“I do mind,” he snapped and pulled in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s something I don’t like talking about or making public.”
“I see,” Etta remarked, looking down at her bare feet. “I can understand. I’ve been through an ordeal myself that I don’t like talking about. At the time, it was made very public because of who I was…who he was…” her voice trailed off. “Anyway, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Keigo could see from the sorrowful expression on Etta's face as she spoke, that whatever had happened to her must have been very painful. She looked up and his heart lurched. He was shocked at the unexpected impact she had on him. It was exhilarating, yet unasked for at the same time. He didn't want to add to the pain he saw on her face just because his libido was working on overtime the past few days.
“I was in a car accident a few years ago and I have panic attacks when I get behind the wheel, so I don't try anymore,” he spoke softly; the words seemed strange on his tongue. He hadn’t been able to admit it aloud to anyone.
“I’m sorry,” Etta said softly. “You didn’t have to tell me, but I’m glad you did.”
He could see her sincerity. “I would have thought you looked up everything about me online as I did you,” he said, shrugging off his embarrassment.
“I did. I just haven’t read it all yet,” she admitted sheepishly. “You have more Google pages then I do.”
He nodded. His shoulders tensed. He wondered if he should just tell her. She was bound to read it eventually and get the media’s version of what they think happened. He would prefer she heard it from him.
As if she sensed his discomfort, she reached out and clutched at his hand. “Come on, we're getting an audience.” She nodded and waved as another woman joined the three already congregated in Auntie Loo's yard. “I just made mint tea. Care to join me?”
“Thank you. I would like that.”
Keigo’s eyes drifted to tie-dyed t-shirt knotted beneath her breasts exposing a well-defined midriff. She had the body of a dancer and he wondered if that was one of her many talents or did she work out like one?
“Have you finished logging me into your memory bank?” Etta asked him, interrupting his thoughts. “I mean, I don’t want to interrupt your view,” she teased.
Caught red handed, he did the first thing that came to his mind. He lied. “I wasn’t staring; I was thinking.”
“I bet you I know exactly what you were thinking,” she released his hand to open the screen door to the house and stood aside to allow him to enter first.
“My neighbors are part of my family and very nosey. If my mom was in town, she would be burning up the road to get here to check you out.”
“I like your Auntie Loo, she seems very…interesting,” Keigo said for lack of a better word. He didn't think Etta would appreciate him calling her Auntie a first class contender for the hospital mental ward. Who was she to tell him he was ready to move forward? Wouldn’t he be the first to know it? He missed his wife, Claire and his daughter Miko as much today as he did upon waking up from a coma. He didn’t think there was anything worse then waking up and thinking your world was as you remembered only to find out everything had changed.
There was no way he was going to make moves on Etta unless he was sure he was ready to open his heart once again. He didn’t care how attracted he was to her.
“Keigo? Are you alright?” She touched his arm and his muscles tensed suddenly under her fingertips.
He took two steps inside the foyer causing her hand to fall away. At seeing the bench with open cupboards filled with soft sole shoes, he dropped down on the bench seat and slipped his shoes off. “Your Auntie Loo was speaking about you and she mentioned Neil.” He turned his shoes with toes pointed towards the exit as tradition called for, then removed the larger pair of house slippers and slid them on his socked feet.
At her lingering silence, he looked up. As if she couldn’t look him in the eyes, she bent her head and studied her hands.
“What did Auntie Loo tell you?” Etta spoke from the doorway allowing the screen door she was holding to swing close with a resounding pop.
“Not much,” he shrugged. “I know the other day in my office you mentioned the story about you and Neil was for another time. Is this the time?”
“As I told you before, Neil is dead,” she answered abruptly. “I don’t understand why everyone believes that I need to talk about him. Auntie Loo shouldn’t have said anything. She knows how I hate to talk about this.”
“Don’t be upset with her,” Keigo crooned. “Auntie Loo seemed to have your best interest at heart and know that I don’t expect you to share anything with me that you don’t want to.”
“Why should you?” Etta leaned against the entrance, smiling. “It’s not like you have a personal investment in me. You’re only here because in your eyes I committed a crime, right?”
Keigo was too busy staring at her feet. She had changed the jewelry from the gold ones she had on in court to ones of silver and topaz. His eyes traveled over the fitted black straight-leg low-riding yoga pants. Her entire form was that of a dancer causing him to wonder if dancing was one of her many talents? There was so much he didn’t know about her. Was it because she was different from anyone he’s known that he found himself so curious to know more about her?
“So, maybe you do have a personal interest,” Etta broke the silence. “At least a crazy interest in my feet.”
“Did you say something?” Keigo asked after realizing she was speaking to him and he was rudely staring.
He was surprised to see her come closer. He fell in his seat bracing his hands on the chest. Etta arched one foot up close to his face. He was amazed at her limber graceful movement. Her balance was amazing. She wasn’t even trembling. His mouth watered, causing him to swallow deeply and his body to harden in response as the smell of coco butter waft his senses.
“I know they're ugly, aren't they? I put my poor feet through years of dance and ballet. Another of the many journeys I took while trying to discover myself and what I wanted to do with my life,” she shared. “It came in handy and allowed me to make good money working in my grandmother’s carnival.”
