"I don't have any." Lisa sighed. "Every week I change my preferences. I just like them bright and vivid."
"Mine are orange, pink, red and yellow," Nathan replied. "Sunset colors, your hair color, the color of autumn leaves."
"Ah." Lisa adjusted her chair too and looked over at him. "Well..."
"And I like rain and talking to pretty girls with red hair and hazel eyes." Nathan chuckled.
Lisa flushed and cleared her throat, looking away from him.
"How old are you, Lisa?" Nathan whispered.
"Twenty." Lisa turned back around to look at him. "Twenty-one in July. And you?"
"Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine in July. Boyfriends?"
He sneaked the question in there and she looked at him, grinning. "None. You?"
"None either." Nathan’s eyes lit up. "I am not of that persuasion. As I said, I like pretty girls with red hair and hazel eyes."
"I meant, do you have any girlfriends?" Lisa poked him on his hard biceps, and then pulled back her hand. "Gosh, you are hard."
Nathan laughed. "Did I break your finger?"
"Nah." Lisa massaged it. "But lifting camera equipment must have some muscle-building perk."
Nathan took her hand in his and massaged it lightly. "Sorry."
"No problem." His touch was anything but soothing. She was having difficulty pulling air into her lungs.
He released her fingers reluctantly. "So you and Ricky are just boss and employee?"
"Yes," Lisa snapped. "You asked me that already."
"Just checking." Nathan shrugged. "I would not want any surprises later, you know, especially as I am getting to like you so much."
Too late; she had a whopper of a surprise for him. Lisa sighed inwardly.
The rain began to ease up, and he glanced at her.
"Are you ready for more fun?"
"Sure." Lisa adjusted her seat. "If I can watch from afar. I feel a little zonked out."
Chapter Ten
Ricky and Madison set off for their hike as soon as the rain eased up in the evening. Madison was suffering from cabin fever; she had been cooped up in the house all day because of the showers, fretting about the fact that Nathan was out with Lisa.
She hadn't been able to concentrate on the book she was reading, so it was a welcome respite to be out with Ricky.
Why on earth did she sign up for a three-month gig in this place? she asked herself for the umpteenth time. At least in the office she had a long list of patients to attend to. Here the money was good but there was just too much dead time.
She glanced at Ricky, who was slowing down after they climbed the hill. He was winded and favoring his leg.
"Let's stop here," she said, pointing to a scenic area which overlooked the sea. There was a stone bench there and a garbage receptacle beside a tree. Obviously a popular lookout point. It had even better views than Ricky's place.
"Fine." Ricky sat down on the stone bench and rested his leg on the sea wall. "Gorgeous place, this."
"Yes." Madison crossed her hands and watched as the evening sun created sparkling shapes on the sea surface.
But it could be torture too. So quiet and peaceful it made you think and fume and plot.
Her investigation in Lisa's room this morning had been fruitless. There was nothing in there to incriminate the girl.
She was very neat. She had no identification. She had an old picture stuffed in one section of a mirror of a short dark lady, her hair in one of those old bouffant eighties styles and a very short sparkly dress. She was posing before a microphone. It was signed at the back, Nadine Barclay.
Maybe a picture of her mother? Made sense since she was Lisa Barclay.
It had been a letdown. Madison shifted from one leg to the other. Nothing to indicate to her who Lisa Barclay was, and nothing to tell Nathan about or warn him with.
She hoped they were having a lousy time. She wished that after exposing himself to Lisa, Nathan would come to his senses.
This whole thing sucked.
She had liked Nathan since she was thirteen. Four years ago when he had kissed her, she had been ecstatic.
And then he had told her sorry. She had tried to convince him that they could make a go of having a relationship but even the blind could see that his heart wasn't in it.
She had had relationships since Nathan, of course. She wasn't going to sit down and allow the best years of her life to pass her by while she yearned after one man. And Nathan had always been her grand unrequited love.
The problem was she was unlucky in love. Her last relationship only lasted six months. Her boyfriend had called her neurotically clingy, just because she had rifled through his phone and questioned him about messages from unknown numbers.
Well, maybe she had gone a little overboard but she wasn't neurotic; she had been right to suspect him. He had been cheating on her all along.
"That's a fierce frown." Ricky broke into her turbid thoughts. He stood up and stretched.
She tried to smile but she could barely spread her lips into an acceptable stretch.
"Just thinking about life."
Ricky nodded. "Yes, life."
They turned around to leave the area when a tall, handsome guy walked up the hill with two children behind him.
The guy stopped abruptly when he saw Ricky.
Madison looked at Ricky, who was looking at the guy with a puzzled expression on his face.
"You know him?" Madison asked. The two men were in a staring contest that neither of them seemed to want to stop.
"I...don't know," Ricky muttered, "not sure."
Madison looked at the two children who were with the guy. The little girl tugged on her father's pants as if to question why he had stopped moving and the little boy headed for the sea wall, excitement in his eyes.
"Come back, Todd." The guy finally found his voice.
The little boy turned back and went to stand beside his father.
"Don't take this the wrong way," Ricky finally said, breaking the silent staring contest, "but I am not sure who you are."
