Cryptophobia - Hell & High Water

CHAPTER 3 - EDWARD: 8:44am - 5 Days until outbreak

As Irini took her leave and his wife set about unpacking the bags, Edward returned to the balcony and gazed over the edge towards the docks of Southampton. Little did his wife know, he had once lived here, three long years of his life, three hard years of his life. Those were the years he would much rather forget, the years when his house was cesspool of drink induced misfortune and terrible living standards.

It was only too good to imagine that that house had been pulled down by now, or at the very least completely renovated. How long ago was that now? Far too long ago.

Luckily life had taken a turn for the better following those three years, albeit not perfect, but better and that was more than enough to ask for, given what they had been forced to endure.

His father went on to rehab and cleaned himself up after finding Jesus. A born again Christian, he was only replacing one unhealthy obsession with another thing to keep his mind occupied, but so long as he wasn't taking it to an extreme degree, Edward could live with it, it was after all a positive change. Whether it was good enough to accept it as a positive thing that he had become a born again Christian, at the sacrifice of spending more time at the church than that with his family, was probably a question Edward would never get an answer to, but he swore that he would be a better father than his own ever was. His mother worked her ass off to keep things together at the best and the worst, at times she had to take on both roles and at other times it was a struggle for her to simply get out of bed in the morning, a combination of exhaustion and lack of zest for life, but who could blame her? It was any wonder why she stuck with him when he was so clearly wrapped up in his own little world, but she swore an oath to do so, she would always say, and oaths were something so many nowadays found difficult to stick to.

Edward used the opportunity to help his mother and younger siblings the very first chance he got, determined to see her struggle less and relax more. Dropping out of school was probably the hardest decision he had ever had to make and the years to follow were certainly not easy, but he set up his own business and found his footing again. As it turns out and in his favour, the business boomed and even sailed it's way through the recession. As it turns out, there are some things that people will always need.

Able to buy his family a better and bigger home, he finally managed to get them all out of the rut they had only ever known. He met Christine on a trip to France, conveniently inside a popular patisserie. Trying and failing miserably to ask in French for pastries, she stepped in and helped him out, speaking the language with such fluidity that she made him feel foolish for even attempting. To thank her, he invited her out for coffee with the pastries they had only just purchased, an offer she declined, but only because she was with friends, she did however suggest they meet for lunch, which they did, and it was at that moment Edward realised how just how incredible this woman was, just in case she hadn't already impressed him enough.

No sooner did he return to London, he ended his on and off relationship with a woman he had deluded himself into thinking would one day want a permanent relationship with him and turned his attention to Christine.

There were many aspects that attracted him to Christine, her extensive knowledge of good Jazz, her passion for fine dining, her headstrong demeanour, she knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn't afraid to make it come to her - she didn't do chasing - in one way or another. Besides that, she was quite the talented cook, one might say that her fingers were blessed with the gift of dazzling artistry where food was involved. It took him less than a year to propose to Christine, and Christine being Christine needed time to think about it, coming back to him an entire week later with the answer his ears couldn't have been happier to hear.

So here they were twenty something years later, a questionably satisfied married couple with a gay daughter. Edward wasn't entirely sure where their marriage had taken a wrong turn or where he had so thoroughly fucked things up with the upbringing of his daughter, but this is where they were now, in a sexless marriage - Edward had honestly lost count how long it had been - held together only by sheer stubbornness and convenience. His wife busied herself in her self-started upper-class catering service, his daughter was barely ever home and his life had conveniently become more and more preoccupied with business trips. Yes, their little family, once the glowing symbol of what a family was, had fallen apart, those once superficial cracks having opened up into gaping unavoidable crevices, threatening to send them tumbling into an unknown abyss if they didn't do something about it sooner rather than later.