Iron & Wine

by Candace Osmond

  "So, what did she look like?" Julie asked as she made breakfast and I sat with my head on the table.

  "I don't know, I can't really recall much, just being terrified. She had these menacing eyes, I remember that for sure. I think she can make you feel scared or something just by looking at you." My head hurt so much, laying it on the cool granite top felt nice. Lattie was sitting beside my face, smoothing my cheek.

  "Should we go to the cops?" Julie suggested.

  I popped my head up and gave her the eyebrow. "And say what exactly? That there is a crazy lady who I think might be a monster of some kind and she is out to get me because of some painting?" I asked sarcastically. "Jules, she's not human. I know that for sure. She said something about kingdoms and evil things in the woods. Humans don't talk like that."

  Julie brought me a coffee and sat across the table. "Well, what do we do?"

  "Nothing, we do nothing. She said she was going to make sure that I really was the one she was looking for. When she realizes that I’m not, she won't come for me. I mean, why would she?"

  "I guess so if you think that's the best way to deal with this," she replied.

  "Yes, I just want to forget about it," I insisted. And I did. I had other things to worry about. Like Jack. He was meeting me in the coffee shop tonight. I felt like I should tell my friends about him, but wasn't ready to yet. I hadn't digested everything myself, so I decided to wait until I knew what this was between us before I told anyone.

  "Are we going to the beach today?" Lattie asked with hopeful eyes.

  "Sure sweetie. After breakfast, we'll get ready and go," I replied. "Jules, are you coming?"

  "No, not today, I have a shift at the library, sorry girls."

  "It's okay, next time?" Lattie asked. "They have a man who gives you delicious hot dogs and ice cream!" She twirled around in the air in front of us. Junk food made her go crazy, she loved it.

  After spending the day at the beach, Lattie and I headed back to the apartment. She was so tuckered out that she’d fallen asleep in my purse. The sun set as I climbed the stairs at the back of the coffee shop up to my apartment door. I put Lattie on my bed and covered her up with a pillowcase. I quickly changed my clothes and ran back downstairs.

  "Hey, Avery, what's up?" Will asked. I hadn’t seen him when I came in before, shoot. Now he’d see Jack and tell Julie.

  "Um, not much, just heading out to get a costume for the party, coffee to go?"

  "You don't have one already?" he asked as he handed me my usual.

  I threw some change in the tip jar. "No, honestly I never even thought about it until last night."

  "Cuttin' it pretty close. I'm telling Julie on you," he teased.

  "I’ll have one tonight, promise. What are you going as?"

  "See, that’s one of the joys of having a girlfriend. Julie is picking one out for me."

  "Hmm, be careful you don't end up as the back end of a horse or something," I joked.

  His cute brown eyes went wide with worry. "You think she'd make me wear something stupid?"

  "Oh, Will, no. Julie wouldn't do that. Maybe as a joke, but she wouldn't make you wear it. Don't worry. Knowing her she'll have something pretty awesome." I gave him a reassuring smile and glanced around anxiously for Jack.

  "Are you waiting for someone?" Will asked. He was probably wondering who on earth I’d be meeting. I spent all of my time with him and Julie; I didn’t really hang out with anyone else.

  "Um, sort of, I mean, yes. Yes, I am," I stammered. Suddenly, the thought of explaining about Jack to Will seemed horribly awkward. I mean, all he knew of Jack was that he was this arrogant guy that I couldn't stand, or get rid of. I hadn't had a chance to explain the whole brother sister incident to anyone yet. And how would I introduce him when he got here? 'Will, this is Jack, the guy that I no longer loathe because I realize that I like him. Oh yeah, and he's Celadine’s brother.' I let out a frustrated sigh.

  "You don't sound too thrilled about meeting this person," Will pointed out as he wiped down the counter in front of me. No, I just was so confused. I wasn't even dating him or anything. "Anyone I know?"

  "Kind of. Remember the guy I told you about from the bus, and the pool hall?" I asked. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks.

  "The creepy stalker guy? Why the hell are you meeting him?" he asked, concerned now. Then he whispered and leaned in close, "Is everything okay?"

  "So I’m a creepy stalker guy?" asked someone from behind me. I turned to find Jack standing right there. I hadn’t even heard him approach us. He wore that same coy smile that contrasted with his strikingly beautiful blue eyes. They were exactly like Celadine’s violet ones, with their dark lashes and eyebrows.

