“Oh
my God.” Kate said.
“Yeah.”
“All this time it was a half-brother
that no one knew about? And your father
had tried to protect you through it all?”
She said.
“Yeah.”
Martin said, looking down with a smile.
“He didn’t want me to hate the woman he loved any more than I already
did. But it was obvious that he didn’t
know she had another child.”
“Did Lara make it to the hospital?”
“Oh yeah, she’s fine. She made a full recovery. We still see each other a few times a week.”
“What about Sam?” She asked.
“His body was found in his car later
that evening. He had been shot several
times in the chest. I just couldn’t
believe it at the time. In one month, I
managed to lose my wife, my Mom, and my best friend.”
“I’m so sorry, Martin.” She said.
Martin reached into his pocket and
pulled out the sticky note he had found in Jeni’s folder that night, and
unfolded it in front of him. He’d been
carrying it around for over a year.
‘It all points to
Turnovsky.’
“Jeni was right. Had Milo not
had the affair with my mother, none of this would’ve happened.”
It was obvious that Kate really did
believe what Martin had told her. She
sat across the table from him, gazing back with a convinced look upon her face.
“You didn’t think I’d believe you, did
you?” She asked.
“No…No I didn’t.”
“Hey Marty, I’m going to be closing up
soon.” Matty said from behind the bar.
“No problem. I’ll be out in sec.” Martin answered.
“Something still doesn’t make sense to
me though.” Kate said.
“What’s that?”
“You said that Darren had called Jeni
and talked to her for five minutes on the night she was killed. Why would he do that?”
“My guess is that he was trying to warn
her in some way about what was transpiring.
He showed up at the house to talk, but she refused to be bullied by
anyone. When he saw how beautiful she
was, he couldn’t help himself.”
“Hmm.”
She said.
To
Martin, there was still something hauntingly familiar about Kate. It was something about the way she sat; Something about the way she looked at
him. And there was something about how
she listened. It was oddly welcoming to
him, and almost calming. It had felt
better for him to talk. To get it
out. He felt somewhat befriended by her,
but he was ready for her to leave him peace.
“You know, after all this time, you’re
wife would’ve wanted you to move on. She
wouldn’t approve of you sulking in here, much less smoking. She would’ve wanted you to get back to your
life.” Kate said.
“I know.”
“You deserve to be happy, like anyone
else. You’ve done right by yourself, and
you did the right thing for your wife.
Lara loves you. It’s time for you
to realize that and move on in your life, with her.” She said.
“That’s easier said than done.” Martin said, looking down.
“Of course it is. But all it takes is the desire to do so. And, it’s Christmas! Buy her something nice and spend the evening
together.” She said.
“Are you sure we haven’t met
before?” Martin asked, looking back up
at her.
“Maybe.
In a previous life, I s’pose.” She said, smiling.
“If you don’t mind me saying so, you
remind me an awful lot of Jeniveve.”
She smiled again, looked down and then
back up at him.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She said.
“How’s Maya?”
“Oh, she’s great. She’s really taken to Lara. But it’s been very hard trying to move
on. I love Lara, I really do. She’s been so patient with me. I’m just not sure if I’m ready to commit to
her yet.”
“Well, it sounds to me like your wife
left you in good hands. She’d want you
to be happy and not dwell on a future without her. Who better than Lara could stand in her
stead?”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Martin said.
They both smiled at each other and
realized an end had come to the conversation.
“Well, it’s getting late.” She said, getting up.
“Yeah, I’m gonna finish my beer then
I’m out.”
“We should talk again sometime. You know you enjoyed it.” She said, walking away towards the door. A part of me was glad she was leaving, yet
the other part was sad to see her go.
The two sides were fighting one another.
He watched her walk away slowly, noticing that she was barefoot. Martin turned his head at the thought,
creased his eyes and spoke in a quiet voice.
“Yeah, well, I miss you already.” He said.
“-Like
you’re already gone.” She said,
going outside.
Suddenly, time seemed to stop. The air froze. There was no sound. A realization of chill came over him. She couldn’t possibly-
“Wait
a sec!” Martin yelled.
Martin
got up abruptly from the table and ran for the door. He heard his chair skid across the hardwood
floor. The sprint to the door seemed to
take minutes, although he got there in seconds.
The door flew open under his force and hit the siding wall behind it
outside.
“How did you-“ He said loudly.
But she was gone. Martin ran around to the sides of the
building, but she was no where in sight.
He could see for miles around and there was no sign of her. He looked down, confused, rubbed his head,
and went back inside in the bar.
“Marty, you okay man? You tore off outta here pretty quick!” Matty said walking up to him, drying his
hands on a dirty towel.
“Yeah, I was going after that lady who
was in here. Did you see her leave?”
“Uh, no…nobody’s came or gone that I
know of.” He said.
Martin looked at him with an acute
portrayal of confusion.
“Marty, you’re cut off man. No more booze for you my friend.” He said, walking away.
“You’re shitting me right?” Martin said, almost laughing.
Matty stopped and turned around.
“There was a woman at my table who I
must’ve talked to for a couple hours!
You didn’t see her leave? She
just freakin’ disappeared outside!”
Martin continued.
“Marty, what the hell are you talkin’
about? You’ve been sitting there by
yourself for the past couple hours just muttering! And just then, you ran out the door!” He said.
The look of confusion that Martin wore
transformed itself to shock.
“That’s it! I’m serious, no more booze for you! You’re in bad enough shape as it is.”
Then, Martin remembered what happened
earlier. He had asked Matty to get her a
drink and he said ‘I think you’ve had
enough.’ He didn’t see her. He couldn’t
see her. His mind then shifted back to
the conversation with Kate.
“It’s Christmas Martin If you don’t start being more social and
connected,, you’re never going to make any new friends.”
And again.
“After all this time, you’re wife
would’ve wanted you to move on.”
“Son
of a bitch. She was a-? A gho-?
No, I can’t even say it. She was…here.”
He said to himself quietly.
“There you go again…muttering.” Matty said from behind the bar. He was right.
Bartenders were there to listen
indeed.
