Fates: Chapter Twenty-Seven

Seirra

I walked away from her and had to force myself to breathe again. Her eyes had such an impact on me that I could only be thankful that I was wearing a pair of sunglasses. I had seen glimpses of Margaret from the visions Doris and Marina gave me but nothing, nothing compared to being beside her again. She had been close enough for me to touch but I needed to restrain myself because I knew that doing so would baffle her. It was, to be honest, almost too painful to remind myself that she couldn’t remember me.

Her face, well, her face was lovelier than I remembered. She was dressed just like the Margaret I knew. And the way she had looked at me felt just like before—just like when she knew and loved me. A thought kept echoing in my head even after I crossed the gates of the cemetery: I could finally be with her forever.

Of course, it wouldn’t happen if Margaret chose not to go with me. But if I convinced her enough, then there was no reason why she couldn’t choose to become a mermaid. It was possible that she would die but I couldn’t afford to think about that yet.

There was just too much at stake: Marina, Aquania, and me.

If I couldn’t go back on time, the enchantment Marina placed upon herself might kill her. She might have been simply curious but if she wasn’t completely immune with aging, the spell would absorb all of her energy until she was drained and lifeless. The fact that she fainted immediately after she cast the enchantment could be proof of that. And then the veil. I need Margaret to keep the veil from being destroyed. It was my duty to Aquania.

If there was one thing however, that I feared for the most, it was for me. To live without Margaret even after knowing we were meant to become the Fates, was like an existence with no life. It was absurd—how fast and how deep I fell for her—but perhaps, ours was never a simple love story. We were, after all, from two different worlds. But more than anything else, I knew she was the one for me.

My feet continued to move until I reached Marina’s previous apartment building. I was lucky enough to get her unit before it was rented to someone else. Convincing the caretaker to give it to me was easy enough especially since every employee in the building seemed to be drunkards. It was less complicated for me to stay in this kind of place where I didn’t need to show proof of my identity or other types of documents. Besides, I just needed a place to stay for a week.

I gave the employees time to clean off the rooms when I left to visit Grampa’s grave and was thankful to find it clean by the time I came back. They hadn’t bothered adding any kind of furniture besides the necessities. The entrance wasn’t too wide with the first door on the left being the bathroom. There was a sofa, a television set and a small dining table with four chairs in the middle of the main room while the bedroom was furnished with a queen-size bed, one cabinet, a bedside table and a chair. All the rooms were painted blue.

I needed to find a way to get close to Margaret again without being overly suspicious but so far, the only other human beings I’ve encountered were the apartment’s employees and that female photographer from the beach.

Well, that woman seemed friendly enough and maybe, just maybe, she knew someone who knew Margaret. Perhaps I should find that photographer first. She had mentioned something about being in a gallery. I only knew two galleries based on what I remembered of Grasveld Aisles. One was an art gallery that showcased paintings and the other one seemed to have a more varied collection. I decided to visit the second one. If she was a photographer, then she was most likely to be there.

I left the apartment again after asking the Key for fresh clothes—jeans, rubber shoes and a green shirt; then I began my way to the south of Grasveld Aisles. A short bus ride along Harbor Drive brought me back to the beach and then eventually to the southeast part of the city. After asking for directions, I found myself in front of a gallery called ‘Le Medicci’. The artworks on display by the windows were all sculptures but it was obvious that they also sold paintings and other kinds of art. I pushed the door open and pretended to look around just as a normal customer would.

I hadn’t been inside for more than five minutes when a female voice disturbed the silence of the shop.

“You!” she shrieked happily. I turned towards her as she made her way to me. She was in a floral, pink sundress with her black hair in a ponytail. She was definitely a year or two older than me but the way she was dressed made her look like a teenager. “I knew you’d come!” She stopped a few inches from me then asked, “So, are you willing to do it?”

I honestly couldn’t really recall what she had talked to me about when she found me sitting by the shore, watching the sunrise. Thus, I ended up looking at her with a confused expression on my face.

She smirked. “Hmph! I guess you really aren’t interested. Or you weren’t listening to me,” she said with a shrug. “I guess that can’t be helped. Why would someone like you want to model for an amateur photographer like me? Goodness! I probably annoyed the hell out of you this morning, didn’t I?” She was full of energy and she talked quite fast.

“Well, I—” I tried to answer her.

