Cursed (15 page)

I was entranced until suddenly the words sunk
in, “What, a few weeks. Then where?”

“Back home.” He shrugged.

I shook my head, “Where is home?”

“It’s far away from here, god this soymilk is
disgusting.” He grimaced making me laugh. It seemed like he was
letting himself relax a little.

“It’s an acquired taste. Start with chocolate
it’s easier that way.” Sipping my coffee was hard because my heart
was panicking. He had a few weeks and that was it.

“Where are you staying Aleksander?” I wondered
if he liked Aleks better.

“I am staying with the family I’m here helping.
When my work with them is over I will be on my way
unfortunately.”

I frowned confused, “Are you like a social
worker?”

He nodded, “Exactly like a social worker. I
can’t talk about it though, it’s confidential and I take that very
seriously.” Again the stern nature was back. He was better at
putting up walls than I was.

I noticed for the first time he was wearing a
beige shirt with a cross on it, “Are you’re a Christian?”

He laughed, “I don’t think of it like that. I
try not to classify religion that way. I believe in god but maybe
not church. The cross on my shirt is mine to bear, that’s the
meaning of the shirt.”

I smiled, “I like it. That’s a smart idea.
Instead of assuming god and Jesus will save you and you can sin and
say sorry for your crimes. This way your crimes are yours and yours
alone.”

He lifted his mug up and drank making a face
that made me burst into laughter. I notice the women in the café
were also laughing at his face. I was getting a bit creeped out by
the attention he was getting, “Is it always like this?”

He looked around, “What?”

“The women are staring at you, they look like
they might attack any second.”

He smirked his sexy smile at me, “Fresh meat in
a small town gets notice. I could have three arms, to these women
all I am is new. How do you feel about the boys in this small town?
Do you judge them by the girls they’ve already dated?”

I grimaced, “You have no idea.”

I stuffed the last of my tart into my mouth and
sucked back my latte, “Let’s go.”

He stood as I did and walked ahead to get the
door for me, I loved that about gentlemen. When we were outside
again I nudged against him slightly, “What are you reading?”

He laughed but his eyes bore down on me,
“You.”

I sucked my next breath in as my eyes widened.
It scared me how intensely I liked him after half an hour.

He nudged me back, “I am reading Bram Stokers
Dracula, in Romanian.”

I sighed, “How many languages do you speak?”

He shook his head, “Too many to count.”

I had felt proud until he had said that, “I only
speak four. But I’m working on my fifth right now.”

“I’m surprised the CIA hasn’t scooped you up
yet, you’d be a good spy,”

“You’re obviously not American I can hear an
accent, it's faint and only present on the slightest words. Where
are you from?”

He laughed, “You’re very clever for what,
eighteen?” He was asking my age, this was a good sign.

I nodded, “Just. I graduate in less than two
months.”

We walked talking as the backs of our hands
brushed against each other.

“Where will you go after you grad?”

“University in the city and then work in the
city I guess. No more small towns.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about
that.

“What do you want to be?” He asked staring out
at the sea.

I shrugged, “It was a doctor because I wanted to
help people but recently I went to visit a friend at children’s
hospital in the city and it broke my heart. Now I’m not sure where
I fit.”

He moved my hair out of my face as we stopped at
the end of the pier and the wind had taken off with it, “You’re
young, you will figure it out.”

I looked up into his eyes, they looked as if
they had crystals inside, and they sparkled with life. His face was
that of a Greek statue from thousands of years earlier, perfect and
chiseled. He looked so strong fierce when he stood there by the
sea, I could imagine him as a king or great leader. He suited the
strength of his name, like a Viking standing at the helm of the
Great War ship.

He looked at me shivering and frowned, “You’re
getting cold.”

I hadn’t noticed I was getting cold, I had felt
great. “Sorry I didn’t realize. I’m still very weak.”

He frowned, “Were you sick?”

I glared at him trying to see if he was serious,
“I was drugged at a party. We had this conversation remember?”

He looked confused, “You were serious?”

