There was also the fact that he had proven the improbable to her. He couldn’t have faked Santa Ynez, Paris, Greece and every other country he took her to, therefore it must have been real. She knew that the simplest explanation was often the truest, and that if she considered the impossible to be possible, the impossible could exist.
Her eyes wandered to a large built-in bookshelf across the room and scanned a row for one book in particular. The spine was thick and colorful, a blue background littered with spots and stars that continued from the front cover and over to the back. It was an expensive purchase from the California Science Center years earlier. After watching a particularly fascinating IMAX movie about the planet Earth, she became so enamored with the cosmos that she bought the book and read it cover-to-cover, mostly just staring at the carefully rendered images and reading their corresponding captions for hours at a time.
“You’re from an alternate universe, aren’t you?” If the impossible were possible, then it was a rational explanation.
“How did you guess?” he asked. She couldn’t tell if he looked more bewildered or relieved.
“I’m not arrogant enough to believe that life only exists on one planet in a universe that dwarfs me into near nonexistence. I also watch a lot of science shows.” Watched, but not necessarily comprehended, she thought.
“I think I’m more surprised than you are,” he chuckled.
“So what does this mean? Is there a version of me and everyone else here that exists in your universe? Do I have a doppelganger?”
He laughed a little at her question and relaxed back into the sofa. “No, at least not where I come from. What you’re talking about is a multiverse where different versions of yourself exist, each one in a different timeline of your life dependent on what choices were made or paths taken. The universe I come from is not a replica of this one, and as far as we know we don’t have a multiverse that replicates us.”
Zoe leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands, using her fingers to rub her temples. It had been an incredibly long and unpredictable day, and combined with all of the new information she’d received it was all a bit much. However, a part of her feared he had barely scratched the surface. She didn’t have enough brain power to try to deconstruct the knowledge that she was speaking to a man from an alternate universe.
“Sorry. It’s a lot to take in.”
“I understand. When I said it would be difficult I didn’t just mean for me.”
Suddenly the thought occurred to her that there were probably others there, walking around in her universe disguised to look like her and everyone else. Had she ever met one before? Was Evan sent there to collect and send information back to his own home?
“How many?” she asked.
“Well, there’s possibly dozens of them, maybe more. We know of only a handful of them.”
“They’re just walking around pretending to be us?”
He looked dubious. “What?”
“Others like you. Here in this universe?”
“Oh. No, I don’t know. It’s not unlikely we’re the only ones who’ve been able to create the technology required to travel between universes.”
She ran her thumb and forefinger over the length of her eyebrows. “There’s this universe, yours, and more?”
“Of course. We’ve only identified half a dozen but we believe there are more.”
“How do you know for sure?”
“I think that should be obvious,” he professed. “If we can come to this universe, then doesn’t it stand to reason we also go to the others?”
“Why?” She was completely bewildered. Her head was already filled near capacity and he seemed to have so much more information to give. When would exhaustion finally outweigh her incessant need to ask questions?
“I think I’ve given you enough for today.”
‘No!’ she thought. Yes, she was overwhelmed, but the more he told the more she wanted to hear. He was some sort of multiverse traveler? Did he just vacation in universes for the fun of it? And what is life like in his universe? He claimed they were more advanced, but what exactly did that mean? Did they have flying cars? The Internet? There was so much she wanted to know.
“Wow,” she exclaimed softly, more to herself than to him.
“I should probably leave, Zoe.” He was impassive and curt, a matter-of-fact tone to his voice. He stood up and much to her surprise she followed suit.
“Why? Where are you going?” She looked outside and noticed it was still early morning. The sun would be rising soon.
“There are things I have to do.”
“Are you coming back?” She found herself wishing that he would, and soon. “I still have so many questions.” The glass device in his hand was pulsating a glowing white light. It didn’t look like any smartphone she had ever seen, and wondered if it was a piece of technology from his home. It was strange how it looked both familiar and alien to her at the same time.
“Do you want me to come back?”
Something about the way he asked made the hair on the back of her neck and shoulders stand up. There was an undercurrent to the question. Did she want to see him again just to ask him questions, or was there a deeper reason? She felt uncertain of herself under his gaze. Again it seemed like he was trying to read her innermost thoughts, and yet she hardly knew what they were herself. Perhaps it was best that he did leave. She wouldn’t be able to process all of her newly acquired information if he was there giving her even more.
He had been at her side since the island, catching her, talking on the boat, the restaurant, and zipping around the world. A little piece of her had become used to his presence.
“Zoe?” his voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “If you’re still in the area later maybe we could get together? If you want to?” She hoped her voice was as casual as she meant it to be, even if she wasn’t feeling casual at all.
“You’re not going to...” he hesitated. “You know.”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. She cleared her throat and stood up straight, feeling a bit indignant that he asked her to begin with. “I don’t have an answer for you. It’s complicated.” He nodded silently.
