CHAPTER TWO
"Keep her safe… We need her to be safe"
Branches break as we run past, rain falling heavily as thunder strikes. It was a dark night.
"Anne they are right behind us" Someone shouts.
Water streams down our faces and I am not sure if it is the rain or tears.
"Where are we going?" a child asks.
The woman smiles "On an adventure"
*****
I wake up screaming as always. The past six months have heralded these dreams. There is no trigger; I just have them almost every night nowadays. There was no beginning to this. They just started one day and now I cannot seem to shake them.
What they mean, I have no idea but each time I have it I am thrust back, I feel the fear of that moment, the tension, the need to escape from whoever it is that is chasing after us. And I wake up with the same questions; why? Who are they? Nothing ever changes. Sometimes I try to focus hard to see if I can recall the faces of these people or at least make them less blurry in the dream. But they are like phantoms, I cannot get a clear vision of them. It ends up leaving me angry and frustrated.
I go into the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water. It sat there staring at me while I stare into space. I a hugely worried that Dominick might actually relieve me from my work. That would not be good as that is the one thing keeping me stable and sane. But maybe i worry a lot about unnecessary things. This happens to be the weekend. On Monday, when I go in as usual for my shift I will take whatever that comes as is.
I go back to bed hoping I can sleep some more without any disturbing dream. I do not need to get up early tomorrow; I plan to sleep in late and then visit the beach later in the day. From there I have no plans. Except dinking glass after glass of wine of course.
*****
DOMINICK…
I see her earlier today and I just knew she is the one; the one we have all been searching for. I know it as surely as I know my own name. But I could also feel some barriers in her. She does not recognise me, she does not see kindred spirit and it leads me to wonder if she knows who I am, or more importantly who she is. I should call everyone and tell them I have found the proposed Messiah, in the form of a female. But no, I will observe for a little while first. No point in scaring her off if she does not know anything.
I wonder though, if I can sense this off her right away, why hasn't Alex, Angela or even Diana sensed it? They have been around her constantly. I know the answer lurks somewhere in the fact that I am an empathetic and they are not. Oh well. This trip back here is really going to be interesting; I guarantee that.
I go into my inner chambers and start my spells. I cast a looking spell into her house to see what she was doing. I know it is invasion of privacy but I cannot help it. There is this need to look after her, to always know where she is. With sensing what she is comes with the responsibility of being there for her even if it means invading her space.
I see her in the kitchen staring into space with a glass of water by her. I wonder what could have captured her focus so wholly. She pours the water and goes to bed and I cannot follow in there so I let it go. I can feel other eyes watching her. I know that once one person begins sensing her, it will not take too long and everyone will, including the "HUNTERS" I shudder. That is a group you do not want to get mixed up with; power hungry insatiable and greedy. They will come fast and hard.
*****
MAE…
I am lying flat on my belly reading a crime novel, nit interested in whatever is going on around me. I know already I am not the type of girl any man would want, especially not someone you would want to meet at the beach. I only come here for the sun, fresh air and the tropical coconut drink they serve. Not only do I look older than my age, as Dominick Rashford said yesterday – I am still pissed about that – but I have a nondescript appearance. My brown hair was too dark, almost a brunette, my eyes were the standard brown and my height too was standard. There is nothing unique about me. Except my voice which is lovely when I sing. But, I rarely get the opportunity to do so. This is why I am still single, lonely and depressed.
I read my novel because there is nothing else interesting to do by the beach except to painfully watch other couples being romantic, or watch other girls being sexy and getting laid. I have had my fill of that thank you very much.
"Excuse me."
I look up and see this gorgeous man. I keeping staring till I am frothing at the mouth.
He chuckles. "If you keep staring I'm afraid my ego will keep inflating."
I huff. "Yeah right like it needs any more pumping."
He smiled. "My name is Nathan."
"Nice to meet you Nathan. I'm Mae." I reply.
"Is that with 'y' or 'e'?" he asked.
I laugh. I get this question a lot. "With 'e'"
"I hope you don't mind." He says while sitting.
"You are already sitting." I shrug.
He picks up my book. "Nora Roberts. Oh... I like her."
I smile. "Me too. She has this spunk as a writer. I enjoy her books."
"In as much as we both like her, which is something interesting on its own, I did not come here for that" he said, looking at me intensely.
"So why"
"Would you have dinner with me? I noticed you when you arrived and you have been cooped up here alone."
I am mad with rage. "So you came all the way here because you feel bad for me. And you thought that poor, lonely old me would jump at the opportunity to have a pity dinner with you. Well no. that's my answer. You can leave now."
He just laughs. "Isn't this fun. I thought only red heads were capable of this volume of anger. I see even brunettes are too."
"My hair is dark brown." I manage to say through my clenched teeth.
"Honey dark brown is called brunette. You might need to consult your dictionary."
I cannot deal with a pompous person. Telling me my own hair colour? Really? Wow. I get up and started leaving.
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I did not mean any harm." He says. "I did not also come here because I thought you were pitiable or lonely or old might I add. I came here because you have had your butt up the entire time and while they are a nice pair of butt, I wanted to see the face in front of the butt."
"Well you've seen it. Good by sir." I bury my head back into my novel.
He smiles. "I asked you to dinner after I saw your face because I found it a pretty face to look at and after I saw your novel, I found you quite interesting. There is no harm in just dinner Mae. Live a little." There is a little pause.
I look up finally. "I will meet you at the Bleu Canal at 8pm prompt." I responded. "If you are even a minute late, I'm gone."