She dropped her foot back to the floor. He looked up into her face. “I thought you did psychic stuff with your mother at the carnival.”
“I didn’t want to face the fact that I was different at that time. I did help because it was part of the training that my mother and grandmother insisted on, but thank God again for daddy. He convinced them to let me take dance with the other children and I fell in love with it because I found it very freeing.”
“Why did you stop?”
“I’m in my thirties,” she laughed. “No, that’s not the real reason. I got a bad sprain and my right ankle has never been the same. Even with therapy, when it rains it aches. Sometimes to the point I have a limp. I realized my dancing days were over, which was fine.” She waved her hand dispassionately. “I was about to be married and I wanted to start a family right away.”
“How did you find time to do all this?” Keigo asked. He was feeling exhausted just from listening to how busy her childhood had seemed.
He always had one goal, one focus. He couldn’t imagine being confused about what you wanted to do to the point that you did everything. How could a person be good at anything if they weren’t focus on that one dream?
Etta laughed. “All of what? Unlike you, my family didn’t have a lot of money. My grandmother did all right, but everything she earned had to be poured back into the carnival upkeep. She had been sued a few times for accidents that happened. She preferred to settle than to cause the families anymore grief and blame herself for not knowing something was wrong.”
“How could she?” Keigo halted at Etta’s expression. “I see. Your grandmother was a psychic too.”
“She wasn’t as sharp as she became older. Her senses dulled and it was becoming harder for her to travel.” Etta’s smile faded. “I think the carnie l
ife was the only thing keeping her going. When she realized she couldn’t do it anymore, her heart was broken and she became very ill. Eventually, it just stopped.”
He saw the tears glistening in her lovely eyes and changed the subject. “I think you have beautiful feet,” Keigo surprised himself by confessing aloud. “Look at the way they arch and the delicate curve of your ankles are sexy.”
“Mmm,” she moaned and he looked up to find her eyeing him. Cocking her head to the side, she asked with a wicked gleam and the tears now gone. “Keigo Kyou, I’m beginning to think you are suffering from a foot fetish.”
“There are some things I will never admit to,” he returned her smile and stood. “How about that tea?”
She laughed up at him.
Their eyes locked and held.
His heart lurched. What was it about her that stirred him so? His blood weighed heavy in his crotch and his cock throbbed. How could he not desire her? Her pants caressed and molded the sexiest heart-shaped derriere he’d ever seen. Her t-shirt clung to small well-formed breasts with dark large nipples. He wanted to unknot it at the waist and sweep it over her slender defined arms. The first thing he would do is take one of those turgid nipples into his mouth and suckle like a newborn babe.
Keigo’s mouth went dry. He licked his lips. His dark eyes followed the tip of her pink tongue as she matched his wonton movement. Would she welcome his kiss or be appalled by his forwardness? It had been awhile since he had to think about things such as this. He knew his wife since high school and except for her he’d only been with two other women during the times they broke up only to get back together again.
His thoughts wondered to what kind of man this Neil had been. Auntie Loo had spoken of Neil. Was he Etta’s one great love? Did she have room in her heart for another man? What was her story, exactly?
The spell of the moment was broken and he felt her withdraw as if she sensed the turn his thoughts had taken. Maybe she did. He didn’t know enough about people that considered themselves psychics.
“Thank you,” she nodded at his feet. “For remembering I don’t allow people to wear shoes in my home.”
“How could I forget about your tatami floors?” Keigo snorted. “After the show airs, all of California and beyond will know about your bare feet and floors.”
”Ha and ha,” she muttered. “Anyway, I’m glad you came by. I was about to call you,” Etta said. Her breast brushed against his arm as she pushed past him and eased down the entrance hall. She continued to chatter as he continued to take in the view from walking behind her.
“I need to know how to pack and such. Also, did you remember to tell your assistant, Nan, to fax me those enrollment forms on the students? I haven’t got them yet and I won’t know how to plan my meals until I do.”
Keigo swallowed deeply and licked his lips once more wondering again if working in close proximity with Etta was a mistake. He was a grown man and of he couldn’t keep his body from reacting to Etta, how could he expect a handful of teenage boys to be civil around her? Then again, he possibly was over sensitive from lack of sex.
“Keigo, are you okay? You’re looking a bit feverish.”
He merely smiled. Nothing a cold shower won’t cure, he thought.
“It’s not the ulcer. It’s…” Etta frowned in confusion. “I’m not sure what it is. It’s a hunger…yet, not. Come and have a seat. If you aren’t feeling well, feel free to lie down. Have you eaten yet today? I can fix you some breakfast--”
“You can’t tell if I ate or not? Isn’t that unusual for you, the Psychic Chef?” Keigo chuckled, casting an amused look at Etta.
She went still and turned on him. “Fuck!”
Keigo coughed. His eyebrows arched in surprise.
“I hate it when people say stuff like that,” she explained. “Keigo let me get something clear so that I won’t spend the next month of my life hearing you make these little cracks.”
“Etta--” Keigo began, but that was as far as he got.
