Thirty-Four

“You have softened up, my friend! I was right all along,” I chuckled, seeing the hard look on his face. “What happened with the company back then?” About a month after I lost her, I left and burrowed myself away from the world.
“I had time to learn, Vlad, but I’m no saint either. On the day that girl stumbled inside my shop, trying to run away from some punks, she taught me a lot.” He sighed as remembering the day, then faced me. “And I had a hard time bringing her up. She was hurt beyond repair.” He cut the conversation once she was back. *'She will open up to you. We’ll talk about London in a few.'*
“Did you find everything, pumpkin?”
“I’m sorry for the mess.” The tiredness in her voice just reminded me it was my fault, and I needed to make it up to her somehow. This Alizandra differed from her past selves, but the softness was there in her eyes, even when she passed by me, wearing defiance in them, as much as concern. She worried about me, despite the anger, and that put my demon at ease.
“Alex, you sound tired and I believe you could take a breather, so why don’t you go to Starbucks and grab some coffee, relax?” He suggested after she fixed the lights, and I tensed as I heard Anton’s request.
The same moment a buzzing sound filled the room, she took a small device from her bag. Staring at it, and the sketch of a smile formed on her lips. I noticed the spare looks she gave us. She played a bit with it and threw it back in the bag.
“Why do I feel you want to get rid of me? What’s happening?” She looked at us with furrowed brows and tightening her jaw. She was still pissed at us, and it came in waves from her body.
“Who was on the phone, Alex?” Anton’s voice boomed.
“I asked first!” She glared at us, hands on her hips.
“Pumpkin, I need some alone time with him, please, man’s stuff.” Her eyes moved from his face to mine suspiciously. “Go there, munch on a scone, drink your coffee, take your time. When you get back, he’ll be as good as new. How about that?”
“You’ll talk about me, won’t you?” Breathing in contempt, she shook her head. “Fine, I need some time for myself. Some cavemen just exhausted me.” She gave the evil eye meant to fry us on the spot.
“Liz, I will teach you manners. She’s going nowhere, Anton!” I blurted out, fear creeping on my spine.
“Calm down, Vlad. She’ll be fine. The coffee shop is around the corner.” My eyes followed her almost to the door.
“Alex? Aren’t you forgetting anything?” She stopped with her hand at the doorknob.
“It was my boss, dad. He wanted to know why I didn’t show up for debriefing,” she said, turning to us with a haunted look on her face. Then she left.
“Who saw you slaying and chopping off limbs on the field would’ve never pictured you cutting hairs and trimming beards.” I heard him laugh hard, and he sat me at a chair facing a mirror, explaining and showing me how a few of the utensils worked, mainly the noisy trimmers. Everything is much easier today.
“True! But this is not my actual business, it’s just a cover-up, although it is something I found out I enjoy doing, like the tattoos. Back then things were already developing fast, and this last hundred years even faster. At last, a mundane job with its kink, where I could relax and be myself. If I need some action, the fun begins behind that door!” He pointed to the back. “That’s my true business, I’m licensed to deal weapons, swords and daggers are my specialty from any era and place, but also I can buy whatever the person wants, lots of the stuff goes under the black market, you know, illegally.”
“What happened back then, with Baxley?”
“Not much, Vlad. After I found you in that complete state of chaos, holding her bloody body to yourself, and later you got her and walked off on me, I called his men and sent him back to his father. In the coming month I knew our time there had ended, so I closed all the deals and finished whatever was pending. Another company was coming along well, building a huge dock beside ours. I made them an offer, and they bought it. It took about a year for the whole thing to go smoothly, but you disappeared!”
“You told me to!” I hissed back.
“Yes, I told you to lie low for a while, not a whole century! You gave yourself out, rumors went around, I had a lot of trouble finishing up the entire process, since the church, the police, and some crazy fanatic organization were on my ass!”
“How could I know Anton? I wasn’t thinking. My mind was red with rage. I had lost her for the third time, and I could not function. Believe me, it astonished me when I realised how long I have slept. I didn’t plan on that. Something happened that kept me undisturbed. Why didn’t you wake me up? Where were you?” I sneered in a strained voice as I saw chunks of my hair falling to the floor. “Hey, you’re going to leave me bald!” Anton chuckled at my remark, which frustrated me even more.
“Relax, you’ll be fine. I didn’t know where you were.”
“How did you know I crossed the ocean?” It puzzled me a lot. I’ve always felt the pull of her energy. But Anton…
“Easy, through our mind link. Even in the distance, I could tap on it, I knew all the time what you had been up to, until the link faded and I thought, maybe you stashed yourself somewhere or got killed, which I didn’t believe.” He shrugged, staring at me in the mirror. “So, I got all our money and followed you.”
“Money?” I gave him a pointed look.
“Yes, old friend, money. We’re stuffed. This whole thing; the shop, the studio, the business in the back, is all in our names. I had to make new fake IDs for us. I just need a picture of you to finish it up, and I’ll hand everything to you once it’s ready, and I’m pretty sure Alex will ease you into this new century. You’ll go crazy with all the new things we have around.”
“How long have you cared for her, and why was she running from those people?”
“Twenty years ago, she was about eleven and had been living on the streets for more than a year already, some delinquents picked on her, and that day had gotten worse.” He stopped and stared at me. “The moment she barged through that door, this place filled with energy, then those enormous violet eyes looked at me with so much fear and sorrow in them, I knew it was her. From that moment on, I took her in and did everything I could to mend that girl.”
“Thank you, Anton, for being there when I wasn’t!” Believe, it killed me inside to voice that. I should be the one there for her. But I had to give him the credit. He became more than a friend. Anton was there for me, backing me up all this time, when my own brother, Radu, had betrayed me in the vilest way. Sometimes I wonder what happened to that puny little bastard.
“Go easy on her, she’ll come around,” he assured me. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t recognize myself there. I was indeed a clean bear. Anton had all those drawings on him too, a bunch of them.
“Anton, since when have you developed a taste for drawing on your skin? Do you have something to do with all those drawings on her?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. I didn’t understand how someone could mar such perfect and delicate skin.
“To tell you the truth... Yes, I do, and I see you’re not happy about it. Vlad, there’s a heavy story behind those tattoos, that’s how they’re called.” I heard the father’s concern and love in his tone, and then I understood his role in her life. He cared for her with the same intensity a father would on his own, and that moved me. He didn’t have to, but he put himself there for us. “It’s not my place to talk about it, but pay attention to what they hide underneath...”
“Why is she taking so long?” Anxiety was creeping on me. I wasn’t comfortable anymore.
“You’re done, my friend!” He smirked, and I stared at myself in disbelief. “By the look on your face, I think I did a good job!”
“Anton, where’s this place? I’m going there.”
“Give me a minute, we can go together, maybe a nice coffee would do us good.”
Five minutes later, we were out walking, when I felt a lightning crash on me, and all rational thoughts abandoned my brain.