Time's Daughter

by Anya Breton

I was a little nervous about that part. Would he knock on the door? Was I supposed to introduce him to my mother if he did?

  The knock on the door seconds later answered one of my questions.

  “I’ll get it!”

  My mother’s exclamation answered the other. She slammed the bathroom door shut on her way out, perhaps to give herself a head start before I stopped her. I decided to hide instead.

  I was left staring at my “dolled up” face thinking about how ridiculous I looked. The black-lined and dusky shadowed eyelids made my blue irises appear darker, a dusting of bronzer on my cheekbones made them looked higher, and the brownish-red lipstick added three years to my look. I could easily pass as nineteen tonight.

  I heard my mother say, “Hi?”

  “Hello,” Alex’s deep voice greeted her. “I’m Alex. I believe I have a date with your daughter, Aeon.”

  My heart skipped. A date with Aeon. I had a date! With Alex. It was so unreal!

  “I’m Tiffany. Come on in. She’ll be out soon. She’s probably in there wiping off all the make-up we put on. Have a seat.”

  I shook my head in dismay. As usual, Mom was too forthright.

  “That is a lovely cross-stitching,” his voice broke the short silence after they’d no doubt sat.

  Alex was remarkable. Of all the things we had on display in the living room, he’d picked the one thing that would please my mom most.

  “Thank you, Alex. My mom made that for me,” she replied with pride warming her tone.

  And like a true gentleman, Alex added, “She’s very talented with a needle.”

  “Thank you. She was. She made this afghan as well.”

  I saved him from an accounting of everything else Gran had made us by emerging from the bathroom. I found that my mother was seated on the other end of the couch from Alex and he had his back to me. I grabbed my purse from the table and stepped closer to the door where he could see me without craning his neck.

  His head turned slightly then his eyes widened. I couldn’t tell if it was surprise or if he was disturbed by my appearance. Alex got to his feet with a sudden motion.

  He was all dolled up as well. While he wore black pants as usual, he had on black leather dress shoes and his black button up shirt had a slight pattern to it that was invisible except in certain light. The significance of it wasn’t lost on me.

  “I see you’ve met,” I forced a smile despite my nervousness.

  Alex’s head bobbed. “Your mother was telling me about the cross-stitching.”

  “The Siamese cat in a garden,” I gestured to the framed piece on the wall by the sofa. “Her favorite. How did you know?”

  He smiled slightly. “It caught my eye.”

  “Gran made that for me,” Mom reminded me. “Because she knew I loved cats.”

  Alex turned back to her. “Do you have one?”

  Without a thought my mother replied, “No, Aeon is allergic.”

  His eyes were on me again in an instant. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide the smile I knew would be there. “I’m ready when you are,” I said above a cough.

  “Have a good time,” my mom waved quickly.

  Alex’s long legs had him near the door in half a second. He followed me into the hallway but not before waving at my mom. I followed him to the car that was parked in front of the building. Still behaving the gentleman, he opened the passenger door for me, waited until I was in and then closed it gently. I watched him walk around the front to open his own and as I did so I noted there was no cameraman waiting in the back like I’d assumed there would be.

  “What happened to Peter?” I asked as soon as he’d sat.

  Alex turned to me in confusion as he turned on the engine. “Peter?”

  “Your cameraman?”

  “Oh,” he pulled onto the street. “I thought yours would be with you.”

  “I thought yours would be with you so I sent Guy away after work.”

  Alex chuckled. “I guess we’re camera free.”

  I went quiet, suddenly uneasy about being truly alone with him.

  “You look…amazing.” Alex flattered quietly as he glanced at me. Then his voice turned mischievous. “That must be some magic comb of yours. If that’s after one and a half times, do you turn into a goddess after two?”

  A snort escaped my nose. “That has to be the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  His lips crinkled together in a wince. “Ouch. Tough Crowd.” He laughed lightly, perhaps realizing it had been cheesy. “It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?”

  After a soft laugh with him I said, “I’ll say.”

  “So, you’re allergic to cats.”

  The topic had come up sooner than I’d expected. My gaze swiveled away from him. “Yes.”

  He reached forward to turn on the car’s engine. “Well, you’re not sneezing now so I’ll take that as a good sign.”

  My cheeks reddened. I could think of nothing to say so I remained silent.

  As we pulled out of the parking lot he filled the quiet with, “I didn’t have a lot of advance notice so unfortunately tonight won’t be spectacular. But I don’t think I could have waited until next weekend to ask you out.”

  I decided the bronzer had been wasted. My cheeks would be naturally dark because he’d have me blushing all night.

  “Plus I’m kind of at a disadvantage, being new to the area and all. I asked a few people for advice and they all told me to take you to make-out point.” Alex chuckled a little nervously. “That isn’t really my style. Serves me right for asking hormonal teenagers. So I’m winging it. Go easy on me.”

  Alex’s idea of “winging it” was to take me to a restaurant that had amazing food and a talented live band. The band, a quartet of guitarist, violinist, violist and cellist, played string versions of popular songs that I hadn’t known I liked. More than once I caught myself ignoring the band altogether so I could stare at Alex and he me.

