02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (12 page)

Many a starving artist at the end of his or
her rope found renewed hope and inspiration when Evie’s
incandescent charm was focused on them. It wasn’t just the lifeline
her money provided– something about Evie had a way of elevating the
spirit as well as the body.

“Marina!” Cruz grabbed my hand and dragged me
out of the library. “I need to show some people this dress.
Shoulders back, and no slouching! Please work it!” I pushed back my
self-consciousness and put on the model act for Cruz, strolling up
to the group he led me to and twirling around to show off Cruz’s
beautiful workmanship.

“Oh my God! It’s Jean Harlow meets Ava
Gardener!” one of the men cried out, “Fabulous!”

Cruz just glowed, and I looked at him proudly
as they raved about his talent. I caught Megan’s eye and burst into
laughter at the sarcastic smirk on her face. I excused myself and
went over to her.

“So, what do you think about all this
craziness?” I asked.

“What a trip!” she said, “None of the stories
about Evie really did her justice. And just look at Cruz– I don’t
think I’ve ever seen him so happy.”

I smiled slyly at her, “Cruz is definitely
having a moment, but what about you, are you going to do it?” Megan
was shy about singing for strangers, and I could see the conflict
on her face.

“I don’t know if I can!” she whispered
desperately.

“Listen, just pretend that you’re a
character, be ‘Diva Megan’ or something. Then it’s not so personal,
and you can just put on an act. You certainly look the part.”

“We’ll see...” she bit her lower lip.

“Marina, Megan!” Cruz took us each by the arm
and steered us over to another group. He was growing more confident
by the minute. I did my twirl but didn’t like the way the men in
this group were looking at me. At least the ladies seemed
interested in the dress. I glanced across the room to see Ethan
watching us, leaning against a doorway, looking unbelievably
handsome.

I noticed that quite a few women, as well as
some men, were eyeing him with obvious interest. I caught his eye
and smiled, and we made a straight line for each other. He put his
hands out and I took them, leading him out of the crowded room. We
stopped to embrace in the hall.

“You look beautiful in that dress, but I’m
afraid to touch it,” he murmured in my ear, “my hands are so rough
they keep snagging on it.”

“Aww,” I kissed the calloused palms of his
hands and smiled at him, “Did you know that your tie matches this
dress perfectly?”

“It was
very
important to Cruz that we
coordinate,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“You haven’t had to live with him the past
week!” I cocked my head to better hear some muffled yelps coming
from behind the door of one of Evie’s guest rooms.

“Come,” I pulled Ethan into the room, “I have
to introduce you.”

Closing the door behind us I bent down to
greet the two tiny white poodles that ran up to me, frantically
whining. They danced on their hind legs in hysterical circles,
competing for my attention. Ethan smiled at their antics as I tried
to calm them down. We sat down on the bed and they jumped up on me,
trying to lick my face.

“Ethan,” I said formally, “I’d like you to
meet Pierre and Fifi.” The little dogs sniffed at Ethan and much to
my surprise, they let him pet them without any protest.

“Can you talk to them?” he asked, looking at
me curiously.

“No, only sea creatures,” I said, “I tried it
on Charlie... and nothing.”

“I guess that makes sense,” he said as the
dogs jumped on his lap.

“Huh,” I said, “They usually don’t like men.”
I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, “They have good taste in
people.”

He turned his face to meet my lips and we
kissed with the poodles wiggling between us. The door creaked open,
breaking us apart, and we looked up to see Evie coming in.

“There you two are,” she said with a twinkle
in her eye, “How are my puppies doing?”

“They like Ethan,” I said, as she bent over
to greet them.

“As do all my friends,” said Evie, “Everyone
has been asking me who that gorgeous couple is. They seem to think
you two are some kind of royalty! Even people who’ve met you don’t
believe that you’re my little sister!” She patted my knee as she
straightened up, “When you get to be my age you find that there are
only two things the truly rich are
really
impressed by.
Themselves...” she opened the door and turned back to look at us
before leaving, “and beauty.”

After the door clicked shut Ethan looked at
me seriously, “Why,” he asked with wary eyes, “did she call you her
little sister?”

