by Aj Estelliam
Invisible Strings
AJ Estelliam
Chapter 1
It was the sea that drew me to the sand that day. With a restless mind, my feet began walking. With a destination already decided, my footsteps continued.
I arrived at the beach without conscious thought, and down to the shore I went. Staring out at the sea, I felt transfixed.
The sea was calm and still. The sun shone down brightly and a million diamonds shimmered on the surface of the water. I could feel the warmth of the breeze as it ruffled my hair.
I turned and walked down the soft sand, my feet sinking in the softness with every step. I felt like I was in a familiar place, even though I didn’t know it well. It had been in my head. It had been in my dreams.
I frowned to myself as I walked. I was so tired. My hand lifted to rub across my face distractedly. Lack of sleep was catching up with me and I was beginning to struggle to cope. I had always been someone who had needed their eight hours a night, and without it, I was feeling strained.
I continued walking in the direction I was being pulled. I didn’t know why I felt like I was being led in that direction, but it was as if invisible strings were tugging at me. They were pulling me towards a destination unknown.
I knew the moment I saw it. I actually stopped in my tracks and gaped. Ahead of me, set looking out to the sand was a café. ‘The Cove Café’ it read on the sign. Images flashed through my mind; familiar images which tempted and taunted me. The force of attraction tugged at me, deep in my stomach and I walked up the sand towards the café. I was meant to go there, and yet I didn’t know why.
When I reached the edge of the sand, I walked and stared up at the picturesque, brick building before me. I had come to the idyllic beachside location of Avon Cove and yet I hadn’t set out to be here.
My sleepless nights had been causing me distress. During the previous week, I had lain awake at night feeling like insomnia was befriending me. When I did sleep, I drifted into places unknown and unwelcome. I had been dreaming disturbing dreams. I had been worrying about what I had been seeing.
In dreams, I had been thinking about a woman. I could see her face in my mind as I thought about it. Around the woman was danger, and she knew nothing about it. I sensed someone was threatening her, and yet the images were blurry. It was a strange, disconcerting feeling to know that someone was in trouble and yet I couldn’t help.
As I stared up at the building; I felt sure that this was the place. This was the place where the woman in my dream was. How I knew this was debatable. I headed up the ramp towards the door feeling trepidation.
The door opened as a couple walked out, brushing by me. I excused myself and held back a moment. When they had passed, I stepped inside and warmth from within flooded into my system. I walked in slowly, taking in the gentle ambience of the old-fashioned café and enjoying the atmosphere immediately. I wandered down the counter, whilst glancing around distractedly.
‘Can I help you?’ a kindly older woman asked me.
‘Oh, uh…coffee please,’ I said, smiling and trying to regain some focus. I felt so distracted lately, I supposed because I was so tired after being awake night after night.
‘Of course. White? Sugar?’
‘White, no sugar please,’ I told her.
‘Anything else? We have some lovely home-made cakes!’ she told me happily.
I looked at the tempting range of cakes on offer and grinned back at her. ‘They look fantastic! A slice of coffee and walnut cake, please?’
‘My personal favourite,’ the woman smiled.
‘Mine too,’ I replied. I watched as she loaded my tray with coffee and cake before ringing up my purchases in the till.
‘That’s £4.25 please.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, handing her a note.
‘There you are,’ she said, passing me back the change.
‘Thank you.’
I took my tray and headed to a seat by the window. There, I sat down and admired the view for a moment. The sand was golden coloured and the sea with the shimmering diamonds captivated me. I found myself lost in thought for a long moment. It was only the squeal of a nearby toddler that shocked me back into the moment. I tore my gaze away from the sea and sipped my coffee. I then lifted my fork and began eating the delicious cake I had bought.
I was lost in the moment, and looking down when the hairs on my arms prickled with awareness. I felt a strange shiver course through me and as I looked up, I knew why.