  “I think I won’t mind the cold now,” he told me over the main course.

  There was significance in his delivery as if he meant he would mind it because of me. I wondered if I’d ever get used to the things he said.

  “Mute girl, you’re really living up to your name,” Alex chided gently.

  “Sorry.” I blushed for the hundredth time. “This is my first date.”

  “Mine too.”

  “You’re joking,” I accused with a laugh and an incredulous shake of my head.

  “No,” he let the word stretch as he turned his head to the right in a half shake.

  “I don’t believe it.”

  Alex set his fork down atop his plate. He sat back in his seat to carefully peer at me. “Why?”

  “Because…” I let my voice trail off while I considered how to answer. “You’re…”

  His lips threatened to lift into a smile. “I’m what?”

  I gestured at him. “Well, look at you.”

  “That’s kind of difficult without a mirror.”

  “You’re so handsome,” I blushed and dropped my gaze to the plate in front of me. “Every girl looks at you when you walk into a room.”

  “Do you know want to know why I knew I had to meet you?”

  With a hint of interest I asked, “Why?”

  “You were the only girl who didn’t look at me when I walked in the room.”

  I lifted my gaze again. “But I did.”

  The steel blue eyes were fixed on my face with such a serious gleam that I almost couldn’t hold them. “You might have glanced but I didn’t see it. You didn’t gawk at me like they all did.”

  “I knew what it was like to be gawked at because of the rude stares they were giving Guy and me.”

  Alex nodded as if he understood. “It made you stand out from everyone else. I didn’t even notice the cameraman until you walked into the photography studio with him trailing behind. I’d seen you twice before that.”

  “Twice?”

  “History and lunch.”

&nbs
p; “Oh,” I blushed. There was a short pause that I broke with another question. “Alex?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Something has been bugging me. Why did you start ignoring me halfway through last week?”

  I saw his neck work to swallow noticeably. He sat forward and picked up his fork to poke at the steak he’d ordered. It gave him a reason to avoid looking at me. “It was because of what happened with the drunk driver.”

  “You followed me?”

  His head lifted up and down. “Yes. I saw how you saved your cameraman. I thought you were… Well, you know what I thought you were.”

  A Time witch. But I was worse than that. I was Time’s daughter.

  Alex continued, “I knew my family was going to flip out. When I got home they were already trying to figure out who was responsible for the shockwave. If they’d found you they would have acted first and asked questions later.” He paused to look at me again. “And to be honest, I was furious. They’d told me we’d be safe from all that if we moved here. I’d hoped I could have a normal year for once.”

  “I’m sorry, Alex.”

  And I was. I hadn’t known about the other part of the world as long as he had. But I could understand what it was like to be different.

  He set the fork down and smiled. “I’m okay with being abnormal now.”

  His smile didn’t stop me from frowning. “I wish I could say the same.”

  His head shook in slow disbelief as he sat back in his seat. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to wake up one day and know you’re different.”

  I laughed suddenly. “Oh, I’ve always known I was different. Just didn’t think I was that different.”

  Alex smiled warmly. “Well, I think you’re awesome.”

  My head shook along with a chuckle. “And I think you have weird opinions.”

  “Is it too soon to ask you to be mine?”

  I stared at him in wide-eyed shock, unable to think a single thought.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes,” Alex laughed nervously, dropping his eyes to the table.

  There was a long silence while the band played a love song and I tried to think of something to say. We hadn’t gotten through our first real date. Barely an hour had passed since he’d picked me up from home. Yes, it was too soon but for some reason I didn’t want to tell him so.

  “To be yours?” I repeated his words back to him. “What does that even mean?”

  “You know,” he shifted uncomfortably. I saw him glance up at me from beneath the fringe of his eyelashes. “If someone asked you if you were taken, you’d have to say yes.”

  “Do people ask that? I mean, you didn’t.”

  “I guess what I meant…” Alex’s hand went behind his head as his face scrunched up. He gave a single laugh. “Well, this is awkward.” The hand returned beside him. “I’m just going to come right out and say it.” Alex looked me in the eye once again. “I want to be able to call you my girlfriend.”

  My head slid forward slightly as my eyes bugged out. “Girlfriend?” I couldn’t stop the word from coming out of my mouth in surprise.

  “Oh, burn,” his eyes dropped in dismay.

  I assured him quickly, “It’s not like that. It’s just…I hadn’t expected that.”

  He looked at me again. “I don’t know why not. I’ve been acting like an idiot since I met you.”

  “Wouldn’t I have had to see you acting like a not-idiot first to know the difference?”

  “Good point.”

  “So if you called me your girlfriend, then I’d have to call you my boyfriend, right?”

  Alex laughed again. His hand was behind his head again, rubbing nervously. “That’s kind of the idea, yeah.”

  “All right.”

  He stared at me for a moment then spoke cautiously, “All right?”

  “Yeah, you can call me your girlfriend on one condition. Your family never does that thing they did to me again.”

  Alex’s steel blue eyes seemed to darken as his pupils dilated. His hand dropped back to the tabletop. “They won’t,” he assured me grimly. “You saw to that yourself.”

