“Hello, Richard,” she said as she answered.
“Amy, what is going on? I just had The Grid in here complaining that you are limiting what calls he can send through and ending your show early if he doesn’t comply. You know it’s not your call who he chooses to put on the air. What is happening with you? You’re not yourself lately.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just tired of all these nonsensical reports of something as ridiculous as dragons flying over the city. I mean, really, when did we turn into some sort of hack paranormal activity show?”
“It’s what is going on in the city. Many people have seen them. Of course, they aren’t real. Dragons don’t exist. However, there is something out there. It’s a hologram or drones or something. Who knows? But what we should be doing is talking about it on the air. It’s good for ratings and who knows, you might just be the one to crack the case. I didn’t hire you just for your persona. You were my first choice because you also had journalist credentials that I thought might be an asset to the station.”
“Look, I’m sorry. You know that this thing will blow over. It’s just some tech-savvy kid getting his jollies at the expense of the more gullible residents in Los Angeles.”
“Gullible? That’s how you see the people who listen to your show?”
“That’s not what I said, Richard.”
“It’s what I heard. What if I were to tell you that I’ve seen the blue and silver dragon myself?”
“Did you?” she asked, not sure if he was being serious or just trying to make some point to her.
“Yes, I did. Listen, I agree that it is probably some grand hoax, but I’d like to know who is at the heart of it. Call it old-fashioned curiosity. I just like answers to things I don’t understand, and so do the people of Los Angeles – the people who listen to your show. The people who provide the station with high enough ratings that we don’t lose our sponsors.”
“Okay, Richard. I get it. I’ll lighten up on the dragon callers.”
“Very good. I don’t want to have this conversation again, or one that I will enjoy even less.”
“Are you threatening my job, Richard?”
“No. You’re doing a grand job of that all by yourself. I’m in your corner, Amy. I’m just trying to open your eyes to what will happen. You know that I’m not in control at the end of the day. I’m just the man that tries to hold it all together with a tiny budget and a very short leash.”
“I understand. Bye, Richard.”
“Goodbye, Amy,” he said, ending the call.
Amy tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and glanced in her rear-view mirror. She hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot. There was nothing she wanted more than to march back inside and give The Grid a piece of her mind, but she knew it would only make things worse. Starting the car, she pulled out onto the road and began to make her way home. She was halfway there when she suddenly changed her mind and turned around, heading straight for Big Bear Lake.
Chapter 13
The phone seemed to ring forever before he finally answered.
“Hello?” Owen’s voice came from the other end of the line.
“Why didn’t you tell me there are more dragons?” Amy said flatly, not bothering with a greeting.
“What? What do you mean?” he said, sounding a bit confused.
“Three dragons. One is red. One is red and orange. One is blue and silver. We know who the red one is. Who are the other two?”
Amy heard a loud sigh on the other end of the phone. There was silence for a moment, and then Owen began to speak again.
“I don’t think this is a conversation we should have over the phone.”
“I agree. That’s why I’m at Big Bear Lake. Tell me where you are, and I’ll come there.”
“No. That’s not a good idea. I’ll come down there.”
“What is it about where you live that you don’t want me to see?” Amy said angrily, instantly feeling a foreboding that she didn’t like.
“I’ll come down there, and we will talk,” he said, hanging up the phone.
Amy stood looking out over the water for a moment before climbing out of her car and making her way to a park bench situated near the parking lot where she had stopped to call him. Fifteen minutes passed before she heard the sound of an old pickup truck behind her and turned to see it stop beside her car. Owen climbed out and began walking toward her.
“I’m surprised. I expected you to fly down,” she replied.
“Too open and visible. I don’t live that far from here,” he said.
“I wouldn’t know,” she replied in a snarky tone as he sat down beside her.
“The other dragons. They are my brother and his girlfriend,” he said simply.
“I don’t understand, Owen. Why wouldn’t you tell me about them? You told me all about the loss of your first love but haven’t mentioned one word about the fact that you weren’t here alone. Are you ashamed of me? Didn’t want me to meet them?”
“We haven’t known each other very long, Amy,” he said.
“No, but I didn’t think it mattered. What happened to having such an intense bond, to feeling like I was the one person that you could be with and could move on with? Instead, I’m not even worth telling that they exist. If you thought it was too soon to meet them, then I guess I can get that, but to not even mention them? Why?”
“There is nothing good I can say here, Amy. It wouldn’t make sense to you.”
“Try me. How do you know it won’t make sense if you haven’t bothered to even attempt to explain it?”
Owen dropped his head for a moment before beginning to speak. She could tell that he was weighing his words carefully, trying to find the right way to explain, but she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“My family. They are very old fashioned. They wouldn’t understand.”
“Wouldn’t understand? Understand what? That you’ve met someone you enjoy spending time with? That you might have found a way to be happy again?”
