The Grasp of Nighttide (8 page)

“Who is this?” He cocked his head in Derek’s direction. 

“Ron meet my boyfriend, Derek”, she said, astonished by her instant lie, but continued with it. “He has come to stay here now, for me, for our love.” 

Until the moment Derek hadn’t even cared of what was going on, but Alice’s words caught his attention. Derek was about to spit the water he had in his mouth. Alice stamped his foot and he gulped it down, some of it even escaping his lips. He raised his eyebrow, in question of what she had meant. She narrowed her eyes and shot him a pleading look. 

“You are right, honey cake. Anything for my love,” he said, squeezing her hand over the table. 

She had hoped he’d play along, but Derek was overdoing it. Alice made a fist under his hand to let him know. 

“Oh sorry, I’m just lost when I’m with her.” Derek offered to shake hands with Ron. “Nice to meet you.” 

Ron flared a ‘how dare you’ look and stormed out of the place. 

“You were taking advantage of the situation,” Alice said tentatively. 

“Excuse me,” he sarcastically pointed a finger at her. “You told him that lie. I didn’t say that you are my girlfriend or that...”

“Sorry,” Alice cut short the accusations levelled on her. “He has been after me for long time and I couldn’t get rid of him. Sorry I lied about uh... us.” Alice offered an explanation.

Derek smiled as usual. Alice wondered if his jaw hurt with the thousands of smiles he gives away for free. Or did he even have a human jaw? 

As Alice was done with the sandwich long before Derek finished eating, a heavy man who introduced himself as Rake Filman volunteered to dance on the stage, just for fun. 

“Hey, Alice,” Derek shouted, although it came out in a whisper with all people roaring and clapping. 

“What?” 

He leaned closer, saying, “I want my gift now.” 

A current of uneasiness penetrated through Alice, more intense than the other day
.

A kiss, 
she thought. 
Who knows what else…Ugh!
 

Alice sat back in her chair, maintaining distance. 

“Would you sing a song?” 

“A what?” Alice asked, astonished. 

“A song!” 

“Why don’t you?” She countered. 

“I rap here all the time. People are friendly here...” 

Alice got up to leave. 

“My gift,” he pleaded holding her hand. “Please.” 

Alice sat back, her eyes fixed on Derek’s face. She didn’t know why he wanted her to do 
this, 
but she did owe him a gift, and because of him Ron would be out of her hair for a while. This was better than a kiss anyway.

“Anything that comes to your mind, just a few lines,” he continued. 

Alice sat till the performance on the stage was over. Then Derek went over to Rake and patted him on the back. 

“Attention everyone,” he said, and the crowd shushed instantly.

“My friend err... Alice has a song.” Derek announced. 

“Alice! Alice! Alice!” The chant echoed and reverberated through the place, muting Derek’s voice further. 

“Great,” Alice said to herself. “Enough to give me a nerve attack.” 

The spotlight intensified over her and the room was eerily silent as she closed her eyes. Now the place seemed as dark as someplace she already knew. Her heart. She started with the verses she had thought of and made some up with the flow. 

Wind take my words along
 

Deliver to him in a song
 

To my love... One and only love…
 

You know my love is true
 

I know you love me too
 

Wherever you are, wherever you are
 

Do take me away with you.
 

The words turned to be more powerful than when she had first thought of them. It hurt her, the reality, the emotion, the distance. She couldn’t stop from letting it out this time. A noticeable breath passed before she continued…

Under the sea
 

On the land
 

Over the hills
 

In the sand
 

I want to stay wherever there is you, wherever

Do take me away with you.
 

A quake to come
 

A flood is near
 

When I hold your hand
 

I have no fear
 

My love is so deep, you have no clue
 

Do take me away with you.
 

To a cave, a beach
 

Fun or no fun
 

The clouds, the moon
 

Or the sun
 

Won’t protest to what you do, whatever you do
 

Just don’t keep me away from you
 

Please take me away with you.
 

Applause cut through the silent air. Alice was taken aback, as she’d forgotten that anyone else was there. In the melody of the song, the other people were forgotten. Opening her eyes, she felt worse. She had embarrassed herself in front of a crowd! So many pairs of eyes looked right at her and she couldn’t stay put for a moment longer…

Derek hadn’t planned to make her do this, but it worked. She actually participated in public interaction. But he still believed she had to let out exactly what happened to her to make herself feel better. Only a crazy person would believe the story about her family. She had told him many conflicting details from what Anna said Alice told her a few months ago. The most obvious was that she told him her dad’s name was Henry but told Anna it was Larry Reed.

