jake
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Joined: Apr 2007
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|  | Re: Werewolves of Eureka
« Reply #1 on Apr 17, 2007, 11:00pm » | |
I never understood the concept of sacrifice until I met Oliver. As ambiguous as that may sound, it is possibly the truest statement I have ever made. Words are things that I trust and I never use them loosely. Some say I put too much stock in words. William Faulkner wrote, through Addie Bundren, that words are empty, basically. They are just meaningless shapes and sounds to describe something.
Now I don’t claim to be an expert on words. I just love them. English literature is my passion but I am just a school teacher in the thriving tourist depot, Eureka, California. Yes, home of the Giant Redwood Forest, the tallest and largest trees on the planet. As thrilling as it may sound, it is hard to live in such a tourist-plagued city. The summer months are supposed to be relaxing, especially for a teacher. I spend them trying to maintain my privacy. Call me territorial.
My name is Lillian Davis. Apparently the “an” is too hard for people to say so I end up being just Lilli. My students call me Miss Lilli even. My grandma, my namesake, would roll in her grave to see the destruction of her name. Lillian Grace Harper was a formidable woman and never settled with being called Lilli. It was disrespectful. She remained Lillian, not Lilli, until the day she died.
I have been accused of being a little obsessive when it comes to language, words, and such. My friends would get annoyed because I would always correct their grammar. Yes, I’m one of those people. Definitely not the life of the party. Who wants to be stuck with the girl who points out bad grammar in movies?
That being said, I guess it is time to say that I am almost 27 and still not married. According to my mother, a woman with Harper blood in her should be snatched up before she is 25. If she is not, then she is a bad seed.
So here I sit, a bad seed, and still no prospects.
It’s not that I have not dated. I was rather popular with the boys ten years ago. I wouldn’t say I let myself go. In fact, I still weigh the same weight as I did when I was a senior in high school. You could say I’m a part of a rare breed of women who can eat just about anything and still not gain an ounce.
My hair color is rather popular among the opposite sex. Blondes get such a bad reputation.
All right, so I’m a little shy. Not in the classroom. You get slaughtered by those brutal high school kids if you are a shy teacher. No, in the classroom I’m a totally different person than I am when I am out being social. I’m a wallflower extremist. Just blend me in to the wall paper and I’ll be just fine.
My tiny dating life is probably not supported by the fact that I spend my days with boys trying to be men. They fail miserably. It is quite humorous, really. It makes me wonder if any boy ever really becomes a man.
All right, so there is one true man that I know of and that is Oliver. And that is also a true statement. Although, in this case, I do believe it may be possible that it is both true and false. If that really is possible.
I guess I should take a step back before I talk about Oliver.
My girlfriend, Alicia, talked me into going on a date with this guy. Alicia has the weirdest taste in men. She falls for these fake tan, muscle-bound, Baywatch wannabes and thinks that all women want that.
“Eric says that Henry is good at sports,” Alicia said, still trying to sell me on this date. We were on a lunch-after-shopping hour at Gillie’s.
“His name is Henry? You’ve heard that obnoxious song ‘Henry the Eighth’, right?” Alicia nodded. “Well, I’ll be tempted to sing that to this guy. Not a good sign.” I shook my head and we both laughed. “Who is Eric?”
“Henry’s friend.”
“Are they tourists?”
Alicia’s tightly pursed lips and slight flush in her cheeks gave away the answer.
“Where are they from?”
“L.A.”
“Alicia, you know how I feel about SoCal boys,” I whined.
“They’re leaving tomorrow. Just come out with us tonight. For me?” Her big brown eyes went all puppy dog on me. I hate when she does that.
So I fell for the puppy dog eyes and was roped into a blind date with Henry Feicus. I know, it sounds like fungus doesn’t it?
Alicia did my hair and makeup. She is a beautician and a makeup mogul so I did not complain when she offered. The bad part was trying to pick out an outfit. All I am going to say is that Alicia and I have very different tastes in clothes. She’s a little wilder and out there. And then there’s me in whatever will match the wall.
Now Alicia and I have this understanding that we never try to encroach on each other’s fashion. It’s like an unwritten, unspoken rule. For some reason Alicia broke that rule right before my dreaded blind date with Henry.