The door was opening, and with it a breeze from the sea air. A woman appeared in the doorway, pushing her soft blonde hair away from her eyes. She closed the door and deftly removed her coat before running an absent hand through her windswept hair.
Without realising it, I had stopped breathing. The woman was breath-taking, in every sense of the word. I was staring, and couldn’t seem to stop. She was tall, nearing six feet, I believed. She had short, blonde hair which she wore cropped around her face. It flattered her well, and suited her to wear short. Her eyes were wide and even from this distance, I could tell they were blue. They were large, bright and looked intelligent. Framed by gold-rimmed glasses, she carried an air of wisdom which I found intriguing.
I watched as she walked behind the counter as if she belonged there and helped herself to a cup of coffee. The woman who had served me then walked out from a back room and greeted her warmly, hugging her and smiling before starting to chat. I watched them together and knew instinctively that they were mother and daughter. The way they interacted with each other was unique and the emotions inside tugged at me.
I swallowed against the tirade of emotions which threatened to engulf me and watched the mother and daughter talked and laughed together. They clearly shared a warm and loving relationship. As she chatted to her Mum, I noticed she smiled a lot. Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she spoke and her body language showed her to be confident and outgoing. Quite the opposite of myself, I mused.
I was lost in thought watching her when everyone’s attention was distracted by a commotion. A woman ran in from the other side of the café where there was a slightly more formal restaurant.
‘Help! Is there a doctor here?’ she yelled, clearly upset. ‘We need a doctor!’ she all-but screamed, hysteria filling every inch of her being.
I rose to my feet and was running towards her before I even knew what I was doing. The woman I had been watching had grasped the woman’s arm to hold and support her. As I reached her, I spoke. ‘I’m a doctor.’
She turned and fled to the other room where I saw and assessed the situation instantly. A child was choking and quickly turning blue. A father was desperately trying to get whatever it was out but doing a poor job. I hurried to him, ripped off the gloves I wore and grabbed the limp child, sitting with him over my knees on the nearest chair. I then delivered hard blows to the correct place on his back. Hard and clear, I delivered the blows; trying to dislodge the food. I knew what I was doing and even though the whole room was losing control around me, I focused on the job at hand and did my job.
It was on the fourth blow that the food dislodged and came up. He spat out the grape which went flying onto the floor. I moved him upwards as his breathing slowly began to return and his colour came back. I assessed him briefly as his mother and father gathered closely at our knees.
‘He’ll be fine,’ I told them, still watching the bow for signs of trouble. ‘The blockage hasn’t seemed to do any lasting damage. You can see his colour’s returning already and his breathing is normal considering what he’s just been through.’
‘Oh my God, I was so scared…thank you so much,’ she said addressing me.
‘No problem. Please just remember in the future-for children your son’s age, you
must cut the grapes length ways as the risk of choking on them is high.’
She nodded, tears filling her eyes. She looked at her husband helplessly.
‘It was my fault,’ he said, clearly upset. ‘I didn’t know that…I gave him the grape.’
‘He’s okay,’ I reassured them. ‘He’s going to be fine,’ I said, content that he was okay as I handed him back gently to his mother.
‘Do we need to do anything? Is he going to be okay now?’
‘He’s fine,’ I assured them. ‘You could keep a close eye on him today but his breathing is now normal, his colour has returned and he’s alert.’
‘Thank you so much,’ she gushed.
I stood, excusing myself as they continued to thank me. I could feel pink reach my cheeks but I kept walking, past the crowd which had gathered.
‘That was amazing,’ a voice said as I ambled away from everyone.
I glance towards the sound and caught my breath. It was her! ‘I, uh…I was just doing my job,’ I said absently, and kept walking.
That clearly wasn’t going to deter her as she followed me. I could feel her behind me as I walked back down the café towards the table I had been sitting in. I turned as I reached my seat and she smiled at me warmly.
‘Let me get you something…on the house! To thank you…’ she said.
‘No thank you.’
‘No, please…let me get you something.’
