Damien was not totally convinced of Eugenia’s new identity and wanted things to take on a formal look. That meant changing some information in the national data records, a task that was littered with obstacles if done in the legal way. He never had a thing for legal things, so he decided to take the illegal route. He had the necessary contacts in the industry and got in touch with his friend with Paul who, luckily for them, was in Reno on some important “business.” There was nothing in the world that Gertrude Manse could not hack into and the National Archives and Records Administration website was no exception. He made his way into the system and created a new profile in the name of Alicia Garvin, formerly Alicia Hoffmann. Damien thanked him for his services and paid him off. Their next plan was to move to and settle in California. Alicia could feel her dream life slowly starting to take shape.
They selected Los Angeles as their preferred city to start life in. Once there, the couple rent an apartment in an upscale neighborhood. A good sum of the two million dollars was still left so they did not feel the need to worry about money right away. Alicia felt that she had had enough excitement over the past three years. It was time to get busy with her career and dream. She hunted around for a job as a pianist in the many bars and lounges of Los Angeles, and landed herself offers from four different places. This, she realized, would mean having to commit every evening of the week to work. However, Alicia did not mind and was thrilled at the prospect of being able to make money all on her own. She did not make much and the atmosphere was pretty appalling. Her audience mostly comprised rich, drunken men who did not care a drop for her music as much as they cared for their drinks. However, nothing of this ever seemed to bother her. She was happy with the fact that she was earning but what pleased her most was that she was getting a chance to the play the piano after so long. The auditions for admission to Julliard were not far away and she needed all the practice that she could possibly get before the big day. There was no piano yet in her apartment and she was saving her earnings to pay for the purchase of one. Till then, she would just have to make do with what her workplace had to offer. Alicia would also spend her time at home studying music. Her ambition was to make it big in life and studying music at the premium institute would help her unconditionally. She did not want anything to come in the way of her dreams.
V
Two years had passed since that day in Reno when Eugenia Valier became Alicia Garvin. While the couple had lived happily through the first few months of marriage their relationship soon soured as things took a turn for the worse. Whereas Alicia would go about her job of a pianist, Damien had found himself a new companion – drinks! He would remain immersed in alcohol through the day and it was not often that his wife saw him in a sober mood. As for the two million dollars, every last penny of that amount had been exhausted long back. Alicia’s expensive clothes had become old with regular use though her jewelry was still safely stored. Damien, on the other hand, had lost possession of his two luxury cars. His Lincoln MXZ had been seized by the police after he was caught speeding along the boulevard in an inebriated condition. It had found a new home in the city car pound and if Damien did not pay a hefty fine for his offence, would be auctioned off. The cops did not want to send such a grand vehicle to the scrap yard. As for the Cadillac, he had exchanged it for a couple of bottles of the finest Malibu Rum! Being broke and drunk seemed to be his new favored way of survival in life. Every night while Alicia tried to concentrate on her studies, Damien would drink and create a racket at home. Very often he would shout at her without any reason and physically abuse her before he would get too drunk to carry on and eventually fall asleep.
Alicia found it difficult to put up with Damien’s behavior. Her job in the multiple lounges and bars was also proving to be hectic. Often, schedules would clash and she would miss out on performances, thus having to settle for a pay cut. Besides, no big names were ever likely to visit the places where she played so her chances of recognition were slim in such an environment. She craved a change and soon took up a job at an upscale bar restaurant in Malibu, the affluent town in Greater Los Angeles. If ever there was a chance of some hotshot from Hollywood noticing her, this would be the place.
Life back home became increasingly difficult for Alicia. Damien kept drifting in and out of his drunken and abusive moods. His impatience with her was starting to tell and he often complained about Alicia not making full use of her talents. He kept on insisting that she should think about getting on to the big stage and becoming a star. When sober, Damien would take it upon himself to support Alicia and help her attain the stardom that she was destined for. However, this was not the kind of support his young wife needed. She wanted someone to motivate her and make her believe in herself even more, not someone to shower her with criticism and pass offensive comments on her looks and disability. He did have a point but, as a husband, Damien should have known better and kept these views to himself. After all there was very little the poor girl could be possibly blamed for. She had done, or at least tried to do everything possible to hide her disability but her limp had not healed completely. Moreover, the sudden change in life had thrown her previous schedule out of gear. Alicia had not undergone a physiotherapy session for years, and her exercise regime had been completely forgotten. As a result, she had started putting on a considerable amount of weight. The pressure of her grueling schedule was also starting to tell and her good looks were slowly deserting her.
Chapter 2
I
Alicia could never have imagined that her perfect life would one day take such a dramatic turn towards the worse. Her dream of being a star pianist in the United States was all but over. The thought of appearing for the audition at Julliard had long been crossed out of her mind. Her priorities were placed more on eking out a basic survival as everything else took a backseat in life. She had been forced to sell off every last bit of her expensive jewelry and had earned a substantial sum out of it. This and the meager salary she earned out of her job as a pianist in Malibu was just about enough to keep them going in life. The crowd at her new place of work was better than what she had experienced previously in Los Angeles and they paid attention to what she played. Her performances would be met regularly with a round of applause and often, a tip or two from the visiting customers would come along her way. However, these financial means were just enough to help her make ends meet.
