A Bride Worth Billions (33 page)

The number of people at his funeral was nothing to boast of, but those who attended held such great affection for him that no eye was dry in the apartment.

No microphones were required. The place was tiny and the silence reverent. Only the occasional sniffling and breathless sobs broke the stillness of the air.

Friends and coworkers had squeezed into the worn, tiny couch, and around them were the rest of those who knew Joel. In front, blocking the silent television was a tall man, stooped and gray.

“Joel was my architect. He built us a beautiful house overlooking a cliff. My children grew up there, and there is not a day that goes by that my wife and I don’t walk down its halls feeling so very fortunate and sentimental.

Joel liked to keep to himself. He didn’t have many friends. In the years that I’d known him, he never once took me up on my offer to grab a drink. I didn’t know what he did with his time when he wasn’t working.

But this isn’t to say he didn’t live a full life. He was our friend because he was warm and kind, quiet and compassionate. I knew him for thirty-seven years, and I couldn’t tell you right now what he liked to do for fun. All I know is that he never… seemed to want for anything—not money, not fame, not women. He always just seemed… happy.”

All over the room, people smiled, knowing exactly what the man meant.

“He had the countenance of a man who was well-loved. I don’t know why, how, or where that came from, but whatever it was that made him the person that he was, I am grateful for it.

Bon voyage, Joel.”

“Bon voyage,” the room repeated.

It wasn’t long before the apartment emptied out, and then it was quiet. The afternoon light was waning, and the city was afire.

Deirdre raised her hand to the glass as if to touch it.

“I don’t even want to know where they’re taking my body,” Joel said, stepping up next to her.

“Does it matter?”

“No, it doesn’t.” He took her hand, and it wasn’t icy. Its warmth surprised him. He touched her cheek when she turned to face him.

“I missed your hair like this,” she said, gently running her fingers through the brown locks.

“You said you liked the white.”

“I was lying.”

“Deceitful witch… How am I supposed to trust you from now on?”

“You haven’t got a choice. You’re stuck with me for all of eternity.”

“But not here. We can go now, right?” He was going to miss the green tea and the aloe vera and the turquoise picture frame. But Caitlyn… Caitlyn was waiting for them.

The sun dipped behind the buildings, and the sounds of the city dulled with the onset of darkness.

“Come now, darling,” she said, reveling in the fact that she could wrap her fingers so tightly around his hand now. “Our bus is here.”

THE END

“Aaron, leave right now. That’s not a request, it’s an order!”

“How can I! We promised we are in it together. I am afraid I have to refute the orders.”

“I said, Go!”

“But”

“Over and out. The commander’s word is the final say!”

BOOM

There was a very loud thud and everything seemed to disappear into tiny masses of nothing. It felt so surreal and yet real. Aaron could see everything slipping by him as he desperately tried to hold on to Alastair. He jumped ahead only to find the ground receding. What was happening? Why can’t he get a grip for goddamn’s sake!

“I am not letting you go Alastair, not on my watch”, he screamed so loudly that the doors of the open room reverberated with his echo.

03: 33 AM read the watch by the nightstand.

Phew!
Another nightmare.

Aaron McGraw, retired US army man found himself clad in sweat, with an uneven breathing and eyes that spoke of terror and panic. So much for being brave! There was a time when he used to look at the night sky and often found solace in it. Those were the days he spent at the camp, away from family and unaware of what tomorrow had in store.

Isn’t it rather strange that when nightlife was unpredictable and none of the nights promised a morning sun, he slept more at peace than today, when he had a roof above him, a comfortable bed beneath him and an almost 100 percent assurance of seeing the morning sun unless an unforeseen event happens.

Someone has truly said it is very hard to understand life! Knowing that there was no getting back to sleep again, he rolled up his mattress slowly and wore his slippers, silently whispering the morning prayers. Serving 6 years at the war makes even an atheist a firm believer in God. You pray so many times, for the ones you love, for the ones who are waiting for you, for the ones who are waiting for your friends that you just know that God exists. He might not answer all your prayer, but he will look out for you!