“It’s not that simple, Amy. Here, in America, you have Native Americans, right? You have some that choose to integrate with the society that surrounds them. Then, there are others that live on reservations. They preserve their ways and their history. They frown upon those who marry outside their kind.”
“What are you saying?” Amy asked, though she was afraid that she was beginning to understand completely.
“My family would not accept that I am seeing a human. It is forbidden in our clan,” he said.
“So then all this business about us being together was just nonsense? Is this what you do? Help out vulnerable women, tell them your sad story, make them believe that there is something between you, and then just walk away because your family won’t allow you to be with them?”
“It’s not like that.”
“No? What is it like then, Owen? Tell me!” she barked at him, drawing the attention of a nearby couple walking along the pathway around the lake. She bit her lip, willing herself to just shut up and not let him see how upset she was by all of this.
“I have feelings for you. I want to be with you. I just wasn’t ready yet to take on the wrath of the family. I have other things I have to attend to before I can even think about doing that?”
“What other things?” she asked.
“That is something that I truly cannot tell you. I’m sorry. This is why I didn’t want to even tell you about my brother. I know how curious you are. I knew you would want to meet him and would question the fact that I hadn’t introduced you if I didn’t do so at some point soon. That’s why I didn’t mention him or his girlfriend.”
“So it’s okay to be dishonest with me to serve your own selfish purposes? Is that the way you think? It hardly bodes well for a blossoming relationship, now does it?” she said in a curt tone.
“Please, Amy. I need you to understand.”
“Understand what? That I’m not good en
ough to introduce to your family? That I’m just some lowly human, unworthy of acceptance into the great dragon clan you belong to? Where exactly did you see a future for us in your world?”
“I didn’t. I saw me taking care of what I need to do without involving you and then building a future for us in your world, where what I am wouldn’t matter.”
“Ah, yes. This unmentionable business. Of course. I tell you what, Owen. Why don’t you do whatever you need to do, and I’ll just fuck right off and mind my own business,” she said, getting up to leave the bench.
Owen reached out, grabbing her arm and standing up to face her. He looked down at her, his eyes fixed in a silent plea. Amy tried to pulled away, but he held on to her, not letting her leave.
“Let go of me, Owen!” she said, her anger rising.
“I love you, Amy,” he said, never taking his eyes from her.
She stood motionless. The words washed over her, trying to seep into what felt like a steel heart, but she couldn’t feel them. How could he say he loved her when he obviously didn’t trust her? Even if it did, what difference did it make when they couldn’t be together? Why did she always find the most unavailable man on the planet to fall for? In one resolute move, she yanked her arm away, running for her car. Owen didn’t follow her. He just stood there watching her as she climbed behind the wheel and hurried out of the parking lot.
It was late, and she was tired from the drive here, but she just wanted to be back at home again in her own bed. She drove straight through, making it back to her apartment in two and a half hours flat. There were no tears. She just felt completely numb from heart to head. That changed the moment she made her way into the door of her place. It felt like it took every ounce of her energy just to walk to the sofa and lie down across it. Then, the tears began to flow like rain.
Chapter 14
Days passed without any communication from Owen. Amy chalked it up to just another bad episode in her love life. The wrong man, again. This is why she couldn’t date. She looked at herself in the mirror as she got ready for a lunch date with Barb. It wasn’t an unflattering image that stared back at her. She was attractive enough – in moderately decent shape, witty, intelligent…overall, not a bad package. So why couldn’t she see damaged goods coming a mile away?
“I’m telling you, Barb. I just give up,” she told her friend an hour later over a decidedly gluttonous meal of deep-dish pizza and beer.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Amy. There is nothing wrong with being hopeful. You don’t want to wind up some jaded old woman with forty cats all named Francis.”
“Who would name a cat Francis?”
“You, if you let yourself go down this road for too long.”
“No, not me. I’m going to give them all really cool names like Penelope Purr and Katarina Kitty,” Amy laughed, pointing her fork at Barb with a smile.
“You’re scaring me,” Barb laughed.
“Not to worry. I’m not much of a cat person, honestly. I’ll probably just get a herd of dogs and spend my days in the dog park, letting them run around while I feed the pigeons.”
“Ah, I’m so relieved,” Barb said, her laughter giving way to a stern face. “But seriously, you can’t let this get to you. At the end of the day, you barely know him. He saved your life, and you’ve just put him on a pedestal. Now, he’s fallen off on his face.”
“Maybe you’re right. I’m making too much of it. Barb, it just felt so real – so intense. I thought there was a connection there. Even though I haven’t known him for very long, it just seemed right. Anyway, enough about my pathetic love life. How is yours?”
“It’s okay,” Barb replied, tearing off a bite of garlic bread and stuffing her mouth with it.
“Hmm, that wasn’t very convincing,” Amy replied with a raised eyebrow.
