Jennifer actually seemed to be smiling at his consternation. As he goggled, she walked over and joined the two men.
Daniel grinned again. It appeared to be something he did a lot. “Right on cue, fair lady. Couldn’t have timed it better myself.” He motioned to John. “But I thought you said he was supposed to be the smart one. So far he’s barely raised the needle above Neanderthal.”
John wasn’t sure if he should laugh, or get angry. He went for anger; but his confusion at seeing Jennifer took all the sting out of it. “Keep it up, cousin, and I just might kick your arse f’the fun of it.”
Daniel wasn’t put off at all. He turned to Jennifer and grinned, yet again. “See what I mean?”
John decided to just ignore him. He stared at Jennifer instead, still not able to hide his total astonishment.
“Y... yer here; in Malibu, of all places. But ... what are you–?”
“We came together.” Daniel said, cutting him off.
John wasn’t ready for this. He had to fight not to show his disappointment. “Y... You two are … together?”
Jennifer frowned openly at Daniel; then smiled again at John. “That’s just Daniel being cute.”
“That’s me,” Daniel fired back. “Mister Cute.”
“We met in New York,” Jennifer explained.
John was still fighting shock. “But … ah … what are you doing here?”
Jennifer feigned hurt, but could barely keep a straight face. “That’s all you can say? No, ‘nice to see you’? No, ‘would you like to come in’? Not even a hello, even?”
Just like that, John was over his confusion. The shock of the last few minutes faded away, and without another word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her after him, through the open door, inside the house.
Daniel went to follow, but John kicked the door with his foot as they went. It slammed in Daniel’s face, leaving him standing on the porch.
In the hallway, thrown off balance by John’s abrupt, decisive move, Jennifer gasped out: “Wow!” She fought to catch her breath and laughed. “Now that’s more like what I expected.”
“Come on,” John said and went to lead her off down the long hall.
But Jennifer wasn’t lacking in spontaneity, either. A few steps inside the door, she grabbed his arm, stopped him where he was and turned him to her.
The kiss was a mutual decision. It was long. It was passionate. Without words it spoke of the caring, the missing and the joy of being together again.
Left outside, Daniel called out. “Hey! No fair!”
Inside, Jennifer and John were still kissing.
Daniel called out, feigning hurt. “Come on you guys. This ain’t funny.” There was no immediate answer, so he added. “Okay, John. Okay. So, I might have been a little off about the Neanderthal thing.”
Jennifer and John finally broke from the kiss, both smiling from ear to ear.
“You probably should let him in,” she said, a little breathless.
“Do I have to?”
Jennifer laughed out loud. “Crazy as it seems ... you two are destined to be good friends.”
John was about to argue that point, but she quickly cut him off. “And, anyway, we’ll have plenty of time to be ... together … later.
She blushed briefly.
Daniel thumped on the door and squawked like a spoilt child. “Hey! This ain’t right, here.”
“Seriously,” Jennifer said. “We might need him.”
John was still somewhat flustered. He hadn’t expected any of this, and especially not kisses like the ones they just shared.
“Oh, all right! But I’m not sure I could ever need him.”
He opened the door and Daniel strode in. Without missing a step, he hurried past them, off down the hall. As he went he looked about, checking the place out. “Nice house.”
John called after him, though he wasn’t exactly sure why. “I rented it from a friend for a few months to work on my new book.”
Daniel stopped, the grin gone, and placed a hand, palm forward, against the stucco wall. He held it there and for a brief moment it became almost a caress.
It happened so quickly John never got the chance to comment before Daniel pulled back his hand, pivoted to his right and took off again down the hall. As he did he said: “You’re thinking of buying it though, eh?” He threw it off, like some casual observation, but it was a statement, not a question.
This caught John totally off guard. He was actually considering buying the place, but he hadn’t told anybody but the owner, yet. Daniel’s smugness irked him, not to mention the fact that he was right. He was annoyed that this stranger could know what he was thinking. He snapped back: “That’s none of your business.”
“Maybe not,” Daniel agreed. Still, he smiled as he called back. “But I’m right ... right?”
John turned to Jennifer. “Who is this guy, anyway? And what are you doing here?”
“It’s kind of complicated.” Jennifer said, and then pointed at his hair, doing her best to change the subject. “I like what you’ve done with your hair.”
John touched the silver-white streak, self-consciously. He wasn’t sure what to say.
Daniel abruptly disappeared into the living room. A beat later, he called to them. “Wow! That’s some painting.”
“Come on.” John hurried Jennifer down the hall. As they went he called to Daniel, still a little pissed-off by this stranger’s seeming cavalier attitude to everything. “Listen mate. I let ya in, but I didn’t give ya the run of the place. Don’t push yer luck.”
The living room was spacious, but not overly huge. The furnishings were expensive, but tasteful. Two lounges and a pair of padded armchairs circled a teakwood center table with inlaid marble top. The standing lamps were tall, elegant and situated in such a way that their light would suffice, and the room would not need any other kind of lighting. All in all it was comfortably unique.
