by C. J. Pinard
The waitress set their food down with a snap of her gum. “Anything else you fellas need, just holler,” Sandy said.
While they were eating, Kathryn decided it was a good time to do some digging. Joseph’s mind was full of doubt, yet excitement. He was thinking this new side job of his would give him access to finding out what happened to his son.
Adam Swift’s mind was all business. He loved his job with the BSI. He was also seriously jonesing for a cigarette.
Tony Bianchi’s mind was by far the most interesting. He was smart and kind, and was practicing ways in his mind on how he was going to ask Kathryn out. Should he do it now? Should he do it as he was walking out? Should he wait until he got back to the Hyde Street building?
Kathryn couldn’t help but smirk. She was glad he felt the connection, too.
Chapter 15
∞∞∞
Portland, Oregon – Present Day
“But why are you staying in L.A.? I thought you were going to come back to San Francisco after your schooling was done?” Thomas pled.
“I’m sorry, Tommy, I just need to stay down here. After I get my degree, I’m going to attend the new UCLA School of Medicine internship. It’s opening in a couple of years, and is going to be the best in the country,” Barbara replied.
“I don’t know what to say,” Thomas replied quietly.
“I don’t know, either. I won’t live here forever, but I understand if you need to move on. But you could always move down here and we could get married while I go to school,” Barbara said.
“You know I can’t do that. It would break my mother’s heart. I’m an only child, Barbara. I can’t leave them alone.”
“I understand,” she said softly.
“Well… I guess there is nothing else left to say then, is there, Babs?” Thomas finished with a brokenhearted sigh.
A blaring horn jolted Thomas back to the present. He quickly corrected the car and breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been given the task to get something to eat for Darius so the negotiations could continue. On his way to the Portland Blood Bank, he decided he would call Malina.
“Hi, Malina, it’s Thomas.”
“Oh, hello, Tom. How are you?” she asked.
“I’m good. Hey, I’m on my way downtown and would like to invite you to dinner,” he said nervously. “And I apologize for the last-minute invitation. I just haven’t had any alone time in a while.”
She paused slightly. “Sure, that would be great. Anywhere in particular?”
“I wish I could be proper about this and come and pick you up so it could be a surprise,” Thomas said.
“Well what’s the good of having portals if you don’t use them for convenience?” Malina asked playfully.
“You have a point. Okay, meet me at Ringside Steakhouse on Burnside Street,” he instructed.
Malina smiled. “I’ll meet you there in an hour.”
On the other end of the line, Malina was standing in her living room, smiling, as she snapped her purple cell phone closed.
“Serina! Come here,” she called out.
Serina was in the kitchen, cooking. She had on a blue apron and was holding a spatula. “What’s up?”
“Thomas just called and asked if I would have dinner with him in Portland,” she reported.
“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that,” Serina mused.
“Me either. I told him I would go. I’m kind of excited, but I’m not sure it’s really appropriate,” she said.
Serina grinned at her. “Well, honey, I don’t think you should turn away a chance for love, either. You deserve it, you’ve been through a lot,” she said, pointing the spatula at Malina as she spoke.
“Thank you, dear. I will admit to some loneliness here lately.” She sighed.
“Hey, what am I, chopped liver?” Serina asked with a fake pout.
∞∞∞
Thomas pulled his black BMW to the back of the Portland Blood Bank. He had never been there before and knew he would have to be cunning and quick. He exited the car and went around to the front.
As he entered the small lobby, he observed three other people waiting to give blood. He walked up to the small window and rang the bell. An unhappy-looking overweight woman with a bad dye job slid the beveled glass window to the side. He had clearly interrupted her daily dose of celebrity gossip, as a magazine was spread out on the counter in front of her.
“May I help you?” she asked, bored.
“Sure, I’d like to donate,” Thomas answered, trying to charm her with his thousand-watt smile and sparkling blue eyes. It didn’t seem to be working, though.
The woman shoved a clipboard at him. Attached was a questionnaire and a chained pen. “Fill this out and take a seat,” she said.
“Ok, sure. Oh, and where’s your restroom?” Thomas asked.
“Right through this door,” she pointed to the door leading to the donation chairs without looking up from her magazine. She then slid the window closed.
Thomas left the clipboard at the window and walked through the door. He could see various patients having their blood drawn. They were squeezing tennis balls or reading magazines. Other patients sat at a small table, drinking juice and eating cookies. Then he saw it. A large walk-in refrigerator with a biohazard sticker on it. He took a deep breath and flashed over to the fridge, opened the door, and then closed it behind him. The people in his path only felt a rush of air but never saw anybody.
Bingo! He’d hit payday. There were dozens of blood bags lining the shelves, categorized by blood type. And what was even better, was there were empty coolers for transport inside the fridge. Thomas grabbed twelve bags of blood and put them in a little Igloo brand cooler with a handle.
“Hope Darius likes O-Negative,” he muttered under his breath.
Thomas knew from the layout that the back door was probably closer than risking going out through the front. He took another deep breath and flashed out of the fridge, past the juice and cookies table, and out the back door. Thank the heavens it was unlocked, he thought to himself. He placed the cooler in his trunk and headed over to Ringside Steakhouse for his date.
