As she entered, the room got quiet. Oh God, what now? There was a woman she had never seen sitting next to Solfa. The woman took one look at her and started to cry. She immediately got up and ran to Alex, throwing her arms around her.
“Alexia,” Solfa provided the introduction, “this is my mother. She is your mother’s cousin.” It now made sense why this woman was crying and holding her like she would never let her go.
“You look so much like your mother, Alexia. She was quite a bit younger than I was, but there was something about Starta I always loved. I was devastated when she left with your father. She should have done what the rest of us did and just accepted things. She would still be alive if she had.”
Alex held the woman as she cried. A sorrow so deep, she was not sure how to comfort her.
“Can she be trusted?” she asked Tarsea. It was true this woman loved her mother, but she could also present a risk to everyone in the room.
“Solfa told me that her mother has been very bitter about what happened. She is also aware of what her daughter has been up to. This is the last person that will put you at risk.” Hearing what Tarsea communicated made Alex relax a little bit.
She felt the need to comfort this woman who loved her mother so much. A sharp mental pain hit Alex as she once again felt the loss of the mother she never knew.
“I am not going anywhere,” Alex said softly. “I promise. Solfa told me you are her mother, but not what your name is.”
“My name is Pattrice. I loved your mother so much, I am truly blessed to have her daughter back. When Solfa told me Norri was here, I wanted to come over immediately. She held me off until this morning and then I found out about you. I cannot believe I am holding Starta’s daughter in my arms.” The poor woman started crying all over again.
Alex caught her aunt’s eye and mouthed, “Please, help me.”
Norri got up and took Pattrice back to where she had been sitting. She had her arm around her cousin and was speaking softly, comforting her.
“Good morning,” Tarsea whispered in her ear after he walked over and joined her. He gave her a loving kiss on her forehead and a gentle hug.
Leenea was right behind him with a steaming cup of herbs for her. She took the mug and kissed her on the cheek. Alex grew even closer to this wonderful woman after she sat and talked with her yesterday afternoon.
Tarsea led her over to the couch, both ready to join the discussion. Alex noticed that he was the only male in the room. “Where is everyone else?”
He smiled and brought his arm around her shoulder. “There were too many women, so my dad and Tolfer went out for breakfast. Tolfer has to teach this afternoon and my dad will attend the Prime Council meeting to hear what is being discussed.”
She looked toward Solfa and was curious where they stood on the events from yesterday. Her world recently had revolved around the episode with Narmouth. “Did they finish interviewing Mrs. Hosp and get her through the portal?” Once again talking to Tarsea using their private channel.
Tarsea responded, “Early this morning, before the sun rose. We got some additional names, we will chat this afternoon or tomorrow about our next steps. Enjoy time with your newly discovered family.”
Alex went back to sipping the herbal drink after telepathically conversing with Tarsea. She watched her aunt continue to try and calm her cousin. Emotions were running high. It still blew her away that she had gone from being an orphan to discovering this wonderful extended family she had in a parallel world. From time to time she even pinched herself to make sure she was not dreaming.
Pattrice seemed to have gotten control of herself once again. “Norri is going to be moving in with me until the apartment is ready. I would like you to join us. There is plenty of room. It will give us all a chance to get to know each other.”
Alex stared at her cousin’s mother. She was not sure what to do. When she first came to this house, she knew it was temporary. However, that was before she found out Tarsea was her soul mate. There was no question she liked sharing a bed with him and had planned to continue doing so.
Tarsea stood up cleared his throat. “I would like to make an announcement, or rather, I would like to ask Alexia a question.” He then got down on one knee and took her hand. “Alexia, will you marry me?”
Alex was overwhelmed and she struggled to catch her breath. She wondered, yet again, what was the man thinking? No, no, no, he did not just ask her to marry him, did he?
“What! My aunt asks me to move in with her and now you are asking me to marry you in front of everyone? Overreact much?”
“I was going to buy you a ring this afternoon and ask you tonight when we were alone. Remember, I mentioned I had some shopping to do today.”
“Well, crap, I’m so sorry, Tarsea. I am sure it would have been beautiful and my cousin messed up your plans.”
“Alex, are you going to answer me? Everyone is looking at us.”
She looked around and noticed all eyes were looking at her expectantly. How long had she and Tarsea been conversing through the soul mate channel? She thought she should answer him and end the suspense. Her mind was spinning. She was conflicted over how to answer him. Time, she needed time to figure out what to do.
“Tarsea, I would be honored to eventually marry you. We have only known each other for a grand total of six days. You just broke up with a woman that the world knows you dated for seven months. Our existence and safety is dependent on appearances.”
He looked like a wounded puppy. She really wished that he had not asked her in front of everyone. It killed her she had to temporarily turn him down with an audience present.
“Son,” Leenea addressed Tarsea, “your father and I pretended to have a moderate dating period and then a fairly quick wedding. Alex is right, yet again showing wisdom beyond her years.”