I was sitting on the bed, watching my friend go through my closet. Item after item of clothing flew out and landed in a heap at the foot of my bed. Watching in disgust I just thought of the time it would take to clean up the mess. That and what was wrong with all the clothes she was throwing out? I liked my clothes.
“Here we go,” Alicia finally emerged from the closet, holding a little black dress I hadn’t seen in at least five years.
“I don’t know if this guy is little-black-dress-worthy yet, Alicia,” I smirked.
She sighed. “It’s the most seductive thing you own, Lil.” Alicia was the only one I ever allowed to call me ‘Lil’. “Just wear it.”
“No,” I stubbornly replied. I had my standards. I don’t wear a little black dress for just anybody.
“Then what are you going to wear?”
“How about nothing?”
Alicia laughed. “We don’t want to scare him off, hon.”
“Who says we don’t? And what’s this ‘we’ business? I want to scare Henry off so I’m going nude.”
Alicia’s lips pursed at my sarcastic and stubborn behavior. Finally she sighed.
“Are you going to wear the little black dress or not?”
I ran my fingers through my sandy blonde hair and looked at her then at the little black dress. It seemed to be laughing at me. Stupid dress, I couldn’t even remember where I bought it.
“All right, I’ll wear the dress. Happy?”
So, I thought the battle ended there. No. Alicia wanted to do my hair in nice little ringlets and put an atrocious amount of makeup on my face. I let her do the hair. My sad hair that usually goes limp when I try to do anything with it was not going to do ringlets so I knew I was safe from that humiliation. Instead she pulled it back from my face and put it in a ridiculously tight bun. I wanted to scream at the headache that was going to cause.
I put my foot down at the makeup. There was no way I was going to let Alicia touch my face.
All this silly getting ready for a boy I never met. I don’t even get this dressed up for my dog, Molly, and she’s my pride and joy.
I twirled in front of the mirror and in front of Molly. The person staring back at me was a stranger. First, I was wearing a dress that actually accentuated my body. I usually tried to hide my curves under a jacket or some sort of frumpy thing. This was way too ‘out there’ for my tastes.
“What do you think, Molly?” My miniature schnauzer looked at me with sad brown eyes under her bushy black brows. “I agree. It is pretty sad. But Mommy’s got to make big mean Alicia happy.” I grinned at my little jab at my friend that I could only share with my dog, gave her a quick little scratch behind the ears, and hurried down the stairs.
Alicia was waiting for me at the door. She had put on a red dress with spaghetti straps. Her dark brown curls were set in ringlets. At least someone was going to go in ringlets tonight.
“You’re looking hot, Lilli!” she exclaimed.
I looked down at the black dress that I felt so naked in. So I guess I really was going in nothing.
I sighed. “You owe me, Alicia.”
We were having dinner at Frank’s, a little seafood and steak restaurant by the bay. I’d only set foot in the place twice in my life. With my purse in hand and little butterflies in my stomach, I followed Alicia into the quaint little restaurant.
It was quite a posh little place. The waiters were all dressed in bow ties, the tables had white linen tablecloths spread over them. Soft golden lighting added a romantic feel to the ambience of the place. To top it off there was a strong seafood aroma in the air. I hate seafood. Yet another sacrifice I was making for my friend.
“There they are,” Alicia leaned over to me. Even though she was whispering she might as well have been squealing like a schoolgirl. I followed her pointing finger and saw them.
One had dark hair that was cut short, the other had longer blond hair. They were both tall and well built. Their necks were bigger than my arms put together. My lips pressed, I noticed they were both wearing dark suits and ties. It was impressive but they were intimidating. They looked like the mafia to me.
“Which one is mine?” I asked Alicia as we made our way to the table. The boys had stood up and beckoned us to join them.
“The dark-haired one. Like I’d let you have the blond,” she winked at me.
“Henry I presume,” I thrust my hand out to the dark-haired mafia man. He smiled at me crookedly and I noticed that he was sporting the rugged 5 o’clock shadow trend.
I’m Henry the Eighth I am, Henry the Eighth I am I am…
“Yes,” he took a deep breath and took my hand. Instead of shaking it like I intended him to do, he turned it over and kissed my knuckles. He looked up at me just after his kiss. I assumed it was supposed to be debonair but it was cheesy to me. “Lillian, you look ravishing.”
“Good.” I took my hand back gently, even though I wanted to rip it away from him.
I got married to the widow next door, she’s been married seven times before…
Alicia and Eric were already engrossed in a heavy conversation and had not noticed my exchange with Henry.
