Kaleidoscope (4 page)
Hellam picked up the phone again as the two men turned and left.
"Hello, how are you?" He said into the receiver when the woman on the other end picked up, his voice suddenly soft and fragile. "...That's great, listen how about dinner tonight?"
Chapter 4
Lewis looked at the map as a frown wrinkled his forehead. He glanced up, removing his sunglasses and then looked back down. The sky was a vibrant blue and the heat from the sun baked the narrow Venetian streets by his feet. He wiped perspiration from his forehead with the back of his arm as he tried to work out exactly where he was.
He had been in
Venice
for two days but the maze of narrow streets, alleyways and dead ends was still as confusing as when he had first arrived. It had been an eventful few months and now, on the final leg of his journey, Lewis felt exhausted. He had visited almost everywhere he had intended to, but
New York
and
Tokyo
had proven to be a little more time consuming than he had first imagined, so he had to skip
Los Angeles
in the end. His money had lasted well and he had even managed to get a couple of week's cash-in-hand work at a car wash in
Chicago
which helped see him through. He had missed
Venice
on the way out, but some of the student back-packers he had run into on his travels insisted that it was a place which simply shouldn't be missed.
Lewis had checked his remaining balance and decided he had enough money to make
Venice
his final stop before returning home. He flew out of JFK airport and landed at Marco Polo a few hours later. After taking the water bus from the airport and wandering the city for a couple of hours, Lewis knew he had made the right choice in coming.
It was 26
°
C which was unusually warm for May in
Venice
, and it felt even warmer when spending the day walking around the maze of streets. Lewis felt a throbbing ache in his legs. He had been walking for almost five straight hours, and as he looked over to a small caf
é
bar which had tables positioned outside, he decided he needed some refreshment. He folded the map as he walked over, ordered a lemonade then sat down at one of the tables as he sipped slowly, savouring the cool drink. The bar was next to one of the smaller canals and the occasional boat hummed by with tanned, smiling faces glancing at Lewis as they passed. He stretched out his legs, closed his eyes and relaxed while the sounds of the city washed over him.
As he sat there, his mind became peaceful and his thoughts drifted. He thought of what awaited him on his return home. He was flying back home in a few days and would begin searching for a job immediately. He wasn't short of cash, but didn't want to put it off any longer. He was ready to get back into full time work. He'd had enough time off now; had gotten the travelling bug out of his system and longed to get back to some kind of normality. He could survive for a few more months on his savings and could even sell his car until the right position arose. It was time for his degree to start paying for itself.
Lewis was contemplating all of this when the image of Hannah suddenly surfaced in his mind. He smiled as he thought about her and couldn't wait to see her again. They had spoken intermittently by e-mail while Lewis had been away, but they had both been too busy to keep in regular contact. She had also seemed a little distant on the last couple of e-mails; almost as if there was something she was skirting around - something she wanted to say but couldn't quite bring herself to.
He wished she had come with him on his trip. It would have been something neither of them would ever forget and Lewis felt sad that she hadn't experienced everything he had in the past few months. It hit him especially hard here in
Venice
, which seemed to be a city designed for two; dining alone in one of the thousands of restaurants just didn't feel right.
Lewis sipped his drink again, glancing at the sunlight which was reflecting in the water of the canal, and it suddenly reminded him of one of his favourite memories.
It had been four years earlier and Lewis was on a summer break from university, so had returned home for a few weeks. He had caught up with all his friends and enjoyed some great times that summer, but it was one day in particular that Lewis thought about the most.
Hannah had woken him early one Saturday morning by throwing pebbles at the window of his flat. Lewis had checked his clock and saw it was
which was no time for a student to be awake, especially a student on his summer break. But he had put on his dressing gown and met Hannah downstairs.
"Wakey, wakey," she said with purposely annoying over-enthusiasm.
"What do you want? I thought we were meeting for lunch later?"
"I can do better than that," Hannah replied going over to her car which was parked by the side of the road. Lewis followed her as she opened the boot. "Ta da!" she said, waving her hand over a picnic basket half-filled with sandwiches, drinks and cakes. "We're going on a picnic. Come on, get dressed and we'll go."
"Where are we going?" Lewis asked, rubbing his eyes.
"It's a surprise, I'm driving."
After he had dressed, Hannah drove them out of town and down towards the coast. Lewis had no idea of where they were going, but Hannah seemed to know the way by heart. After over an hour of driving, she parked the car in a small car park close to the sea front, then they walked up a narrow gravel path towards the cliff face.
It had been a bright, summer's day and the wind was especially calm considering they were on the sea front. They both left the path and walked up a grassed hill to the top of the cliff. Hannah placed a blanket on the warm grass and they sat down, leaning back onto their elbows, legs stretched out before them as they gazed at the sea.
They had chatted for hours as they took in the view and watched a number of boats glide lazily across the horizon. They had eaten their sandwiches and Hannah opened a bottle of wine which she poured out into two plastic cups. The talking had slowed as they relaxed, listening to the waves gently lap against the rocks below and watching the sunlight sparkle from the bobbing water. A silence grew between them as they gazed outward - a silence which was eventually broken by Hannah.
"Do you remember that silly little kaleidoscope that Ben used to play with?"
Lewis turned to her, his elbow touching hers as they lay side by side. "Yeah, I don't think I ever saw him without it."
