When, at last, he found me.

by Adrianna Stepiano

  Joseph let out a chuckle and before I could be upset with him, his hands wrapped around my elbows. Like a child, my arms bent out in front of my body and my shoulders lifted to my ears. His hands were warm and soft against my skin and I immediately regretted not regularly exfoliating my elbows. Glancing at his arms I noticed his muscles tightening as he lifted.

  “Thanks.” I conceded.

  “There it is.” He said, acknowledging my thanks in a way that made me want to punch out his perfect smile.

  “Don’t walk me home. I’m fine.” Scornful, I passed him.

  “And there it goes.” He mumbled.

  The thunder moved closer. Strong winds began to blow. Footsteps were close behind me. He was following even though I told him not to. “What is wrong with you? Can’t you take a hint?” I spoke loud, keeping my eyes ahead.

  “What? Did you seriously just ask that question?” He stopped abruptly, grabbing my arm and forcing me to stop as well. With a quick motion I was facing him. Standing at least a foot taller, he looked down, still gripping my arm. “What is wrong with ME? Don’t you mean, what is wrong with you? You are out, on a remote trail, jogging by yourself. Why didn’t you go on the trail in your neighborhood?”

  “That trail was too crowed.” I started to explain but he interrupted.

  “Too crowded? You sure are careless for a girl who lives alone and has no one to look out for her.”

  Those words hurt. I had no one. I hid my pain with anger; shouting back. “Wait a minute, answer my question. What were you doing over here anyway? You’re alone.”

  “I WAS ON MY WAY TO WORK. I already told you that.” He shouted but continued ahead. I watched him catch his toe on a root that was sticking out of the ground. He stumbled forward, regaining his balance. “Besides, I’m a guy. Guys are supposed to be on remote trails, it’s what we do. We explore on our own. Women shouldn’t be on their own, defenseless.”

  Pushing past him, I felt the mud fall from my knees. I dreaded looking in the mirror when I finally did get home. “I’m far from defenseless and I don’t need you looking out for me; you can leave now.”

  “Oh, you are something else, Seraphin!” His voice grew louder. “Next time, I’ll just ignore your calls for help when I hear them. Obviously, you don’t need rescuing.”

  “Why do you keep insisting I called for help? Oh wait, now I remember what I said. ‘Joseph, please save me!’ Right before I knocked myself out.” Keeping my eyes forward, I was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing any tears. Trying to clear my head before I lost all emotional control and blacked out, I focused on the sky above. Dark storm clouds moved in quickly.

  Joseph was not far behind. We continued in silence. Occasionally, he would let out a sarcastic, “Unbelievable!”

  I fought blacking-out harder than I ever had. Unintentionally, I slowed down as my head began to grow lighter.

  He noticed something was wrong and his voice was calmer. “Seraphin, are you feeling alright? Maybe you should sit down again. You did just smack your head against the ground.”

  “I’m fine!” I was stubborn, as I straightened my back and continued tromping up the hill. He followed close behind.

  When we reached the top of the hill, I heard his footsteps slow and on impulse stopped to look. He was staring at the sky nervously. In only a few steps he was beside me. “Let’s get back to your house. There is a bad storm coming.”

  Grabbing my hand he led me away from the patch of trees. I had to run to keep him from pulling me. The sky over the water from where we had just come had turned a dark greenish-gray and there was a low rumble of thunder. The wind was violent. My hair slapped at my shoulders.

  I was still angry. My pace quickened and I passed Joseph with ease. We were almost to Briarwood Court when it started to rain. The drops were heavy and painful when they landed on my skin. We sprinted the last quarter-mile. When we reached the trail that earlier had been packed with people, I slipped on the wet pavement. Without hesitation, Joseph threw his arms out, catching me before I could fall. My anger dissipated and I muttered a thank you.

  We took shelter on my front porch and I doubled over, panting from the dash and soaked from the rain. Joseph started pacing back and forth in front of me mumbling. “I shouldn’t have done that. Now what? What am I supposed to do now?”