It was not long before Alicia started regretting her actions. She should not have given in to Damien and agreed to her kidnapping. She began to realize the true concern that Ariadne and Lucien had shown when she would come home late at night. “This is every bit my fault,” she would often lament to herself. “Had I not been stupid my life would have been on track. I would have been happy.” Alicia’s quest for short-term happiness was now giving her long-term pain and she realized there were more bad moments in store for her in life. Often, when she was alone at home she would weep. Thinking about the pain and sorrow she had caused her parents grieved her more and she longed to go back home to Phoenix. However, she knew that she had burnt the bridges with her father after her unforgiving actions all those years back. For the first time in life, Alicia started feeling ashamed for her own actions. She could not even bring herself around to giving him a call, fearing that Lucien would embarrass her and pile on the misery even further.
As for Damien, he turned out to be more useless than Alicia could have ever imagined. She had learnt later that he was no small-time business but used to be a petty thief. She felt betrayed, confused and angry but had no chance of escaping the devil’s clutches. Where could she possibly go? Besides, she did not have the financial prowess or mental strength yet to stay all by herself. For all his faults and acts, Alicia still felt safe at home when Damien was around though it was a nightmare she wanted to see the end of real soon.
Finding a job was nowhere on the priority list for Damien. Sleep and alcohol were his friends and he took good care of both. The couple had long given up their plu
sh apartment and settled for a modest place in one of the cheaper neighborhoods in Los Angeles. In fact, the place was just a shade better than shabby. Alicia’s meager earnings and Damien’s insatiable quench for the finest booze meant that paying the rent for such a luxuriant place was no longer a possibility. The only time Damien would step out of home would be to buy his daily quota of alcohol. The neighbors never saw much of him and when they did, no one ever took much notice of him. His reputation as a drunkard had settled firmly in their minds. Damien had also realized that he was not qualified enough to land a high-profile job. He had barely managed to get through school and did not possess the fancy degrees that all big jobs demanded. As for the skills to do any other odd job, he found himself lacking on those fronts as well. The world had progressed while he made merry with the two million dollars and now he was labeled as old-school wherever he went, not that he tried for a job in too many places! Upon Alicia’s insistence, he had taken up the job of a bartender at the very place where she worked. However, he did not last long – he would often turn up drunk at work and patrons would complain about the way he misbehaved with them. The manager also suspected that he was stealing liquor from the bar and had warned him on many an occasion. Things reached its head the day Damien assaulted a customer in an inebriated state and threatened to rape his wife. He was immediately fired and sent packing.
That night, Damien returned home steeped in alcohol and slept till late the next afternoon. When he woke up, he was sober enough to realize that the world did not have a job for him. He took out a bottle of vodka from the kitchen and once again drank himself to sleep. He had found the love of his life, alcohol would never demand of him to go out and find a stable job!
II
From her place at the piano, Alicia would notice the bunch of young couples who frequented the bar. She would look at the young girls who were roughly her age and wonder how different her life could have been. All of them seemed so happy and content, giggling and laughing with their friends or better halves while there she was a twenty year old girl, fighting a lone battle to save her once-happy marriage from falling to pieces. She could tell that all of them were from cultured families for they would listen to her music whenever Alicia played and also applaud her each time she performed.
Alicia was tired of her life. She felt like an animal trapped in a cage, looking for some desperate way to escape. Her life had come down to a merry-go-round of work in the day and abuse at night, and she was an unhappy child going round and round on the supposed joyride. She dreaded the moment when her duty gave over and she had to return home. Damien’s drunken tantrums had become unbearable to say the least. Every time he drank, he lost control over what he said or did. He had started getting so drunk that there were days when he would simply pass out in the bar or slump in the couch as soon as he returned home. On other days, he would be sober enough to drag himself to bed and doze off. Alicia would prefer not having him anywhere around, least of all in bed. The stench of alcohol emanating from his body put her off. On days when he slept in the bed, Alicia would switch to sleeping on the couch.
Their new apartment was too small even for the two of them. Besides, it was totally unkempt and hardly ever cleaned. Everywhere one could find beer cans and vodka bottles lying around while the air smelt strongly of cheap alcohol. Alicia considered it to be a blessing that Damien had not taken to smoking else the apartment would have come to resemble a smoke chamber.
