by Orts, Teresa
I needed to calm down to get my thoughts straight, but my mind kept drifting away. The image of beautiful Nate invaded my mind. His almond-shaped eyes, his curling eyelashes, his wide back. The perpetual expression of self-reproach engraved in his face.
The only way of consoling myself was to think that no matter what happened, no one could ever take from me the memories of the moments I spent with him. That was the only thing I could hold on to.
All of the sudden, an image flooded my mind. I knew where Nate could be. I sprang to my feet and changed into the first thing I grabbed from the pile of clothes on the floor—a short floral dress and a cotton jacket. I quickly washed my face and brushed my hair.
Rushing down the stairs, I said, without really expecting an answer, “Mom! Can I borrow your car? I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“We’re going out for dinner. You need to be back before we—”
I stormed out of the house, leaving Mom with the next word still in her mouth.
I sped through West Hollywood. Until that day, I’d never known Mom’s car could reach up to seventy-five miles per hour. It was already 5:00 p.m. I had to hurry.
When I got to the entrance of the Getty, I decided to park the car in the staff parking lot. It was much closer to the tram station. There was no time to waste. I could see a tram was about to depart the station. Without time to even lock the door, I ran through the parking lot like a maniac and managed to catch the tram.
There was only one other woman in the same tramcar. She sat opposite me, reading a book. Closing my eyes, I prayed to God that I wasn’t too late. I thought I was going to collapse. My knees were shaking uncontrollably.
I kept talking to myself. “Please, Nate. Don’t do it! Don’t do it!”
I opened my eyes to check if we had arrived and realized I’d scared the woman with my erratic behavior. She was now sitting at the other end.
The tram finally approached the station at a really slow speed. They were aiming the tram doors at the exit passages. Were they planning to take all day? As soon as the doors opened I sprinted up the marble stairs into the entrance hall, my face red from the exercise.
“Mary, have you seen my friend? The one…,” I shouted, rushing past the information desk.
“He got here around an hour ago. We’re already closed.” She was getting used to me ignoring her instructions.
I couldn’t waste a minute. I ran down the service stairs as fast as my dress and my cowboy boots allowed me. Maybe a pair of sneakers would’ve been a more sensible choice for this occasion. I pushed the heavy service doors open in the basement corridor, one after the other, until I got to the south promontory garden service gate. Then I hesitated in front of the last door. I again felt like the victim of media brainwashing. It was as if I was the contestant in a TV show and was about to open the door that would reveal the prize. Behind, either a beautiful prize or a tremendous defeat. A voice spoke in my head. Will this door reveal the car? Or will our contestant go home empty-handed? What’s it going to be, Sophie? All or nothing.
Wishing with all my heart this was the right choice, I pushed the gate open.
“Nate, please, don’t do it!” I shouted, running along the verge of the garden to the south promontory, ignoring that there was a fifty-foot drop on the other side.
Nate was standing right at the edge. He hadn’t turned after I shouted his name. He was going to do it.
“Nate, please!” I shouted again.
I came to a halt just a few yards behind him. All I could see was his back. I knew if I tried to get any closer, he was going to jump. He wasn’t going to take any chances.
“Nate, you need to listen to me. It wasn’t your fault. Things like that happen. You can’t blame yourself for everything that happens around you.” I begged.
I wasn’t sure if Nate was listening at all. His back was like a block of wood. There was not one sign my words were having any effect.
“You had no control over what happened. It’s not your fault, I promise. No one was really hurt,” I lied, rushing through each word.
Nate was still wearing the black suit pants and shirt from yesterday. The white shirt was now wrinkled and unbuttoned. It hung over his trousers. His hair was messy.
“I hurt innocent people,” he finally said without turning to look at me.
“But you didn’t. You didn’t do anything. You can’t blame yourself for what you didn’t do. That’s what you’ve been doing all your life. You’ve let your parents make you believe this is your fault.”
“I could’ve killed you.” He finally turned to look at me over his shoulder. The grimace on his face made my heart sink. His eyes were red and swollen.
“But you didn’t hurt me. It was my choice to be there,” I explained with a trembling voice.
He glanced back again, but this time he stared in panic at my bruised wrist. How could I be this stupid? Why did I let him see it?
He turned slightly away, staring down at the edge of the promontory. “Sophie, you don’t understand how close I was. What I did to you was nothing compared to what could’ve happened. When I lost it at the party, in the parking lot, last night… It’s never been like that before. It’s much stronger. I completely lost it. It’s only happened when I’ve been with you. Sophie, I don’t know how to say this, but when it takes hold, it’s not like I’m trying to protect you; it’s like my rage is directed at you.”
Shivers ran down my spine. He couldn’t be telling the truth. Why would his anger be directed at me?
“Please stop saying that,” I begged.
“I’m so sorry, but it’s the truth.” Nate lapsed into silence as he stared down at the L.A. skyline.
