Gate Deadlock (22 page)

‘Give me a minute.’ I said laughing, making my
way to the door.

Christopher seemed surprised to see me walk
around his car instead of jumping into the passenger seat. I leaned
over his window.

‘Am I too early? You didn’t call and…’ he said
guardedly.

‘You’re on time, as always. It’s just Kate. She
has invited us to lunch and I hate to disappoint her.’

He scrutinized my face for a long moment before
saying with his angelic smile,

‘Okay, but…are you sure you two don’t want to
have more girls’ time?’

‘Just get off the damn car, Christopher.’ I
replied wearily opening his door. I had outworn my limits of
endurance having to be away from him for the last couple of hours.
He chuckled at my curt reply before getting off and walking into
the studio holding my hand.

Christopher was absolutely perfect with Kate. He
was not keeping up his tutor façade anymore. Kate asked Tony to
join us and he showed up at the doorstep within minutes. He seemed
a little aloof towards Christopher at first, but this lasted only a
few minutes. As soon as he realized Christopher’s cool and
laid-back manner, he loosened up too.

We used the common barbeque to make steaks
and sausages with homemade fries. Christopher was all over me and I
discovered he had another talent; his glib tongue on that day
revealed a remarkable sense of humor that made Kate and Tony
worship him. I watched him, considering how much at ease he was,
released from all the restraints of his past life. There was
nothing on that gorgeous, lighthearted face to imply the man who
had suffered so much, who had taken people’s lives; the man who had
served the League both as a mercenary and a Crusader of the
future.
This is how it would be if we were
simple, ordinary people. Just another glimpse of paradise,
I thought.

We were two young couples having fun, carefree
and merry, but superficially only. Under the joyous surface, the
menace that had been misting our bliss for so long was lurking,
ready to ruin everything. Kate’s instinct had already foreseen the
storm that was coming. I felt the same, but I had chosen to ignore
it, hoping for a miracle. After all, my life had become full of
miracles those days. I wondered how much time Plato had bought for
us. Christopher had told me a few weeks ago that our time was
running out. I reminded myself to call Suzan as soon as I skipped
Christopher’s attention but that did not happen until late in the
evening. We were back in Christopher’s house and he was in the
shower. I called Suzan but her answering machine asked me to leave
a message.

‘This is Emma. I have to talk to you A.S.A.P.
Not a word to Christopher.’

Next morning I woke up with the same nightmare
that had been haunting my dreams for a long time. Only now, it was
more intense than ever. I was in Christopher’s house and it was
very dark. I was searching the rooms for him desperately, shouting
his name, but he was nowhere to be found. I got out to the porch
but still no sign of him. I scanned the dark sea and shouted his
name again, crying, until my voice faded out, unable to be heard
anymore.

I woke up with a start to find that he was not
lying next to me. I was in the worst mood ever. I got out of the
bedroom to find him but then I heard his voice from the porch. He
was not alone. Feeling kind of under the weather, I decided to take
a shower and try to calm down before joining them. Then, I put on a
short, white, cotton dress and flumped about to the porch. My mood
got worse when I saw that our guest was Suzan. I noticed that they
stopped talking when they saw me.

‘Good morning baby. We didn’t wake you up, did
we?’ Christopher asked silkily. I did not respond, just seated
myself on the armchair across him, for the first time refusing his
embrace. His eyes became overcast but he kept his angelic smile. I
knew what he was up to.

‘Emma, honey, you look awful. What have you done
to her Christopher? She looks like she needs a good sleep.’ Suzan
remarked, making my day worse. Christopher had his lovely blue eyes
fixed on my face, obviously bewildered by my reaction.

‘She’s just too much addicted to caffeine, I’m
afraid. She’ll be fine after I get her a large cup of strong
coffee.’

I shot him a withering look and he stood up and
came to me, leaned over me and lifted my chin. I did not look at
him as he kissed my lips. He chuckled when he found them still and
frozen under his. Then he sighed and made his way to the
kitchen.

As soon as he had disappeared into the house, I
turned anxiously to Suzan. ‘Didn’t you get my message?’