  I voiced my largest concern about his family, “But what about those other three?”

  He looked away toward the band. “They’re not happy but they wouldn’t do anything like that.” Then as suddenly as the serious expression had appeared on his face, it faded into an adorable grin when he glanced back. “Especially not after I tell them you’re my girlfriend.”

  My cheeks warmed again. “You know there are rumors circulating at school that you’re gay.”

  “I hadn’t known,” he laughed. “It never ceases to amaze me how cruel people can be.”

  “I wonder what they’ll say now.”

  Alex gave a flippant shrug. “I could care less.”

  “So what happens now?”

  His lips spread into a heart-stopping grin. “Now you come back over to my house to properly meet my family.”

  I swallowed hard. “Do I have to?”

  “You don’t have to. But it would mean a lot to me.”

  My mouth formed a lopsided frown. “When you put it like that I can’t very well say no.”

  “Just give them a chance,” he softly urged. “I promise you’ll like them.”

  “You mean when they aren’t trying to kill me?”

  Alex exhaled loudly. “They weren’t. It was all intimidation techniques meant to establish superiority. It was stupid and I told them they didn’t need to resort to that because you aren’t like the others we’ve come across. But old habits die-hard. It’s out of their system now. They’ll be cool.”

  I inhaled a steadying breath then answered. “Okay. I’ll give them a chance.”

  “Monday after school?”

  My eyes spread wide. “What? So soon?”

  He exhaled in a laugh. “I was going to say tomorrow but thought that was too soon.”

  Almost automatically my head shook in a slow, awed motion. “You’re crazy.”

  “Like I said, I’ve been acting like an idiot since I met you.” He shifted uncomfortably in the seat with a cute half smile.

  “Okay, Monday,” I relented before I lost my nerve.

  “Really?” He sat back in his seat and stared mutely for a moment. “I’ll make sure my cameraman is around so Guy can have the night off.”

  Ugh. I’d nearly forgotten about the documentary. How mortifying it was that my first boyfriend was going to be a televised event?

  I recalled something he’d said. “Did your brother really hack the feeds?”

  He finished chewing a bite of steak. “Yup. We send them old footage whenever we need to have a family meeting. Sometimes we just cut it off completely. Mark has sent people up to fix it twice. My father has him convinced there’s interference from the weather station up the hill.”

  “They believed that?”

  “Apparently. Mark stopped complaining and trying to fix it. He said the important part was at school anyway.” Alex rolled his eyes. “The whole ‘see how the new kid in town fits in’ bit.”

  It forced another burning question from me. “How did Mark manage to convince you to do this?”

  Alex’s steel blue eye rolled toward the ceiling. “We’d told him no three times but he kept coming back with bigger and better deals. He was so persistent that my father decided it would be more suspicious if we didn’t agree than if we did.”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” he grumbled. “It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  I shrugged then tried to explain why I thought it made sense. “Sometimes you have to behave differently than you normally would just to keep from making waves.”

  “I don’t have any problem with making waves,” he retorted.

  “Making waves is different from just not caring what people think. Waves can cause problems later.”

  He shook his head almost in disgust. “You sound like my father. ‘Stay
below the radar, Alex’ he says.”

  “Probably good advice.” I muttered and glanced away, “Mine didn’t give me any at all.”

  “So you didn’t know who your father was until recently?”

  I couldn’t look at him. The subject was another that bothered me too much to discuss. “Nope. It was one of those topics we avoided.”

  “Does she know?”

  I knew he was asking about my mother and if she knew about my “special” ability. “After she freaked when I mentioned the dream, I decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell her about the rest of it.”

  “So she thinks I’m normal.”

  My eyes met his bravely. “She thinks I’m normal.”

  “That must be awful,” Alex responded in what sounded a little like awed disbelief. “I couldn’t deal with things if I didn’t have my family’s support.”

  “The worst part is I hate lying to her,” I admitted. “I’ve always told her everything.”

  “Dessert?”

  Alex and I looked to our server at the same time in surprise. We had barely touched our food because we’d been talking.

  “Not for me, thanks,” I answered with a blush then poked at the no doubt cold meal. “Can I get a box for this?” There was no sense letting it go to waste. I could have it for lunch the next day.

  The interruption effectively ended our dinner. After we got our boxes for the leftovers we realized the band had stopped playing some time ago. Back to the car we walked ten minutes later.

  He had his hand behind his head awkwardly again. “I don’t have anything else planned.”

  “It’s okay. I should do some homework.”

  Alex’s lips turned down into a disappointed frown. Softly he said, “I don’t want to leave you yet.”

  My heart surged at the sweet admission. I didn’t hide my smile. “It won’t be for long.”

  “Promise?”

  I laughed at his hopeful tone. “Yes.”

  Back to the apartment we drove listening to his music. I didn’t hear a single song I disliked and I questioned him on each band. I may have found another source for new tunes. It made me smile.

  In front of the building he turned the car off, came around to open the door then offered his hand to help me up. He waited until we’d gotten inside the entrance to the stairs to speak again in that same soft voice.