If there was one thing that Charlotte excelled at, it was copying documents. Often her father had her replicate the same piece of paper over and over again for his business letterhead. Since then she excelled at making copies and practiced it often. It was a steady hand and a good eye that made her good, it also helped her make false copies of every piece of documentation a University would require. It had taken those few months between Christmas and Easter but Charlotte had successfully copied all of Nick’s transcripts and changed them so they looked like they were her own. Charles Russell had been accepted to Cambridge with impeccable grades and a very convincing letter to the Dean of Admissions. There had been some worry over whether or not Charles would be accepted for the fall term given the short notice of the application but for such an outstanding student they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have him start as soon as possible. 

When the letter came (addressed to Charles of course – luckily it was Charlotte who got the mail every day) a sense of panic suddenly set into Charlotte’s mind. She now felt obligated to go through with her plans because she had done so much to make them happen. Even things with Nick couldn’t change how badly she wanted to sit in a classroom and learn new things. She had a plan, and with the help of a dear friend she soon had a disguise good enough to fool even her parents. With it on she truly felt like a University man, a junior fellow, like someone who deserved to sit amongst the smartest men in the country, even if her smarts truly belonged to someone else. Short brown hair (a wig), a thin brown moustache (glued on each time), and cloth bindings tight enough to leave her chest as flat as a board would get her through her school years.

While Charles was being admitted into one of the most prestigious Universities in the country Charlotte was enjoying the beginning of her married life. After feeling slightly pressured from their parents she and Nick had gotten married in the summer (he’d been given a special break from his studies to attend his wedding). They quickly discovered that with the addition of their physical relationship, their emotions for each other had become quite strong. Nick had gone back to school soon after they were married and Charlotte began packing her things to make the permanent trip to Cambridge. 

Nick had wanted to get a small house outside of the town but Charlotte had convinced him that for the time being they should just rent a room. That way he (and she) would be close to school and they didn’t need much more than a bed and a kitchen after all. Marrying Nick had turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to her…for the sake of her façade. Charlotte had never imagined she would actually be accepted to Cambridge so she had never really planned out what to do if she had gotten in. Now she was going to be living there! Having convinced Nick to live inside the school walls gave her ample opportunity for her to attend her classes without him ever having to know. As far as the school was concerned, Charles Russell was married and therefore had permission to live off campus, thus eliminating any problems there may have been with the dormitories. Charlotte had yet to see any problems with her plans. She hid her disguise in a leather case in the closet where it was unlikely for Nick to go searching for anything. Classes began in early October and the only kink in Charlottes plans came in the form of her schedule. Finding the right classes was easy enough because she had all day, and into the evening (when Nick was at his new job) to attend but the day that Charlotte went and scheduled her classes she returned home only to discover that she had enrolled in a class that Nick was also taking. It would surely be a test, but if she could be in a classroom with her husband and never have him figure her out, then she was home free. 

Charlotte grinned as she finished the last sentence on her very first report. She was relishing in the fact that she had homework and had started on it the second she’d walked in the door. She was recapping the bottle of ink when she heard a key in the door. Eyes wide and panicked she threw her papers under the bed and returned Nick’s ink and pen to his desk just as he opened the door. 

“You’re home early!” she announced, still breathless from her rapid fire cleanup.

“That’s not much of a greeting,” Nick commented, shutting the door. He walked the few feet over to Charlotte and kissed her cheek before dropping his leather satchel on the floor. 

“Sorry,” Charlotte bumbled with a laugh, “I was just so excited to see you home early. How was work?” 

Nick rolled his eyes and shrugged, work was work. He had gotten a job at the local butcher so after his classes he would spend the afternoon and into the evening slaughtering pigs and cows. The only advantage to the job was that on top of his regular wages he got a ration of meat free of charge every week. The disadvantage was that with his school work and his job he’d become more testy than he’d ever felt in his life. He hated the place they lived but didn’t complain because Charlotte loved their single room flat, but most of all he hated that he came home every day and it seemed like nothing had been done when his wife had sat at home with what he thought was nothing to do.

“Are we not having dinner?” Nick asked, looking at the stove to see that Charlotte had not even started a fire. 

“Oh,” Charlotte gritted her teeth, having completely forgotten about making a meal since her classes had run late into the afternoon then she’d gotten caught up in her take home tasks, “Um, I thought we’d go down to the pub. One of our neighbours said they have excellent stew.”

“What?” Nick asked with a laugh, “We can’t really afford to eat out, you know that,” he walked over to the woodstove and moved back the curtain underneath, surprised to find the storage area empty. With a glance back at Charlotte he moved to the desk where her change purse lie and opened it, checking inside.

“That’s mine! What are you doing?” Charlotte asked, grabbing her purse back from him.

“What did you do with the money I gave you this morning to go to the market?” Nick asked. 

I spent it at the bookstore Charlotte thought but kept the truth to herself, “I needed to buy something else.”

He blinked, not quite sure he was following her, “Like what?”

Charlotte thought of all the possible answers, needing it to be something that Nick would know nothing about or not notice if it was new or not, “I saw a pretty dress.”

Nick took a deep breath and moved to sit on their small single sized bed. He concentrated on untying his boots so he wouldn’t get angry about Charlotte wasting their money on something as unnecessary as a dress. 

“Are you mad?” Charlotte asked in her most innocent voice, knowing perfectly well that despite his seemingly calm exterior Nick was fuming. 

“No,” he sighed, “Yes, I am mad! Just,” another sigh and Nick ran his hands through his hair, “Next time I give you money for food please buy food and if you want money for yourself to buy something else then we’ll talk about it.”

