’re amazing,” he said.

  She felt far from amazing. She was hot and sweaty and by now her hair must have been a mess. “What?”

  “They all love you,” he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Stuart was going to cancel their sauna today so not as to embarrass you; but Kirsty told him you wanted to take part.”

  “Kirsty did? You mean we didn’t have to do this?”

  “But this was your idea, right?”

  She stared at him open mouthed. “Kirsty told me it was a Finnish cultural thing.”

  “But we’re in Scotland. Stuart wouldn’t have minded what you did. And I was worried you wouldn’t fit in here.”

  “I wasn’t quite expecting this.”

  Ben smiled at her. “Sit back and relax. You might even enjoy it.”

  There was a silence. Elle closed her eyes again and wondered about the day they first met when he walked in on her in the shower. She smiled to herself.

  “What are you thinking?” he said.

  “Nothing.” She waited for him to say something, but there was only a silence. “I was thinking about when we first met,” she admitted. “How is it we always seem to end up naked together?”

  He laughed. “I don’t mind at all. Does it bother you?”

  “Of course it does. I feel… awkward. I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

  “Don’t worry; I won’t. I remember what you said ‘not even if I was the last man on this planet.’”

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean it. I was upset at the time.”

  “So if I was the last man…”

  She paused for a moment and smiled. “Maybe… But that’s academic: you’re with Cindy.”

  He went quiet for a moment.

  “Are you getting used to it?” he said.

  “The sauna? I still feel awkward about being naked together.”

  “I’l
l go, if you want.”

  “No, I’ve come this far; I’m sure I can get used to it.”

  “Then why have you got your eyes closed?”

  “I was just relaxing.” It was a white lie. The real reason was she didn’t want to be seen to staring at him. If her eyes were open, she wouldn’t know where to look?

  She opened her eyes for a second and looked straight at his genitals. Oh My. Did he notice me?

  “I never thought that this would work out,” he said.

  “What do you mean?’

  “That we could be friends. I thought you hated me.”

  “We just got off to a bad start. You were an arrogant sod.”

  “What about now?”

  “I can see you’re just a big softie who’s in touch with his feminine side. I like that.”

  “What?”

  “You never studied psychology — Carl Jung.”

  “You mean Sigmund Freud’s old friend. It’s all about sex isn’t it?”

  She took a deep breath. “Not quite.”

  “So you like my feminine side; what’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m just saying I like caring men. Caring and being considerate are associated with the feminine. That’s all.”

  “I’ll never get Psychology.”

  “What about you? You didn’t really want to bring me here did you? Why did you?”

  “I didn’t want to see you cry.”

  “I thought it was because you liked me?”

  “I do. I don’t have many female friends who are just, you know, mates.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. They always seem to end up in my bed.”

  “And I suppose I didn’t?”

  “But that was different.”

  “I know… But others might get the wrong idea. You don’t have to worry: I won’t say anything to anyone.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Cindy doesn’t care what I do.”

  “You have one of those open relationships?”

  “I don’t want to talk about Cindy.” Ben changed the subject. “This is your first time and we’ve been in here twenty minutes. Do you want to take a breather? We can cool down,” he said.

  She nodded and followed him out of the sauna and into the changing room. It was if she had struck a nerve. From being relaxed and talkative, he suddenly became withdrawn. Perhaps Ben and Cindy were having problems.

  Ben went over to the cold shower and turned it on. She followed him over to the second shower unit and turned it on. The cold invaded her body again and she started to tremble.

  He leant over and adjusted her temperature dial for her.

  “You don’t have to have the water ice cold,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you want to go back in?”

  “I think I’ve had enough.”

  Ben started to soap his body. “In that case you need to get rid of all the toxins you’ve sweated out.”

  She picked up the soap and started to wash her own body.

  “Turn around. I’ll soap your back for you,” he said.

  She looked at him for a second open mouthed.

  “Come on. I’m only going to soap your back. You need to get rid of all that sweat.”

  “Ladies perspire, they don’t sweat,” she said, turning her back to him. She felt his hand touch her back and immediately tensed up.

  “Relax,” he said.

  She tried to relax as best as she could, but his hand was sending shockwaves through her body like the night before. He seemed oblivious to the effect it was having on her.

  “Thanks,” she said. She kept her back towards him wondering if noticed that her legs had turned to jelly.

  “We better get a move on,” he said, turning his water off and picking up his towel.

  He started to dry himself.

  Elle rinsed off her soap and turned off the shower. She picked up her towel and started to dry herself.

  “What do you think?” he said, slipping on his gown.

  “No big deal,” she said, slipping on her gown. She wondered if he knew she was lying. She would never have dreamed of showering with anyone before, except perhaps a lover. So why had she agreed to this? The truth was she didn’t know anymore.

  They walked up the stairs together, through the kitchen and into the lounge.