But without a doubt the most unique item in the room was the painting. It hung on the wall above the largest couch, its placing strategically perfect. It was impossible not to have ones eye drawn straight to it as you entered. And one look was all it took. From then on it was hard not to keep staring at it again and again for the entire time you were in the room.
Jennifer and John entered the living room to find Daniel standing in front of the painting, staring intently at it.
“Oh, my,” Jennifer exclaimed as they moved across the room and stood next to Daniel.
Daniel, meanwhile, was transfixed. This bizarre piece of art had done something few humans could ever do. It had struck him dumb. He was literally speechless.
John had stared at the piece many times himself. He’d often spent an afternoon sitting in the chair across from it cataloging every small detail in his mind. And yet, each time he came into the room it had the same eerie and somehow wondrous effect on him. If he’d had to put it into words – something not easy to do – he would say that looking at it made you feel ageless, timeless, and totally at peace with yourself.
Jennifer was also taken aback by the painting. She stared at it, not taking her eyes away as she talked to John. “Daniel may be a bit irritating, sometimes, but he’s right about the painting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before. Where did it come from?”
For some reason he didn’t quite understand, John was uneasy talking about that point. He hesitated, and then stumbled over his response. “Ah … It … ah … it was given to me in Australia. It ... it …reminded me of a ... a ... couple of those dream things I had in London.”
Daniel now finally turned from the painting. He and Jennifer exchanged a brief, but meaningful glance; then he looked at John with a questioning stare. And just like that, the usual fast talking, wise-cracking Daniel was back. “Sounds more like some kind of precognition than a dream, John. Wouldn’t you say?”
He flashed a cheeky grin at John. His eyes twinkled. Then he smiled and headed off out of the living room, back into the ha
ll.
John was blown-away. “That’s what the reverend said,” he mumbled to himself. “But how could he know...?”
Jennifer had been so entranced by the aboriginal scene that she’d missed the exchange between John and Daniel. She finally turned her attention back to John and immediately realized he was bothered by something, off somewhere, deep in thought. Worried, she called him back. “John! Are you okay?”
“Ah … yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about all that’s happened since we met.”
Jennifer realized this was not the time for this, so she slipped her arm into his and nudged him towards the door. “Plenty of time for that, later. Come on. Show me the rest of the place.”
The two of them left the living room arm in arm.
“I just can’t get over you being here.” John said as they headed down the hall towards his office. “I wanted to come back to see you, but you said...” He shrugged, uneasy about remembering their experiences in London. “… you know.” He left the words hanging.
“I know.”
“I was hoping you might…” He hesitated. “Ah, call me, or something. I didn’t have yer number. Tried to get it a couple a times before I left, but nobody at the University seemed to have it,” He hesitated again. “At least they wouldn’t give it to me. I was … I was beginning to wonder if maybe I’d imagined it all, y’know?”
She tried not to look at him, not wanting him to see the tears she was suddenly having to fight back. “I wanted to call, or even come and see you. I really did. And I can’t exactly explain why I didn’t.” She pushed the tears away, a small pleading in her next words. “I asked you to trust me once and you did. So, I hope you’ll believe me when I say it had to be like this.”
She looked at him as they entered his office. Her resolve was firm again; there was no hint of tears now.
Daniel stood at the French Doors, staring out at the ocean. He didn’t look back or see their reflection in the windows, but he called to them anyway. “Quite a pad you have here, John. This book writing must pay pretty well.”
John was so intent on his conversation with Jennifer that Daniel’s words didn’t even register. “Can you tell me anything?”
“Things have been even crazier since we ... ah ... since we met ... in London,” Jennifer said, finally deciding it was time to bring John up to speed.
But Daniel wheeled away from the window, a wide grin on his face. “Cute! Is that what they’re calling it now?”
John realized Daniel was talking about his experiences with Jennifer in London. This threw him for a loop. “How do you know about that...?” he shot a glare of disbelief at Jennifer. “Jen! You told him?!”
“Of course not!” She was shocked he might even think she would do that. “It’s a gift he has.”
“Some might say it’s a curse,” Daniel cut in; and he was only partly joking.
“I don’t ... understand.” John couldn’t hide his confusion.
Jennifer pointed at the FedEx box he was still carrying. “I think you better open that. It’ll explain a lot.”
“The explanation is in this box?” John tried to keep the skepticism he was feeling out of his voice. “How can… Look, I don’t mean to sound…” He hesitated twice, and then decided on a different approach. “Yer kidding, right?”
Jennifer and Daniel stood looking at him. There was no hint of humor in either of their expressions. Neither of them spoke. Instead, they waited.
I don’t know if this is some kinda sick joke or not, he thought, but I guess the only way to find out… He didn’t need to finish the thought.