“We split up,” Barb replied.
“Oh, Barb. I’m so sorry. Here I am going on and on about my man troubles and haven’t been there for you at all. When did this happen?”
“Few weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come over with a bottle of wine to drown our cares in.”
“I just didn’t feel up to company for a bit. I was pretty depressed.”
“You? Depressed? That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“I know, but it really got to me. Things had been going so well between us, but I guess he just didn’t want to be a jerk and tell me over a video app while he was away. It seems that he met some Italian socialite and fell head over heels for her. They’re getting married.”
“You’re shitting me? After only spending a short time together overseas?”
“Yeah, I guess so. He came home, acting like things were fine for a while, but suddenly he wasn’t interested in sex. First, it was because he was jet lagged. Then, it was because he was too tired from work and then, after a while, he just stopped making excuses and told me he didn’t want to. No kissing, no hugging. It was like going out with my brother, only perhaps even less affectionate.”
“That’s horrible. How did you find out about her?”
“I finally snapped. I asked him what was going on with him, and he told me the truth. He said he was going to tell me, but just wasn’t sure how to do it.”
“Bastard.”
“No. I don’t feel that way about him. I wish I could. It might be easier, but at the end of the day, you can’t make someone love you. If they do, that’s wonderful. If they don’t, there’s not much you can do to change their mind. Who wants to be with someone who only has tepid feelings for them? It hurts to know you aren’t loved, but who wants to be ‘just okay’ as someone’s partner. This just gives me a chance to find the right one.”
“Well, I’m sorry about all of that. You want to go with me to the animal shelter? I think they are having an adopt one, get one free deal this weekend.”
Barb laughed and took a drink of her beer, holding up her now empty glass toward the waiter who nodded and disappeared behind the bar. He motioned with two fingers, and Barb nodded for him to bring them both a fresh one.
“Don’t you have a show this afternoon?” Barb asked.
“Yeah, but fuck it. It wouldn’t be the first time a DJ arrived with a few beers under the belt,” Amy laughed, finishing hers off.
“Another then?” Barb asked.
“No. A bit buzzed is one thing, but shit faced is frowned upon.”
“Good enough, but I think I’ll have another. I’m off work today.”
The women finished their meal and began making their way out to the sidewalk to go their separate ways. Barb had a car waiting, but Amy had walked from her apartment to the small pizzeria they had gone to for lunch.
“You want a ride to the station?” Barb asked as her driver stepped out and opened the door for her.
“Nah. I think the fresh air will do me well. I’ll just walk over to the transit stop to spend a little time with my fellow lowly humans.”
“Don’t beat yourself up too much,” Barb told her as she climbed into the backseat of the waiting sedan.
“I won’t. I think it’s like you said. You can’t make someone love you, and if they don’t, what can you do? Knowing you weren’t that important to them should make it easy enough to let them go.”
“Yes. That’s what we should tell ourselves, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Amy replied, tossing up her hand in a silent goodbye as she turned to walk away.
Chapter 15
A week went by – a week that felt like an eternity. There were no more calls about dragons, not because The Grid was holding them back, but because not one of them had been seen. Amy could only assume that whatever business Owen had to take care of was back in Ireland, and they had departed. She felt a certain sadness at knowing she would never see or touch him again, but Barb’s words reminded her that there was no reason to obsess over someone who wasn’t missing you.
She had begun t
o accept that he wasn’t coming back. Though she wasn’t ready to move on just yet, she knew that it was over and she would have to let it go. Sitting on her console at the station, she waited for her cue to begin the show. Her relationship with The Grid remained strained, but they were professionals and continued to do their jobs as best they could without showing the signs of animosity that remained between them.
Amy seemed to do her show on autopilot these days, barely even registering the thoughts that were coming out of her mouth, but delivering them flawlessly nonetheless. Before she knew it, another hour was almost over, and she had to click back into manual mode, taking calls from her adoring masses. The thought almost made her laugh aloud as the first call was sent through.
“You’re on the air with A.J. Webb,” she said, the words sounding thin and robotic to her ears. She barely registered what the caller was saying as they rambled on about an event they were planning and wanted to personally invite her and the listening public to attend.
“That sounds like a good time,” she said blandly. “I’m sure it will be a great success.”
Looking up at The Grid, she wondered what had possessed him to give free advertising to some random caller. Usually, those things were just taken down and handled in a mass rundown of local happenings at her discretion. Though some were marked on the list as definites, many of the others were left up to her. Forcing one on her like he had just done was an act of defiance, but she wasn’t going to let that get to her. Instead, she brushed it off and went to the next caller.
“Yes. Listen, I haven’t heard anything about those dragons lately, but I think I just saw one.”
“A dragon. Is that so?” Amy said, rolling her eyes and giving her best death stare to The Grid, who sat smiling in a bemused manner at her. Why was he such a dick?
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