∞∞∞
As soon as Jonathan left to go upstairs to talk to Thomas about getting Darius some blood, the timing could not have been better for Pascal and Angel. Vampire Steve had left a back door to the Murphy Architecture building wedged open for them, so they simply walked in and were led right to the ‘secret’ cellblock in the basement.
The three vampires arrived at the cell and Darius immediately stood up from his metal bench and ran over to the bars.
“Pascal! Man, get me the hell out of here. Those freak cops have been starving me and want me to give them information before they’ll feed me. They’re psychos, boss!”
“I know, I know. Calm down!” Pascal whisper-yelled. He then turned to Angel. “Blast it,” he instructed, pointing at the lock.
“No!” Steve yelled. “Lookie what I stole from Jonathan Murphy’s desk drawer when I was cleaning in yesterday!” He was dangling the heavy gold key from his finger, an evil smirk on his mouth.
“Oh, Steve, you ol’ devil, you. You definitely deserve a raise,” Pascal said, plucking the key from Steve’s finger.
Pascal twisted the large brass Folger-Adams key into the lock and turned it. The cell door opened on its rusty hinges with a wail, and Darius quickly zipped out of there and headed for the back door. Pascal handed the key back to Steve, and the three vampires were off to the waiting Towncar.
Steve shut and locked the cell door, stuck the key in his pocket, and took the elevator up to the sixth floor to quietly replace Jonathan’s spare cell key back to his desk drawer. He laughed at his own cunning all the way up.
∞∞∞
San Francisco – 1947
After their meeting with Joseph, the two agents headed back to the Hyde Street bank building.
“Hi, Kathryn,” Tony said as he entered the building.
Kathryn looked up from he
r magazine and blushed. “Oh hello, Agents. And please, call me Kat, everyone does,” she said, grinning.
Agent Swift wasn’t stupid. “I’m going out for a smoke,” he simply said, not wanting to witness more puke-worthy flirting by his partner.
“So, are you busy tonight? If not, I’d love it if you would escort me to the new Bogart and Bacall movie,” he said flirtatiously.
She studied him for a long minute, then raising a perfectly-penciled eyebrow, she replied, “I would love to. But you are going to have to take me to dinner first.”
“It’s a date,” Tony replied, tipping his hat to her and heading for the elevator.
He then turned around and said, “I know where you live,” with a wink. “I’ll pick you up at six.”
Her cheeks turned as pink as the panties she had on under her green suit.
∞∞∞
“You’re going out with Tony? Have you lost your mind?” Jonathan said, gulping down the last of his scotch.
“No, I haven’t, but I think you have. Don’t be jealous, Jon,” she smirked.
“Jealous? I don’t think so. You just be careful. He’s a ladies’ man, I’m telling you, Kat.”
“Yes, that he is. Which is why I’m going out with him. He’s very attractive and knows how to treat a lady. He’s had a hundred years to practice, so he should have perfected it by now. What’s your excuse?”
“Funny. I’m hitting the punching bags in the gym in case you need me,” Jonathan said, stalking off toward his bedroom to change into his exercise clothes.
Kathryn went into her own room and checked herself in the mirror for the hundredth time. She liked the way the simple black dress sat right above the knee and showed off her svelte legs, which were poured into black patent leather pumps. She was glad she decided to wear her blonde locks down around her shoulders.
She hadn’t been on many dates since David died, and those had been human men. She had never dated any other Immortals since David (Jonathan doesn’t count in her mind) so she was both excited and nervous. She had never met anyone like Tony before. Just the way he looked at her exhilarated her, and aside from the diner today, she tried her hardest to stay out of his head.
Her little gift had become a curse at times. Knowing what a man is thinking, she learned, isn’t always a good thing. Especially during intimate moments. So she had learned to block out thoughts by changing her own thinking, or most of the time, talking too much. She knew people hated it, but they’d hate her even more if they knew the alternative.
She didn’t know if Tony knew of her gift, but she knew it would come up in conversation later. She didn’t know Tony’s immortal gift either, and she was anxious to find out (hoping it wasn’t just the gift of being able to charm the pants off a woman). She decided she would tell him she could detect the emotions from people… which wasn’t a lie, but normally the emotions came from the thoughts. Sometimes the emotions that emanated from people were clear to her without knowing what was on their mind. She could also sometimes hear the thoughts of the dead, but that definitely was not going to come up in tonight’s conversation. So she decided that’s what she would tell Tony for now – she could detect emotions. No use in freaking him out and sending him running for the hills.
Kathryn heard the doorbell ring. She swallowed hard, and went to the door to answer it.
Tony looked dashing in a brown three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt underneath, and no tie. Two buttons were opened at the throat. He had shiny brown shoes on a brown derby on his head. His aftershave smelled fresh and spicy.
“Well hello, Tony. Would you like to come in for a drink, or shall we get going?” Kathryn asked.
Kathryn was a vision to him and her perfume was intoxicating to Tony’s senses.
“Well, we have reservations at the Fish House on the wharf, so perhaps we should get going,” Tony said with a smile.