“I can move in with Norri and Pattrice for a short while, for appearances sake. We can have date night and sleepovers at your place, just like a normal couple. Then I can move in with you and we can eventually get married. I want Shirl and Candy there. We have to get them here so they can help me plan the wedding.”
He still did not look happy. She really did not understand what the rush was. With his reputation, who would believe they were engaged anyway. Tarsea had given every indication that he was committed to her. She still wanted to soothe his bruised ego.
“Tarsea, you grew up with the legend of soul mates. Maybe a lot of what you are feeling for me is related to that, rather than organic feelings. I did not grow up with those stories. There is no question I have very strong feelings for you. Let’s continue to get to know each other.”
“I was really looking forward to getting you a ring this afternoon and putting it on your finger. That ring would symbolize that you are mine.”
“Hey,” Alex announced to the world, “I’m not averse to getting jewelry! We can still go shopping for a ring, just not an engagement ring. Maybe an Irish Claddagh ring. Do you have them here?”
“What is it?” Tarsea asked.
“The ring has two hands clasping a heart. The hands symbolize friendship and the heart symbolizes love. If I wear the ring facing in, it means I am taken. I remember when Angel gave Buffy her Claddagh ring and then he turned evil.” She still missed that damn television show.
Tarsea smiled, “I have no idea what you are talking about. But, we can see what the jeweler has.”
Alex figured they could go after she had lunch with the Gorgon sisters. Medusa had nothing on Chartail as far as she was concerned.
“Guess we should be going to meet the ladies for lunch. If I had known we would be having a family reunion and a proposal, I certainly would not have made this lunch appointment. Since I just met Chartail, it would be rude to cancel on her.” Alexandra knew she could leverage Tarsea’s former girlfriend
and did not want to alienate her from the beginning.
Regardless of the attack, she still planned on becoming an intelligence officer. It meant too much to her to let the slime ball ruin her plans. She figured this lunch was her first step down that road. Buckle up, she was ready to go.
Chapter 22
Alex stood in front of the restaurant where she was going to have lunch with Chartail and two of her friends. Tarsea had just dropped her off and was supposedly going shopping. She had a feeling that he or one of his friends was hanging around in case of any trouble. The incident yesterday with Raine Narmouth had not only spooked her, but the men in her life as well. In the past, she only had Shirl and Candy. Now she had her family, Tarsea, his family and friends.
Taking a deep breath, she walked into the restaurant. She knew she had to give off the aura of self-confidence if she was going to survive in these shark infested waters. Fortunately, it was still early, the place was relatively empty. It was not difficult to find Chartail. Today the she-beast was wearing a bright fuchsia blouse.
Alex navigated around tables covered with white tablecloths. Each table was set with ivory and gray colored plates, accompanied by wine glasses and water goblets. Things were not so different from home in this respect. It was only the telepathic ordering of your meal that was so dissimilar. That was going to take some getting used to.
Chartail got up and waved when she spotted her. Alex was surprised by the jovial welcome. The woman seemed genuinely pleased to see her. She started to feel bad about all the terrible names she had been calling Chartail in her mind.
As Alex neared the table, Chartail came over and gave her the same fake kisses on both sides of her face as she did two nights ago. “I am so pleased you were able to join us. Please sit and I will introduce you to everyone.”
Alex took the only available chair, the one right next to Chartail.
“I am Sondra,” the blond woman to her left said as she grabbed her hand. “It is so nice to meet you. I dated Tarsea right before he started dating Jessalyn.” She indicated to the woman across from Alex, another beautiful tall blonde. Chartail was right, she really was not Tarsea’s type.
“Wow!” that was all Alex could think to say. How many women had Tarsea dated? She took a big gulp of water. If there were menus she could have started looking at one. She was forced to look at her three lovely lunch companions. Why weren’t there any menus?
“Please,” Jessalyn said, “do not feel awkward. We have all been where you are now. Tarsea is a great boyfriend, while it lasts.”
Alex figured her discomfort had been written all over her face. So much for ruling the situation and coming out on top. These women scared her to death. Soul mate or not, how was she going to compete for Tarsea when these are the women he had been dating in the past?
“Honey,” Sondra joined the conversation, “we are here for you when the inevitable happens. We are sort of like a club. Admittance is being dumped by Tarsea Childers. I guess we could say you are in the initiation phase, you are actually still dating him.”
She took a momentary break from the conversation and listened into the communal channels. There were various comments about the beautiful three blondes at the table. Alex was not surprised. For once she was happy to be invisible to many people’s eyes.
“Alex,” Chartail added after visually examining her for several minutes, “we have to take you shopping. We need to add some color into your wardrobe. You kind of blend into the background.”
She could not fault Chartail’s observation. There were times she did need to stand out of the shadows and needed to get some nicer clothes. At home, she went shopping with Shirl. Alex had never been into clothes, so her best friend usually directed what she bought and wore. Shirl was always going on about what colors she should wear. She could not remember what colors she said were best for her light auburn hair and her coloring. Now Chartail was offering to help her select clothing. Under different circumstances she could see Chartail and her becoming friends.
