by M. W. Muse
Chloe stared at me in total astonishment. I wondered if that was how I looked when I first found the certificate in Melissa's room.
"What do you think it means?"
I proceeded to tell her my theories, my dream, and my conversation with Laurel.
She couldn't make sense of any of it, either.
"I'm not going to worry about it," I finally told her. "I don't think it's an omen, but I have decided if I am destined to die on my eighteenth birthday, then I'm going to live what life I have left to the fullest."
"Season, don't talk like that." Chloe started to freak out.
"No, Chloe, don't be upset. I'm not worried. Like I said, I don't think it's true.
Odd? Absolutely. But true? No."
"Well, I think we should get to the bottom of it," she insisted. "We will." I had to.
* * *
Monday morning, I got ready to start my new job, deciding on cool and comfortable clothing since I had no idea of what my work would entail. I ate a quick breakfast, and when I stood to leave, I found a note on the refrigerator from Melissa
stating she would be working late and I would have to fend for myself at dinner. After Laurel and I got older, Melissa started traveling more with her job, so I was used to her having to be gone from time to time. No biggie. But she also noted that she had to leave tomorrow to go out of town for more than a few days and asked that I make plans to stay with Chloe. We'd have a blast as always, so that was no biggie, either. Even though I wasn't very happy with Melissa right now, I did hate how much she had to work. She busted her behind to raise two girls who weren't even her own. And now I was getting my own taste of earning my own money. I grabbed my purse, keys, and paperwork and headed to my new job.
When I walked in the door, I saw Chrys standing against the counter. With everything that happened, I'd sort of forgotten about him. Chloe must not have been too obsessed with him since she hadn't brought him up after we left here Saturday. Maybe she was just being the true friend that she was by letting me talk about my own problems and squeal about Don without any other distractions. I would need to make sure I made it up to her by getting the skinny on this hunk.
"Morning, Season." He smiled at me as I walked toward him.
"Good morning, Chrys." I smiled back, but then he stared at me with a strange expression on his face. It reminded me of when I saw him as I was leaving here on Saturday. He had a similar expression then. Odd.
"How was your weekend?" he asked, his face returning to a smile. "Interesting, and yours?"
"Interesting works for me, too," he responded cryptically.
He just stood there staring at me. I wasn't sure what to make of his demeanor.
Then I laughed nervously, averting my gaze from his piercing eyes.
"Interesting, indeed," he whispered, but it seemed like he was whispering to himself.
I tossed my hair over my shoulder and casually looked at him again. He continued to stare at me with a polite smile on his face, but his eyes were intense and full of questions.
"Er, where is Ms. Gorge? I need to turn in my paperwork and find out what she needs me to do."
Chrys continued to stare at me, saying nothing, his gaze becoming very intimidating.
"I—I'll take these to her office," I continued, using the paperwork as an excuse to walk away from him.
He wasn't having that.
"I'll take those. She's not here, and the office is locked." He took the papers without releasing me from his stare.
"Um, what do I need to do?"
Again, he just stared at me, but now his eyes were turning hard, cold. Their emerald-green color from Saturday seemed more forest-green today.
"Are you going to answer me, or are we just going to stand here all day?" I tried to sound rude but sounded more like a scared child.
He shifted his weight to his left leg and as his head dropped, his features relaxed.
He shot his eyes up at me again with a soft, apologetic smile on his face. He looked down to the floor before speaking.
"I'm sorry. I just didn't . . . ." His voice trailed off, his penetrating gaze finding mine again, and his smile faded.
"What?" I asked, hoping to avoid a repeat of his silent gazing.
He shook his head as if he were trying to clear it, the corners of his mouth lifting again. "I'm sorry, really. I'm just surprised. I didn't expect . . . ." He shook his head again. "You look just like her."
His reply caught me by surprise. He glanced away from me because now I was the one staring, but my eyes were not cold, they were wide.
"Who?" I murmured, trying to meet his gaze.
He looked at me again, but this time his eyes were as shocked as mine must have been. "Dem," he whispered.
I felt my knees wobble. We stood there staring at each other, he with a ton of questions in his eyes that I was sure mirrored my own.
"How," I started, still in shock and not really knowing what to say to him or how to get it out. "How do you know my mom?"
Chrys Gorge froze.
Chapter 5
I stepped closer to Chrys. His body was as still as a statue, but his confused eyes traced my every move. He took a deep breath, cocking his head to the side, and seemed as if he were preparing to answer my question, but he ignored it and asked me one instead.
"What are you talking about?"
"You said I looked just like Dem. How do you know her?" "I don't." He was being evasive.
"You know something," I insisted as I stepped even closer. He stumbled as he took a step back, still staring.
"Say something!"
"Umm . . . I . . . don't understand." And I realized he truly meant that. "Tell me what you know."
Tracy raced through the front door.
"Sorry I'm late. I overslept," she said as she threw on her nametag and unlocked her cash register.
Chrys looked at her. "No problem, my mom's not here yet, but you should probably hurry up and count your drawer. She's on her way." Chrys glanced at me. "We should get your nametag." He led the way to the break area.