Aaron headed to the balcony and the sky was still dark. The starlit night once had appeared to be romantic to him. He smiled at the stars; it was a twisted kind of smile because he knew what he was going to do for the next two hours.

“Man, do I look like the kind of person who could be tied to one chic!”

“Seriously Al, grow up!”

“Aaron, this life is so short. I don’t even know if tomorrow I am going to see the morning sun. Why should I get tied down to a girl and devoid so many beauties the once in a lifetime opportunity to flirt with the handsome hunk the world calls as Alastair”

Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle. Al had a way with words. He knew how to make light of a situation. His heart was broken by his high school sweetheart and it was in that impulsive moment that he had decided to join the army. He had given up everything, including his family and went away because they say that when you get your heart broken for the first time, you come to know what death feels like.

Sure, he had worshipped Amanda right from the day she had walked in her life. Alastair had known in that very first glance that she was THE girl. All his friends told him that it was nothing but a moment of infatuation or a crush that he will get over with time but Alastair knew it was different. In less than a week, news had spread like wild fire that the golden boy Alastair McGraw was no longer single.

He had always been the college heartthrob, a hit with the ladies, but he had never gotten serious with anyone. Amanda had stirred him like no one else and he clung on to her like she was his life. They had a whirlwind romance that lasted for 8 months after which Amanda unceremoniously broke things with him and even accused him of harassing her mentally! So much for first true love!

It had shattered his heart so badly that he had immediately signed up for army training and had never looked back since. His mother, father had tried to convince him not to take such a decision in haste but a bruised heart listened to none.

Off he went and the only person with whom he stayed in touch was Aaron, his young little brother because you don’t break the bro code!

Al was his senior at the army camp and Aaron was glad because who else would he wish to have as his commander general. Alastair had come a long way since his teenage days and did not believe in a happy ever after. He said, love is for fools and so he was the golden boy who broke too many hearts.

Every year when they came back home, Alastair went out with too many girls but never brought anyone home. Perhaps, Amanda still had that place in his heart. Aaron wanted so badly to see his big brother falling in love again, but yes, war has a way of toughening people up. Aaron himself wasn’t sure, if he really wanted a girl to block his thoughts when he was off fighting unknown people, faceless names and the demons that often raged within.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah”

“Do you know what happens when we die?”

“I don’t know, I guess the Bible says the body is made of dust and then it goes back to being the same!”

“F*ck your logic man!”

“Why are you talking so deep tonight?”

“I am just wondering if I showed you the wrong path to follow.”

“Oh Al, you never did. You know, I have always looked up to you! However, joining the army was my own choice.”

“And why are you still single when that red headed chic from California was ready to throw herself over you, what was her name?”

“Pixie and I am single because I like this life. Who even has time for those tiny girl talks like aw babe, I can’t stop thinking about you. Aw babe, today is our first date anniversary, you forgot. Man, I am not cut out for that kind of sh*t”

“Ha! You sound like me!”

“So, we are brothers, mate. We ought to sound similar”

“Aaron, I want to tell you something today. Remember brother, life waits for no one. If love gives you a chance, do not run away. Look at those tiny stars shining from so far. What do they make you feel? Isn’t it love that speaks? I made a mistake all those years ago thinking I loved Am but perhaps, I was too young to know. Sure, it had felt like love and perhaps it was, but it is love alone that drives away the lack of love. When love happens, promise me you won’t run away from it, rather be my boy and crash headlong into it.”

“What’s gotten into you, bro?”

“Just looking out for you, brother. If something happens to me, I don’t want you to follow my shoes. Take a break, make a life and live.”

“We are in it together. I am not leaving you. We are more than brothers, okay? You hear me, okay”

“Stop behaving like a girl”

“F*ck your ass”

“Bite me”

The alarm rang breaking the silence in the room and waking him up from his reverie of old dreams.

5:00 A.M.

The sun was beginning to rise and the stars started fading away in the oblivion and Aaron knew it was time to get started. He had been hiding away for so long. The memories of his brother always came to both haunt and soothe him.

He had not just lost a brother, but he had lost his mentor, his commander, his best friend and his guide. Every night, he still woke up terrified and in tears. The pain of seeing his brother blow up into literally mass of nothing had knocked him senseless.

