The Pearls

by Michelle Farrell

  Walking into the diner she stops frozen in her tracks, she looks around and makes eye contact with Violet colored eyes with flecks of pearl, just likes hers. She is slammed with familiarity, the need to run as fast as she can away from here pumping through her veins, there is also a pull to him that is so strong, and she doesn’t know what to do. These eyes belong to a man with chestnut brown hair, the most beautiful face she has ever seen on a man, and from what she can see, since he is sitting at a booth, a muscular built chest. This man smiles at her and that smile almost makes her knees give out. She has never felt this way, this instant need to talk to someone, the pull is confusing her the more she stares into those eyes. Suddenly her view is cut off and someone was in front of her, she wants to shove them away, so she could stare at those violet eyes.

  “Hello? Earth to Zoe, you ok?” Justine was standing there with a confused look on her face.

  “Uh yes, who is that?” She asked nodding, but not looking at the stranger with the eyes.

  “I don’t know he has been here for the last couple hours though, I haven’t talked to him or nothing but I take over the section he is sitting in about thirty minutes.” Justine stares at her, curiosity burning bright “Why you ask you want the section?”

  Zoe grabs Justine’s arm and pulls her to the back. She looks around makes sure no one is around and whispers to Justine. “Do you feel anything weird? And did you notice his eyes Justine? They have flecks like mine, like yours, nobody else has those but us, and his are the same pearl flecks as mine.”

  “Yes I feel the same thing toward him as I do towards you, but the eyes no”

  “No shit, Justine?” Zoe said with irritation

  “Well yes and now I really don’t want that section, can’t you take it?” Justine asked trying to evade any kind of conversation with the man.

  “No Justine, you don’t understand, I have never felt this way before, all I want to do is go over to him, and get lost in those eyes, but everything that has happened in my life tells me to say fuck work and run as fast as I can as far as I can.”

  “Shit Zoe, ok I will serve him take your time coming out but don’t run ok? I can bear if you do and I don’t want to run anymore I like it here.” Justine pleaded with Zoe.

  “OK fine, I will be out in thirty when my shift starts I came in early because I wanted a milk shake, I have had a weird day and now it’s getting weirder.” Zoe let out a long breath and slid down the wall to her butt.

  “I’ll get you a shake Zoe, don’t go anywhere though.” She knew Justine was afraid of being alone, She decided she would face her fears this time.

  “I won’t Hun. I am honestly tired of running I need to face this.” Looking at Justine with all the truth in her eyes of her intentions, Justine walked back to the front to make her a shake. A couple minutes later she had the shake in hand and its creamy coldness woke her up and giving her all the courage she needed to face this challenge.

  This was something new for Zoe. She was so used to running at every little moment of defenselessness. There was something about this man that had her confused. She wanted him, wanted to run to his arms, get lost in his eyes, and forget all her worries. The thoughts and feelings scared her to death. The feelings were so new and unexpected. She has never really been attracted to anyone before, she has never let anyone get close enough. The man sitting in the other room had her heart racing and her mind going wild. She was not going to run, she was going to face this man, and figure out what is so special about him.

  Zoe finishes her shake, puts her apron on, and walks out to the dining room. She is going to be strong and fight this feeling inside, she hoped.

  Chapter 9

  Kaiden

  Kaiden left Mr. Steinman’s office at 3p.m. They talked for forty five minutes about everything. Kaiden told him he has been here searching for Zoe for seven years and he just recently found out her name. He told him the letters that were exchanged by their parents neither of them gave the name of their babies.

  Kaiden had explained that he thought the process of finding her would not be hard at all, but things never really work out how you hope. Mr. Steinman had his contacts track her down and found out she lived in a small town, about two hours away, and that she went to a local music school, worked at a local shipping company that sorted packages, and the local diner. Mr. Steinman also told Kaiden that he had no photo of Zoe, not even a driver’s License photo, she seemed to get out of all school picture days, and didn’t even have a senior picture done. But Kaiden had assured him that he would know who she was and that he was leaving from here to go directly to her.

  “Kaiden, all of this has been in a safe for over twenty years. I assume it wasn’t supposed to stay in that safe longer than a month. I am not trying to be an ass or anything but honestly I want nothing to do with this.” Mr. Steinman appeared scared.

  “Mr. Steinman, I assure you that nothing is going to happen to you or your family, I have just been looking for Zoe for so long.”

  “I understand son, but this check here I am not sure what to do with it. It was meant for Mr. Johnson and well Zoe is an adult now and he failed her. She has had quite a hard life it appears, from all the social services files say she has. She went through 15 different homes, always running away. She was six years old the first time she ran away, and do you know who she lived with at the time?” Mr. Steinman seemed to be getting some frustration off his chest, so Kaiden just nodded his head. “Ok so you know what this Pete kid did, what if he touched this poor girl, she was just a baby then, I know the reports say he never did but still, can you imagine what made a six year old jump out of a two story window?” The father in Mr. Steinman was out now and the lawyer in him gone. “I just feel so frustrated with the system sometimes, it seems she never had one good family and doing further research on some of the families she was with, she has lived with many a pedophile and rapist, that doesn’t even count the ones with all the domestic abuse calls to the other homes, anyway I am ranting you don’t need to know all this but at the same time, you do, if you are going to her, she will probably not trust you young man.” Kaiden nodded letting Mr. Steinman vent. Kaiden did want to know everything about Zoe good or bad.