He kept the lie in his pocket for now. Alice was extremely sad over Lance, he thought. Derek was framing the exact words to say as he clapped, but Alice ran past him. 

“Alice, wait!” he heard Markel call from behind, ready to sprint after Alice. 

Markel Jones, in his funky attire, was known to hit on women whom he found fascinating. But he wasn’t getting to Alice, not today. 

“I got this, Marky,” Derek stopped him. He studied Derek’s face for a moment before giving up.

Derek pushed open the door, certain that Alice would be out of sight. He hadn’t even seen which way she had gone. But there seemed nothing to worry about after all. She was standing just beside the door, facing the wall, with her face buried in her hands. He looked around, making sure his high school friend−that nosey Dean Masulle−wasn’t still around. He sighed in relief, believing Dean was back on the road to Colorado Springs. This was not an ideal time to have his secrets revealed, especially when Alice came around to trust him. Dean could ruin everything. Derek took three small steps and leaned beside her. 

“About Lance?” he shoved his hands in his pockets casually. 

She looked at him and nodded. 

“You are stupid to wait for the guy who left you,” he barked at her unexpectedly. “He left you and he’s not coming back. You got that? He is never going to come back for you. You need to accept that and move on.” 

“Don’t say that,” Alice said wiping the tears from her face. 

“Okay,” he said sternly, taking her hand and heading back in. 

“Wait! Why are we going back?” 

“I’ve ordered another sandwich for you,” Derek said, still stern. He was half expecting her to yell at him. He was pushing her around and he knew he shouldn’t. She let him pull her. Back inside, everyone clapped again until they took their seats. 

“You were great!” Rose set the sandwich in front of her. 

Alice nibbled at her sandwich this time. Derek smiled, knowing he was right in thinking she wanted another. He took the time to take a good look at her and thought some substance would do her withering body good. He had been harsh when speaking to her−he didn’t know exactly why he had shouted at her. Did it make him feel better? All he knew was that he worried about Alice. He realized that getting angry with her was not helping, but somehow, he was determined to turn that frown into a smile. He so wanted her to smile. 

“How about I rap? Will that make you feel better?” Derek asked thoughtfully, stroking his chin. 

“That isn’t necessary,” Alice said plainly. 

Derek had made up his mind. “Think of it as a rap from Lance,” he whispered in her ear. 

Derek secretly hated himself. He knew he was giving her false hope that Lance would return instead of knocking some sense into her. He had been out of her life for months. How much more time should she waste thinking about him? 

“A message for Alice from her boyfriend,” he had no problem getting everyone’s attention. One lady even played a short drum roll on her phone before he started. 

“
Don’t worry dear if that’s the case 

 I’m coming to you in a dead quick pace 

Loneliness you need no longer trace 

Sorry for hurting you all these days 

I too miss my sun’s rays 

Soon all the distance will erase 

But just make me one promise, Alice, 

Don’t let that smile off your face
.” 

The explosive sound that rang out afterwards was deafening and nearly impossible to be exposed to without damaging one’s ears. Everyone stood, clapping, whistling and shouting. Instantly, his hands covered his ears and Alice was doing the same. Her real smile was so beautiful; he could rap all day if she smiled.

“So that’s what you call an instant rap?” She asked as soon as he joined her back at the table. 

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Probably when I overheard your phone call at Anna’s.” 

Derek laughed, “Carl is my best buddy. He’s coming tomorrow. We’ll pick up your Vespa.” 

“Not mine,” Alice corrected. 

“Well, yours for now anyway,” he said. “In return, do me the favor of reconsidering your relationship with Lance.” 

“You don’t understand how it is,” she protested. 

“Then help me…” Derek said, taking her hand. 

“Forget it.” She yanked her hand away. 

“Okay, I won’t take the topic further. At least learn to let out your feelings a little more. Trust me, I’ve been through this. Staying away from everything and everyone is not the answer.” 

Alice nodded. 

“There’s a friend of yours,” he said. “That friend wants to explore your place in the daylight, and he is free…”

 Alice slowly inched towards him across the table, giving him a serious look. 