‘I did. I am here, aren’t I? I’ve just come back
you see, but Christopher heard my car and asked me in. I could not
think of an excuse to avoid him.’ She looked at the open glass door
before she went on in a lower voice. ‘I’m dying to hear what this
is all about.’

‘He hasn’t told you?’ I stared at her in
disbelief.

‘No.’ Her face looked too innocent to make me
believe her, but I took my chances. I told her about my plan as
concisely as possible. ‘All I need you to do is arrange a meeting
with Plato.’ I concluded.

She looked thoughtful for a few minutes. ‘I
don’t know Emma… if Christopher does not approve…’

‘Don’t tell me you are afraid of him.’ I
challenged her.

‘Well, you haven’t seen him angry, have
you?’

I recalled Christopher’s face when he was ready
to attack Colin. I had some idea of what she meant.

‘Anyway, let me think about it, but…I can’t
promise you anything.’ she finally said. ‘You can’t even be sure
Plato will be willing for another meeting, in the first place.’

‘Will you at least try?’ I pleaded.

Christopher walked through the open glass door
carrying a tray with breakfast before Susan was able to
respond.

He is so accommodating because
he feels guilty
, I thought, convinced that he had got
to Susan first in order to prepossess her in his favor.

He and Suzan enjoyed their breakfast, chatting
in a carefree manner, but I retained my silent and frowned
countenance, pretending not to notice Christopher’s fleeting
glances. Soon Susan asked to be excused, saying she needed a good
sleep and advising me to do the same.

It was only the two of us in the porch now.
Christopher stared at me.

‘Emma, why do you have to be so surly
today?’

I glowered at him. ‘I’m not.’ I protested.

‘You look really angry to me.’

‘You’re wrong.’ I insisted.

‘Come and sit with me then.’ he challenged me in
the soft, unbelievably inviting voice I heard every night among his
kisses and cuddles.

He was totally aware of how irresistible he
could be. I decided it was hopeless to keep the long face any
longer, as it would only make us waste time. Time was precious.
Each second we shared was irreplaceable. I sat next to him.

‘Well, what have I done this time?’ he
asked.

‘Nothing.’ I lied. ‘I just had a bad dream and…
I didn’t see you next to me when I woke up… That’s all.’

‘I’m so sorry. What can I do to make you feel
better?’

‘Coffee helped a lot.’ I tried to smile.

‘Shall I try something… more drastic?’ he said,
his irresistible voice was like music to my ears.

He came closer and put his arms
around me. He kissed my lips softly.

‘I’m sorry you’re having nightmares. And I
promise to be next to you every morning from now on.’

‘Every morning?’ I was aware of his limited
definition of the word “every” in our situation .

He kissed me again, changing the subject, ‘Do
you want to talk to me about your dream? Will it make you feel
better?’

‘No. I just want to forget it.’ I said, hiding
my face in his chest as he squeezed me softly against it.

8.

PAIN

‘We never shall have anymore time we
have,

and we have always had, all the time
there is.’

Thomas A. Bennet

For the next six days, which
added in my list of best days in my life, we retained the carefree
lovers’ façade. Superficially, there was no sign to foreshadow the
disaster that was about to break out, but we both knew that the
clock was ticking and sooner or later we would have to face harsh
reality. We spent each day with Tom and Suzan, lying on the beach
in the morning and hanging out in beach clubs at nights. I was
staying at Christopher’s house and I shared every single moment
with him, which was enough to make me experience total bliss. Yet,
he was determined not to let me alone with Tom and Susan, so I had
only managed to get a ‘Nothing yet’ from her, which was not hopeful
at all for my plans to meet Plato.

I thought I was prepared for what was about to
happen, but I could have never imagined how soon my nightmare was
about to come true. On Friday morning, just after breakfast,
Christopher asked me to walk with him to the beach. I had
apprehended that something was wrong, as he had not been himself
that morning. He seemed unusually silent and too absorbed in his
thoughts during breakfast. I had tried to ignore his clouded brow,
which could only foreshadow what I did not want to hear but,
inevitably, his attitude had made me jumpy.