He laughs so loud everyone nearby turns to stare. "Yes ma'am. This should be fun."
He leaves and I continue my novel. But, I keep looking at him from time to time, subconsciously taking note of who he speaks to and how. In my defence I will like to know if he is a serial womanizer. A part of me wishes he would come back. I like sparing with him.
After I while I do not see him again and I wait for thirty minutes. When I still do not see him I conclude he is gone. I make myself get up and go home. I, after all, have a dinner to prepare for.
In the life of any normal girl she has something as important as a dinner date to go for with a new hot and gorgeous guy like this, she either calls her best friend to help her select something appropriate or she goes shopping. But, she never has anything in her whole closet to wear. I fall in the latter category. On reaching home, I go into my closet and find I have nothing to wear; it is months since I go out on a date. I grab my keys and go out again. I have barely three hours to shop, go back home, soak in a bath and get ready. Did I forget be there on time too?
I see this beautiful red strapless long evening gown in the very first shop I walk into and I just know right away that is the dress I will buy – except the price mess me up; fingers crossed. The shop attendant assigned to me tries to get me to try on other dresses but I only have eyes for that red dress. It is everything I want; simple but yet classy and chic. It screams sexy but in a cool away. It is also a chiffon lace material and I am just in love. I do not think any other dress will compare to it not to talk of beating it. I grab it immediately and go into the dressing room to try it on. I am nearly in tears. It fits my body as if it is made just for me. Everyone keeps staring when I come out and I hear a lot of 'oohhs' and 'ahhs.' I take it off and go to the counter. The price is stunningly cheap. I quickly grab it before they change their minds.
I walk down a few more blocks to a jewellery shop and I get my accessories. Then it's crunch time. I am down to the wire. I rush home. no time to have a long soak bath so I just jump into the shower.
I am ready by 7:30pm. Perhaps in any other city this is early, but here in the City of Angels, I am very late. The traffic alone is daunting enough and because I do not have a car, I have to hail a cab. I do that and we join the long traffic cue. This time of the day, people are coming home, some are going to work now, it is a shift and so the traffic is maddening; except you have lived long enough in Los Angeles to know all the ins and out, the back alleys and shortcuts. Luckily, I am in this category so I become a car director and I enter the Bleu Canal at exactly 8pm.
I see him standing off to a corner with a smile on his face having spotted me entering. He checks his watch and nods his head. I am exactly on time. I go to meet him and we choose a table and sit down.
He looks the same as he did this afternoon; gorgeous. His blond hair is brushed back, with a few stubborn strands falling to the side. His shirt is open at the top and I can see he is clean shaven. That is always a nice thing. H could have been the classic blond, blue-eyed American, but his eyes are grey, still gorgeous if you ask me.
He is more polite now and looks more formal, but everything else is the same. He seems to have a good sense of style though, judging by what I saw in the afternoon and what I see right now. I look around and notice quite a number of girls there checking him out and I feel proud. In my mind I am doing my victory dance and I am like "He's mine people, ha!" but on the outside, I am cool and contained.
I love the Bleu Canal because there is no formality and it is inexpensive in case we have to split the bill. I still want to be able to board a bus to work tomorrow.
"Hi." He started when we seat. "You look lovely."
I blush. It is not everyday someone like me hears that. "Thank you."
*****
NATHAN…
She looks incredibly good in that outfit. I cannot believe I struck gold at the beach. The red, together with the dim lights in the restaurant does something to her skin which brings her alive in a way I have not seen anywhere. The lights also brings out the brown hues in her hair, accentuating it.
She is not a classic beauty, that is true, but under the right lights and in the right dress, you can almost fall in love with her. Plus her jokes, and her laugh, makes me want to keep being funny so I can keep hearing that shrill laugh that seems like it starts deep in her belly and just bubbles up and then pours out from her mouth. I watch her give her order to the waitress who finally came over.
"… I would also like a hamburger, big, fries too, a coke and uhm, salads. The burger should have everything on it, "she laughs. "Don't hold back. Thank you." She turns to me. "Why are you staring? You should order."
I shake my head. She really also has a big belly if she can stuff all that in. "I would like a steak please, medium rare and some fries. Thank you."
The bored waitress left. Who knows how long it will take for our orders to get back to us. Oh well!
*****
MAE…
"Now that the orders are out of the way, what do you do for a living?"
He laughs loud. "You are ot subtle are you? You could not even build up to it could you?"
I shrug. "I have always been told I am too blunt. Not my fault I go straight to the point."
"Well, I am an estate manager. I get tenants for landlords and I manage any complaints given by either sides."
"Sounds fancy."
"What do you do?" he asks.
"Nothing as fancy that's for sure." I mutter. Out loud I say "Receptionist at the Grace Manor."
"Nice. You get to lodge rich people every day." He takes a sip of water.
"You could say that." I respond. "Or you could say I get to baby sit rich spoilt people every day and smile through it all when what I wanna do is stick them with my pen and tell them to get lost."
This got him cracking and laughing till tears rolled down. "Remind me never to get you angry in future."
In future. My inner me does a little dance. He is thinking of future. Well, well, well, this is going better than I thought. "You've already done that once remember?"
"Oh yeah at the beach. Lesson learnt. Never doing that again. I feel like I should take out a piece of paper and pen and write all these down." He mocks.
"Shut up. I didn't even get serious."
He smiles now. "I would like to see you serious Mae. I would love to get to know you more."
I blush again.