He fumbled around in a drawer and pulled out a ready-made nametag with shaking hands. "Here, put this on."
I took the nametag and pinned it to my shirt. He spoke through hurried whispers while repeatedly glancing through the window of the break room door.
"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know you were her daughter." "What do you know?"
"A lot. But now's not the time. My mom will be here any minute." "No, tell me what you know!"
Just then the bell sounded on the front door.
"Later," he hissed and walked into the lobby of the store. I followed behind. "Ah, Season, you're here. Good. I hope Chrys has been helpful," Mrs. Gorge said. "Very," I responded, putting a pleasant smile on my face as she approached.
"I wasn't sure what you wanted her to do first," Chrys started, "so I got her paperwork and gave her a nametag."
"That's fine. I need to take care of some things this morning. Chrys, why don't you get the boxes out of my car? Season, you can sit with Tracy at the register."
While Ms. Gorge walked toward her office, Chrys fled to do her bidding, and I obediently walked over to Tracy and sat on the stool next to her.
Tracy showed me how to work the register and explained how things were done around the store, but my thoughts were solely on what Chrys had said earlier. I didn't miss seeing him when he walked in with the boxes and headed straight for his mom's office, where he stayed.
Tracy and I kept ourselves busy with customers and stocking the shelves. She rattled on about anything and everything, so I shouldn't have been surprised when she directed her conversation to me.
"Do you have a boyfriend, Season?"
"No." I didn't have a boyfriend, but I did have a hot date on Friday.
"Well, I'm not sure if Chrys has a girlfriend. Too bad he's too young for me," she said with a giggle. "He seemed really helpful to you this morning. When I first met him, it took him several days bef
ore he approached me."
"He was the only one here when I arrived. I assumed he was just filling in for his mom until she got here."
"Once you get to know him, I think you might like him," she offered in an amused tone.
I ignored her comment, but then figured if she wanted to chitchat, maybe she had some useful information. "What do you know about the Gorge family?" I asked, a little too eagerly.
"Not much. Probably the same things you know. They're ridiculously rich. Stores all over the place. Houses everywhere."
"Yeah, I figured that much."
"They travel around a lot. My roommate, Jenna, said that Chrys has been in boarding school for several years, but he'll be attending school here to help out his mom with the new store. Jenna said his dad lives in Greece or something like that."
"Greece?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure what he does there, and Ms. Gorge doesn't ever talk about
him."
I turned to the window, absorbing this information and wondering if it was
relevant to the information about my mother. I looked at the sky and saw clouds rolling in. These were not the soft, fluffy clouds of a pleasant summer day. No, these clouds were dark and menacing.
"Is it supposed to storm today?" I asked as I glanced at Tracy.
"Oh, yeah. Didn't you watch the weather? There's a front moving in. We're supposed to have bad weather all week. They're also talking about a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is hurricane season."
"Tropical storm? Where?" Don's family was at the beach this week, but he didn't mention where, and I was too awestruck to think clearly when he mentioned that fact.
"I'm not sure, but I think they mentioned something about it making landfall in the Florida panhandle."
As if on cue, forceful thunder rocked the building.
"Maybe I should go to the break room and see if there's anything about the weather on the news," Tracy said anxiously. "Will you be okay here by yourself 'til I get back?"
"Sure."
Tracy slipped off the stool beside me and rushed to the back of the store. I turned to watch the clouds rolling in. I didn't share Tracy's anxiety—storms never bothered me. But as I watched the trees across the street sway forcefully with the wind, I began to feel somewhat uneasy. I didn't understand the emotion, but for some reason, I felt compelled to go outside.
Without conscious effort, I stood up and stepped to the door. I couldn't take my eyes off the trees. With forceful determination, it seemed as if they were beckoning me. It reminded me of my dream, and then I saw something slide out from the edge of the trees. A snake? I couldn't tell. I reached for the door and then jumped at the touch of someone's hand on my shoulder.
I turned around to see who it was just as the piercing sound of an alarm activated outside.
"Where are you going?" Chrys asked, his hand still resting on my shoulder. "Er, nowhere. I was just looking at the sky."
"We're under a tornado warning. We need to go down into the basement." He grabbed my hand and yanked me behind him.
Everyone else was already there. Ms. Gorge sat in a chair at the far wall and glared at me as I came into the damp room. As soon as I saw her, I realized Chrys was still holding my hand, so I gently moved my hand away from his. When I let go, her eyes softened. Overprotective much? I thought to myself and then shrugged it off.
I sat by Tracy who appeared on the verge of freaking out. No, not on the verge
…she already was out. She jumped at the slightest sound that came in through the walls and ceiling.
"It's okay," I said as I patted her leg, trying to console her.
"Er, I know. Um, I'm sorry I didn't come get you." She jumped again as thunder crashed. "Chrys came in while I was watching the weather report and told me to take cover…that he'd go get you."
Chrys took the seat across from me. He leaned in toward me, placing his arms on his knees and clasping his hands together. He looked at the floor like he was uncomfortable being here, but he wasn't scared like Tracy was. In fact, no one else seemed scared at all.
Ms. Gorge broke the silence just as it was becoming uncomfortable. "How's everything going, Season? I'm sorry I've been too busy to show you
things myself."
