Authors: Faleena Hopkins
____________________
“I’m sorry
about the mess, but you know
,
I
didn’t expect to have anyone
over,” Julian said, trying hard to act normal as he let Elizabeth into his
apartment where they would wait for Dani’s arrival.
“I couldn’t
care less,” she said, and walked to the window to look at the view. Her
attention fell on Dani’s empty parking space in the lot below and she passively
turned back to him.
“Can I get
you anything?” he asked out of habit.
“Are you
offering yourself to me?” she said, head cocked to the side before she laughed,
“I’m only kidding.”
“Oh,” he
said, awkwardly and forced a smile. “What’s your name?”
“Elizabeth.
How long have you known?”
“Four years,”
he said quietly.
“Four years…
and you haven’t told anyone.”
It
was a statement, not a question. He didn’t say anything. She turned to a framed
photograph on the wall of a Redwood tree, sunlight embracing it, pouring in
from behind. “Sun,” she said wistfully, touching the glass. “This was taken in
Northern California, yes?
Avenue of
The Giants?”
He nodded.
“I’ve been.
It looks like a warm day. Was it?”
“It was very
warm.” He thought she seemed more human now, with an underlying sadness.
He stuffed his impulse to hug her.
“Lucky,” she
said quietly.
He watched her bring her hand away from the photo, but he
wanted to hold onto the moment. “I guess.
I mean, I was hoping for fog, but the day turned out to be sunny.
It’s still one of my favorites,
though.
I love it up there.”
She turned to him. “Why did you hope for fog?”
“Makes for a
better picture.
More drama.”
“Ah, yes.
Humans love drama. Me? I just want peace.” She sighed. “Well, I’m not surprised
you know about us, Julian. I’ve had many human companions over the years.
Helpers. Protectors.
Things like that.
There have been
some casualties though.
I am more
careful these days.”
“I protect
her,” he said and she noted his posture.
He was proud.
This
interested her.
“Do you?”
“Yeah.
Like, her agent used to bug me about why
he could never get a hold of her during business hours in the summer
months.
I’ve had to cover enough
times now that he doesn’t ask. And this one time she left blood in a wine glass
and the team was in her loft. I hurried and cleaned it before they saw.”
“I’m sure she
appreciates it very much.”
“She doesn’t
know.” He looked down at the gray Laceless Converse he always wore.
“Why wouldn’t
you tell her? Are you very modest or…
Ohhhh
.
She doesn’t know that you know that she’s a vampire.”
He confirmed this with a look and she
pondered the reality that Daniella hadn’t been able to tell. How could that
be?
Something must be wrong. Her
student possessed strong natural intuition into the minds of humans.
A vehicle below pulled focus, drawing her to the window.
Down below she saw the Jeep pull up and park.
“Daniella… you’re losing your touch.”
“Is she
home?” He joined her at the window.
That fast heartbeat again.
She smiled.
He was in love
with her.
She looked at him.
He had a nice face but he was too young
for Daniella.
Her heart would have
been safe and held by this one, Elizabeth thought. Pity.
“You should
probably go give her that hard drive, Julian.
It was good meeting you,” she walked to
the door.
“I can wait.”
“I’m sure you
can.
You’ve waited this long.
But no, thank you. She’s not expecting
me. I’ll come back another time.”
“Will you be
at her party?” he asked.
This stopped her.
Daniella was having a party?
Not here, she hoped.
Vampires do not throw parties where they sleep. She chose to act as if
she’d been invited. “Yes, I’ll be there. Friday, right?
At her place?”
“Yeah, her
place…but it’s on Thursday.”
“Oh right… of
course.
That’s what the invite
said… Thursday,” she lied, her ear tuned toward where she heard Dani enter her
loft below and waited until she heard the deadbolt lock.
Elizabeth smiled at Julian who was
watching her intently as she walked to a counter to pick up a pen.
She wrote a phone number on the back of
a receipt and left it there. “I’ll be there.
And here is my number. Since you’ve taken
the role of protector, use this if you ever need back up.”
“Are you going to tell her that I know?”
She left without answering.
2012
Dani arose on the night of the party, excited. Stepping
back, she looked at the painting/door, closed now and wondered if there was any
way its truth could be perceived by an observing and curious mind.
After a few minutes of every angle
inspected, she felt comfortable her secret was safe and left it, walking away
to her desk where her phone waited. “Julian?
I just got home.
How’s the other space coming along?”
“It looks
great,” Julian stood in the loft across from hers overseeing the staff as they
hung the last painting. “Renting out this space for a night was a great idea.
It looks awesome. Are you coming over now?”
“No, I have to shower.
I’ll be over in a bit. Can you call the
caterers and ask them to arrive in an hour? I’ve cleared out the refrigerator
so there’s plenty of room for whatever they may need it for.
