The Eternal Community

by J Meverington

  At seven, she wandered down and waited in the bar for Charles.

  ‘Well, don’t you scrub up well,’ one of the bar staff said. Allie only ever wore jeans and T-shirts outside of her bar uniform, so this was a shock for everyone to see.

  At seven on the dot, Charles walked in and as soon as he saw her, a grimace came over his face.

  ‘Is that what you’re wearing?’ He looked her up and down, clearly not pleased.

  Alice’s stomach dropped, and she blushed bright red. ‘Is something wrong with it?’

  ‘That dress isn’t suitable for where we are going.’

  Alice started to panic. This was not going well at all, and she so wanted it to.

  ‘It’s the only dress I have. I don’t have anything else.’ Her voice wavered, and she worried she might cry in front of him.

  Charles glanced at his watch. ‘Come with me, we’ll find you something.’ He led her to a nearby store, rummaged through the racks in the women’s clothing section, and thrust a couple of garments at her. She looked at the price tags and gasped.

  ‘I can’t afford any of these.’

  ‘Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of it.’

  She tried on a skirt and a top he had given her. It looked hideous, certainly not her style, but he seemed to be pleased by it. ‘Much better,’ he said.

  Embarrassed, she left the shop in her new clothes, forgetting all about Jenna’s dress.

  The restaurant emitted a stiff ambience, with nobody laughing or seeming to have a good time and most people appeared indifferent and self-absorbed. She would have looked totally out of place in her little black number, so was thankful to Charles for rescuing her before it was too late.

  The maître d’ led them to their table and they made small talk while they perused the menu, written entirely in French. Alice started to panic when the only word she recognised was escargot. When the server came to take their order, Charles ordered for both of them and she was relieved there was no mention of snails.

  His selection was exquisite, and a new taste sensation for her. Her starter was seared tuna. She never thought she’d ever eat fish that was raw in the middle, but it melted in her mouth. For the main, Charles had ordered her a wagyu steak. Alice didn’t like steak as she’d always found it chewy and tough, but like the tuna, it melted in her mouth, also raw in the middle. Not how she would have ordered it herself, so again she was pleased Charles had taken control. Left to her, she would still be looking for spaghetti bolognese or a hamburger on the menu.

  Charles didn’t like to talk about himself, so the conversation always directed back towards her. She talked about her upbringing in California and about her parents, and also her love of making cocktails. He listened intently and made her feel special.

  After dinner, they caught a cab and he dropped her back to her apartment. They stopped outside, and he kissed her gently on the lips, before saying goodbye. It was a teaser, and she wanted more.

  ‘I need to go now, but I’ll be in touch,’ he said.

  Alice got out of the car and walked up the stairs to her apartment, the feeling of his lips on hers still there. As she walked into the lounge, the thick smell of marijuana filled her nostrils. Jenna and Luke sat in a haze of smoke, obviously waiting to hear the gossip. As soon as Jenna saw her she shrieked with laughter. ‘What on earth are you wearing?’

  Alice glanced down at her conservative clothing and shrugged. ‘The place was super-posh. I would’ve been out of place in your black dress.’

  ‘So, I sent you out in my black dress, how did you end up wearing... that?’ she gestured with her arm in disgust.

  ‘Apparently it wasn’t suitable for the restaurant we were going to, so he took me to a shop and bought me these. It’s no big deal.’

  ‘He took you to a shop and bought you clothes? On a first date? Are you serious?’

  Alice shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.

  Jenna continued. ‘And you let him? Why didn’t tell him where to go? Allie, what’s wrong with you?’

  ‘I’ve been obsessing over this guy for weeks, I wasn’t going to cancel our date over a dress.’

  ‘Sounds like a right douchebag to me. So where’s my dress?’

  Alice realised she had no idea. ‘Sorry Jenna, I’ll replace it, I promise.’

  ‘Dammit Allie, that was my favourite dress!’

  Luke, who’d been quietly singing the tune to Pretty Woman, piped up, ‘So, goss please. Did he take you back to his apartment and have his wicked way with you?’