They rode the elevator down together, not speaking, and Tony led her to his shiny black Ford. The ride to the restaurant was mostly quiet, but they did make small talk.
After a short wait, they were seated at a table on the water. They both ordered the catfish and rice. Kathryn had wine and Tony had a martini. They started to open up to each other.
“So, Kat. I’ve been wondering since I met you. What’s your gift?” Tony asked.
And there it was.
“I can sense emotional changes in people,” she replied vaguely.
“Wow, that’s… different. I’ve never heard of that one,” he said, wondering if she was lying.
“Yes. It can be a gift or a curse. It’s proven to be helpful a handful of times, like during interrogations and such,” she said.
She then took a bite of her food and a drink of her wine. He did the same.
“What’s your gift?” she asked in deflection.
He grabbed the napkin from his lap and wiped his mouth. He then smiled at her sheepishly and said, “I don’t have one.”
“Oh, you’re pulling my leg. Surely you have a gift. I know sometimes it takes a while to develop, but come on!” She was shocked but trying to play it cool. All Immortals had a gift.
“No, really. Aside from my ability to get dates with beautiful women such as yourself, I really don’t have anything special, that I have found. I wish I did. I’d love to have Jonathan’s strength or Thomas’s flashing ability,” he said.
“Oh, wouldn’t we all,” she grinned.
After dinner, they went to see the movie “Dark Passage” at the local theatre. Later, Tony drove her to the top of the city and they sat and looked at the lights for a while.
“So where do you live, Tony?” she asked.
“I’m actually in a hotel until I can find an apartment.”
“That does not sound pleasant,” she replied.
“Eh, it’s not so bad. The government is paying for it.” He paused, then said boldly, “Do you want to see it?”
His question surprised her. But what shocked her even more was her reply. “Sure, I’d love to.”
Tony put the car in drive and headed for the Ambassador Hotel.
Chapter 16
∞∞∞
Portland, Oregon – Present Day
When Thomas arrived at the restaurant, Malina was waiting for him in the lobby. She was a vision in a short purple dress. Her hair flowed down her back. Thomas had never noticed how thick and wavy it was before. He stared at her from a distance for a little too long. Her face lit up when she saw him walk in.
“Hello, Tom,” she said, hugging him. She thought he looked dashing in a pair of nice jeans and a button-up shirt and sport coat. He smelled really good, too.
A young, dark-haired hostess led them to their table. The restaurant was dimly-lit and there was soft music playing over the speakers. All of the tables were clad in clean, white tablecloths. Warm air swirled around them as they got farther away from the chill of the front door. The sounds of low chatter, along with glasses and silverware clanking, could be heard subtly. Thomas had learned to tune out the sounds over the years, as his hearing was enhanced. It used to bother him a lot, but he was used to it now.
“Thank you for meeting me,” Thomas said, pulling out the chair for Malina.
“Of course! And thank you for inviting me. This was long overdue, huh?”
He smiled at her. “Yes, it was.”
A nice-looking male server with a white apron tied around his waist came over to their table. He plunked down two glasses of iced water with slices of lemon perched on the edges. He then handed them two heavy, leather-bound menus from under his right elbow.
“Hi, folks. My name is Sean. What can I get you to drink?” he inquired.
“May we see a wine list?” Thomas asked.
“Sure, I’ll be right back,” the smart young waiter said, and walked off.
Malina took a sip of her water and a long silence ensued.
Thomas was wondering what to say to her. How had he been so unprepared for this? He wanted to ask h
er so many questions, but she was the sylph queen of the entire western hemisphere. How was she so down-to-earth, so human-like, so… beautiful? He studied her long eyelashes as she looked down at her menu. Her full, bee-stung lips were puckered in thought. She had the perfect set of cheekbones and not a hint of a blemish anywhere.
Not being able to stand the silence anymore, he said, “Malina, may I ask you a question?”
“Of course, Tom, anything,” she replied, smiling sweetly at him.
The waiter then returned with the wine list. He looked it over and then said, “Malina, would you like to see it?”
She replied, “No, I’ll just have what you’re having.”
“Very well. We’ll both have the house red.”
“Excellent choice, sir,” the server replied. “And are you ready to order, or do you need a few minutes?”
“What are your specials?” Malina asked.
After the waiter went on for a couple of minutes, they both decided on the special – steak and seafood.
“Okay, so where we were?” Thomas asked, sipping his water again.
“You wanted to ask me a question,” she said sweetly.
“That’s right,” he said, clearing his throat. “I have kind of an odd question.”
He paused again.
“Malina, what happens if I stop taking the Enchantment?” he asked, looking into her eyes.
She let the question hang in the air like a heavy fog for what seemed to be forever.
“Well, Tom, the answer is simple. You will die… eventually,” she answered somberly.
“So, if I miss a dose, I’m not going to, like, drop dead within a week, or start aging rapidly or anything?”
She let out a small laugh. “No, no, nothing like that. You will just age naturally. Your twenty-year-old body would start aging normally. You would have another fifty or sixty years left, if you’re lucky. Seems there are so many diseases and dangers around these days.”
He contemplated this thoughtfully, but said nothing. He just nodded his head.