Page 146 of The End of the World As We Know It

“Good. Why don’t we walk to my hotel. Then we can sit and talk about our dreams.”

Elizabeth rose to her feet. He beamed with a wide grin. She had all his attention. Elizabeth wasn’t greedy. One companion until Flagg was enough.

Joseph looked around the hotel in wonder. The aroma of dead flowers filled the hotel. There were too many located all over the building and Elizabeth didn’t want to bother with the effort to clear them all out.

“This is nice,” he said.

“I know… You mentioned a dormitory? Where were you in school?”

“King’s College.”

“That is impressive. Your nan must have been proud. I taught boys like you.”

“Hey, I wanted to teach, too! Math and physics.”

“Your parents must have loved that.”

His smile faded and face darkened. “I don’t like to talk about them. I had to live in hospital for a few years, then I was sent to live with my nan.”

She stopped and touched his arm. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”

“Thank you. Maybe I will at some point. Anyway, tell me about your dreams.”

She had to think fast. She couldn’t scare him off with her dreams of fucking. At least not yet. She couldn’t put him off straightaway.

“I dreamed of… flying to him. Finding a way across the pond. You don’t happen to know how to navigate a boat or fly a plane,do you? From what I gather from my dreams, he’s in America. Las Vegas.”

He laughed and blushed. “Nope. Wish I did. I’d fly to him, too, if I could. Maybe we’ll be given a miracle. It’s kind of a miracle we’re both still alive.”

Elizabeth almost pitied how hopeful and naive he was. It was adorable, yet it made her want to crush him at the same time. A soft little public school boy getting his balls squeezed for the first time. “How old are you, Joseph?”

“Eighteen.”

Her stomach leapt with excitement. She remembered the eighteen-year-old boy she met when she was sixteen. “So young… Did you have a girlfriend?”

“No. It didn’t really interest me when I started uni. And before that, I kept to myself.”

She led him into the main bar area, where she spent most of her time. It reminded her of being out looking for a good time despite not a soul around. He rushed to the room’s center.

“This place is so wonderful.” He scanned a coffee table filled with candles, board games, playing cards, piled-up books. Next to the table was a cart with spirit bottles, wine, and beer. “You really made a new home here.”

“I did. But that was before I heard his voice.”

“So, you want a way to America?”

She sat on the faded sofa in front of the coffee table and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. She poured doubles. “Do you know the story of the Stone of Scone? The stone that once sat below the Coronation Chair?”

He glanced at the drinks then back to her. “No. Not much into history. I know a little about the Bible.”

“Your nan was a God-fearing woman?”

“Yes. A true saint. She touched so many lives.”

“That’s nice. Well, the stone was taken from the Scots and broughtto the king of England. But that isn’t the part of the story that interests me. It’s said the stone is a true relic from the Bible.”

“Really? How did it get here?” He put his rucksack down and sat next to Elizabeth. She extended a glass to him. He shook his head. “No thanks.”

She smiled and took a sip, then licked her lips. “Maybe later.”