The Light of the Blue Pearl (16 page)

For her history, that was a pretty huge
gesture. And she still hadn’t made up her mind about whether or not
she was going to keep things going.

Appearing from the hallway Scott looked up,
he was wearing her apron and looking absolutely ridiculous in it,
which was really rather cute.

He grinned when he saw her coming. “Morning
you, did you sleep well?” he asked, holding the frying pan he had
just noisily unearthed from beneath the stove.

“Yeah, I did,” she said. “Which is
surprising considering the huge earthquake in my kitchen.”

He sheepishly looked at her. “Oh…yeah, sorry
about that.”

She laughed. “I was just kidding, I was
ready to get up anyway – did you find what you were looking
for?”

“Yep…eventually,” he said. “You don’t make
it easy to find things in here.”

“Well, I know where everything is,” she
said, strolling over to him, distracting him with a long kiss
before taking the frying pan from him.

“Want me to make you breakfast?” she
asked.

“No, no…I want to make you breakfast,” he
said. “Hence the earthquake.”

She laughed before relinquishing the frying
pan again and making her way to the table to sit down.

He had already made a beautiful table laden
with coffee and a fruit salad. There was a paper sitting on the
table waiting for her and before she had even sat down he was
draping a blanket over her shoulders.

She could get used to this; she wanted to
get used to this.

“So…,” he said, returning to his chef duties
in the kitchen. “I see you found your soup okay?”

She could tell the next question wasn’t far
behind.

“Yes, I did, thank you,” she said, thumbing
through the paper and taking a sip of coffee.

“Did you find anything else?” he asked, he
had disappeared from view and was obviously on another quest for
something, though what she couldn’t imagine.

“Yes…I did,” she said. She still had no idea
what to say, so she went with the obvious. “Thank you, the necklace
is beautiful.”

“Can I put it on you?” he asked.

“I suppose you can,” she said. “Although if
I’m being honest I feel rather guilty about it.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because, it’s a very nice gift, Scott, and
I haven’t yet made up my mind.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, that’s okay, I didn’t
buy it for you to bribe you – I would have sent you to Paris or
something for that.”

She giggled; she could tell he was grinning
even though he was still MIA behind the counter.

“What are you looking for?” she asked.

“A waffle maker,” he said. “Surely you have
one?”

“Actually I don’t,” she said. “Never really
needed one I guess. Besides you don’t have to make me waffles, eggs
would be just fine, Scott.”

“Well, Ms. Selfish, I actually felt like
waffles,” he said, closing the cupboard door and reappearing with a
mocking grin on his face.

“I just usually eat the kind from the
freezer,” she said.

“Well that’s just wrong, Ethne,” he
said.

“If you say so,” she said, smiling and
returning to the newspaper.

“This fruit looks delicious; did you go out
again today?” she asked. “I know I don’t have half of this stuff in
my kitchen.”

“Yeah, for a bit,” he said, returning to the
task of making her some eggs. “Go ahead and start eating, I’ll be
over there soon.”

“No, I can wait,” she said, drinking her
coffee and watching him. “The apron looks stunning on you by the
way, you should keep it. I never use it anyway, and I think the
chicken on the front brings out the color of your eyes.”

“Ha…ha, very funny,” he said. “Anything to
make you laugh though, it really is hideous you know.”

“It was a gift,” she shrugged, before
returning to the paper.

She never read the paper; she wasn’t sure
why she was now.

Bringing over a huge plate of scrambled eggs
and some bacon he sat down next to her.

“Geez,” she said. “You planning to feed an
army?”

“No, but I’m starving and I bet you are
too,” he said.

That was actually very accurate.

She started eating and surprisingly ate
everything he had put in front of her, including a majority of the
fruit.

“See,” he said. “You were hungry.”

“Guess so,” she said.

After clearing the table he came up behind
her and started to put on the necklace, she didn’t object, though
she still had reservations.

“That looks beautiful on you,” he said,
standing back and appraising his shopping abilities.

She felt the pendant with her fingers and
tried to look down to see it, but wasn’t able to.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t feel obligated to wear it, Ethne, I
just wanted to get it for you - and as you know full well, I tend
to get what I want,” he said, winking at her.

“Oh, you do, do you?” she asked, half as a
challenge.

“Well, I did get you to face your fears and
travel to Belize not knowing why, did I not?”

He had her there.

She sighed. “Yes, I suppose you did.”

“I’m serious though, this is a gift, simply
because I care about you, that’s all,” he said.

He grew quiet while he resumed cleaning the
kitchen.

“You don’t have to clean up, I can do that,”
she said, feeling a little guilty all of a sudden.

“It’s no problem,” he said. “You should
still take it easy today; you’re off for tonight, but I have to go
back in soon.”

“Okay,” she said.

She knew he was going to have to go back to
work eventually, but the thought of being alone suddenly made her
break out into a cold sweat. She sat down on the couch and tried to
breathe calmly.

This was stupid, she had been alone most of
her life, she could do this. Still, there was a fear in the back of
her mind, nagging at her like an impatient mother does to a child
who isn’t listening.

She decided she’d rather be the unmindful
child and ignore the fear completely. That was easier said than
done, but she didn’t have much of a choice.

After he had finished cleaning up, he came
and sat with her for a while.

He took her hand in his, stroking the back
of it slowly before bring it up and kissing it.

“Will you be okay while I’m gone?” he
asked.

Doing her best to hide how she was really
feeling she said she would.

He showered and got ready to go and once at
the door ready to leave pulled her into him, hugging her
tightly.

He let go a little and kissed her, lingering
on her lips, gently kissing her before turning to leave.

“If you need anything, call me, and I’ll be
back here before you can say…waffles,” he said, smiling.