PSTD as the world called it in fancy terms but he knew it just meant that life seemed to have stopped for him. Will there ever be a way out of this darkness? Will love drive away the absence of love, like big brother had told? Something inside told him that the morning sun will stir a new tale. Maybe, there was still some life left to live!

Mills Apartments

12, Sky Street Avenue

3rd floor

NYC

Be there at sharp 11 AM”

He mentally cursed himself when he read the text containing the above mentioned information. Seriously, Dr. Harry Potter! What the hell did he think he was a wizard boy? He couldn’t help but chuckle at how Al would have reacted to the same. Surely, he would have some kind of funny one liner to put. Harry Potter, what the heck! What was his parents thinking when they named him! Deciding that he wasn’t anyone to judge, he simply texted back, “Okay” and then dumped his phone on the lonely bed.

He had left his little home in North Carolina and had come to settle in the New York City because being in the same city where he had so many memories with Alastair had started to take a toll on him. Simply walking down the road made his claustrophobic because he could see the ghost of his brother walking past him. His brother had never blamed him for his death. He couldn’t after all. Al blew up right in front of his eyes, but there was a part of him that believed he should have tried,
harder
. Alas, all that was left was regrets. Perhaps he never forgave himself and this is why even though he was so many miles apart from the place he had known as home, the nightmares didn’t stop.

Mom knew well that he was suffering from post stress traumatic disorder and that he barely slept and often woke up in the middle of the night crying his eyes out. He had postponed visiting a therapist for long, but his mom was not going to give up. So, he figured it was about time he met and saw the therapist. How difficult it can really get and then he cursed and swore because he knew it will be one f**king headache to deal with it.

So, unwillingly he ventured out, wearing a clean white shirt because you really don’t want your therapist to look at you and feel that you look like shit. At 11:05, he rang the bell to the apartment of Mr. Harry Potter, waiting to see what this wizard boy had up his sleeve.

A young man who must have been no more than 28 or 29 opened the gate and asked him for his name.

Aaron McGraw, ex army man. It still felt surreal to add that ex before his name but he knew the more he said it, the easier it would be to accept that his life had changed and there was no undoing it either.

“You’re late, mister!” barked the guy.

So much respect for being an army man.

He looked at his watch and it read 11: 06. Seriously, was this high school now?

He gave him an exasperated look and just murmured, “I am here to meet Potter.”

“I know and that would be me”

He looked again and for the second time in the same day, the Potter guy baffled him. Seriously, a therapist who looked younger than him! His mother really needed to plan things through.

“Get in, Mr. McGraw but make sure you turn up on time. I have no tolerance to people who think they own time.”

“Are you some principal of a teenage girl’s school or something?”

“Would that be any of your business? Get that attitude out of your ass now. I am here to help you but your attitude won’t help. And yes, before we begin, let me get one thing straight. I am Harry Potter and I don’t entertain those shitty Potter jokes which most of you tend to make. Trust me, when I say I have heard every possible one of them and I don’t like them. So, as long as you’re inside my home, I am the only Harry Potter you know. Are we clear?”

Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle. This was going to be one eventful day! He just said “aren’t therapists supposed to be more approachable and friendly so that people open up?”

“Yes, you are right and you will see that once we start with the session. Come in to the reading room.”

Harry Potter was a strange guy and maybe, that was all he needed to sort out the mess which was now his life!

“Are you aware of PSTD?”

“Yes.”

“Do you believe you are suffering from it?”

“Not really.”

“It’s okay; we need time to accept it. What’s been the best part of your army life?”

“There’ve been many.”

“I know it is a rewarding life at time because you feel you have a sense of purpose. Aaron, would you share the experience of joining the army for the first time. What did it feel when you were conferred with this honor of being the man, a lot of kids were going to look up to?”

Aaron stared at him and for reasons he didn’t know and couldn’t quite understand, he narrated a lot of stories which he had kept locked inside him. He remembered the anxiety and exhilaration which he had felt when he was first enlisted.