“I’m sorry,” Charlotte said, moving to sit down on his lap. Her apology had more than one connotation because on top of feeling guilty for spending the money she also felt guilty that Nick was being such a patient, understanding person and she was lying to him daily. 

“No you’re not,” Nick said stubbornly, “You have what you want and you didn’t even have to work for it, why would you be sorry?”

Charlotte ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, knowing she could win him over if she just kept touching him, “Please don’t be like this.”

“Like what?”

“Like you,” she deadpanned. 

Nick raised an eyebrow to her and shook his head, “It’s true! I know you and you’re not sorry for anything! What I don’t understand is why I work so hard only to come home to a complete mess and dinner not even started? We’ve barely lived here and it’s filthy, how can you stand being here all day in this mess? We rarely have food and when we do it seems like dinner never gets finished until it’s time to sleep and start it all over again. I know you are into this whole female independence thing but you need to cut me some slack here, I can’t do it all. I hate this routine we’re in, I won’t let it continue for the entire year!”

“You know what I hate?” Charlotte asked rhetorically, “That you treat my opinions as if they’re not a worthy cause.” 

Nick laughed and moved his wife off of his lap, standing up to face her, “Are we talking about the things we hate now? Great! You know what I hate? This shit-hole flat! I hate the five flight climb to get up here, I hate the look of it, I hate the smell of it, I hate that we’re pouring our money into it when it could be better spent on a house. I hate it. And in case you didn’t hear me the first time, I hate it.”

Charlotte couldn’t believe her ears, she had never heard Nick spew such venomous words to her, “I hate you!” she yelled, “All we do is fight! Ever since we got married we just fight all the time!”

“Darling,” Nick said sarcastically with a smile, “We fought all the time before we got married.”

Charlotte knew he had her there because he was absolutely right. They had been fighting since the day they met. She couldn’t say anything to defend herself so instead sat perfectly still, bunching fistfuls of her dress in her hands. 

Nick put a hand on either side of her hips and leaned down, almost nose to nose with her, “Now who’s mad? I bet you wish you could leave the room right now but I guess you can’t since we only have one bloody room.”

Charlotte looked straight into his eyes then reached back and slapped Nick hard across the face. His hand immediately went to his cheek, surprised that she would have actually hit him.

Nick grabbed Charlotte by the wrists and pulled her kicking and screaming towards the door. With a firm shove he pushed her out, closing the door behind her. He knew she didn’t have her key and would have to beg him to let her back in, which meant apologizing, which meant he would win. 

Charlotte first tried the door, tears springing to her eyes when she realized that Nick had locked her out. She didn’t know for how long but she knew given how hard headed he was, it could be for a while. She sat down in the hallway facing the door but it was only a few moments before a door swung open and their neighbour came out into the hall and invited her in, having heard everything through the thin walls.

Sue was an elderly lady, a professor at the women’s college nearby, and quite possibly the nicest person Charlotte had ever met. Within moments she found herself sitting in her neighbour’s flat sipping tea, not a word having gone between the two of them yet. 

“You know,” Sue finally spoke with her raspy Scottish accent, “You ought to be more careful.”

“What should I be more careful about?” Charlotte wondered, worried that she was walking into a lecture on being a better wife. 

“Walking around the building in your little get up,” Sue explained, “If too many people see you going into your flat dressed like a man someone is going to tell your husband you have men calling on you during the day. Then he might find his own reasons as to why dinner isn’t on the table.”

Charlotte gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She had never thought of that. Earlier that day she’d rushed home, as Charles, straight to their room without a thought that if someone saw her they wouldn’t recognize her and assume that she was having an affair…with herself. 

“How did you know it was me?” Charlotte questioned.

Sue chuckled, “The walls are very thin, I knew you were alone and the gentleman looked suspiciously feminine. I put two and two together. I’m guessing your husband is unaware of the fact that you’re attending school?”

“Yes, and please, I would really like it to stay that way, I’ve worked really hard for this,” Charlotte pleaded. 

Sue nodded and collected their cups to put in the wash basin, “I’ll make you a deal,” she said, turning back to Charlotte, “You make sure you pass every one of your classes, and keep yourself more hidden, and I’ll make sure dinner is on your table for every night you’re not able to have it ready in time.”

“You would do that for me?” Charlotte asked, her eyes brimming with tears once again. 

“There has been many times where I have wished I did exactly what you’re doing now. So many times I wished I was a man and could have spent my teaching career at that University. If you can do this without anyone finding out you’ll prove that women are just as capable of attending classes as any man. For those reasons I want to help you, and if keeping your husband happy is important to your success then we’ll keep him happy.”

“If he ever lets me back in,” Charlotte sighed.

“I bet if you go knock on the door he’ll let you back in,” Sue chuckled, “He’s probably getting anxious wondering where you’ve run off to.”

Charlotte smiled and brushed her hair back off her shoulders, “You think so?” 

Sue nodded and winked, “I know so.”

Charlotte laughed lightly then gave the older woman a quick hug before leaving and heading to the next door. She knocked quietly and within seconds the door swung open and a no longer angry Nick was standing on the other side looking concerned.

“Where were you? I thought you’d left!” he said, pulling her in quickly. 

“I just went next door and had tea with the neighbour,” Charlotte chuckled, letting Nick pull her into a tight hug. 

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, kissing the top of her head, “I didn’t mean it.”

“I know, and I’m sorry too,” she hugged him back, letting him lead her over to the bed, “for everything,” she added, hoping that would cover a lot of things she had yet to do.