  ‘No, Luke, and even if he had I wouldn’t tell you! It was a sophisticated evening of fine dining.’

  ‘Oh, la-di-da you!’

  ‘So, how did the date end? Did he kiss you?’ Jenna asked.

  ‘Just a brief kiss, said he’d be in touch.’

  ‘Sounds like you won’t be hearing from him again. Thank God for that!’

  Jenna’s negativity annoyed Alice and all she wanted to do was go to her room and recall every detail of the evening, especially up to the kiss. She had fallen for Charles in a big way and she knew she would be devastated if she never heard from him again.

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ she said, and headed off to bed, ignoring the fact that they were both now singing ‘Pretty Woman’.

  Chapter 22

  A few days later Alice wondered if Jenna was correct in saying Charles was a douchebag as she hadn’t heard from him. Over the next few days she threw herself into her work, creating cocktail number two.

  When she felt it was ready, she presented Jenna with a jar of graduating colours, going from a deep red and rising to bright yellow at the top. Alice took a lighter to the liquid, so it flamed.

  ‘Wow, this is soooo cool.’ Jenna whipped out her phone to take a photo, then took the flaming drink from Alice. ‘But how am I supposed to drink it?’

  Alice grabbed a flat spatula and put it over the flame, extinguishing it. Jenna then took a sip.

  ‘Wow! So different from heaven in a glass. This is sweet, sour, with bitter overtones,’ Jenna said, trying to sound sophisticated. She took another sip. ‘Man, it’s playing havoc with my taste buds. What’s it called? No, let me guess. Hell in a glass?’

  Alice laughed out loud, knowing Jenna would get it. ‘Correct, thought I’d keep the theme going.’

  Aiden came over and took a sip. ‘Wow, you’ve excelled yourself again young Allie. I’m going to promote you to the cocktail design team!’

  ‘Really? There’s a cocktail design team?’

  ‘Nah, but we can create one. You should put a patent on these cocktails. They’re good.’

  A warm glow spread through her. Perhaps she could go into cocktail design, open a niche bar somewhere. The world was her oyster really. Ooh— oyster cocktails... now that’s a thought!

  That night after work, she went out with Jenna and Luke and hit up some clubs. Alice had given up on Charles and wanted to forget about him. A cute guy chatted her up and she found herself enjoying the attention. Then he leaned in and kissed her, taking her by surprise. She was drunk, so she responded, happy for the distraction.

  Luke walked past and patted her on the bum. ‘Get a room you two!’

  The guy she’d been kissing looked at her and said, ‘Shall we?’

  Alice tried to focus on him but found she couldn’t. Bile started rising from her stomach and she realised she was about to vomit. She fled to the bathroom, but when she got there, all the cubicles were busy. She tried to swallow the sick back, but it was too late, it was coming whether she liked it or not. She quickly turned, just in time to throw up into the basin.

  ‘Aw, gross,’ Jenna said, as she came out from one of the toilets. ‘You okay?’

  ‘I feel better now after getting rid of that lot.’ She turned the faucet on and washed the sick down with her finger. ‘That guy I was with asked me to go home with him.’

  ‘You should, he’s cute.’

  ‘Nah, he won’t be interested now I taste
like vomit.’

  Jenna rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a travel sized toothbrush and toothpaste and handed it to her. ‘Here you go.’

  Alice took it and brushed her teeth, still unsure about going home with a complete stranger. When she’d finished, she fished around in her bag for something to help her with her smudged makeup, and noticed her phone vibrating. She extracted it from the bottom of her bag and saw she’d received a new text message. It was from Charles.

  ‘Sorry I haven’t been in touch, had to make an emergency trip to London. How would you like to meet up this weekend?’

  Alice’s spirits soared as she showed the message to her friend. Jenna groaned. ‘You’re still going home with that guy aren’t you?’

  ‘Sorry Jenna, I’m giving him the boot!’ With that comment she replied to Charles, ‘Would love to... xx.’ And so Alice’s love story begins.