  “Well son about this check here I think I am going to burn it, it feels like blood money to me” Mr. Steinman said with defeat in his voice.

  “Sir with all due respect you deserve every bit of that money, if you burn it I will have Charles send you one for double the amount, with your name on it. You honestly don’t understand what you have done for me, for her. I know this package here, that is for her eyes only, is all her family’s history. It is everything her mother wanted her to know.” Kaiden said with confidence.

  “How do you know son?” Mr. Steinman asked with hope in his eyes

  “Because my family has known her family for decades, it’s what we do for our children. It is sort of an inheritance and tradition with our Families.” Kaiden told the lawyer.

  “Well that eases my mind a little. At least she will finally learn the truth.” Mr. Steinman said relived.

  Kaiden was flying down the highway once again on the lookout for cops. He had Zoe’s package in the front seat and the copy of her birth certificate along with the bank statement. The city limit sign was in view and he was entering the little town that she lived in at 4 p.m., now he just had to find the diner Zoe worked at.

  The diner is located off main and tucked back in a corner off the road. It is a quaint little place, looks like they tried going for a 50’s feel and failed. The fake leather seats are all ripped and the checkerboard floor needs a lot of work. The counters are old and peeling up, and the tables aren’t much better.

  When he walks in, he notices a sign asking customers to seat themselves, so he chose a booth in the back directly facing the door. This location was perfect if she was not already on duty then he would see her walk in. Kaiden sat down and ordered a soda and a burger. He was watching everyone and noticed one of the wait
resses.

  She was tall with long black hair and a nice shapely body. He felt a slight pull to her but not the one his mother had told him about. This pull felt like the pull he felt toward Charles. There was something familiar about her also. The height and the build of her body reminded him of his mother. When she turned away from the table he saw a quick glimpse of her eyes before she put them to the floor.

  She was a Dragon, she has black flecks in her eyes marking her an Onyx. The colors of the flecks generally mark which kind of Dragon you are. Black flecks could only be an Onyx, as they are the only black Dragon. For two Dragons to be in the same town was astonishing to Kaiden, he had been in America for seven years and never seen another Dragon. “This is amazing” he thought.

  The early dinner crowd was starting to come in and slowly filling the place up. For a small town people sure loved this diner. Kaiden was watching a family talk and joke around, their laughs drew his attention for a moment and then he was overcome with the urge to look out the window. He felt a pull that stopped his heart.

  As his head turned he immediately saw why, there was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen walking towards the diner. The pull he felt to her was instant and so strong he had to hold himself down. He did not want to scare her on their first meeting.

  She was maybe four inches shorter than him, she had amazingly long white blond hair, and the way she walked had his heart hammering away in his chest. Her eyes were to the ground and the lines in her forehead told him she was listening to or for something, she was concentrating very hard on something else. She was at the door now and he was cemented to his seat staring at the door, as soon as it opened she looked around the room and then they locked eyes.

  Kaiden thought his heart was going to explode, he has never in his life seen eyes like hers, this was Zoe, this was his soul mate, and she is standing right there staring at him too. He wanted to weep looking into her eyes, they were like the ocean, so blue with pearl flecks, but her eyes held so much emotion. Like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and her eyes screamed for a release.

  He felt the corners of his mouth lift in a smile and the shock register on her face. The other waitress, the Dragon, stepped in front of Zoe and looked like she was trying to get her attention. Zoe then grabbed her arm and they rushed to the back. He was trying to close his hearing off, but he wanted to know everything, he heard her conversation with the other waitress, who he now knew was Justine.

  The way she said “I have never felt this way before, all I want to do is go over to him and get lost in those eyes, but everything that has happened in my life tells me to say fuck work and run as fast as I can as far as I can” broke his heart. He knew then that she did in fact run all those times. When things got hard she bolted and that’s what she knew to do, that was her coping mechanism. She was ready to run, now he knew that, but she had also told Justine she would stay, she was tired of running. He hoped that was true. Kaiden had just found her after seven years he did not want to lose her now.

  Justine walked back out to the front and made a milkshake and took it to the back, he knew he would have a chance to talk to her soon. For now he was just happy to know he found her. He pulled out his cell phone and decided to text Charles so that the girls would not hear the conversation and take off running thinking he was crazy or something.

  Hey Charles I found her

  Really?

  Yep and you’ll never guess what else I found

  Glad you found her man, what else did you find?

  Another Dragon man, She has black flecks so I am assuming she is an Onyx.

  Black flecks, yep she is an Onyx, Let’s hope she is a full-blood then you can count 1 out of 12 found.

  She is I can feel the pull towards her, but Zoe has had a really bad past, I can see it in her eyes too, like she has the weight of the world on her.