“Can the sarcasm,” she interrupted. “I’m not a walking thermometer stuck up your ass all day,” she fussed. “Let me explain what my abilities are in layman terms. I read your body’s nutritional needs. I suppose it can be similar to reading auras. That means I’m able to see the energy field that emanates from your body. For instance, everyone has this natural ability.”
He found her analogy amusing but didn’t dare laugh. He could see by the expression on her face she was serious and he remembered what Auntie Loo said about her wanting to live a normal life.
“I didn’t--”
“Let me finish,” she cut him off once more. “You know how you feel when your body nags you until you eat something creamy, chocolate, salty or sweet or the times that you keep eating because you can’t figure out what you want and eat a salad with a protein and its hit the spot?”
Deciding it was better to keep his mouth shut, Keigo nodded.
“I have the ability to read those naggings and a vision materializes in my mind of what physical nourishment your body needs. Now, it doesn’t seem like much when you think of it in terms of my using it for entertainment purposes. But, Keigo I only do that to pay my bills so that I can help those in deep need of my abilities without adding further financial hardships on them and their families.”
“I don’t understand,” Keigo cocked his head in question.
“That’s my point. You don’t understand,” Etta accused. “Your humorous jabs at my expense have proven that and the fact that you aren’t trying to understand hurts me. I’ve had to go through this my entire life.”
“Etta, I’m sorry.” Keigo reached out and caught her hand in his. The touch caused an immediate reaction as his blood rushed to where their palms pressed against one another. He could literally feel his heartbeat in his hand, or was it the combination of his and hers? “I can’t imagine what life is like for someone like you. I suppose human nature causes one to make light of the supernatural things they don’t understand or believe in. For me, it’s more than my analytical mind can consider. It rattles me and therefore I make jokes.”
He felt her hand squeeze his before saying, “I just need you at least for the next month we are to be in each other’s company to respect what I do. I didn’t ask to be this way and trust me, I fought it for a long time and because of it, I brought a curse upon myself.”
“Surly you don’t believe that,” Keigo protested.
“Yes, I do believe it,” Etta said. “I realized after my fiancé died in some freak accident that I wasn’t doing what God had planned for me. I was born with these extrasensory capabilities so that I can help others.” She shrugged her shoulders. “My grandmother told me that psychics, mediums and healers are God’s angels on earth. Our purpose is to balance out things by helping others. Not helping is going against our natural nature to help others and when this happens, it sets our entire lives into a tail spin.”
Keigo wasn’t sure how to respond to her statement. He was sure she believed it to be true. Did she assume it was because she tried to live normal life years ago her fiancé’s death was the curse her grandmother had spoken of? He wasn’t a religious man, but he didn’t think God would have time to be petty and deliberately make her life miserable.
Just like his lost. It wasn’t God that took his wife and daughter from him. It was a living-breathing madman that broke the law and because he was sentenced to pay for his crimes, he held Keigo accountable and cut his break lines. They had yet to find him
Startled by his revelation, Keigo eyes widened in amazement. It was the first time since the accident he laid blame at the perpetrator’s feet instead of his own for choosing to be a judge.
He inattentively caressed the top of her hand in his with his thumb. “Tell me more about what you do to help others. You mentioned helping those who couldn’t afford to pay you. What is that about? Etta, I really want to understand what it’s like in your world.”
He saw her visibly relax. She tugged o
n his hand and urged him to sit on the blue silk covered sofa. He was happy she chose to drop down beside him so that he didn’t have to let go of her hand.
“I volunteer my services to people who have family in the hospital or nursing home for long term illnesses. For instance, patients that are in a comma, yet they have the ability to sustain life without machines breathing for them, but they aren’t awake to feed themselves. So these families are being told by doctors that they won’t ever wake up and suggest removing the feeding tubes and allow them to die naturally.”
It shamed him that he never thought about it. Keigo to this day had never bothered to discuss the accident and its after effect with his mother. He had no idea what she and the rest of his immediate family went through while he was in a coma. He had been so oppressed by his own guilt and grief. Keigo didn’t think he remembered to thank his family and friends for taking care of him, his place and everything else that they had done for him during such difficult times.
Hell, it's been over three years and Marco and Enrique were still handling him with care when it came to his temperament, his need to have them drive all the time, not to mention his inability to discuss his wife and daughter or the circumstances around their death. Nor had he been willing to face the fact that his marriage hadn't been as perfect as he liked to have believed at the time of Claire's death. It was remarkable how one's mind could remember only the good things about people once they died.
Keigo turned his attention back to Etta as she continued attempting to make him understand what her life was like.
“My mother and I work as a team. She does a reading and knows if the patient is still aware of things around them. She also can tell if they will make a recovery within time or…not,” Etta explained. “She is what one would call clairvoyant; she is also clairsentience.”
Confused, Keigo stared at her. “Meaning what exactly?”
“She has the ability to see images with exceedingly heightened sensitivity. She has the capacity to predict or have the wisdom of something in advance of its occurrence—such as death or pending dangers. If they are aware and aren’t going to die, I aid in the process of keeping them healthy as possible. Something like the therapists that come in and work their limbs to keep the circulation flowing.”
The Flavor Of Love Page 9