Just say something, anything! she screamed at him in her head. From nowhere there was a storm of thoughts and emotions inside her, each one fighting to come to the surface. She needed to figure things out. He hadn’t told her everything she wanted to know, but then again maybe he didn’t have to? Who was she to know anyway? True, he saved her life, but that in no way obligated him to explain his world to her. It was a distraction on her part, she decided. He had pulled back the curtain on a whole world of information she couldn’t process all at once and she needed time to figure things out for herself. And yet she wanted him to say that he would be around, or would come back.
He put the glass device into one pocket and pulled a set of keys from the other. That was it. He was leaving.
“I would really like to see you again soon, Zoe,” he finally admitted.
Her insides lit up. “As would I.” A string of tension manifested in the space between them. She wasn’t ready to not see him again, and it had more to do with him than with wanting answers to her questions.
“I’m staying at the Canary Hotel, in case you need me.”
She nodded. “I’m familiar with it.”
“I guess I’ll see you later then.” He took a step towards her, the string of tension tightening in the atmosphere around them. . She watched in prickling silence as he slowly closed the gap of space between them until they were mere inches apart. She had to lift her chin to look up at him. Up close he radiated heat, the warmth making its way to her body as he stood in front of her. His hands found her arms and gently rested there a moment before moving up to her shoulders, his thumbs resting lightly at the ends of each collarbone. Her lips parted slightly to allow the air she had been withholding to escape. His face move imperceptibly towards hers and her ches
t rose up with an intake of air, holding in the oxygen. His intense green eyes seeped into hers, and she felt like time itself had come to a standstill. She wondered if that was also one of his abilities.
His eyes left hers and looked to where his hands rested on her shoulders. His thumbs made soft lines over her collarbones, feeling them with a touch so delicate she wasn’t sure it was even happening. His face relaxed ever so slightly as his hands went back to his sides.
“I’ll see you soon,” he whispered. His eyes made their way back to hers again before he took a step backwards, followed by another, until he backed his way around the coffee table and walked towards the front door.
Zoe watched as he opened it to the morning sky outside. He turned when he was halfway out the door and smiled a handsome smile that might have taken her breath away if her lungs weren’t hoarding the oxygen as though they might run out. The door closed shut and he was gone. She exhaled and sat back down on the couch, still feeling the sensation of his proximity on her skin. The ignition of his rental car turned over, and a small burst of engine fired as he backed out of the driveway and turned onto the residential street.
The house was quiet again. She was alone for the first time since meeting him. The night sky faded away into early morning light and all around her the home was bathed in golden light. Time quickened back to its usual pace. It was a new day.
Her eyes found the box of macarons on the table and she realized she could still taste the faint sweetness of strawberry in her mouth. She took another and bit into it. Her mouth curved into the tiniest of smiles as she chewed, thinking of the way the lights of Paris reflected in Evan’s green eyes.
Chapter 6: A Foreign Visitor
The morning sun was in full bloom by the time Evan pulled into the parking lot of the Canary Hotel. Absent was the morning fog and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. The symmetry of the weather and Zoe’s change was not lost on him. It was a new day for her and he sensed she would make different choices. He felt certain she would not attempt to take her life again.
Her change in mood was subtle but still exceptional. He wanted to stay with her longer and felt, or at least hoped, that she felt the same. Yet, despite the tiny and unfolding attachment to Zoe Thanatos he knew he must be careful, if nothing else.
After a quick change in his room, Evan headed to the rooftop pool, hoping exercise would help clear his mind. The roof had a stunning panoramic view of Santa Barbara, with the Pacific to the West, mountains to the East, and a sea of terra-cotta roofs topping the Spanish architecture the area was famous for. The morning light was a canopy of gold and pink clouds beneath a sky of light blue; another perfect morning in a beautiful town.
He stripped down to a pair of black swimming trunks and dove into the water, enjoying the sensation of cool water slipping over his skin. It was a great feeling to swim outdoors with the natural world surrounding him. In his world the only bodies of water that anyone could swim in were man-made and unnatural. They were nothing more than a system generated program with an artificial environment meant to evoke the natural wonders of other worlds. The fabricated world he grew up and lived in was created by visionaries, and built on top of an otherwise dead and desolate world. It was a rare occasion to see what his home really looked like, and those with power made sure the artificiality was as convincing as any lie could be. No matter how elaborate the deception there was no comparing their fabricated world to the natural one around him there. Not many others had the opportunities he had, and he never once took it for granted.
