Doctors and Dresses

After Harry left, the remainder of the two weeks passed dully. The most exciting thing that happened was the storm. One night it rained so much that the shuttle couldn’t make it to the tribe because the tires would get stuck in the mud. Francine felt awful that something as simple as mud got in the way of her helping people, but she was grateful that she had the time to hang out with her friends.

Before any of them knew it they were back in Europe. They stayed in the Mayfield Manor, a large house that Francine’s father had built shortly after making his fortune in the medical field. Technically all of the Mayfield children had moved out. The eldest, Tyler, lived with his wife and daughter off the coast of Yorkshire. Michael, his wife and his two boys currently lived in Surrey. Francine’s sisters, Sarah and Patricia both lived in the city of London with their boyfriends. Whereas Francine was mostly based in Oxford for school, or in their family home in Wales.

The manor was built with grey bricks on a large property in Wales. The family had previously lived in England but it had become too associated with work, as Mr. Mayfield would claim. He sought solitude and serenity, but at the same time was close to activity and family.

Francine couldn't remember a day when she wasn’t running around the house. The drive way was long, and eventually led up to the house. The straight away, as it was called, was lined with trees and it ended with an oval shape in front of the house. Francine would bike, run or doodle on the oval part of her drive way. She would race her siblings, and when she was briefly into sprinting that would be her training ground. Her heart, however, belonged to distance running.

The house itself was equipped with a six car garage and an outdoor pool. There were one main set of stairs that went all the way from the basement to the attic. The stair way had bay windows that let the morning sun in in a romantic fashion. The library was filled from floor to ceiling with books and it too had a large set of windows. There were two bedrooms that faced the front of the house, those were Patricia’s and Sarah’s. The master suite was off the side. The boys of the family shared a room, and Francine had a large room next to her parents.

Dakota was familiar with the home because she spent every holiday there except for summer. Jacob, although fairly new to the group, was also at ease in the house. Even though both Jacob and Dakota were practically family, Francine’s mom still showered them with hospitality, always insisting that they were guests.

“So,” Dina chimed whilst opening the door from the garage into the house, “How was Cape Town? I want to hear all about it!”

Francine sighed at her mother’s insistence. After picking up the three at the airport she constantly questioned them. Finally she moved on from their flight, the turbulence, etc., and actually questioned their trip. However, she loved her all the same.

“It was fantastic, Mum. We had a blast.” Francine smiled at the memories, putting her bags down inconveniently in the kitchen.

“Yeah, the absolute best. We even met Prince Harry,” Dakota gloated.

Dina’s eyes widened and she dropped her keys on the counter. “Oh my goodness! The Prince Harry? As in Diana’s son?”

Francine nodded, “Yes, Mum. Do you know of any other princes named Harry?”

“Don’t be silly, Frannie, I just can’t believe it. What was he like?”

“He was just like any other bloke, even uses regular peasant shampoo.” Jacob responded. Everyone looked at him oddly wondering how he came up with that statement with such seriousness.

“Every other bloke!” Dina was beside herself, “Was he there long?”

“No, only a few days-”

“But Frannie got his number!” Dakota and Dina both squealed with delight.

“Fitz!” She squealed. Francine felt hot in her face knowing that she was blushing.

“You’re going out with him now?”

“Blimey, Mum. No, I’m not.”

Dina smiled coyly, “You chose well. His brother was attractive in his teens, but it went down hill from there. At least Harry isn’t balding.”

Francine smiled, “That is-” Her phone starting ringing. Looking down at the caller I.D. her smiled widened.

“It’s him!” Dakota jumped up and down.

Francine rolled her eyes, “You’re all mad, I hope you know.”

“Oh, we know.” Jacob said sarcastically.

She walked out of the large kitchen, once she was out of their eye sight she sprinted up to her bedroom. The large room was still painted purple from when she was eight and insisted that it was her favorite color. Their were still purple decorations hanging on the wall. Her furniture was still arranged the same from her teenage years, the posters and all. Her favorite thing in the room was the first Harry Potter movie poster she owned.

Believing that she was in the clear from all the ruckus downstairs she answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Hey, Francine?”

“Yeah, it’s me. How have you been, Harry?”

“Alright, I suppose. Actually my granddad fell ill but he is well now. I actually wanted to touch base with you about fundraising.”

“You still want to do it?” Francine paced around her room.

“Yes! Of course. I was thinking we’d need a name.”

“A name?”

“Yes, so that way people don’t get our cause confused with the organization’s. Plus if we used their name it’d be copyright infringement.”

“Okay,” Francine quickly looked up phrases in the Afrikaans language on the computer that had been idle in her room for years. Surprisingly it sprung with life and loaded at a normal pace, “How about... Vir Die Mense?”

“What does that mean?”

“For the people. ‘Cause we’re doing this for them, right?”

Harry smiled, “That’s brilliant. Hey, Imani should be our poster girl.”

Francine’s eyes widened, she jumped up and pumped her fist. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” Harry could hear the excitement in her voice.

“Ah! That’s amazing. My god, Harry, that is so kind of you. It’ll change her life.”

“I hope so.”

The rest of the conversation was spent discussing the location of the headquarters. They decided that London would be the best option, with it being about two hours away from Oxford and Harry’s military base in Suffolk. Somehow the two became sidetracked and they started talking about the remainder of Francine’s the trip. She let him know that she spent time in Italy beforehand, and that she was in dire need of a haircut. He laughed and mentioned that he just got one. Francine considered mentioning that maybe he should value the hair he has, but she didn’t want to start anything.

They stayed on the phone for a little over an hour. The topics touched on favorite colors, writing habits and just random things in general. Harry, cooped up in his room in the barracks, was thankful for the company. His thunderous laugh could be heard by his neighbors and his protection officers.

“So,” Harry’s voice suddenly settled after a long period of laughing and joking, “When should we get together?”

“Well, I move into Oxford in a few weeks. That’s only a couple hours away from you. Want to come over, see the place and figure out what the next step is?”

“I sort of thought the next step was to actually fundraise.”

Francine laughed, “Right, of course. So what do you say?”

“I’m in, for all of this, I’m all in.”

“Glad to hear. Look, I should get going. Fitz and Jacob are downstairs with my mum, and only God knows what she’s telling them.”

“I thought you and Fitz were friends since childhood?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I told her anything. I’d have to kill her if she found out about some things.”

Harry grinned, “Sounds very scandalous, Miss Mayfield.”

“Well of course. The royals aren’t the only one’s that have their secrets, Mister Wales. Farewell!”

He heard the familiar disconnect sound, and looked down at his phone. Before he left Africa he snapped a picture of Francine holding Imani, even though neither of them knew that he did. The picture showed the dry sand of tribe and a half built home in the background. The memories made his heart warm, but what he looked forward to in the future made his heart race.