  Well take your time with her. Don’t rush anything, you have waited 7 years we can wait a little longer

  Alright man sorry for the texts and not a call I am just in the diner and I didn’t want to freak them out with all this.

  No problem, I understand just keep me updated.

  Will do see you soon Charles

  See you soon Kiddo

  As soon as he closed out the text screen he set the phone down on the table and took a bite of the burger that had been sitting there for a while. Kaiden was unsure of how he was going to start a conversation with Justine. He wanted to see if she knew anything about her family or herself. As he was having the thought she came up to the table.

  “Do you need anything more?” she asked him

  “I think I am good for right now, but I would love a shake.” Kaiden told her as he was trying to make eye contact with her, but she avoided looking into his eyes. “Hey can I ask you a question?” That question made her look up into his eyes.

  “What?” she snapped at him

  “Do you know what causes that in your eyes? The flecks of black?” She just looked at him like he grew another head

  “No I don’t they have always been that way.” She was irritated now

  “Oh ok, well um, could you make that shake a chocolate one?” He asked

  “Sure” she quickly walked away

  Zoe walked out from the back then. She shot a glance at him and he couldn’t help but smirk at her, she shook her head and made a bee line for a table at the opposite end of the diner. She took the table’s order and took it to the cook. She did this for the next couple tables and then went behind the counter to wait for the food. He noticed her glance his way a couple times but she mainly watched the families with the kids and the older couples.

  Currently it was a father holding a baby girl in the air above his head that had her attention. The baby was laughing and had the biggest smile on her face. The cook called out a table number and he hears Zoe sigh as she turned to grab the food. Kaiden found that interesting, she has had such a hard life, but she looks at the happy families and couples with such want. “Does she want a family?” he asked himself, not aloud of course. He hoped she did, he was ready to have that kind of love again.

  He has never been in love with a woman, but the love of a family, that’s what he missed so much. The way his parents held him when he fell or when he did something they were proud of. The look in their eyes was perfect. He knew he was loved and he loved them so much and missed them more right at that moment. How his parents would react to this woman, how they would encourage him, and tell him it will all work itself out and he will be happy.

  He saw them at that moment, sitting there watching him watch her. They smiled at him and his father gave him a wink. That wink, how he missed it. That wink was like his father saying “go for it I approve.” When he was little he wanted to jump off a ledge into the natural hot springs pool, it was in a cave they found on the mountain. The ledge was about 50 feet up, his mother was adamantly telling him no, his father though grabbed his mother in a hug, and winked at him over her shoulder. Kaiden bolted up the ledge then and jumped. His mother panicked, but Kaiden was fine, and he swam to the lip of the pool and launched himself into his father’s arms. How he missed that wink.

  Their image disappeared and he had to wipe a tear out of his eye. As he did so he noticed Zoe watching him like she saw them too and looked into his mind and plucked that memory right out.

  His milkshake appeared in front of him, but Justine dropped it off with his check and walked away quickly to another table. He stayed in his seat for a bit longer and watched Zoe and Justine work. Justine was a good waitress and was quick with her service, but she lacked that personal touch, she didn’t appear to like talking. Zoe however, made little conversations, and asked about the children at her table. He noticed she would always make sure to be extra nice to the kids. She looked people in the eye and smiled.

  Kaiden decided not to stay and watch. He didn’t want to appear like a strange stalker guy. He grabbed his coat and made his way to the little cashier area. Justin
e was in the back and it just left Zoe out front. She quickly came to take care of his bill.

  “Was everything to your liking Sir?”

  “Yes it was, in fact I plan on being back soon, and I am in town for a while.” He told her. She looked up a little bit of shock in her eyes. But when they made eye contact again they both just sort of stood there and stared at each other. He was looking into the eyes of his soul mate and just wanted to grab her and kiss her, no words needed he just needed her.

  “Zoe you ok?” Justine asked having walked up to the counter without either of them noticing.

  “Oh yah, um, that will be $15.36 Sir.” She was blushing and had a slight smile, like she had been caught. He handed her a $50 and told them both to split the change. He went to walk out the door, but he had forgotten something.

  “Um, sorry to bug you again, but is there a motel in town?”

  “Oh? I thought you just said you’re in town for a while, wouldn’t you already know that?” Justine asked with spite.

  “Um, I was hungry and came straight here?” He didn’t know if he was asking a question or telling her. Zoe was still standing there and he was a little lost for words.

  “Well in town, no there is not, you will have to go out of town, a little back near the highway there is a small roach motel, hope you don’t mind the bugs.” Gosh did she hate him already? He thought.

  “Oh, well, is there an apartment building close? I will just rent something there don’t know how long I am going to be here, seems like it’s going to be a little longer than I originally planned.” he told her matching her snide tone.

  “Two blocks down on the left.” Zoe blurted and hurried off.

  “THANK YOU!” he called after her loudly, loud enough for most of the heads in the diner to turn their way.

  “Doubt the office is open now or that there will be any open apartments.” Justine snapped at him giving him a dirty look. She probably didn’t want him to feel like he accomplished something.