  Chapter 23

  For the next month, Alice and Charles became inseparable, with Charles showing her the sights of Manhattan. Although Alice had been living in New York for five years, she’d never done any of the tourist attractions, always saving every penny she earned, planning to put herself through acting school. But she found she loved working in the bar and her other plans had taken a back seat for the moment.

  Reluctant to part with her hard-earned money, she continued to save. She’d once been trapped in a life where she couldn’t escape, and her savings were a safety net for her. Five years earlier, when she thought she had killed her foster father, her nest egg had enabled her to put her escape plan into action. She reminisced back to that terrible day.

  Five Years Earlier

  Alice grabbed her escape pack from her room and fled the house and the people who had tormented her since she was eleven. As she ran to the bus station, Aunt Melissa’s voice rang over and over in her head. ‘You’ve killed him, you’ve killed him.’

  She caught a bus to Louisville and checked into a cheap hotel. The next morning, she dressed in some of the clothes Carter had given her, found a hairdresser and had her hair cropped short, and found she looked normal for the first time in six years.

  That evening, she waited at the bus station for the bus to Manhattan. Alice loved New York, having visited a few times with her parents when she was younger. At only eight, she had decided she would live there one day, and now her dream was soon to become a reality.

  Her bus rolled into the station and she hopped on board. There were only a few people on the bus, so she sat in a window seat near the back. She liked to people watch and didn’t want to miss a thing.

  An older couple in their mid-forties climbed on board and sat near the front. Then a couple of backpackers arrived loaded down with large packs on their backs. The driver helped them put their bags under the bus then they also climbed on board. The male backpacker had dreadlocks and the girl had her hair tied up in a bandana. Their BO wafted down the bus as they traversed their way to the rear seat, but luckily, over the other side from her.

  As the bus filled, only single seats were left, and she wondered who might sit next to her. A large bellied man got on and she made sure not to catch is eye. Please don’t sit next to me, she willed him over and over in her mind. She had her backpack on her seat just in case, to deter any undesirables.

  Next a smartly dressed woman in her late twenties got on board. Now, she can sit next to me. Please sit next to me, please please! Again she willed her over and over in her head. The woman looked down the bus and caught her eye. Alice gave her a welcoming smile, but she took her place next to an older woman about halfway down the bus.

  The driver got on board and closed the door. Phew, well at least I have nobody sitting next to me until the next stop at least.

  As the bus pulled away there were some shouts from outside. The bus driver drew to a halt and opened the door. A young man with a backpack similar to hers got on board. ‘Thanks for stopping,’ he said to the bus driver as he climbed on board.

  He was cute, even better looking than Carter. She tried to catch his eye as she definitely wanted this handsome character to sit next to her. She sat up taller and watched him walking down the aisle, his dark hair flopping over his face, probably a couple of years older than her. He caught her eye and smiled at her as he made his way towards her. She moved her backpack to make room for him.

  ‘Hey,’ he said.

  ‘Hey,’ she said back.

  ‘That was close, I thought I was going to miss the bus. My phone battery died and my watch was running slow, so I thought it was earlier than it was,’ he said, then plugged his phone into the bus’s usb port.

  ‘Well you’re here now, that’s the main thing.’

  ‘I’m Zane.’

  ‘Allie.’

  ‘Where’re you off to?’ he asked.

  ‘New York.’

  ‘Manhattan?’

  ‘Yep. What about you?’

  ‘Stamford. I go to university there.’

  ‘What are you studying?’

  ‘Digital media and design. I wanted to study dramatic arts, but Dad wouldn’t pay for that. He told me I needed to do something that would guarantee an income at the end of it, so I chose the next best thing.’

  ‘Hey, that’s what I want to do as well. Not digital design, but I’d like to do an acting class. I plan to get a job and put myself through school. I wanna be on the Broadway stage.’

  ‘Hey, that’s great. Have you got a job lined up in Manhattan?’

  ‘No, I figure I’ll try to get a bar job or something.’

  ‘Where are you staying?’

  ‘No idea, probably a hostel.’

  ‘Manhattan’s expensive, you will go through money pretty quickly.’