  In the lounge, drinks of cold water were waiting for them. Elle picked up a glass and swallowed almost half the glass without stopping. After the heat of the sauna, the cold water tasted like the best drink in the world. The Stuarts were all sat out on the veranda outside the lounge. It seemed strange seeing them all in their bathroom robes sitting outside. But she realised it was part of the cooling down process. As they walked onto the veranda, she felt a cool summer breeze blowing from over the Loch that made her skin tingle.

  Stuart walked over to her and Ben.

  “We’ll leave you here alone together for a moment to cool off. Dinner will be at eight.”

  The Stuarts left them there together. They moved to the edge of the veranda and lent against the railing. Elle took a deep breath. The breeze from the Loch felt so refreshing. Ben put his arm around her waist.

  “Isn’t it a fantastic view,” he said, as both they stared out across the Loch.

  She turned to look into his eyes. “Yes. I’m pleased you brought me here.”

  “No regrets at all?”

  “What, you mean about pretending to be your girlfriend and living in the cabin together. No, I don’t regret anything; it’s been fun. I wish we could have stayed longer.”

  “About Cindy…“

  “Don’t worry; you don’t need to explain anything. When we get back to the flat, we’ll just go back to being flatmates again as before. I won’t get in your way. That’s what you want isn’t it?”

  He paused for a second or two. “I guess so… We need to go back to the cabin to get dressed for dinner.”

  Do we have to?” she said. “I’m enjoying the cool breeze so much.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time. We have to leave after dinner.”

  “Oh… Okay, then we better go and pack.”

  They walked together down the path to the cabin.

  At dinner, later that evening, Elle was the centre of attraction. Everyone wanted to know what she thought of the Finnish sauna. She said she loved it, which wasn’t exactly true; but was, at least, diplomatic. Olga, in particular, seemed bowled over with Elle’s enthusiasm to embrace the Finnish culture.

  After dinner Ben and Stuart disappeared to the study and Olga cleared away the dishes leaving Elle and Kirsty to talk on the veranda.

  “Shouldn’t we be helping your mum,” said Elle.

  “No, you’re the guest of honour tonight and I’ve been told to look after you. So tell me what did you really think of the sauna?”

  “You want to know the truth… I was terrified at first. But it was kind of fun.”

  “Was it because you enjoyed the sauna; or because you were naked with Ben?”

  “I’m not sure I could answer that without incriminating myself.”

  “Ben has an amazing body,” said Kirsty.

  “Oh, so you noticed,” said Elle.

  “Just because I’m a naturist doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to notice these things.”

  “And you set me up for this? Didn’t you?”

  “I may have left out a few details when I spoke to dad.”

  “Ben told me he was going to cancel the evening until you told him I wanted to try the sauna with Ben.”

  “Did I?”

  Elle tried to look cross; but Kirsty just burst out laughing.

  “Well you haven’t been entirely honest with me,” said Kirsty.

  “What do you mean?”

  “What’s going on between you and Ben?”

  Elle bit her lip. “We’re … friends.”

  “But that’s all isn’t it. You haven’t actually done it yet?”

  Elle looked Kirsty
in the eye and wondered if anyone else heard.

  “Done it yet?” said Elle.

  “Do I have to spell it out: sex or do you prefer that cruder four letter word?”

  “I get you.” She decided she had to tell the truth. “Is it obvious? …We’re friends, but just friends — like mates. We’re not lovers.”

  “I guessed as much.”

  “How?”

  “You’re not very good at lying. Your eyes give you away every time.”

  “Well, Ben already has a girlfriend, and it’s not me. She’s a pretty redhead called Cindy.”

  “Wasn’t that the bitch that dumped him some time ago?”

  “How did you know about that?”

  “Jane told me all about it when she was up here.”

  “Well, Cindy’s back.”

  “But he brought you here; not her. Are you blind?”

  “But he doesn’t think about me like that.”

  Kirsty just smiled at her as though she knew different.

  Oh my god; I’m being analysed by a seventeen-year old. But what if she is right? What then? It was a thought that would tease her for the rest of the evening.

  Elle heard someone behind her. She turned and saw Ben had come onto the veranda.

  “Unfortunately, we have to go now,” said Ben. “I have an early start on Monday.”

  “When will you be back?” said Kirsty.

  “I’m not sure,” said Ben. “I suppose we’ll need to see Stuart again about this maths thing. Perhaps towards the end of this week.”

  Elle and Ben made their farewells to the Stuarts and headed home.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Elle woke up the following day and stretched her hand out across the bottom sheet of the bed. The bed was empty. Over the weekend she had got used to the reassuring warmth of another person in her bed in the morning; a special person. The sheets were cold. She was alone again. She knew, of course, that their sleeping arrangements wouldn’t last. But she could not get rid of the feeling of disappointment that gripped her. They had got back from Scotland late on Sunday night; too late to do anything except go to bed. And now it meant separate beds and separate rooms.