Last Teardrop (The Chronicles of Amber Harris)

by Elle A. Rose

5

  Pineapple Upside Down Cake

  News has spread rather quickly of the “handsome man” that has come to visit me. For the last forty minutes or so, we have had random drop-bys from other female coworkers. Some tried to hide the fact they were checking Christopher out, while others are blatant in their entering my office. Susan Hill, a woman who is known for speaking her mind has just walked in. Her reason for entering our office is very obvious.

  “Well, I just came to see what the buzz was about.” Susan and Christopher take a long hard look at each other.

  I can tell Christopher is not impressed. She is a very pretty woman, but there is something about her scent that is a complete turn off. I try not to stay in a room with her for more than a few minutes at a time. I believe she is not completely human. I just do not recognize the scent. I also believe Susan is unaware of the fact that she is not human.

  “You are a cutie, aren’t you? My name is Susan.” She holds out her hand for Christopher to shake.

  I watch Christopher’s next movements closely. He has that look on his face, which signals he is ready to play.

  “Be good.”

  He reaches out to grab her hand, rubbing his thumb over the vein in her wrist. “Hello, beautiful.”

  Susan’s back is to me, so I cannot see her directly, but I can see everything through Christopher’s and Lisa’s minds. Susan smiles a huge smile at the sound of Christopher’s silky voice.

  “Will you be in town long? Maybe we can hang out or something?”

  She really is bold, he lets go of her hand and shifts slightly on the corner of my desk.

  “I’ll be in town for a while. I’m sure something can be arranged.”

  Lisa’s shoulders hunch ever so slightly after Christopher’s response. He has no intention in going anywhere with Susan, but I would rather Lisa think that he is interested in Susan, so Lisa will stay away from Christopher. He is not always on his best behavior when it comes to dating human women. He believes that since he has the ability to pull the memory of him biting them, it is all right to munch on his dates. He is not as bad as he used to be, but I do not want to chance it with my coworkers. I like my job and do not plan on looking for a new one for a few more years. “Okay, brother, time to go. All the women have seen you. I take it Livia and Isaac are at my place?” Over the years, my family and I have become good at talking without anyone in the room knowing. I just need to be aware of them wanting to speak to me. I tend to block their minds to give them privacy. On the other hand, if I am blocking their minds, I miss the clues to signify they are trying to hold a private conversation with me.

  “Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I’ll see you at the house.”

  Bringing his outward attention to the room, Christopher stands. “Well I should be going. I’m sure you ladies have a lot of work to do. It was nice meeting everyone and I will be in touch.”

  He walks back over to me, leans over, and kisses me on the cheek. “See you soon, sis.”

  As he strolls out of my office, I hear Susan and Lisa sigh. If I could throw up, I would.

  Since all the excitement is over, Susan has left without saying another word. Before Susan can make it outside of a human ear shot Lisa jumps up and comes to sit on my desk. As I look up at her, I can breathe a sigh of relief. The beating of her pulse in my ears is not as loud as it had been. Sometime between lunch and now, she has reapplied her makeup. Her lips seem much glossier.

  “Can you imagine the nerve of Susan walking in here and throwing herself at your brother? Didn’t that make you mad? Why didn’t you tell me he is so hot?” Lisa brings her hand up to fan herself. I hold my breath has her scent assaults my nose. With a simple sigh, she drops her hand back on her lap and continues. “I forgot that guy’s name that I’m supposed to be going out with sometime this weekend after looking into your brother’s eyes.”

  I have to try to hold the smile from my lips. I bet the moment Lisa looked into Christopher’s eyes, he saw that she was going on a date, and he pulled some of the memory of Nathan. I will have to hit him later for that. “My brother is not hot, and I wouldn’t be too worried about Susan.”

  Lisa looks like she wants to ask me something, but she is afraid. “You look like you have something to say, or there’s something you want to know. What is it?”

  She gives a soft chuckle.

  “I don’t know how you know these things about me. Why don’t you have any pictures of your family on your desk? Do you look more like your mom or dad? You and Christopher look nothing alike.”

  I should have seen that one coming. The last time any of us took a picture was probably in the mid eighteen hundreds. How would I explain that to someone? “I do not have any pictures of my family, because we lost them all in a fire a few years back. We have not had a chance to take anymore. I don’t...well I guess you can say I look like my mother, my biological Mother. I do not look like my mother, father, or Christopher because I’m adopted.” I guess that is as close to the truth as I will get. “So is Christopher,” I add in, just for clarification.

  Lisa looks upset for a moment, but she recovers and says, “I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  That is usually the first response I hear from someone when I give that answer. I smile, and try to be as human-like as possible and place my hand on her arm. “There is no need to be sorry.” I sense Lisa does not want to be inquisitive anymore. She gets up and goes back to her desk.

  My answer may have sent her back to her desk, but it has not stopped her from talking about and making plans for my birthday outing tonight. I will need to remember to hit Christopher for spreading the good news. As Lisa talks, I update a couple of files on my computer. You would think that working for a check processing company would be an easy, mindless job. Then again, working in human resources for a company that makes and processes checks is mindless. The employees make it harder on themselves than need be. Humans can be very funny sometimes. I guess vampires can have their quirks too.

  While Lisa drones on and I type away, I wonder why my family has decided to visit me now. I do not mind that they are here; it is just a surprise. I have not seen them in over fifty years, well, except for that one time, but I will not count that. I should have visited or gone to live with them, but I just could not bring myself to leave the States. I never know if He will need me. Christopher’s visit today worries me. Christopher’s missing me does not explain why he had to come see me in the middle of my work day. My family knows I do not like reading their minds. They usually bank on the fact that I will purposely not read their minds to plan things for and around me. I wonder what Christopher was or was not saying, and what has motivated him and the family to appear suddenly.

  “Does that time sound good to you?” I am really not doing a good job of listening to Lisa today. Lisa’s voice has pulled me back, once again from my senseless mind chatter. Hmm, what time did she say, “I think to beat the rush we should all meet at my place at eight thirty...?” Do young people really go out that late now? I must be getting old. “Yes, that will be fine. Are you sure you want Christopher to come along?” Just the mention of his name makes her blush.

  “Of course! Don’t you want him to join us? You haven’t seen him in a long time.”

  She has a point. I have not seen him in years. “No, it’s no problem if he goes. I’m sure he has gone out as much as I have in the past few years.” I believe the last time either one of us “went out” was more than seventy years ago. I wonder if it was considered bar hopping then. This day is not going fast enough for me. I have two hours, twenty-nine minutes, and four seconds until it is time to face my family.

  Now that I know my family is at the house waiting for me, it is making it even harder not to think about Him, about Lance Grayson. Funny, the day that my family moved from the States, was one of the last days I allowed myself to say his name. It hurts just as bad now as it did the day he left. I have been hiding f
rom these feelings for far too long. My family wanted me to leave with them, but I refused. I could not leave. Leaving the States with them would mean that our relationship had really ended, and that I was completely over him. I do believe my family stayed away as long as they did to see if I would one day forget about Lance, and go on with my life. Yet, how can I forget the best thing that ever happened to me?

  Next month will mark the fifty-eighth year that Lance walked into my life. My family and I were living in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It was a nice city, and the first time we had ever resided there. Even though we have our favorite towns and cities to live in, we cannot visit or move back to them for many years once we leave. We made the mistake of moving back to a town too quickly once, and a few elderly people remembered us. It was not easy to convince them that it was not us; we did not stay there long after that. I have not gone back to Johnstown since Lance no longer lives there, and I have tried my best to stay as far away from Pennsylvania as possible.