I laughed, “That’s just a silly joke between
us– people used to ask if I was her daughter and she’d say that.
She has a thing about getting old.”

He looked skeptical but didn’t say
anything.

“Let’s go check on Megan,” I said, “She’s
really nervous.”

As we moved into the hall I nearly ran
straight into the familiar stony face of Madame Fatima. She gasped
loudly and jolted back as though she had received an electric
shock. She clutched the evil-eye amulet she wore, muttering
something under her breath in a strange foreign tongue, and
scurried away into Evie’s dressing room.

“What was that?” Ethan asked, bemused.

“That,” I said wrinkling my nose, “was Madame
Fatima, remember? The fortune teller I told you about?” She’d given
me a reading in the past that had come eerily close to the
truth.

“Really?” he said, looking after her, “She
looked kinda creepy.”

“They all look creepy,” I said with a
laugh.

Cruz came scurrying down the hall towards us,
“Evie has Madame Fatima telling people’s fortunes! She’s set up in
Evie’s dressing room! I’m going in right now!” he dashed off after
her.

Ethan looked thoughtful, “This is the one
that said the same thing as Lue Khang, right?”

“Yes,” I said, suspicious about where he was
going with it.

He looked serious, “Maybe you should see what
she thinks.”

“About what?” I asked, amused.

He turned to look me in the eye, “About what
you saw. You know… your dad.”

“Oh,” I recoiled. I didn’t really want
to.

“It couldn’t hurt,” he said with urgency,
taking my hand and leading me down the hall after Cruz. We got to
the room and waited for a few minutes until Cruz came out. I didn’t
think he could be any happier than he was before, but he had an
enormous grin on his face and a spring in his step.

“Fame and fortune coming your way?” I asked
sarcastically.

“Even better!” he said dreamily, “But if I
tell you it won’t come true. You should go too!” he pushed me in
the door and closed it after me.

When my eyes adjusted to the dim light I
could see that Evie’s dressing room had been transformed into a
gypsy tent right out of the movies. Madame Fatima sat at her little
table with a candle, and the spicy scent of cloves hung in the air.
It was very much like the room Fatima had set up for readings at
her house. Only this time I wasn’t welcome.

She leapt to her feet, agitated, “No! No! Get
out! I cannot see you! Your powers are much too great! Out!”

I backed out of the room and shut the door,
shocked. I looked up at Ethan, and felt the blood draining out of
my face.

“What happened?” he cried, and took hold of
my arms as I composed myself.

“That was a first,” I said, “She yelled at
me... She– she told me to get out.”

Ethan looked angry, “Stupid old bat, Evie
ought to fire her!”

I thought for a second, “Go see what she says
to you. Don’t say anything, just go see.”

“Alright,” he said, stomping in. I waited,
but he didn’t come out right away. I paced up and down the hall for
what seemed like an eternity. Some tipsy party goers came by and
asked me where to go for the fortune teller. I pointed to the
door.

“There’s someone in there but he should be
out soon,” I said, hoping I was right. After another couple of
minutes I was getting ready to barge in when Ethan finally stepped
out. He looked spooked. An older man stumbled in to take his
place.

“Well, what did she say?” I asked Ethan. He
looked grim. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he said, “not really.”

“Let’s go get some fresh air,” I took his
hand and led him down the hall and through the party. We passed by
Cruz, and I told him we were going up to the roof. Ethan followed
me out the front door and down the hall to the stairs that accessed
our rooftop deck. It was a clear cold night, and the panoramic view
of the city lights with the bridge in the background was
spectacular.

I shivered a little, and he wrapped his arms
around me.

“What did she say to you?” I asked, trying to
see his face in the dark.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. “She said
that you’d do something heroic that would put you in danger. She
said someone was hunting for ‘your kind’... someone from far away
was going to come to take you away,” his voice lowered, “Someone
with evil plans.”

“Did she say who?” I asked.

“No, just someone.”

“Did she mention my name?”

“No, but she said it would happen to the one
I love...”

I started shivering again and Ethan whipped
off his coat and draped it around my shoulders. He reached his arms
inside and around my back. I snuggled up against him, and he
dropped his head to my shoulder.