  “Joseph, are you alright?” I was still panting, although, surprisingly, I felt great after such an exhilarating run. Within minutes the clouds cleared and the sun started shining again. It would take only 10 minutes before the water on the streets evaporated; leaving no indication of the storm that had just blown in from nowhere.

  He didn’t answer, so I tried foolishly to lighten the mood. “That was kind of fun, don’t you think? It’s been a long time since I ran in the rain.”

  “FUN? You think that was fun? Have you no idea how much danger we were in?” His voice panicked.

  Obviously my attempt didn’t work. I wondered if the only thing he could do was make me feel bad about myself.

  “It’s a storm. I guess we could have gotten struck by lightning, but we’re fine. Calm down.” Right away, I knew it was going to upset him.

  “Calm down? She wants me to calm down.” He was mumbling, angry.

  “Joseph, maybe we should go inside?” I interrupted.

  “Great idea. You should get inside.” A bit calmer, he took his hand and gently guided me to the front door. “Go on.”

  My house key was in my shoe. As I took my shoe off, he gave a crooked smile when he saw what I was doing but held back any comments. I appreciated his reserved judgment.

  “Do you want to come in? I cleaned the house; it’s not nearly as creepy as it was last time you were here.”

  He shook himself off like a dog and his mood seemed to lighten, “Oh, your house wasn’t that creepy. I’ve been to some caverns that would make…” He stopped himself.

  “That would make what?” I asked.

  “Nothing. Forget it.” He pushed at me to get in the house.

  I stepped inside and the screen door shut between us. “Wait, I still want to talk to you about Ms.—your Aunt Doreh.”

  He ignored me, “I have to get to work. I’ll see you around.”

  “Sure. Yeah. See you around.” I said, disappointed. Evidently, he was not going to discuss her. As he walked away I wondered what he was hiding.

  Later that morning, I took the ferry to Great Cranberry Island with no incident. There were a handful of familiar faces from the day before. Keeping myself busy with a few tabloids I bought from Keyes Market, I was able to distract myself with the ludicrous articles and the nostalgic thoughts that came along with them. Grandma used to read them all the time. I would laugh the older I got but she would defend the crazy stories, telling me that they reported on the real news.

  That month’s headlines read, Dolphin leads Scientists to Lost City of Atlantis; Man Abducted 30 Years Ago Found Wandering along Beach Has Not Aged a Day; and the one that caught my attention was Next Super Perigee Moon to Bring Apocalypse. Of course, none of those actually occurred or would occur. However, they were fun to read and besides, the day my father died there was a Super Perigee Moon; it brought my own personal apocalypse. I reasoned that it would benefit to know when the next one was scheduled to rise. They were predicting an early cycle. According to the tabloid, I had four years before the worlds end—I laughed at the absurdity.

  When I clocked in for my shift, I had to pass by Mrs. Keyes office. The door was open and a man dressed in a full captain’s uniform was speaking with her. I overheard part of their conversation.

  “Mrs. Keyes, with all due respect, it is your job to provide the vessel with a capable staff that will serve for each mission. Now, we are leaving this evening on the John F. Kennedy for an overnight and I expect two MOLEs to be waiting at 3:00 sharp.” The Captain said with authority.

  “But I haven’t even had a chance to train the new hires. Usually the first mission isn’t for two w
eeks into the summer program.” Mrs. Keyes sounded upset.

  “Things changed this year. I don’t know why, I just drive the boat.” He turned and placed his hat on his head. “3:00 SHARP!”

  Mrs. Keyes followed the Captain out of her office; I turned and pretended to be looking in my locker. I didn’t want them to think I had overheard.

  After he left, she approached me. “Seraphin, I need you to work tonight. I know you haven’t officially been trained on the vessels but two of my more seasoned MOLEs are sick. You and I are the only people left to work.”

  “Mrs. Keyes, I can say, with utmost of confidence, that bringing me on a vessel overnight is a terrible idea. I am terrified of water.”

  “No problem. You won’t be in the water. You’ll be on a boat; a perfectly safe boat. Plus, you’ll earn overnight pay, which is double your hourly rate. Follow me and I’ll give you a crash course in cleaning a vessel.”