She nodded in agreement and said
goodbye.

“I can’t believe you don’t have a waffle
maker,” he said, before turning and walking down the stairs.

She closed the door after waving goodbye to
him and looked around the room suddenly feeling like the only one
on the planet.

Her house was quiet, almost too quiet. She
decided she didn’t really want to hang around there all day letting
the solitude gnaw at her like a pesky mosquito.

It had been a long time since her last
seizure and she knew she should rest, but she had rested and she
felt fine. After showering and getting dressed in something warm
she went out for a walk.

The air felt so good on her skin, it seemed
like she had been cooped up for a month rather than only a couple
of days. And while she had only been marginally aware of the time,
the fresh air was intoxicating. It would surely help her make the
decision she needed to make about Scott. Whether she would let this
necklace sway her decision, or whether or not she was going to have
to break his heart, and hers.

She must have been deep in thought and not
minding her location, because before she knew it she was miles from
her house. That wouldn’t have necessarily been a problem but she
was suddenly very tired and didn’t feel like walking the entire way
back.

There was a coffee shop across the street so
she went there to take a rest before walking back home. As she
opened the door she looked up and found herself staring at Ian.

E
thne just stood
there like a statue, not even taking the time to blink. She was not
only speechless, she was frozen.

He had smiled instantly when he saw her,
obviously not nearly as surprised as she was.

“Hi,” he said. “I was actually about to go
by the hospital to see if you were there – fancy meeting you here
instead.”

“Umm…yeah,” she said, the words barely
making it out of her mouth.

She finally blinked and shook her head
making sure she wasn’t seeing things.

She wasn’t.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I came to find you,” he said.

She was still standing in front of the door
and now there were people impatiently trying to move past them.

“Here, why don’t you come in, I’ll buy you a
cup of coffee,” he said, holding the door for her as she stepped
inside.

“What would you like?” he asked.

“Umm…a decaf latte, thanks,” she said.

When he returned he was still grinning at
her, she realized she had really missed that grin and finally
smiled back at him.

“So, why did you come here to find me?” she
asked.

“Well…I missed you, for one,” he said,
blushing a little. “I know it’s pretty weird for me to track you
down since you barely know me, but I do have another reason.”

“And what’s that?”

He set his coffee down and reached into his
pocket and pulled out the box. Her box.

“My pearl?!” she exclaimed.

He was grinning at her again; obviously
aware at how happy he had just made her.

She took the box and opened it to find her
beautiful blue pearl nestled in it, as safe as could be. She took
it out, held it in her palm and looked up at him and smiled.

“Thank you so much, Ian,” she said. “You
don’t know what this means to me.”

When she looked down at the pearl again, the
sun hit it and it seemed to almost glow with an iridescent light.
This light hit her suddenly with a flash of remembrance, like a
memory coming back to a person with amnesia – the reason why the
Blue Hole had felt so familiar to her.

The light of the blue pearl had reminded her
of what she saw whenever she was waking from a seizure. Up until
now this memory was always washed away with the exhaustion and
foggy mind that she was always left with.

Why it was coming to her so clearly now she
assumed was because she had just had one only days before.
Regardless of the reason, the encompassing blue light that she
always felt afterward was a feeling of warmth and love – the same
feeling she had felt when she was swimming in the Blue Hole.

She realized she must have been sitting
there in silence for a bit longer than she thought; Ian was looking
at her with a rather confused look on his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, wondering how
long she had been quiet.

Trying to pick up where she had left off,
she thanked him again for returning it to her.

“You’re welcome,” he said, smiling. “I knew
it meant a lot to you, how could it not, it was quite a find. I’m
sorry it took me so long to bring it to you.”

“Are you kidding?” she asked. “I never would
have expected you to do that…but I’m glad you did.”

She was smiling, her first real smile since
her relapse of the long past, partially forgotten seizures. Ian had
no idea what kind of gift he had just given her.

She didn’t know why remembering this blue
light comforted her, especially since she saw it after she had one
of the dreaded episodes, but for whatever reason it did.

“It gave me a good excuse to come see you,
though I might have come anyway,” he said.

He was blushing a little again she could
see; she probably was too. She had really missed him, but things
were a little more complicated now; a lot more complicated now
actually.

“I’m flattered, Ian,” she said. “I really
am…I’ve missed you too.”

With that little bit of information she
could see his confidence returning, she hated to have to dash it
again.

“You did?” he asked. “Really?”

“Yeah, of course I did,” she said. “I hated
having to say goodbye to you that day, and I have thought about you
a lot. The truth is though; my life has gotten even more
complicated.”

“Oh?” he asked. “How so?”

“Well, I need to be completely honest with
you, I’m seeing someone now,” she said, looking down at the pearl
in her hands and knowing she would have to confess the rest now
too.

“Oh,” he said. “Well, I can’t say that I’m
surprised, you’re very beautiful, Ethne. I always thought it was
strange when we met that you weren’t already with someone.”

She blushed, still not used to
compliments.

He gave her a little smile, trying to
reassure her that he’d live, albeit in disappointment.

“That’s the other thing I need to tell you,”
she said, taking a deep breath and putting her pearl back in the
box; she told him about her seizures.

She didn’t feel the need to say her entire
life history just then, but enough to hopefully explain why she
hadn’t been with someone sooner.

“So that’s why you’ve been alone?” he asked,
obviously unconvinced the way Scott had been. “That’s pretty sad,
Ethne, and to me unnecessary, but I’m not you so I won’t judge you
– I just think it’s sad. What changed your mind then? Who is this
lucky guy who won you over when I couldn’t?”

“I wouldn’t say you didn’t win me over,” she
said, smiling at him shyly. “Had you had more time things may have
ended differently.”