He often escaped to other worlds, always preferring them to his own. The synthetic realities he was used to never compared to the places they copied, as if they could never quite get it right no matter how seemingly perfect they looked. Over time he recreated his memories of foreign worlds in his home space, as a way to walk through his recollections at will. They offered a fake escape when a real one was impossible. He thought he might recreate Santa Barbara, the perfect pocket of that world complete with a rooftop pool and stunning views. It would remind him of Zoe.
He saw her face in his memories, her almond shaped brown eyes and high cheek bones, waves of brown hair cascading down her shoulders. Hers was a beauty that could not be replicated. As much as he desired to stay with her he knew it would merely delay the inevitable. He was not from her world and she was not from his. Soon he would have to go back home and leave her behind.
A thought nagged at him. There was no guaranteeing she would keep herself safe, and she was right that he couldn’t follow her around waiting to catch her. He had to trust that she would remain, would keep herself alive. He had to accept not knowing what would become of her, as difficult as it may be.
His arms and legs eventually tired from swimming laps He emerged from the pool, toweled the water from his skin and walked back to his room.
He hoped she wasn’t sitting on the couch, going over everything that had happened in the previous twenty-four hours. He imagined her opening the doors and windows to let in the fresh air, breathing in the scent of the ocean and of the citrus trees that perfumed behind her house. He pictured her smiling, the sun on her face and in her hair. More than anything he wanted her to find happiness, to have a genuine reason to smile and live.
Evan stopped just short of the door, thoughts of Zoe gone. There was a difference in the atmosphere in the hallway and a prickling sensation disturbed his skin. With a casual look to his right and left he determined he was alone in the hallway. He inserted the key and reached for the door handle, only to receive a small bolt of electricity. Unhurt, he opened the door and shook out the light twinge in his hand.
A woman’s figure was silhouetted against the large window overlooking the city. He recognized her even before she turned to reveal her face.
“What are you doing here, Eva?” he asked, defenses subsided.
“I could ask you the same question, Evander,” she replied. He bristled at the sound of his full name,. She was the only one who ever called him Evander.
“You know why I’m here.” He draped the wet towel hanging around his neck on an upholstered chair and headed into the bathroom to change, leaving Eva by herself. When he emerged a few minutes later, freshly dressed and clean, she was sitting on the couch looking out the window in silence.
“It's lovely here,” she noted without looking at him. “Quite a change from home, isn’t it?” She looked at him finally, an eyebrow raised in mild amusement.
“Why are you here?” he asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
Eva sat on the couch a few feet from the bed. “Your absence from Terra has been noticed. The Stratons have been asking for you.”
“Don’t you mean the Queen and King?” he asked dryly.
Eva’s lips pursed. “Yes, well Queen Kyra and King Owyn have between them an indelible curiosity. It seems the King fancies you his closest friend while the Queen just fancies you. I’ve told them I don’t know where my dear brother travels to for long stretches of time, but that I would do my best to find him and bring him home. So here I am.” She upturned her palms and smiled generously.
“Congratulations on finding me but I am not coming home with you. Not yet anyway.”
Her smile tightened and she took a deep breath in an apparent attempt to not lose her patience. “It isn’t a request, Evander. We’re lucky that they give us a long leash and a modicum of trust. If either one of us tests their patience or stretches that trust even an inch,” she pinched both hands in front of him to illustrate the point, “we would both suffer the consequences.”
Evan allowed himself a moment to brood at her words before standing and walking to the bureau. He produced a clean pair of socks and slid them on his feet one at a time. He mentally cataloged the places he’d been to since escaping from his home; he wasn’t ready to go back yet.
“It’s not as easy this time, Evadine,” he said with Zoe in mind.
“Your home is Terra. Your life is Terra. I know
you fancy yourself to be some kind of inter-galactic traveler bringing other-worldly culture back to the masses, but that is not your job. We both have responsibilities to Terra, and we need to respect those if we want to continue living as a family.”
He sat on the chair draped with the wet towel and took a deep breath, avoiding her inquiring gaze. “I like it here,” was all he could manage. He knew she was right. It was because of his relationship with both the Queen and King that he was allowed to get away with so much. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if they no longer extended him that courtesy.
Eva stood and crossed the space between them and crouched down at his feet with her hands on top of his. She took in the sight of his face for a long moment and frowned, comprehension dawning. “Something is different about you.”
His look was meant to convey a warning but she seemed to misinterpret it. Her face lit up, her eyebrows reaching for the sky as a sly smile spread across her lips.
“It’s not something; it’s someone, isn’t it?”
“Eva, don’t,” he warned, though he knew it would be pointless.
“I’m right, aren’t I? What’s her name?” She jumped up and moved to the bed, tucking her legs underneath her like a child as she sat down.
“It’s nothing worth talking about,” he lied in an attempt to abate her curiosity.
“Liar,” she smiled.
He sighed and shook his head. She was tenacious and not likely to give up once intrigued. “I’m not telling you her name,” he conceded.
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