“But really,” she interrupted. “I would be very happy to sign you in as a model. I’ll pay you. You see, aside from sculptures and paintings,” she took my arm and began pulling me further into the shop until we were surrounded by photographs and framed sketches, “we also sell the works of amateurs and beginners. Dad felt like galleries shouldn’t just be about ‘high-end’ art. At least that’s what my dad calls them.” She pulled me for a few more steps. “Now these are my photos,” she said with a sweeping gesture along eight frames. “Cool, huh?”

The subjects of her photos ranged from children to lovers to inanimate objects. Apparently, she liked happy, vibrant and bright schemes. “Yeah, your photos look great,” I told her with a smile.

She grinned in return but she obviously hadn’t forgotten her earlier offer. “So, will you model for me?”

“I don’t think I’m the right person for the job,” I answered slowly and carefully. I felt that it would bother my conscience if she ended up devastated. “Besides, we still don’t know each other.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You already look good and my camera loves you. I hope you don’t mind but I took some snapshots this morning—when you weren’t looking. So yeah, all you have to do is follow my instructions,” she assured me as she waved her hand in every which direction. “As for not knowing each other, I guess you’re absent-minded this morning ‘cause I already introduced myself. I won’t make a fuss out of it though. I’m Hannah.”

She extended her hand for a handshake and as it was only courteous to introduce myself as well, I took her hand and said, “Seirra.”

“I know. You told me already.”

I wasn’t surprised that she knew because my mind really hadn’t been clear this morning. We released each other’s hands before I gave her an apology. “Sorry I hadn’t been very friendly this morning. A lot of things had been on my mind.”

She nodded. “Yeah, you looked like something was troubling you. Have you solved it yet?”

“Not quite.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure it won’t take long ‘til your problems are over,” she said with a smile that was obviously always on her face. “You mentioned something about only being able to stay for a week?”

I didn’t know I said that and I was only thankful that I most likely didn’t tell her what I really was because if I did, she wouldn’t be as sociable as she was right now. “I need to go back to my home after a week. I really can’t stay here longer than that.”

“Hmm, I can take a lot of pictures within a week,” she said, implying that she still wanted me to model for her.

I sighed inwardly as I looked at her expectant face. I really couldn’t mess around with too many human memories, especially if I could help it. Appearing in photos would simply make things more complicated.

“I’m sorry, Hannah. I just came here for a vacation. I really don’t wish to get my face displayed anywhere.”

Her eyes lost a bit of its luster as I promptly rejected her but it was immediately transformed with curiosity. “Why? Are you some kind of celebrity wherever you came from?”

I had to smile at how easy she could get over her disappointment. I smiled at her in response. “No, not really. I just don’t like getting my pictures taken. That’s all.”

She raised a disbelieving brow as she said, “O-kayyy.” Being true to her nature, she decided to change the topic. “So what brings you here in Le Medicci?”

She said the name of the gallery with a mock Italian accent which caused us both to grin.

“I was exploring around,” I lied in answer. “Then I remembered you and something about a gallery.” She was nodding as I continued, “Thought I should go and apologize. I mean, since I can’t remember too much of our conversation, I might have seemed rude to you or something.”

“I see. I accept your apologies. Though there really isn’t any need. The thing is, I probably interrupted your peace this morning. Sorry about that.”

“That’s alright.”

A few seconds passed and then her head perked up. “Hey,” she said, “have you had lunch yet? I know of a good place. It’s a bit far but it’s worth it.”

I knew I would need to befriend her if she was to help me get anywhere near Margaret. “That sounds great. I’m hungry, actually,” I replied with a smile.

We rode a bus to northern Grasveld and as we travelled along Ocean Drive, memories of Margaret floated through my mind. I was only half-listening to Hannah’s chatter and she seemed oblivious to my inattention. She pointed to several structures and places which were already familiar to me. I couldn’t tell her that, of course.

I immediately glanced around when we got off the bus, and experienced some kind of nostalgia. I knew this place. When Hannah began to pull me, my surroundings began to come to life with the memories of that fateful day with Margaret. We were searching for Marina at that time with no good results and we ended up eating at Marly’s Pasta.

Turned out, it was exactly where Hannah was taking me.

“I hope you like Italian,” she told me casually as she pushed the door open.

She didn’t wait for me to give her an answer and simply pulled me towards the dining area. However, she suddenly stopped walking a few steps from the entrance. She beamed as she stared in front of her, obviously seeing someone she knew.

I glanced towards the direction of her gaze and froze.

“Robert!” Hannah called the guy I had only seen through magical visions. Beside him was another guy, Margaret’s friends and ultimately, Marge herself.

I guess fate really didn’t want me to waste even a single minute.