  "Sorry, no," I apologized. "Um, that's just...uh...what my friends and I called you before...before I found out who you were." I hated how my mind wouldn't cooperate with my mouth whenever I was around him. I saw that Will was totally confused.

  "Will, this is Jack, Celadine’s brother," I said, emphasizing the word brother. "Jack, this is my friend, Will." I motioned to each of them.

  Jack held his hand out across the counter to shake. "Hey, it’s nice to meet you."

  Will hesitantly shook it and looked back and forth from me to Jack. "Yeah, nice to meet you, too. So what exactly are you guys up to tonight, anyway?"

  I eyed him, trying to figure out what his opinion was on this whole thing. I wished I could just read his mind or something, the way I could with Julie. I could definitely tell that he felt unsettled about me spending time with Jack, and since I didn't seem to be able to form words, Jack answered for me.

  "We’re going to go hunting for some last minute costumes."

  "Oh, you're coming to the party?" Will asked. I couldn't tell if he was genuinely surprised or actually disappointed by that.

  "Yes, Avery invited my sister and I. Guess we'll see you there," he replied. They both just stared at each other for a moment, exchanging hostile glares. I felt the need to break up this silent display of testosterone.

  "Okay, as much fun as this is, I think we should probably get going," I suggested sarcastically and I slightly pushed on Jack’s arm to guide him toward the door. He looked at me and his face quickly softened up.

  "Yes, of course. We only have a couple of hours before the mall closes." He turned and pretended to tip an invisible hat to Will. "Pleasure."

  I glanced back at Will who was turning pretty red. He gave me an 'I can't believe you’re hanging out with this guy' look. I shrugged and mouthed the words I’m sorry, as I followed Jack out the door. Once outside, I turned to Jack and slapped him on the shoulder. He looked both shocked and amused.

  "Hey, what was that for?"

  "Will is one of my best friends, which is more than I can say for you. You could have at least dropped the sarcastic attitude."

  "What do you mean? What sarcastic attitude?"

  "Oh, you know what I mean! The way you were talking to him back there." I dropped my eyes to the ground. "And the way you sometimes talk to me, as if I’m a big joke or something."

  Jack took my hands in his. I loved how he was slightly chilly. I always ran a little too warm; the feel of his cool hands on mine was refreshing.

  "I'm very sorry Avery. I didn't mean to offend your friend and I certainly didn't mean to make you feel that way." He was very close to me now, our faces inches away from one another’s. He peered into my eyes as if searching for something.

  "See, why can't you be like this all of the time?" I asked jokingly.

  He laughed a little. "I don't think that you would like it very much if I looked at anyone else this way."

  I blushed immediately. I wondered just how much it would bother me. It's not like Jack was my boyfriend or anything. I did like him, though, a lot. And I thought he liked me too, I just couldn’t read him. I couldn’t figure out why he liked me, or if he even wanted to like me.

  "Would you?" he asked.

  "I...um no, I mean yes, I t
hink, maybe." I couldn't look him in the eyes at this point. No one I had ever met made me a verbal mess the way he did. I sighed.

  "What I’m trying to say is that you can look at whoever you want in that way. Just please don't look at me that way if you do. Does that make sense?" It probably didn’t, it barely made sense to me.

  He pondered on it for a moment, looking at my face, searching again. "Yes, I think it does. Shall we?" And that was the end of that discussion. Jack held out his arm for me to take and we strolled down the street toward the shopping center.

  We walked in complete silence for twenty minutes. I wanted so badly to talk to him some more. I wanted to know what this was, what he wanted it to be. He said that he thought he knew what I meant before, but did he care? It wasn't until we were walking the isles in the costume shop that one of us actually said anything.

  "So what did you have in mind?" Jack asked.

  I was so dazed that it startled me to hear his voice bring me back to reality. "Excuse me?"

  "For a costume, what did you have in mind?"

  "Nothing really, I hadn't even thought about it. What about you?" I asked as I scanned the racks of cheesy costumes and skanky outfits. Yuck, I would never wear any of these. Maybe I could just throw on a sheet and cut two holes out for my eyes.

  "Oh, I already have mine."

  "What? Then why are you here?" I asked.

