Remember Me (Weaver Series) (5 page)

“And for the record, Scarlett was from Georgia not Arkansas” I snapped
. 

“Well, what-
evuh.” she said, and turned up the radio.  We didn’t speak for the remainder of the ride.  I stared straight ahead and silently wished that Kalan would say something to ease my concerns.  Sadly, no words of wisdom came from him.  I distracted myself by counting palm trees, biting the dead skin on the side of my thumb, and listening to her weird techno music.

Kiss
Kiss was a dance club located in a trendy part of the city.  It was only 4:30 in the afternoon and the place wasn’t open yet.  According to the closed sign on the door, the hours of operation were from 6:00pm to 2:00am.  Compared to Dempsey that was surreal for me.  I had to marvel at that because by 8:00 most stores were closed and absolutely nothing was open until two o’clock in the morning! Lela slid what looked like a credit card into the door and hastily pulled me by the wrist through the entrance. 

The club
had wall-to-wall mirrors and huge staircases that went up to higher levels on both sides of the large room.  There were gigantic framed pictures of circus acts everywhere.  A man with a handle-bar mustache on a funny looking bicycle, a lady in a pink tutu holding an umbrella on the other.  My eyes travelled to a glass booth overhead.  It was filled with mixing equipment and I could see a man adjusting switches in there.  A tall man behind the bar was shouting up to the guy in the booth in response to his repeated “one-two-check-check” signals coming through the speakers.  A few girls with big hair and skimpy outfits were talking and laughing by the staircase.  As soon as we neared them they parted to allow Lela through.  She still had my wrist and pulled hard as she led me up the stairs, her sandy braids swinging back and forth as she went.  I tried to pull free of her grasp but she was stronger than I thought. 

S
ince I couldn’t adjust anything, I looked below to ensure that I had a clear idea of where the exits were.  I certainly didn’t feel at ease, and I wanted to know how to get my rear-end out of here quick if I needed to.

I could see that there were
black and red striped circus tents that covered individual tables below.  This made each seating area seem extremely private, except for the open views from the top.  For a brief moment I imagined the false sense of security such a cozy setting could afford a couple…and what an intrusive design it was.  Lela still had my wrist when she pounded on a door at the top of the stairs.  “It’s open,” came the soft reply from the other side.  With a quick wink and a crack of her gum Lela opened the door and shoved me through before closing it and leaving. 

I was left alone in front of a large mahogany desk.  A dark figure sat behind it obscured in the green light thrown off by a banker’s lamp.  I could tell that it was a man, but I could not make out the features of his face.  He wore a black hat and his head was bent slightly behind a book he held in his hands.  His feet were positioned comfortably up on the desk.

“Take a seat Joey
,” he said without looking up.  I glanced around at the collection of clocks that seemed to dominate the décor.

“I don’t plan on staying
,” I said flatly.  I really meant it too.  Why did I come here?  I should have seen this coming.  I should have at least had an idea of what I was facing here! As if he didn’t even hear me he said,

“
Time’s an interesting thing, don’t you agree?  I don’t know how you can weave and read at the same time.” I promptly sat.  Whoever this guy was, he knew more about me than I could have imagined.  A fact I didn’t like already.  Despite that, he most definitely had my attention.  He put the book down and whispered “drivel” before casting his eyes on me.  It was only then that I realized the book was
Wuthering Heights
.  It didn’t feel like a coincidence. 

“My manners are atrocious
.  I am Kessler, you can call me Kess,” he said as he moved around the desk toward me.  Without thinking, I stood up and backed away from him.  There was no place to go, and I found myself with my back to the door of his office.  The tick-toc of the clocks pounded in my ears.

His movements were fluid as he continued toward me. 
“Why may I ask are you so tense?”  He placed his hands on either side of me and leaned them on the door so that I was caught between his arms, our faces only inches apart.  His warm breath on my cheeks made my mind race.

“I-I, don’t understand why I am here.” I sputtered
.  I was caught off guard by the depth of his piercing eyes.  A shade of brown so dark they almost seemed black.  His lashes were thick and long.  I felt a flush rise from my toes to my face.  There was something oddly warm about him - yet equally cold and frightening.  His black bowler hat brushed my forehead as he sucked in air slowly between his teeth.  He lowered his face to the side of my neck and breathed in deeply.

“You smell like
summer,” he whispered.  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my knees felt like melted butter.  I ducked under his arm before he had a chance to do anything else. 

“Listen, Kessler,”

“Kess,” he corrected, with a crooked smile.

“Kess, I don’t know who you are or who Lela is and I don’t know
why you wanted me to come here.” I blurted and turned my body slightly so that I could continue to back up until I bumped the back of my head into a tall Ficus plant that stood in the corner.  He had moved to position himself against one of the guest chairs next to his desk.  A smile now playing out across his lips.  I tried to focus on something tangible and noticed that his right forearm was tattooed with a red star.  Long strands of chocolate brown hair fell from beneath his hat and he pushed them from his face absently as he spoke. 

“You can relax
.  I don’t mean you any harm,” he said smoothly. 

“
Who are you?  How did you know where I…live?”  I demanded, annoyed at how weak my voice sounded.  There was a lifetime passing in the moment it took for him to reply.

“I told you, w
e have lots to talk about,” his eyes sparkled with interest and I crossed my arms again.  A gesture I hoped conveyed some level of control in this situation.  “Will you at least sit down?”  He spread his arms to indicate his willingness to compromise and gestured to the chair next to him. I hesitated, and then a delicious glow of warmth filled me as I heard that small voice that I trusted.  “It’s okay Joey.  You need to hear what he has to say.” I shivered and tried to collect myself.  As much as I enjoyed hearing that voice, I didn’t want to share it with this guy, and concentrating on the two of them wasn’t easy.