I shook my head. ‘No thanks. I’m fine. I just ate, thank you.’
‘You must let us thank you,’ she said with a sincere expression. ‘This is my parent’s business,’ she said, indicating the room with a sweep of her hand. ‘If a child had died here, it would have been awful…you’ve done a good thing today…uh, I don’t know your name…’
I swallowed hard. ‘Annie. Annie Lane.’
‘Annie,’ she said slowly, letting my name trail off her lips softly.
I felt an ache in my stomach and a longing that I hadn’t experienced in such a long time. This close, she was incredibly attractive and I felt the colour in my cheeks rising even more.
‘Well, my name is Eve. What can I get you?’
I sat down at the table and shook my head, resolutely. ‘Honestly, I’m fine.’
Chapter 2
Eve apparently had a problem taking no for an answer as without asking, she pulled out the seat opposite me and sat down.
‘I’d like to get you something…’
‘Why?’ I exclaimed, feeling a little embarrassed now.
‘Because you did a good thing. If I can give you something back, I’d feel better about it.’
I shook my head. ‘It was duty of care…I was just going what anyone in my position would…’
‘You’re a doctor?’ she asked.
I swallowed, and glanced up at her from under my eyelashes. ‘Yeah…’ I replied, but didn’t say more. I wasn’t currently practising; for very significant reasons.
‘Please let me get you a cake…or a breakfast! Or a bacon sandwich!’
‘No thanks. I’m vegetarian.’
‘Ooh…a veggie breakfast then?’
‘No thanks.’
‘I’ll keep going until you say yes,’ she warned. ‘I’m very tenacious.’
I smiled, finding the humour in her eyes contagious. ‘I’m getting that.’
‘How about a toasted tea cake? Everyone loves a tea cake!’
‘Okay, fine…sure. A tea cake would be lovely.’
‘Great!’ she grinned, standing. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’
I watched as she left, feeling a physical awareness that was electric. The woman, Eve, was intriguing. I found myself waiting for her and watching for her return. Not only was she very attractive to look at, she seemed intelligent and warm. The laughter in her smile was alluring too.
As promised, she headed back out of the kitchen moments later. She walked, with confidence down the aisle of tables and sat down opposite me once again.
‘There…your tea cake.’
I looked down at it momentarily before looking back and up and meeting her gorgeous, deep-blue sea eyes. ‘Thank you. I appreciate it. I don’t know if I’m hungry or not, but thanks anyway.’
‘You’re welcome,’ she smiled.
I held her eyes, feeling captive for a long moment before looking away embarrassed.
‘So, Annie! I haven’t seen you in here before. Are you a local?’
I looked back at her. ‘I am, yes…I haven’t really been here before. I just found it this morning.’
‘Oh right. Well, it’s a great place! I hope you keep coming!’
I nodded, smiling politely.
‘Do you work locally?’ she then asked, clearly searching for information.
‘I, uh…I’m sort of between roles right now. I used to work at the practice in town though,’ I said, unsure of why I was sharing my private information with her.
‘Oh, right. What kind of doctor are you, Annie?’
‘I’ve been a GP for the past three years.’
‘Wow,’ she breathed. ‘Do you enjoy it? It must be such a hard job.’
I shrugged, and then frowned. ‘It is what it is,’ I murmured vaguely, suddenly aware I was giving a lot of information away when I didn’t want to. I decided to turn the tables. Getting people to talk about themselves was a sure-fire way to detract conversation from myself. ‘So, what do you do? Do you work here with your parents?’ I wondered.
‘No!’ she laughed. ‘At least not since I was younger. I did help out here from sixteen to about twenty-one. Since then I’ve been working on my own career.’
‘What do you do?’ I wondered, feeling interested to know more about her.
‘I’m a journalist. I work for the Echo in town.’
‘Oh right,’ I murmured, knowing it well. ‘That must be an interesting job.’