We walked silently, hand in hand, as the
morning sun caressed our
overcast
faces. A hurtful, evanescent memory crossed my mind
momentarily. The image of my mother, thirteen years ago, standing
under the threshold and facing the policeman, who had looked huge
to my puerile eyes.

‘Is it time?’ I asked him, trying to keep a
steady voice when silence became unbearable. He stopped walking and
put his arms around me. A flicker of a smile twisted his lips. I
looked fondly at his face. It was the face of grief.

‘Yes
.
’ he said. I pressed my cheek on his warm
chest and felt him sigh. ‘I have to go Emma. The hearing has been
scheduled.’

‘When?’

‘Tonight.’

‘For …how long?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘We will be all right, won’t we?’ My voice
sounded strange, it was someone else’s voice, because the lump in
my throat was in place again, making every word painful.

He did not say anything. He just held
me in his arms for a long moment and then he took my hand again and
we kept walking towards the blinding sun, as if we were trying to
escape from the queer twists of our fate.

Time seemed ruthless on that day. It lapsed so
fast, so pitilessly, reducing us to despair with every tick of the
clock. Time had been my enemy ever since Christopher had revealed
his identity to me. It was not just an abstract concept anymore. It
had an evil face and a gleeful smirk. It had Tex’s face.

He left me outside my apartment at sunset. I had
managed to keep myself composed, trying to make it easier for him
to leave me. I had not cried, but the lump in my throat was growing
bigger and bigger, blocking my voice.

‘I will be back, whatever happens. They can’t
keep us apart.’ he said before he kissed me for the last time.

I heard his car growing away as I was making my
way into my apartment.

When I closed the door behind me, I let myself
loose. I ran into my room, unable to hold back the sobs that wrung
my heart. I fell on my bed, face down, soaking the soft cover.

In a few seconds, I felt Kate’s warm hand on my
back. She was talking to me, but her voice sounded distant to my
ears.

‘For God’s sake Emma! What’s happened to
you?’

‘He’s gone!’ I mumbled.

‘Christopher? Christopher is gone? Where
to?’

‘Where he came from.’ It was all I could reveal
to her but it was, at least, the truth.

‘But … he’s coming back, isn’t he?’

‘I …don’t…know.’

‘Of course he is. He loves you so much. He will
come back to you sweetie.’

I cried myself out that night and Kate lay next
to me, keeping her arms around me until the morning.

The next day was even worse. I could not cry
anymore. There was nothing left inside me to let out, only the
feeling of being torn up, missing a huge part of me.

I stayed in bed all day in the same clothes I
had been wearing the previous night. Kate was such a sweet comfort
once again. She stayed with me, skipping school under the excuse of
a sudden brash.

But my torment was far from over. The days went
by excruciatingly slowly, as time showed me its evil face once
more. I felt like every moment, every second was distancing me from
Christopher more and more. I could not eat, I could not sleep. I
was ill, experiencing physical pain in my whole body. I was a
living dead.

Kate pretended not to notice that Christopher
had not even called. But I was aware of her mystification about
this inexplicable lack of contact, as well as about his sudden
departure. She never mentioned anything about it though, determined
to take me out of my misery at any cost.

‘When he’ s back, it will kill him to see you
like this.’ was her strongest argument. It was good enough to make
me leave my bed, take a shower and try to eat.

It had already been a week, a horrible week
without him. I tried to make sense of what this meant. Why would it
take them so long to make a decision? Could it be a good sign? A
sign that Christopher was fighting for us, that he had not given
up, or….

I wished Susan and Tony did not have to follow
him there. Susan could enlighten me had she been able to contact
me. I had left her countless messages on her cell phone. Had she
been able to tell Plato about my idea or was it too late for that?
If only Plato had agreed to meet me, I was sure I would have been
able to persuade him to accept my offer.

I received the strangest call on that Friday by
Yannis. Ever since the change in the excavation plans, I had not
talked to him. I had promised him a drink but, if that was the
reason he was calling me, the timing just could not be worse. But I
was wrong.