“So you’re a school teacher?” Henry said after we had sat down and awkwardly listened to Alicia and Eric’s conversation for a few minutes.
I was wondering how much Alicia had told Eric about me. Henry seemed to know a lot. That made me uncomfortable.
“Yes, I teach English at Eureka High School.”
“English?”
Yes, the language you are speaking right now. The quip was on the tip of my tongue. I hated the way his nose crinkled as he said the word. “It’s one of my passions. I love words.”
He seemed to relax at that. Henry was an attractive man once you got past his thick neck. His eyes were sort of a hazy green color. His jaw was square and he had a nice thin nose, nothing too bulbous. There was just something about the way he looked at me, I felt like he was undressing me with his eyes.
“Are you from Eureka?”
Apparently we had moved on from my occupation and my passion. I looked around for the waiter.
“No. I’m originally from Seattle. I moved here when I got the teaching job. And you’re from Southern Cali?”
He nodded. The smile on his face made me think he was pleased and more comfortable having to answer the questions and not ask them. Maybe he just liked talking about himself more than listening about others.
“I grew up in L.A. and moved to San Diego a couple years ago.”
“Why?” I wanted to keep the conversation pointed at him. I didn’t feel like being interrogated by the mafia tonight.
Henry shrugged his broad shoulders. Thankfully, before his explanation, the waiter came and took our orders. I ordered a mushroom Portobello steak and a salad. When the waiter left, I looked at Alicia and Eric before I turned my attention back to Henry.
“I moved to San Diego for my job,” he said with no prompt from me.
“What do you do?”
“I am a lawyer.” I tried to imagine this mafia-looking man in a courtroom. No jury in their right mind would dare go against him for fear of having some of his ‘friends’ come after them.
I smiled and felt my face getting hot and flushed. “If you’ll excuse me a moment, Henry, I need a breath of fresh air.”
“Would you like me to join you?” He acted like a little lost puppy. It was endearing to a point but after that it got annoying.
“That’s fine. I’ll just be a few minutes. I just get claustrophobic sometimes.” I grabbed my purse and my glass of water and left the three of them at the table. Alicia probably didn’t notice I left. I had to feel a little sorry for poor Henry.
Frank’s had a little boardwalk that wrapped around the restaurant and branched off into a pier. Windows all around the restaurant provided a great view of the bay and also of the people on the boardwalk. I didn’t like the idea of Henry watching me while I was out there so I quickly walked to the pier. It was lined with lights. The sound of the music coming from Frank’s became soft and muted from here.
I took a swig of my water and closed my eyes, feeling the cool breeze from the bay brush against my skin. My hair, plastered back in the bun, remained steadfast and immoveable even in the breeze. Alicia could make one mean bun.
It was then that I had the feeling that someone was watching me. The unsettling feeling spread throughout my body, causing my shoulders to tense up. I turned, trying to make it look as casual as possible, expecting to see Henry the mafia man.
Instead of Henry, I saw a man standing on the shore. The sharp angles of his face were illuminated by the moon light and the soft glow of the pier lights. His long dark hair rustled in the breeze. All this was a blur. I was more focused on his eyes. They seemed to glow. They were gold and inhuman. Under that gaze that was assuredly rested on me I remained frozen. In my mind, I kept telling myself to turn away and pretend that I had not seen him but I found that I was paralyzed.
The solitary figure looked ready to pounce and yet he looked somewhat regal, elegant, and refined. I could hardly explain it but I knew the sense of danger that I felt as I looked at him.
My lips parted as I watched him and he watched me. I had to remind myself to breathe. Just as I drew in air, I felt someone move behind me.
Startled, I jumped and tore my gaze from the man on the shore to look at the other people on the pier. I had half-expected Henry to be standing there with his unshaven, thick neck. Maybe he was glad I left. He didn’t seem to be enjoying the date any more than I was.
There was a cozy couple standing arm in arm, whispering sweet nothings to each other, an old woman with a cigarette in her wrinkled fingers, and a younger man. I knew I needed to get back to Alicia and my date with the mafia and I wanted to get away from the creepy man on the shore who was staring at me. Then I looked closer at the young man who was walking along the pier in my direction.