“I wouldn’t worry,” I spoke into his chest,
“She’s probably full of it.”

“What about Kimo? He wanted to take you
away...”

“Oh come on... I don’t think he had evil
intentions, and the heroic stuff?” I laughed and tickled the back
of his neck. He felt warm.

He sighed and squeezed me tighter, “You’re
probably right, she just seemed so… convincing.”

“Smoke and mirrors,” I whispered in his ear,
“They all do great atmosphere.”

He raised his head and looked around, “This
view is incredible.”

“You’re lucky, it’s usually socked in with
fog.” I looked around, remembering, “I used to come up here when I
was little and listen to the fog horns. I would pretend I was on a
boat, sailing away.” I sighed, “I was pretending, while you were
probably on an actual boat with your dad.”

He was quiet for a moment, “It must have been
so weird for you to come to live in Aptos...”

“What do you mean?”

“Coming from here, I mean, leaving this place
to come and live with Abby. It must have been a big change for
you.”

“I pretty much came to Aptos straight from
India,” I said, making him laugh.

“You know what I mean,” he dropped his head
again, burying his face in my hair.

“Marina?” Cruz’s voice called up the stairs,
“Come quick, Megan’s gonna sing!”

We hustled back to the party and slipped into
the great room to see Megan standing nervously with the jazz band,
microphone in hand. The drummer smiled up at her encouragingly and
she announced that she’d be singing one of her favorites, “Stormy
Weather”. The band started playing softly; I leaned back into
Ethan’s arms as Megan closed her eyes and began to sing.

The whole room hushed, and people in the
adjoining rooms peeked their heads around the corner to see where
the beautiful song was coming from. I looked around and caught
Evie’s eyes. She nodded her approval, and I smiled happily. Megan
finished the song and the room filled with applause. The drummer
stood up and whispered something into her ear and she nodded,
blushing.

She launched into a beautiful rendition of
“Someone To Watch Over Me”, a song I knew well from listening to
music with Evie. I was surprised that Megan knew it. She sang
soulfully and looked every bit the diva in Cruz’s dress.

Evie closed her eyes and tilted her head back
with a smile, lost in a reverie. It occurred to me that she might
have requested the song. Ethan’s arms tightened around me and I
looked up to see him watching Evie suspiciously. Megan finished and
applause thundered through the room, even louder than before.

Cruz was beaming as Megan thanked the band
and went over to him for a hug. I gave Ethan back his coat and went
to congratulate her.

“Diva Megan?” I asked, and she turned to me
with a brilliant smile.

“Thanks for the advice,” she said as we
embraced.

“How do you know those songs?” I asked
her.

“My Grandma,” she said with a nostalgic
smile, “She used to play all the old-school tunes on the piano and
have me sing for her.” I saw a flicker of sadness cross her
face.

“She would be very proud of you, you sang
beautifully.”

Evie walked up smiling, “Megan, that was
absolutely magnificent!”

Megan blushed and stammered out her
thanks.

Evie took her by the arm and led her away,
“Come and meet my dear friend Marvin, he’s a fabulous composer...”
her voice faded as she drifted out of range. Cruz caught my eye
with a know-it-all grin.

I went back to Ethan and stayed close to him
the rest of the night. My encounter with Fatima had shaken me up
more than I cared to admit, and I felt better being in contact with
him. We retreated to a couch in a quiet corner of the library and
sat talking, watching as the crowds thinned out. I yawned and laid
my head on his shoulder.

“Tired?” he asked, “Does that mean we can go
now?”

I stretched out my arms and stood up, “I’ll
be right back, I’ll go tell Evie we’re leaving.”

He looked relieved as I rose to go. I had
suspected that he wouldn’t really enjoy one of Evie’s parties, but
I had to give him credit for not complaining at all. My dad would
never have lasted as long as he did.

I found Evie in the great room, entertaining
a crowd that included Cruz gathered around the huge fireplace. The
band had finished playing, and Megan was sitting in the corner with
the drummer, locked in an intimate conversation. I watched Evie as
she threw back her head and laughed, regaling the group with a
story about her last trip to France.