  ‘I’m hoping to get a job straight away.’

  He looked concerned.

  ‘You don’t think it’s possible?’ she asked.

  ‘Have you done bar work before?’

  ‘No.’

  He looked doubtful. ‘It’s not that easy to walk into a bar job with no experience. You might find yourself unemployed and broke.’

  Her heart dropped. She’d been so excited about running away to New York, the bright lights, the noise, Broadway shows.

  ‘Hey, let me help you out. I have a friend who owns a few bars in town. He also has a couple of apartments where he helps out-of-towners get established. You might be able stay there for two weeks while you look for work. If you don’t get a job within that time though, you’ll have to move on. If you do manage to get a job, they allow you to stay on for another month while you find somewhere to live. It’s pretty cheap, about $20 per night I think. But you will be sharing with a bunch of other people. Would you like me to contact him for you? See if he can set you up with accommodation at least?’

  ‘That would be awesome, thanks Zane.’

  ‘Who knows, he might even be able to find you a job. I know he just opened a new bar. You might have to start at the bottom, clearing up glasses and serving tables, that sort of thing.’

  ‘Hey, I’m not fussy. And I’m a fast learner.’

  ‘And you’re tall and stunning. That always helps.’

  She blushed at his words, it being the second compliment she’d had in the last two days. First Carter calling her pretty, now Zane telling her she was stunning. Perhaps life was about to improve for her. She fiddled with her locket, holding it against her chest. Yes, life would be great from now on. A spark of excitement flickered inside her again at the prospect of her adventure, where she controlled her own destiny. Zane spoke again, breaking her from her daydream. ‘Hey, I don’t mean to be rude, but do you mind if I get some sleep? I’ve got a big day tomorrow.’

  ‘Sure, no problem.’

  He fished around in his backpack and pulled out a neck pillow and an eye mask and gave her a wink. ‘Essential items for bus travel.’ He plugged some earphones into his ears and closed his eyes.

  Too excited to sleep, she gazed out the window into the dark night and watched as th
e lights from the houses flashed by. Zane had made her apprehensive. She thought she would float into a job, get a shared apartment with friends (like on Friends) and things would be sweet. She hadn’t considered the possibilities of not getting a job.

  She was thankful Zane had a friend who might be able to help. She laid her head up against the cold hard glass of the bus window and wished she had brought a pillow. To be fair, she hadn’t had much time to think about bringing anything. She wondered if her foster father was okay. She’d give Mrs K a ring when she got to NY. She didn’t want his ghost hovering over her, ruining her journey to freedom. He had been breathing when she left, so she assumed he was all right.

  She must have drifted off to sleep as she awoke the next morning with the sun glaring in her eyes. The bus was due to get into Manhattan at 9:00 am, but it was only 6:00 am. Still a few hours to go yet. Zane was fast asleep, his head held up by his neck pillow and his eye mask firmly fastened. She needed to stretch her legs, but she didn’t want to wake him. She watched other people, also rudely awakened by the sun, moving about the bus. It was perfect timing as the bus exited the interstate and pulled into a bus stop. The driver put an announcement over telling people they had thirty minutes to stretch their legs and use the public conveniences. As people piled off, Zane started to come to. He removed his mask, wiped his eyes then looked at her. ‘Wow, I really did pass out. Morning to you.’ He flashed her a smile.

  ‘Morning Zane, do you mind if I get out, I need to stretch my legs.’

  The both got off the bus and were slapped in the face by the fresh cold air. Alice queued up for the restroom, hoping she wouldn’t have to wait too long.

  She only had time to get something to eat and drink from the vending machine before boarding the bus again, and taking her seat next to Zane.

  He handed her a piece of paper. ‘Here’s my number. Please don’t hesitate to ring me if you need anything. Also here’s the phone number of my friend, Marco, and one of his apartments he rents. I texted him last night, but I haven’t heard back from him yet as he’s a busy guy. I’ll ring him for you when we get to New York. But, if I can’t get hold of him, you can go to the apartment and see if they can fit you in. Say Zane sent you.’