“You are most welcome to, Derek,” she said and laughed. “I scared you, didn’t I?” 

Derek laughed too. Alice was coming around and he would help her get her life back on track. 

When the bill came, Derek set his hands on it first. 

“We’ll split it. This was not a date,” Alice insisted, pulling out a few bills from her pocket. 

“Do not play with my dignity, madam,” he stated in a French accent and laughed. Alice laughed too and then stopped, realizing how free she was acting. She sat back. calculating the times she actually smiled. 

“Sorry, Rose that’s all I got today,” Derek said placing all the cash he had in his wallet. 

A seventy dollar tip was the least he had ever given Rose, until now. Today it turned out to be five dollars less. Keeping lot of cash had become less common when his credit card billed his expenses directly to his dad. He only wanted to help Rose with her tuition expenses. Rose had a potential to make a good career−he had known that since she was little, as Derek often came up here with his dad−but the responsibilities she had were bringing her down. Derek wanted to pay for the tuition himself when he discovered her problems, but Rose had turned him down, saying she’d continue to earn her way in this restaurant. And so while Derek was in town, he would make it a point to come here and help a little without violating Rose’s terms. But he left it to Alice to think what she wanted of it, and she already gave a crazy stare. 

“Oh no, no problem, Derry. Thank you so much.” Rose said. “Glad to see you both had a nice time.” 

*****

“So you like being outdoors a lot?” Derek asked, kicking a tiny pebble to the side on their way back to the store. 

“No.” 

“Golf perhaps?” 

Alice shook her head. 

“So why did you choose this place, then?” 

Alice kept quiet. 

“My dad was born here. He loves golf. He still comes here sometimes when he’s free.” 

“Oh,” Alice sounded distant. She just kept snapping her fingers. He even had to stop her from crossing the road; she was in that trance again, oblivious to the rest of the world. Suddenly, she snapped to, and when she realized why he held her back, she became more alert. For the remainder of the walk, she was totally engaged in general conversation with him. She even mentioned that the sandwiches were the best she ever had and that she liked the restaurant.

*****

As he dropped Alice off and drove to his place, Hindi music boomed in Cloud and he was swaying to the beats of ‘Na tum jano na hum’. His flat was just outside the city area, amongst peace and quiet. There were three flats to the building, which was supposedly a two-year-old holiday home of the Lawson’s. The wooden touch given to the exterior blended in with the surrounding trees. The ground flat was where Jacob and Rosalie would stay when they paid a visit. The middle one was intended for Steph, but she had never stayed there. The top one was Derek’s, and this was the first time he stayed there, too. It took only a minute to be in love with the place, but he had expected no less−his dad never settled for anything less than perfection. 

With only a lone squirrel as a witness, he did some robot moves on the staircase of his flat and then grooved all the way to his doorstep. He hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

A folded blue paper lay right inside his door. He ignored it and danced to the kitchen. He took out a sealed packet of orange Tang and ripped it open. A fistful of cold Tang powder was the first thing he would eat when happy. And he did. 

When his happiness was finally under control, he put his shoes back on the rack−next to the Bogs boots that he had just picked up from the cobbler. He went to the door, picked up the piece of paper and flopped onto the luxurious bed. This was the best bed ever; he had been enjoying it for the past three years, and it travelled with him when on the move. He could always buy another but nothing could beat his own, in a way it was just right. When he unfolded the note, he was more than surprised. He recognized the handwriting immediately. It was from Stephanie. 

DL, 

I came to see you but you were out. By the way, dad says you don’t speak to him often and Jane wants to talk to you. You know how worried she gets about me. And now that I’m here, just want things to be normal between us. If you are willing to meet up, text. I’m waiting. 

Steph 

DL brought back a lot of memories to Derek. There was a time when they had been the best of friends, before being step-siblings. It was strange how time and situations twisted relationships, sometimes for the better and other times for worse. 

Things weren’t so strained between them the last time his dad, Jacob, had gotten her to meet Derek. During that visit, Stephanie actually asked him how he was doing and sat next to him for a while, although she only replied to the questions Derek was asking. He hadn’t thought she’d ever willingly meet him and this note came as a great surprise.

He reached for his phone and typed
I would love to, Stephanie, let me know when
. The reply came in a flash−
I will. And do call me Steph
. Derek rushed to the kitchen for another dose of Tang.