I nodded, “Yes. A man date rape drugged my
friend’s drink and she and I shared it. She is actually in liver
failure now at children’s. She is the friend I was visiting
there.”

He looked very angry and concerned, “That’s
disgusting. What happened after you took the drugs?”

I shrugged, “The memories are really fuzzy, but
we were found in a pile of vomit each and she was taken to hospital
right away. I apparently put myself to bed so everyone thought I
was fine but the way I remember it was that you were there and I
was choking and you got the vomit out of my throat and saved me.
Then you cleaned me up and put me to bed.”

He shook his head, “It must have been a dream.
The man who drugged you never got a hold of you though?” He truly
almost had me convinced I had dreamt him up.

I shrugged, “We don’t know, we don’t think so.
But he’s following me now. He is stalking me.”

He grabbed my arms quite firmly unexpectedly,
“You need to be very careful then. He means business if he’s
stalking you after drugging you.”

I winced, “You’re hurting me.”

His grip loosened instantly, “Sorry, it just
makes me so angry. I can't stand the idea of anyone hurting you
least of all me, sorry about that.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that sort of
intensity or familiarity but my cell phone was going wacky in my
pocket. “I have to get that.” I spoke softly pulling the phone out
and looking at the dozen messages.

I called my dad quickly, “Excuse me for a
moment. Please just wait here.” I held up a hand and walk to the
other side of the pier.

My dad answered in a panic, “Hello.”

“Hey dad.”

He bellowed into the phone, “Do you have any
idea what I have been going through this last hour. I sent Shane
looking for you. I almost called the police young lady.”

I shuddered, “Sorry, I just got caught up in the
conversation I was having. It was refreshing to be a normal kid for
an hour.”

He groaned into the phone, “Aimee the coffee
shop phoned and said you were having coffee with a strange man no
one knows. He could be the psycho.”

I shook my head as I looked down the pier at
him, “No dad he’s not. I know his voice a little bit and this is
not the guy. His mouth isn’t the same anyway. He’s a fellow art
lover from the library not a crazed rapist. ”

“Okay well I want you home in the next half an
hour. You have school tomorrow and you’re going, for the full day.
God I feel like I’m talking to your sister not you Aimee.” He hung
up the phone and I felt a lot of guilt left dangling at the end of
the conversation. My poor dad had been through enough, he didn’t
need me acting like Alise to top things off. I looked down at the
end of the pier again and I knew I was going to have to find a way
to be with Aleksander because the next three weeks were going to
fly by.

The pier held private moorage all summer long so
it was starting to fill up and in the midst of the boats and docks
I couldn’t see him. I looked around and I was alone.

I tried to run back around the corner to see the
entrance to the docks but my side hurt too much so I slowly walked
but he was gone. I wanted to cry but at the entrance I saw Shane
walking down the pier with a stressed and worried look on his
face.

He looked beautiful in his jeans and dark blue
t-shirt, which made his troubled blue eyes stand out more. He
looked relieved as he frowned at me, “Aimee you need to be more
careful, where is he?” Shane spoke softly taking my hand as he
stopped directly in front of me. He looked hurt which made me feel
sick, I hadn’t done anything to feel guilty for, technically.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, he was here and then
he left. At least now I know who the guy with the crazy blue eyes
from your party. His name is Aleksander. How could you possibly
know already I was with him?”

Shane shook his head looking at me with
disappointment filling his expression, “Thelma at the coffee shop
called your dad, Aimee where is he?” He ended the sentence
angrily.

I shivered from the cold ocean air, “I don’t
know. I phoned my dad and he was gone.”

“Does that seem like the behavior of a nice
guy?” He raised an eyebrow at me.

I shook my head. I looked at Shane and how hurt
he was by my not only ignoring our conversation on the phone but
also hanging out with another guy.

We never spoke again on the drive to my place,
what with all the confusion on both our parts lingering about. My
dad was at the door when we pulled up, “He was really worried
Aimee.” His eyes burned down on me, “I was worried too.”

