Darque Wants

by Diana Steele

Her phone beeped loudly, reminding her that she’d forgotten to turn it off, and giving yet another interruption to her cataloguing. She took it out and swiped her finger across the screen, opening up a text from her twin sister Demeter, making arrangements with her for the weekend. She stared at the words at the screen, not actually reading them. Instead, her thoughts had wandered to Deme herself and she was filled by a rush of jealousy.

  Deme had such a perfect relationship with her husband Chris. They’d been married for five years and never seemed to fall out. They were so into each other. They still went on dates, held hands, cuddled in public, sent each other romantic texts and looked into each other’s eyes; things like that. Thena had just never felt that way for John. Sometimes she wondered whether there was something wrong with her; whether it was simply impossible for her to fall in love, but then she reasoned that it was just the fact that she was too busy. She didn’t have time for a love life anyway, not a proper one like Deme had. Her work was too important. That was the thing that mattered to her the most; not love. That was what she told herself again and again.

  She also knew that one day she needed to tell John all this, to maybe gently break it off with him and save him certain future heartache. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t really going to work out long term, but still, she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. Perhaps she secretly liked being in a relationship. She shook her head at her own silly thoughts. No, no, that wasn’t it.

  Thankfully, a knock on the door stopped her from debating with herself any longer. She put her phone down, still not having replied to or even read the message properly.

  “Yeah?”

  The door opened and her friendly manager popped his head round the door. “Everything alright, Athene?”

  “Yes, thanks,” she smiled.

  “Just wondering if you could do me a favour. We’ve got a potential new patron downstairs who’d like to have a look round the new collection. I was wondering if you could give him the old guided tour. Egypt’s your thing, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” she blushed a bit and got up from her desk, pleased of the opportunity to get out of the office for a while. “Not a problem. Where is he?”

  “Down in reception. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

  Even if Mr Princeton hadn’t have bothered, Thena was sure she would have been able to spot the tall, dark handsome stranger who was standing at the reception desk, his slightly curly black hair shimmering in the flattering light from the museum spots above, his smart and expensive looking suit standing out a mile from everything everyone else was wearing. Thena was startled for a moment. She hadn’t expected to get such an immediate reaction from the man. It had just been a while since she’d seen someone she was actually physically attracted to.

  “I’ll take it from here, Mr Princeton,” she assured her boss smoothly. She gave him a confident nod and strode over to the visitor, offering out her hand and covering her nervousness with authority. She was here to do a job, and she was the expert. “Hello, I’m Athene,” she introduced herself. “I believe you want someone to show you round?”

  “Hello, Athene,” the man smiled and reached out to clasp her hand.

  Thena looked into his eyes for the first time. They were unusual and unique. She couldn’t quite say whether they were blue, green or grey, or a weird but very beautiful mixture of all three. Sort of a turquoise, with specks of brown and other colours mingled in. They seemed to look right through her and she probably could have stared at them for ages had it not been too weird.

  Right at that moment though, their hands met, and that was when it happened.

  It was just a flash, just a split second flash, but it was enough.

  Sun, sand, sea. Three pairs of sandals, different sized feet, similar but not matching in style, walking together in unison through parched, sandy earth, the sun beating down hard and hot above them. Sweaty, close air that you can almost taste on the tip of your tongue as you breathe.

  She gave a jolting gasp and inadvertently jumped back away from the stranger and their handshake. It had been a good while since she’d had one of those. The visions. That was what she called them anyway.

  “My God, are you alright?” The man asked, a concerned look on his face.

  “Er yeah, yeah I’m fine,” she mumbled apologetically, embarrassed. “Sorry about that,” she cleared her throat and pushed on a smile.

  They happened occasionally, out of nowhere, and she had no control over them. Sometimes it was when she touched someone. Other times it was just being near them that did it. Sometimes it was in dreams or when she closed her eyes. She would see things; things that she couldn’t explain. She was fairly certain they were things that had happened in the past; that had already happened, rather than things that were going to happen. She would have preferred being able to predict the future; that might actually have been useful. This, on the other hand, was just annoying.

  The stranger smiled, his eyes sparkling as he did so. “No need to apologise, I understand completely,” he said mysteriously. There was something in his tone of voice, in the smirk that played upon his lips and the way he glanced her up and down searchingly. Thena felt a shiver run through her.

  She couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, but she recognised something in him; an aura, perhaps. Was that what people called it? Whatever it was, a single thought flickered through her mind. He’s like me.

  Then she quickly dismissed it and pushed it away as he introduced himself.

  “My name’s Dorian Quinn. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  He was polite and charming as well as handsome, and she soon found he was easy to talk to too, as she led him through the Exhibition step by step, giving him the usual spiel as the showed him the different artefacts they had on display and some of the fascinating stories they revealed about their time period. Most of it was about Tutankhamen’s life and rule, and the Pharaohs that came before and after him; the various political intrigues, scandals, murder and excitement.

  “It’s very interesting era,” he remarked, as they neared the end of the tour.