Again, the smile stretched out across Kessler’s face
.  I wanted to trust Kalan, but my gut said something different.  My own small voice was screaming for me to run.  I didn’t though.  I took a seat and crossed my legs.  “Talk to me,” I said with a huff, and hoped I appeared to be in control.

“Oh, I think I could do that all night long…or maybe we would find other
, more amusing things to do.” He said and twisted the small piercing that jutted out from his lip.  I repositioned myself in the chair and crossed my arms, hoping my chilly disposition gave him a direct response. 

“Or not,” he said and sighed
.  I just wanted to learn what I could from him and get myself back to my apartment.  Kessler leaned back in his chair, rocking it on two legs.  “I’m going to tell you this much, for a weaver you sure seem fragile.  Or maybe it’s an act.  Is it an act?”

“I don’t
know what you are talking about,” I said blandly.  Weaver?  He was using the same word that Kalan had used.  I felt like running.  What if my ability was what he was after?  What if he was dangerous?  I’d been so stupid to come here! I felt like a lamb in a slaughter house.  This thought pierced me with alarm.  Without further hesitation I closed my eyes. I needed to arrange.  Undo.  Stop this! I focused on my apartment.  I focused on the relaxing shower I had taken earlier.  I was literally concentrating on the hot and cold knobs.  In a blink, I was standing in my shower stall.  Oh thank you Jesus, it had worked! My hand steadied on the hot water knob, just as I had envisioned.  Relief saturated my bones.  I had done it. 

“Do you want a towel
?”  The voice came from the other side of the foggy shower door.  I screamed and covered myself as the towel flew over the top of the stall and landed on my head.  I wrapped myself in the soft cloth and cracked open the door to find Kess standing there like a dark knight, leaning against the towel rack.  I should have been embarrassed but the whole situation was just too surreal to absorb.

“I told you we had lots to discuss
,” he said in a voice that could have melted butter.

“This isn’t happening! You followed me
?”  I said, my voice sounding more like a high chirp.

“Well, you gave me no choice
.  So, where was I?”  He added casually, as if he’d been interrupted by some minor distraction.

“Can you go out so I can change
?”  I snapped.

“Don’t change a thing
love” he said and winked at me.

“Out
!”  I screeched.

He shut the door behind him
self and I scurried to dry off.  Why hadn’t I thought to put myself on the couch with the remote in my hand?  Who was this guy?  With wobbly fingers, I pulled my robe from the back of the door and walked out.  I could hear the television so I knew he was not in my adjacent bedroom.  As if it mattered, I moved quickly across the room to lock the door.  Next, I snatched a pair of jeans and a red tank top from my dresser and scurried into them.  I felt like he was watching; and I felt somehow that he could be, if he had a mind to.  Good Lord, what had I gotten myself into?  I was so tired and more than a little tense. 

“Are you alright
?”  He said softly as I came to sit at the opposite end of the couch.

“I’m anything but alright
!”  I spat.

“Joey, I am sorry
.  I had no way of knowing you were heading for the shower when you threaded.”  His expression looked genuine, and I felt myself relenting a little. 

“It was the last place I could think of.” I said reluctantly before adding “you make me nervous.
” I bit my lip.  It was the honest truth, but it was more than that.  He made me feel short of breath and looking at his face made my chest ache.  I looked down at his hands.  My momma always said that you could tell a lot about a man by his hands.  If they were rough, he worked hard for a living.  If they were soft, he was either educated or lazy.  His hands looked neither soft nor rough.  I just couldn’t tell. 

What I did notice was that
the first knuckle of every finger was tattooed.  Then I noticed the thick silver ring on his left thumb.  It was inset with tiny clear stones.  My eyes traveled up further and I noticed his arms.  The red star that I had noticed earlier caught my eye again – then my eyes trailed further to his biceps.  A castle tattooed with purple and grey ink was on the right.  The left sported a massive black dragon.  Focusing any place beyond his eyes seemed to help.  A little.  I swallowed hard and took a deep breath.  Several moments of silence passed between us before he spoke.

“So Joey, how long have you
known?”

“Known what
?” 

“That there were others like you here.”

“Not long.” I said hesitantly.  I was really trying not to share too much.  I decided it best to let him do the talking.  Besides, he was the one who called this meeting not me.

“I’m going to guess that you had some help.”
His right eyebrow raised in question.

“Help
?”  I questioned.  I was dying to know what he knew about Kalan, but I was not going to say that.  As my Papaw would say, I was playing my cards close to the vest.

“You really are cute
.  I mean, to come so far from home and be so naïve.  It touches me.”

He placed his hand on his heart and patted it
.  “So you are looking for something, but are you ready to find it?” 

“I think
I am.” I said with confidence.

“I think you are bluffing.”
He said with a crooked smile.  “You really don’t know what you are doing at all, do you?”  He asked gently.

This was my chance
.  Either I could give him the truth or I could act like I didn’t know what he meant.  The truth was, I
didn’t
know anything.  I couldn’t read a thing about him any more than I could Lela.  I couldn’t see anything coming, I couldn’t even be sure that I knew what I wanted from him.  I did know this much – he could change things too.  Something that I had secretly hoped for my whole life.  Some insight into why I could do what I could do.  I also knew that Kalan wanted me to listen to him, and for now… that was enough.

“You can do what you do because you are a
Weaver Joey.”

“You can hear what I think
?”  I asked, self-consciously.

“Forgive me
.  I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” Kess said genuinely. 

“I can always read when I
’m in the middle of a thread.  Just as you can.”