He spoke about how he was shit scared when he started his training. He told of the times when he came to know that he would be reporting to his brother and even shared some of the happy times they had made in the toughest of situations.

He had never thought that he would bare so much to a stranger but he had to admit, this Potter guy knew his business. He could make a stone speak. As Aaron had refrained from most public contact after retiring, it finally felt good to have someone to talk to, even if it was a very tight assed therapist.

He did find a big knot of tension easing around him and just as he was beginning to relax, Potter threw in the dreadful question.

“What is the worst nightmare?”

Aaron froze as he slipped back into the moment. He could see everything. The shriek of his brother, the commotion all around, the closing of the enemy camp and how he had failed; failed as a brother, failed as a soldier. He saw himself lying in a pool of blood. His leg badly injured as he couldn’t move and his brother had disintegrated into a mass of bones. Everything was so dark that it made it hard to breathe and he could see the lights fading out and before he understood, he had fainted.

Aaron didn’t know how long he had fainted but when he woke up, the clock read 1: 30 PM which means it’s been a long day. He looked around to trace where he was and then he heard a singsong voice that stirred something inside of him.

“Oh! Little bird

Don’t give up

The wings are there

You shall fly

Don’t be scared

Of the heights

Oh! Little bird

Don’t give up”

Someone was singing these beautiful lines which somehow felt like they were strummed for him. He didn’t know what it was about those words but he was attracted like a moth to fire. He raced past the room to the place where the sound was coming from. It was like a drug that called on to him. He kept going closer and the voice grew louder and it felt like someone was calling to him. What was it about this song? None of them had ever felt like this before. Was he, the bird refusing to fly? Who was the girl with the singsong voice?

As he opened the door to the room, he saw a young girl with freckles on her face. She had the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. Her hair was strangely cut like someone had just chopped them off and she still looked ridiculously beautiful. Damn, she was young and he just stood there catching her sing freely like a person who belonged to the world. As he was mesmerized by her looks, her personality and the way her song could bring a dead to life, someone tapped him on the shoulders. He brushed the movement aside and kept glancing at the little girl. He felt like he was in a trance or maybe he was dreaming, he thought. Except he had never dreamt of beautiful women with such an addicting voice.

Someone jerked hum again and he cursed and turned to find his therapist staring at him.

“What are you doing here, Mister?”

“I, ah” he fumbled for the words, and then said, “just came to hear her sing.”

“Now that you’ve heard her sing, do you think we should leave?”

“Uh, I...”

Just then, she stopped singing and swirled across the room in her fairy like gait. “Dad, don’t scare him. You know I like an audience.”

Dad! Holy Shit! Aaron stood their dumbstruck. The guy didn’t look more than 30 and the girl was perhaps 16 or 17. Was this therapist guy really a wizard!

The look on Aaron’s face gave him away as Potter knew what he was thinking. He gestured Aaron to go back to the room as he kissed his daughter on the forehead and said, “I will be back soon, sweets. Stay here.”

Potter came in the room and looked at Aaron. She is my brother’s daughter. He passed away when she was three and she has always known me to be her dad. Not that it’s any of your business but as a therapist, I believe in sharing personal stories. So, stop judging me or my age and don’t give that predatory look to my daughter as she is not your prey.

He got the message loud and clear and sure she was a lot younger in years. He had just been fascinated by the voice; that was it. He nodded and then Potter went about the details of his therapy session.

The fact that he had fainted was something serious and so he arranged for a follow-up meeting. He told Aaron that his condition was a lot more serious than what he thought and it was important that he took the therapy seriously.

He was called back in a week. Aaron didn’t know if he would turn up, but when he let his mind recall the song of the bird, he just knew that he was going to be back. The bird was calling to him, the song was still playing.

As he stood up to leave, he turned back and told Potter, "I have a question for you.”

“Yes ask away!”

“Does the scar still hurt Potter?” and then he grinned.

“Son of a bitch”, he barked and Aaron swore he could see the faintest smile on the doctor’s lips and then he shut the door on his face locking the sound of the angel voice.

Aaron walked back, unaware that he was singing to the same tune. It’s been 7 years since he last sang. Maybe, the bird would learn how to fly after all!