His shoulders were squared and he stood tall. As he walked closer, he moved with a subtle grace that was disturbing yet enrapturing to watch. The setting of his jaw was strong and square, his cheek bones were prominent and sunk into little divots on either side of his full lips. The man’s hair was cropped close to his skull.
I noticed he was wearing a suit with no tie, the top button left open to expose his smooth collar bone and some of his hairless chest. He was muscular but slender. I could not get over how graceful he was as he moved.
Then I remembered the creepy man on the shore and quickly tore my gaze from the man on the pier to look over my shoulder. The man was no longer there. My stomach clenched. I had to get back to the restaurant. Just in case Creepy Shore Man tried anything, I would have the protection of the mafia on my side.
As I turned back I bumped into the man I had just been ogling. It was good that the light was horrible or he would have seen me blush.
“Excuse me,” he said softly. His voice was husky and deep.
“Sorry,” I mumbled and slipped past him. He was watching me as I walked away.
“Hey!” I turned at the sound of that deep voice. The man was running toward me and again I admired the smoothness of his movements. When he caught up to me he handed me my purse and glass.
“Are these yours?”
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks again as I took them from him. With a smile on my face I looked up at him with embarrassment. That was when I noticed his eyes. They were pale blue and seemed to glow with an inner light. They were so striking I nearly forgot where I was.
“Yes. Thank you. I swear I’d forget my head if it weren’t connected to my body.” I immediately regretted my attempt at a joke even though he smiled.
“My name is Cyrus,” he spoke as smooth as his gait.
“Lilli,” I felt awkward saying my name to him.
“What’s the hurry, Lilli? Is your boyfriend waiting for you inside?”
I wanted to laugh, no…guffaw at that. What came out resembled a squeak more than anything. “Hardly. Blind date.”
Cyrus smiled. He had extremely white teeth all in nice, perfect rows. And his smile made me think of the movies. “Ah. I take it that it is not going so well.”
“It’s going fine for me cause I’m out here and not in there with him,” I managed to smile at my own jest. I realized that my whole body was racing inside. My pulse was pounding in my ears. It was probably jitters from that golden-eyed man staring at me. But it was more likely Cyrus in all his grace that was causing this reaction.
I realized I was gripping my purse like it was a lifeline and the glass in my hand was shaking.
“I don’t want to be tacky but, since your date isn’t going so well, perhaps you’d like to go out with me sometime.”
“What makes you think you’d be any better?” I grinned. Somehow I still managed to come up with little quips despite my nervousness.
“Let’s just say I may be up for the challenge,” he replied quickly. I noticed the way he was standing. Poised and ready for movement, yet solid.
All right. I took a deep breath. I had been MIA from my mafia date for too long. Cyrus should have been my date. Here he was, asking me to go out with him sometime. This was unbelievable.
I just smiled and somehow managed to get a pen and little folded piece of paper from my purse to scribble my number on. Biting my lip, I looked up at Cyrus and into his enticing eyes.
“Here you go.” My trembling fingers handed him the wrinkled paper. I hoped there was nothing else written on that paper that was too vital like a doctor’s appointment or something. I could not believe what I was doing.
“I better get back in there before they send out a search party,” I gestured back to the restaurant.
Cyrus nodded. “It was a pleasure, Lilli.”
I nearly tripped over my own feet as I turned and ran from him.
My face must have been quite flustered as I rejoined my friend and her mafia men. Henry stood up as I approached and Alicia and Eric both watched me. They all looked at me with worry in their eyes.
“Are you all right, Lilli?” Alicia grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin.
“I’m fine,” I said. I was more than fine. I was walking on air.
Henry’s lips were pressed into a thin line. He finally spoke. “We were worried you’d fallen in the water and drowned.” It was a sad joke if it was a joke. My mind brought up the image of the man on the shore who had been watching me and the feeling of danger his gaze brought.
“You guys aren’t that lucky,” I joked and looked at the cold plate of steak and mushrooms before me. They all laughed. Alicia and Eric went back to their conversation. Henry looked at me skeptically as I proceeded to cut into my lukewarm steak.
He tried to create more conversation. I answered his questions mildly and asked him simple questions but I was not very involved. My mind was on what had just happened. It did not occur to me that, on the pier that night, I had come in contact with two men who would soon change my world.
I was just praying that Cyrus would actually call me. I really wanted to see him again. And, I relented, I guess it wasn’t such a bad thing that Alicia made me wear the little black dress after all.
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