The guy visibly relaxed and then came forward. "Of course, we heard about your, er, problem. My name is Troy Scarlett."
Ricky shook his hand and then Troy turned to her.
"I am Madison Sullivan, Ricky's personal physiotherapist."
"Ah," Troy nodded. "I forgot about your legs."
He turned to the little red-haired children. "These are my children, Todd and Dahlia."
The children politely said hello and Troy turned back to Ricky. "It's kind of unbelievable that your memory is gone. Kind of convenient, don't you think?"
"Yes." Ricky nodded. "My memory is gone but it is not convenient, not for me. I have to ask, did I do you something wrong too? Are you one of the Scarletts that I am to stay away from? My mother didn't say which particular ones I had wronged."
Troy looked at Ricky for a long moment before answering. "Yes, but I...this is surreal. Is this only a treatment that rich people have access to? There are a lot of people who would like to have what you got."
Ricky grunted. "Well, I must apologize for whatever it is I did and no, electro-shock therapy is pretty common these days, especially in depression cases. My treatment was a little bit more unorthodox, off the books. A Swiss therapist who has had dubious success with--what shall we call it--zapping people's brains so that they can reset certain behaviors and attitudes. Of course, a side effect is memory loss; mine is coming back slowly and gradually. I may never get back everything."
"Well, this is er...weird." Troy muttered weakly. "There was a time when I wanted to strangle you myself but it doesn't make sense to be angry now, does it?"
He gave a huff of laughter and then shook his head. "This gives a new spin on the whole forgive and forget angle, doesn't it?"
"Tell you what…" Troy searched around in his shirt pocket for a card and then pulled it out. "Give me a call if you want."
Ricky took the card slowly. Madison noticed a little t
remor in his hand.
"Thanks," Ricky said huskily.
Troy nodded. "I am just going up a couple more hills with these two and then home to my parents’."
Madison watched as he went up the hill. Something about his two children was bugging her.
Then she got it. They looked a lot like Lisa Barclay, especially the boy—similar eyes and hair.
"Wait!" she called to him, knowing it was none of her business but needing to find out.
Troy looked back and stopped.
"Do you know Lisa Barclay?"
"Lisa Barclay." Troy shook his head. "Can't say I do. Why?"
"Nothing." Madison shook her head. "Nothing... just nothing."
Troy smiled and then continued his walk, with his two animated children running ahead of him.
"Do you see how much the children look like Lisa?" Madison turned to Ricky. But he wasn't listening. He was looking at the card intently and then a loud, shuddering sigh escaped him.
"I remember him, I think." Ricky had a faraway look in his eyes. "He has a wife named Chelsea; she used to work for me, I think."
Maddie was not going to get anything out of Ricky and now her thoughts were back on Lisa Barclay and ultimately Nathan. She again hoped they were having a terrible time.
****
Lisa scarfed down the dinner that was sent over from the hotel. Swimming had opened her appetite. She should have eaten with Nathan before she got back but she hadn't been hungry then. Now she was.
While she was eating like a lone survivor from a wilderness prison, Madison and Ricky were barely touching theirs.
Ricky was chewing absentmindedly, like he had a lot on his mind, and Madison was watching her with suppressed loathing.
"What did I do?" Lisa asked aloud.
Madison jumped. "Why do you ask?"
Ricky ignored them. He was still slowly and methodically chewing his food as if she had not spoken.
"You are giving me the evil eye," Lisa pointed out. "Like if you had a knife you'd stick it in my neck."
"No I wasn't," Madison said weakly and unconvincingly. She looked back in her plate and avoided looking at Lisa after that.
Something was definitely wrong, Lisa concluded.
"This house is so depressing. The two of you are like zombies."
Ricky finally swallowed and looked at her. "I have an idea."
"What?" Lisa asked.
"I think we should go to church tonight. Sit at the back."
"Church?" Madison was the first one to sputter.
"I am bushed but I'll go." Lisa shrugged. "I did promise God that I would serve him if he got me..." She looked over at Madison, who was hanging on her every word.
"If he got me out of a certain situation."
Ricky raised a brow. "You did?"
"Yes." Lisa inhaled. "I said I would serve him. I said I would go back to school and I would..."
She dared not say that she had also promised that she would work for her money in an honest way. Madison would have a field day with that. She sensed how much Madison disliked her. No need to be adding fuel to the fire.
"Good then, it’s always good to keep your promises." Ricky rubbed his chin. "The good ones, at any rate."
" I agree." Lisa nodded.
"I made no such promise." Madison snorted. She put down her napkin. "I am going for a walk." She excused herself from the table and headed up the stairs.
"What's wrong with her?" Lisa asked, looking at Ricky.
"She is jealous of you." Ricky frowned. "Don't tell me you can't see that? You went out with Nathan Cross. I am sure that it has not escaped your notice that she likes him."
"No, it didn't," Lisa shrugged, "but she said she had a high school crush. I didn't know she would be so emotional about it. Nathan said for a very brief while four years ago he kissed her."
Ricky chuckled. "But we are talking about feelings here, Lisa. Feelings linger. They fester. They make you do unspeakable things, especially if they are unrequited."