I want the –“
“Dani,” he
interrupted, his voice kind.
“I
know what to do.
Let me handle
it.”
“Sorry.
Do I sound nervous?”
He hesitated and lied, “Not at all.
Why would you be?
You’re never nervous.”
Her shoulders relaxed and she looked
around her.
Soon this room would be
filled with people and the idea was frightening. Also Adrian would be here…
here in her home.
“You’re
right. Why should I be nervous? It’s just a party… Okay, I won’t be long.” She
hung up.
Forty-five minutes passed. Julian stood in the middle of
the extra loft instructing a valet on where to park the cars. The valet spotted
her first and his appreciative stare caused Julian to turn.
Dani walked toward him wearing a black
floor length gown that was simple yet elegant, and the fabric clung to her body
as she walked, her hair moving like water.
A caterer asked her a question while she
was enroute, and she turned to reveal a back cut so low that the dimples to the
left and right of her tail bone peeked out. When she turned toward him again,
Julian collected himself and excused the valet. His pinstriped suit fit him
nicely and he looked very handsome. She smiled and pointed to his trademark
shoes, and he grinned and held out his arms, “What can I say?
I
gotta
be me.
You look gorgeous.”
“This room
looks gorgeous.
You really are
amazing. Thank you so much.”
In order to show Anjelica’s work, she’d needed more space
and decided to open up the empty loft.
She hadn’t been inside it for over four years and was pleased to see
Julian’s expert eye in evidence. Rented chairs and tables in varying styles and
colors were strategically placed next to paintings they complemented. Leopard
orchids were the flower of choice.
The room was polished of all dust and the windows sparkled.
“I’m excited
to meet your friend. You know me, I prefer photographs but these are good.
I love this one,” he said and indicated
to Anj’s most recent piece. It was an abstract in shades of purple with an
outline within of a woman’s naked form.
“I bet you
do,” Dani teased.
He laughed.
“Oh, and the
issue comes out next week but Doug’s bringing by a preview copy for you
tonight.
Valerie will want to see
it - so everyone will be happy.”
“Really?
Well, that will be nice.
Josie and Robert rsvp’d so they’ll be
very excited about that as well.”
When they returned to her loft, it was filled with a
modest sized catering staff that bustled about, taking care of this and that.
One lit
candles throughout the loft while the others
uncovered food and placed the rented glassware onto rented tables. A DJ
organized the playlist on his computer, slick black headphones askew on his
dreadlocks.
“Julian, I
don’t want this many candles.
Is
there another way to light the room and still maintain the ambiance?”
“Yes, of
course. I should have known not to use candles, sorry.” He saw her questioning
glance and covered, “It’s a fire hazard with all the guests.”
She nodded and walked to the kitchen.
“Who’s in
charge?” Dani asked. A thirty-something woman of average height and weight with
bobbed hair and light makeup stepped forward and introduced herself as Jenn,
the owner of the catering company. “Hi Jenn, no one is to go in the cupboards,
please. I have a wine glass collection that is not to be disturbed.
I’ve rented all the glassware and plates
that you’ll need, and if there is anything you need and don’t have, simply ask
me or Julian and we’ll take care of it.”
“Absolutely,
Miss Harcourt, you got it. Julian instructed us on this and we’re ready to
go.
That’s not a problem.”
“Good.
Thank you.
You guys are doing a tremendous job. The
food looks delicious.”
She smiled
and the caterer beamed at her, quietly hoping to earn more work down the road.
An hour later, the second floor was filled with beauty
and fashion editors of W, Surface, 411 and of course, Doug from Elle.
Anjelica and Stewart’s friends included
painters, actors, writers, and producers, making the crowd diverse and
collectively creative. Some models stood about for eye candy.
Josie and Robert and a few others
admired the foldout as they sat on the couch in Dani’s loft.
People appreciated and discussed the
paintings in the other loft. The staff made rounds in both, passing out Ginger
Martinis and Mint Vodka Gimlets as the DJ played a series of songs that made
the butts
bounce
.
Trays of sushi, enthusiastically received by the humans,
smelled abhorrent to Dani. Live meat - good.
Uncooked meat,
which had been dead for days, disgusting.
After a half hour, she
motioned to some of the staff to open windows and suggested to Jenn to push the
sushi harder so it would run out. “It’s not for everyone.” Jenn agreed, eager
to please.
Dani nodded blankly and
turned to see Anj enter the room, fashionably late.
Anjelica looked lovely in a purple baby-doll dress that
not many could pull off.
Her blond waves
bounced lightly when she walked and her camel colored ankle boots showed off
her toned legs.
She smiled and held
out her arms for Dani as Stewart entered the room behind her, wearing a black
tailored Hugo Boss suit, which set off his tanned complexion
fantastically.
Dani wore gloves to
mask her cold skin against inevitable handshakes. She intercepted the hug by
taking Anj’s hands in hers and clasping them tightly with a warm welcoming
smile.