I nodded, “I know. Thanks for the ride Shane.” I
leaned over to kiss his cheek but he turned his lips and pressed
them into mine. It was my first kiss ever. He pulled me into him
kissing me a little harder. I kissed him back, it was a soft but
passionate kiss, exactly the way I had always imagined a kiss would
be. My heart did a flip and then a flop. He put his hand on my
lower back and pulled me into his chest crushing me slightly. I
winced in pain from my side as I breathlessly pulled away.

“Think about what I said on the phone earlier
Aimee.” His eyes were aflame with desire, I almost leaned in for
another kiss but I knew my dad was observing this moment so I
climbed out of the truck instead.

“Night Shane Thanks.” My dad waved as Shane
waved back at him through my open door, “Night Mr. James. Night
Aimee.” He didn’t smile, he didn’t need to, I knew what was racing
through his mind because it was going through mine too.

I climbed the steps to my front porch and nodded
to my dad, “Sorry dad. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

He put an arm around me, “I really like that
kid.” His smile was expectant, I knew he wanted details but I
shrugged, “He’s the best.”

My dad winced, “Ooouuuu poor Shane, he’s the
best. That’s too bad he doesn’t know you don’t like him back. Do
you?”

I didn’t have an answer; I collapsed onto the
couch, “Daddy I don’t know what to do. A month ago I had no boys, I
had my books and Blake. Now I have too many boys to pick from, a
stalker, a new bff who is a total moron but I really love her, and
I haven’t read a book in weeks and Blake, wtf dad. He’s dating
Alise, which I get she’s hot but come on. She’s horrid.” Suddenly
the memory came back, I remembered lying in the grass thinking how
handsome Shane was telling him I didn’t get why he liked my sister.
He was staring at me the way he did tonight. He was going to kiss
me that night before Alise came stumbling out onto the grass
cussing like a pig and tripping everywhere.

“Honey no amount of daddies you say, which we
both know I love when you say it, will solve your problems. You
need some separation and time. Your sister is not horrid Aimee
that’s a cruel thing to say, she’s just extreme and passionate in
everything she does.” He patted my head and went into the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes at him.

I pulled a pillow over my face and screamed a
little. I pulled the pillow off and sat up slowly still nursing my
side which felt better than it had in ages even with Shanes’
forceful kiss, “you’re right dad I need Emma.”

He groaned, “No please anything but Austen.”

I shook my head walking over to where my moms’
movie collection sat, “Maybe you’re right, Sense and Sensibility.
Marianne would have had a much better life if she had chosen wisely
and picked Colonel Brandon over Willoughby. They had passion but it
wasn’t enough and she nearly died. Whereas Colonel Brandon loved
her enough from the beginning and if she had chosen prudently she
would have been spared that pain.”

My dad sighed making us both an omelet, “When
has the heart chosen wisely my dear. As a scientist I will say love
is one thing for certain we will never understand, not fully.”

“You’re a big man admitting that you don’t
completely understand the chemicals inside of us completely.”

He laughed, “I like that prejudice one better. I
rather enjoy that Darcy fellow. He is a man after my own heart.
Things seem simple with him. Can’t we watch that?”

I frowned at him over the couch, “No it has no
bearing on my love life at this moment. Her situation with Darcy
and Wickham is nothing like mine, neither of the boys I like are
wicked like he is. Dad I have never had a love life, something has
changed in me. I need to honor it with Austen and I think either
Emma and the triangle with Frank Churchill and Mr. Knightly or
Marianne, Brandon and Willoughby.”

He shook his head, “I liked you better when you
were more like me and less like your mom.”

I stuck my tongue out, “Fine Sense and
Sensibility then. Even you’ll cry.”

My dad carried in our plates of fruit and
omelet’s into the living room while I set up the movie. We didn’t
have a huge TV or a great surround sound system, we were fireplace
and a good novel in hand sort of people.

I had never been a dramatic kid so for the first
time to be enjoying being caught in a triangle I let go of the
situation I was in and just enjoyed the movie with my dad who I
believe might have even shed a slight tear toward the end.

Chapter Six - WHAT HOT
GUY, OH RIGHT MY BOYFRIEND