  "To help you pick out an outfit of course," he replied with a crooked smile. I saw him glance at me from the corner of his eye. "Plus, it was a good excuse to see you again."

  We looked at each other and, for a second, I felt like he was going to lean in and kiss me again. But he didn't, he just stared.

  "So, tell me something about you," he suggested.

  I huffed in frustration. "Like what?"

  "I don't know, anything, all I know is that you work at the gallery and my sister absolutely adores you."

  "Well, that's pretty much me in a nutshell. There really isn't a whole lot to know about me." It was true, except for the fact that my roommates were fairies and I’d been raised by my young, eccentric aunt because my father was always away on safari. But I didn't want to talk about me right now. If he was in the mood to chat then I wanted some answers. "I'm sure you're way more interesting. Like what do you do? Where do you live?"

  "Well, I travel a lot. I do quite a bit of work for Celi's gallery, signing artists and all that. And I do work with other galleries here and there. I guess you could call me a freelance representative. I currently live with Celadine, but most of the time I live where ever I am at that point in time."

  "That’s kind of sad. I mean, not having a place to call your own."

  "I have a home with Celadine. The house she lives in has been in our family for...a very long time," he replied and grinned to himself. But there it was. That same, cryptic code that they often spoke around me, as if I was too naive or too stupid to be able to handle the truth.

  "So what's the deal with you guys, anyway?" I asked. I was taking a risk here. He could answer my question or he could shut me out. I was betting the latter of the two.

  "What do you mean?" Jack asked innocently. But I could see through him. I could see there was something that I didn't know, and it was driving me nuts. Maybe he was married? That would explain the secretive behavior. It would also explain why Celadine was so angry that Jack was pursuing me.

  "Well, Celadine doesn't seem to be too pleased that you and I are spending time together." I had to be careful with the way I worded things. I didn't want him to think that I thought this was something more than what it might actually be. "You guys were arguing at the gallery, so why would she care so much?"

  Jack seemed to be having an internal argument with himself. His face frowned as he concentrated on what to say. "Well, my sister cares for you a great deal, more than a mere employee or a friend even. She was never one for...sharing."

  I was totally confused. "Is Celadine gay?" I whispered to Jack. He threw his head back and practically cackled in laughter.

  "No need to make fun, geez. You don't really explain things clearly. I'm kind of putting together a puzzle without all of the pieces, ya know?" I crossed my arms and huffed, looking away in embarrassment.

  Jack moved closer to me and laid both his hands on my shoulders. They felt like iron claws gripping both my arms, yet he was gentle. He lifted my chin so my face would meet his eyes.

  "It is not my business to tell you about Celadine’s life. But I can assure you one thing, she is not gay. She values you as a daughter, maybe even a sister, I guess you could say, considering the age difference."

  "Oh, well then, I feel silly." I tried to put my head down, but he wouldn't let me. "Um, so what do you value me as?" I asked. He was giving me all the wrong answers, it made me happy to know that Celadine cared for me as much as I cared for her, but I still needed to know Jack’s agenda.

  "Well, at first I was just curious about my sister’s interest in you." He let me go then and backed away. "But now, I don’t know." He appeared ashamed almost, as he admitted this. Maybe he did have another life somewhere else, and I was just some little fling he was considering. Well, I wasn't about to let myself get trampled all over by some guy, no matter how beautiful and tempting he might be.

  "I see, well if you're not sure then maybe you should stop wasting your time and leave." I grabbed the closest packaged costume and headed to the checkout counter. As the lady rang me in, I heard the bell ring signaling the door opening. I didn't need to look up to know that it was someone leaving. I really needed to get my emotions in check if I wanted to get anywhere with Jack.

  "You can get the body glitter half price with this costume," mentioned the lady at the checkout. She was shorter than me, with half of her head shaved and the other half dyed yellow.

  Engulfed in my own rage, I wasn't even paying attention to her, so when she spoke it confused me.

  "I'm sorry, what?" I asked, trying my best to pay attention.

  "The body glitter. You can get it for half price with any of the fairy costumes." She was kind of looking annoyed now.

  I glanced down at the package I’d randomly picked up. A green and pink fairy princess costume. What a coincidence. Julie and Lattie would love this. I chuckled and nodded to the lady as she threw the glitter in my bag.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CRYPTIC