“It looks so
great, Dani – I was just in the other room and I am speechless. Really.
Thank you. So much! Everything looks so great!”
“You’re
welcome, love. And look at you!” Dani turned to Stewart and waved her hand up
at him, then down. “You look like a gay Pierce Brosnan!”
He laughed and bowed in thanks.
“I got this
suit for the party.
I’m still
single and that has got to change,” he said with his usual comedic emphasis.
“Is he
coming?” Dani asked. They didn’t have to ask whom.
“I called him
at Nectar right after you left Canter’s and he said he was coming. He also
informed me that Thursdays are his day off.” He looked at her
knowingly.“What
a happy coincidence,” he teased.
Dani smiled playfully at him. “You’re so smart, Stewart.
That’s what I love about you.
Your
powers of deduction.”
Anj, against her better judgment, asked, “Um…Dani, can I
be honest?”
“Okay. Of
course,” she said, ready for the canon ball that always follows that particular
question. Stewart looked at Anj hoping she wouldn’t say what he thought she was
going to say.
“You know he has
a drinking problem.
You do know
that, right?”
Dani’s eyes flashed in response, instantly protective.
She forced herself to look down at the floor until the heat in her body calmed.
“Well…he’s
only human,” Dani returned, bringing her eyes back up with a cold smile.
“I’m human
and I don’t have a drinking problem.
You’re human and you don’t have a drinking…” Anj stopped mid-sentence as
Dani’s face changed dramatically.
Anj looked around for the distraction and saw its source.
Adrian, his long hair washed, for once, strolled toward
them. He looked incredible in a black suit, white shirt unbuttoned at the top,
no tie. Brian followed him, looking less confident amidst the crowd as he
gratefully accepted the last piece of sushi offered him by a smiling female
staff member.
Dani breathed in for
the smell of Adrian. She wanted to go to him, to greet him, but she played it
cool and stood her ground, flanked by her friends.
“Adrian,” she
purred. He smiled at Anj and shook hands with Stewart then introduced them all
to Brian. “Right, we met at the bar. Thank you for coming,” Dani said,
smiling.
“Oh, so
that’s why you look familiar!” Stewart said.
Just then Doug very enthusiastically thrust himself into
the their group, holding the preview issue of Elle outward, opened to Dani’s
shot. “Would you look at this?
Genius.
Genius!
I love the foldout idea.
I thought you were crazy but then I
always think you’re crazy.
But
crazy is…”
“Genius,”
Adrian finished, rather rudely.
People in the fashion industry weren’t his bag.
Doug, high as a kite on the winds of success ignored the
obvious mocking tone to gush, “Exactly!
Crazy is genius.”
“It’s so
cool, Dani!” Angelica grabbed the bottom ends of the foldout. “To have a naked
man.
It’s so cutting edge for Elle!
Doug gushed, “It was pulling teeth but I told them this
issue will be their highest selling issue ever. Collector’s even!”
Anj nodded, still looking at the lovebirds on the
page,
“I love it!”
“As do I,”
Stew joked under his breath, drawing smiles all around. Dani didn’t care about
the photo. He was here. His scent. His heartbeat.
His eyes met hers and held them before
he excused himself to go with Brian to get a drink. Doug walked off to show
Dani’s team, who’d not yet seen the magazine.
Stewart pulled a dust fuzzy off Anjelica’s shoulder and
grinned. “Did I tell you guys that one of the actors I rep just cornered me in
the bathroom? He walked right in on me. I didn’t want to embarrass him so, of
course, I didn’t object.”
“Oh, of
course!” laughed Anjelica.
“No, no. You
wouldn’t want to embarrass him,” Dani teased.
“There I was,
really having to pee and this guy is standing there, looking at me with this
queer little smile on his face.
Pun
intended. So I say, ‘Umm, yeah so there’re no stalls in here.
This is a private bathroom,’ and he
says, ‘I know.
I’ve been in here
twice already,’ and I say ‘Oh really, who were the other two guys?’”
“What did he
say?” Anjelica asked with baited breath.
“Paul and Matt.”
Anjelica laughed hard and Dani grinned at him as he continued, “I got his
number, of course.”
“Of course,”
they said simultaneously. Julian interrupted with the news that two of the
paintings had already sold and an argument was taking place in the other loft
and they needed to talk to the artist. Dani introduced him to Stew and Anj and
the three of them followed Julian.
They found a producer friend of Stewart’s arguing with a
writer about who claimed the purple abstract first.
Harsh words flew which Stewart found
very entertaining. Anjelica offered a solution: they could flip for it. They
took the bait.
Julian handed a
quarter to Dani. Both called tails and Dani gave the writer first choice.
He called tails
triumphantly
which made the producer growl, “Alright, fine.
Heads.”