“That would be very nice of you, Chartail. I only brought a couple of outfits with me and do not know the stores here.” Alex all of a sudden thought of that cute clothing store she passed when she was with Raine. She wondered if she was ever going to be able to stomach going there after all.
The waiter came with the menus. Since this was the first time ordering off the lunch menu, the three women ordered first. As they telepathically made their selections, Alex looked at the menu to see what they were ordering. Two of the three ordered the house special salad, she felt that was her best bet. When in Rome, after all.
Alex placed her order telepathically. She included a glass of the wine she had last night with Tarsea. As she was handing her menu to the waiter, their drinks arrived. You’ve got to love the efficiency of this place.
She took a sip of her wine and concentrated on Jessalyn to see if she could read her mind. The woman was talking about the store where she had purchased her bright red blouse and what a great deal she got.
Alex felt a weird kind of static and then picked up, “I really paid a lot more for the blouse, but they do not need to know that.” She choked on her wine, placing the glass down, as she continued to cough. The shopping conversation ceased as the women asked if she was all right. Alex nodded as she got the coughing under control.
Once again Alex leveraged the soul mate link to share her accomplishment with him. “I did it, Tarsea, I was able to read someone’s thoughts!”
“That is great, baby! Enjoy your lunch. Do not over stress your brain with your new talent.” Alexandra was touched by Tarsea’s concern. She decided she’d have more herbs when she got home so he would not worry. Besides, the last thing she wanted was another nose bleed. She was going to become anemic if they continued. Eating liver to increase her iron count was a horrifying thought.
The waiter came with a bread basket. Alex grabbed a roll and what she thought was flavored butter to spread on it. She took a bite and yet again was blown away about how good food was in the Troyk Universe. Maybe her taste buds had been impacted by the portal.
“Yum!” Alex shared with the group. “This is really delicious. You have much better restaurants here than where I am from.” It was the truth after all. She just did not mention where exactly she was from.
Sondra concurred, “The Aster Province is known for their restaurants and excellent wines. This one has their own bread and pastry chef.”
Alex continued to nibble on the bread as the women talked about what their favorite restaurants were. She would have to share the information with Tarsea. While she listened, she concentrated on Sondra.
The woman smiled at Alex, thinking she was captivated by what she was saying. “I have to fast every time I go out to dinner. My new desk job is causing me to put on weight.”
Alex was amazed how easy it was to pick up that thought. There was no static or any pressure on her brain.
Chartial’s dish arrived and their salads. The dressing came on the side. Alex placed her fork in the bowl and tasted the dressing. Not surprising, it was delicious. She poured the dressing on the salad and she started to attack her lunch.
“How is your salad, Alexia?” Chartail asked as she was digging into her keen and some kind of mushroom dish.
“Everything is so good. I am going to put on a ton of weight living here.” She could not believe how comfortable she was with these ladies. Alex felt a little guilty about reading their minds.
“So,” Chartail said, “you have decided to move here and live with your aunt?”
“Yes,” Alex replied between bites of her salad, “that is the plan.”
“Do not worry, Alexia. You are slim, you can afford to put on some weight.” She was liking Sondra more and more.
Everyone was enjoying their lunches and the conversation temporarily stopped as they ate
. Alex decided she would try to read Chartail’s mind. Guilt was overruled by her need to practice her new skill. She was also curious if Chartail’s inner thoughts mirrored her friendly exterior.
She concentrated on the woman next to her. The woman who Tarsea had sex with, but never shared his bed. She was getting the same strange static, but still could not pick up a train of thought. Maybe she was so busy eating, she was not thinking about anything specific.
Her concentration was broken when she heard a man’s voice.
“Hello, Alexia.”
She looked up to see Raine Narmouth staring at her. His face was a collection of black, blue and purple bruises and the scratches she inflicted. Koel did a real number on him, deservedly.
“Raine!” Alex cried, “What are you doing here? After you attacked me yesterday, I thought you got the message I was off limits.”
The three women at the table were watching the exchange. Chartail started to get a very hostile expression on her face.
“Alexia,” Raine pleaded, “it was all a misunderstanding. I did not mean to hit you, I was just trying to calm you down.”
“I am sorry, but picking me up and dragging me into an isolated location would panic anyone. You need to stay away from me.”
Chartail stood and addressed Raine. “You need to get out of here before I call the authorities. My father is Prime Adholm and he can ruin your career.”
Just as Chartail finished talking, the restaurant’s manager came up and physically escorted Raine Narmouth off the premises.
As he was being evicted from the restaurant, Raine was shouting out to her. “Alexia, you need to forgive me. Please, give me another chance.”
“That was really creepy,” Jessalyn said. “What happened yesterday?”
The Chameleon Soul Mate Page 16