  “Alright,” I sighed.

  The ship I was assigned to was one of the smallest in the fleet, the John F. Kennedy. It was used for day trips and occasional overnight outings. My instructions were straight forward, “keep the ship clean and stay out of the way.” Mrs. Keyes repeated that phrase during the hour it took for her to train me. It seemed simple enough.

  When we were finished, she said I could go home as long as I returned for 3:00 crew call. I decided to hang out on campus instead of going back and forth on the ferry. My nerves where shot as it was. Mrs. Keyes gave me a free cafeteria pass for being such a cooperative employee. It was better than nothing.

  The dining room was nearly empty when I arrived for lunch. There were about half-a-dozen people scattered across the room and it was silent except for the clattering of pans in the kitchen.

  Taking a few slices of veggie pizza and a salad, I sat at an empty table near the television. World News Daily Worldwide, WNDW was on and I starred blankly at the screen while I ate. The volume was down and closed captioning transcribed. There was a breaking news story, an oversized block of text slammed across the screen; BREAKING NEWS ALERT. Red graphics flashed to reveal a WNDW reporter on location. The story was about a vessel that capsized in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. Seeing the news report was, of course, not helping to calm my nerves regarding the John F. Kennedy trip. Usually, the Coast Guard could get to the ship and airlift the crew to safety. Although, that time they lost one crewman. The bottom of the screen read that a 24-year-old man by the name of Nicholas Trite was presumed to go down with the ship.

  “Was that a vessel from Pacific Coastal Research?” A voice asked.

  I turned to see Ethan standing with a tray of food.

  “They haven’t announced a company name yet.” Someone answered.

  I knew the voice that answered Ethan’s question. The voice belonged to Joseph Merrick. He sat in a corner booth, with a baseball cap on, by himself. His eyes were glued to the television and didn’t bother to turn when he spoke to Ethan, of which I was grateful.

  What is he doing here? I thought he was going to…WORK. He must work here. For as much as I had seen Joseph that past week, I knew very little about him.

  “Hey Jay, are you going on the John F. Kennedy with us?” Ethan walked past me to the booth where Joseph sat.

  I eavesdropped.

  “Not this time I’m afraid. I have some other business to tend to. You will be with Dr. Radski for this research mission. It’s cool that they’re taking a group of you, usually the summer researchers don’t go out for the first two weeks. It must be important.” Joseph continued watching the television.

  A sense of relief washed over me knowing that Ethan would be on the John F. Kennedy and Joseph would not. Even though I knew deep down that he wouldn’t be of any help if I blacked out.

  So, Joseph is Jay? Now it makes sense that Ms. Z was able to get Ethan into the program with only a moment’s notice. She called in a favor from her nephew. Now, what’s with the alias?

  Not wanting any awkwardness, I purposely hurried through the rest of my pizza. It wouldn’t be good if Joseph realized I was there. I was nervous enough and the last thing I needed was another argument with him.

  Ethan spotted me and shouted across the dining room. “Hey Phin.”

  No Ethan, NO! Please don’t draw attention to me. I didn’t speak but instead put my hand up and waved. I glanced at Joseph; he was still enamored with the television. That’s right! He knows me as Seraphin. Only Ethan calls me Phin. Maybe I was safe? My plate was already folded in half and I started to get up to throw the rest of my lunch away when Ethan approached the table.

  “I forgot to ask you on the ferry, did you move back into your grandma’s house on Briarwood Court?” Ethan said innocently.

  “Yes,” answering, knowing that his question would bring unwanted attention. And, I was right. Joseph took his eyes off the television only to meet mine with a look of horror.

  He immediately stood and walked to my table. Calm and polite he spoke, “Seraphin, I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “I bet.” I said casually, avoiding his eyes.

  He turned to Ethan. “Am I interrupting?”

  “No.” Ethan looked confused. “You two know each other?”

  His question went unanswered as Joseph turned to me. “Can I have a word with you?”

  “No. I was just about to leave.” I didn’t want to talk to him.

  “I’m leaving too.” He insisted.

  “But it looks to me like you haven’t finished your lunch.” I pointed to the booth where his salad remained untouched.