‘It’s never dull!’ she smiled. ‘There’s always something going on and I can’t say it’s boring.’
‘No,’ I murmured, wondering about my own chosen career. Where on earth would I go next with it? Where would I be able to go? I wasn’t sure after everything that had happened.
‘And for you, Annie? Is your career exciting?’
‘I…it’s…oh, I don’t know,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘It’s all a bit confusing right now,’ I told her.
She nodded, slowly, seemingly understanding that it was better not to push the issue.
Just then, an older couple came over and I recognised the woman as being Eve’s mother. This must be her parents, I realised.
‘Hello! I’m Alison, Eve’s mother and owner of ‘The Cove Café,’ she told me. ‘This is my husband, Jack. We came to thank you for what you did in there…’
‘Oh, really-it was no problem.’
‘Well, thank goodness you were here!’ she exclaimed. ‘I can’t even imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been here. It’s fate. I think you were supposed to be here today.’
‘I don’t know about that, but I’m glad I was,’ I smiled.
‘And that family is too,’ she nodded. ‘You were the only one here who had any idea about what to do! Thank goodness you saved him!’
I glanced down, feeling embarrassed again.
‘Is there anything we can do to thank you?’ Jack, Eve’s father asked.
‘Oh no, don’t be silly…it was just good timing,’ I said, reddening.
‘I’ll say! Well, anytime you want a free meal or drink, you’re more than welcome down here at our humble café,’ Alison told me.
I smiled at her. ‘Thank you. I appreciate that very much.’
‘And we have a lovely view to enjoy,’ Jack added.
I nodded. ‘It’s a gorgeous place. I’ll definitely come back,’ I told them.
‘Right, well I’ll let you two lovely ladies keep flirting,’ Alison laughed, turning to Jack and tapping him on the arm. ‘Come on-we have work to do.’
As they went, I could feel my cheeks burning with emba
rrassment. Flirting? We had been talking, hadn’t we?
‘Excuse my mother,’ Eve said, looking slightly perturbed. ‘She has no filter!’
I laughed at that. She must be mortified for her mother to have said such a thing. ‘Don’t worry…I know how mothers can be.’
‘Is yours the same?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know,’ I said in a far off voice. ‘I never knew her…’
‘Oh, Annie-I’m sorry.’
‘No, don’t worry. I was adopted as a baby so it’s not like it was a big deal.’
‘Oh, right. Do you have adoptive parents?’
I nodded. ‘I did, yes.’
‘Did?’ she questioned.
‘They’re both dead now.’
She looked horrified.
‘They were older parents,’ I explained, to stop her worrying. ‘Dad died of a heart attack five years ago and my adoptive mother followed two years after. She wasn’t very happy once he wasn’t around.’
‘Oh Annie…’
‘I don’t need pitying, Eve! I’m an adult! Adult’s lose their parents as they get older.’
‘But you can’t be much older than…what…twenty-seven?’
‘I’m twenty-eight,’ I told her. ‘Good guess.’
‘Well, I’m thirty-five and have no idea what I’d do if I didn’t have my parents around to help me! I run to them whenever things go awry. Who do you run to, Annie?’
‘I…I…’ I was stumped. I wanted to excuse myself and leave but it felt wrong. ‘I guess I don’t these days…’
‘That’s so sad!’ she exclaimed.
‘No,’ I frowned. ‘It’s just life…we live, we die and then…well, who knows,’ I said, philosophically.
She gave me a strange look, which registered surprise but also sadness.
I cleared my throat. ‘We seem to have gotten a bit deep…’ I murmured. ‘I’d better be going.’
‘Oh really? How come? Do you have somewhere to be?’ she asked.
‘I…no,’ I frowned. ‘I just thought I’d go.’
‘Because conversation got uncomfortable?’ she questioned.
I frowned at her more.
‘I’m sorry…can we start again? I really don’t want you to go. I’d like to keep chatting,’ she said, holding my eyes with her own enigmatic gaze.