The moment I got a glimpse of Nate’s face, the thought of losing him turned me inside out. Even with his scruffy hair, he was too beautiful to lose. The sparkling city lights reflected into his piercing dark eyes. His jaw was strong and angular. The perfect angles of his face, his solid muscular body made me tremble.
He ran his fingers through his hair from the neck up, making his hair even wilder. “I don’t know how I made those tanks blow. I don’t understand what happened. I’m a freak. I don’t want to live like that.” Nate stepped slightly closer to the edge, his legs shaking. He was going to do it. He was going to jump.
This was the moment of truth. There would be no second chances. I had to be brave. “It was my necklace. Someone ripped the necklace off my neck. That’s what triggered your episode.”
Nate turned to face me. He was still right at the edge. I couldn’t blow it. I had to make him believe my words. I continued without wasting a second. “Do you remember the word I mentioned the last time you came to the Getty? Ammateus? Last night you said it again, and this time, I heard it clearly.
“Like the prophecy said. That word was used in Ancient Egypt to refer to some sort of night spirit. I did some more research and the sacred stone the prophecy refers to is called Syenite. The two obelisks were known as Cleopatra’s Needles and were placed in front of a temple called the Caesareum. For some reason, Cleopatra believed that two specific obelisks, made from Syenite, could protect her from Ammateus. She believed that the Syenite stone had divine powers.”
I paused for a moment, and hoping it would give Nate some hope, I spoke again. “The necklace I was wearing was made of that stone.”
I couldn’t tell what Nate was thinking. He looked skeptical, but at least I was buying some time. I felt I was trying to convince a great jury that he was innocent and he didn’t deserve the death sentence. In this case, the judge was Nate and the life at stake his own.
I continued with my theory. “Do you remember why you agreed to come with me to the premiere? You said that since the day we met here at the Getty you felt different around me. That day I was wearing the necklace, and I had ever since. Until someone ripped it off my neck at the party last night.” I paused for a moment to see his reaction, but he didn’t seem too impressed. “You had it under control un
til last night. I’m not saying I believe in any spirits or a magic necklace. I’m just thinking of it in a scientific way. The Egyptians were millions of miles ahead of us in astrology, physics, medicine. Whatever’s happening to you, whatever you’re going through, however it is that you make things explode around you, the Egyptians knew about it. If there’s anything that can help you, it’s them. And that Syenite stone is the first lead in our search.”
I stared directly at Nate, waiting for the final verdict. He caught my eye and then looked away. “It sounds like your theory has a big hole in it.”
“What do you mean?”
“If there is any truth in what you’re saying and that stone was protecting you from me, why am I not attacking you now? You don’t have the necklace anymore.” Nate turned around to face the edge again.
This was my last card. If I didn’t persuade him now, I would lose this battle and Nate with it. I rolled my sleeve up to show a tiny figure of a mummy replica that hung around my wrist. I grabbed it from Dad’s office and managed to tie it to my wrist with a silver thread. “Because I have this with me.”
Nate turned to look at me, astonished.
“It’s made from the same stone.” I raised my hand up in the air so he could see it.
I felt close to winning this battle, but even Nate wasn’t going to give up on his auto-destructive mission so easily. I had to make him step away from the edge.
I knew I was about to do the cruelest thing I would ever do, but if that was what it took to keep Nate alive, it was definitely justified, so I said it. “You owe it to me.”
Nate’s eyes widened.
I’d discovered his weakest point: emotional blackmail. That was exactly what his parents did to him. It was also how he tried to keep me away from him the day he came to my place after the fight. He couldn’t deal with the guilt of hurting innocent people.
“Last night you endangered my life. If you want me to forgive you, you’ll have to help me investigate what the deal is with this stone.” I stared at him, urging him to believe every one of my daring words. I gave him a taste of his own medicine.
A light crease appeared in Nate’s forehead. He finally took one step toward me and away from the edge. Bringing his gaze to the ground, he admitted submissively, “I guess I owe it to you.”
There we were, standing only feet from each other for what seemed an eternity. Nate was unable to look me in the eye.
The moment he brought his gaze up and our eyes locked, it hit me. I realized how close I had been to losing him. A flash-forward of my life without Nate played in my mind.
Unable to bear the infinite distance between us, we at once rushed into each other’s arms. I never wanted to leave his side again. My head pressed against his chest; his strong arms wrapped around me. I knew nothing could ever happen to me as long as he was by my side.
“How could you think of jumping…?” I murmured between tears.
“I’m so sorry,” Nate whispered in torment. The guilt was thick in his voice.
“You can never do that to me. You have to promise,” I mumbled, almost unable to hear my own voice.
Nate nodded. “I promise. I never will.”
“Sophie?” Nate said, touching my chin and lifting my head up so our eyes met.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear so he could see my face.
And right there, taken away by the feelings that we’d been repressing for so long, we slowly moved until our lips met. My heart beat violently. My emotions spun out of control. The power of his energy made me his. There was no way back. I was officially addicted to him.
Nate wrapped his arms around me pressing our bodies against each other. He bewitched me with each kiss—the last one more intense than the previous, as if time were running out.