  “I’m not hungry all of the sudden.” His voice was intense, almost pleading. “Please can we talk?”

  I turned to Ethan. “I’ll be on the John F. Kennedy with you tonight. I’ll see you at crew call.”

  “Super.” He mumbled, chewing half a sandwich.

  Without saying another word, Joseph walked past and I followed out of the dining room and into the hallway. He glanced over his shoulder several times; I assume to be sure I was still there. When I passed, I considered escaping into the ladies restroom, but I resisted. We arrived at an office with a nameplate on the door that read Jay Mason, Marine Research. He closed the door behind us. An empty leather chair was in front of a desk, he gestured for me to sit but I refused to make myself comfortable.

  His arms spread wide and his shoulders shrugged, on his face was a look of disbelief. “What is going on? Why are you here?”

  Ignoring his questions, I had my own. “So, do you work here? Jay? Mason?”

  “NO. I mean, yes. You can’t know about this. You can’t. Why are you here?” A touch of panic was in his voice.

  “I work here Joseph, I’m a…”

  Grabbing my shoulders, he whispered in my ear. “You can’t call me Joseph. I’m Jay.” He walked to the other side of the office, mumbling. “After I save you Aunt Doreh, I am going to kill you.”

  “Alright, JAY. I’ll call you JAY. What’s the big deal?”

  “Seraphin, you can’t be here. You can’t work here. How did you even get a job here?”

  “Wow.” Slowly taking a few steps back, feeling confused and a bit angry. “First of all, I’d rather not call you anything because I wish we had never met. However, since that’s not possible, I’ll call you whatever you want.”

  “Good, so you need to…”

  I interrupted. “Second, I don’t know why you feel the need to tell me where I can and cannot work. I don’t even know you, JAY. AND, you barely know me, so do me a favor and stop coming to my rescue if the only thing you’re going to do is make me out to be a hindrance.” I had my hand on the doorknob, ready to leave.

  He stepped closer, his voice low. “You don’t belong here Seraphin.”

  “I don’t belong here? The last time I checked it didn’t take a PhD in Marine Biology to scrub toilets on research ships!” I shouted. “It’s refreshing to know how you really feel.”

  “How I really feel? What does that mean?” He a
sked.

  “The fact that you feel I’m too dumb to work here,” I was being a little dramatic.

  “That’s not what I was saying.” He paced around the office, his fists were clenched and his jaw tight.

  “Why do you…” I paused and with a deep breath finished, “…hate me so much?”

  His shoulders slouched at my words. Several moments passed before answering. “I don’t hate you Seraphin. I hate.” Stopping, as he chose his words carefully. “I hate the way we met.”

  Slowly, he leaned against the desk; he looked overpowered for the first time. My accusations seemed to make him sad and unexpectedly, I wanted to comfort him.

  He moved to be closer when I sat down in the leather chair. Using his arms he effortlessly hoisted himself so he was sitting on his desk just a few feet from me. His hands were folded in his lap. He glanced at his hands, then at me and finally through the glass window and into the hallway. “I think you’ve got a visitor. We can talk later. Just please remember that I’m Jay here.”

  Turning to see Ethan standing behind the frosted glass of the office door, I was disappointed. Waving awkwardly, the shape of his head looked even rectangular through the patterned glass.

  “Right. Got it, I’ll call you Jay.” I assured Joseph.

  “Thanks.” He said.

  When I opened the door, Ethan knew he was interrupting and seemed uncomfortable to be doing so. “I’m sorry, Dr. Radski sent me. She’s looking for you, Jay.”

  “Not a problem, we’re done here.” Assuring Ethan, I left.

  Ethan caught up; we walked back to the cafeteria together. He asked how I knew Jay. “Ethan, I don’t know him that well. Ms. Z introduced us after the graduation ceremony and we’ve seen each other around since then.”

  From the sound of it, he thought very highly of Jay Mason. “Phin, he is the top researcher here at CORE. He’s written countless essays. The most recent was published last month in Sea Life Magazine about the adaptations of phytoplankton to sunlight.”