"He loved that thing," she said, shaking her head slowly but not taking her eyes from the distant horizon. "He used to play with it all the time; I don't know how he didn't get bored of it. He just used to say that he loved to watch how the colours and shapes changed from one into another. I thought he was mad, but maybe I was a little bit jealous as well." Hannah sat up but still never tore her gaze from the sea.
Lewis sat up next to her, his own eyes not moving from her face as she spoke with soft melancholy.
"I wanted to have something that
I
loved as much as he loved that thing," she said slowly. "But there never was anything." She paused then turned to her friend. "We used to come here on day-trips when we were kids. Ben and I loved it - running around - and it was
always
sunny. I don't have a single memory of it ever raining here." She glanced down and chuckled to herself, "I suppose no one would go on a day-trip to the coast when it's raining though." She looked up again. "But I love this place and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. Maybe..." She paused as her eyes scanned the scenery. "Maybe this is my kaleidoscope..." She smiled and looked down at her lap, seemingly embarrassed by what she had just said. "I think the wine is making me a bit melodramatic."
As she turned to Lewis, he moved closer and, without thinking about what he was doing, leaned forward and they kissed. It was a brief act, they parted after only a few seconds and then there was silence between them once again. Hannah looked at him and Lewis thought he could see a flicker of confusion on her face but then it was overwhelmed as a smile formed and she began to laugh. "I think the wine is making us
both
a little melodramatic!"
Lewis didn't really feel like it, but he began to laugh as well. They had mutually shrugged off what had just happened and it weighed heavy inside him.
Hannah jokingly punched him on the arm, "I think we're getting soft in our old age."
They had finished their wine, ate cakes and chatted some more but Lewis had no idea of what they spoke about as the morning drifted into the afternoon. His thoughts were snagged on the kiss; unable to really comprehend how it had even occurred.
Now, sitting at the small table by a canal in
Venice
, he sipped his lemonade and tried not to dwell on the memory for too long. Although he liked to think about that day, he knew it would do him no good now. He drained his glass then picked up his bag and began to work his way through the labyrinth of alleyways.
***
Hannah closed her diary and wiped the moisture away from red, sore eyes. She got up from her bed and placed the book back on its shelf. The flat was silent, only the sound of passing cars outside could be heard and she wished her flatmate, Kelly, was home; she needed someone to talk to. She thought of Lewis and wished he wasn
’
t so far away, he was the best listener she had ever known and she had a lot to unburden. But he was probably thousands of miles away at that instant and Hannah felt a pang of envy. Why hadn
’
t she gone with him? She knew he wanted her to join him and if the timing were different then perhaps she would have. It would have been fantastic to see the world with her best friend and would have been something she would have cherished for the rest of her life. Not to mention the fact that, had she gone, she wouldn
’
t be in the mess she now found herself in.
The past few days had been a distorted blur of confusion and she just wanted to erase the previous three months of her life; they had only brought her pain. She thought of Joe. Who was he? She had thought she had known him, but what she had known was only the mask he wore
–
the mask of normality and decency. But that was what she thought he was - decent and good. It had only been a few days ago that she had discovered the truth.
The police had to be informed, she knew that, and the only thing that had stopped her from doing so before now had been the subtle shadows of doubt in her mind. Hannah knew what she had seen and knew she wasn
’
t mistaken, but before that revelation a few days ago, she felt she had been falling in love with him. He was outwardly so kind and caring; he always said and did the right things. How could he be this other man
–
this monster? She had almost called the police several times in the past few days before thinking better of it. Perhaps she
had
been wrong. Joe wasn
’
t that man was he?
But eventually the truth could no longer be ignored and Hannah felt she had no choice. She knew what she had to do, but still wished she could talk to someone about it. Kelly was around, but too busy with her own life, and Hannah didn
’
t feel she would be able to discuss what she needed to with her anyway. She wanted Lewis; if he was here then everything would be okay.
She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand again and went into the kitchen where she made some tea. As she drank it, she decided that she would call the police first thing in the morning; she would put it off no longer, she had already procrastinated on the matter far too long. She knew that what she had seen had been real and was disgusted that she had spent so much time with that man without seeing him for who he truly was.
A floorboard in the hall outside creaked and she turned to the door as she finished her tea. She walked towards the door and leaned closer, hearing lowered voices on the other side. Perhaps her neighbours had visitors, she thought, but then considered this for a moment. That didn
’
t seem right; they never had visitors. There was just the two of them in that flat and the old woman never left. Her son would go out from time to time but nobody ever came to visit them as far as Hannah knew of, certainly not at this time of night anyway.
The wood on the landing strained again and Hannah heard footsteps tap on the floor
–
they were right outside now. She wondered if Kelly had returned with her boyfriend and was searching for her key, but after checking the clock, Hannah dismissed this idea. Kelly would still be at work and Hannah remembered her saying that she wasn
’
t seeing Jeremy this evening. Who was out there and why were they just standing in the hall outside the door to her flat?
She suddenly felt very cold and something stirred inside. It wasn
’
t quite fear, but a very close relation; a strange disquiet
–
a trepidation. She wondered where this odd sensation had suddenly risen from and she was still contemplating this when two loud knocks pounded on the door.
***
The flight back had been delayed by an hour at Marco Polo airport, but Lewis had eaten breakfast and browsed the shops to pass the time. He arrived back in the
UK
at
and took a taxi to Surrington. He told the driver to go to his parents address since they had the only key to his flat - getting a spare key cut had been one of he few things that he had forgotten to put on his list. He gave his parents the key so they could go round to his place from time to time, pick up the mail and make sure that everything was ok.