The ocean breeze playfully brushed my hair, and the traffic noise thundered in the distance, unaware that our world had come to a halt right this instant. Nate combed his fingers through my hair as he kissed me passionately.
I didn’t remember anymore why we were here or why we’d waited so long to accept how we felt about each other. Every cell of my body yearned for Nate. I wanted this moment to last forever.
Then, all of a sudden, Nate tore himself away from me in a struggle, waking me up from my midsummer night’s dream and bringing me back to cruel reality. Nate was shaking. He kept his eyes closed as if he were trying to piece himself together.
I stepped toward him, but he lifted his hand in the air, hinting that he needed some space.
“If… we… are… going to investigate… this… together… we need to avoid… this… or you are going to… kill me,” Nate uttered between gasps. He was looking away from me. His shoulders heaved up and down with each gasp.
“So… where do we start?” Nate said as though he was trying to engage his mind in a different type of thought.
I clenched the small mummy figure around my wrist. “We need to go to New York.”
CHAPTER XI
“WHAT? WHY?” NATE SAID, stunned. “Why New York?”
“Cleopatra’s Needles. The two obelisks made of Syenite. One of them was relocated to London and the other one to New York.”
The crease was back on Nate’s forehead. “Your parents would never let you go to New York on your own, never mind with me.”
Nate was right. The chance of my parents letting me go to the other side of the country on my own was less than slim. But I had to find a way, whatever it took.
“I’ll work something out.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Nate hesitated.
I couldn’t tell whether I was guilting him into it or if he had faith in my hypothesis. I just remembered that my parents were waiting for me to return the car. I couldn’t get in trouble if I was to convince them I was old enough to go to New York on my own.
I turned on my heel, as I was already officially late. “I have to go home. You’re going to have to trust me on this one, okay?”
“But…” Nate tried to interrupt me, probably realizing the mess I was getting him caught in.
I tiptoed along the edge of the promontory and shouted back at him. “I’ll take that as a yes. By the way, you need to get out of here. The museum’s already closed!”
*
Over the next week, Nate and I meticulously planned how to get my parents to agree to let me go to New York on my own. I had been the one making most of the plans, as Nate wasn’t that sure about our trip. He said he was worried about me getting into trouble with my parents. I knew the truth was that he doubted we were going to find a cure for his condition in New York.
New York University offered tours for prospective students once per semester. The students flew to New York on an organized tour for a week and got to stay at the dorms for a full NYU experience. The catch was that if you went on your own, the university assigned you to a student counselor who looked after you twenty-four-seven for the whole week. The student counselor even picked you up from the airport and dropped you back there.
I had to make my parents agree to let me go—even if I had to spend an entire afternoon in intense negotiations. I thought probably the best time to ask my parents was on Sunday afternoon. They always had a late lunch in the back garden. It was their favorite time of the week. My bedroom windows faced the back garden, and I waited behind the curtain for them to come out.
I couldn’t fail Nate. I couldn’t back out no matter how much my parents didn’t like the idea of me going to New York on my own. I decided it was best to ask them the day before we were supposed to leave, so they wouldn’t have much time to mull it over, but Nate wasn’t so sure that was such a good idea. I could feel my hands sweating at the thought of having to face them.
Pacing up and down the room, I tried to keep myself together. It was almost time to deliver, and the closer I got to talking to my parents, the more I feared our plan wasn’t going to work. To make matters worse, my parents should�
�ve already been out in the garden.
Grabbing my cell phone from my backpack, I dialed Nate to review once again all the details. My eyes were fixed on the garden.
“What did they say?”
“I haven’t told them yet.”
I sat on the armrest of the sofa where I could still see the garden.
“You don’t need to do this. You know your parents are going to suspect something’s up.”
“Please, I need you on my side, at least right now.” The last thing I needed at the moment was Nate making me hesitate about asking them. For this to work, I had to show my determination.
“I know. But I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”
“We’ve already been through this.” Nate had tried to persuade me to drop the trip, but I thought by now he should’ve known there was no room for negotiation. He was all that mattered to me, and I was going to help him.
“Okay. Remember, first ask them about it and tell them you’ve saved enough money to pay for it yourself.”
Nate was trying to sound positive, but I could read between the lines. He was as unsure that this was going to work as I was.
“Okay.”
“If they don’t buy it, then explain how important is for you to get into NYU.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Well, then you need to use Plan B. Make sure you have the flight printout and the NYU tour receipt.” Nate paused for a moment. “But please, only use this as a last resort. Your parents won’t like it.”
I’d asked Nate to book our flights to New York for tomorrow morning, for which he offered to pay. I also signed up for the NYU tour, but I waived the dorm accommodation and the airport pickup by forging Dad’s signature. After receiving the confirmation from NYU, I’d scanned the receipt and changed it so my parents thought I was going to stay at the dorms. I knew if my parents ever found out, this was going to mark a before and after in our relationship.
It was a risk I was willing to take.
“How hard can it be?” I tried to convince myself.