He sat the FedEx box on the table and checked the original tape-seals; they were untouched. He picked up a knife he used as a letter opener, slashed open the top of the box, and folded back the flaps. Then he reached into the box and lifted out a large bundle of letters held together by a thick, oversized rubber band. The envelopes appeared to be in varying sizes and shapes, some with handwritten addresses, others typewritten. A number of them had weird doodling generally on the front near his name: badly drawn images of gargoyles, demons and even one or two angels. There was one large, bulky brown package at the bottom of the box. A single sheet of paper with the publisher’s letterhead had been placed in the box, on top of its other contents. It was a form letter and explained that these were letters sent by the book-buying public and were addressed to the author. It stated that it was their policy to forward such mail to their authors, so that the author could read them should he or she wish. It was entirely the author’s choice, it finished off, whether to respond to them or not.
John flicked through the more normal-sized envelopes until he found one from a Mrs. Gwen Haudel, in Massachusetts. He didn’t bother to open it. Instead he checked the return address on the brown package. The name above the street address was simply, The Devlin Family.
John stood at the desk for a long few minutes, trying to get a handle on what this meant.
Finally, he turned to Jennifer. “How did he know what was in here?”
“Like I said, it’s a gift.” She didn’t try to make it sound glamorous or even spectacular. It was just a fact as far as she was concerned. “If he can touch it, it’s like an open book to him.”
Daniel frowned, remembering his earlier handshake with John. “Not everything,” he said to Jennifer. “Or, at least not everyone. You were right; I got nothing from him when we shook hands.” He seemed surprised by that, too. “Never happened before.”
John looked closely at his own hands, front and back, not understanding, and then looked at Jennifer, confused. He wanted to ask a million questions, wanted to tell her he was glad she was here, wanted to get past all this and be alone with her. But his intuition – the same sense some believed was a form of psychic ability – told him they’d come here for an important reason.
It was time to find out what that was.
“Look, I’m really glad you’re here,” he told Jennifer. He motioned to Daniel: “You, I’m not so sure.” He quickly returned his attention to Jennifer. “And I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.” He hesitated again, trying to decide the best way to say what he wanted to tell her. “But–”
“It’s all right, John,” she said, trying to put him at ease. “I know you’re glad to see me.”
John let go a breath he’d been holding in. “I am. But I can’t help feeling you didn’t come all this way just to see me.”
Daniel’s grin was back. “Maybe he’s got more going on than I thought.”
John walked away from the desk and stood next to Jennifer; looked her squarely in the eyes. “Jen! What is it?”
“It’s the Reverend, John.”
John was yet again caught by surprise. “You know the Reverend Medhurst?”
“Jennifer and I have helped him with a couple of ... problems he needed help on,” Daniel stated.
John frowned, not sure what to think. “What do you mean ‘problems?’”
Jennifer abruptly cut off that line of questioning; there was no time for it. “John he’s in serious trouble. He’s been in hospital for over two weeks.”
“What! What happened?”
“Apparently he’s had a problem with his liver for ages, but refused to get help. Over time it seriously weakened his entire system. He’s a cantankerous old badger; but he’s no spring chicken. The doctors are really concerned.”
“I should go there.” John stopped, abruptly remembering. “But you both told me it wasn’t safe.”
“Actually, he called me in New York; said it was urgent that he see you right away.” She slipped her arm through his again. “I took the liberty of booking us on a flight, tomorrow. It’s non-stop from Los Angeles, over the pole. We can be there in eleven hours.”
“You were pretty sure I’d come, then?”
“Was I wrong?”
John finally smiled. “I keep a bag packed and ready these days. Never know when I might be asked to do an interview, or book sign
ing … or something.”
“Good!” Jennifer visibly relaxed. “So maybe we can ... ah ... spend some quality time together, before we have to leave.”
“So that’s what they’re calling it, these days,” Daniel quipped.
“Oh, shut up, you.”
Jennifer’s light-hearted chastisement had no sting to it. She squeezed John’s arm tightly, obviously glad things were finally settled.
He decided it was time for them to be alone again, and nodded towards the French Doors. “Let me show you the view.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Jennifer answered, her tone light and frothy.
They’d virtually ignored Daniel, so he chirped in. “Well, yes. Now that you ask, I would love to see the view.”
Without even looking in his direction, Jennifer and John left through the French Doors, walking out onto the lawn. When Daniel tried to follow, John again slammed the door in his face.
“Hey!” Daniel was not thrilled by this. “What happened to all for one and one for all–”
Outside the doors John and Jennifer quickly turned to face each other. Not caring whether Daniel was watching, or not, they again locked in a passionate kiss.
Daniel grinned, watching them for a short while. “So, I guess there’s going to be some times when that won’t be the case.” He said only to himself. “Okay, I can live with that.”
He turned away to give them some privacy, humming to himself for a few seconds. Then he glanced over his shoulder.
They were still at it.
He checked a couple of more times, but they didn’t appear ready to quit yet. He finally shrugged and strolled around the office, checking it out, touching – and feeling – some remarkable things.
He was standing by the bookcase, analyzing John’s reading habits, when he noticed The Journal on the desk. He glanced through the windows of the French Doors, trying not to look too obvious. John and Jennifer were so into each other they weren’t about to see anything he was doing, so he quickly moved to the desk and reached a hand towards the book.
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