Their financial conditions worsened by the day. She had the responsibility of two lives on her frail, young shoulders and felt unusually burdened by it. Damien was happy as long as she gave him enough money to buy his bottles of beer and vodka. She did not dare say “no” to him for fear of being tortured. Whatever she was left with would go into buying food to feed her. Alicia also had to keep a box of contraceptives handy to avoid unplanned pregnancy. It was not as if the couple had sex on a regular basis and she was more than happy with that. She no longer enjoyed making love to Damien for he had become extremely rough ever since drinking had taken center-stage in his life. Besides, he would usually return home too drunk at night and not be in any position to take her. However, on those rare occasions when he returned home with some sense left in him, he would simply grab hold of Alicia and force himself upon her. He considered himself to be fulfilling one of his biggest responsibilities towards Alicia as a husband. She felt she would have been better off without having Damien fulfilling his misplaced responsibilities but never dared to say so to him. He never had a thing for wearing condoms which he felt were a disgrace to his manhood and loved doing it without any sort of protection. Alicia decided to make the most of the precautionary means at her disposal, hence the practice of staying on pills. They cost a good sum of money but she considered it to be a negligible price to pay against having to bear the child of that horrible beast inside her. However one month, after Damien had received his share of money for buying his liquor supplies and Alicia had bought some ration for herself, she realized that she would no longer be able to afford her supply of pills. She decided to leave everything to chance, keep her fingers crossed, and moved on with life.
III
Damien’s drunken aberrations started getting worse with every passing day. It reached a point where Alicia felt like she could take it no more. She started thinking of a way out and presently hit upon a plan.
That evening, after she had finished her performance Alicia went up to meet the bar owner in his office. He was a heavy-set, middle-aged man with graying hair and a thick bearded face. His name was Robert Johnson and he was an easy going person. Alicia trusted him and knew he would be able to assist her in her dire moment.
“Sir, may I come in,” she knocked at his door. Robert was busy reading something. He looked up with an irritated look on his face but when he saw her, his expression changed to a more comforting one.
“Oh yes Alicia, please come in. Have a seat,” he said and got up from his chair. “Tell me, what do you need?”
Alicia sat down across the table. She felt a little hesitant to open up and speak about her troubles. All of a sudden, her confidence seemed to desert her. Robert observed her uneasiness and said in a comforting voice, “Listen child, if there’s something troubling you get it off your chest. I am here to help you in every way possible!”
This gave Alicia a little confidence. She asked for a glass of water. Robert handed her a glass. After having a drink, she started speaking. Alicia explained how she was finding it difficult to get along with Damien at home and how his constant drunken tantrums were affecting her both physically and mentally. Robert listened to her patiently and when she had finished he asked her, “So what do you intend to do now?”
“Please sir, could you allow me to take shelter in one of the rooms at the bar? It can be anywhere on the premises, I will make do with a small amount of space. But I don’t want to return to that hell hole of an apartment I presently live in. It’s a nightmare I want to see the end of!”
Robert considered her plea for a moment. He had received such a request before and ironically it was from the pianist whom he had employed before Alicia. For a moment he wanted to turn her down. Next moment, though, he reconsidered. Alicia was the best pianist he had ever had playing in his bar restaurant and he did not want to lose her services so easily. Besides, ever since she had started working in the bar there had been a slight upturn in revenues and, though the factors probably lay elsewhere, he was happy to think that his star pianist was the key.
“How long do you intend to stay holed up in this place?” he asked.
Alicia had expected this question and knew what to say. “Not for long, sir. As soon as I have enough money to pay for a one-star hotel room somewhere I will move out. I have already started saving my tips and wages so that should not take long.”
“That’s all very good but I need a fixed time period.”
Alicia thought for some time. She had no idea how much a one-star hotel room in the area cost
but she realized it would not come cheap. Seeing that she was not sure of an answer, Robert said, “Alright, I give you a month’s time. There is an old store room towards the rear of the building. It is not in much use these days. You can use it as your own place for the time being. Drop by my office tomorrow when you report to work and I will hand you the keys.”
Alicia felt a wave of relief sweep over her. “Thank you so much sir!” she said, tears of joy streaming down her eyes. “I will come to see you tomorrow then. Good night!” and saying so she left
She returned home to find the front door to her apartment locked. Great, she thought, as that was an indication Damien was away in his drinking hole. It was already close to midnight and judging by his nocturnal habits, Alicia realized he was not due back home until next afternoon. By that time, she could have all her belongings packed up and head over to the bar. She entered the apartment and got busy sorting her things. She decided to take along all her stuff because there was no saying when something or the other would come in handy. Alicia packed all her belongings into two large suitcases and had them ready by her bedside. Then she went to sleep one last time in that sordid old apartment. Her next journey to dreamland would begin from the store room inside the bar, a place she had been given the right to call as her own!
When Alicia woke up the next morning, it was just after nine o’clock. She was surprised but pleased at how peacefully she had slept through the night. Getting out of bed, she peeped into the drawing room. It was empty and the front door was shut just as she had left it. She was relieved to note that Damien had not returned yet. Alicia cooked herself some breakfast, finished some last bits of packing and by lunchtime was out of her “home” one last time as she headed to work.
The Love I Found: Contemporary Romance Mystery (Ariadne Silver Romance Mystery #3) Page 2