"What do you know about feelings?" Lisa asked.
"I don't know." Ricky forked some food and put it near his mouth and then put it back down.
"I don't know, isn't that something? But then again, I never loved anyone but myself and maybe Francine...Before I was crippled and functioned properly, I had some lustful connections. Can't call that love.
"I can't remember them all; some of the faces tend to meld together in my memory. And from what I can remember feelings weren't involved at all, just the baser affections, scratching an itch really.
"And now that I am getting better and I am sure that my lower anatomy is in working condition, I can't muster the passion for any loveless connections. I am sure that there is something better out there. Someone I can connect with, someone who will make me want to do better."
"That's so sweet, Ricky," Lisa said, water gathering at the corners of her eyes. Ricky looked so lonely when he said that. She covered his hand with hers. "Hey, you'll find her or she'll find you."
Ricky smiled sadly. "What do you know? You are in the throes of infatuation. You are wishing that everybody can be as happy as you are right now. You are so filled with endorphins, and you think the world is one big party of love."
Lisa chuckled. "I wouldn't call what I am feeling infatuation. I genuinely like Nate. He is different from all the guys I have ever known. He is sweet and artistic; he sees beauty in the most unattractive things. He is so..."
Ricky snapped his fingers. "For peace’s sake, please don't give me the resume on how great Nathan Cross is. Go get ready for church if you are coming."
Chapter Eleven
Lisa was beginning to appreciate how much her life was changing into something unrecognizable. If someone had come to her and told her that she would be here right now, in the middle of shooting a scene on the beach, six weeks after Miss Vera kicked her out of the house with no place to go, she would have laughed at them.
She was a far cry from that pathetic creature who had stumbled through the street just a few weeks ago. She was on her way to being an above-average photographer, if Eva and Julius were to be believed.
"That's going to be a gawjus shot, Lisa," Eva said close to her. She leaned over Lisa and examined the shot when Lisa took it. "As I said, gawjus!"
Lisa nodded. It was an abstract wood with sea weed wrapped around it; she had captured the sea throwing it toward the shore.
"Not fair," Marlon murmured near her,"she is seeing the great Nathan Cross. He actually won a National Geographic prize and she is getting lessons from him on the side."
Eva chuckled. "Well even so, she has some natural flare too. Marlon honey, don't be jealous."
Lisa got up from her crouching position and rubbed her back. Of the ten persons in the class, she really had an advantage; Ricky had given her a very good camera with some expensive lenses, far superior to her classmates. And of course, Nathan inspected her pictures and gave her tips. He was so knowledgeable about photography and it was his favorite topic.
Midway through the course, she was beginning to think she had a real affinity for photography. She was getting better at taking really 'gawjus' shots. She mimicked Eva's voice in her head.
After she finished class and said goodbye to her classmates, who seemed as if they didn't want to leave, she headed for the lobby where Nate was waiting for her. He had started doing that after her second class. He was talking animatedly to Julius now. He turned and saw her and his face lit up.
"Gotta go, Julius. "
"Yep." Julius was a short guy with a smooth, almost pretty face, the opposite of Eva, who had a square, almost manly face and towered over him.
"Bye Lisa." His voice was a heavy, deep bass. "Tomorrow, we’ll be working with some still-life pictures. Shadows and light."
Lisa nodded and hooked her hand within Nate's. He smelled so good. She would never sniff Calvin Klein for men again without feeling a full, almost heavy feeling of love.
"Hey," Nate kissed h
er on her forehead, "I have something for you."
Lisa grinned. He had taken to giving her some odds and ends through the weeks, starting with the shell, and then a bracelet made entirely of blue shells, and then a starfish key ring.
She had given him a cactus plant for his living room.
"No, I drove today," Nate said, steering her toward the car park instead of the main gate through which they would walk home.
Lisa followed him to the car. Of course conversation always came easy for her when she was around Nate. He could talk about photography for hours and he loved to hear about her classes and what she did. The weeks had just confirmed how compatible they were.
"Hey, why didn't you tell me that you won a National Geographic prize?" She pinched him before he could open the car door.
He smiled sheepishly. "It never came up."
Lisa giggled. "You are so modest."
Nate opened the car door. "I entered the competition solely to have something to prove to my dad. I had just left my resident training at the hospital. Walked out after realizing that medicine was not something I really wanted to do. Picked up a camera, went to a course like this and then started traveling.
“My dad was devastated but he said he understood that everybody went through a burnout phase. He'd give me a year to come to my senses. A year later I won the prize in the nature category."
"You proved him wrong," Lisa whispered looking across from him. She always felt a little anxious when Nathan mentioned his father.
"Yes, I did. You should do what you want to and are happy with and not buckle down to the expectations of people or else someday you'll realize that you are losing yourself and denying who you are, which is like killing yourself slowly and painfully."
Lisa widened her eyes. "I agree."
Nathan smiled. "Never just work for money and riches unless you are doing what you love. Money and the other things are a delicious side effect."
"Sometimes, some people don't have a choice." Lisa licked her lips. "Sometimes people get desperate. They don't have any education or job prospects and it's all about survival."
Scarlett Promise (The Scarletts Page 9