  “Yeah, it really is,” she agreed. “One of my favourites in history.”

  “Do you have anything specifically about the dig?” he then asked out of the blue. “You know the uh…the 1922 dig at Tutankhamen’s tomb?”

  “Yeah, we’re just getting there now actually…” She rounded a corner into what was, in her opinion, the best part of the Exhibition.

  It had all been set up in an extremely dark and unlit room, and decorated so that it looked almost exactly like the tomb itself, or what they imagined it looked like and knew of it from the handful of black and white photographs that had been published at the time, intending to recreate what Howard Carter and his team first saw when they broke past the seal and went down into the antechamber.

  Thena stole a quick glance at Mr Quinn to check his reaction. He was smiling, his eyes wide in amazement. This was the area that always impressed people the most; the amount of detail and care that had gone into it. All of the items that made up the fake tomb were recreations, of course – the real ones were on the other side of the room, behind glass so that nobody could touch them or steal them. There were some panels of text there too, which told the entire story of the discovery.

  Dorian Quinn strode straight over and began reading it, spending some time soaking up all the details; more time on that than he had any other section,

  “Amazing that they found it after all those years…” He murmured quietly.

  “Yeah,” she whispered, both of them seeming to naturally speak in softer voices that matched the reverent tone of this part of the Exhibition. “This particular period really interests you then?” she dared to ask, looking up at him – for he was a good foot taller. He hadn’t really talked much about himself yet, who he was or why he was thinking of investing in the Museum.

  “I love history. I don’t know that much about it though,” he admitted. “Just as much
as the average person, I guess. Maybe a little more.”

  “I think you do know a little more, yeah,” she flattered him. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be wanting to become a patron. Most people don’t do that.”

  “Most people aren’t billionaires,” he winked at her. From anyone else it might have seemed like an arrogant comment, but somehow, from his lips, with that tone of voice, and with that cheeky wink to boot, he totally got away with it.

  He turned to one of the exhibits and raised his hand up to the protective glass, closing his eyes as though he was saying some kind of prayer. Thena wondered what on earth he was doing, but the moment only lasted for a split second before he snapped open his eyes again and shook his head, tutting under his breath as if annoyed. She stayed quiet, not wanting to be rude by interrupting his thoughts or asking him if everything was OK. She barely knew him, after all, and she was just the tour guide, the museum girl.

  “I know it’s probably not possible now,” he began. “I know how much red tape these things involve but…if I arranged to come back on another day, would I be able to possibly look at some of these items up close,” he indicated the ancient artefacts behind the glass. “Touch them…hold them? In private.”

  Thena frowned and tried not to grimace. She didn’t want to disappoint him, but no one had ever been allowed to do that kind of thing before. The items were so old and precious that it was usually forbidden to touch them in case they got damaged.

  “I’ll be very careful,” he added, seeing her facial expression. “And act always under your guidance, of course.”

  “Well uh…I would…have to speak to my boss, Mr Princeton,” she answered cautiously, not wanting to make any promises she couldn’t keep.

  “Of course,” he nodded, his voice soft and understanding. “Of course you would. That’s absolutely fine. In fact, I’ll have a word with him myself now. No need for you to risk getting yourself in trouble by acting on my behalf.” He touched her on the shoulder kindly, then offered out his hand again. “Thank you so much for showing me around. It’s been wonderful.”

  “It has,” Thena agreed, clasping his hand.

  Three people sat on brightly coloured beach towels. The sand soft and fluffy, the sea lapping gently. Peaceful and beautiful. A warm, pleasant day somewhere abroad and sunny.

  Her fingers felt all tingly after the handshake, and her head was buzzing. She’d never had two visions so close together before and it was a little exhausting. There were definitely some powerful energies about this guy if he was making her have so many flashes. It was unheard of. She smiled tentatively at him and led him out of the Exhibition and back round to the reception area.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr Quinn,” she added.

  “Oh please, call me Dorian,” he grinned.

  “Dorian…I’ll um…see you soon then.”

  “Yes, you will,” he promised.

  She said another quick goodbye and retreated to her office, still thinking about the way his eyes sparkled when he smiled, and that perfect set of white teeth he had behind those light pink, cupid bow shaped lips.

  Her mind was still swimming with it all when she sat back down at her desk and tried to concentrate on work. What on earth was wrong with her? She was like a teenager with a stupid crush.

  *****

  “Oh God, not this rubbish again,” John rolled his eyes in his typical over the top, dramatic fashion.

  Thena put down her fork impatiently. “It’s not rubbish, John,” she sighed. They’d been over this so many times. It was infuriating that he didn’t believe her. “Just because you’ve never experienced something yourself, doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, Thena,” he shrugged, picking up his wine glass and having a sip. “I just can’t believe in anything unless I’ve seen it with my own eyes. That’s just the kind of guy I am, y’know. I’m a logical person.”

  “Alright,” she gave him a smug look, getting an idea as to how she could trick him. “Tell me this, then. Can you see air?”

  “What?”

  “Air. You know…oxygen? Can you see it?”