"That's okay. Tracy's doing a great job showing me the ropes."
"Good. If you have any questions, please feel free to knock on my door at any time. Regardless of how busy I am, I will always make time to answer any questions you may have. And Chrys, too. Right, Chrys?" she asked as her eyes flashed to him.
"Of course." Chrys glanced up at me. He didn't look long, though.
We all sat quietly, listening to the weather radio, until Ms. Gorge started talking to the pharmacist about some drug orders. I glanced over at Tracy, and she was still on edge.
"It's probably almost over," I whispered. "I'm sure it's already past us by now." My comments didn't seem to help her, so I looked away. I was surprised to see
Chrys staring at me again with a gentle smile.
"That's very kind of you, trying to make her feel better," he offered.
I shrugged, wondering if I should say anything more and deciding against it.
Tracy's head popped up, and she smiled halfheartedly at him. Then the radio announced the all clear, and Tracy's expression turned into one of relief.
Ms. Gorge and the pharmacist got up first and led the way out. Tracy walked behind her, and I followed Tracy. Chrys turned out the lights as he trailed us out of the basement.
"Season," he murmured, and I turned toward him. "Would you like to go out with me tonight?"
Oh no! What did he mean by that? Like go out on a real date?
He saw the confusion on my face and saved me from any embarrassing comment I feared I was about to make. "I would just like to be alone to talk about things."
"Um, sure."
"I'll pick you up at seven. I can get your address off your application." It was a date. Non-date, I meant.
* * *
As I got ready for my non-date, I realized I would need to tell Chloe I was going out with Chrys and explain why. Maybe I could use this casual time to find out about his personal life for her. I would have to make a conscious effort to do that since I was more worried about finding out what he knew about my mom, than I was about what he looked for in women. But I knew I needed to tell Chloe. Now.
I called her the minute I got into my room. When she picked up, we exchanged greetings and then I got right into why I'd called.
"Well, Chrys apparently knows my mom. Or he knows of her. We're going out tonight, so he can explain. He didn't want to talk about it at work, and he knew I wasn't going to let it go."
"Where are you going?" She sounded a little sad but tried to hide it.
"I'm not sure, but he'll be here in a few minutes, so I need to go. I'll call you when I get back."
"Okay."
"Oh, Chloe, Melissa has to go out of town for a few days, so she asked me to ask you about staying over at your house until she returns."
"I'll ask, but I'm sure it won't be a problem," she said with more pep in her tone. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later."
The doorbell sounded and my stomach flipped. It was silly to be nervous, but I was about to find out what all he knew. Surely that was the reason why my pulse was leaping under my skin. I took a deep breath and went downstairs to answer the door.
When I opened the door, Chrys was standing under the porch light wearing jeans and a cotton v-neck shirt with a short-sleeved, button-down shirt layered on top. He looked and smelled like he just got out of the shower. His hair was still a little wet with fresh gel scrunched through it and he looked great. If I wasn't head-over-heels for Don, I would definitely have some serious butterflies in my stomach.
It took me half a second too long to respond, and he began to smile. "You're early," I managed to say, regaining my composure.
"I wasn't sure if I knew how to get here, so I left a few minutes early." "That's
fine. I'm ready."
I followed him to his car and gasped. He was driving a silver Mercedes coup. I should have known he'd have a nice car. He lived in Chloe's neighborhood, for crying out loud. Chrys turned around when he heard my audible surprise and furrowed his brow. I shrugged and continued walking. He walked to the passenger door to open it for me. Men in the South were taught to be chivalric, so this really didn't surprise me. I tried, unsuccessfully, not to watch as he walked around to the driver side, moving kind of gracefully. Once inside, he started the car and turned down the radio. After we were out of my driveway, he glanced over at me.
"You look very pretty."
What? "Thanks, you look nice, too." "Thank you," he said, fighting a smile. "So where are we going?"
"I made reservations at the Italian restaurant downtown. It has intimate seating.
We should be able to talk freely there. You know, get to know each other without interruptions." His eyes flashed to mine. "So how long have you lived in Oakdale?"
"All my life."
"Do you like living here?"
"Yes. The heat is horrible this time of year, and we get a lot of storms, but they never really bother me."
"I noticed," he said with a short laugh. "How about you? Do you like living here?" "Yes. Things are definitely looking up."
I didn't know what to make of that, nor did I know what else to say. Luckily, that was a non-issue since we were already pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant.
Chrys shut off the engine, and I started to get out. He walked around to my side to get my door, but I had already stepped out of the car.
"You should've let me do that," he chided but shut my door once I was clear of it.
He led the way into the restaurant and approached the hostess who seated us with no waiting. As soon as our orders were placed and we had our drinks, I jumped right in.
"So what do you know?"
"Look, I really don't know how to do this," he stalled, picking up his straw wrapper and curling it around his finger.
"Just start at the beginning," I encouraged.
He took a deep breath and leaned toward me. "Okay, when I saw you on Saturday, I thought you looked familiar. I figured you were probably related to Dem, but I really had no idea she was your mother. I really don't know her, either."