  “No.”

  “But you believe it exists?”

  “Well, of course it exists, it’s all around us.”

  “Exactly!” she cried. “It’s all around us and yet we can’t see it. Just because we can’t see something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. And just because you’ve never experienced my powers, that doesn’t mean I don’t have them.”

  “Stop calling them that,” he grimaced and looked away.

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re not some kind of superhero.”

  “I never said I was, but I don’t know what else to call them.”

  “Freakish skills?” He offered glibly.

  Thena was unimpressed. “You know, considering you are my boyfriend, it would be nice if you were a bit more supportive.” She scraped back her chair noisily. “I’m going to the bathroom,” she mumbled, leaving the table and crossing through the restaurant in the direction of the ladies, leaving John to sit on his own and think about what he’d said.

  The date had actually been going rather well up until that moment. She’d wanted to tell him about the encounter with Dorian and the two visions that she’d had, but as soon as she’d brought the topic up, John’s usual sarcasm and scepticism had reared up and spoiled everything. He had never believed that her ‘powers’ were real, and always seemed to enjoy making fun of her for it, as well as telling her she shouldn’t mention it to anyone in public because they’d think she was mad and ‘lock her up’. It wasn’t exactly the kind of support she was looking for in a partner, although to some extent she did understand where he was coming from. She knew how weird it sounded to other people. Even her own sister had initially had a hard time believing it was true, although she accepted it now at least.

  She returned from the ladies a few minutes later and sat back down.

  There was an awkward silence between them, during which they both continued to eat their meal, avoiding eye contact. Thena was determined. She’d done nothing wrong, so she certainly wasn’t going to be the one to speak first.

  Thankfully, John got the hint, although it took him long enough.

  “Thena, listen…”

  She glanced up. “Mm?”

  “I’m sorry. I just…have a hard time with this stuff. Always have done.”

  “Yeah, I know,” she said softly, accepting the apology. That was all it took. Two simple words and an admission of some culpability.

  “Tell me about it then.”

  “You don’t really want to hear it though.”

  “I do,” he insisted. “I want to know everything about you…please…”

  “Alright…” She sighed quietly and started all over again from the beginning, telling him about the two visions she had experienced when she shook Dorian’s hand. As soon as she began talking, she almost immediately perked up, getting all excited as she described what she’d seen, and the strange vibe she’d picked up generally off Dorian. “There’s something about him, John,” she said. “I can’t quite put my finger on it but…he’s unusual. He’s got an aura.”

  “An aura?” John let out a little scoff. He couldn’t help himself. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Well…I don’t know, that’s exactly it. It’s just…a something.”

  “A something?”

  “It’s a feeling I got. A sensation. I can’t describe it but…I think he might have some kind of gift too.” She was careful to use the word ‘gift’ this time, rather than ‘power’, after John’s last reaction. Still, that didn’t exactly go down too well either. She could tell he was struggling not to roll his eyes again.

  “What’s your chicken like?” He asked instead, not so subtly changing the subject.

  “Very nice.” She went along with it. It was just easier that way. They were never going to see eye to eye on the topic so they might as well just give up now. “H
ow’s your salmon?”

  “Delicious. Want a piece?” He cut off a slither and offered it out to her.

  The rest of the date passed relatively quietly, with topics of conversation well away from the area Thena was most interested in. They stuck mostly to dull small talk, and Thena found her mind wandering back to Dorian, unable to concentrate on what John was saying about the latest football scores or something he’d read in the paper about the state of the economy.

  After they’d finished eating and paid up the bill, he attempted to invite himself back round to Thena’s to spend the night. She didn’t particularly want him there. It wasn’t that she was still mad at him, she just didn’t feel like it. She was rarely ‘in the mood’ and she knew full well that was what he would be expecting.

  “I’m tired,” she told him. “Been a really long day. I just want to go straight back home and crash, sorry.” She gave him a sympathetic smile.

  “Well, I could always come and crash with you…” He was nothing if not persistent.

  “Maybe some other time. I’ll call you over the weekend, yeah?”

  She could tell he was trying not to look too disappointed. It wasn’t working. “Yeah, alright,” he mumbled in agreement.

  But she didn’t just go straight back home and crash. She went straight back home and got on her laptop, pumping the name ‘Dorian Quinn’ into the search engine.

  She wasn’t entirely surprised by what she found.

  Billionaire psychic Dorian Quinn to host book signing

  That was only one of the many newspaper headlines and articles she found about him. She quickly discovered that he had inherited most of his money from his parents’ estate when they died in a car accident when he was seven, then he went on to study business at University and own several well earning companies. It was always the supernatural and paranormal that had intrigued him the most though and he had soon handed over most of the businesses into the capable hands of other CEOs so that he could explore that avenue more closely, even writing a couple of books on the subject. The articles she read described it as “his claims to be psychic”, but Thena was experienced enough in the field to know it was more than just a claim. He wasn’t one of those charlatans who pretended to commune with the dead just to earn some money. He was the real deal.